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U.S., Iran Exchange Strikes on the Second Night as Trump Pronounces the End of the Ceasefire with Iran; Trump to Give Ukraine to Manufacture Patriot Missiles; New Study Could Weaken Impacts of El Nino as Forecasters Predicting a Super El Nino Could Happen. Aired 3- 4a ET

Aired July 09, 2026 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

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POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Thank you so much for being with me, I'm Polo Sandoval live in New York, and this is "CNN Newsroom."

A second day in a row of strikes between the U.S. and Iran, just hours after Donald Trump said that he believes the ceasefire is over.

And the U.S. President lashes out at NATO allies, but gives Ukraine a military show of support. We'll tell you what it was.

And as forecasters predict a super El Nino, scientists are saying that there may be a way to blunt deadly extreme weather conditions. We'll tell you more.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from New York, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Polo Sandoval.

SANDOVAL: Welcome, everybody.

Let's begin with new developments in the Middle East, where the U.S. and Iran have traded strikes for a second night after President Trump said that the ceasefire is over just under 24 hours ago.

In the last few hours, though, Iran has been retaliating for those strikes, again targeting U.S. military bases in Bahrain and Kuwait. Earlier, President Trump posting some of these, actually, we do want to show you some of the photos that were posted by the President there, showing videos of the explosions on those posts on social media. And he warns that the strikes will get much worse if Iran attacks more ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian state media reporting explosions in several cities. In fact, in one strike, Iran says that a railway bridge was hit. Iran's health ministry saying that at least 14 people have been killed in the past two days of U.S. strikes.

And U.S. Central Command says that its latest strikes are complete after hitting about at least 90 Iranian military targets. President Trump had this to say aboard Air Force One as he flew back to Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We just hit them very hard. And I'd say we hit them 20-1. Every time they hit us, we're going to hit them 20.

And we did it last night. They did a little something today, but it was really retribution for last night. They hit actually three boats, not two.

And when they hit, we hit back much harder. They have very little left.

And they want to make a deal so badly. They called a little while ago. They want to make a deal so badly.

I just don't know if they're worthy of making a deal. I don't know that they're going to honor the deal. That's the problem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Let's go live now to CNN's Paula Hancocks, who's monitoring the situation from Abu Dhabi. So, Paula, as we continue to learn more about what's happened in the last 48 hours, what seems to be really bearing the brunt of these retaliatory strikes from Iran?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Polo, what we've seen the last couple of nights is it was Bahrain and Kuwait. So two early mornings of very little sleep for residents there, as emergency alerts sounded.

We've heard from Bahrain that they have intercepted several Iranian attacks. They've called it a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.

Bahrain is where the U.S. 5th Fleet is based, Kuwait also, with a number of military bases affiliated with the United States. So this is really the brunt of the retaliation at this point.

What we have seen from the central command and what the U.S. says that they have struck overnight in Iran is predominantly military targets along the coastline. So air defense systems, missile launch systems that are close to or in the Strait of Hormuz.

Some of the islands within the Persian Gulf as well have been targeted. There was, according to Iranian state media, up in Aqqala in northern Iran, about 900 miles away from the Strait of Hormuz.

They claim that the U.S. has struck a railway bridge as well, which they say has suspended some train services to Mashhad, which is where the late Ayatollah, the late supreme leader will be buried later this Thursday. We've reached out to Central Command to see if that was one of their strikes. [03:04:54]

But what we heard from one U.S. official familiar with the discussions ongoing at the moment is that the strikes were ordered by the U.S. President because of his anger over the Iranian attacks on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and also the fact that it happened while he was in Turkey, so while he was at the NATO summit.

We've also been hearing a lot of frustration from the U.S. President in public, saying that the ceasefire is over and very derogatory remarks over the Iranian leadership as well.

Now, we have heard from some of that leadership since this second night of attacks. The chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, on social media posting this, and I quote, "If you strike, you'll get hit. Don't flail around pointlessly or you'll sink even deeper: the Strait of Hormuz will only open with Iranian arrangements, not American threats."

Now, President Trump has warned that it will get much worse, the retaliation from the U.S. if Iran continues to threaten vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. And this is really the main stumbling block when it comes to trying to keep this memorandum of understanding intact.

At this point, Iran believes it is in full control of the Strait of Hormuz. That is not the way the U.S. or the Gulf nations see it. And certainly we've been seeing a number of vessels trying to avoid the Iranian sanctioned route where they have to get permission from Tehran and they've been using a route further south in this critical waterway, so hugging the Omani coast.

Now, when it comes to the amount of vessels that are still getting through the Strait of Hormuz, they are low. We understand on Wednesday from marine traffic that some 20 vessels over the previous 24 hours managed to get through both ways in the Strait of Hormuz.

Now, usually pre-war levels were about 110 vessels. So it shows just how concerned those insurance companies and those seafarers in the waters close to the Strait of Hormuz are.

In fact, we did also on Wednesday have an update from the U.N. Maritime Agency reminding us of the number of seafarers that are still trapped in the Persian Gulf. This for many of them is since February 28th, since this war began.

The IMO saying that 6000 seafarers are still stranded, they had tried to evacuate a number of them and had managed to evacuate several thousand at the end of June. But several days later, that had to be postponed and halted when hostilities fired up once again. Polo.

SANDOVAL: Yes, Paula, I remember you telling us about that operation clearly not lasting very long. Paula Hancocks with that live report from Abu Dhabi. Thank you.

And CNN has been granted exclusive access to one of the U.S. warships is taking part in the operations against Iran, the USS Abraham Lincoln, it is one of two aircraft carriers that's currently deployed in the region. Its commander spoke with my colleague Pamela Brown just as the U.S. fleet was getting ready for its latest round of strikes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPT. DANIEL KEELER, COMMANDING OFFICER, USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN: Things you might read in the news specifically don't always translate into immediate action on the ship.

We're waiting for orders. We're always ready for tasking that might come down. And in this particular case, it's no different than last month or two months ago.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN CHIEF INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: What is the sort of mood and sentiment here when you have so many times like this where the rhetoric gets intensified and there's all these things thrown around and you've been at sea since last November? What does that do?

KEELER: I think the crew is just used to the political rhetoric going back and forth on both sides. And ultimately, we just kind of it's in the background. It's for lack of a better term, just a lot of noise.

And then we just wait for official word. And the official word comes from the President, goes to the secretary of war and then goes through our military change command, chain of command. And once we have formal tasking, then we'll execute it.

BROWN: So when the President says either this will happen or we finish the job, what does he mean, do you think, by finish the job?

KEELER: You'd have to ask him. There's clearly still targets that are out there that we could go after. And it's just a matter of if he orders us to do it or not, how far that goes.

That's a discussion for political leaders. But as a commanding officer, an aircraft carrier, I'll wait for my orders and execute the ones that I'm given.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: All right, so let's keep the conversation now.

So let's keep that conversation going, head over to Negah Angha, who's joining me live from London. She's a visiting fellow at King's College in London and also former senior advisor at the U.S. State Department, as well as also a National Security Council member under the Biden administration.

Thank you so much for taking the time and good morning to you. 8 a.m. there in London.

NEGAH ANGHA, VISITING FELLOW, KING'S COLLEGE LONDON, AND FORMER U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SENIOR ADVISER, AND FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL MEMBER UNDER BIDEN ADMINISTRATION: Good morning. Thanks for having me.

[03:10:01] SANDOVAL: So you heard some of the reporting right now from my colleague just a little while ago about the situation right now in the Middle East. What is your assessment of the status of the MOU?

ANGHA: Yes, look, I would say, you know, this isn't just a random sort of tit for tat. This isn't a random escalation thing where we are right now is sort of this dangerous phase of armed bargaining.

I think there's a very clear logic that is playing out in the fight essentially is over the meaning of the language in the memorandum of understanding and very specifically on the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. position is very clear.

It's freedom of navigation. Ships should move normally without any form of coercion or tools or any Iranian vetoes. And on the other side, Iran's position is much more closer to ships can move, but Tehran still needs to decide the terms of those arrangements.

And I think that's why, you know, I think I would describe right now what's happening is there's a lot of discussion over leverage and jurisdiction. It's not necessarily a very pure sort of military exchange.

Tehran essentially is saying that Hormuz is their most powerful pressure point. And it really is an immediate reaction by the U.S. and the world, given its economic impact, more so than the nuclear file, because it touches obviously oil flows, insurance costs, just the global market in general.

So I think I would just say, you know, where we are in the phase of things is really the current 48 hours is really shaping diplomacy with force. They're not necessarily abandoning diplomacy, but just both sides are trying to rewrite the terms. I think President Trump, in his remarks over the course of the day in Turkey yesterday, you know, really did leave the door open for potential talks.

SANDOVAL: Ultimately, though, is this something that this collapsing of the MOU, I mean, is this something that you saw coming? I heard from another expert such as yourself earlier say it would have been more of a surprise if it actually would have held.

ANGHA: Look, I wouldn't say it's entirely dead. I don't think it's legally dead. I think, you know, there is still some room.

But the reality is this wasn't a it was always sort of a bridge document, right? It wasn't a peace treaty, it wasn't a grand bargain.

And I think the reality is, you know, this is to be expected. These are the nuances and conversations that need to be had when you're in this phase of a memorandum of understanding. And unfortunately, when it's drafted in a way where there's ambiguity, you know, this is what you're essentially going to face.

SANDOVAL: Right. And back to those U.S. led strikes that we've seen the last 48 hours, Negah, what do you believe to be the objective of U.S. forces? What are they looking to debilitate as they set their sights on these targets, particularly along Iran's southern coast?

ANGHA: Again, it's targeted strikes. And this is why I sort of try to frame this as sort of armed bargaining, right?

This is very clear sort of targets along essentially military assets in the southern coast. So it's all focused on the Strait of Hormuz, it's targeting IRGC boats, it's targeting sort of these types of assets that can attack ships on the Strait of Hormuz. So it's a very clear message that this isn't, you know, we're not entering an all out war phase.

What we're entering into is, you know, again, a reaction to Iranian attacks. And we go back to this sort of bit is that the fight is over the meaning of the MOU and the terms around the Strait of Hormuz. And I think that is, you know, the U.S. has maintained and restrained itself on focusing on just that.

And again, I think, you know, where we lead from here is probably more sort of back channel diplomacy and conversations, less so of those public overtures that we saw in Switzerland a week or so ago, and try to bring back some sort of normalcy to the diplomacy and get those technical talks underway.

SANDOVAL: And then, of course, with the possibility of this protracted conflict now, do you think Iran is essentially pushing its luck by launching these retaliatory attacks instead of pursuing a diplomatic route?

ANGHA: I think, again, it's a slippery slope. And I think that is the biggest concern.

Iran has been trying to flex right now. Obviously, we're in the final throes of the burial ceremony for the former Supreme Leader.

[03:15:04]

So they haven't, you know, flexed in the same way one could see them doing. But I think the idea is to reassemble and come back to a decision-making process. We're going to have to watch and see what happens over the next few days.

But the reality is economically, Iran themselves, they are hurting. The inflation is extremely high. The situation inside Iran hasn't improved. There was some glimmer of hope that life can kind of resume back to, you know, essentially normal of what the Iranian citizens were experiencing in late 2025 with these potential sort of talks getting underway, potential oil sanctions waivers that Iran was going to receive from the U.S. Treasury Department.

But again, there are concerns of what this will look like come next week when Iran is operating back to normal. The reality is the Iranians also have to be responsive to their own public and their own public is struggling to make ends just even by bread and a bag of chips.

So we'll have to see how Iran plays their role. But again, it's the economy is in such dire straits. I don't see them really having that much time to get back into a full time war with the United States.

SANDOVAL: Yes, with the Supreme Leader's marathon funeral procession now nearing an end, anything could potentially happen to your point. Negah Angha, a pleasure having you with us. Thank you so much for your perspective.

ANGHA: Thanks for having me.

SANDOVAL: Of course.

We know it's actually been about half a year now since a massive uprising broke out inside of Iran, prompting a deadly response from the government that killed more than three thousand people. And critics are warning that it could happen again.

Amnesty International is demanding Tehran be held accountable for its human rights crisis, saying that the situation should be referred to the International Criminal Court in a statement that group writing, quote, "The international community's failure to take meaningful action to pursue justice is indefensible" and that "It helps to perpetuate the cycle of deadly repression in which survivors and victims of families are denied justice and future atrocities become inevitable." Again, six months since that happened.

Well, the U.S. is offering Ukraine the chance to make a powerful new weapon, and some say that it could be a game changer as it defends itself against Russia. We'll have more in a moment.

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SANDOVAL: President Trump now back from the NATO summit in Turkey. This is video of him arriving back at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland just a few hours ago. And while in Turkey, he complained that allies hadn't backed him up in the war against Iran, but he ended the summit on a positive note, praising members of NATO for what he called their tremendous unification and love.

Meanwhile, Turkey's President said that President Trump gave him encouraging signals about the possible sale of U.S. F-35 fighter jets, despite a congressional ban that's in place.

And during a meeting with the Ukrainian President, Donald Trump said that he will give Ukraine the ability to manufacture its own Patriot missile defense systems.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We're going to give a license to you to make Patriot.

That's pretty cool. This way, you can't complain that we're not giving them enough. It's a make them yourself. We haven't informed the company of that yet, but that'll work out all right. Sure, they'll be thrilled. But, you know, they'll be able to do it.

You'll be able to figure that out. Most countries couldn't do that. If I said that to most countries, they wouldn't know what I'm talking about.

But this is a very ingenious group. And what I like about that, it's a defensive, it's a defensive situation as opposed to an offensive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And though Ukraine's President had been calling just for that, the announcement itself about Patriot missile interceptors, it was pretty unexpected, as CNN's Nic Robertson reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: You know, I think for all of those of us listening, it was a real surprise. We were briefed by the U.S. ambassador to NATO just a week or so ago, and this issue came up. You know, President Zelenskyy has wanted permission to have this license to produce Patriots inside Ukraine, the defensive missile systems.

Why? Quite simply, they're running out. They don't have enough.

President Zelenskyy has said the way to win the war in Ukraine. It's a battle in the skies now with Russia.

Russia's got more and better ballistic missiles. Ukraine's defenses are weakened because they don't have enough of the defensive missile systems, although Ukraine is very good at the offensive stuff because it's got some long range drones. So the whole war has framed it as a war in the skies.

And so just last week, you have the U.S. ambassador to NATO, who you would think understands where the sort of central gravity on U.S. opinion is, that there wasn't going to be a granting of these licenses. And you have President Zelenskyy just yesterday saying so important for the European countries in NATO to be able to produce these interceptor missiles themselves inside of Europe, you know, putting the burden on them rather than putting it on the U.S. And then President Trump sitting there and saying, well, I think a little birdie tells me.

[03:25:03]

And Zelenskyy, I think because of his encounters with President Trump and knows the way that they can go backwards and forwards, I think perhaps, well, I mean, he was quite quiet. That was a notable thing. One would understand that perhaps he wanted to go away and see what the details behind the scenes were on this.

In fact, we'd expected President Zelenskyy to hold a press conference before he left. Maybe that 40 minute exposure sitting in an armchair with President Trump, which was pretty much the totality of that bilateral meeting, by the way, he decided that was enough exposure. And he left without giving his press conference.

So I think reasonable to say that it was a surprise all round.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Nic Robertson, thank you so much for that report. They're from Turkey.

Meanwhile, the Dutch Prime Minister says the decision on Patriot missile interceptors, it could actually be, as he described it, a game changer. He spoke to CNN's Christina MacFarlane and said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROB JETTEN, DUTCH PRIME MINISTER: This is very important news because the Ukrainians have now taken a new momentum on the battlefield, putting a lot of pressure on the Russian economy and the Russian President. But obviously, the impact of Russian airstrikes on Ukraine is intense with not enough air defense at the moment.

So we need in the very short term more delivery from E.U. countries to Ukraine. But for the midterms, we need Ukraine to have more capabilities to produce it on their own. And they can do it in Ukraine, but they can also do it in European countries on their license.

The Netherlands is working closely with Ukraine on drone production, for example, and we stand ready to do that also with other capabilities. So this move from the President of the United States can be a game changer for the Ukrainians.

CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: President Trump also said today that he, in his view, both sides in Ukraine's war want to see a settlement. Do you think that's true? Do you believe that Russia want to see a settlement that would be acceptable to all parties?

JETTEN: So far, we haven't seen any clear indications that Putin is willing to negotiate a just and lasting peace. So that is why it's so important to keep the support for Ukraine high so they can go to a negotiation table at any time from a strong position.

In the end, also in this conflict, only negotiations can solve this war. But as long as Putin is not showing any willingness, we have to keep pressure on Putin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And we will have more on the escalation of hostilities in the Middle East. In a moment, Iran retaliating yet again after a second night of U.S. strikes. And as his questions grow about the fates of the ceasefire.

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[03:30:00]

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SANDOVAL: I'm Polo Sandoval in New York, and these are today's top stories.

President Trump says that he is giving Ukraine permission to manufacture its own Patriot missile interceptors, that word coming from his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of Wednesday's NATO summit. Production won't happen overnight, though, but once the systems are up and running, they could give Ukraine a new advantage in the war against Russia. No reaction yet from the Kremlin.

And the final procession and burial will be held in the coming hours for Iran's late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, at the ceremonies, they have actually been held across Iran and Iraq. Large crowds of mourners, they carried his coffin to a shrine in the Iraqi city of Karbala on Wednesday. This is all part of a week-long funeral for Khamenei, who was killed in a joint U.S.-Israeli attack at the start of the war with Iran.

The U.S. military says that it has completed a second day of strikes against Iran. U.S. Central Command says that about 90 military targets were hit and that the action was meant to, quote, further degrade Iran's ability to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Well, in retaliation, Iran says that it again struck U.S. military installations in Kuwait and Bahrain.

CNN's Alayna Treene is following all the developments from the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Donald Trump not seeming to give clear answers on Wednesday about what the fate of that very fragile ceasefire between Washington and Tehran actually is and whether or not it will hold. Earlier, speaking from the NATO summit in Ankara, the President said that he believed that the ceasefire and the memorandum of understanding that was signed just a few weeks ago is over.

However, in another breath, the President also argued that really it would be up to the negotiators, people like Jared Kushner, Steve Witkoff, the Vice President, those who have been leading the talks to decide what the future for that agreement actually looks like. And even as he previewed a second round of strikes on Wednesday, something that, of course did come to fruition when CENTCOM confirmed that the U.S. military had carried out additional strikes, as you know, targets really around the Strait of Hormuz.

He said, even though when previewing this, that they would be hit very hard, he did not believe that it would become an all out war. Once again, listen to how he put it. TRUMP: Now, I don't think it's going to start again. I think it's

going to go very quickly. They hit a couple of ships and so we hit them much harder.

We'll only make it safer, including for oil. Anything that happens is going to happen very fast. We're not looking for long term.

[03:35:08]

TREENE: Now, the President later, when he was speaking to reporters on his trip back from Turkey to the U.S., he told reporters that Iran called a little while ago and they want to make a deal so badly.

He went on to say, I just don't know if they're worthy of making a deal. So a lot about the future of where things stand between Washington and Tehran, really kind of up in the air at this point. I do want to say, though, I spoke with a U.S. official who's been a U.S. official has been familiar with some of the conversations happening behind the scenes.

And they say, one, a lot of the President's anger on this, which visibly was spilling out into public view on Wednesday, is because he is losing patience that the Strait of Hormuz is not yet fully opened. I'd remind you that was one of the key points in that memorandum of understanding the text of that agreement that was signed around the G7 summit. He's also partly frustrated, though, because of the timing of some of this.

Iran had hit vessels within the strait while he was at this NATO summit, while he was meeting with foreign leaders on the global stage. Not something that he wanted to have to deal with, really, when he was meeting with these other leaders, when he often likes to take a victory lap. The third thing, of course, I'm told, is that he is also getting increasingly frustrated with what he believes is Iran slow walking Washington negotiator.

So all of this contributing to what we've seen really play out over the last 48 hours or so.

Alayna Treene, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: The Department of Homeland Security is investigating the fatal shooting of a Mexican man by a federal immigration agent in Houston, Texas.

The family of 52 year old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo says that he was shot during a traffic stop involving unmarked vehicles while on his way to work on Tuesday morning. An ICE spokesperson says that the man tried evading arrest, rammed into a law enforcement vehicle and that the agent fired in self-defense. Araujo's son says that his father had no criminal history, his family now demanding answers.

And officials on both sides of the U.S. and Mexico on the Mexican border. They are now calling for transparency after this fatal eye shooting. City leaders, civil rights groups and even Mexico's President, they are putting pressure on U.S. authorities, as CNN's Valeria Leon reports from Mexico City.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VALERIA LEON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Mexican government is escalating its response after another Mexican migrant was killed during an ICE enforcement operation in Houston, Texas. President Claudia Shemo says Mexico will take legal action in the United States.

CLAUDIA SHEINBAUM, MEXICAN PRESIDENT (translated): Their only offense is being undocumented even though they were hired by a U.S. company. That doesn't justify putting them in detention centers or using violence against them. We are preparing stronger legal measures.

LEON: After 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was shot by an ICE agent while on his way to work. U.S. authorities say he tried to run over an officer during an enforcement operation, but his family strongly disputes that account. Describing him as a hardworking construction worker who had lived in the U.S. for more than three decades, his son is now calling for an independent investigation.

RONALDO SALGADO, SON OF LORENZO SALGADO ARAUJO (translated): My father was an honest, humble, and hardworking man. He gave job opportunities to many people.

LEON: Here in Mexico, Shemo condemned the killing, saying her government cannot allow Mexican migrants to be mistreated, and announced that new legal measures will be pursued through Mexico's foreign ministry. The shooting has also sparked calls from U.S. lawmakers and civil rights groups for a fully independent investigation, as questions continue to surround the circumstances of the deadly encounter.

Valeria Leon, CNN, Mexico City.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Forecasters are predicting a powerful El Nino this year, and it could bring some destruction around the globe. So what if there was a way to tame this phenomenon? I'll be speaking to a climate expert in a moment.

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[03:40:00]

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SANDOVAL: You're up to speed on the markets, let's get to your business headlines.

China is reportedly preparing to let its top AI companies buy NVIDIA's H200 chips. Reuters is reporting that the sales would only be to a select number of companies, buying a limited number of chips. NVIDIA shares rose about one percent following that report. Attorneys general in several U.S. states are said to be finalizing a lawsuit challenging Paramount's looming acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of CNN. Critics are arguing that the deal would harm competition across the entertainment and news industries, Paramount says that the takeover does not violate any competition laws and will actually expand consumer choice.

Jeff Bezos' space company is taking on its first round of outside funding. Blue Origin has been valued at $130 billion, and it's now looking to raise about $10 billion; Bezos is expected to invest $2 billion of his own money.

[03:45:05]

Now the company competes with Elon Musk's SpaceX, which went public last month in what was the largest IPO ever.

Forecasters are saying that a powerful climate pattern is developing this year, and it could intensify into a Super El Nino with devastating consequences around the globe. But there's a new study out in the journal "Science Advances" which explores one possible solution.

It's called marine cloud brightening. So it involves spraying particles, typically salt water, into ocean clouds so that they reflect sunlight away from Earth and back into space.

Some experts do worry that that could lead to unintended consequences or have to be done indefinitely. But the study is now showing that the technique could weaken El Nino's impacts, including severe heat and fires. The scientists say that the earlier it's deployed, the more effective it could actually be.

Kate Ricke is an associate professor of climate science at the University of California, San Diego. Kate, thank you so much for joining us.

KATE RICKE, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF CLIMATE SCIENCE, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO: Thank you for having me.

SANDOVAL: So, Kate, your study looking at how Australia's brush fires in 2019-2020 sent some sun-reflecting particles into the clouds over the Pacific, cloud brightening. What is cloud brightening? And also, what did your research show about a similar concept, geoengineered to essentially tamp down El Nino impacts, like the flooding, the fires, the storms, etc.?

RICKE: Sure, yes. The 2019-2020 bushfires in Australia emitted a ton of smoke into the atmosphere and had a diverse set of effects on the atmosphere as a result. Material that was released during those fires made its way from the lowest layers of the atmosphere up into the stratosphere.

And a study that my co-author on the study that was released today did a couple of years ago showed that that whole suite of effects from the bushfires was connected to the La Nina that followed the fires, that the La Nina was made much more probable because the fires occurred. The suspicion was that this cloud brightening that was observed as a result of the fires had something to do with that La Nina event.

Basically, when little particles from the smoke make their way into these low marine clouds, they do a couple of things. One is they split the cloud into more smaller droplets. And those more smaller droplets, they reflect more sunlight back to space before it can be absorbed by the Earth and so it has a cooling effect.

The other thing they can do is increase the lifetime of the cloud because those smaller droplets take longer time to accumulate and precipitate. And so the cloud stays reflective for longer because its lifetime is longer.

SANDOVAL: Fascinating. So essentially the cloud acting as a sort of mirror, the cloud itself brightened by these particles acting as a mirror reflecting that light.

Kate, how could that concept then be replicated by scientists? Is there the technology to do something like that?

RICKE: Yes.

So the proposal is called marine cloud brightening. And the idea is that instead of a wildfire or unintentional pollution or natural sources like dust or sea salt, we would put particles ourselves into the lowest layer of the atmosphere over the ocean where there are areas with a lot of what's called marine strata cumulus. It's these low clouds over the ocean that are, like you said, they're mirrors.

Different clouds in different parts of the atmosphere, some are reflective, some are not. These ones reflect a lot of sunlight. And so the idea with marine cloud brightening is by making them more reflective and last a longer time, we could use that to reflect sunlight and cool the Earth.

SANDOVAL: What are the benefits of cooler temperatures beyond the obvious?

RICKE: Well, in the past, people have proposed marine cloud brightening as a way to counteract sort of the long, slow warming associated with greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

[03:50:03]

And so there's been proposals that maybe we would want to deploy this marine cloud brightening over large parts of the ocean for a very long time and increase it over time as the planet warms. Because if you reflect more sunlight, you cool down the planet and you could reduce the effects of climate change.

In this study, our objective was different. We wanted to see if cooling in a very specific part of the Pacific Ocean could interrupt the growth processes associated with El Nino and thereby weaken or even reverse a super or a large El Nino as it's forming.

SANDOVAL: Kate, I have a few seconds left.

I'm wondering if you could just briefly go through some of the unintended consequences. Like any remedy, like any prescription, it comes with some unintended side effects. What could those be?

RICKE: Well, like I said, if we're trying to reverse El Nino with cloud brightening, you know, that will be better for some places than other, right? Some places are harmed by El Nino.

There are some places that are actually helped by El Nino. And even beyond the effects of El Nino being increased or decreased by marine cloud brightening, there can be side effects from the brightening and the cooling in a particular part of the Pacific itself. So that can have side effects on regional climates elsewhere.

Or depending on how you do the marine cloud brightening with what kind of particles, that could have direct impacts on humans or the environment as well. So there's a lot of things to think about carefully before we would ever move forward with a proposal like this.

SANDOVAL: It is a proposal at this point, but certainly encourage all viewers to go on and actually read that study. It is absolutely fascinating. Kate Ricke, thank you so much for your time and everything you do, I appreciate it.

RICKE: Thanks very much for having me.

SANDOVAL: Oh, much more still ahead here on "CNN Newsroom," including a preview of the quarterfinals in the Men's World Cup. France taking on Morocco on Thursday. We'll preview that match and others in the round of eight.

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SANDOVAL: A parasitic illness is making hundreds of people sick throughout the United States. The stomach bug can cause weeks of severe diarrhea and other symptoms. Health officials in several states, they are reporting an uptick in cases.

[03:55:08]

CNN health reporter Jacqueline Howard tells us how to prevent it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: Here's what you need to know.

In some cases, this illness has been tied to eating fresh produce. And the illness that we're talking about here is called cyclosporiasis. It's caused by the parasite cyclospora, and health officials are investigating cases across several states.

In some of those states, Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas, cases have been linked to eating fresh produce from Mexican-style restaurants, local chain grocery stores, and catered events. Some examples of produce potentially include cilantro, onions, and cucumbers.

Now, there are at least eight additional clusters of cases that are still under investigation in several other states as well. And cyclosporiasis, it causes intestinal illness. So symptoms include watery diarrhea, in some cases, explosive diarrhea, and these symptoms can last for weeks.

The illness can be treated with antibiotics, but it can be a very miserable illness.

So you want to avoid getting sick in the first place. To do that, avoid food or water that may be contaminated with feces. Experts say that's how this parasite can spread.

Also, make sure you thoroughly wash any fresh fruits or vegetables that you have. If you have firm fruits like melons, scrub them with a brush.

And basic hygiene goes a long way. Wash your hands with soap and water, especially before preparing food.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Now to the FIFA World Cup, where quarterfinals are set to begin on Thursday.

Tournament favorite France kicking things off with their match against Morocco, just outside of Boston. Then on Friday, it's Spain versus Belgium in Inglewood, California; Norway versus England, and Argentina versus Switzerland; they will cap off the quarterfinals later this weekend on Saturday.

The French squad, looking to keep their momentum going. Le Bleu have won all of their games so far. Morocco's Atlas Lions, they are out for revenge after losing to France, they set the semifinals four years ago.

So good luck to them.

Thank you so much for joining me. I'll join you again in just a few moments with more of your headlines here on "CNN Newsroom."

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