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Connect the World
U.S.-Iran 60-day Window Expires with No Deal to End War; Ukraine Launches Largest Aerial Assault Yet on Russia; Trump Threatens Oman as U.S.-Iran Deal Window Closes; Kushner Meets Israeli P.M. After Meeting Hamas Leader; Search for Survivors Still on After Massive Indonesia Quake. Aired 9-10a ET
Aired August 17, 2026 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: You're looking at live pictures of the White House after President Trump said he would bomb Oman
if the country interferes with U.S. efforts in the Strait of Hormuz. It's 09:00 a.m. in Washington, and it is 02:00 p.m. here in London.
I'm Christina Macfarlane. Thank you for joining us. This is "Connect the World". Also coming up, U.S. Envoy Jared Kushner is meeting with Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after rare talks with Hamas, as Washington tries to revive its stalled Gaza peace plan.
Actress Hayden Panettiere, known for "Heroes" and "Nashville", has died at 36. The cause of death has not been revealed. And the U.S. stock market
opens in about 30 minutes. Futures are showing a bit of a mixed picture, virtually flat almost ahead of the opening of Wall Street on this Monday.
And we begin with a blunt warning from U.S. President Donald Trump. He told Fox News he will attack Oman if it interferes with U.S. efforts in the
Strait of Hormuz. Mr. Trump's comments came as the 60-day window for peace talks between the U.S. and Iran expired overnight, with no concrete plans
announced for the war to end.
It's unclear where diplomacy is headed next. Iran's Foreign Minister says a decision has not been made over whether to continue negotiations with the
U.S. President Trump, meanwhile, confirming to Fox News that his administration has established a direct back channel with Iran's Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Well, CNN's Senior White House reporter Kevin Liptak is in Washington, has been following this. So, Kevin, why is the president threatening Oman, a
key player in the Iran talks right now?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Right, and it's an alarming threat given how central Oman has been to these latest rounds of discussion
to try and get the Strait of Hormuz reopened. And the president's grievance seems to be that a plan under discussion would give Oman some sort of
leverage over their coast, their waterway or the route that runs closest to their coast of the Strait of Hormuz.
And so that seems to be what the president's grievance is in this particular case. It is actually not the first time that the president has
threatened Oman, because of the role that it is playing in some of these discussions. All the way back in May, the president also threatened that
country when it was playing a role to try and get the strait reopened.
Now, this I think is going to cause some alarm among players in the region. Oman is obviously a very critical American ally. It has hosted a number of
different diplomatic exchanges with Iran over the last year. None of those have proved particularly successful.
And I think that's part of what the president's grievance was the first time around. Was that when Oman was brokering talks before the war began.
Its foreign minister had come out and said that they were in fact going well and that they were successful, but that wasn't the way that the
president viewed it.
And then he began the bombing campaign inside Iran. And so there has been some tension there for some time. But clearly, the president seems mostly
aggrieved with the idea that any country, whether it's Iran or Oman, would have control over the Strait of Hormuz, and that has, at the end of the
day, become the very critical sticking point in this conflict.
It's become a battle to get that channel opened, as the president contends with higher energy prices and higher gas prices in the United States. In
his view, no country should be able to control it, except perhaps the United States. And now the president very forcefully saying that the other
country, the southern coast of that very critical channel, should not have any leverage in whether it gets reopened or not.
MACFARLANE: And Kevin, even with this 60-day window for a broader U.S.-Iran agreement now expired, no permanent deal on the table. Mr. Trump reportedly
told Fox News he is in no hurry. So, do we take from that that the strategy now is simply about sort of inflicting economic pressure and waiting it
out?
[09:05:00]
LIPTAK: That seems to be what the president's strategy is going forward, and it is also the strategy it seems from Iran as well. And we now find
ourselves in this standoff between the two countries, both of them believing that the other will fold first, both of them believing that they
will be able to withstand the economic consequences of this war for longer than the other.
And it was interesting, last week President Trump at that event in New York telling people that they should be able to pay a little bit more for gas if
the consequence is that Iran not be able to obtain a nuclear weapon. So, you see the president trying to argue to the American public that they sort
of need to bolster up and prepare because this could potentially be a sustained standoff between the two countries.
He has said that the blockade of Iranian ports will not be lifted unless Iran agrees to forego its nuclear ambitions. But Iran also showing no
willingness to give up its stranglehold of the Strait of Hormuz. And I think that just goes to show some of the asymmetric abilities that Iran has
been able to retain over the course of this conflict.
You know, it only takes one drone fired at a vessel that's trying to go through the strait in order for traffic to completely shut down, for the
ship's captains to decide that it's unsafe, and that their insurers to decide that it is unsafe to go through, and then you see the traffic sort
of trickle down to zero.
That's the ability that Iran clearly retains, despite what the president has done over the last six months of this conflict. And so, you do see now
both sides sort of settling into this game of economic warfare. What we heard last week from the Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was that there
were steps still that the U.S. could take to try and inflict economic damage on Iran, whether it's sanctions or any sort of economic warfare that
he has in mind.
But clearly, the president also facing pressure as well, despite his claims that he feels no pressure politically with the midterm elections getting
closer.
MACFARLANE: Yeah. All right, Kevin from Washington. Thank you very much. All right. Now we're hearing that joint military exercises between the U.S.
and South Korea are underway. What's not clear yet is whether the war games have been pared back. This follows Donald Trump's order to cut back
military drills with key ally Seoul.
The U.S. President pointing to his positive relationship with North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un and Seoul's lack of assistance with Iran. It's worth
noting South Korea and the U.S. have a mutual defense treaty, mainly designed to protect Seoul from North Korea. CNN's Gage Goulding is
following the story for us from Hong Kong.
So, Gage, is there now a growing rift between Washington and Seoul, and how much is the president's declaration a gift, really, to North Korea's Kim
Jong Un?
GAGE GOULDING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, I think it's a little bit of both of that. Let's start with kind of the first part of that question. Is
there a rift between D.C. and Seoul? And I think there could be, and that's the latter part of Donald Trump's Truth Social post that spurred this into
the news headlines.
Essentially saying he asked South Korea for help with denuclearizing Iran, and he said the government responded, quote, no thanks. And this could be a
sign that the president says, look, we're here on the Korean Peninsula, the largest military installation outside of the U.S.
You know, we've been helping you when we ask for help. You have to come help us. That could be that, you know, part of it. And then there's the
other side of it that is he extending an olive branch to the North Korean Leader, mind you, that President Trump, in his second term, has made
attempts to meet with Kim Jong Un, but Pyongyang has not taken him up on that offer.
In during his first term in office, President Trump and Kim Jong Un met on three different occasions. Now, when it comes to the actual exercise
itself, President Donald Trump said in his Truth Social post that it was too late to cancel it, but he's going to scale it back.
The South Korean government telling us that the operation, the exercise, started as planned. So, whether it'll actually be scaled back or not,
that's to be determined. But this is an exercise that the president is very familiar with during his first term in office, he scaled back the exercise
in 2018 and 2019, then citing costs.
So, this isn't something that he just was made aware of. And also, I think there's an important thing to note here that the day before he made this
post on social media. He posted a picture of himself and the North Korean Leader, saying that the relations with North Korea are great.
So, a little bit of foreshadowing there by the president on his own social media platform as to whether exactly what the goal is, I'm not sure we know
that, but there's definitely kind of a two-pronged approach there, Christina.
[09:10:00]
MACFARLANE: Yeah, and no doubt other Asia Pacific allies are watching this. How this is going to play out very closely indeed. Gage, we appreciate the
update. Thank you. And with no deal over ending the war with Iran in sight, the U.S. is now pushing to revive the peace plan for Gaza.
Donald Trump's son-in-law and U.S. envoy Jared Kushner is meeting the Israeli Prime Minister today. Earlier this month, Benjamin Netanyahu
rejected the 15-point plan for Gaza promised by Donald Trump's Board of Peace. Mr. Netanyahu has demanded the full disarmament of Hamas before any
Israeli forces withdraw from Gaza.
While on Sunday, Kushner held a rare meeting with the Hamas Leader Khalil al-Hayya. Hamas has agreed to a disarmament plan, but only if Israel
upholds its obligations, including stopping near daily attacks on Gaza. Oren Liebermann is following developments in Jerusalem.
So, Oren, we know that the Israeli President and Israel have rejected the 15-point plan very publicly. What is Jared Kushner hoping to achieve, do
you think, as he speaks to the Israeli Prime Minister today?
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Just to be specific, it was the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, not the president, who
rejected the latest 15-point peace plan on Gaza. President Donald Trump, when he laid that out at the end of last month, said that it was a historic
breakthrough and would lead to what was promised in the previous 20-point ceasefire plan from back in October.
That is an end to the war, the beginning of the rebuilding and reconstruction of Gaza, Hamas disarmament, and yet some 10 months after
that initial 20-point plan. We have seen very little of that on the ground, and that's Jared Kushner's goal here. President Donald Trump's son-in-law
is trying to actualize some real concrete steps here between Hamas and Israel.
We have seen, and we continue to see, the difficulty in doing so. And you described it right at the top there. Israel has said they refuse to
withdraw as until Hamas completely disarms. Hamas refuses to disarm as a unilateral step only from one side. They want to see something in sequence
here.
Disarmament comes with withdrawal and the deployment of an international security force that was part of the original plan but has yet to
materialize in any substantive way, and that's what Kushner is trying to find some space to move forward here. Of course, on top of all that,
there's an Israeli election in some two months.
And Netanyahu, as he's trying to win right wing votes, is unlikely to make any real concessions on Gaza, and that's the difficulty that Kushner faces
here. Can he find some sort of common ground between Israel and Hamas to push forward the Trump Administration's peace plan.
He has been meeting with Netanyahu -- earlier today. We don't know if that meeting is over yet. Even if it is, it lasted several hours here. So, we'll
try to get a better sense of what came out of that meeting and whether there is any announcement and crucially any real way forward at this
moment.
MACFARLANE: Yeah, we will of course look out for any updates on that. Oren, separately turning to something different, Israel's Prime Minister reposted
a picture of a Likud party billboard featuring New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. I'm just wondering if you could tell us what that billboard shows
and what the message was here?
LIEBERMANN: I'll give a bit of context before I get into that. In previous election campaigns with Donald Trump in the White House, Netanyahu used to
put up giant billboards with him and Trump. Except there appears to be a difference of opinions we'll call it, on the way forward with the Iran War
and Trump's negotiating with Iran, the memorandum of understanding with Iran is incredibly unpopular in Israel.
So at least for the moment, Netanyahu has taken a very different approach. Instead of portraying who he's friends with and the people with whom he has
a good relationship, he has now done quite the opposite. He put New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on a giant billboard overlooking the main highway
in Tel Aviv, with the Leader of Iran, the President of Turkey, and the Leader of Hezbollah.
He's portraying Mamdani among the enemies of Israel. Now Netanyahu and Mamdani have had a long-running feud here. Mamdani, as part of his
campaign, said he would arrest Netanyahu as a war criminal if he came to New York City, even though he then acknowledged several months later that
he doesn't actually have the authority to do so.
Meanwhile, Netanyahu has accused Mamdani of supporting Hamas and fomenting hate in New York City. And so now Netanyahu is sort of using him as a foil
as part of the re-election campaign. The slogan on that giant billboard says they don't want Netanyahu to win, or they want Netanyahu to lose.
Don't let them win.
MACFARLANE: Just yet another reminder that we are in the election cycle. Aren't we? Oren Liebermann, thanks for breaking that down for us.
Appreciate it.
[09:15:00]
Well, meanwhile, it's possible U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jarrett Kushner could also head to Moscow, where they would be expected to bring
new proposals on ending the Ukraine conflict. They may also visit Kyiv. That's according to Russian news agency TASS.
Well, this comes as Kyiv launched one of its largest aerial assaults of the war against Russia over the weekend, with Moscow saying it shot down more
than 800 Ukrainian drones, killing at least six. But even as Ukraine attacks deeper inside Russia, it continues to face a chronic shortage of
missile interceptors.
CNN's Seb Shukla has been keeping across the latest. So, as we said, the Seb, this was Ukraine's largest aerial assault of the war against Russia.
Just bring us up to date on the latest escalation and what we've seen there.
SEBASTIAN SHUKLA, CNN PRODUCER: Yeah, good afternoon, Christy. That aerial assault of some 800 missiles and projectiles fired towards different
targets across Russia is being labeled as the largest ever launched by Ukraine. That happened on Saturday night.
What we saw last night, Sunday night, is the similar cadence of these attacks happening from each side. Moscow targeting Kyiv, and Kyiv targeting
Moscow and other parts of Russia too. This time, much more focused on the border regions, Belgorod on the Russian side and Sumy on the Ukrainian
side.
And unfortunately, there are casualties and there are fatalities. The one thing to say though that is this last night's attack does not seem to be
anywhere near on the scale of the ones that we have been seeing more regularly. But this is now, of course, as all of our viewers are well
aware.
The cadence that this war has now entered, it is very much a bombardment by air rather than death in the trenches, which we have seen largely taking
place in the Donbas region of Ukraine's east. And it just marks the phase and chapter that we are in this war because I think both sides have
identified that this is the way to hurt each other the most at the moment.
From the Ukrainian side, they have developed so much in their drone and aerial system warfare that they are able to target huge swaths of that
enormous country east of them. Nowhere appears to be off limits more or less, and they are targeting now with increasing accuracy.
We've seen the oil refineries and those being the targets, but it's expanded out now. The attack that I mentioned from Saturday night was also
targeted toward Moscow and seemed to be focused on a region where lots of Putin's inner circle, or at least the wealthy businessmen around him, live.
That's a reminder that no one is able to escape these attacks. And there is also this continued focus on the Wildberries warehouses, which is Russia's
equivalent of Amazon, which the Ukrainians allege is key in the supply chain of supplying components to the Russian manufacturing and industrial
defense base supporting and underpinning the war.
And from the Russian side, looking at Kyiv, Christy, they have noted that there is a serious lack of patriot missile interceptors to stop these
Russian ballistic missiles, which are causing havoc, and of course, which President Zelenskyy is so desperately calling on European allies, and in
particular because they are made in the U.S. on the U.S. President Donald Trump to step up their efforts to deliver him so that he can protect his
people, Christy.
MACFARLANE: Yeah, and so turning to this potential Witkoff, Kushner visit. I mean, how significant could that be, and what can it tell us about the
prospects for a breakthrough in talks at this stage?
SHUKLA: Well, very significant because Kushner and Witkoff, neither of whom have ever visited Kyiv, so that would be a major step forward. And we know
that there is a potential peace plan or a framework that has been recently delivered as early as last week by the Ukrainians to the Americans.
President Zelenskyy announced that in a video address, his nightly video address that he makes. But he didn't give away anything that may be in it,
and as such, we have seen no official confirmation, just rumors that both Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will be traveling to Kyiv and to Moscow.
But Christy, as you well know, the devil is in the details here. There is no guarantee that what President Zelenskyy and the Ukrainians put forward
will be accepted by the Americans to start with, but more importantly by Moscow, who have always had this maximalist stance when it comes to any
deal and settlement of this war, which is ceding of all four of those territories Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Donetsk, and Luhansk which the
Ukrainians just cannot bow to, they would never agree to that.
[09:20:00]
And the rumors swirling ahead of a parliamentary election in mid-September in Russia is that there is talk potentially rumors. I really underpin that
there may be a mobilization, and from the European standpoint and their allies, no one here that I've been talking to sees the Russians in any way
interested in negotiating at the moment.
And a mobilization, should that be the case, would send that message clearer than ever. It's very hard to say, Christy, whether this is the
beginning of a new salvo of talks. If we may just end up being in another stalemate, but if we look at the Iran deal, if we look at the Oren was just
talking about the Gaza peace plan.
This administration doesn't have a great track record just yet of really being able to deliver peace, which is interesting because that is what the
president set out, he would set out to achieve when he became president second time round.
MACFARLANE: Yeah, that's a good point, Seb Shukla there live for us from Berlin. Thanks, Seb. And you are watching "Connect the World". Still to
come, we're remembering the life and legacy of actress Hayden Panettiere, who died at the age of 36 on Sunday.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACFARLANE: Actress Hayden Panettiere has died at the age of 36. Her sudden death is sending shockwaves through the entertainment world. She was best
known for her roles on the hit television shows "Heroes" and "Nashville". Police say she was found unresponsive Sunday at an apartment complex in
Greenville, South Carolina, and was later pronounced dead.
The circumstances surrounding her death are unknown at this point. CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister has been following the story for us. And Elizabeth,
this is so tragic. I mean, she was very young. What more do we know this hour about her death? And just talk to us about her life and her legacy, if
you will.
ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: This is an incredibly sad story. Of course, as you said, she was only 36, just days
away from her 37th birthday. But it's even more tragic because this is an actress who grew up in front of our eyes.
She started very early in show business, and she was very open and very vulnerable about her personal struggles. This is a woman who was really
failed by the entire system, by Hollywood. And she said that she was actually even resentful towards her mother because her mother took her on
auditions when she was just eight months old.
By the time that she was five years old, she had already been in 50 commercials. Then she started in soap operas and got her big break on the
huge television series "Heroes". Then she was also on the series "Nashville". Was known for the Scream franchise, but what she was really
known for in the past decade, really, of her life again was her personal struggles.
[09:25:00]
She came out with a memoir just three months ago, which makes this feel so eerie because we just saw her doing a lot of press and giving very
emotional, raw, candid conversations about how she had finally felt that she had gotten past the darkness of her life and was doing better.
But some of those personal struggles that she detailed in her memoir, everything from her battle with addiction to domestic violence. She spoke
about her estranged relationship with her own mother. And she also has an 11-year-old daughter that she leaves behind, and she actually willingly
gave up custody of her own daughter because she said that she felt that was the best for her child to keep her safe because she was unable to care
properly for her.
But Hayden did say that she had a great relationship with her daughter, who was living in Ukraine with the daughter's father, but she Hayden, she
suffered from postpartum depression. She was very open about that. So, while the circumstances of her death are unknown at this time, and police
have said that based on preliminary findings, that they do not believe that there is any foul play, but we don't know the cause of her death.
But again, this is just so tragic, especially because she lived such a troubled public life and really seemed to be turning a corner just earlier
this year. So, Hollywood tributes pouring out, everybody in shock, and of course, we send the best to her family and her loved ones and all of her
fans.
MACFARLANE: Yeah, we absolutely do. I mean, it's such a tragedy, as you say, that she lived with a myriad of issues there in the public spotlight.
Our hearts go out to her family. Elizabeth, thank you. And you're watching "Connect the World". Still to come, oil prices are up slightly today, as
comments by the U.S. Energy Secretary have markets asking just how much oil is actually getting through the Strait of Hormuz.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACFARLANE: Welcome back. I'm Christina Macfarlane in London, and you are watching "Connect the World". These are your headlines this hour. South
Korea says its joint military exercises with the U.S. are underway. This comes just hours after Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon to cut back
America's role in the drills.
[09:30:00]
The U.S. President says the war games send a quote, hostile signal to North Korea. President Trump is threatening to bomb Oman if it interferes with
U.S. efforts in the Strait of Hormuz. His comments to Fox News come as the 60-day deadline for U.S.-Iran peace talks expires, with no clear path to
end the war.
U.S. Envoy Jared Kushner is meeting Israel's Prime Minister today to discuss the peace plan for Gaza. It comes after Benjamin Netanyahu rejected
the 15-point proposal backed by Washington. Kushner met the Hamas Leader on Sunday. Hayden Panettiere, the actress known for her roles in television
hits "Heroes" and "Nashville" has died at 36.
Her rep sent -- confirmed her death to CNN. Panettiere was found unresponsive Sunday at a South Carolina apartment complex and later
pronounced dead. Her cause of death is not yet known. Now we're turning to the question preoccupying oil markets today. How much oil is actually
moving through the Strait of Hormuz?
For weeks, marine tracking services have been reporting a significant decline in vessels navigating the strait as Iran has continued to fire on
foreign tankers. But last week, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told a very different story, saying the strait is open and oil is flowing through
it.
Let's take a quick look at the markets and how they are responding today. With Brent and WTI crude oil both around $88 and $82 a barrel. With me, a
CNN's David Goldman, who's tracking these developments or mixed messaging, David, on the Strait of Hormuz. How are you making sense of this?
DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR REPORTER: It's hard to make sense of, because I think that for a long time the conventional wisdom is what we've
been reporting, which is that there's very few -- there are very few oil tankers that are making it through the Strait of Hormuz.
Now, we have heard from Kpler and from Windward Intelligence and other tracking surfaces that something like 4 million barrels per day is making
it through the Strait of Hormuz. So, there is some ship traffic that's going through, but very, very little. Most of it is actually getting
rerouted across Saudi Arabia via that East-west pipeline and out through the Red Sea.
And so, in total, if you add the amount that we've seen being piped around and the amount that's actually getting through, you're at something like 11
or 12 million barrels per day. That's still significantly less than the 20 million that we had before the war, and then you get what the Department of
Energy is saying, which is no, no.
There's actually 9 million barrels coming through the strait in addition to what's being piped, and that means that we're getting something like 15 or
16 million barrels per day, which is much more and much closer to what we had before the war. Actually, if you looked at Sunday, not this past
Sunday, but the Sunday before the Department of Energy said we had more oil coming through the strait and being piped around than we did before the
war, which is extraordinary.
And there is some evidence that we are actually seeing this. Look at oil prices and how much they have fallen since the height of the war, when they
were up close to $120 a barrel, and we know that they've remained very low throughout the war, or at least lower than you would think, given that this
is supposed to be the largest supply shock that the world has ever seen.
Now, we talked to Kpler, and they said there is just absolutely no way that what the government is saying can be backed up by the data that they are
tracking, and in fact, they have 130,000 transponders and a network of 350,000 ships that they track, and they have low Earth orbit satellites.
So, this is a serious business that Wall Street relies on. So, who's right? We don't really know, but here's why it's important because the Trump
Administration is working with Iran to try to get the war ended. And so, if it has this leverage where oil is actually getting through, a lot more oil
is getting through than we believed, then maybe the Trump Administration has a lot more leverage than we thought.
MACFARLANE: Yeah, it's quite a stunning reversal of everything we thought in this moment. Thank you, David, for kind of putting us in the picture
there. Appreciate it.
GOLDMAN: Thank you.
[09:35:00]
MACFARLANE: Well, the U.S. Central Command Chief is responding to concerns about morale and mental health issues 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. Cooper says the USS
Abraham Lincoln has 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 isn't for
everyone. It is uniquely challenging and tough, and every single one of us, including me, reacts to stressors in different ways. Well, get you up to
speed on some other stories that on our radar right now.
A dangerous heat wave is searing the U.S. south. It's set to stay locked in place into the week as temperatures soar into the triple digits Fahrenheit
in some areas, along with stifling humidity. Little relief from the heat is expected at night. And rescue teams are still searching for survivors after
a massive earthquake in Indonesia on Saturday.
More than 50 people are dead and many more unaccounted for after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck off the coast of Indonesia. Rescue crews
are struggling to reach remote areas as some roads are reportedly impassable. Damage assessments will take place in Hawaii today after
Hurricane Lala hit over the weekend.
Up to 75 millimeters of additional rain is expected to fall on some of the smaller islands Monday, but tropical storm warnings have ended. CNN
Meteorologist Derek Van Dam is joining us. So, Derek, tell us more about this tropical storm. What brought it to Hawaii, and how much longer we can
expect this to go on?
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, Christina, can you imagine stepping out your back porch and seeing that out your what is normally a quiet
stream all of a sudden turning into a raging torrent of water. Well, that was the case across many of the islands in Hawaii after get this over 1,100
millimeters has fallen since the passage of this.
What was a hurricane now a tropical storm, and that is why we have this torrent of water that's unfortunately actually completely removed buildings
and homes from their slabs of concrete, their foundations because of the force of the water. There were impressive wind gusts as well.
This is in high elevation, so keep that in mind. About 13,800 feet above sea level, about 140 miles per hour. That's incredible. Closer to the
ground, we're talking about hurricane-force gusts. By the way, that Mauna Kea Summit, it was cold enough there where they actually experienced snow.
So, think about that, a hurricane bringing snowfall to high elevations in the middle of August, which should be summertime. That's incredible.
Nonetheless, it's already knocked out, or it has knocked out over 100,000 customers without power, especially across the Big Island.
This is the Hawaiian Islands. This is the island of Hawaii, and then it continues to extend into Oahu. We've got Maui and Kauai to the north and
west. Remember, Honolulu is on the island of Oahu. This is the radar. You can clearly see tropical storm Lala moving away, but there are still some
outer rain bands here impacting Kauai and into Oahu.
And also note that this storm never actually officially made landfall. It stayed just south of the Big Island, but that is proof right there that you
don't need a landfalling hurricane to have the destruction and the problems along with it. So that's why we need to take these storms so seriously.
This storm is actually going to intensify as it goes into some warmer waters, more unfavorable conditions in the environment. Fortunately,
that'll be fish food going forward because it'll stay across the central Atlantic, really not impacting any land masses. But what is, is the heat
across the continental United States?
When we kind of tally up the numbers, we've got 90 million Americans that are under these heat alerts. Many of them reside across the southeast,
including here where I'm located in Atlanta. But this is impressive because you've got to factor in the humidity values when it starts to feel so
oppressive outside, and it is dangerous heat.
In fact, extreme. That's a level four of four heat risk map for many locations across the deep south, and that is because we'll have the heat
index values reach 110 in some locations. This is just a good reminder not to leave children or pets unattended in locked vehicles. It's so important
this time of year, Christina.
MACFARLANE: Yeah, stay out during those peak hours as well, and carry water with you at all times. I guess.
DAM: Yeah.
MACFARLANE: Thanks very much, Derek.
DAM: All right --
MACFARLANE: Always so much to talk about with the weather these days.
DAM: Yeah.
MACFARLANE: And we'll be right back with a short break. Stay with us.
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MACFARLANE: Defending champions Arsenal were making a statement on Sunday, beating Manchester City three-nil in the Community Shield, the English
season's traditional curtain raiser. Amanda Davies is joining me. And that's quite a score line, isn't it, Amanda? To be looking ahead to the
start of the season.
AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT: Yeah, this is one of those games, Christy, where the team who lose always says, oh, it's only the community shield, it
doesn't matter. But those that win it say, hang on, this is really laying down a marker. But I think even Arsenal Manager Mikel Arteta was surprised
at quite how emphatic this victory was for his side.
There are definitely some questions being asked the new post-Pep Manchester City era, but they say the hardest thing when you reach the top is to stay
at the top, don't they? And Arsenal certainly suggesting that they are going to be picking up where they left off.
We've got more on that and a first ever Women's Africa Cup of Nations victory for Cameroon coming up in just a couple of minutes, Christy.
MACFARLANE: Excellent. Well, we look forward to all of that. "World Sport" is after the break with Amanda. And I'm back with more "Connect the World"
in 15 minutes. Stay tuned.
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