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'Nashville' and 'Heroes' Actress Hayden Panettiere Dead at 36; Trump: U.S. to Reduce Military Exercises with South Korea; Kushner Meets Hamas Chief Ahead of Gaza Talks with Netanyahu; 180,000+ Without Power as Lala Begins to Exit Hawaii; Europe's Dwindling Rivers Threaten Energy Production & Trade; Taiwan Wraps Military Drills after Test of Preparedness; Carlson Defends Esports World Cup Title. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired August 17, 2026 - 00:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT: Hello from Hong Kong. I'm Will Ripley, and you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

[00:00:43]

President Trump eases up on North Korea, slashing military drills and talking up his relationship with Chairman Kim Jong-un. Is he clearing the way for another summit or giving away leverage before Kim even comes to the table?

And Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is back in the Middle East, where he held talks with the leader of Hamas. What could this mean for peace in Gaza?

Plus, we're tracking the remnants of Hurricane Lala, triggering life- threatening flooding across portions of Hawaii's Big Island and Maui.

Those stories in a moment. But first, we begin with breaking news. Actress Hayden Panettiere has died at the age of 36.

The actress is most known for her roles on television in the science- fiction show "Heroes" and the country music drama "Nashville."

Now, the circumstances surrounding her death remain unknown. Panettiere's father, though, did tell CNN, quote, "She was an incredible light and a force of nature who brought immeasurable love and joy to all who knew her, and to the millions who watched her on screen."

Just shocking news, breaking in the last hour or so.

For more, I'm joined by Emily Longeretta, director of features at "Variety."

Emily, 36 years old. What was your reaction when you heard this news?

EMILY LONGERETTA, DIRECTOR OF FEATURES, "VARIETY": I think I can probably speak for most when I say it was absolute shock. Thirty-six is extremely young. And of course, as you said, we don't know any of the details yet surrounding what happened to Hayden Panettiere, but she has been acting and on our TV screens since '94.

She made her debut and working on "One Life to Live" and then "Guiding Light." She's been on TV, you know, for many, many years, starting around 5 years old.

But she's been open with the public a lot through the years about what she's been going through and kind of her ups and downs and her personal life, and some mental health struggles and some abuse with substance struggles.

And she was recently sober and recently put out a memoir and was talking a lot about how good she was doing. So, it's really, really shocking to hear.

RIPLEY: Now, you mentioned how Hayden Panettiere spoke publicly about her intensely personal struggles.

So, how do we, in covering this, acknowledge that part of her story without allowing it to define her life, particularly, as you said, when we don't know the circumstances of her death?

LONGERETTA: Absolutely. I think that, to be brave enough to write a memoir and go into detail about some of those things that she was going through growing up in Hollywood, being in the limelight at a very young age, being in some of the biggest movies and TV shows. Like you said, "Heroes," "Nashville." She was in so many of these big projects, very young.

I think it's important to just focus on that; focus on the success that she had. You know, I always think of the "Scream" movies that she was in. She was in "Scream 4" and became such a big fan favorite that people demanded she come back for "Scream 6" a few years later, and they got her back in the movie.

And I think that, you know, in her memoir, she talks a lot about how she found people that she was close to and the people she really trusted and held on close to them. And that's what, you know, I would assume her friends and family would want people to remember.

RIPLEY: And she also endured the death of her younger brother, Jansen, just a few years ago. How did she speak about the effect that that loss had on her?

LONGERETTA: Yes. She said, you know, in many interviews and in the book, she said a lot that, you know, she felt responsible for taking care of him because he was her baby brother. And he died at such a young age in 2023.

And that she almost couldn't leave the house for a little while, because she was going through such a -- such a guilt and almost a depression around this death that that was so tragic for her and so shocking for her. And that, of course, you know, it did take a toll on her mental health. And she wanted to talk about it. Finally, you know, a year later, she came forward and spoke about it

in a long interview with "People" magazine. And then she spoke a lot about it in her book about hopefully her talking about it will let people know that, you know, it's OK to go through things. And grief looks different on anyone. And, and, you know, it's -- the more we talk about it, the better it is for everyone involved.

So, she kind of, you know, took her trauma and really used it to try to help others.

[00:05:04]

RIPLEY: She was so candid about that and also candid about just the difficulties that come with growing up in the public eye. And that honesty had to really become a part of her connection with audiences.

LONGERETTA: Yes, I think it's always really, really special when we see people who have been on screen since such a young age being so open about their struggles and being so open about how it may look all glamorous and red carpets and award shows, but you know that behind closed doors, that's not the case.

She spoke about, you know, a bit about her sexuality and not being comfortable coming out as bisexual, because she wasn't sure how her team and how people around her were going to feel; because she'd been on TV in such a young age, and people viewed her in a certain way.

She spoke a lot about, you know, being at parties at a very young age that she shouldn't have been at and not knowing who to trust. And really just, you know, that's very vulnerable and hard to talk about.

And she seemingly recently -- I mean, the book came out just in May, so not long ago at all. She really finally felt open enough and, you know, comfortable enough to share that with the world.

RIPLEY: It seems like there's always so much effort and money that goes into making these young people stars. And then they become stars, and yet, there's very little in terms of mental health support when things change and careers change.

And, you know, we've seen this time and time again with other celebrities and child stars. You know, thinking of Liam Payne and others as well, who've -- who've met an untimely and tragic end.

Obviously, we still don't know the circumstances here.

But -- but Emily, really appreciate you coming on to talk about this. And we'll obviously have much more coverage of this in the coming hours.

Hayden Panettiere dead at the age of just 36.

Just hours before the start of joint military exercises between the U.S. and South Korea, President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon to substantially scale them back. In a social media post announcing the change, the president cited his positive relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, saying the drills send a signal that is, quote, "inappropriate and hostile" to North Korea.

The president also cited Seoul's lack of assistance with Iran, saying he recently asked South Korea's president if they would like to join the, quote, "denuclearization of Iran." And he says they said no.

CNN's new Seoul correspondent Gage Goulding is following developments on the Korean peninsula. And he's joining me now here in Hong Kong.

Hey, Gage, so what is in this new Truth Social post? And how is South Korea responding as these drills are now underway?

GAGE GOULDING, CNN SEOUL CORRESPONDENT: You know, I think there's a lot to unpack here, Will. And let's start with the fact that it's too late to cancel the drills. The president acknowledged that in his own Truth Social post, saying that it's basically too late to cancel.

And he's asking the secretary of war, Pete Hegseth, to scale back the operation.

But today, the South Korean joint chiefs of staff telling us that the operation started as planned.

And this is a massive operation. There's about 18,000 South Korean military members that are joining a number of the U.S. forces that are based in South Korea. About 28,500 U.S. service members are based there.

And this is an annual thing, something that's been going on for years. But I will note that during President Trump's first term, he scaled back the operations in 2018, in 2019. And then, of course, we know COVID in 2020 and 2021. There was, you know, a kind of a lesser version, if you will, of that operation for yet another reason.

Then earlier this week or last week, I should say North Korea called this exercise, quote, "rehearsal of an aggressive war." And as part of that, although North Korea did not acknowledge the fact that they were launching ballistic missiles over the last two weeks, they launched two ballistic missiles, likely kind of in a sense, of being opposed to this exercise.

But Will, as you very well know, as you've covered North Korea in and out, this is a very large-scale operation, exercise, preparing for war.

And specifically, this time, Will, they were looking at, you know, modern warfare, the use of drones, GPS jammers, those kinds of things.

So, while the Truth Social post does say he wants to scale it back, we have a great relationship with North Korea. It's really kind of just that: a post. And really, we'll have to see over the coming days, because this is a ten-day exercise. Whether the exercise really will be scaled back. RIPLEY: I mean, obviously we should talk about this other Truth Social

post over the weekend, as well, from President Trump, because he shared that photo of himself and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Tell us more about that.

GOULDING: Yes, it was an interesting post. There it is right now. You can see they don't necessarily look happy, but the caption on the post says, "Despite the unfriendly look on this particular picture, there are many where we're smiling" and that he and the North Korean leader get along great.

Now you know, this was sent a day before. Whether the president just was, you know, had Twitter fingers, if you will, and posted this or if this is something he was thinking of.

[00:10:06]

Again, going back to his latest post, he says it's too late to cancel. Now, it depends on how long he was thinking about this, whether he was aware it was happening. And those are details that we'll learn in the coming hours.

It sure does indicate that he's maybe, potentially, trying to signal to, you know, Pyongyang that he wants to have some sort of summit again.

You know, he met the North Korean leader several times during his first presidency, and there were indications that he wanted to meet since he'd taken -- since he's taken office, excuse me, this second time.

But, you know, so far, we're not necessarily seeing any indication from the North Korean side, Will, that that wants to be the case, as well.

RIPLEY: Yes. In fact, zero engagement on the North Korean side, despite President Trump's repeated overtures going all the way back to his trip to Asia late last year.

Gage Goulding in Hong Kong, appreciate the update. Thank you very much.

We have the perfect person here now to discuss. Joining me is Christopher Hill, a former U.S. ambassador to South Korea and Iraq, a former assistant secretary of state, and the author of "Outpost: A Diplomat at Work."

Hello, Ambassador. It is so great to have your perspective as someone who has negotiated with North Korea. In fact, you were the chief negotiator in the six party talks on Pyongyang's nuclear program.

So, what do you think? Is President Trump signaling to try to get Kim Jong-un back to the table?

CHRISTOPHER HILL, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO SOUTH KOREA: Yes. You know, it's really hard. There -- hard to say. There are a lot of details that, obviously, we don't know.

What we do know, however, is that these exercises have gone on for literally decades, as Gage suggested. Decades. And every year -- and this is pretty certain -- the North Koreans get up and say, these are a terrible threat to us, and we're going to have to do something at one point. Or at several points, they threaten the six-party talks. They usually threaten some kind of form of -- of cooperation.

But in all cases, we've understood the need to be reliable with our South Korean allies. And we've always gone through with the exercises.

So, this is rather remarkable, to have the president step in, at really the last minute. As he pointed out, he can't stop the exercise, because it's already ongoing.

And so, it's really -- you know, it really speaks to the issue of U.S. reliability. And, you know, I've said before, I mean, it's one thing to be a little unpredictable. It's quite another thing to be unreliable. And that's where we're heading with this sort of thing.

I will say that it is possible that there is something in the works in terms of a meeting or something. We haven't heard that. But there's some -- there may be some reason why the president got directly involved, but usually, giving up your leverage ahead of time is really not the way to go.

RIPLEY: I mean, you've sat across from the North Koreans. They've always said that they view these drills as hostile. But do you think the North Koreans genuinely fear them? And especially now. Kim Jong-un has sent thousands of troops to learn about modern combat alongside the Russians in Ukraine.

So, is President Trump just sort of repeating a North Korean talking point before they even get to the table?

HILL: Well, what he said was very much a North Korean talking point. Whether he thought of it himself or got it from the North Koreans, I can't really speak to that.

But certainly, these exercises are pretty open. Everyone knows the scenarios. And every -- every exercise that I've ever seen or been involved in has to do with a defensive exercise. What do you do if the North Koreans attack? And so, how do you manage that? That is the -- that's -- that's the name of the game.

So, the notion that these exercises are designed to invade North Korea, to launch a surprise attack on North Korea, that's something the North Koreans say every single year. And it's something that is quite inaccurate.

RIPLEY: In comments publicized on North Korean state media, Kim earlier this year used Iran to justify his decision to not only keep his nuclear arsenal, but continue to grow his nuclear arsenal, even though they haven't been showcasing the missile launches as boldly. Even though there have been launches, they haven't put them on their state media. But I guess the question, you know, maybe they're dialing back the

propaganda a little bit, but they're still growing their capability. And if denuclearization is off the table, as the North Koreans have stated repeatedly, then what would Trump and Kim actually have to talk about?

HILL: Well, very good question. I mean, the name of the game has been denuclearization. The concern about North Korea going nuclear is what it means to the rest of the neighbors, what it means to Japan, South Korea. Obviously, it means a lot in terms of the -- of East Asia.

So, to have us suddenly say we're scaling back and then to throw in the issue of Iran in the middle of it, I think, was rather disingenuous.

[00:15:06]

But in any event, this is really worrying a lot of countries about our reliability. And, you know, we have spent a lot of time trying to build up these alliances in East Asia, trying to work with these people.

And by the way, exercises, it's not a question of getting soldiers together to play volleyball. It's a question of they need to know each other. They need to know what kind of -- of thinking each goes into. And so, it's very important. If you're going to have an alliance, you better have exercises to go with it.

So, I mean, this is kind of a shocking development by the president. We'll see if he has some reason beyond what he stated. But certainly, this is not the way to handle a region of the world that really expects reliability from us.

RIPLEY: If you were still stationed in Seoul, what would you be telling your South Korean counterparts, especially given the internal debate inside South Korea right now about whether they should keep expanding their own weapons capability, including the discussion of nuclear weapons on the South side of the peninsula, which is just kind of a staggering thing, but somewhat plausible considering all of the other developments that we've seen in the world and the signaling from the president

HILL: Well, first of all, we don't tend to have ambassadors out in the -- in the world anymore. So, I'm not sure who is there. Obviously, there's an embassy there.

I think they're probably going to get some assurance from Washington that our -- our reliability with respect to the so-called nuclear umbrella, that we remain a good ally of the South Koreans.

We would want to get that out of -- out of senior people in Washington so that we could try to give some reassurance to the South Koreans.

But, you know, this has been a pretty rough time for a lot of our friends and allies out there who feel that somehow, we treat our enemies better than we treat them. RIPLEY: The new U.S. ambassador in Seoul, Michele Steele, just

arrived, a former U.S. representative from California. She is now on the ground in Seoul, and we'd certainly love to speak with her at some point to find out what she's saying to her counterparts there.

But Ambassador Christopher Hill, we have to leave it there for now. I really appreciate your -- your time and your expertise on this, and we'll keep following it. The drills are scheduled to last for ten days. Thank you.

The commander of the U.S. Central Command is pushing back after concerns about morale and mental health aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln.

Admiral Brad Cooper visited the aircraft carrier this weekend as part of a recent trip to the Middle East.

The ship has been deployed for more than 250 days after being sent to the region to support U.S. operations in the Iran War. Admiral Cooper says the USS Abraham Lincoln has, quote, "among the lowest mental health cases out of the Navy's 11 active carriers."

But he went on to say, quote, "This doesn't mean that all is perfect. Find any of the nearly 4 million Navy veterans in America today, and they will likely tell you that service at sea for long periods is not for everyone. It is uniquely challenging and tough, and every single one of us, including me, reacts to stressors in different ways."

President Trump's son-in-law is in the Middle East, hoping to find a way to get the Gaza peace talks back on track. Sources tell CNN Jared Kushner met with the new leader of Hamas, and in the coming hours, he will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has rejected President Trump's 15-point peace plan for Gaza.

CNN's Oren Liebermann is in Jerusalem.

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OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: As the Trump administration tries to push forward the U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement in Gaza, U.S. envoy --

LIEBERMANN (voice-over): -- Jared Kushner is here to try to push forward that stalled agreement, holding meetings in Egypt and Israel to see if it's possible to make progress here.

But he's walking into an incredibly difficult diplomatic situation.

On Sunday, Kushner held meetings with Hamas's new leader, Khalil al- Hayya, who was also the chief negotiator at the time of the previous ceasefire agreement back in October.

He also met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. He is a key mediator between Israel and Hamas and was one of the key elements in getting that previous agreement.

On Monday, he will meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

LIEBERMANN: The real question here is, is it possible to make any progress here? Hamas has, from their perspective, made clear their position. They have agreed to disarmament, but they refuse to begin that process until there's the deployment of an international --

LIEBERMANN (voice-over): -- security force to Gaza to take over security.

And Israel starts withdrawing from the more than half of Gaza that it occupies.

LIEBERMANN: Until then, Hamas has made clear they're not moving forward on disarmament.

Except that international security force doesn't exist in any real way that's deployable to Gaza. And Israel has made clear they have no intention of withdrawing at all from the territory they occupy in Gaza until Hamas fully disarms, something Israel is skeptical will actually happen.

[00:20:03]

And that is the situation Kushner walks into, in which he's trying to see if it's possible to move forward with the agreement.

He also has with him Board of Peace director-general Nickolay Mladenov, who has met with the parties before.

LIEBERMANN: But these difficulties here have existed and continue to exist as -- as Kushner and Mladenov will try to push forward these agreements.

LIEBERMANN (voice-over): Meanwhile, the mediator -- mediating countries, as well as several other Arab and Muslim states, put out a joint statement on Sunday, condemning Israel for its rejection of the Trump-brokered 15-point agreement that's supposed to move forward the ceasefire in Gaza.

In a joint statement, they said, "Such rejection confirms that Israel now bears responsibility for obstructing the efforts to bring peace in Gaza and the rest of the occupied Palestinian territory."

LIEBERMANN: We'll see if that statement influences Kushner's thinking at all, and the amount of pressure that he's willing to put on Israel to try to make progress here in what is and has been an incredibly difficult situation to try to manage and to try to make progress on.

Oren Liebermann, CNN, in Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIPLEY: Joining me now is Benjamin Radd, a senior fellow at the UCLA Berkeley Center for International Relations. It's great to see you, Ben. There's a lot to talk about. So, let's start with Kushner asking Hamas for verifiable disarmament

and Netanyahu for a phased withdrawal. I guess I'm wondering if President Trump can give Israel enough security assurance to make those actually happen in parallel.

BENJAMIN RADD, SENIOR FELLOW, UCLA BERKELEY CENER FOR INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS: In maybe any other time frame, yes.

Given that this is a critical election period, both in the United States and Israel coming up and with Netanyahu's reputation on the line and his legacy as he tries to stay in power, it becomes challenging.

He's basically asked -- he'll be asking the Israeli people to accept on good faith the idea that Israel unilaterally hitting all the phases at once, will essentially bring Hamas to capitulate, or what it sees as capitulation.

And Hamas in the past has been against this, in general. So, I think there's skepticism, and the -- the electoral pressure makes this a lot more complicated than it otherwise would be.

RIPLEY: What leverage does Trump have if either side says no?

RADD: Well, the leverage right now is basically, if -- it's not so much from President Trump. It's if Israel appears to be the obstacle to this moving forward. You could see that pressure come to bear in the midterm campaigns, in the elections coming up.

The idea that Israel is very slowly losing ground amongst its base of support, its traditional base in Congress, especially within the Democratic Party and amongst, you know, a small group of Republicans, but still notable.

And so, is this something that the electoral pressure can come to bear in a way that Trump himself does not have the leverage to do? That's unique. We haven't seen this before in the relationship between the two countries.

RIPLEY: How much does President Trump need Gaza settled to give him room to end the Iran war?

RADD: Well, what Iran is trying to do is this idea of -- of linkage. He's linking Israeli withdrawal or ceasing Israeli responses in Lebanon, as well as Gaza, as a basis for any deal moving forward.

That, in other words, there's no discussion of opening up the Strait of Hormuz unless these other conflicts on these other fronts are done simultaneously.

The United States is trying to decouple or delink, saying these are not tied to the same thing.

Part of the issue here is the fact that Iran is, through its axis of resistance proxy groups, is trying to project its power in Lebanon, in Gaza. And the idea is from the United States and the Israeli perspective, is

to sever that ability, to weaken its ability to do so.

I don't think Iran's attempts to pressure the United States in linking those -- those different conflicts is going to work.

RIPLEY: You have the U.S. treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, now promising unprecedented economic pressure on Iran. But I'm just wondering, after sanctions, and strikes, and a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, what meaningful U.S. leverage is actually left?

RADD: Yes, that's a great question. And it's an interesting quandary to be in.

Iran has two economies. There's the legal economy, the one that -- that the people are participating in on a daily basis. You have the legitimate businesses, the privately owned businesses.

And then you have the sort of illegal economy, the black-market economy the IRGC controls. And that's how it's skirted sanctions and been able to really not just stay in power, but amass power. We're talking about its drone capabilities, its ballistic missile capabilities, nuclear enrichment, its ability to sell oil on the -- on the black market.

Any sanctions, any -- any economic measures or pain the United States inflicts beyond what's already been done is not going to reach down into that sort of illegal economy, that black-market economy, which the IRGC has demonstrated can -- it can survive it.

And so, the question remains, then, if you -- if you attack the legal economy, if you make life harder for ordinary Iranians, will that be enough to tip and push them out into the streets like they came last December, leading into the massive protests in January that resulted in the severe crackdown that we saw from the regime. That's a huge "if."

[00:25:04]

What this regime has demonstrated is that it is prepared to withstand any pressures on that legal economy, on that -- on that legitimate economy, and that it sees this as an existential conflict. So, it's willing to basically push its own people to the limit and beyond in order to stay in power.

RIPLEY: Obviously, China is Iran's biggest oil customer. If they are the biggest remaining lever here, would going after major Chinese banks risk a confrontation with Beijing that President Trump probably doesn't want right now?

RADD: Not only does he not want, but we've seen China's ability to retaliate and respond in kind. I mean, right now, we're going through a massive what they're calling "RAMageddon," which is a huge increase in the price of RAM and computer chips, resulting in higher consumer prices for a whole host of goods. And we're seeing that trickle down, not just into things like cell

phones and computers, but also cars and home appliances, all these things that rely on computer components, microprocessors, chips, things of that nature.

China has the ability to control the raw materials that go into manufacturing ram, memory, semiconductors, processors.

So, if the United States decides to go after China because of its continued purchase of Iranian oil outside of the sanctions regime, the Chinese have many levers to respond in kind and disproportionately. And this is the last thing, I think, the president wants going into the midterms.

RIPLEY: Absolutely. Benjamin Radd, live in Los Angeles. Appreciate your expertise. Thank you very much.

This is CNN NEWSROOM, live from Hong Kong.

Downed trees, destroyed power lines, washed-out roads. These are the pictures we're seeing in Hawaii as we assess the damage from Hurricane Lala. Now, a tropical storm.

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RIPLEY: This is CNN NEWSROOM, live from Hong Kong.

We're following Tropical Storm Lala. It's started to leave Hawaii, but parts of that state are still seeing heavy rain and strong wind gusts right now.

Officials say the most serious threat at this very moment is flash flooding and mudslides, especially in higher areas.

Lala made its closest approach to Hawaii's Big Island over the weekend on Saturday as a Category 1 hurricane and left a lot of devastation behind, as you can see.

Hawaii's governor says at least 100 homes have been damaged or even lost entirely. Look at this video from the scene, showing just how powerful these flood waters can be.

There was a vehicle that you see there pushed down a road with two paramedics inside. They were rescued by the National Guard.

Wind gusts toppled trees. They knocked down utility lines. Right now, still, about 180,000 customers are without power. They have been warned that these outages could last a while. We get more from CNN's Jenn Sullivan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JENN SULLIVAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Fierce winds and heavy rains pummeling the Hawaiian islands as Lala slammed the Big Island as a Category 1 hurricane with maximum wind speeds reaching 80 miles per hour.

TOM SKILLING, METEOROLOGIST: There are whitecaps as far as the eye can see, and the winds are so strong they sheer the tops off the waves.

SULLIVAN (voice-over): Rainfall totals in some areas reaching over 30 inches.

JONATHAN PETRAMALA, INDEPENDENT JOURNALIST: Dangerous situation. This storm really lived up to what we expected it to be, which was very impactful, especially from its rain.

SULLIVAN (voice-over): The rushing waters swallowing this highway on Hawaii's Big Island, forcing authorities to shut it down. It's just one of many road closures.

KIMO ALAMEDA, HAWAII COUNTY, HAWAII MAYOR: What makes this very challenging is that there's rushing water. There's debris, and there's boulders on the road. And it's -- it's dark.

SULLIVAN (voice-over): Tens of thousands of people are without power, and several buildings have lost roofs. More than 190 flights in and out of Hawaii were postponed, according to the governor.

GOV. JOSH GREEN (D), HAWAII: It's going to be significant damage. I've already begun the process of starting the paperwork with our team for a major disaster declaration.

SULLIVAN (voice-over): As Lala moves West, there's a serious threat of more torrential rain, which could spur additional flash flooding across the other Hawaiian islands.

I'm Jenn Sullivan reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIPLEY: Two people are dead and at least five others injured as fast- moving wildfires tore across the Greek island of Salamina on Sunday.

This is just one of several fires burning across Europe right now. All of this, exacerbated by the severe drought conditions and successive heat waves in the region.

On Salamina, near gale-force winds fueled the quick moving flames. They spread rapidly into residential areas.

Here, we can see the thick smoke rising from a nearby beach.

The fire broke out during Greece's peak summer getaway period, and several ferries have been deployed now to evacuate hundreds of beachgoers. In fact, more than 500 of them from the area.

The same drought and heat wave conditions fueling Europe's wildfire outbreak have taken an extreme toll on the region's water supply, including the continent's mightiest rivers.

CNN's Stefano Pozzebon reports on the cascade effect as dwindling water levels disrupt power production and supply chains across Europe.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Some of Europe's mightiest rivers are running dry. Great waterways reduced to a sliver of their size in the hot summer heat.

In Hungary, authorities sank barges and dropped cement blocks in the shrinking Danube to try to raise water levels and redirect the current to keep water flowing to a nuclear power plant that produces about a third of the country's electricity. Hungary's prime minister says it's a race against time.

PETER MAGYAR, HUNGARIAN PRIME MINISTER (through translator): The water level is dramatically low, and no significant precipitation is expected in the catchment areas for the next few days or weeks, which could also mean that the problem could persist for months.

POZZEBON (voice-over): This power plant is already operating at a fraction of its capacity because of a lack of cooling water, and if the Danube drops even further, one of its two remaining turbines could be shut down.

Neighboring Romania took similar measures to try and raise water levels there, but it was forced to shut down its nuclear power plant just a few days ago.

The country had already declared a state of emergency over power shortages, with some cities going dark at night and residents asked to conserve energy use.

MIRCEA, RESIDENT (through translator): It seems we've reached this point due to poor decisions that were made considering the climate crisis we've faced for decades.

POZZEBON (voice-over): The Rhine, too, is running dangerously low. It's a major artery for moving fuel and raw materials across the continent, and cargo vessels have been forced to lighten their loads to avoid grounding themselves and divert shipments over land.

ANDREA BARTEL, DUISBURG HARBOUR SPOKESPERSON (through translator): More, smaller, more easily maneuverable lighter ships are being used, but a great deal is being transferred onto the train and onto the lorry in order to enable the transport and keep the supply chains going.

POZZEBON (voice-over): And if navigating shallow water isn't challenging enough, the skeletons of sunken ships are surfacing in some places.

Rome's Tiber River is so depleted that the remains of a 2000-year-old structure called Nero's Bridge is visible once again. These relics of the past, exposing just how urgent the crisis is.

Hungary says a longer-term plan is underway to build a dam-like structure underneath the Danube to help manage water flows, but that will take weeks.

And if the river continues to drop, its nuclear power plant might be forced to shut down entirely like Romania's did, further straining the country's energy grid and the budget much longer than the summer season.

Stefano Pozzebon, CNN, Rome.

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RIPLEY: Up next, we turn to Taiwan and a test of preparedness on that island democracy, which has just wrapped up its annual war games. We are on the ground looking at how residents were involved in the exercises.

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RIPLEY: Taiwan has now concluded ten days of annual military drills aimed at modeling a response to a potential invasion by China.

I was there before I flew here. Taipei is actually my home base when I'm not filling in anchoring here in Hong Kong. And so, I was on the ground covering these exercises, which involved, for the first time ever, slowing down the Internet as they were clearing the streets of Taipei during this mock air raid drill.

Take a look.

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RIPLEY (voice-over): In Taiwan's capital, a jarring reminder of how quickly things can change. Every phone gets the same alert: "Missile attack. Seek immediate shelter."

In less than two minutes, Taipei is silent. This may be a drill, but it doesn't feel like one.

China's military is actively training in the waters and skies around Taiwan, practicing blockades, joint combat operations, and rocket strikes.

RIPLEY: It's surreal to see the busiest intersection in Taipei, or at least one of them, totally dead. Everybody's pulled over and hunkering down underground or inside.

RIPLEY (voice-over): On top of that, mobile Internet slows to a crawl. Sending a text takes several minutes, testing how Taiwan could cope if its communications came under fire.

These are the island's biggest annual military exercises. The major focus this year: preparing the entire society for what a Chinese attack could really be like.

BEN LEWIS, CO-FOUNDER, PLA TRACKER: It's very likely that in the event of an invasion, China is going to strike critical infrastructure in Taiwan, but also use its cyber capabilities to degrade Taiwan's network connections in an attempt to cause chaos.

RIPLEY (voice-over): PLA Tracker co-founder Ben Lewis traveled from Washington to observe all ten days of Taiwan's drills.

LEWIS: The United States has a very significant interest in ensuring that Taiwan can stand and fight on its own to, you know, ensure that there is a deterrent against China that doesn't totally rely on U.S. intervention.

RIPLEY (voice-over): And increasingly, many Taiwanese believe they may have to stand alone. One recent survey found less than a quarter of voters here see the United States as a trustworthy ally.

RIPLEY: Do you trust that the U.S. would defend Taiwan if China were to attack?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Taiwanese also, they need to believe themselves. Like, no matter if the Trump or the U.S. aid, they will help us, we still need to have a courage or to do some action.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I think not, because Trump is the president. He prioritizes his interests, America's interests first. Plus, if you just watch what's going on in Iran, you'll know that the U.S. is not reliable.

[00:45:07]

I also don't think we can rely on the U.S.

RIPLEY (voice-over): A tiny democracy preparing for war with a superpower, a war Taiwan hopes will never come, but is preparing to fight with or without American help.

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RIPLEY: And now, as you heard that man mention, with the U.S. tied up in Iran, Taiwan is preparing for the possibility it may have to hold out on its own if something were to happen, which, of course, everyone in Taiwan hopes will not be the case.

But that does make these drills and preparing the entire society for a potential crisis all the more urgent.

Still to come here on CNN NEWSROOM, live from Hong Kong, the e-sports World Cup chess champion is defending his title now the second year in a row. The chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen speaks with CNN about the future of the game's digital medium.

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RIPLEY: Chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen is riding high. He successfully defended his title as the e-sports World Cup champion over the weekend.

Carlsen took home the top prize: a quarter million bucks and a perfect win streak in Paris.

CNN's Matias Grez spoke with the two-time champion after his final match.

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MATIAS GREZ, CNN CREATOR: A huge congratulations: EWC 2026 champion. Do you go into these tournaments and matches expecting to win? Because everybody that we speak to kind of expects you to. And how do you deal with that level of expectation?

MAGNUS CARLSEN, CHESS GRANDMASTER: Yes, I don't think -- I don't think you think about too much -- too much about expecting to win or anything like that. You kind of just want to do the right things and -- and take it step by step. Just very boring answer. But that's -- that's a little bit how it is. But yes, of course, I know it's a likely scenario.

GREZ: Yes. And chess has obviously come such a huge way in terms of popularity in this modernization in the last few years, in particular. The crowds, as well. Where do you see the potential for chess going forward?

CARLSEN: Look, I think chess has a lot of potential and some -- some limitations in terms of the kind of the wow factor of -- of the game.

I'm really happy with the way things have gone the last -- the last few years. And there's, just as always, going to be a game that a lot of people have some kind of relationship to, even if they don't play a lot, even if they know the rules or they just know some of the rules. Everybody kind of knows something about chess.

And we're always going to have that advantage.

But let's see. I think what's happened here in the EWC the last couple of years is a really good step in the right direction.

GREZ: And slightly off-topic, but I saw earlier this month you sank a pretty nice 12-foot birdie putt at Lofoten Golf Course links. How is your golf game? I mean, that is a notoriously difficult course. So, making birdie can't be too bad.

CARLSEN: No, I started playing late 2023. And I've been a, like, pretty -- pretty eager player since. So, you know, my coach, Peter, he's a golf fanatic. My dad plays a ton, as well, now. So, we -- we get a few rounds in at tournaments these days, as well, which is -- which is nice.

But it's -- yes, I think kind of fits being a chess player a lot, because you just get a few hours where you think about something completely different.

GREZ: And what's your handicap? And what did you shoot at Lofoten? Because that's a notoriously difficult course. It's near the top of my bucket list, as well.

CARLSEN: Yes. No, I -- I kind of collapsed on the -- on the 15th, and then -- then made double in the last one. So, I made 91 in the end, which is --

GREZ: Not bad.

CARLSEN: -- which was not great. But no, that's OK.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIPLEY: All right. Now to football and superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, who's hinting a little bit, hinting at retirement.

In an interview with Vogue, he said the upcoming year will probably be his last playing the game. His contract with the Saudi club Al-Nassr, runs through June of next year.

The 41-year-old Portugal captain has 976 goals over a pro career spanning more than two decades. He's won the Ballon D'Or Award five times, among many other honors.

The one trophy, though, that he's missing is a World Cup title.

You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. We are live in Hong Kong, and we'll be right back.

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[00:56:21]

RIPLEY: Check out this heartwarming scene in Argentina over the weekend. That's where thousands of bikers dressed up like superheroes -- brought the kids out. Disney characters. Everybody riding to one of the country's most important pediatric hospitals in Buenos Aires.

The motorcyclists delivered toys to children in the hospital.

Organizers say the annual Children's Day tradition is now in its 20th year and was inspired by a similar hero convoy in Scotland.

At the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, engineering teams are putting their bots to the test using the real-life scenario of hospitality work in hotels to assess their coordination and abilities.

Yes, folks. Pretty soon you're going to be staying in hotels, and this is going to be your room service, your concierge.

In just 30 minutes, each robot has to transport luggage, deliver amenities, and tidy a bed as part of the competition.

Man, I can wait. I can wait for this. I can definitely wait. I can do without this. I've stayed a robot hotel in Japan, and it was a little freaky even back then.

They say that people don't have to worry about their hospitality jobs quite yet, but the robots, as you can see, they're still quite a long ways off from five-star service. They still have a hard time holding the water bottles.

Got to go. This is CNN NEWSROOM. I'll be back.

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