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CNN International: Biden To Meet With NATO's Stoltenberg At White House; Prime Minister Netanyahu Disbands Israel's War Cabinet; Fears Of A Wider Conflict Amid Israel-Hezbollah Tensions; Biden Ad: Trump "A Convicted Criminal Who's Only Out For Himself"; Crews Battle Post Wildfire North Of Los Angeles; Record-Breaking Heat Builds Across Parts Of U.S.; Surgeon General Demands Warning Label On Social Media Apps. Aired 3-3:45p ET

Aired June 17, 2024 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:35]

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Welcome, everyone. It is 8:00 p.m. in London, 10:00 p.m. in Kyiv, noon in Los Angeles and 3:00 p.m. here in New York. I'm Omar Jimenez. Thank you so much for joining me today on CNN NEWSROOM.

Let's get right to the news because there is a lot of it.

This hour, President Joe Biden is hosting NATO Secretary Jens Stoltenberg fresh off the heels of Ukrainian peace summit in Switzerland and a historic long-term security agreement between the U.S. and Ukraine.

Now, Stoltenberg brings good news to the White House on NATO's defense commitment. Here, he's previewing that announcement in Washington this morning. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENS STOLTENBERG, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: Just five years ago, there were still less than 10 allies that spent 2 percent of GDP on defense. But later today, when I see President Biden, I'll announce new defense spending figures for all allies and I can already now reveal that this year, more than 20 allies will spend at least 2 percent of GDP on defense.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: That's an improvement of what we've seen in the past. But a reminder, the 2 percent defense pledge is a non-binding agreement to invest, that is 2 percent of the country's GDP on its own defense is not dues paid directly to NATO.

But for more on the president's meeting with the NATO secretary and how these announcements impact Russia's war in Ukraine, I'm joined by Alex Marquardt.

Now, Alex, there has been a long push to get more NATO countries to meet their defense pledge. So this is a major improvement, but what are the wider implications here?

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's really the policy side of things where, you know, countries like the United States and others do want to see all the NATO allies, now, 32 of them, reached that 2 percent of GDP threshold. At the same time, there's the political argument as well because president, former President Trump has, of course, accused NATO allies of not pulling their weight, threatening to pull the us out of NATO, even threatening to not come to NATO's allies' aid if they were to be attacked by Russia, if they didn't reach that 2 percent threshold.

Now, Jens Stoltenberg is someone who often does not make news, Omar. But here he is making quite a bit of news, pointing out there that just five years ago, less than a third of the NATO alliance was reaching that 2 percent threshold. Now, he's saying that the majority of them will. So that is really quite significant.

On the political side of things, we should did note that there is, that first debate between President Biden and former President Trump next week, right here on CNN. And that is certainly something that is going to be coming up. I should also note that in three weeks time here in Washington, D.C. is the NATO summit. It's the 75th anniversary.

It is -- they're going to be celebrating the admission of Sweden and Finland to the alliance. But there have been a number of moves Omar lately to try to Trump proof both NATO and the West approach towards Ukraine. We just saw last week at the G7, the U.S. sign this ten, sorry, this ten year security pact with Ukraine. We're also hearing that NATO is trying to set up a coordination mechanism to basically take over more of the control of the flow of weapons to Ukraine.

And make no mistake, Omar, that's because there is the potential for President Trump to be back in office next year looming over quite a bit of this.

JIMENEZ: And he's been -- he has not been shy about saying how differently he would be handled doing things in regards to NATO, and its current state, right now, I want to ask you about one other portion because obviously the war in Ukraine is between Russia and Ukraine, but the geopolitical fallout from it as other countries look on has been enormous, and, of course, a huge focus of the upcoming NATO summit.

Today, Stoltenberg said NATO needs to look closer at China's complicity in the conflict. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

MARQUARDT: China, one of Russia's closest allies, has been walking a very careful line of not directly providing lethal aid, not providing weapons, per se, to Russia for their war in Ukraine. But, Omar, they're getting awfully close. And so what we heard from a rather punchy and Stoltenberg earlier today is that China is essentially complicit with fueling the biggest war in Europe since World War II, helping Russia get around sanctions and export controls, helping them with microelectronics. He said that Russia imports 90 percent of their microelectronics that

are used in missiles other weapons from China and so, was making it very clear that China is very much a part of this conflict in Ukraine.

Here's a little bit more of what he had to say.

[15:05:02]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STOLTENBERG: But that the reality is that China's fueling the largest armed conflict in Europe since World War II. And at the same time, it wants to maintain good relations with the West. Well, the Beijing cannot have it both ways. At some point, unless China changed its course, allies need to impose the cost.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUARDT: Now, aside from China, Stoltenberg also called out Iran and North Korea for their support of Russia and Ukraine.

And very interestingly, Omar Stoltenberg, just yesterday in a new interview was talking about the need for NATO allies to show their nuclear might, to show that they are willing to deploy nuclear weapons in the face of China, Iran and North Korea. And now there are only three NATO members, France, Britain, and the U.S., which are a nuclear powers. But there are American nuclear missiles all across Europe in a variety of countries.

So China, the other countries are helping Russia and Ukraine all of these nuclear issues, this is certainly going to be among the major topics of conversation at that NATO summit, which starts three weeks from tomorrow right here in Washington, D.C. -- Omar.

JIMENEZ: Yeah. All important points to keep an eye on as we move forward. Alex Marquardt, always appreciate the reporting and perspective.

All right. For more on this, I want to bring it in Kimberly Dozier, CNN global affairs analyst.

Now, we're just listening to Alex there lay out some of the key threads that were seeing. Among them, President Biden meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. What do you expect to come out of this meeting? And can you just contextualize the significance of this meeting in a moment like this?

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: I think what will come out of the meeting publicly is a lot less important than what's going to happen behind closed doors in the Oval Office in that Stoltenberg, he always makes pains to not embarrass his hosts but he has given interviews, including one to "The Economist", where he's talked about if Ukraine is to win this fight with Russia, then the aid given to it can't have strings attached. This is appointed message to Joe Biden that you got to stop telling Ukraine that it can't use the weapons systems you're giving it a less it avoids striking Russia. Now, of course, Biden has slightly loosened the reins such that

Ukraine can hit Russian troops around the border city of Kharkiv, the Ukrainian city that Russia is trying to take again. But Stoltenberg has said publicly and I've spoken to a number of European officials in the past several weeks who privately said that they think the Biden White House is still too afraid of Vladimir Putin's threat to use nuclear weapons, and that's why they're tying Ukraine's hands on long- range missile systems, which could be a deciding factor in this fight.

JIMENEZ: Yeah. Look another thing we've been keeping an eye on is there was an agreement last week by defense ministers that that would put NATO in charge with the coordination of security assistance and training for Ukraine, which is significant because I think it's fair to say its been increasingly difficult in the United States, at least from Capitol Hill's perspective, to get legislation passed to continue supporting Ukraine. And then, of course, the very real possibility that former President Trump could be elected again, where he has not been shy about wanting to do things differently in regards to the relationship there.

So, is that move on the part of NATO, is that really just anticipating an uncertain election outcome in November here in the United States? Or are there other motivations from a Euro-centric standpoint where they would benefit?

DOZIER: The good thing about having NATO coordinate some of this assistance and aid is that there have been complaints from inside Ukraine that countries promised to give aid and then it's not clear when or how its going to show up. If you've got NATO coordinating all those deliveries with the big spreadsheet saying, hey, you guys haven't sent your promised artillery yet, that's helpful.

But the U.S. is the main contributor to financially and leader of NATO. So if Donald Trump decides to change aid to Ukraine, withdrawal aid for Ukraine and tried to force Kyiv to the negotiating table with Moscow as many inside Ukraine fear he might do, there is little that the Biden administration can put in place to stop that, even the tenure security agreement that Biden signed with President Zelenskyy last week, it's helpful. It looks great on paper, but it's not a treaty ratified by Congress. Therefore, the next president roll it back.

JIMENEZ: Yeah, and we have seen President Trump at least when he was elected last time, former President Trump, there was a history of him on doing a lot of the foreign policy decisions, including JCPOA, Paris climate accords and more.

[15:10:05]

The -- obviously, we talked about the implications of Stoltenberg announcing more than 20 of the 32 NATO allies will spend at least 2 percent of GDP on defense this year. And militarily, of course, that has its own implications and benefits, but it also comes just weeks before the NATO summit held in Washington. And amid criticism by Donald Trump about how NATO countries are spending defense budgets in regards to their GDP. Politically speaking, does that make it harder for the former

president and his allies to threaten to abandon NATO if they are actually increasing the amount that they're spending on defense?

DOZIER: Look, it's helpful, but if you're a glass half empty kind of person, you're still going to look at the 12 countries that aren't, quote/unquote, measuring up to use one of Donald Trump's phrases and say, you know, unless those countries also contribute to 2 percent of their GDP to their own defense then the U.S. just might just not come to their aid if Russia or somebody else does something, do them. That's a threat that Trump has made before, is repeated on the campaign trail.

But the fact of the matter is a lot of these countries are investing so much in their defense, not because of Trump's threats, but because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. And it's made them realize that they might not have Washing -- that they might actually need to face off with Moscow and then Trump's agitation has made them realize they might not have the U.S. to depend on in future.

JIMENEZ: Yeah. Look, a lot of intricacies here.

Kimberly Dozier, really appreciate the conversation and perspective. Thanks for being here.

DOZIER: Thanks.

JIMENEZ: All right. To Israel now where there are new questions about the country's war operations in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dissolved the war cabinet that was established in the days following October 7. This was an anticipated move following the resignation of opposition leader Benny Gantz and a renewed request from far-right leaders to be included in the cabinet.

Now on Sunday, Israel's military announced a tactical pause to allow aid to enter southern Gaza, amplifying the political risks, because according to an Israel the official Netanyahu did not know about the decision and called the military's announcement unacceptable.

Now an IDF spokesperson clarified to CNN, the pause does not mean a stop in fighting. Israel to this point, though, has controlled all checkpoints into Gaza since launching its Rafah military duration six weeks ago. Since then, 1.3 million people have been displaced from Rafah.

CNN's Oren Liebermann is in Israel.

Oren, now -- now that -- now that the war cabinet has been dissolved, decision-making is really going to move back to the government's main security council, which does include far-right leaders like Ben-Gvir and Smotrich, so how is this announcement being received in Israel and does this significantly change the war in Gaza?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's already a tremendous amount of frustration with how Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has let this war run, and especially frustration that there hasn't been a ceasefire deal yet. We have seen that and repeated protests over not only this past weekend, but previous weekends, there were more protests today calling for a ceasefire deal.

Ultimately, the question is, does the dissolution of the war cabinet make it more or less likely? And for that answer, we'll just have to wait and see.

Now, the war cabinet had three members, essentially with a vote able to influence how the war is managed. One of those, Benny Gantz, a former war cabinet member, left and that meant the only other two members of the war cabinet were Netanyahu himself itself and his defense minister who are from the same party.

So from that perspective, it doesn't make much of a difference whether they make decisions as part of a war cabinet or as part of a security cabinet or if they simply make decisions on their own and don't even rely on the security cabinet, or if Netanyahu, as we've seen him do in the past on different issues, simply makes those decisions without consulting with anybody.

It does, as you point out, allow him to head off far-right ministers who had demanded to become a part of the war cabinet and influence how the war is run. They have repeatedly criticized Israel's operations in Gaza, saying it should be resettled pushed for going harder and deeper into Gaza to essentially building out more permanent Israeli infrastructure there. So Netanyahu has been able to avoid that part of it.

It doesn't seem like this will affect the stability of the government. So dissolving the war cabinet doesn't mean elections are any closer, or that the government will collapse still, it is something to watch because now the eyes of the country on how this war plays out, are firmly focused on Netanyahu.

JIMENEZ: Yeah, a lot of developments. Oren Liebermann, thank you so much.

Meanwhile, though, we want to take you to Israel's northern border, where tensions have continued to escalate. The IDF has confirmed it killed a key operative in Hezbollah's rocket and missile department in Southern Lebanon on Monday.

[15:15:02]

Now fighting between Israel and the Iranian-backed military group has ramped up in recent days after months of low-intensity attacks. The U.S. special envoy is in Israel with the prime minister and other top officials to try to defuse tensions between the two sides. Now, U.N. officials in Lebanon issued the grave warning really over the weekend saying, quote, the danger of miscalculation leading to a sudden and wider conflict is very real.

CNN's Ben Wedeman is in Beirut.

And, Ben, there is a long history of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah going back decades really at this point. What are Hezbollah's military capabilities and who has the upper hand and the situation that we're seeing right now?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERANTIOANL CORRESPONDENT: Now, Omar, you know, I've covered over the last 30 years for CNN dozens of non-state militias and guerrilla groups across the Middle East and beyond, and I can tell you, in terms of organization, tactics and weapons, no one comes near Hezbollah.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WEDEMAN (voice-over): Every day, the message goes out from South Lebanon in slick propaganda videos, accompanied by a stirring soundtrack. Hezbollah is ready to go from daily skirmishes to full scale war with Israel.

Mired in what appears to be an unwinnable war in Gaza, Israel has vowed to turn its military might on Hezbollah. Earlier this month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the border, saying, we are prepared for very strong action.

But the Iranian-backed group is by far the most formidable battle hardened foe Israel has faced on its borders since the 1973 October war. After its guerillas forced Israel to pull out of south Lebanon 24 years ago, in 2006, Hezbollah fought Israel to a standstill, although the war left parts of Beirut in much of southern Lebanon in ruins.

Retired Lebanese army brigadier general Elias Hanna (ph) knows the militant group well.

ELIAS HANNA, RETIRED LEBANESE ARMY BRIGADIER GENERAL: Hezbollah is an exclusive club, well-disciplined, monitored, and they have, which is the most important issue, the charismatic leader, Hassan Nasrallah.

WEDEMAN: Since October, Israeli strikes have killed more than 300 Hezbollah fighters, including last week, high ranking commander Talib Abdullah given a hero's farewell in Beirut.

At the funeral, senior Hezbollah leader Hashem Safieddine warned: We will increase our operations in intensity in force, in quantity and quality.

Analysts believe Iran has provided Hezbollah with an arsenal of sophisticated long-range missiles capable of reaching Tel Aviv and beyond.

Until now, Hezbollah has mostly limited strikes military targets along the rugged mountainous frontier, hitting Israel's extensive network of surveillance posts.

It also says it is taken out an Iron Dome battery. The backbone of Israel's missile defenses and is used ground to air missiles to shoot down three top of the line Hermes 900 drones.

In the process forcing tens of thousands of Israelis to flee their homes in the north.

Hezbollah is learning faster than Israel can adapt, says Hanna. HANNA: It's learning process. Its like trial and error. So, as far as you go in time, you are seeing more intensity, more combined use of weapon and then more in-depth and more in effectiveness against the Israelis and what is the problem that Israeli have no, have no answer for that.

WEDEMAN: Since October, Israel has bolstered its forces on the border and held exercises to prepare for war. Hezbollah is also ready for war, a war that is just one miscalculation away.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WEDEMAN (on camera): Now, Amos Hochstein, that U.S. envoy who's in Israel at the moment having met the prime minister, the president may be coming to Lebanon. We haven't heard any confirmation from the U.S. embassy here nor from the Lebanese government, but he's probably carrying the same message that a war between Lebanon and Israel will be catastrophic for both sides.

[15:20:03]

And given that Israel is all right already in the quagmire of Gaza, they going into Lebanon will really be like jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire -- Omar.

JIMENEZ: Yeah, and look, I think you said it perfectly, describing the delicate nature of where we are -- one miscalculation away.

Ben Wedeman, thank you so much.

Still to come for us, thousands of acres burned as wildfires rage near Los Angeles. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JIMENEZ: The Biden campaign today is rolling out its most aggressive effort yet to label Donald Trump as a convicted felon, launching a $50 million ad buy that hits the national airwaves 10 days before President Joe Biden squares off with his predecessor on debate stage right here on CNN.

Take listen to some of it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AD NARRATOR: In the courtroom, we see Donald Trump for who he is. He's been convicted of 34 felonies, found liable for sexual assault and he committed financial fraud.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: Meanwhile, today, Trump has been huddling with Speaker Mike Johnson at Mar-a-Lago on how to maintain their razor-thin House majority in November's critical elections.

With me now are two reporters following all of these campaign developments very closely, Alayna Treene, who covers the Trump campaign, and Kevin Liptak at the White House.

Kevin, I want to start with you on this ad buy. I mean, look, there, there are questions after the conviction of Donald Trump on how this would be played into politically. Does this signal an effort that Biden plans to make Trump's criminal conviction a central theme of his campaign?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, I certainly think it shows the president really leaning into this idea that former President Trump is now a convicted felon and for so long, there had been this debate among Democrats about the wisdom of putting that at the center of a campaign message. And certainly, President Biden himself had been so reticent over the last several months to really weigh into this to really talk about it at all. Certainly, as the trial was ongoing, very wary of stepping over wherever that ethical line stands.

Now, I think this really does put some of those questions to rest and you are seeing the campaign lean very heavily into this message, trying to brand Trump as a convicted felon through this television ad, and it is quite stark.

[15:25:00]

You know, you really can't imagine a sharper way of contrasting President Biden's sort of attitude and President Trump's. They use his mug shot. They sort of tick through all of the felony counts and all of the legal issues that he's facing.

I think what their goal is to really sharpen this contrast before the CNN debate in ten days. When you talked to Biden advisers, they really do view this summer as the best opportunity they have to really sort of stark in the contrast between Trump and Biden. Polls at this point don't necessarily show that many voters see what that contrast is. An according to the Biden campaigns own research, many voters just haven't necessarily come to the realization that this is a rematch contest between Biden and Trump. And they really do want to put this choice then put this contrast in front of Americans in their living rooms.

And that's why you see them putting $50 million behind this ad buy of which this ad is just one part all right. But trying to get in the living rooms in these battleground states to really kind of jolt the electorate awake to the choice that's in front of them in November.

JIMENEZ: Yeah, and look, we didn't expect it to happen, but the Trump campaign did not take this lying down.

Alayna, I just want to go to you ahead of the debate and now 10 days, what are, what is the Trump campaign saying in response and how are they preparing for that showdown?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Well, as it relates to this ad, we immediately saw some of Donald Trump's top advisers criticize that. We saw a statement from his spokesperson, Karoline LEAVITT, as well as comments from Jason Miller, a senior advisor. I'm going to read for you some of what Karoline said. She in this

tweet, she responded on X and she wrote: The contrast between President Trump strength and success versus crooked Joe Biden's weakness failures and dishonesty will be made clear on the debate stage next week.

And so that's kind of giving a little preview of how they expect. No, this could potentially come up next week. I know from my conversations with Trump campaign that they have been preparing for all different types of controversial scenarios and issue -- and topics that will likely play out on that stage -- his conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records being one of them.

But we also saw in some of their responses to this is they are arguing that this shows that President Joe Biden and his campaign as well as Democrats at large are really weaponizing the government to target him as Biden's political opponent. And they're trying to use this ad and Biden increasingly talking about his legal battles as further proof of that.

Now, I also just find it interesting. I want when to point out from an add to what Kevin said, which was really great insight, is that both Joe Biden and Donald Trump's teams see some sort of benefit from talking about his convictions, whereas Joe Biden's campaign, as Kevin laid out, sees that they can try to show this contrast between Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

Trump's campaign really believes that the rhetoric around I am a victim, I'm trying to run for office so that this no longer can happen to you to the voters is their big message and they've continued to fundraise off of it to spend on it, to talk about it.

Now, that also comes as I know, when I do also talk to Trump's campaign, they argue that luck this is a really good message to raise money off on. They also want to talk about the issues and they also want to try to move away from the trial. And so it'll be interesting to see how they continue to try to play off how Joe Biden's and his campaign is increasingly talking about this.

JIMENEZ: And we got a sense that they were going to lean into that even before the conviction when T-shirts of -- when the Trump campaign began fundraising off of his mug shots stemming out of the Georgia state charges. So, there's a sense of almost testing the waters before we got to this conviction.

Kevin, outside of that $50 million ad buy, I mean, the Biden campaign says it brought in $30 million over the weekend with that star-studded L.A. fundraiser record for Democrats though, not for Republicans, but for Democrats, still significant. And we also know as part of that, Biden stepped up his criticism of the Supreme Court.

Did we get a sense that that is a strategy they will lean into heading into this season?

LIPTAK: Well, I think it is. And just to Alayna's point, when you look at these two campaigns, both trying to use the mug shot to use the legal issues to define the contours of the campaign, that's really where the Biden campaign's cash advantage is going to come in handy. They have the ability to go in the airwaves and use all of that but to direct their message directly to Americans and certainly they need the money to do that. They're raising the money, $30 million as you said, at that fundraiser in Los Angeles.

President Biden, did I think for the second time in as many weeks, talk about this prospect that he will very likely have two Supreme Court vacancies to fill, he or whoever wins the White House in November, that could potentially be a very motivating issue for Democrats.

[15:30:00]

You know, the Dobbs decision that overturned a nationwide right to abortion was really a galvanizing moment for Democrats in some ways, the Supreme Court had not been such an issue for them before then now, it is very much front of mind and certainly when you look at the cases that are just on the docket this year, this is an issue that the Biden campaign very much hopes will bring people out to vote.

When you heard President Biden the last time talk about it was when he was talking very specifically to African American voters and Philadelphia. So, certainly, they see this as an issue that can galvanize any number of those key constituencies that they're trying to reconstitute for November.

But certainly, President Biden I think wants to make the case that if Trump were to come in office, he would appoint nominees very similar to the ones that he did when he is an office last time around, it was those how many that made the overturning of Roe versus Wade possible. So, it's a message that I think he believes will resonate.

JIMENEZ: And these are all messages we will likely see play out in real time come CNN debate time in just a little bit over a week.

Alayna Treene, Kevin Liptak, got to leave it there. Thanks so much.

All right. We're also following a fire in California near Los Angeles that's burned through 15,000 acres since it started Saturday. The Post Fire is currently at 8 percent contained with more than 1,000 firefighters fighting the flames. You see some of the images there. The fire has damaged multiple properties and forced hundreds of evacuations with the National Weather Service issuing a red flag warning for parts of Los Angeles and Ventura counties until later today.

Now the cause of the fire is still being investigated.

CNN's Camila Bernal is at the scene of this devastating fire, as you have been over the past few days.

Camila, what are you seeing now?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Omar. So it's still really windy and that continues to be a concern for

firefighters because that wind picks up the embers and spreads those flames.

You know, you talked about the containment. We've seen some improvement from 2 percent to 8 percent. But we're also seeing the acreage growing. So, more than 15,000 acres already burned. You're seeing the crews here on the ground.

This is an area where the fire already came through so they're putting out some of the hotspots. There were also doing some back burns in this area yesterday and you're seeing the crews here on the ground. We're also seeing some of the crews in the sky with the helicopters and the water drops. You know, they're further away. We tried to get closer to the front line today and what you're seeing is just an area that's inaccessible.

And so, what you have to do lot is essentially hike. That's what these firefighters are doing, hiking to the flames, doing everything they can to put them out. And an important thing to point out there, is that in this area, in California in general, we had so much rain that you have a lot of grass, you have a lot of brush, the trees grew and so that creates the fuel.

So when the summer comes in, the heat comes, you have so much of that fuel that the flames are able to spread quickly. And so, of course, that becomes a problem for fire season and for really everyone in California and the Western region the U.S.

Again, in this area, in particular, 1,200 people are under evacuation orders and many others are being told just to be on alert. There's evacuation warnings, authorities telling people to have everything packed and ready to go in case you do have to go at a moments notice because the wind is so strong, it can again change the direction of the fire quickly or move that fire line very quickly.

They are trying to keep those lines and they were able to do so overnight despite very, very high winds, but still, Omar, a lot of work to be done here.

JIMENEZ: Yeah. And viewers just saw images of what looks like a firefighter setting fires. But as Camila was talking about, they create these controlled burn lines to help contain these wildfire so that they don't burn. This is -- these are those efforts there. They create these lines so that they can contain the wider spread of the wildfires and Camila bringing us a first-hand look on the ground there. Really appreciate the reporting as always.

Now, as we head into summer, record-breaking temperatures fueled by a powerful heat dome will hit the Midwest and northeastern parts of the United States into next week, tens of millions of people will experience temperatures well into the 90s, with high humidity levels making it feel even hotter.

Now, the National Weather Service issued an extreme heat risk from the Great Lakes into the Northeast through the rest of the week. CNN's Chad Myers has more on this broiling heat dome.

Chad, what are we seeing?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We are seeing temperatures that we haven't really seen in a decade in some spots, 82 percent of the population of the U.S. will see temperatures above 90 degrees over the next couple of days. And it kind of goes without saying that, yes, it's summer, at least it's going to be summer this week, but it is going to be hotter than usual. Fifteen to 20 degrees warmer than it should be at this time of year.

[15:35:00]

May it get hotter in July? Yes. Well, we hope not because the biggest killer of all the threats here is heat across the United States, heat killing on average on 188 people.

Take a look at this graphic, though, this is the coolest day if you think today is warm, today's the coolest day for the next five for many cities.

We start out with here with Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh has been 95 degrees. One time in the last decade -- 96, 95, 94, 94 and 96, 95. You can count them right there. We are going to obviously go well above that number.

Even New York City, in the city in Manhattan, even surrounded by a little bit of water, in the 90s. You get off towards the north or even toward the west, temperatures will be five degrees hotter than that, long term and also not cooling down below the middle 70s during the day. Look at St. Louis, all the way to 98. And as they say in Phoenix, it's a dry heat, but in St. Louis it's not Omar.

JIMENEZ: Yeah, look, at some point, you are going to feel it and there's maybe no better indication there. It's going to be hot.

Chad Myers, thank you so much.

Still to come for us, the U.S. surgeon general is sounding the alarm in the dangers social media poses to children. We're going to bring you his new proposal to protect kids, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JIMENEZ: All right. Everyone, welcome back.

The same way we are warned about the health dangers of alcohol or cigarettes, the U.S. surgeon general today is calling for a warning label on social media. That's in response to pretty alarming evidence of the dangers of online apps for kids and teens, how it's fueling an adolescent mental health crisis.

Here's the Surgeon General Vivek Murthy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DR. VIVEK MURTHY, U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: What has happened over the last nearly two decades that social media has been around is truly unconscionable when it comes to the health of our kids. It is not okay for us to put the entire burden of managing this on parents.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:40:00]

JIMENEZ: CNN medical correspondent Meg Tirrell joins me now.

Meg -- I mean, look, this is a topic many parents worry about. Can you tell us a little bit more about the surgeon general's warning and the data behind it?

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Omar, I mean, this really harkens back to the 1965 warning that was placed on cigarettes and the Health Department points out there's been 67 percent decline in U.S. adults smoking rates since that warning was put into place.

There's only been one other surgeon generals warning on a product and that is for alcohol. I spoke with the surgeon general earlier today. He said he thinks that the risk here is as profound as for cigarettes and for alcohol because were dealing with kid's mental health.

He cited a couple of stats and his op-ed calling for this warning this morning. One is that a Gallup survey found that kids on average are spending about five hours per day on social media. Another study published in JAMA Psychiatry found that kids who spent at least three hours a day on social media have double the risk of experiencing symptoms of anxiety and depression, and almost half of kids say that looking at social media makes them feel worse about their bodies.

And so, the surgeon general is calling for this warning, but it would take an act of Congress actually to put that into place. This and as I spoke with them today, he said he was optimistic something would happen, but it was really unclear which legislators would potentially take this forward and how quickly, Omar.

JIMENEZ: Yeah. I mean, look, as you talked about, this has to be done through Congress and Dr. Murthy, you also calling on Congress for additional legislation on social media use in kids.

What does he said on the legislative side of things? And what can families do now?

TIRRELL: Yeah, you know, he doesn't think that this warning is enough. He pointed out you can put a warning on something, but that doesn't actually make it safe. And so, he wants to see legislators actually regulate these companies to a greater degree, including trying to due to harassment and exposure to extreme content on these platforms.

I stopped the platforms from collecting sensitive data on children, also prohibit use of things like auto play, an infinite scroll, things that keep kids really coming back. He also wants to make sure that these companies are required to share data that they have on the health impacts of social media use on children with the public and with independent scientists so that there can be independent audits performed of their safety.

JIMENEZ: Meg Tirrell, really important reporting, really important stuff, especially for parents and for our young ones -- appreciate it.

All right, everyone, we're going to take a short break. For our international viewers, "LIVING GOLF" is next. And if you're streaming with us right here on Max, we'll be back with more news after this short break.

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