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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; Ukraine Hits Ships Taking Military Goods From Iran To Russia. Aired 5-6a ET

Aired July 26, 2026 - 05:00   ET

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

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[05:00:19]

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

A manhunt is now underway in Germany after a truck plowed into a pride parade. What we know about the suspect that's been named by police.

Plus, deadly wildfires are ripping through Europe. We're live in France where thousands are under evacuation orders and the skies are quiet over Iran as another front opens in that war. We have more for you on the military action in the Red Sea.

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. It killed at least one person. They've asked now 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. First responders confirmed the death toll and added 16 others were injured in the incident. Police say some were stabbed.

The area around Berlin's Tiergarten Park was evacuated following the ramming and pride celebrations across the German capital have now been cancelled.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 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 packed 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: Earlier, CNN spoke with independent journalist Matthew Karnitschnig. We asked him about the investigation so far and what authorities know about the suspect.

MATTHEW KARNITSCHNIG, INDEPENDENT JOURNALIST: They clearly were very familiar with his background. He appears to have rented the white van in question, although they are not sure if he was driving the van when it rammed into this crowd. They searched his residence last night at about 1 a.m. There was an explosion heard. It appears to have been the police blowing open the door, perhaps, but he was not there. They've now released a photograph of him that has been circulating in German media. So, the manhunt continues, but so far there's been no sign of him.

It was very close to the Brandenburg Gate where the grand finale of the Christopher Street Day festivities were due to take place. This happened at about 10 p.m. last night, and there's a large concert at the Brandenburg Gate, which many people might remember was the scene of the jubilant festivities in 1989 when the Berlin Wall fell. This is a very important place for Germans, sort of an iconic area in German history.

If you were going to plan something like this, there would be, you know, nowhere with more meaning to Germany if you were to plan this kind of terrorist act. And so, that certainly is what the police are indicating so far.

ABDELAZIZ: Raging wildfires in Spain have now caused at least one death. An elderly man perished after being trapped in his car by a small fire. This was near Valencia. Firefighters are working to prevent two fires from merging in Madrid. The Spanish government has declared a national emergency. The European Union is stepping in to help by sending four more water-dumping aircraft.

Now, health officials are warning residents to avoid outdoor activity because of the heavy smoke outside. Thousands of people have been forced to evacuate in at least 10 different towns in central Spain.

[05:05:00]

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RODIKA, FIRE EVACUEE (through translator): I saw clouds of smoke rising into the sky. That's when I realized something was happening. I think we all panicked. Then we received the message telling us to get ready, take whatever valuables we could, whatever was most important. I took my cat, and we left.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ: A community leader in Madrid says the situation could get much worse soon, and the prime minister says it's critical to quickly gain the upper hand.

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PEDRO SANCHEZ, SPANISH PRIME MINISTER: We have a window of opportunity this weekend to fight the wildfire and therefore to protect lives, protect population centers, and ultimately to bring this very serious wildfire under control as far as possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ: In France, wildfires have forced more than 220,000 people to flee their homes. Officials evacuated another 55,000 people from towns surrounding the city of Bordeaux. They say 68 firefighters have been injured battling those blazes.

France's prime minister warned that the weather conditions could further complicate efforts to control the flames. The devastation led the final stage of Sunday's Tour de France to be shortened after security forces were redeployed to battle the wildfires.

I want to bring in now our Senior International Correspondent, Melissa Bell. She is just west of the city of Bordeaux. I understand, Melissa, you are seeing firsthand the aftermath of these wildfires. Speak to us about what you're seeing there and what that looks like.

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Salma, we're just a couple of kilometers to the south of that monster fire that's been raging here in Gironde for several days, 42,000 hectares consumed, including here. And what you can see is what this landscape looks like, these pine forests, and what the firefighters are battling against.

So, this is a part of the forest. As you can see, the fires come through here. But because of the nature of the vegetation here, you have these little stacks of smoke that continue smoldering just over there. Flames have picked up once again.

It is very difficult, once the ground is this hot and the fire has gone through it, to prevent the fires from starting again. These pine trees, extremely flammable because full of resin that just goes up in smoke the minute the fire gets anywhere near it. So, you have these sort of smoldering lumps of ground, the end, the roots of these trees where the fire has burned through in the last couple of days.

And again, just over here, flames picking up once more. And that is because the conditions are such that it is very difficult to, first of all, contain the fire where it continues to rage actively. But even once it's been put out in places like this to prevent it from starting again, that's the conditions that the firefighters are facing. And because of the wind this morning and the heat conditions, it's pretty windy. And that's what's driving these smoldering lumps of the roots of the trees that are left and forcing them back into flames. It is the wind. And that's very difficult for the firefighters to fight against.

Right now, their efforts are concentrated slightly north of here, where the flames continue to take more ground. We spent the morning driving through these villages entirely empty, sort of ghost towns, emptied of their inhabitants, of the tourists that would normally be in this part of the world, Salma. And they've been taken mostly to emergency shelters, where some of them have been now for a few nights. And none of them have any sense that they're going to be able to get home anytime soon.

For now, the priority, really containing that fire, fixing it, as they say in French, so that it stops consuming new land. But for the time being, there is no sign that the firefighters have managed to do that. Quite the contrary. The conditions are such this morning that the rest of the day looks very difficult indeed, Salma.

ABDELAZIZ: Melissa Bell there in a pine forest that's been ravaged by wildfires.

I want to go now to the Middle East, where the U.S. military campaign against Iran is on hold. That's according to a source with the Defense Department.

We're 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. Now, it's not clear if that is why the U.S. paused strikes after nearly two weeks of daily attacks. The U.S. military is, however, enforcing its blockade of Iranian ports. It says U.S. forces boarded a tanker in the Arabian Sea Saturday to verify it was in compliance before allowing it to continue its journey.

Meanwhile, a front is emerging in the Red Sea. Video shows smoke rising near an oil facility along Saudi Arabia's coast, which the Houthis claim 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.

We're joined now live by Nic Robertson. He is in Jerusalem.

[05:10:00]

So, we now have this two-day pause in airstrikes, Nic. Do we have any indication of what that means? Because we have these contradicting messages from Washington. At times we're hearing that President Trump is weighing a massive attack, but also we're hearing today, of course, that the Vice President and the Joint Chiefs of Staff are warning against an escalation. Do you have any insight? Have you been speaking to your sources on this?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: I think the best insight we have that there is, in fact, a sort of a de facto ceasefire in place, and that does seem to have been allowed to allow some level of diplomacy to happen. The Omanis had a delegation in Tehran on Friday and Saturday. They left late Saturday. We don't know what was precisely discussed, but it does seem to have focused on the Straits of Hormuz. At least that's according to the spokesman at the foreign ministry in Tehran. And he said that there was -- the talks were constructive and there was progress.

But progress that the United States would like to see on the Strait of Hormuz would be Iran relinquishing its desired right to be able to extract, you know, a management system and financial benefit for controlling the Strait of Hormuz. That's the conundrum here. So, while there's been this pause, you know, which may be beneficial to the U.S., to pause before it makes the next move, because there are concerns, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Caine, laying that out to the president. We don't know precisely what was said, again, on that, but there's concern about munitions going forward. And from independent experts, we understand that it's the defensive missile systems, the THAAD, the Patriot. They're in not short supply, but half of them have already been used. Stocks have been used in the first part of the war. So, that's the concern.

Again, we hear from the White House, President Trump prefers a diplomatic off-ramp. The pressure for getting that is greater if the weapons stocks are lower. So, I think, you know, there is rhetoric bouncing around, but the reality on the ground, I think, is -- is perhaps what we should be guided by. And a second night without strikes indicates that some sort of ceasefire is in place.

And the Qataris have told their shipping that they can, as of today, you know, go back to sea again, taking the proper safety and security precautions. It's painting a better picture, but it's far from solved, of course.

ABDELAZIZ: Nic Robertson there on what is now a two-day pause in airstrikes from the U.S. on Iran. Thank you.

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. She was known to her family as Sarah, was born in Trinidad, came to the U.S. as a toddler, and was raised by a single mother.

There is much more to come on CNN. We're going to go live to Jerusalem for perspective on the Israeli prime minister's meeting with President Trump this week at the White House.

And the man accused of stabbing two men in broad daylight in Manhattan goes before a judge. When we return, why prosecutors say the attacks were driven by hate? Stay with us.

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[05:17:21]

ABDELAZIZ: Israeli forces used tear gas and arrested dozens of Palestinians. This was in the occupied West Bank on Saturday. This is video from the village of Tell, where just a day earlier, clashes left four Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers dead.

On the orders of the prime minister, the Israeli military began preparing for a large-scale operation, canceling leave and getting ready to send in reinforcements. The paramedic described how people in the village are feeling.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People here are scared of what happened yesterday, noting that around eight houses were set on fire in the village and vehicles as well. So, people started taking precautions and buying fire extinguishers and first aid kits to be able to tend to the incidents until the needed services and paramedics arrive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ: But some Israelis are coming together to condemn settler assaults on Palestinians in the West Bank. Here's a look at Tel Aviv on Saturday, filled with people chanting and carrying eye-catching signs. The deadly incident Friday in the West Bank came amid a marked escalation in settler attacks in the territory. The U.N. has called for urgent action to stop the violence.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to visit the U.S. this week. He's going to meet with President Trump at the White House on Tuesday. While he's in the U.S., Mr. Netanyahu is also expected to attend the funeral for the late Republican Senator Lindsey Graham. This is the prime minister's seventh visit to the U.S. to meet with the president, and comes, of course, at President Trump's invitation.

Joining me now from Jerusalem is Yaakov Katz. He is the co-founder of the Middle East-America Dialogue, an author, and a senior columnist, rather, at the "Jerusalem Post."

Thank you so much for joining us, first of all, Yaakov. I want to talk, of course, about this visit that will take place on Tuesday. And we know Iran is going to be at the top of the agenda. We know, as well, that Prime Minister Netanyahu has been opposed to negotiations. So, let's get into the details here. What plans, ideas, alternatives is he going to pitch to President Trump on the Tehran front? How is he going to try to shape Washington's next move here?

YAAKOV KATZ, SENIOR COLUMNIST, "THE JERUSALEM POST": Well, I think that, in Israel, there's a feeling, Salma, of, like, a bad taste, the way that the war has been going and the way it ended with that MOU in the middle of June that didn't really pan out, because, as we've seen, except for the last two days, almost two weeks of every single day airstrikes by the Americans against Iran, which is refusing to capitulate and basically give in to what Trump's basic demands have been, to give up the nuclear program, to open the Strait of Hormuz, and to stop the continued buildup of their military capabilities.

[05:20:10] Israel would like to see more strikes, more extensive, to include more targets. And I think that that's what Netanyahu was coming to Washington, is to discuss with Trump, OK, what are these next steps going to be? How do we make sure that a bad deal is potentially not reached? But at the same time, Salma, we have to keep in mind, he is, Netanyahu is very sensitive and aware of the fact that there is a growing voice or sounds within Washington, especially within the Republican Party, that it was him and it was Israel that dragged the United States and Donald Trump specifically into this war. He doesn't want to be seen as doing that again.

So, he's going to have to balance both of these interests very carefully. On the one hand, try to get out of Trump what he can on Iran. On the other hand, not be seen as again the guy who's the warmonger, who's dragging America into what has already been called the forever war.

ABDELAZIZ: So, let's delve into that further, because this is the crux of the issue here, right? Is this up and down relationship between Netanyahu and Trump over the last few months, give me a current state of play, if you will, of their relationship? Does he really have President Trump's ear at this moment? Or is he going to be unheard, as you said, because of these criticisms in Washington?

KATZ: Well, I mean, that's a real good question, because what we've looked and we've seen over the last few weeks is that there is a strain in the relationship. It's no secret. I mean, just listen to Vice President J.D. Vance's comments in that podcast interview with Joe Rogan, things that he said about a campaign, this alleged campaign that the Israeli government has launched in America against him specifically, and on the administration to pressure them to continue the war. We've seen how President Trump has met with President Erdogan of Turkey, a known critic, and very hostile relations between Netanyahu and Erdogan. He's met with the Iraqi prime minister. He's met with the Lebanese president.

Netanyahu has been trying to get a meeting with Trump for several weeks and hasn't succeeded. Now he's been able to connect that with the funeral of the late Senator Lindsey Graham that's supposed to also take place on Tuesday. So, he's able to combine between the two.

But Israel has been, and you can see this, it's quite apparent, has been pushed aside from the point in the beginning, few weeks of the war, joint planning, joint deliberations, joint strategy. Now, it's as if Israel's not even in the room. So, Netanyahu wants to try to get back in that room, not only, but also back at a chair at the table in making those decisions.

Will Trump give him that? I mean, it will -- it will depend on what mood the president's in and what the atmosphere is like, and basically also what Israel's bringing on its own and what it can bring as an advantage to the next steps on Iran.

ABDELAZIZ: So, let's talk about that, because like you said, Netanyahu wants to be back in that room. These men, both Netanyahu and Trump, are all about the art of the deal. What concessions or sweeteners may be offered? Because we know that President Trump is losing patience on Gaza. He's losing patience on Lebanon. He's losing patience on Iran. Is there a deal here that Prime Minister Netanyahu could offer or a concession to ease that?

KATZ: Well, I mean, he's also probably, I'm guessing that President Trump is also watching what's happening in the West Bank, as you reported just a few minutes ago, and seeing also how there's increasing violence there. And he's not going to be happy with that situation either. So, there's a lot of multiple fronts that Israel continues to find itself in without really a resolution on any of them.

I mean, in Lebanon, it's probably the most optimistic. We have this pilot program that the Israeli Defense Forces are moving out of southern Lebanese villages and the LAF, the Lebanese Armed Forces, is moving in and to fill the void and hopefully prevent Hezbollah from returning. But you're right, Gaza's stuck. West Bank, there's no political horizon. And Iran, it doesn't seem like anything's moving forward.

I think that what Trump might want out of Netanyahu, unless they're about to go again towards a joint offensive against the Iranians, is sit tight, let me reach a political resolution, and don't ruin it for me. There were those voices that we heard in the immediate aftermath of the MOU in June, that because of the continued violence between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, which I think was completely legitimate on Israel's part, it has to defend itself. But still, perception was that whenever Israel defended itself in the north and attacked in Lebanon, the Iranians used that as an excuse not to agree to an agreement with the Americans. So, Trump might want Netanyahu, he'll say, Bibi, just sit tight. Let me get this agreement. Don't get in the way. Can Netanyahu be seen as doing that with the elections on the horizon?

Let's remember, Salma, Israel has its own elections, October 27. Netanyahu needs to be seen as standing firm, standing tough, standing up to whatever some other foreign leader tells him to do. He can't give in that easily.

[05:25:06]

ABDELAZIZ: Yaakov Katz there with a look ahead to that Prime Minister Netanyahu visit to D.C. on Tuesday. Thank you so much for that conversation.

A man accused of stabbing two men in New York City in the past week is facing multiple hate crime charges. Prosecutors say that he approached an Asian man and stabbed him with a knife before going on to stab a Jewish man with a screwdriver. CNN's Mark Morales has more on these very disturbing allegations.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARK MORALES, CNN REPORTER: Prosecutors charged the alleged attacker with a number of hate crime charges, most notably two counts of attempted murder as a hate crime stemming from the stabbing attacks. Now, police said that after they arrested him, they needed some more

time to collect evidence to determine whether or not they could actually charge a hate crime. Not only were they able to do that, but prosecutors were able to charge him with a slew of hate crime charges on Friday night.

Now, when we talk about the attack, what's notable here is what he said during the attacks. If you remember, he came across an Asian man who was looking down and stabbed him in the back with a knife. Following that, he found his next victim, a Jewish man, and stabbed him in the chest with a screwdriver.

Now, in both instances, he was heard saying the phrase "Allah Akbar." It's a phrase in the Muslim religion, but it's also something that law enforcement uses to decipher between something, whether it's a terrorist attack or a hate crime incident in these type of scenarios.

Now, in this case, it seems to be one of the things that were really made the case strongly for why these stabbing attacks should have been classified as hate crimes.

Now, prosecutors argued that because of the nature of the crimes and because it's clear he had mental health issues, he had to be remanded back into custody and could not be allowed on bail. And that's what happens now. He is behind bars. He is in jail. But we should also talk about the climate here in New York City right now. Murders are down. Shootings are down. For all intents and purposes, violent crime is down. However, when you look at hate crimes in the city, they're up slightly this year when compared to last year, with most of the incidents being anti-Semitic incidents.

When you look at both victims in this incident, you have two victims who are representative communities who have long been on edge. You have Asian people that have been targeted when you go as far back as to after the COVID-19 pandemic, when a lot of incidents and a lot of attacks were happening. But you also have Jewish people that were being the target of anti-Semitic incidents following the attacks on October 7th and even after the war started in Tehran.

Now, with all this going on, the assailant is due back in court some point next week.

Mark Morales, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

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[05:31:23]

ABDELAZIZ: Welcome back. I'm Salma Abdelaziz. Let's check some of today's top stories. Spain and France are battling raging wildfires that have forced at least 300,000 people from their homes. At least one person has died in Valencia, Spain. Scientists agree human-driven climate change has caused Europe's record-breaking heat that's fueling those wildfires.

As the U.S. appears to pause strikes on Iran, the war may be spreading beyond the Gulf. Iranian-backed Houthis are claiming responsibility for a new wave of attacks along Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast. This comes a day after Saudi Arabia launched strikes in response to Houthi attacks on commercial ships.

And German police have issued a wanted notice for a suspect with ties to Islamist extremists after a van plowed into a crowd at Berlin's Pride celebrations, killing one person and injuring 16 others. They've asked for help from the public in the search for 21-year-old Abdul B.

For more on this, I want to bring in Alfonso Pantisano, the Queer Commissioner of the Berlin state government.

Thank you so much for joining us. After what I can only imagine has been an absolutely horrific night. Let's start by taking a step back. I believe you were involved in the planning of this event. I know that you've been speaking to officials. I know you raised concerns about security. Talk to me about the organization of the event and if you felt the security was there on hand to prevent this tragedy.

ALFONSO PANTISANO, QUEER COMMISSIONER, BERLIN STATE GOVERNMENT: Thank you for having me and for giving us the opportunity to speak on this tragic event that happened last night. The Pride celebrations have been organized by the Berlin Pride Committee here in Berlin. And me, in my capacity as queer commissioner, have tried to support with talks to the police and to try to figure out how we can make the event as safe as possible.

And as every year, the Berlin officials have tried everything possible in order to protect us as much as they can. But we realize there is never 100 percent security when it comes to such big-scale events like a Pride parade in Berlin.

ABDELAZIZ: And I know you were at the scene around the time of the attack. Can you describe to me what you saw? Did you speak to people? Did you speak to survivors? What were they telling you? I can only imagine there was just such a huge sense of shock.

PANTISANO: It was definitely a huge sense of shock. I was not at the crime scene directly, so I haven't seen the van or witnessed anything really, but the evacuation. We were close to the main stage where a huge act had just ended and we were all so happy about the big star on the stage and the message that Sarah Connor brought across. And at some point, we got evacuated.

And I have to say my biggest thank you goes out to the board of directors of the Berlin Pride organization. They are all volunteering here the whole year in order to organize an event like this.

And they were hugely, hugely professional in working together with the police and evacuating this huge square at Brandenburg Gate, as you might all know, in evacuating everyone and bringing everyone that was not affected by the tragic event safely back home.

[05:35:06]

So, I remained on the site in Tiergarten. I did not go home. My capacity to remain there and be there approachable for the community, but also for the police and everyone else that was involved in this.

ABDELAZIZ: And speaking of the queer community, what has been the reaction in the hours that followed this attack? This is supposed to be a day of joy. This is supposed to be a celebration. I can only imagine how that has shifted. How has the response been? How have people been coping in the community?

PANTISANO: I mean, when an attack like this happens on the queer community, and we've seen it on so many other instances, such as Orlando, for example, I invite us all to remember back then what happened worldwide. We all feel affected by these attacks and we all feel like it could have been one of us. We are realizing at the moment that the queer community and everything that has to do with visibility and with diversity and with inclusion is so much under attack.

We see it in Germany. We see it with other right-wing movements and other extremist groups around Europe. But we also see in the U.S. Everything that fuels this narrative that we are not OK, that queer people are not to be accepted, that queer people should be excluded from society. All of this fuels whatever we are seeing at the moment. In this particular case, the suspect is supposed to have an Islamic background, extremist background. That worries us a lot.

But such attacks can happen on various sides of those that do not accept us. And the group of those that is not accepting us is growing day by day. And we should be careful at the moment in how we speak about the queer community because the more we fuel it, the more it brings fire to the house of the queer community worldwide.

ABDELAZIZ: Alfonso Pantisano there. Thank you so much for speaking to us after what I can only imagine has been an extremely difficult night and morning after an attack on the queer community in Berlin. Thank you so much.

Ukraine's president warns that Russia is preparing an expanded mobilization of troops to fight in Ukraine this fall. Volodymyr Zelenskyy says 30,000 troops are going to 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.

Now, Kyiv has not responded to these accusations, but it says it did hit Russian oil facilities as well as a ship carrying military goods from Iran to Russia.

I'm joined now by Larry Madowo. He is tracking the latest for us from Nairobi. I'm interested in this claim from Ukraine, Larry, that they've struck a ship in the Caspian Sea that's more than 1,000 kilometers away from Ukrainian-controlled territory. What are you learning about this strike and what does it tell us about Kyiv's long- range capabilities?

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That is something that President Zelenskyy is touting, Salma, the fact that they, according to him, had very good results in these long-range strikes against these Russian ships. He didn't say exactly how many, but this is more than 1,000 kilometers, like you mentioned, away from Ukrainian-controlled territory. And the Caspian Sea is bordered by both Russia and Iran. It's a vital bridge between the two of them. You know that Russia has been using the Iranian Shahed drones in the war against Ukraine.

And so this latest one is something that Tehran is fighting back on very strongly. It claims that these were not military ships, that this was a commercial ship and that these strikes from Ukraine caused an explosion that killed one sailor and injured another. Iran is calling this a hostile and criminal act and that it risks expanding this war between Russia and Ukraine, claiming that it has never been involved in this war in the first place and that it will defend its territory. It has summoned the Shahed Affair from the Ukrainian embassy in Tehran to explain exactly what happened here.

But Ukraine claimed, according to President Zelenskyy, that this was a military ship carrying military cargo as well as a warship, and that's why they were legitimate military targets. So, that's the latest in this kind of back and forth between Russia and Ukraine, expanding what appears to be expanding this war quite far from where the main theater of this war is. And that came as President Zelenskyy warned that Russia essentially is preparing for a major mobilization in the fall and will be expecting 30,000 troops from North Korea. Here's that warning in his nightly address.

[05:40:07]

(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 is the warning from President Zelenskyy ahead of his meeting expected Tuesday with President Trump. And he has something to show in that meeting, right, the fact that he can be a useful ally in this supply mission, kind of disrupting the supply of arms between Iran and Russia. So, that will be an interesting meeting when he meets President Trump on Tuesday.

And President Zelenskyy is saying that even though Russia is sending even more troops to the front lines, they're just not doing enough, and they're losing more men than they can send to the front lines.

Salma.

ABDELAZIZ: Larry Madowo there on the latest developments out of Ukraine. Thank you so much.

Wildfires burning in France and Spain are forcing hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate. We're going to have the details for you and the latest developments just ahead.

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ABDELAZIZ: Spain and France are battling raging wildfires that have so far forced more than 300,000 people from their homes. French officials say 220,000 people in all have been evacuated due to the fires. That includes another 55,000 people who received orders to leave towns surrounding the city of Bordeaux.

In Spain, at least one person has died in the wildfire near the eastern city of Valencia. Firefighters are working to prevent two fires from merging near Madrid. Now, scientists agree that human- driven climate change has caused Europe's record-breaking heat that's fueling these wildfires.

Joining us now for more on this is Claire Kowalewski. She is a French Fire Brigade colonel and aerial Firefighting Preparedness and Response Officer for the European Commission.

[05:45:06]

Good morning, first of all. Thank you for speaking to us today, Claire, especially in the middle of what are extremely difficult circumstances.

Start by giving me an understanding. How exceptional are the fires that are right now burning across Bordeaux? And what is making them so difficult to contain?

COL. CLAIRE KOWALEWSKI, FRENCH FIRE BRIGADE: Yes, thanks -- thanks for the invitation. Indeed, in Europe, we are facing a very difficult situation, as you said previously. Spain, France, we are really in -- we have a series of heat wave that is affecting this part of Europe. And obviously, it makes challenging conditions for wildfire fighting.

And especially in this case of Madrid and Bordeaux, with, as you said, many, many evacuations of people, a huge number of evacuated people. What is clearly a bit specific to this fire, it's very close from the big city of Bordeaux. In fact, we're really at the interface, at the wildland, fire-wildland interface. So, in fact, this is an additional challenge to the firefighting.

ABDELAZIZ: So, as you mentioned there, the fires are inching closer to Bordeaux, which is why we've seen these mass evacuations ordered, some of the largest evacuations I think we've seen in Europe because of wildfires in many years. What is the greatest threat to the civilian population, to the families that are on the ground? Because I imagine it is not just the fire, it is the smoke, there must be other dangers that you are concerned about. What is your biggest fear? KOWALEWSKI: In fact, it's just fear. Everybody is working. I have to say the population is really resilient. With all these evacuations, a strong organization has been put in place by the local organization, local authorities. They are managing this quite well, people. And there is a huge solidarity among the citizens, in fact.

This is really a clear, clear good sign of the resilience of the population that is quite important in this type of situation. And indeed, what today, for example, in this rich part of Europe, weather conditions are a bit better, I would say. The rate of humidity is not so low, temperature not so high. But, for example, we already know that Tuesday we will have once more 39 degrees. And obviously, with the fire of such a big size and so many things, we are really at the suburb of this country, of this city. It will be more and more challenging. And this is really what we are imagining.

ABDELAZIZ: And there has been an international effort here because France has brought in military personnel and international reinforcements. But is there enough help? What help has France received so far? And what additional help does it need to fight these fires?

KOWALEWSKI: In fact, in Europe, we have a European Civil Protection Mechanism. It's a mechanism that is organized among the 27 member states of the European Union plus 10 additional countries. So, we already prepared 37 countries to work together, to train together and to reinforce each other when there is an issue.

And this is coordinated by the European Union. And in this case, for example, France requested for assistance. They said, OK, I will need some support from area resources.

And in our case, six countries have already provided assistance. We have Sweden, we have Portugal, we have Czech Republic, we have Slovakia, we have Germany, we have Croatia. They came with helicopters, with planes to support the French authority and the French colleagues.

So, in fact, when there is a request like this, when there is a big event like this, we can activate this mechanism. Operations are financed also by the European Commission. And in fact, it's the country itself. You know, France said, "OK, I've evaluated the situation." They have evaluated their needs. And they just asked, we have a global system, coordinated system. They just need to ask, OK, we need more type of planes, more this type of helicopters. We need more firefighters.

And in fact, in Brussels, we have this coordination center, the Emergency Response Coordination Center that is doing the coordination with all the other 37 countries to find the most suitable capacities.

And in this case, we have been able to, via this system, via this mechanism, we have been able to fulfill the request from France and from Spain also, because also Spain requests for assistance. So, in Spain, we have been able also to provide some support with additional planes also they have requested, and also some ground troops. And in this case, we have managed to fulfill the needs of the country that have been expressed so far. So, but obviously, it will last. It's a situation that will last, as I said. Yeah.

[05:50:14]

ABDELAZIZ: Colonel Claire Kowalewski there, thank you so much for explaining to us how that effort to contain the wildfires in both France and Spain is going. Thank you so much. We'll be right back after a break.

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ABDELAZIZ: Deep beneath the Hudson River in New York, crews are making preparations for a new tunnel that will serve the busiest passenger rail line in the U.S. The project is meant to ease major delays caused by the 116-year-old tunnel currently in place. For decades, it's been disrupting hundreds of thousands of passengers traveling between New York and New Jersey each day. Our Richard Quest has the details on this massive undertaking.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN HOST (voice-over): Drilling, boring and beeping right in the middle of the Hudson River. These cranes and giant machines are literally laying the groundwork in the Hudson riverbed, under which a new tunnel will run. When completed, it will carry the busiest passenger rail line in the country.

[05:55:08]

The Northeast Corridor runs all the way from the capital, Washington, D.C., up to Boston. Sure, there is already a tunnel. The problem? It is 116 years old and the North River Tunnel has deteriorated over the years, especially after floodwaters from Superstorm Sandy in 2012 caused widespread damage.

The North River Tunnel has become a source of major delays for the roughly 200,000 Amtrak and New Jersey Transit Rail passengers taking the journey each day. So, the answer, rehabilitate the old and build anew.

The Hudson Tunnel will have two additional train tubes through the riverbed. They will run along the nine miles of new rails by 2035. This $16 billion project is not without controversy.

DONALD TRUMP UNITED STATES PRESIDENT: The project in New York, it is billions and billions of dollars that Schumer has worked 20 years to get. It is terminated.

QUEST (voice over): The Trump administration indefinitely froze federal funding back in October. The feud finally ended when a federal judge stopped The White House effort.

So, rest assured, this major relief for northeast commuters, along with helping the U.S. economy, is well on its way and will be ready in less than a decade. (END VIDEOTAPE)

ABDELAZIZ: Thank you so much for joining us here. I'm Salma Abdelaziz in London. "CNN THIS MORNING" is up next.

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