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Connect the World

Taiwanese, U.S. Officials: Pelosi Expected to Visit Taiwan; Officials: Intense Shelling Hits Civilian Buildings in Mykolaiv; Illarionov: "The Kremlin is using a lot of Resources"; Sudan's Rulers Hunt for Whistleblowers after CNN Report; More than 100 Injured in Weekend Protest Clashes; England Defeats Germany for First Major Championship. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired August 01, 2022 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN HOST: I'm Eleni Giokos in for my colleague Becky Anderson. Hello and welcome to "Connect the World". Now we start with a

visit that's causing concern from the U.S. to China.

Sources tell CNN House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is expected to stop in Taiwan during her Asia tour this week. This is despite warnings from both

Washington and Beijing; Pelosi would be the highest ranking U.S. official to visit self-ruling Taiwan in 25 years.

China has already said it wouldn't sit idly by while its sovereignty is being threatened. Washington holds a One China Policy but maintains close

and official ties with Taiwan. To discuss this let's bring CNN Senior International Correspondent Will Ripley from Taipei and we've got U.S.

National Security Correspondent Kylie Atwood from the United Nations.

Will, I want to start with you. With your sources now telling us as a very high probable Nancy Pelosi will be coming through to Taipei, what has been

the reaction on the ground, given that Beijing has been very forceful in what could be quite consequential visit for Pelosi?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Publicly Eleni, of course, they're going to welcome Nancy Pelosi. They're going to express

gratitude for her interest in learning more about Taiwan, because that type of information could help shape policy back in Washington that could

benefit Taiwan if Beijing were to try to make a move.

But of course, the awkwardness for the Taiwanese leadership is that the timing is not ideal with you know, President Xi's Party Congress coming up,

you know, a very sensitive time where he doesn't want any embarrassment. He doesn't want any instability.

And you know, here in Taiwan, they're acutely aware of that, but can they tell the Americans OK, you know, the third most powerful person in American

politics, please don't come right now. Because, you know, because of China, I mean, just imagine being caught in the middle.

But this is a situation that Taiwan has found itself in for decades. They have been caught in the middle of this rhetorical roller coaster. And a lot

of times they just have to kind of ride it out. And that's what they're doing right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RIPLEY (voice over): Taiwan's first line of defense from a Chinese invasion, Taipei Port, a crucial river gateway to the Capital. If China

takes the port, the presidential office will be next. For decades, Taiwanese troops have been trained to defend this island from the

Mainland's massive military.

The world's only Chinese speaking democracy preparing for a David and Goliath scenario, made more credible by Russia's war on Ukraine the latest

fiery threats from Beijing, whose communist rulers regard Taiwan as a breakaway province, reaching fever pitch all over leaked plans of a

potential visit to the self-governing island by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi the highest ranking U.S. official to visit Taiwan in 25 years.

Pelosi is leading a congressional delegation to the Indo Pacific region, including Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan. No official mention

of Taiwan. Analysts say Pelosi could still visit Taiwan, a whirlwind stop lasting hours, not days, and attempts to rein in the rhetoric and team

China's threats to not play with fire by supporting Taiwan independence.

Senator Tammy Duckworth delegation dropped by Taiwan for just a few hours in May, China still flew dozens of warplanes near Taiwan, Taipei leaders

call Beijing, a bully and the new cycle moved on.

TSAI HUAI-CHUNG, TEASHOP OWNER: I don't think they will retaliate. I don't worry about it. Mainland China is just threatening us. If they really

decide to invade Taiwan, they can kill it within two to three days. They don't need to talk much.

RIPLEY (voice over): It's a view shared by many in Taiwan. They've been riding this rhetorical roller coaster for decades. As the latest U.S. China

threats dominated global headlines. They were barely mentioned by the media in Taiwan. The island with the most to lose has lost interest.

MAGGIE LIN, DIRECTOR OF AFTER-SCHOOL CLUB: I wasn't interested in finding out more about it. I'm not concerned. China has done the same thing many

times, but exchanges between Taiwan and the U.S. shouldn't be stopped because of this.

RIPLEY (voice over): Many Taiwanese people perceive war with China as a distant threat a threat some observers say could draw closer with each

escalation.

[11:05:00]

RIPLEY (voice over): Xi Jinping is China's most powerful leader since Mao his bound to bring Taiwan back to the mainland, by force, if necessary, is

backed by a massive military and growing nuclear arsenal.

And so you now wonder, what is Taiwan going to get out of Nancy Pelosi coming here, and if you look at the timeline, yes, she is coming and she's

staying overnight, but she should be arriving relatively late in the evening.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIPLEY: So eight of the hours that she's here, presumably more or less, she's sleeping or in a, you know, preparing for meetings, the actual

meetings are going to have two hours, three hours of meetings with we're going to get back to the airport, get back on the plane and keep moving.

So, you know, it might actually be in terms of actual FaceTime, with the Taiwanese leadership similar to this three hour you know, stopovers? It's

just that she comes at night and, and spends, you know, a good amount of time sleeping here. So look, we'll just have to assess what is the benefit?

And what did China do? And, frankly, these are all things that we don't have the answer to.

GIOKOS: It's the FaceTime, it's the messaging, it all matters. And speaking of messaging, China's military came out with a video that was posted online

saying it will bury incoming enemies firmly standby and ready for the fight in command. What does this mean?

RIPLEY: You know, it's China and North Korea might have like, they might share propaganda, you know, writing talent, because it just reminds me of

the kind of stuff that Pyongyang will put out, you know, back, you know, during the fire and fury days, five, six years ago, gosh, time flies.

And yet some things never change. I actually think that this rhetoric from China is somewhat reassuring. It's the boilerplate, you know, stuff that

they always say, what we're not seeing beyond propaganda, is this significant military buildup? We're not seeing any signs of unusual

activity in the Taiwan Strait.

It does seem that this rhetorical escalation hopefully will be at yes. You know, will they put planes in, you know, in Taiwan's air defense

identification zone? They could. There are a lot of things they could do.

But I don't think that Xi Jinping is going to want them to do something that could push this situation into a dangerous zone certainly not now.

Now, does that mean that you know he doesn't have plans to take Taiwan at some point or to try a lot of exercise focus? You do believe that that is

part of the plan, but probably not right now.

GIOKOS: One thing is certain rhetoric is definitely heating up. Will Ripley, thank you so much, Kylie Atwood, is standing by for us patiently at

the United Nations. Thank you so much. Kiley you look, it's important to hear all of this context, right, in terms of what you know, what we're

hearing coming out of Taipei, what we're hearing coming out of Beijing, and then importantly, why this trip is so important for Nancy Pelosi and what

her outcomes would be?

KYLIE ATWOOD, U.S. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, for speaker, she has never made a trip to Taiwan before. She has been an ardent supporter of

Taiwan's democracy, she has been critical of human rights abuses in China. So for her, coming at the height of her career, this is an important trip

for her to make.

And when you talk to folks in the Biden Administration, their understanding of that the Biden Administration, on the whole has been very supportive of

Taiwan, even though they say there's no change in the U.S. policy towards Taiwan that "One China Policy", the strategic ambiguity still applies.

But President Biden himself has been very clear in expressing support for Taiwan. And I think it's important to note that, at the same time, U.S.

officials, particularly at the Department of Defense, had been working around the clock to really monitor the situation in recent days, and in the

days to come as Pelosi is expected to make this visit to the island to see what China is doing militarily, what they could be planning for.

And also, of course, monitoring the U.S. plan that has been put in place to make sure that this trip goes off safely and securely, because that is what

we've been hurt hearing from the White House, they haven't commented on if they think it's good for her to go or not.

We know behind the scenes, they're not really a fan of the timing here, as will was mentioning with the party congress coming up, but they're doing

everything in their power to make sure that this doesn't escalate out of control, and she makes it in and out safely.

GIOKOS: Yes, and the question is whether it's actually worth it? We were looking at the tweet that Nancy Pelosi posted this morning of a 28-year-old

trip back then in Tiananmen Square and what that sort of the undercurrent of that messaging actually is ahead of this trip?

ATWOOD: Well, it demonstrates what I was saying about her consistent support for Taiwanese democracy and pro-democracy protests, and the like.

And I do think on top of that, it's significant that according to our sources even though President Biden said that the U.S. military has some

concerns about this trip he himself hasn't told the speaker not to make this trip.

[11:10:00]

ATWOOD: And so that demonstrates that there is, you know, a bit of quiet support for what she is setting out to do here, even though there are

concerns about how this could potentially escalate.

GIOKOS: Yes, and whether this is going to be a turning point in relations between the U.S. and China, really good to see you. Kylie Atwood, thank you

so much. Right now the first ship to hold much needed grain out of Ukraine since February is on the Black Sea.

The rezone is headed to Istanbul with more than 26,000 metric tons of corn. From there it will take its cargo to Lebanon one of the nations where

Ukraine's food exports are badly needed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS (voice over): After weeks of negotiations, the first ship leaves port in Ukraine, a slow sail and only a drop in the ocean to alleviate the

grain crisis. The rezone carrying corn expected to arrive in Istanbul on Tuesday, for inspection set up by grain deal between Russia and Ukraine.

Before setting sail to Lebanon Tripoli ports, the UN, a broker of the grain deal inked in Istanbul welcomed the development. Turkey who spearheaded the

negotiations and now hosts the Joint Coordination Center says more ships to depart soon.

The shipment is very positive, according to the Kremlin spokesman, while the U.S. Embassy struck a more cautious note about the deals future. The

agreement remains shaky, with Russia hitting the Odessa port just after the signing last week. The first ship has left the port, but the success of the

deal and ending global grain shortages will depend on whether or not the grains precious transport, keep sailing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: The United Nations Secretary General called the ship's departure an enormous collective achievement and an important step towards easing the

global food crisis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONIO GUTERRES, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: What we have witnessed today you know this is an important starting point. It must be the first of many

commercial ships bringing relief and stability to global food markets.

The Black Sea great initiative allows for significant volumes of exports from three Ukrainian ports, Odessa, Chornomorsk and Yuzhiy. Together with

the agreed facilitation of the unimpeded access of Russian food products and fertilizers to world markets, it will bring relief and stability to

global food markets and they'll tackle the Global Food Crisis.

Ensuring that grain fertilizers and other food related items are available at reasonable prices to developing countries is a humanitarian imperative.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: Elsewhere around the Black Sea Ukrainian officials say their forces launched a long range attack that destroyed a Russian fuel dump in Kherson.

But nearby Russian forces have been pounding the city of Mykolaiv with artillery attacks. Local officials say the shelling is the worst there

since the war began. And that the Russians targeted civilian buildings. CNN's Nic Robertson joins us now from Kasanka, Ukraine. Nic, good to see

you, you've just gotten back from Mykolaiv, could you describe what you saw on the ground?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, some of the missiles that are being fired Ukrainian officials say are very large. They

are the S300 surface to air missiles which are being used to hit ground targets.

So they're number one, relatively large, relatively fast, but are not designed for ground accuracy. So there's an inaccuracy. The mayor himself

in the city is concerned that there are Russian spies that are helping inform Russia of potential targets.

But you know, for people living there, this sort of incessant night after night, day after day of different levels of shelling is sort of wearing

down there, you know, their psyche, if you will certainly that was the view of one person we spoke to.

But what happened over this weekend was a real spike in the number of strikes. And the mayor believes Russia is doing this because it's not

making gains actually on the battlefield.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON (voice over): With Dawn an end to Mykolaiv's heaviest night of shelling so far, but not to the fear it brings. In the immediate aftermath

fires to be put out, the only fatalities this residential mansion millionaire businessman Oleksiy Vadatursky and his wife Raisa was

sheltering in the basement when their home took a direct hit, neighbors still in shock.

[11:15:00]

MAXIM, MYKOLAIV RESIDENT: I don't know what to do. We hate Russia. It's unbelievable that it can, in one moment, just destroy everything.

ROBERTSON (voice over): Maxim has lived here almost 20 years, but maybe no more.

MAXIM: Just don't want to stay here, right now.

ROBERTSON (on camera): This crater here gives you an idea of just how big the blast was debris strewn down here, and the windows of the building

blown out. ROBERTSON (voice over): Other buildings around here also hit those with military links off limits to our cameras. The mayor concerned

Russian sympathizers at work.

OLEKSANDR SENKEVYCH, MYKOLAIV, UKRAINE MAYOR: I'm sure that they have spies who are going around the city. And they say like I saw the number of

machines are the people, military people, they send this information and Russian attack there.

ROBERTSON (on camera): And do you think those saboteurs might have helped in the attacks last night?

SENKEVYCH: I'm sure they helped.

ROBERTSON (voice over): Within hour's life returning to what passes as normal pensioners and others in line for drinking water. The city's clean

water supply destroyed months ago. They hit us and they hit us hard from 1 a.m. until morning, Valentina tells us.

We are scared, we want to leave. But that's how life is for us now. Where the mansion was hit and residents are richer, another neighborhood of the

dead businessman tells me he can't take it anymore, that he'll leave.

Not clear if high profile businessman Oleksiy Vadatursky was an intended target. President Zelenskyy held him a hero. His death and the up tempo

strike here chilling this city's otherwise resilient mood.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON: Yes, the mayor has one message for the residents of the city, which number about 230,000. Now it was 480,000 before the war, and it's a

very simple message that until this shelling stopped, you really need to leave. It just isn't safe.

But of course so many people still have their lives and livelihoods there and we'll hang on for a while longer yet intense blackouts at night, of

course, because there is that real risk and the reality of more strikes to come. And that's what the mayor says more strikes can come just at any

moment, Eleni.

GIOKOS: Yes. And I guess the question is how you even begin to relocate 230,000 people, Nic Robertson, thank you so much for that insight. And just

a little later on "Connect the World", the exclusive CNN report that sparking calls will change at the top in Sudan.

Protests are also gripping Iraq, more on the occupation of Parliament's now in its third day and the potential global impacts of the chaos just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:20:00]

GIOKOS: The U.S. and UK are demanding Russia be held accountable for Thursday's attack on a detention facility in Russian occupied Ukraine. The

British ambassador to Kyiv says the strike on a prison is part of a pattern of human rights abuses and possible war crimes.

Kyiv accuses Russia of killing dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilians in the attack and has opened an investigation. Moscow claims Kyiv

is responsible. Now Russian backed separatists say the death toll is at 53 with more than 70 others wounded.

It remains difficult to verify those figures as the International Red Cross says it has not yet been granted access to the site. Russia's amped up

attacks on Mykolaiv in the meantime and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's call for the people still in the Donetsk region to evacuate make the

situation on the ground in Ukraine seen as Zelenskyy said the sooner people leave, the fewer people the Russian army will have time to kill.

And I want to bring in Vera Michlin-Shapir. Now she is a Visiting Research Fellow at King's Center for Strategic Communications in London and the

author of fluid Russia, between the global and the National in the post- Soviet era.

Vera, good to see you, I wanted to talk about sort of where we what we look at what we're looking at from a military perspective. Last week, late last

week, we heard the UK defense minister saying that Russia is incurring losses.

We keep hearing the messaging coming through from President Zelenskyy for people to evacuate. We're seeing intense fighting in Mykolaiv. Could you

tell me about the wins and the losses at this point in time?

VERA MICHLIN-SHAPIR, VISITING RESEARCH FELLOW, KING'S CENTER FOR STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS: Hello, Eleni, good afternoon. I think before we even can

move into kind of wins and losses and assessing how well Russia did in this campaign. I think first we need to kind of think of what were the Russian

goals in this campaign?

Yes, in this war when it set out to invade Ukraine, what was it trying to achieve? And there we see kind of that the Russians intentionally made it

extremely hard to pinpoint what were their goals.

First, we're talking about the notifying Ukraine demilitarizing, Ukraine sort of decapitating the country kind of - a full assault on its severity,

which is when they made their move in Kyiv. And they failed in that. I mean, that is very clear.

But then they were also talking about saving Russian speakers in the east in Donetsk and Luhansk. They were talking about creating a new global world

order about stopping NATO. So there is this kind of myriad of, of goals. So which one is it? And obviously, this is an intentional, it's an intentional

purging.

GIOKOS: Absolutely. And I completely agree with you the language in the beginning, it was sort of a blitzkrieg kind of scenario that they wanted to

come in when swiftly and they move. And now we're seeing them really consolidate in the east and that we've got the map right now.

We have, of course, the Donbas region, which is largely held by the Russians right now, specifically Luhansk. The south also seems to be a very

important focal point for the Russians at this point in time. When you see this map, does it concern you that the Russians have made so much headway

in the east?

MICHLIN-SHAPIR: Of course, it's extremely concerning. And I think language is reflected in what they did. I mean, this is not just something that they

talked about. I mean, when they talk about saving the people, the east, the Russian, the Russian speakers in East Ukraine, this is what you know, this

is kind of focusing their - refocusing their work in the East and in the south.

And in the East, they they've made quite a lot of quite a lot of progress. The point here and this is why it's so doable. Yes. This is why we're

speaking both about successes and failures in the same kind of in the same breath.

Yes, it's because they have made headways but at what cost, we're seeing the human costs of this war for the Russians with seats also for the

Ukrainians. And this is incredibly pricey.

GIOKOS: Incredibly pricey. I want you to take a listen to a conversation I had with a former economic adviser to Vladimir Putin in his take on what

needs to be done to give Ukraine an upper hand, take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREI ILLARIONOV, FORMER CHIEF ECONOMIC ADVISER TO VLADIMIR PUTIN: The recent estimates about the spending of Kremlin on the war is raging between

half a billion dollars a day in $1 billion a day, which means 15 to 30 billion U.S. dollar amounts, which could be about 150 to 300 billion U.S.

dollar for the whole year which shows that Kremlin is using a lot of resources.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[11:25:00]

GIOKOS: Vera, do you think that was the current weaponry and assistance Ukraine can win back territory?

MICHLIN-SHAPIR: So, I agree in the sense that you know, there are the sanctions didn't dry out the Russian budget so they can keep fighting this

war, which means that the west needs to do more to help Ukraine. Because obviously there is a kind of this balance of power, yes, in terms of kind

of Russia being an energy resource rich country, and it can always fill its budget with selling energy resources.

And then on the Ukrainian side, yes, the west was not to say that it has done nothing. Now we're seeing Ukrainians getting when we see the

Ukrainians getting western weapons systems, like the high Mars launchers, this really makes a huge difference.

And you can also see it on the ground; you can see that there is less rational artillery fire when the Ukrainians have something to answer these

problems. The problem with the west, I think, is that we somehow have some kind of wishful thinking that this will somehow go away resolve itself, the

Russians are going to give up and that's just not going to happen.

If the west doesn't help Ukraine, this war will drag on and there will be more and more casualties.

GIOKOS: With the current trajectory and the messaging from Zelenskyy, with the attacks on Mykolaiv with, you know, the offensive, being quite dramatic

and very aggressive. Are you worried about where we headed?

MICHLIN-SHAPIR: Yes, very worried, very worried in the sense that I mean, actually, I have contact with people on the ground in Mykolaiv, it is

extremely dire there, and is extremely hard to get people out to get people out of there.

We have to remember some people just can't get out. They're too old. And so, so yes, this is something that the Russians, you know, when we're

saying when I'm saying the Russians are kind of they're losing steam, they can't really, for instance, conquer me, - they try then they can't.

So what they resort to is that the resort to kind of harming civilian population are mainly sort of, you know, indiscriminate fighting, firing of

rockets that you know, at the end harms just creates a lot of casualties and a lot of damage.

GIOKOS: Vera Michlin-Shapir, thank you very much for your insights. Good to have you on the show. You're watching "Connect the World". Protests in

Sudan, calling for an end to the country's military rule, it follows a CNN exclusive reporting. We'll tell you about that up next.

And flash floods in Iran claimed dozens of lives, we'll take a look at the extreme weather hitting the region and whether there's any relief in sight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:30:00]

GIOKOS: Protesters are raising their voices in Sudan and they're calling for return to civilian leadership Sunday's demonstration in the capital

Khartoum was triggered by an exclusive CNN report into Russia's plunder of Sudanese gold to bankroll its war in Ukraine.

Sources inside Sudan tell CNN that authorities are now stepping up strong arm tactics, and they hunt for the people who've been speaking to our

investigation. CNN's Nima Elbagir is leading this reporting and shows us the notorious Wagner group suspected of helping Moscow, take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Wagner's tentacles stretch right across Africa. We've discovered

some of its most notorious operatives are working on Sudan. Yevgeniy Prigozhin, the Head of Wagner, Mikhail Potepkin, Head of Prigozhin's head

of Sudan office and Alexander Sergeyevich Kuznetsov, Wagner's key enforcer previously convicted of kidnap and robbery working with this man.

Sudanese general, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, aka Hemedti, in a quid pro quo for training and weaponry we traveled 200 miles north from the capital Khartoum

to gold country to take a closer look at Wagner's main moneymaker, artisanal gold. Miners bring rocks they extract here to be processed. 85

percent of Sudan's gold is produced artisanal.

ELBAGIR (on camera): This right here, it may not look like much. This is what's left after the rocks that the miners have brought in are milled. Now

they've taken what they can out of it. But this gets sold. And when it's properly processed with someone who has superior technology, you can make

10 times what those miners over there are making.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: CNN's Chief International Investigative Correspondent Nima Elbagir is live with us now. Nima, thank you so much for taking the time, this is

such a powerful report. And I'm not surprised actually where you see an impact playing out almost immediately on the ground.

And what's really striking is that the people that you interviewed that assisted you with this investigation are now under scrutiny in Sudan take

us through the latest. ELBAGIR: Well, we actually reached out to Sudanese authorities when we tried to get right to replies from the Sudanese, the

Russians from the Afghani Prigozhin. None of the above gave us any comment, but they did respond in their own way.

And Sudanese authorities have been harassing not only those suspected of being sources for us in our investigation, but also those parts of the

anti-corruption investigation team within the previous civilian government.

Those who had firsthand knowledge of the extent of the Sudanese general's complicity with Russia in its exploitation of Sudan's natural resources,

and that really speaks directly as one source told us to that there, they're very scared. They've seen that widespread outrage.

They saw those demonstrations on Sunday, and they're very scared about what this means for the entrenchment of their power in Sudan, Eleni.

GIOKOS: Yes, Nima it's such a good point. And here's the reality is that these protests have been ongoing for quite some time, and it's against

military rule, military government.

What is the sense that you got from people on the ground and their resolve to go back to civilian rule and whether they have a chance because the

general actually said, he's open to that idea. But of course, the action is very different in terms of what we're seeing on the ground.

ELBAGIR: The question is whether he will be open to opening the books, right, whether he'll be opening to potential prosecution because now for so

many within Sudan's military structure, whether it's under General - or whether it's under General Burhan.

The issue is going to be what will civilian rule bring? Will it bring prosecutions and those who are leading the pro-democracy movement say that

there is no peaceful transition without real meaningful justice that for a country like Sudan to be suffering, in the way that it is economically

given.

The degree of the natural resources present in Sudan is a crime. And that's going to be the concern for the generals moving forward as this groundswell

of support for the streets.

And as you said, people have stayed on the streets and they are continuing to go back out on the streets. What they're looking for now Eleni, they

tell us is greater international support.

And their hope is that this investigation this spotlight that CNN has brought to what's happening in Sudan, their hope is that that will bring

with it a renewed support from the international community, Eleni.

[11:35:00]

GIOKOS: Well, congratulations to you and your team Nima, such an important story. Thank you so much. Nima has done some amazing reporting on this. And

you can find more of it on our website along with a closer look at the key players that Nima talked about.

And that's all on our CNN app, or you can go to cnn.com. But let's get you up to speed on some other stories that are on our radar right now.

Myanmar's military regime is extending emergency rule for six months. And that's according to state media.

The Junta seized power last year; it's been cracking down on anti-coup protests and recently executed four people including two pro-democracy

activists. Two massive wheat silos in Beirut have collapsed incredible footage today. The structure is already weakened in the 2020 port blast

have been burning for weeks amid soaring temperatures in the city.

Lebanon's Minister of Public Work says other silos are also expected to collapse. Iranian journalist and activist Masih Alinejad says the Iranian

regime is watching her, and that's after Police in New York arrested a man armed with an AK 47 style rifle driving in her neighborhood.

Police say he was behaving suspiciously. Alinejad says federal agents told her to stay away from her home. CNN has reached out to the man's attorney

but is yet to receive a response.

Days of heavy rain and flash floods are wreaking havoc in Iran. Disaster officials say nearly 70 people have died in the flooding and landslides

that hit several cities across the country.

Neighboring Pakistan, authorities say more than 400 people have died since monsoon rains and floods began in June, and more than 600 people have been

injured.

Scientists say the climate crisis is making flash floods like these more likely let's bring in meteorologist Jennifer Gray from the CNN Weather

Center in Atlanta, really good to see you.

And I never thought since I moved to the UAE, I would see flash floods here. But it's also reality in places that would not normally get these

types of scenarios. Explain to us why?

JENNIFER GRAY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You're right. We're seeing places that normally don't get any rainfall in the summer get torrential downpours. And

we know that climate change is producing more of these, these extreme rain events.

You can see heavy rains are being triggered by climate change. And the reason for that is a warmer atmosphere is able to hold more water vapor and

that in turn is going to produce more rainfall. We're seeing it in hurricanes across the U.S. typhoons.

We're seeing it in these extreme rain events, as you were mentioning, and that's only going to get worse. Take the U.S. for example. Over the

weekend, we had catastrophic flood across Eastern Kentucky where we had more than 250 millimeters of rain a fall in a town in just a very short

amount of time.

It triggered flash flooding of epic proportions. This is the town of headman Kentucky; you can see homes completely underwater. We had homes

completely washed away. 30 people have died, the governor believes hundreds are unaccounted for right now.

And these events are going to become more common not only in the U.S. but around the world. We know that an increase in heavy precipitation events

just over the last 50 years have increased by 55 percent across the northeastern tier of the country, almost 30 percent across the southeast as

well as portions of the north. And then if you cross over across the world, we're also seeing it as you mentioned, in places like Iran, Pakistan, where

the estimated observed rainfall from July 24 through 30th look in Pakistan, this targeted area of more than 750 millimeters of rain.

Now some of this is monsoonal rain in this region, we'll get some this time of year, but not to this magnitude Iran, look at that normally doesn't get

any rainfall in the summer months, and they've received about a 25 to 50 millimeters of rain just in that short timeframe.

So this is Tehran. And you can see during the months of June, July and August typically don't see much rain at all less than 10 millimeters and so

for rainfall events like this to occur in this part of the world, Eleni is very, very rare and alarming because of climate change.

GIOKOS: Yes, rare and alarming, absolutely Jennifer, good to see you. Thank you so much. Now ahead on the show, political protests are consuming Iraq

and we'll look at the violence that broke out over the weekend and the parliamentary sitting that's persisting for a third day.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:40:00]

GIOKOS: At this hour scenes of complete disorder at Iraq's parliament. Supporters of the powerful cleric Moqtada al-Sadr are continuing their sit

in. That's for a third day now.

What happens in Iraq has global consequences as a major oil producer. There are fears that continued political chaos there could further impact oil

prices. Nada Bashir has more on the crisis gripping Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The center of Iraqi politics now at the heart of some of the biggest protests Baghdad has seen in

months. For three days now these protesters have occupied parliament, the vast majority ardent supporters of Moqtada al-Sadr, the influential share

cleric calling for an uprising.

SAMIR NAEEM, PROTESTER: We want free and fair elections and we want to amend the Constitution. But the most important thing is to put an end to

corruption. If we end corruption, then we win.

AMIR AL-UKEYLI, PROTESTER: Politicians do not represent the people, their legitimacy is over. Now the legitimacy is for people only.

BASHIR (voice over): Protests were sparked a week ago following the nomination of a new prime minister by Iraq's pro Iran coordination

framework alliance.

Their pic rival Shiya Mohammed al-Sudani the move follows months of political deadlock over the establishment of a new government and a mass

resignation by al-Sadr's lawmakers who accused the opposition of serving the interests of Iran over the Iraqi people.

Now as frustrations mount over the country's dire political and economic situation, al-Sadr is calling on the Iraqi people to take to the streets,

despite the outgoing Prime Minister's appeal for dialogue.

MUSTAFA AL-KADHIMI, OUTGOING IRAQI PRIME MINISTER: The political bloc's must sit down, negotiate and reach an understanding for the sake of Iraq

and the Iraqis. Thousand days of quiet dialogue are better than a moment in which a drop of Iraqi blood is shed.

BASHIR (voice over): Water cannons tear gas and even stun grenades were used by security forces over the weekend in an attempt to push protesters

back outside the perimeters of the Green Zone, amid the chaos, at least 100 injuries.

Western leaders have expressed concern over the further destabilization of security in Iraq. But the implications of this latest crisis could prove

far reaching. Al-Sadr's movement if successful, could cut political parties aligned to run out of the Iraqi Government dealing a major blow to Tehran's

growing regional influence.

[11:45:00]

BASHIR (voice over): And as these protests gain momentum, there are fears that already delicate regional dynamics could be pushed into even greater

uncertainty. Nada Bashir, CNN, Istanbul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: So who is Muqtada al-Sadr? He's a Shiite cleric born in 1973, in the holy city of Najaf. From 2003 to 2008, he led an anti U.S. Shiite

militia, and then went into self-exile in Iran.

He now leads the Sairoon, political alliance or in English, the moving forwards alliance, as well as the Sadrist Movement. Joining me now is here

to Hayder Al-Shakeri, Research Associate with the Middle East and North African Program at Chatham House.

Good to see you. So I just want to take you to Baghdad quickly, because we've got live pictures coming through from just outside the parliament,

where we seeing anti Muqtada al-Sadr protest action occurring, and it's by the coordination framework.

These are live images that we're seeing right now. So you're seeing two different groups, making their voices heard, Hayder, really good to see

you. We were expecting that we were going to see anti Muqtada al-Sadr protests today. Could you tell me whether you're concerned that this could

possibly spill into more violence?

HAYDER AL-SHAKERI, RESEARCH ASSOCIATE, MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICAN PROGRAM, CHATHAM HOUSE: Thank you, Eleni, thank you for having me here. Of course,

both parties are now applying this popular pressure and trying to get their supporters to show how much weight they have on the streets.

And everyone's scared of the political violence, political violence that might emerge from this. Iraqis, a lot of the normal Iraqis war. Today,

they're in their homes. They're not trying to join either party.

And they're scared of some further violence might happen because of this distinction between the political elite and, of course, most of those leads

and their political parties, they have armed wings and they're armed.

So it's, it is kind of dangerous. And we do expect some sort of escalation, which we do not want.

GIOKOS: Yes, absolutely. I want to unpack this, so our audience understands. Muqtada al-Sadr spent years building a political movement and

building up political power in parliament. So why did you decide to remove himself from the political process and resort to this action?

AL-SHAKERI: So of course Muqtada al-Sadr has been trying to form a majority government in this electoral cycle, he has the highest number of parliament

members in the Council of Representatives.

And he has been pushing for the majority government with some of his allies from the different kinds of the political spectrum. But his real intention

behind this is to step aside one of the other political actors in the game, which is Nuri al-Maliki.

He wanted to have this majority government, by the exclusion of Nuri al- Maliki, and to keep the political process going in a way that would support him and his allies, mostly. So this has been a process that has been going

for around 10 months. And it has been intense consensus government, which what we had in Iraq since 2003, or a majority government, which is

something that is different in the system. GIOKOS: Al-Sadr has been, you know, positioning himself as a nationalist.

So many have asked the question whether, you know, we're buying into this anti Iran rhetoric, or do you think it is a convenient cover, especially

given Sadr's very close ties to Iran over the years?

AL-SHAKERI: So Sadr has been trying to position himself as an Iraqi National has been trying to do that through a religious lens where he has

been calling for, for his religious clerics across the movement.

And recently this has been portrayed by a mess, prayer Friday prayer, but also has been trying to show that he is against Iran, while most Iraqis

know that he has been going to Iran regularly and has been staying there for some time.

GIOKOS: Are you worried about oil production because Iraq is such an important OPEC producer?

AL-SHAKERI: Of course, this is worrying for many, for many of the countries in the region and outside. And oil companies have been affected by the

political situation in Iraq since the start of the early elections and after the political conflict has been happening, where the conflict between

the central government in Baghdad and the Kurdistan region where there has been armed groups attacking oil companies. There have been many issues

affecting oil production not just this political conflict itself. So Iraq is the stability of Iraq is important for the region and globally.

[11:50:00]

GIOKOS: Hayder Al-Shakeri, thank you very much for that insight and sharing that context with us, great to see you. Now coming up celebrations in

England after historic victory how the woman's team beat the Germany to secure its first ever Euro wins. And that's coming up just ahead, stay with

us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GIOKOS: England is celebrating its first major Women's Championship the lionesses beat Germany 2-1 in the Euro 2022 final Sunday. It was an

emotional and hard fought victory over the eight time champions. CNN World Sports Amanda Davies has more from outside Wembley Stadium.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT (voice over): What does football coming home feel like? It feels like this it is passion. It is unity. It is England's

women putting all those years of hurt to one side to lift that major piece of silverware.

There are so many people who have worked so hard to get to this moment not even actually for the trophy winning moments just for the rise to play on a

level playing field.

For 50 years from 1921, football for women professionally was banned here in England, the last time England took on Germany in the European final in

2009 so many of the players part time had to take on other jobs to fund their football in Korea.

But now here we are at Wembley, one of the most iconic stadiums in world football. They have sold it out and not only done that they have broken the

record for attendance at a European Championships Men and Women, Germany for their part do deserve a whole lot of credit.

You've really got a feel for Alex Pop, and her teammates they go home distraught, but with their heads held high, it was brilliant. Not always

pretty, it was gritty and it's England going home with the trophy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is good I finally came home after a loss of like terrible like moments, is finally came home obviously happy, enjoyment,

excitement, everything. I love it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's amazing, this is the first live football they've seen and they've seen England win at Wembley. I mean, we probably

ruined football forever for them but it was amazing.

DAVIES (voice over): As the England comes in - Williams and put it, this is just the beginning, the lionesses on their fans, well, that role is being

heard loud and wise. It is now about keeping that message moving forward. Amanda Davis, CNN, Wembley.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: I think she did actually cry she is on one of the best assignments at CNN right now. I'm very jealous I have to say of Amanda. All right, it's

a good day to be Formula One driver Max for stopping the Red Bull driver came from behind to win Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix for a second straight

victory. Her stop and start at the race in 10th position due to issues from the qualifier, but rose to first besting seven time world champion Lewis

Hamilton, who came in second.

[11:55:00]

GIOKOS: The next big race is the Belgian Grand Prix set for August, the 28th. Dutch cyclist Annemiek van Vleuten has won the re-launched woman's

Tour de France.

The 39 year old finished nearly four minutes ahead of second place, earning her prize to yellow jersey. She won stages seven and eight and overcame a

stunning bug and five bike changes.

The race covers more than 1000 kilometers in eastern France over eight stages. This was the first woman's Tour de France since 1989. Right, woman

owning the sport space I would say over the last few days.

Well thank you so very much for joining us. And that was "Connect the World". "One World" with Zain Asher is up next. From me Eleni Giokos in Abu

Dhabi, thanks so much for joining us, I will see you tomorrow, take care.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:00:00]

END