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Biden Hosts Japanese, South Korean Leaders at Camp David; North Korea Could Launch ICBM in Response to Camp David Summit; Russia Blames Ukraine Launched Drone Attack on Moscow; Trump Requests 2026 Date for Federal Election Trial; Maui Fire Has Killed At Least 111; Landslides in India Leave More Than 70 Dead; ECOWAS Defense Chiefs Meet to Discuss Niger Crisis; Going Green by Reducing Food Waste. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired August 18, 2023 - 10:00:00   ET

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

[10:00:31]

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Lynda Kinkade live from Atlanta, filling in for my colleague Becky Anderson. Good to have you with

us and welcome to CONNECT THE WORLD.

Coming up this hour President Biden bring South Korea and Japan closer together in a major summit. Air defenses in Moscow shoot down a drone.

Hurricane Hillary heads towards California. And England and Spain prepare for the Women's World Cup glory.

Well, history is about to be made next hour at the U.S. presidential retreat Camp David. Japan and South Korea will set aside decades of bitter

differences and their leaders sit down with U.S. President Joe Biden. The summit is seen as a response to shifting ties and growing concerns about

China and North Korea. But the U.S. says it's about more than the countering threats.

Here's what the National Security Council's John Kirby told CNN a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KIRBY, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL COORDINATOR FOR STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS: What these three leaders are going to be focused on today

is the future. And then just a few hours when they stand behind me here and do a press conference, they're going to announce a set of initiatives and a

framework for making sustainable all these commitments that we're going to be making, and it's not just in the security realm, although that certainly

will be front and center given all the threats and challenges, but it's on the economic front, on supply chains, on microelectronics, diplomacy,

people-to-people ties. There's a whole spate of terrific initiatives that will come out of this meeting today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: We want to bring in our reporter. CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is following developments from the White House and our senior international

correspondent Ivan Watson standing by for us in Hong Kong.

Good to have you both with us. I want to start with you first, Priscilla, because Camp David has been used by presidents over the years to try and

find peace in the Middle East. What's the aim today as Mr. Biden hosts this first ever trilateral with Japan and South Korea?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the site alone to your point really underscores the significance of this trilateral meeting

because it is a site where there has been historical diplomatic negotiations. Now President Biden has spent time fostering individual

relationships with these world leaders but now comes a moment where the three of them can have robust discussions, and what senior administration

officials have stressed is that they have shared interest against that backdrop of mounting security concerns.

So among some of the initiatives that we anticipate hearing more about throughout the day is the following. According to senior ministration

officials they will discuss annual military exercises, discuss intelligence-sharing agreements, and set up a three-way hotline for the

three leaders to communicate. What will not happen, though, is a formal alliance commitment or collective defense agreement.

This is an opportunity for the three leaders to come together to talk about those shared interests especially as they have seen aggression from North

Korea and from China, and also had discussions about economic prosperity and technological advancement. So all of this expected to happen throughout

the course of the day. The big question, though, is how much of this can be maintained in following administrations?

What commitment will be institutionalized so that they can come -- they can continue to unfold in the years to come? That's really the big question

here, but for now, senior administration officials are really embarking this as a significant moment for this White House and for these three

leaders.

KINKADE: Yes, it is a big question, Priscilla, because the White House does not want this to be a one-off meeting. The U.S. president has made it clear

that he wants to cement this three-way alliance and make it an annual event, right?

ALVAREZ: That's right. The other part of this that they will be announcing today is that this trilateral summit will become an annual meeting, and so

they will have their discussions today and it will start to set up a lot of these efforts like that hotline that I mentioned. They will continue to

have these discussions among the three of them in this tri-lat in the years to come. But again, that's the expectation.

It all depends, though, on who is in the White House, can this continue to happen? With other administration? So the intent is there, that is part of

the discussion today, but again all questions as to what happens from here.

KINKADE: Priscilla Alvarez at the White House, good to have you on the story.

I want to go to Ivan Watson on the sort of reaction we're seeing in the region because, Ivan, historically Japan and South Korea have been far from

allies with this long-standing dispute over Japan's wartime practices.

[10:05:06]

Just how significant is this and what sort of signal does this tri-lat send to the region?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this has been a really pivotal year for bilateral relations between Japan and South Korea.

As recently as 2019, South Korea had suspended an intelligence-sharing agreement that it had with Japan. The U.S. has been trying to bring it to

kind of almost closest allies in Asia closer together and it's taken Tokyo and Seoul to patch things up, their two leaders, to help make this historic

summit possible.

So, you know, the Japanese and South Korean leaders, this will be their fifth time kind of meeting face to face this year alone. And it shows you

how far they've come and this is exactly what Washington wants to see. It is not what China wants to see which has criticized what it describes as

clicks or clubs emerging in the region. It's not just this trilateral, it is Australia and Japan getting closer in defense partnerships.

It's the U.K. and Australia and the U.S. agreeing to work on submarines together. And all of this is pretty in response to a collective sense of

insecurity at the rise of China, it asserting itself, making threats against Taiwan and claims, for example, to the whole South China Sea. China

growing closer to Russia which just invaded Ukraine last year and is waging a war that is having ripple effects all around the world on the economy.

So that is a part of what's driving this. The Japanese prime minister when he left Tokyo for the U.S., he put a couple of tweets saying that it is the

security environment that makes this meeting so important. And to that point you had just today Japan scrambling fighter jets in response to two

Russian reconnaissance planes that flew between the Korean peninsula and Japanese islands.

You also had this week the Japanese Ministry of Defense announcing that it had grave concerns because of a joint flotilla of Chinese and Russian

warships sailing through the southwest of the Japanese island of Okinawa which the Japanese government said is clearly intended as a show of force

against Japan.

That is part of what has brought South Korea and Japan together with the U.S. at this historic summit.

KINKADE: And Ivan, in the midst of all this we are getting these indications that North Korea is likely to launch intercontinental ballistic

missiles in the midst of this. What more can you tell us?

WATSON: Sure. I mean that's one of the other common threats that Japan and South Korea and the U.S. are facing is that North Korea has gone ahead with

its nuclear weapons program. It has gone ahead with testing missiles that are banned by multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions. The

U.S. has tried to bring Japan and South Korea together in the past to help deal with that, with kind of missile detection systems, and presumably that

kind of proposal will be on the table here.

To get all of these three military allies to pull their resources to face a common North Korean threat, North Korea doesn't like these types of

meetings. It perceives that as a threat to its own national security. So we've got to watch closely to see how Pyongyang may be acting in the hours

and days ahead.

KINKADE: Ivan Watson for us in Hong Kong, good to have you, Priscilla Alvarez, outside the White House. Thanks to you both.

For more on those threats from North Korea, reportedly condemning these three-way meeting as a step towards an Asian version of NATO. CNN's Will

Ripley tells us that Pyongyang is expected to make a military show of force in protest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): All eyes on the skies over North Korea. South Korea's spy agency telling lawmakers

in Seoul Pyongyang is planning a provocative show of force including an intercontinental ballistic missile launch. The military is detecting signs

of possible ICBM launch preparations, monitoring active movement of ICBM launch related vehicles in Pyongyang, expecting drills including tactical

nuclear capable missile launches in the coming days.

The latest intelligence as North Korea faces growing international pressure. U.S. and South Korean military exercises begin next week. North

Korea considers the annual drills a dress rehearsal for war. Those drills coming as President Joe Biden prepares to host the leaders of Japan and

South Korea on Friday at Camp David. China and North Korea high on the agenda. At the U.N. Security Council, the first meeting in more than five

years on North Korean human rights.

[10:10:01]

LEE SEOK KIM, NORTH KOREAN DEFECTOR: Good morning. My name is Lee Seok Kim.

RIPLEY: A North Korean defector telling the council, the government turns our blood and sweat into a luxurious life for the leadership and missiles

that blast our hard work into the sky. The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights says many North Koreans face extreme hunger, acute medicine

shortages, claiming the U.N. and NGOs remain barred from the country.

Two nations not barred from North Korea, Russia and China. Two patrons with power to veto biting Security Council sanctions. Both sent high-level

delegations to Pyongyang last month. Leader Kim Jong-un showing off his latest ICBMs and drones, analysts say, bear striking resemblance to U.S.

Military models. Suspicion is growing North Korea may have plans to secretly provide weapons for Russia's war in Ukraine. So far no hard

evidence.

But South Korea's spy agency expects growing military cooperation, warning of the possible transfer of Russia's core nuclear and missile technology to

North Korea.

For nations trying to contain the North Korea nuclear threat, analysts say the worst may be yet to come.

Will Ripley, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Well, Japan's Defense Ministry says it scrambled fighter jets after two Russian planes were seen flying over the Sea of Japan which is

also known as the East Sea. Those Russian plans also flew over the East China Sea. The Russian aerial activity came a day after Russian and Chinese

warships sailed close to Japan's Southern Islands which Japan calls a grave concern to its national security.

Russia released this video of what it claims were ships on naval patrol with China. Beijing says the joint patrols are in line with international

law.

Well, Ukraine is a step closer to getting long sought after American F-16 fighter jets. The U.S. official says the Biden administration has committed

to approving the transfer of the jets as soon as pilot training is complete. A timetable for the training is not yet clear. Meantime, Russia

says its air defenses shot down a drone today over Moscow. It's blaming Ukraine for an attempted drone strike calling it a terrorist attack.

Our Matthew Chance is following the development and joins us now from Moscow.

Good to have you with us, Matthew. So just give us an indication of what exactly we know about this drone attack. This drone was flying over Moscow

and was hit and managed to somehow strike a building in the financial district?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, yes, I mean, according to the Russian authorities as you mentioned, it was shot down. So

we don't know what its ultimate destination has been, but the area it struck which is around the Moscow city sort of complex of offices and

apartment buildings has been hit on two previous occasions. So it's possible that it was en route to that exact place.

It hit in the end a convention center, an expo center which is on the banks of the Moscow River, just a short distance from where I'm talking to you

now, right in the center of the Russian capital. It didn't cause a lot of damage, although there's video of quite a large explosion. But it's the

latest in I think what we've been seeing, a spate of these relatively small-scale drone attacks that have been sort of coming on an almost daily

basis towards the Russian capital and other areas of Russia as well.

They're not military that significant. Nobody was injured. There are a little bit disruptive, there were plans that were stopped from flying into

Moscow's main airports as this drone strike, this latest drone strike got underway, but I mean, the main significance of them is when you add them

all together, while, you know, it makes Russians generally and Muscovites in particular understand that there are consequences for the war that's

underway in Ukraine.

I think also symbolically, they show the Kremlin and they show the Russian state to be not entirely in control, that it cannot content even its own

airspace, and with each one of these drone strikes, it makes the Kremlin look a little bit weaker perhaps in the eyes of the Russian population. And

I think that's what the importance is symbolically of this continuous now drone strikes.

KINKADE: Yes. Exactly. It maybe not much damage but certainly optics don't look good. Matthew Chance for us from Moscow, good to have you with us,

thank you.

Well, former U.S. President Donald Trump is trying to push back his federal election subversion case to well after next year's election. Trump lawyers

say the proposed 2024 date would conflict with other criminal and civil cases and they want the trial to be moved to April of 2026.

Well, joining us now is senior crime and justice reporter Katelyn Polantz for more on this.

So we've got four indictments, Katelyn. We've got parallel prosecutions and plenty of discussions as to when these trials should start. Trump's team

wants to push this particular one three years down the track. What's the likelihood of that happening?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the calendar for early next year is shaping up to be quite busy for Donald

Trump, setting politics aside totally just with trials but we don't have a date yet in the federal criminal case against Donald Trump related to the

2020 election.

[10:15:14]

We also don't have a date yet in the state level case from the state of Georgia against Donald Trump and 18 others also related to the 2020

election. And so a lot of people are going to be watching those because he's running for president again and those cases are about what happened in

the previous election.

There are two other criminal cases that are set on the calendar for Trump to go to trial as a criminal defendant with the potential that he could be

convicted or acquitted before the election next year. Those cases are about his handling of documents after the presidency and then his business

records in New York state. But these two election cases right now there are prosecutors in both of them, state and federal, asking for very aggressive

timelines.

And Donald Trump's team has indicated quite clearly they don't want any of that to go to trial before the election next year and in this federal case

in their filing last night they are saying that this shouldn't have to go to trial until three years from now because there are so much volume of

information that they're going to have to go through, they're going to need to read, and all of these other things that are happening on his calendar

for them to sort through in the coming months, weeks, years.

However, all of this will ultimately be up to judges overseeing these cases. We do have already one judge in the federal case in Washington,

D.C., Judge Tanya Chutkan, indicating that she does believe that a trial should be on fairly aggressive schedule because of some of the things

Donald Trump is doing in the political sphere speaking publicly about the case in a way that could potentially taint a jury.

And so there will be a hearing in this federal case at the end of August where we do believe we will learn a date that Judge Chutkan wants to put on

the calendar and there's going to be a lot of questions, competition even of which prosecutors group is going to try Donald Trump first now that he

has four criminal cases against him.

KINKADE: Yes. 91 charges, four criminal cases, you've got a lot to stay across, Katelyn Polantz, we appreciate it. Thank you.

Well, coming up on CONNECT THE WORLD, Hurricane Hillary has been upgraded to a category four storm as it barrels towards Mexico and California. But

wind is not the biggest worry here. We'll have the forecast when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KINKADE: Well, dire scenes are playing out on the Spanish island of Tenerife where wildfires have forced thousands of people to flee. About

2600 hectares have been burned so far, and one regional leader called it the most complicated fire the Canary Islands have seen in some 40 years.

But authorities say firefighters have been able to make some progress today thanks to some more favorable conditions.

[10:20:07]

And these are the desperate scenes across western Canada. Additional evacuation orders have been put in place in British Columbia where

thousands of people are fleeing their homes or preparing to leave. Almost 14 million hectares have been burned in Canada's fire season so far. It's

more than six times the average.

And in Hawaii, outrage is growing over the emergency response to those devastating wildfires in Maui.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANGUS MCKELVEY, HAWAII STATE SENATE: I have heard the line that, oh, people would panic and ran up to the mountains because it's a tsunami siren. The

reaction of the community to that is utter disbelief. It's insulting to think that people would be that clueless, that they wouldn't know that

sirens blasting was because of the fire.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, that is the Hawaiian Democratic State Senator Angus McKelvey voicing his frustrations and there is growing criticism against the former

administrator of the island's Emergency Management Agency for not activating the state's massive outdoor warning system which is typically

used for tsunamis. That administrator resigned yesterday citing health reasons.

The fires on Maui have now killed at least 111 people, with nearly half of the affected areas searched. Our Bill Weir has more on the search and

rescue efforts.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Here on Maui as that fatality count ticks up a little bit at a time, day by day, it's the

number of missing that weighs so heavy on the hearts of people here and really around the world watching this story. Over 1,000 missing, according

to the governor, his last statement on that, and given the fact that a lot of the powers back up on the island, a lot of the communication is back up,

you'd think we would have heard from those folks by now.

And what's especially grievous is when you think about how many children were home that day. I'm hearing again and again from kids there was no

school when the fire hit. A lot of young ones were with their grandparents or someone else while the parents worked. So you can imagine the agony in

those families if they haven't found their children.

I spoke, actually, to a veteran urban search and rescue officer from FEMA in Hawaii from the Houston area, and he says up to some 90 disasters he's

addressed in his career, this is unlike anything else.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's been really powerful is the fact that there is a number of local firefighter NPD that have lost their homes, lost their

everything, and they're out there working side by side with us. So this is something very personal for us. This could easily have been our community.

And so to be able to help them and to see them working in their own destroyed community is really powerful.

WEIR: He told me how they're searching, short of square foot by square foot, with these dogs. They're trained to detect human remains even down to

cremated ashes. And they want to be reverential and standing alongside of them, a lot of cases, are Maui fire and police department faculty who have

lost their loved ones as well, and are digging through that ash trying to find anything to put some people's minds at ease right now.

The winds are kicking back up again, nothing as strong as the fire storm tropical gusts that we saw last week. But a concern for the hotspots still

in the upcountry Kula Fire. There are two Chinook helicopters, according to the National Guard, ready to go to put those out if they should flare up.

But so many concerns still playing out here. So much trauma.

Bill Weir, CNN, Maui.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Yes. A lot of trauma indeed. Thanks to Bill Weir for that report.

While the residents of northern India are reeling from heavy rains and landslides in Himachal Pradesh state where dozens have died.

Our Vedika Sud is in New Delhi and has more on the devastation and the search for victims.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VEDIKA SUD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Homes swept away, lives destroyed. Since Sunday, more than 70 people have died and more than a dozen are missing

after heavy rainfall led to landslides and flooding across India's northern Himachal Pradesh state.

In this video, a man is heard repeating, oh, lord, oh, lord, shocked as he sees floodwater gushing through a valley. Search and rescue operations have

been underway since a desperate attempt to locate survivors buried under mud and debris.

For those who were lucky, the weight has been excruciating.

SUDESH SHARMA, FAMILY MEMBER OF LANDSLIDE VICTIM (through translator): We should get the missing members of our family back. We should get a glimpse

of them for the last time and set their souls free. We have no doors left open for us now. We should get them back.

SUD: With more heavy rain on the way according to forecasts, Himachal Pradesh remains alert sending residents to relief camps. This monsoon has

been devastating for the state.

[10:25:05]

Since the start of the rainy season in June, 300 people in the region have died according to chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu. On Wednesday Sukhu

carried out an aerial survey of some of the worst affected areas.

Like in many parts of the world, sites like these due to extreme weather are becoming more common. Sukhu estimates the damage has caused losses over

$1. 2 billion U.S. and could take a year to rebuild infrastructure. But for some residents, it's more than just infrastructure. Lives will also need to

be rebuilt.

Vedika Sud, CNN, New Delhi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Well, FEMA, the United States emergency response agency, is already running out of money this year as billion-dollar weather disasters

become more and more common. And the Atlantic hurricane season hasn't even peaked yet.

In the meantime California is bracing for what could be the first tropical storm to hit its shores in 84 years. Hurricane Hillary has strengthened to

a category four storm with winds of 230 kilometers per hour.

And these are some live pictures just coming into us as Hillary bears down on Cabo San Lucas off of Mexico's Pacific Coast.

Meteorologist Derek Van Dam is tracking the storm developments for us and joins us live.

Good to have you with us, Derek. So this storm is expected to bring some record rainfall. Which areas are going to be most impacted?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, the southwestern U.S. and the western portions of the Baja, California peninsula, they are really under

threat for some serious implications with regards to flooding and mudslides.

You showed some live images coming out of Cabo San Lucas. Here's Cabo, that is the southern section of the Baja Peninsula. This is roughly 400

kilometers away from the center of what is major hurricane Hillary. 230 kilometers per hour storm. This is already an expanding wind field and some

of those outer edges, the outer rain bands of this impacting Cabo as you already saw with a live imagery coming out of that area.

They have tropical storm warnings in place, hurricane watches for the central sections of the peninsula, and we anticipate those to be extended

further northward as we get this 11:00 Eastern standard time update from the National Hurricane Center because this storm is going to be moving at a

fast clip over the next 24 to 36 hours. As it approaches the southwestern U.S. likely to still be a tropical storm for places like San Diego, perhaps

even into Los Angeles. It will move inland and bring havoc with rainfall and the potential for flash flooding.

So let's time it out, you can see the impacts of the wind for the middle of the day on Sunday across the Baja Peninsula, and then into Sunday

overnight, early Monday morning, just in time for rush hour, right, we get some of the worst wind impacts for Southern California. Again this will be

a weakened storm but nonetheless, it's still going to be an impactful storm for some of the largest populations across the western portions of the U.S.

Now this is interesting, too, from the Weather Prediction Center. They have highlighted the eastern facing slopes of the mountains of Southern Central

California to have this high risk of flash flooding for the day on Sunday into Monday morning. They have never done that before, and this is why

they're concerned because the potential for more than a year's worth of rain could fall in a matter of a couple of days with the passage of this

system.

And we go back to 2022 in Death Valley, California, Lynda, where they received about 37 millimeters of rain. Their average rainfall for the

entire year 53 millimeters. We are predicting with this current storm, 75 millimeters plus, so it could leave scenes like we saw here last year.

KINKADE: Wow, incredible. Good to have you on the program with that update. We will check in again soon. Derek van Dam, thank you.

VAN DAM: Thanks, Lynda.

KINKADE: Well, still to come, West African leaders are threatening military intervention to restore democracy in Niger if diplomatic efforts fail to

reverse the coup. We'll have a live report when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:32:02]

KINKADE: Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kinkade in Atlanta. You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD. Good to have you with us. Here are your headlines this

hour.

U.S. President Joe Biden is welcoming the leaders of Japan and South Korea to his presidential retreat at Camp David. South Korea's president shown

arriving here, they will meet in about 45 minutes from now. The two Asian nations are setting aside decades of hostility amid growing concerns about

China and North Korea.

U.S. officials says that Biden administration has committed to approving the transfer of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine as soon as pilot training is

complete. A timetable for the training is still not yet clear. Ukraine says it needs the jet to defend against Russian missile and drone attacks.

And another sign of how Iran and Saudi Arabia appear to be restoring diplomatic ties after years of turmoil. Saudi's state media says Iran's

foreign minister met with Saudi Arabia's crown prince in Jeddah and talked about future cooperation. In a social media post Iran's top diplomat said

they had a productive conversation and agreed on security and development for the region.

Well, now to the coup in Niger. Defense chiefs from the West African bloc ECOWAS have been meeting in Ghana for a second day of high stakes talks. We

expect to hear from them at any moment. And ahead of that meeting, one ECOWAS commissioner vowed to restore constitutional order in Niger, quote,

"by all means necessary." He said if push comes to shove, ECOWAS will go into Niger with its own forces. Now the West African bloc hopes that won't

be necessary.

For more on these developments I want to bring in Larry Madowo. He joins us from Nairobi, Kenya.

We are of course awaiting to hear that statement from ECOWAS today on day two of this meeting. What are we expecting? Like how are they weighing out

the options of military intervention versus some sort of diplomatic peaceful alternative?

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lynda, we have some tough talk from the ECOWAS political commissioner when this meeting of the defense chiefs began

yesterday, saying that they are pretending that they are open to talks while at the same time trying to justify an unjustifiable coup referring to

the military junta in Niger. That's a signal that they were open to negotiations with ECOWAS to find a political diplomatic solution out of the

crisis.

President Mohamed Bazoum remains detained. He has been since July 26th with his wife and his son, and they have not so far responded to all the

international attention to it and all the international partners calling for his release and reinstatement. And so this is the second time that the

military chief from the West African bloc are meeting to figure out the whys, the whens, the hows, and the ifs, if they were to carry out this

military intervention in Niger.

A couple of countries have signaled that they are open to sending troops as a part of this joint force. Senegal most notably, Nigeria, Benin, a couple

other countries are also in on this plan that would, they point out, have far-reaching ramifications and the spill-over effects into security in the

wider Sahel region, Lynda.

[10:35:14]

So we still haven't seen that communique coming out of the defense ministers meeting -- defense chiefs meeting but it should be happening

anytime now. The longer it takes obviously a lot more anxieties, leading to people wondering, are they actually going to declare a date for when this

military intervention might begin.

KINKADE: All right. We will check in with you again soon to see if we can get that statement. Larry Madowo for us from Nairobi, Kenya, thank you.

Well, still to come, glory awaits either England or Spain in this weekend's Women's World Cup final, but who will take the title? We'll have "WORLD

SPORT" coming up after a short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KINKADE: Well, today in our series "Going Green," by looking at simple ways to save money on dining out while doing your part to protect the planet.

Every day literally tons of food is thrown away by restaurants. But a new app called Too Good to Go promises to help prevent food waster by alerting

people to high quality meals that might otherwise be destined for a bin.

Bianca Nobilo reports on how it works in the company's headquarters in Copenhagen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

METTE LYKKE, CEO, TOO GOOD TO GO: Food waste is a much bigger than most people are aware of. Almost 10 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions are

estimated to be coming from food that we waste and in fact if we took just a quarter of all the food we waste and directed it to people in need, we

wouldn't have any hunger on the planet.

My name is Mette Lykke and I'm CEO of Too Good to Go. Too Good to Go is a free app you can download on the App Store that basically allows you to see

which bakery, supermarkets, restaurants nearby expect to have food left by the end of the business. I can read a little bit about what they expect to

have for me. I hit reserved here, and explains to me (INAUDIBLE) and I just saved meal from being wasted.

Now I just have to go and pick it up. So far on Too Good to Go, we have saved $239 million meals from going to waste. We're really are trying to

help solve the issue of food waste.

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mette's idea for the app all started with a simple question post over a meal one day at a

Copenhagen restaurant, and she wondered what happens to all their leftovers.

LYKKE: the idea really was to say actually, you know, this food is still perfectly fine to eat.

It was sold at full prize five minutes earlier. It must still have some value. Basically, in our DNA is this idea that we want to get to give the

food a second chance and we want to put a real value on it.

NOBILO: The quest for that second chance launched both an app and a successful start-up.

[10:40:03]

The core concept of Too Good to Go is this so-called surprise bag. Because store owners don't know in advance what would be left at the end of the day

the surprise bag allows them to, well, surprise you. A general guideline from Too Good to Go is to expect about a 66 percent discount on every bag.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have a lot of customers coming down here and they're curious about our products. I think it has a fun way to try them out in the

first time via Too Good to Go that I can buy this bag and I don't know really what's in it but I can take it home with me, and try out the new

products that I wouldn't buy normally.

LYKKE: I think that's one of the great things about this is once you really commit to it, it's actually a lot of fun and good for the planet and it's

good for your wallet, too.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Well, for this and more stories about the innovative solutions to our climate challenge, you can visit CNN.com/GoingGreen.

Well, on to soccer now where Lionel Messi is again wowing the crowds.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Martinez has time to turn, into Messi, advantage play. Messi driving forward, Messi from distance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: When the Argentinean superstar move to U.S. club Inter Miami earlier this summer, I'm not sure he was expecting things to be quite so

easy. This was his ninth goal in just six games since joining. Safe to say he is enjoying life in the U.S. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LIONEL MESSI, ARGENTINE FOOTBALLER (through translator): Today I can tell you that I am very happy with the decision I made and for how my family and

I live our day today lives and how we enjoy the city and this new experience. And how the people received us from the first day. From the

people of Miami and the people of the U.S. in general.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: It is a pretty part of the world. Well, the biggest sporting event this weekend, the Women's World Cup final in Sydney. Spain and European

champions England both gearing up for their first crack at the title. The two sides have had stellar campaigns and it is a toss-up as to who will

emerge victorious.

Andy Scholes joins us now.

Andy, I am still getting over the fact that Australia is not in the final so what can we expect this weekend?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: I know you're upset about your Matildas but, you know, they get the play on Saturday in the third place

game against Sweden which should be a great matchup to watch as well, but man, this final. You know, we started with 32, Lynda, down to two and we

had so many upsets and amazing games throughout this entire Women's World Cup but it is two of the favorites here in England versus Spain.

And you just mentioned it. They are very evenly matched. It's basically a toss-up according to the automakers. It should be really good one, we'll

preview it for you coming up.

If I had to pick, I think I'd go with Spain. Spain would win. What about you?

KINKADE: Yes, I could go either. I just hope Australia gets their place. OK? That's all I hope.

(LAUGHTER)

KINKADE: Andy, we will join you after the break for WORLD SPORT. Our thanks to you, Andy Scholes. Stick around, you're watching CNN WORLD SPORT after

the break.

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[10:45:34]

(WORLD SPORT)

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