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Manhunt Underway After Fatal Van Ramming at Berlin Pride Event; French Firefighters Battle 30 Fires Nationwide; Iran-Backed Houthis Claim Missile Attacks on Saudi Arabia; Maine Democrats Pick Troy Jackson for U.S. Senate Nominee; Polls Reveal Extent of Trump's Deep Unpopularity; Ukraine: Russian "Expanded Mobilization" Will Include NK Troops. Aired 4-5a ET

Aired July 26, 2026 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a very warm welcome to our viewers joining us from around the world and in the U.S. I'm Salma Abdelaziz in London. Let's get into those headlines.

Police are now looking for the suspect responsible for driving his van into a Pride event in Berlin. We have details on the attack and what police are saying about that suspect. Plus, new evacuations as wildfires scorch parts of France and Spain. We're going to take you live to one of the regions most impacted. And yet another quiet night in the skies above Iran in nearby Gulf countries. But there are still concerns that the war will expand anyway.

ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN Newsroom with Salma Abdelaziz.

ABDELAZIZ: German police are searching for a suspect with ties to Islamist extremists. This is after a van plowed into a crowd at Berlin's LGBTQ Pride celebrations, killing one person. They've asked for help from the public. In finding 21-year-old Abdul B, who has a slim build and black hair, he was last seen wearing a black hoodie and white trousers.

Now, first responders confirmed the death toll and added 16 others were injured in the incident. Police say some were apparently stabbed. The area around Berlin's Tiergarten Park was evacuated following the ramming and Pride celebrations across the German capital were cancelled.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): At first, we couldn't make out what the screams were because of the party, the music and the atmosphere. And we only realized later exactly what was going on when the police cleared the park with machine guns and asked us to go home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ: The incident came after hundreds of thousands of people jammed Berlin streets for one of Europe's largest and longest-running LGBTQ celebrations. Berlin's mayor says his city will not be intimidated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAI WEGNER, BERLIN MAYOR (through translator): I can only say that Berlin, as a city of freedom and diversity, will continue to stand strong and make its position clear. We will not allow anyone to take away our way of life or the way we live together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ: CNN's Fred Pleitgen has more for us from the scene in Berlin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is as close as we're going to get to the scene of that ramming that took place in the German capital Berlin. Now, the authorities are saying that all this happened at shortly before 10:00 p.m. in the evening on Saturday night on the sidelines of a pride event that happened here in the German capital, which is a big event here in the German capital Berlin.

If we get a little closer, if we pan over there, we can see just how big the response has been on the part of the authorities. There's dozens of ambulances here, police vehicles, also forensic vehicles as well. If we pan a little bit to the right, you can see that there's a big tent over there. We have seen some people come out of that wrapped in tinfoil blankets. It's unclear whether or not they might have been some of the people who were injured in that ramming.

The authorities are saying that well over a dozen people were injured, some of them with life-threatening injuries. And as of right now, at least one person has been confirmed to have been killed.

Now, the authorities are saying that there is a big manhunt that's going on right now for the people who were driving a white van that plowed into a crowd on the sidelines of that event. It later apparently hit a tree and came to a standstill, but again, wounding and injuring a lot of people on the way.

One of the things that we've been observing here over the past couple of days in Berlin is that the authorities have been taking great precaution to set up barricades to prevent exactly something like this from happening. This is obviously a massive event that took place in the German capital with hundreds of thousands of people attending.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABDELAZIZ: Last hour, my colleague Ben Hunte spoke with a journalist with German newspaper, DIE ZEIT.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ANASTASIA TIKHOMIROVA, JOURNALIST, DIE ZEIT: Usually the pride is a celebration that lasts until midnight or even later. And what surprises me is that the last passage of the entire pride is the most best protected because there is this huge street, Strabe des 17. Juni, where you only have the park and where no car can pass on the other part of the pride.

[04:05:00]

It was directly through the city, so cars could have passed by if they wanted to, but they didn't. So, right now it's hard to say why the attacker decided to condone his attack late in the night.

BEN HUNTE, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, because just looking at those pictures, it does seem very crowded earlier in the day. How likely is this attack to change security for pride events across Germany and the rest of Europe, too, do you think?

TIKHOMIROVA: I think it's difficult to say right now as the event was protected very well, but for sure there will be a sort of debate like it was almost 10 years ago after the attack on the Breitscheidplatz. There, an Islamist attacker, Anis Amri, killed 13 people, ramming his car into a Christmas market in West Berlin. After this, a huge debate evolved how to protect Christmas markets better, and I think this debate will evolve in the upcoming days, as many people also feel reminded of the attack that happened almost 10 years ago in December 2016.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ: The wildfires raging in Spain have now caused at least one death. An elderly man perished after being trapped in his car by a smaller fire near Valencia. Firefighters are working to prevent two fires from merging together that's near Madrid. Thousands of people have been forced to evacuate in at least 10 different towns in central Spain, and the government has declared a national emergency there as searing heat creates ideal conditions for fires to spread.

Now, fast-moving fires are prompting new evacuation orders in southwest France as well. At least five towns are being told to evacuate towards the city of Bordeaux. Now, this is so far nearly 200,000 people from the Gironde and Landes regions that have been forced to flee.

Now, France's prime minister warns that shifting weather conditions could further complicate the efforts to control these flames. The devastation led the final stage of Sunday's tour to France to be shortened after security forces were redeployed to battle the wildfires.

For more on all of this, now we are joined by CNN's senior international correspondent, Melissa Bell. She is live in France for us this morning. Good morning, first of all, to you. I understand that you're at a command-and-control center right near the front lines of this crisis. Could you tell me what you're seeing, where you are, and what challenges right now firefighters are facing? MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Salma. We've managed to get through so many of these evacuated villages to get here, and we're just here to the north of that Cap Ferret peninsula that was evacuated on Friday. Those 40,000 people who had to be brought out by that single road came through here.

Now, turned into this command-and-control center to the south of this monster fire that is very far from being contained. In fact, what we've seen overnight as a result of what the prime minister had said yesterday were going to be difficult conditions overnight, Salma, is the fire spread further still. It's now consumed 42,000 hectares of land. That is huge.

To give you an idea, about four years ago, we covered the big fires down here, also in the Gironde region. The biggest one at Landiras consumed overall, over the course of a couple of weeks, 13,000 hectares. So, 42,000 is a huge area of land. And it continues to burn this morning with very little sign that the firefighters are going to be able to get on top of it anytime soon.

On the contrary, there's a fair amount of wind. It's pretty hot and dry again today. What you've seen as a result also of the continuation of that fire and its spread are these further evacuations, an extra 55,000 people evacuated overnight. The little villages that we've just come through over the course of the morning had been those evacuated from Friday to Saturday.

We met a bunch of them last night in this exhibition center in Bordeaux. Essentially, they would get texts in the middle of the night, Salma, ringing on their phone, telling them to leave straight away. They grabbed their kids, they grabbed their pets, a bag of clothes, and now they're sleeping on cots in this exhibition center, but with no sign that they'll be able to head home anytime soon.

Still, it is for the firefighters that the challenge is the most daunting. Strong winds shifting in direction and these very, very dry conditions. In this part of France as well, Salma, these are pine forests. It's a monoculture from here until the Spanish border. And the problem with this particular kind of tree is that it has a resin inside. It's known to be very flammable at the best of times. It is about a three-hour drive to the Spanish border, and it is all pine forests uninterrupted. And so, you can see once a fire starts, it's very difficult then to be able to contain it.

[04:10:00]

And the conditions that we've seen this summer, the successive heat waves, the drought conditions of the ground, really have made this kind of fire the big danger.

We're now at more than 300 wildfires this year in France, another sad record beyond the record temperatures we've been having. And this one, for the time being, Salma, the sky is thick with the smell of it, very far from being contained for the time being.

ABDELAZIZ: Melissa Bell there on the families receiving just a text message in the middle of the night, forced to flee with their children, no idea what happens next. Thank you so much for painting a picture of that crisis for us.

I want to take you to the Middle East now, where the U.S. military campaign against Iran is on hold. Now, that's according to a source with the Defense Department. We are also learning that Vice President J.D. Vance and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff have both raised concerns about escalating the war with Iran.

Now, it is not clear that is why the U.S. paused strikes after nearly two weeks of daily attacks. But the U.S. military does continue to enforce its blockade of Iranian ports. It says U.S. forces boarded a tanker in the Arabian Sea on Saturday to verify it was in compliance before allowing it to continue its journey.

Now, meanwhile, a new front is emerging in the Red Sea. Video shows smoke rising near an oil facility along Saudi Arabia's coast, which the Houthis claimed to have hit on Saturday. The Iranian-backed rebel group in Yemen says it carried out two military operations using dozens of missiles and drones.

For more on all of this, I'm joined by Nic Robertson, live in Jerusalem. This is very interesting to me, Nic, this idea that both the vice president and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff raised concerns about escalating the war any further with Iran. Do you know what those concerns are? And could they possibly explain this pause in airstrikes?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, analysts that CNN has been talking to talk about a diminution in the capability of air defenses, defending from incoming ballistic missiles that in the early part of the war the U.S. spent more than half its inventory. This is an analysis, not figures coming from the Pentagon. But more than half of its THAAD, the high-altitude interceptor missile, that it's spent close to half of its Patriot defensive missiles.

And these can't be quickly replaced. They are being replaced. Production continues, but they're not immediately available. The Tomahawk, the cruise missile attack, about 30 percent of those used. So, the analysis is that if you continue to double down and fire missiles at Iran, Iran sends their missiles back, they need to be intercepted.

Then if you need to fight another war, wherever that may be, you're going to find yourself depleted. That's the sort of assessment. And we don't know exactly the words that Dan Caine used when briefing President Trump, but we do know that this is a broad concern within the industry.

I think, to get a better understanding of why we're seeing a pause at the moment, that some diplomats I'm talking to are sort of giving this as akin to an unannounced ceasefire, it seems to be to give breathing space for the talks that the Omani delegation had in Tehran on Friday and Saturday. And we've heard from the Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson on that, saying that there was progress, that there will continue to be technical and political-level talks about that, and the talks were focused on the Strait of Hormuz.

So, I think the understanding perhaps here is that there is a pause being given at the moment to allow talks to unravel both sides' positions on the Strait of Hormuz. We don't know if Iran continues to hold by its original position that it absolutely must be able to control the Strait and therefore make money out of it in the future. There's no reason to see that that has changed. And both sides very publicly, as you say, showing that their blockades are in place, the Iranian state media today saying that six ships have been forced to be put at anchor and not to try to transit the Strait.

And I think, you know, if you look at the imaging and messaging from both sides, they're emphasizing not the kinetic side that we've seen both Iranians and the U.S. use to stop ships in their tracks, to hit them militarily, but they're using the sort of inspection tactic. The ship's going to anchor is the message coming from the Iranians.

[04:15:00]

And again, that speaks to a sort of a just tamping down the escalating rhetoric and escalating position. So, while the concerns exist over weapons, it does seem also that perhaps part of the reason that there's that that concern exists and therefore you need to talk. The space has been created for those talks.

ABDELAZIZ: Nic Robertson on what might be breathing space for diplomacy. Thank you so much. The U.S. military has officially confirmed the identity of a soldier killed during Iranian strikes in Jordan on July 17th. The Pentagon says she is Staff Sergeant Angel Rampersad, a 28-year-old from Ozone Park, New York. The Defense Department says she was known to her family as Sarah, was born in Trinidad and came to the U.S. as a toddler and was raised by a single mother.

Democrats in Maine have a new Senate nominee after the break. We're going to tell you about the man chosen to take on Republican incumbent Susan Collins and her formidable political machine. Plus, recent polls show just how unpopular Donald Trump is with U.S. voters. We're going to examine why ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:20:00]

ABDELAZIZ: Maine Democrats have a new Senate nominee to face incumbent Republican Susan Collins in November. Former State Senate President Troy Jackson now has around 100 days to mount his campaign. Jackson was chosen by state delegates in a nearly unanimous convention vote on Saturday. He replaces Graham Platner who dropped out after an accusation of rape, which Platner denies, but Jackson may face questions about his support for the former nominee. CNN's Jeff Zeleny spoke with Jackson and has this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Maine Democrats finally turning the page in one of the most consequential Senate races in the country, formally replacing their Senate nominee.

Of course, Graham Platner's campaign imploded a few weeks ago after months and months of controversy. He was replaced by Troy Jackson, the former president of the Maine State Senate. He wasted no time going directly after his opponent, Republican Senator Susan Collins.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TROY JACKSON, MAINE DEMOCRATIC U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE: For nearly 30 years, Collins has told Maine that she is concerned. Maine does not need another six years of concern. We need someone with courage. We need a fighter and we need a senator who remembers exactly who sent them to Washington, which is you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: Of course, Collins has a track record of winning in tough races again and again. Every Democrat who's tried to challenge her for 30 years has come up short. Of course, this is a different political environment. There is no question about that. But for Jackson going forward, one thing is clear. He must unite his own Democratic Party, as well as make this a referendum on Senator Collins.

But it's clear talking to delegates here there's still some work to do to unite Democrats and move away from that Platner controversy. We caught up with Jackson afterward and asked him about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: Part of seeing the energy that Graham Platner brought without being consumed by the baggage, how do you do that?

JACKSON: Graham just tapped into, I believe, what was already there, people's frustration, their anger that government was not working for him. This is not about Graham. It's about the movement, the people, the issues. It's bigger than any one person. I know for a fact it's bigger than me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: And as we talked to Jackson, he also told us that he would not support Chuck Schumer to be the Democratic Senate leader should Democrats win a majority in the U.S. Senate. But of course, before any of that can be discussed, he must win this race. And that definitely remains an open question. He said it is a challenge. There is no question about it. A fundraising challenge as well. Susan Collins has a big head start.

The Democrats are all in on this race. They still see it as an important piece of the puzzle if they're going to try and win control of the Senate.

Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Bangor, Maine.

(END VIDEOTAPE) ABDELAZIZ: New court documents are raising questions about the Trump administration's decision to cancel billions of dollars in clean energy grants. The filings show Energy Department officials recommended targeting grants in states where then-Vice President Kamala Harris won the votes in the 2024 presidential election. The information was revealed in a lawsuit challenging the cancellations.

Now, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer calls the Energy Department's admission unprecedented as Democrats accuse the administration of using federal funding for political retribution. President Trump's speech at the White House Correspondents' Dinner was a showcase of his usual style, a rambling address filled with jokes and insults directed at the journalist in the room with him. The do- over dinner came after a gunman had opened fire and cut the original event short in April.

Mr. Trump attacked the press and his political opponents while also joking about running for another term in office. Even if it was just a joke, U.S. voters are not too happy with his job performance. CNN's Chief Data Analyst Harry Enten shows us what the polls have to say.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: After last night and the White House Correspondents' Dinner and the speech or whatever that was from President Trump, I don't want us to lose sight of the fact that President Trump is amazingly unpopular with the American public right now.

What are we talking about? Well, just to put it into some perspective for you, I put four different polls for you on the screen here. This is his net approval rating in them. These all came out or all conducted during the month of July. And you see a lot of red because President Trump is not just in the red. He is in the dark red.

Look at this. CNBC, the best of the bunch, 19 points underwater on the net approval rating. That's approval minus disapproval. How about Fox? Minus 22 points. How about The Washington Post? Minus 24 points. And then Pew Research that came out late this last week, 30 points underwater. My goodness gracious.

[04:25:00]

He's down there at the bottom of the Hudson River. We're not just talking red. I mentioned dark red. We're talking crimson red in terms of how far underwater President Trump is right now when it comes to his overall popularity. Now, what is driving this unpopularity for President Trump? Simply put, it is the economy.

What are we talking about? Well, Trump's economic net approval rating. And I want you to take a look. I want to make a comparison between Trump's two terms in office, at this time in Trump's terms. In July of 2018, the economy, that was a strength. That was a strength for President Trump. He was above water. That is his approval rating was 10 points above his disapproval rating. Look at where we are now. We are talking about a 44-point shift in the wrong direction. Again, we got the red on your screen right here. Look at this. President Trump is 34 points underwater on the economy in the latest Fox News, Paula. And if you think, you think the 34 points underwater is bad. Look at that. I have that little note. I'm not sure you can see it, but that is 52 points, 52 points underwater with independents. Independents, of course, being the name of the game when it comes to elections. You've got to win independents or at least come close with them in order to win election. President Trump isn't anywhere close to positive territory.

Now, speaking of elections, you know, I think perhaps there's some Republicans out there saying, hey, you know what? President Trump is one thing. He's not on the ballot come November. But what gets President Trump will likely also get Republicans in Congress. Why do I say that? Well, let's take a look here. OK, trusted more on the economy. The economy was why President Trump won a second term in office back in 2024.

And when voters were asked, who do you trust more in the economy, Donald Trump or Kamala Harris? According to Fox, look at that. Trump was trusted more by eight points. Look at where we are now. Just a few months ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. What was an advantage for Trump? The reason he got elected for a second term may be the exact same reason that Republicans are turned out of power.

Look at this now. Democrats have a nine-point advantage on the economy, according to the latest Fox News poll. If these numbers hold for the November elections and the economy is the number one issue, inflation, the cost of living, the economy, I really just don't see how Republicans can hold on to power in the House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: Still to come, Ukraine warns that Russia is planning to ramp up its military offensive with tens of thousands of new troops with some help from North Korea. That's after the break.

Plus, a milestone for Syria as the U.N. secretary general visits the country's president. What Antonio Guterres said about the future of the war-torn country right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:30:00]

ABDELAZIZ: Welcome back to CNN Newsroom. I'm Salma Abdelaziz in London. Ukraine's president is warning that Russia is preparing an expanded mobilization of troops to fight in Ukraine this fall. Vladimir Zelenskyy says that 30,000 troops will come from North Korea and that Russia will also receive several North Korean ballistic missile launchers.

Meanwhile, Russia is accusing Ukraine of an attack that killed 12 people, including four children at a holiday camp in Russian-occupied southeastern Ukraine. He has not responded to these accusations but says it did hit Russian oil facilities as well as a ship carrying military goods from Iran to Russia.

Larry Madow joins us now. He is tracking all the latest developments for us from Nairobi. Good morning to you, Larry. This is a very stark warning that we're hearing from President Zelenskyy, 30,000 troops coming from North Korea to fight on behalf of Russia. How is Ukraine preparing to face this threat?

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The message from President Zelenskyy is that Russia is not preparing for peace, Salma. That is why he's giving out this warning, especially that 30,000 troop number from North Korea. He's saying that Russia is teaching North Korea how to wage war, also warning that they intend to be sending some ballistic missile launchers to Russia. That is a sign that anybody who neighbors North Korea should be scared.

But the bigger picture here is that in the fall, President Putin will be sending even more troops to the front lines. Part of the reason, he says, is because frontline medical care is so catastrophic and Russia just keeps sending more men. As soon as they get killed, they keep sending even more.

A short while ago, the general staff of the Ukrainian military was saying that so far, Russia has lost 1.4 million troops in this war since it began. And President Zelenskyy did give some more numbers in his nightly address, saying that this year alone, Russia has enlisted 221,000 troops to the war and has lost about 131,000 just this year alone.

So, that's kind of the amount of people that Russia is losing quickly in this war and needs to replenish them. Listen to President Zelenskyy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): This is a threat not only to Ukraine. Russia is helping North Korea learn how to wage war, improve its weapons, and gain real combat experience in using them. All of this poses a threat to every country in Asia that lies within range of North Korean missiles.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MADOWO: That warning from President Zelenskyy coming after Russia accused Ukraine of basically attacking this holiday resort town and targeting civilians, including five children that were killed in this attack in the east of Ukraine. This is an area that fell to Russia very early near the beginning of the start of this war. Ukraine has not directly addressed that, but it has said that it's been attacking a lot of military distribution points, logistics hubs, because those are used to supply the front lines of the Russian troops. And it's making sure that it severely attacks them so that they cannot essentially pose a threat to Ukraine.

And a lot of experts are looking at what's happening in this current war and saying despite more troops coming in, it'll be very difficult for Russia to essentially break through Ukraine's drone wall because this has become pretty much a war in the skies somewhere.

ABDELAZIZ: Larry Maddow with the latest developments there for us. Thank you so much. The U.N. secretary general is calling on the world not to abandon Syria. Antonio Guterres is making his first trip to the country since Bashar al-Assad was overthrown in 2024.

[04:35:00]

He met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa Saturday. Guterres said the International Community must help Syria as it recovers from years of civil war that killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced millions. Syria's foreign minister joined him at a news conference in Damascus to talk about who needs to step up and help.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ASAAD AL-SHAIBANI, SYRIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): Today, what does Syria want? Honestly, at this stage, Syria wants the support of the International Community, not just the United Nations. It needs the help of countries, the International Community, and the European Union.

ANT NIO GUTERRES, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: No country emerges from a very severe conflict and rebuilds itself on its own. I think we must help Syria in its determination and resolve to do so.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ: I want to bring in now Reem Turkmani. She is the director of the Syrian Conflict Research Program of the London School of Economics and a former member of the advisory board to the U.N. Special Envoy to Syria. Good morning, first of all, to you, Reem. Thank you so much for joining us.

I just want to start by understanding the symbolism behind this visit. The first U.N. chief to visit the country in 17 years, of course, after this very brutal civil war. Does it mean something to see him on the ground in Syria? Are Syrians watching this visit closely?

REEM TURKMANI, FORMER ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER TO U.N. SPECIAL ENVOY TO SYRIA AND DIRECTOR OF SYRIA CONFLICT RESEARCH PROGRAMME, LSE MIDDLE EAST CENTRE: Absolutely. This is a very significant visit, not only for the first time in years, but also for the last 16 years, the U.N. was approaching Syria as a conflict site. It was sending envoys to resolve conflict. It was treating it as a site of humanitarian disaster. It was preparing humanitarian response and the refugee crisis.

For once it's actually addressing Syria as a political partner, that there is a political process that they want to support as a country in recovery, that they're calling the world to engage with to aid its recovery. So, there is a shift in direction and that shift, not just the visit, the shift in direction and the language is very significant.

Now, are the Syrians watching? Not that much. They're very much engaged with their day-to-day issues. The life here remains difficult. The economy is not recovering. So, they're probably what they see out of this visit is more or less the logistical complications as to Damascus, when roads are closed for security reasons and so forth.

ABDELAZIZ: I'm sorry there, Reem, some of your audio was a bit difficult at the beginning. I think we're hearing you more clearly now, and I wanted to ask you, because I understand that the Syrian president sat down with the U.N. secretary general. They had a meeting. What was discussed? What were the topics on the agenda?

TURKMANI: No, we don't know the details of what was discussed, but the Syrian government need the U.N. for mainly two things. First, to help with the recovery. There's an increased recognition by the Syrian government that they are not going to be able to do this on their own.

Initially, they were trying to distance the U.N., hoping that the International Community would come to them directly. But the new authorities are yet to build the inclusive government, having enough financial oversight, transparent economy that encourage donors, the International Community to deal with the government directly. So, everyone is going through the U.N. Even the Gulf, when they are offering support, they're going through the U.N.

So, now the Syrian government recognized the essential role of the U.N., and they want their help in encouraging other partners. As you see, the secretary general was encouraging other international actors to work with the Syrian government.

The second issue is about Israel. I mean, the -- Syria is under continuous attacks, military strikes from Israel. Israel has expanded its military presence beyond the agreed disengagement lines, and it does continue to pose a threat to Syria. What we read from the secretary general's statement on this issue, and his very clear position about Israel's violation of international law, its continued occupation, his message that Syria needs to recover, and this recovery will not take place if it continues to be under a security threat by its neighbor.

And that is very significant. Of course, the secretary general doesn't have a mandate to impose all of this or implement any of this, but he is giving the political support Syria needs against these continuous violations and threats to its own security.

ABDELAZIZ: Reem Turkmani there on the first visit of a U.N. chief in 17 years to Syria. Very significant moment. Thank you so much.

[04:40:00]

Europe's historic heat is fueling wildfires across the continent. Multiple fires are raging in Spain, in France. They've caused more than 250,000 people to flee their homes. We're going to have more details for you just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ABDELAZIZ: Spain and France are battling raging wildfires that have so far forced more than 300,000 people from their homes. Spanish officials say at least one person has died in the eastern city of Valencia. Firefighters are working to prevent two fires from merging near Madrid and in neighboring In France, fast-moving wildfires are prompting new evacuation orders in the country's southwest. More than 220,000 people from Durand and Lourdes regions have been forced to flee. Scientists agree human-driven climate change has caused Europe's record-breaking heat that's fueling the wildfires.

I want to bring in now Peter Thorne. He is the director of the Icarus Climate Research Center at Maynooth University. Good morning, first of all, to you, Peter. Thank you so much for joining us. When we're speaking about these extraordinary fires, just the scale and the intensity of them, what tells you this is climate change and not just a really bad summer?

PETER THORNE, DIRECTOR, ICARUS CLIMATE RESEARCH CENTRE, MAYNOOTH UNIVERSITY: So, there have always been wildfires, but these ones are being supercharged by climate change. We had in many parts that are burning now a very wet winter, and we've shown that that wet winter was made more likely by climate change.

Why does that matter? Well, that matters because it's fuel. It's made the vegetation in the spring very verdant. But then we've had these heat waves that have -- those would have been impossible without climate change. That's been shown now two, three times by different groups.

[04:45:00]

And then that has led to a rapid drying out of the land, a rapid creation of this tinderbox of a lot of vegetation that is very dry, that is ripe for wildfires to get going. So, it's a combination of things, but it actually goes all the way back to last autumn and winter and the very wet winter we had in many of these parts.

ABDELAZIZ: One of the things that shocked me was hearing from authorities that wildfires are burning so intensely that they're actually generating their own weather system. What does that actually mean? How extremely rare is it? And what are the dangers of that?

THORNE: So, it's not particularly rare for very large fires to create their own weather systems, if you like. They've long been known to be these things called pyrocumulus clouds, so that the fire is so hot that it creates convection, that it creates clouds in the vicinity. And that can in its own right be a problem because they can create lightning strikes, and lightning strikes can create more fires.

So, this isn't new per se, but the scale of the fires means more and more of them are creating their own atmospheric circulation, and that complicates massively efforts to control these fires.

ABDELAZIZ: And Peter, we have a reporter, Melissa Bell, who's right just at the heart of this crisis, and she's been talking to us about hundreds of thousands of people who've been forced to flee, some of them overnight, carrying nothing but literally what they can carry on their backs. Is Europe struggling, failing to adapt to this new reality? And if so, what is needed right now to save lives and stave off more disasters?

THORNE: This is probably one of the biggest, if not the biggest, peacetime forced relocation of people in the history of Europe. This is showing us that the reality of the climate crisis is here on our doorstep now. It's not a future problem, it is a now problem. And our governments have not done enough fundamentally to protect us as citizens.

Equally, it's not realistic for them to protect every property, to stop every fire. We've got to get real that this is our new reality, and we've got to put in place, firstly, things that save lives. That's the key thing. Let's see, hopefully, as few as possible people die, but then we've got to think about livelihoods.

And one of the things that I despair over is there's this constant, immediate knee-jerk political reaction we've got to build back. Let's build back better. Let's not put people in harm's way. And if that means not rebuilding a house that is inherently vulnerable, so be it. But we've got to get real about the fact that we need to increase our resilience to this rapidly changing climate we are increasingly living in.

ABDELAZIZ: Peter Thorne on a climate crisis that you say is right now on our doorstep. Thank you so much.

Several U.S. states are still facing a large and growing outbreak of infections. The microscopic parasite can contaminate fresh food or water and cause severe gastric distress. This year, the FDA has launched investigations into six different outbreaks. The largest of these is affecting nine states in the Midwest. Jenn Sullivan has the details and explains how to avoid getting sick.

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JENN SULLIVAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Cases of a diarrhea illness known as cyclosporiasis have risen drastically this summer. It's a gastrointestinal infection caused by a parasite.

DAVID RELMAN, MICROBIOLOGIST, STANFORD UNIVERSITY: It's transmitted by food and water.

SULLIVAN (voice-over): As of Friday, 41 states have reported at least one case this season, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But this specific outbreak is concentrated in the nine states listed on this map. Their health departments have reported over 12,000 cases of cyclosporiasis so far this summer. At least 98 people have been hospitalized, according to the CDC.

RELMAN: This may be a more complicated set of outbreaks than simply just one with one source.

SULLIVAN (voice-over): Symptoms include explosive diarrhea, nausea, abdominal cramping, bloating, and fatigue. And unlike a stomach bug that lasts 24 to 48 hours, symptoms of cyclosporiasis can last for weeks if untreated. The Food and Drug Administration says the likely source linked to the nine-state outbreak is shredded iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms to Mexico. The company voluntarily recalled the product last week.

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., U.S. HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: We do have the outbreak under control. We have done extensive forensics, epidemiological forensics.

SULLIVAN (voice-over): But experts say symptoms of the illness can take up to two weeks, and the epidemiological curve of new cases hasn't yet slowed.

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RELMAN: It's going to be hard to sort this out for one of these major centralized distributors.

SULLIVAN (voice-over): The CDC recommends washing all fruits and vegetables thoroughly before eating, and notes washing alone cannot guarantee the parasite's removal. But cooking can kill the parasite. Make sure you're not eating lettuce that has been recalled.

I'm Jen Sullivan reporting.

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ABDELAZIZ: An unusual place for six beluga whales not swimming, but flying through the air to new homes in the U.S. Ahead, we're going to tell you about the first mammals from a pod of 30 to be rescued from a now-defunct park in Canada.

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ABDELAZIZ: Six beluga whales are settling into their new homes after being moved from Canada to aquariums in the U.S. The white round- headed mammals were the first group from a pod of 30 belugas at Marine Land of Canada that are being relocated. Once the park went out of business, officials feared they'd need to euthanize them because they couldn't care for them. CNN's Allison Chinchar has more on their epic journey.

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ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST (through translator): An international rescue of beluga whales is underway.

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In 2024, Canada's Marine Land in Niagara Falls. shut down, leaving nearly 30 belugas in limbo. The former aquarium and amusement park housed the whales for two years. But the lack of finances forced the closed park to look for other options, including possibly euthanasia.

After a lengthy process to get permits approved, the Canadian government is allowing the whales to be transferred to aquariums in the U.S. and Spain. This week, six of the whales were lifted out of their tanks using cranes on their way to their new home abroad.

KRISTY BURGESS, FORMER MARINELAND TRAINER: I'm a little sad to see some of the families being split up, but it's still light years better than staying at a decaying park.

CHINCHAR (voice-over): The move is complex, using trucks and a plane to get them to their new tanks. Four of their whales arrived to Chicago's Shedd Aquarium, and the other two were relocated to SeaWorld San Antonio this week. The receiving aquariums say they are closely monitoring the belugas. Amid controversial treatment of captive whales over the years, eyes are on how the new marine parks will treat their newcomers.

ERIN RYAN, WORLD ANIMAL PROTECTION CANADA: I would love to hear a commitment to not breeding these animals or using them for entertainment style performances. We really want to see this as the last generation of whales to suffer in captivity.

CHINCHAR (voice-over): As for the rest of the whales still at Marineland, they are expected to leave for their various homes in the U.S. and Spain in the coming weeks. The Georgia Aquarium, SeaWorld San Diego, and Oceanographic Valencia are all on that list.

Allison Chinchar, CNN.

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ABDELAZIZ: Thank you so much for watching. I'm Salma Abdelaziz Ziz. I'll be back with more news after a quick break.

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