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North Korea, Russia Sign Mutual Defense Pact; Tensions Grow After Latest Run-In Near Spratly Islands; White House Disputes Netanyahu's Claim That U.S. Is Withholding Weapons From Israel; Israel Official Warns Of Possible War With Hezbollah; Putin Arrives In Vietnam As Russia Seeks Support In Face Of Western Isolation; Expert: Record-Breaking Heat a Symptom of What's to Come; Putin Signs Mutual Defense & Trade Pact with North Korea; Ukraine Power Shortages; Parts of New Mexico Battling Flash Floods & Wildfire. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired June 20, 2024 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:00:27]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello everyone, I'm John Vause. Ahead here on CNN Newsroom.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIM JONG UN, SUPREME LEADER OF NORTH KOREAN (through translator): I've no doubt this powerful treaty will be very constructive, strictly peace loving and defensive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: It could also see Russia supply key nuclear technology desperately wanted by Kim Jong Un.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: It's inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunition students.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Inconceivable because it's not true. So why did the Israeli Prime Minister release a public statement in English lying about the Biden administration.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This summer is going to feature a lot more extreme and in some cases record breaking heat in different parts of the globe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: We'll put it another way, the good old days compared to what is expected in the coming years on a warming planet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN Newsroom with John Vause.
VAUSE: After reviving ties with North Korea, Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in Vietnam. Another communist country, which once had close relations with the former Soviet Union. Putin's trip to Asia comes a week after the U.S. and other allies hit Moscow with new sanctions intended to further isolate Russia over the war in Ukraine.
Now, before arriving in Hanoi, Vietnam's Communist Party newspaper published an op-ed by Putin, in which he wrote about his gratitude for Vietnam's so called balanced position on the conflict in Ukraine, as well as its search for a peaceful settlement.
High level meetings with the Vietnamese president, prime minister and Communist Party chief all set for the coming hours, and it seems Putin arrives bearing gifts. He says Russia ready to help develop Vietnam's nuclear power industry.
The Russian President earlier wrapped a two day state visit to Pyongyang by signing a new treaty with North Korea and includes a mutual defense pact similar to a Cold War agreement between the North and the former USSR with relations between Moscow and Pyongyang. Now the closest they've been since the fall of the Soviet Union.
Let's go live now to Beijing, CNN's bureau chief Steven Jiang is standing by. You know, one of the rare agreements in recent years between Russia and China and the United States was this need to contain North Korea and its nuclear ambitions? Clearly those days are now over. So will we see emboldened Kim Jong moon after signing this agreement?
STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHEIF: Yes, John, that was then. And this is now. Now Beijing, of course, is watching all of these developments very closely. And some headlines has used it have used the term weary. But so far the official response to Putin's visit to North Korea, very terse and very cautious because I think at the end of the day, the Chinese understand they are indispensable in terms of their role to propping both economies now for North Korea.
Of course, they have been an economic lifeline for decades, but increasingly for Russia, they have been propping up that economy through rapidly expanding trade and investment relationships and do so it's helping Moscow dodge very severe Western sanctions.
Now, Beijing of course also has been providing political covers for both regimes on the global stage. And not to mention all three men Xi, Putin and Kim, they do share this grievance against the U.S. and its allies. They perceive this U.S. world order to be unjust and unfair. A lot of language you heard in Pyongyang in the past few days in terms of attacking this hegemonic power, trying to suppress other countries interests, very much echoing what we often hear from Beijing, as well.
But unlike Pyongyang, and Moscow, of course, China is still very much part of this globalized economy and trading system, and at a time when Beijing is facing a lot of economic headwinds at home. They do still want Western investments and technologies. So that's why you're not going to see Xi throwing full support behind Moscow, especially considering he still wants to play this role of a potential peacemaker.
And all of these tensions that have been building on the Korean Peninsula in terms of North Korea's weapons tests, and the U.S. and allies response in the form of joint military drills, that's not in Beijing's interest because they do not want to have that conflict instability on their doorstep.
That's why, John interestingly, although Beijing insists coincidentally Chinese officials were actually in Seoul on Tuesday holding their latest round of diplomatic and security talks with their South Korean counterparts on the day when Putin was arriving in Pyongyang. John.
[01:05:01]
VAUSE: Steven, thank you. Steven Jiang live for us in Beijing.
Joining us this hour from Washington is Soo Kim, a former CIA analyst focusing on North Korea. Soo, thank you for being us.
SOO KIM, FORMER CIA ANALYST ON NORTH KOREA: Thanks for having me.
VAUSE: OK. So the North Korean leaders seem to wax lyrical as he described this agreement. And it's important to note a little here before we listen to Kim Jong Un, relationship between Moscow and Pyongyang never really fully recovered after plummeting during the 1970. So with that in mind, here's Kim Jong Un.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIM (through translator): The Great's Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Russia Alliance, which will become a watershed moment in the development of this bilateral relations finally raised it's anchored in history and announced this solid departure here today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: We don't have the text from this new agreement. But we do have the one from 1961, which was signed in Moscow between the USSR and North Korea, a treaty of friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance, which seems to be similar to what both leaders are talking about in this instance.
So judging all of this, from a distance, I know does this new agreement mean it's back to the Cold War, Cold War era good old days for Moscow in Pyongyang?
KIM: That is how we're seeing it right now. And we have to remember that back in 2000, the two countries had actually modified this agreement to reflect the realities of geopolitics in 2000. Fast forward to 2024, we've got a different situation with the Ukraine more, we've got North Korea also looking to partner up with countries to buttress its own position geopolitically.
So all in all, it is a, I would say, a an unprecedented relationship that we're seeing right now, in view of the fact that the two countries actually need each other in this form of mutual cooperation and symbiotic relationship.
VAUSE: The Russian president wasn't quite so poetic, as the North Korean leader, as he talked about, the defense of North Korea. Here's Vladimir Putin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PUTIN (through translator): Pyongyang has the right to take reasonable measures to strengthen its own defense capability and ensure national security and protect sovereignty.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: So that raises a lot of questions. And most importantly, does that mean sharing nuclear technology with the North, which in the past Moscow has been reluctant to do taking Vladimir Putin tried to stifle the North Korean nuclear program at one point, and it's North Korea now under Russia's nuclear umbrella?
KIM: I think that's the fear that we're all kind of on edge, because that is, one would think that for North Korea's Kim Jong Un to actually help the Russians in the war against Ukraine, there's got to be something more than just economic or energy assistance. There has to be something that can really, really wants right now, in view of his situation with South Korea, with the United States. And of course, the opportunity that he has amid two wars, one in Eastern Europe and one in the Middle East. So that is the fear that we have.
And the fact that the two countries had signed this agreement, this comprehensive strategic partnership suggests that there might be that possibility where Russia does provide or will provide North Korea with the technology to really buttress and to sophisticate its weapons capabilities.
And if you recall, back in November, North Korea had actually conducted a very successful satellite launch two months after Kim Jong Un and Putin had actually met. There's no clear evidence that the Russians have provided the technology but, you know, we're kind of speculating, but there's a possibility that that might have happened.
VAUSE: For now, though Beijing remains North Korea's most important ally, but gone are the days when Chairman Mao would describe the two countries as being as close as lips and teeth. Xi Jinping seems sort of unwilling if you'd like to be that close to Kim Jong Un. So how does this treaty now between North Korea and Russia impact that relationship with Beijing?
KIM: I don't think that the three countries are ever going to pursue a bilateral relationship with each other to a point where it's going to weaken or undermine their relationship the court the link that connects let's say North Korea to China. In the past, China had been a North Korea's most influential partner, of course, reality is different right now. And the two countries of Russia and North Korea have something that each other wants.
Where is China going to be at the end of all of this? China is at a position where it is kind of on edge with the fact that Putin and Kim Jong Un had met. It also has to think about how this might actually push the United States, South Korea and Japan together and an even more closer trilateral partnership, where's that going to put China and how is China going to be dealing with, you know, the trilateral as well as of course it's two, I would say, closer allies and partners, Beijing or Pyongyang and Moscow and how their relationship might actually undermine and weaken his own position in that region.
[01:10:12]
VAUSE: Soo Kim, thanks for being with us. Really appreciate your insights as well.
KIM: Thank you.
VAUSE: US, Canada and Australia have all spoken out in support of the Philippines. They've been critical of China after a confrontation between Filipino forces and the Chinese Coast Guard. New details have emerged about the incident which happened on the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea Monday. CNN's Ivan Watson live in Hong Kong with more details on this.
So what appears to be a collision between Chinese vessel and the Philippines. There are now more details about what actually happened on that island.
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, initially, we were getting accusations from the Philippine government and armed forces accusing the Chinese Coast Guard of acts of piracy and of injuring a number of Filipino personnel.
Well, then, we've seen some footage heavily edited released by the Philippine Armed Forces which really do show what is clearly an escalation in months of confrontations where you have small Chinese boats surrounding swarming a small Philippine boat, and at times we see a helmeted uniformed Chinese personnel wielding axes, striking the Philippine vessel taking at least one bag off the Philippine vessel.
The Philippine Armed Forces say one of their sailors actually lost a finger in what took place here. The Chinese government is denying that it engaged in anything illegal here. Take a listen to a spokesperson for the foreign ministry.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LIN JIAN, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON (through translator): China urges the Philippines to immediately stop its infringing and provocative actions. China will continue to resolutely safeguard its sovereignty and rights in accordance with the law.
(END VIDEO CLIP) WATSON: So China has actually accused the Philippines of trying to smuggle weapons and construction materials to this little outpost it has on a rusting, grounded shipped in this contested Shoal. The area that is under dispute it has been disputed between China and the Philippines really, for years, but the confrontations have escalated over the course of the past couple of months, John.
I was on board, a Philippine Coast Guard ship and I saw how Chinese Coast Guard ships and maritime militia swarmed, the smaller number of Philippine vessels maneuver very dangerously and just how tense it truly is.
But what we're seeing in this footage is clearly an escalation. And the Philippine president has warned that if this leads to the death of a Filipino, it would be essentially an act of war. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FERDINAND MARCOS JR., PHILIPPINE PRESIDENT: If a Filipino citizen is killed by a willful act, that is, I think, very, very close to what we define as an act of war.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: Now, the concern here, of course, not only is there the risk of a flashpoint and a new conflict in the South China Sea, but also, Manila's treaty ally is the U.S. and the U.S. repeat that its commitment to this mutual defense treaty is ironclad. So, you know, map out the scenario, if something were to escalate even further, and it raises some very big implications. John.
VAUSE: And just very quickly explained why Manila leaves a small number of Filipino marines or armed forces. There's one or a personality on this one part of the Spratly Islands what their role actually is.
WATSON: Great, well, China claims almost all of the South China Sea for itself, almost to the coastline of the Philippines. This shoal is much closer to the Philippines than it is to mainland China. More than a decade ago, the Filipinos to claim this particular shoal they grounded an old World War II era ship on that Shoal and plant planted some Marines on there. They try to run resupply missions to that ship. And that's where the Chinese vessels and Armada come in and they try to intercept and stop that.
And so that is the dispute point. There has been an international tribunal that has ruled in favor of the Philippines in this territorial dispute. China basically rejects that completely.
VAUSE: Ivan Watson, we appreciate the reporting. We appreciate the background information as well. Thank you. Ivan Watson live in Hong Kong.
[01:15:00] Both publicly and privately, U.S. officials have it back to the Israeli Prime Minister publicly and falsely accused the Biden administration of withholding weapons and ammunition. During a closed door meeting a senior U.S. envoy called out Benjamin Netanyahu saying his comments were unproductive and completely untrue. More details now from CNN's MJ Lee reporting in from Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOSUE CORRESPONDENT: Those comments from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu where he accused the U.S. of holding back weapons and ammunitions from Israel really not sitting well with U.S. officials, a one senior official telling me that they were perplexing and simply wrong.
And what CNN is learning is that U.S. officials actually privately conveyed that sentiment to Prime Minister Netanyahu in a meeting U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein told the Prime Minister that those comments were unproductive and completely untrue.
And meanwhile, U.S. ambassador to Israel, Jack Lew said in that same meeting, basically sort of walked through all of the arms that are being provided to Israel and have been delivered to Israel, basically, to make the point that he believes the ambassador is wrong. And what we've seen U.S. officials do is publicly emphasize that there is only one shipment of arms that the U.S. is currently holding, and that is the shipment that President Biden has talked about publicly.
Now there is an Israeli delegation that is currently in Washington to have a series of meetings with their American counterparts. And we're told that a meeting that was slated for Thursday appears to have been postponed, though one official said that that was actually a reaction to Prime Minister Netanyahu's comments in that video.
Other officials told CNN that it was certain it was actually just a scheduling matter. But either way, we are of course continuing to see those tensions between us and Israeli officials continuing to mount as this war goes on. MJ Lee CNN at the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Israel has threatened all-out war against Hezbollah militants with the Israeli military indicating operational plans have been approved and validated for an offensive in Lebanon. Hezbollah (INAUDIBLE) threatened the war without limits in response.
The Israeli threat came after Hezbollah released what appeared to be aerial surveillance video of the port of Haifa in Israel's north, the closest major Israeli city to the border with Lebanon, apparently shot by a drone which penetrated deep into Israeli airspace. CNN Ben Wedeman has the very latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Fears are skyrocketing that the cross border skirmishes that have raged between Lebanon's Hezbollah and Israel will explode into a full blown conflict.
In his speech Wednesday, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah warned Israel that if it comes to war, the group has the ability to in his words, shake the pillars of Israel. His remarks came a day after the Iranian aligned group published nine minutes of drone footage of sensitive military locations and key infrastructure in the northern city of Haifa.
The video which highlights Hezbollah's ability to evade Israeli air defenses and collect intelligence deep inside its southern neighbor set off alarm bells in Jerusalem. During the speech, Nasrallah actually chuckled when he said the group published only a fraction of the footage it collected. He said, we have long hours of footage of Haifa, of the outskirts of Haifa. And what comes after Haifa, and after, after Haifa.
An Israeli government spokesman described the video as mischief making propaganda, insisting Israel knows how to deal with Hezbollah, either diplomatically or militarily. That Hezbollah leader also warned that if it comes to war, Hezbollah fighters could launch an incursion into northern Israel.
Tuesday, Israel's top generals announced they had approved plans for an offensive against Hezbollah. Pressure is mounting on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from the opposition and from within his own government to attack Hezbollah and restore order and peace on Israel's northern border.
Around 60,000 Israelis have left their homes near the frontier. More than 90,000 Lebanese have fled their homes on that side of the border. American envoy Amost Hochstein was in Israel Monday, Lebanon Tuesday, trying to convince both sides to deescalate but he left the region without a breakthrough. I'm Ben Wedeman, CNN reporting from Beirut.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Joining me now is Hagar Chemali who served as the director for Syria and Lebanon on the National Security Council advising President Barack Obama. She's also host of the "Oh My World" new show which can be seen on YouTube, thank you for being with us/
[01:20:04]
HAGAR CHEMALI, FORMER DIRECTOR, SYRIA AND LEBANON AT NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL UNDER PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Thanks John. Happy to be here.
VAUSE: OK. So there's a lot of moving parts right now to all of this. So accusations flying in public back and forth between the Israeli prime minister and senior U.S. officials like this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NETANYAHU: It's inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunition to Israel. KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We generally do not know what he's talking about. We just don't.
JOHN KIRBY, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We have one case that the President's talked about publicly about the 2,000 pound bombs and concerns that we have about them being used in densely populated areas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: At the same time, U.S. diplomats are working to try and prevent a second war from starting between Israel and Hezbollah militants base in Lebanon. So the public spat and the diplomatic efforts don't happen in a vacuum, what impact do they have?
CHEMALI: I can tell you having been at the White House, when you have crises like this, you have your leaders on the phone with their counterparts all the time. And so when you're going to have tensions now increase between Biden-Netanyahu personally, and that's going to make crisis period.
But at the same time, it doesn't necessarily mean that it's going to change U.S. policy toward Israel, or affect how the U.S. values Israel's security, or prioritizes that. The U.S. is very easily able to separate the two when I was at the White House, and I worked with Israelis very closely we had often, we often had disagreements. I even was there when Netanyahu went to Congress, behind Obama's back and spoke about the nuclear deal, something that also outraged Obama officials at the time, and yet the relationship between U.S. and Israel continued to grow.
VAUSE: It's worth listening to what Netanyahu said one more time. And then what he went on to say as well, here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NETANYAHU: It's inconceivable that in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunition students is one of America's closest allies fighting for its life fighting against Iran, and our other common enemies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: It's a dire situation. It's also a lie, which Netanyahu told before immediately after the U.S. President warned that the offensive weapons like 2,000 pound bombs could be withheld. So Netanyahu said Israel was being left defenseless. So he knew that it was wrong. He knows now it's wrong as well. So why continue to say this?
CHEMALI: Yes, he's trying to play into U.S. politics. And you can tell because this video was clearly intended for an American audience. It's in English, he posted it on Twitter. And the thing is that what I assume is that he saw two weeks ago, three weeks ago, when you first had news leak, about the fact that the United States had withheld this one shipment of heavy bombs to Israel, you saw the a fight breakout in Washington DC, on Capitol Hill, Republicans and some Democrats were angry about that.
In fact, they wanted to pass a law to force Biden's hand to send that shipment forward and not prevent any shipments in the future in general from being withheld. And so when he saw that he sees an opportunity to play on those divisions.
VAUSE: Closer to a U.N. investigation, the Israel's use of U.S. provided weapons may have actually violated international law. Those weapons being the GBU-31, which are the 2,000 pound bombs, GBU-32 1,000 pounds and the GBU-39 350 pound bombs was a switch to, to try and minimize civilian casualties.
This is part of the report that were used from ninth October to the second of December 2023 on residential buildings, a school refugee camps and a market. The U.N. Human Rights Office verify 218 deaths from six attacks it investigated and said information received indicated the number of fatalities could be much higher.
So Israel has signed an agreement with the United States that U.S. supplied weapons will not be used in violation of international law, violations like the ones outlined by the UN. So given that, isn't the Biden administration required to stop weapons shipments to Israel?
CHEMALI: Well, the way the by administration is going to pursue it is based on its own intelligence assessments, and not the UN's unfortunately, and I'm not trying to be trite when I say that or dismissive of the U.N., but the U.S. has different intelligence with regards to how said schools, camps, hospitals may have been used by Hamas.
Now, again, I don't want to justify a high toll of civilian deaths. I don't think that that's morally right. I certainly don't think it's strategically in Israel's interest. That said, were the way the U.S. is going to take that is as one piece of a bigger picture or one piece of the pie and information as they themselves conduct their own assessments.
VAUSE: Just very quickly, before we go, I want you to listen to a senior Hamas official being interviewed by a Lebanese news outlet. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): As if we could go back in time to October 7, we would do it again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): You will do it again. That was the question I was about to ask.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Yes, yak it up boys. You know, the laugh and the smile make the statement so much worse than it could possibly be. And it seems you reminded that Hamas' have zero concerns for Palestinian civilians killed in a war they started.
CHEMALI: Absolutely. Unfortunately, I'm not very surprised by this statement.
[01:25:00]
And you saw it somewhat last week when Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar also reiterated that the Palestinian deaths were a necessary sacrifice and that they had the Israelis right where they wanted.
And this is unfortunately, how Hamas operates. And by the way, many terrorist organizations I worked in counterterrorism Hamas was in my portfolio as well as Hezbollah. And they -- the whole effort is, the whole goal is to invoke emotion and empathy across the world that they're winning at that information war, to support their own ideological and political goals. And their goals are very clear, which is to annihilate, annihilate all of Israel and have the entire territory of West Bank, Gaza and Israel to have an Islamic caliphate led by Hamas.
And so I wouldn't be surprised if not only that, they're that they're happy with what they did, but that they would do it again if they could.
VAUSE: Hagar Chemali, thank you so much for being with us. We appreciate your time. Good to see you.
CHEMALI: Thank you, John.
VAUSE: To Hanoi now and just moment the other state ceremony to welcome Russian President Vladimir Putin was underway. Vladimir Putin arrived Wednesday after a two-day visit to North Korea. There's two nations stop in Asia is seen as an attempt by Putin to show the West that despite new punitive sanctions announced last week, Moscow is not isolated over the illegal war in Ukraine.
Now, before arriving, Putin wrote an article for Vietnam's official Communist Party newspaper thanking Hanoi for a balanced position over the conflict in Ukraine. Next come bilateral talks with the Vietnamese president.
We will take a short break when we come back, the impact of global warming starts to bite and the northern summer set to be a scorcher. So how hot will it actually be?
What's ahead, the lights are back on in Ecuador. So what caused a nationwide blackout, leaving 17 million people in the dark?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: The annual pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia has turned deadly for at least 250 people and he died from heatstroke temperatures in the kingdom as high as 49 degrees Celsius. Others have died from diseases or other medical conditions.
Pilgrims from Indonesia, Jordan, Tunisia and Iran are among the dead and the toll is likely to rise when Saudi Arabia and Egypt released their official figures. The harshest one of the five pillars of Islam, every Muslim who's able
and is required to make the journey to Mecca at least once in their lifetime.
Henna Hundal is a climate change activists and has served as a delegate to the annual United Nations climate change conferences. She is with Fidel from Lafayette, California. It is good to see you welcome back.
HENNA HUNDAL, U.N. CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE DELEGATE: Thank you for having me, John.
VAUSE: So we've set for this record breaking temperatures here in the northern hemisphere as summer gets underway. And what seems is this is just the beginning so get used to it. Here's climate scientist Daniel Swain with more.
[01:29:40]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANIEL SWAIN, CLIMATE SCIENTIST, UCLA: Right now, it looks like certainly this summer is going to feature a lot more extreme and in some cases of record-breaking heat in different parts of the globe. But, you know, to be quite honest, what we're seeing now is a taste of what it's going to be like all the time in just a decade or so.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: So according to one side, our failed efforts on a global scale to prevent or slow global warming, now it seems a little has been done to prepare for weather like this in terms of public health, as well as infrastructure. We can see people dying at (INAUDIBLE), we can see people just dying in the United States. Dozens of people dying because of the heat, so what happens when this temperature, when this weather is the norm.
HENNA HUNDAL, UNITED NATIONS CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE DELEGATE: Well, it's completely devastating, John.
I mean, let's just take a little trip around the globe. Let's start with the United States. Last year, there were 11,000 deaths in the United States owing to extreme heat. That's a record that goes back to 1987.
This past week, a heat dome particularly affecting the midwestern and northeastern regions, but up to 255 million people on alert for temperatures at least 90 degrees Fahrenheit, which is 32 degrees Celsius. And in some areas, even up to 105 degrees Fahrenheit.
Then we go to Europe, where the European Environment Agency has said that Europe is actually the fastest warming continent on the planet.
You already talked about the impacts on the Middle East where unfortunately hundreds of people have died on the pilgrimage to Mecca. We look at India this year, between the months of March and May, there
were 25,000 cases of heat stroke and more than 50 recorded deaths. So this is not a pretty picture.
And we're potentially facing a new normal for which we are not prepared.
VAUSE: And one thing here is that rising temperatures are directly linked to rising -- the rising carbon emissions that we are causing.
And according to a report though from Climate Analytics, which was published late last year. This is what it reads. "We find there is a 70 percent chance that emissions will start falling in 2024 -- this year -- if current clean technology growth trends continue and some progress is made to cut non-CO2 emissions. This would make 2023 the year of peak emissions."
Chances are we're not quite there yet but you know, we have this record high demand for oil, coal and gas at the moment, but it seems one thing this reports sort of highlights is that the link between economic growth and burning fossil fuels and increasing carbon pollution is broken.
You know, the old model for many countries like China was pollute first, cleanup later. That doesn't seem to be the case anymore.
HUNDAL: It's not the case anymore. And I would actually point to a very interesting example Singapore, the Prime Minister Yew, who was considered the founding father of the modern Singaporean nation, when asked what really turned around his economy into a global powerhouse that we know it to be now, he actually mentioned air conditioning.
Now, that is because it was formerly very difficult for people to actually work productively under extreme heat conditions.
So the fact that people were able to work in cool indoor environments completely changed the trajectory of the economy.
Now we're at a point where we do understand that the impacts of air conditioning can further drive these fossil fuel-related effects that were trying to mitigate. However I think what that story underscores is that living in an extreme heat world, living in this new normal is simply not sustainable for economic productivity.
So I think that's definitely an angle that we have to amplify this messaging around.
VAUSE: Yes. And while carbon emissions have either peaked or they're close to peaking the key is how quickly they fall. I mean, it's good that they think all about this but the goal is a 50 percent cut in global emissions within six years from now.
And again, quoting from Climate Analytics, "By 2030, we will need to triple renewables, double energy efficiency, accelerate the electrification of energy-demand sectors. Halt deforestation and slash methane emissions by over 30 percent." That is quite the to-do list. And it seems the question isn't so much can we do it? But rather do we want to do it.
HUNDAL: Absolutely. I think it's actually a matter of do we have the political willpower and the political courage to make these key changes. And I will say I've been a bit disheartened by the news that we're seeing in Europe, for example, with the recent elections and kind of a backlash against the politicians who have touted climate forward policies.
We have a course to the United States presidential election upcoming this year where we have two candidates on the ballot with very distinct platforms regarding climate change.
We have one candidate, former president Donald Trump, who has actually gone hat in hand to big oil, asking for $1 billion in campaign contributions with almost quid pro quo promise to roll back decades worth of environmental progress to making it more difficult to acquire electric vehicles, rolling back simulations around air pollution.
So this is really devastating because we do need that political willpower to actually make the changes that you just mentioned.
VAUSE: If anyone's with any doubt elections matter, votes count -- so I guess that is one of the messages from what Donald Trump is proposing.
Henna Hundal, thanks so much for being with us. We appreciate your time.
HUNDAL: Thank you. Appreciate it, thanks.
[01:34:50]
VAUSE: You're welcome.
Now, with a failing national power grid, Ukrainian are learning how to live without -- with power back rather which may not end anytime soon because Russian airstrikes on the power grid are showing no sign of letting up. That's ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Welcome back, everyone.
You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause.
Vlad Putin is scheduled to meet with Vietnamese leaders in Hanoi in the coming hours after a two-day state visit to North Korea.
The Russian president was greeted at a state level welcoming ceremony outside the presidential palace a short time ago.
Before arriving, Putin wrote an article for Vietnam's official communist party newspaper, thanking Hanoi for its balanced position on the conflict in Ukraine. He's also offering to help Vietnam develop its nuclear power program.
And wants to expand tourism between both countries.
A new treaty between North Korea and Russia could see diplomatic relations heading back to their peak during the days of the Cold War.
Before leaving Pyongyang, the Russian president and North Korean leader signed an agreement which includes a mutual defense pact similar to one between North Korea and the former Soviet Union raising concerns that Russia could help develop Pyongyang illicit nuclear program.
And North Korea could in turn increase supplies of munitions believed to be sending to Russia for the war in Ukraine.
Details now from CNN's Will Ripley.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: By the time Vladimir Putin's plane landed in North Korea, it was 3:00 a.m. Wednesday, hours behind schedule.
Kim Jong-un was at the airport waiting, greeting the Russian president with handshakes, hugs, smiles, driving together in one of two Russian limousines, Putin gave Kim as a gift. Passed Pyongyang skyscrapers lit up to welcome the Russian leader in a nation plagued by power shortages.
They toured Kim's lavish guest house where Putin spent the night. Waking up to the sound of huge crowds lining the streets of Pyongyang chanting, "Welcome Putin" in almost perfect unison. Giant portraits of the Russian president reviled in much of the West, revered in the North Korean capital, rolling through Pyongyang, riding past streets packed with people waving Russian and North Korean flags as far as the eye could see.
Most of these people don't know the brutal reality of Putin's war in Ukraine, or the claims Pyongyang denies that huge amounts of North Korean weapons and ammo are flowing into Russia.
[01:39:48]
RIPLEY: Cut off from the outside world, North Koreans only know what their government wants them to know. That Putin is Kim's new best friend.
KIM JONG-UN, NORTH KOREAN LEADER (through translator): DPRK expresses full support and solidarity with the struggles of the Russian government.
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We highly appreciate your consistent and unwavering support.
RIPLEY: North Korea and Russia reviving a defense treaty from the Cold War, agreeing to help each other if attacked, the strongest military pact between the two nations in decades.
Putin also says Russia doesn't rule out developing military technical cooperation, raising fears around the world Putin might help Kim make his missiles more accurate in exchange for a continued, steady supply of weapons and ammo for Putin's war on Ukraine.
MIKE CHINOY, NON-RESIDENT SENIOR FELLOW, USC U.S.-CHINA INSTITUTE: So we've seen a sea change in which the Russians are now overtly breaking the sanctions and helping the North Koreans to break the sanctions which of course, is a great boon to North Korea.
RIPLEY: Veteran North Korea and China journalist Mike Chinoy says Kim has all but abandoned U.S. diplomacy, angry and humiliated after summit talks with former President Donald Trump fell apart five years ago in Hanoi, Vietnam.
CHINOY: What we now are seeing is a kind of reconstituting of an anti- American bloc consisting of Russia, China, North Korea and Iran.
RIPLEY: Nations that don't ask Kim to give up his growing arsenal of nuclear weapons, weapons North Korea and Russia have long threatened to use against the U.S. if provoked.
And now Putin is here in Hanoi, landing to much less fanfare during the overnight hours here. Experts say the failed U.S.-North Korea summit here five years ago may have been the last time that we see Kim Jong-un willing to engage diplomatically with the United States.
For now, it seems he's all in with Putin and its deepening, and some say troubling, military partnership.
Will Ripley, CNN -- Hanoi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Many Ukrainians have described repeated and unrelenting Russian airstrikes on the national power grid as a second front line. The recent surge in Russian attacks has left the grid so badly damaged that rolling blackouts are now in place for the first time since summer.
More details now from CNN's Clare Sebastian.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Black outs turn simple daily activities like picking a toddler out to play into herculean tasks.
KATERYNA SERZHAN, KYIV RESIDENT: Because we live on the 18th (ph) floor and sometimes he wanted to ride out on his bicycle. It's kind of complicated.
SEBASTIAN: It's created a situation where it's actually hard for you to live your house.
SERZHAN: Yes. Maybe it's easier to leave our house but it's hard to come back, you know.
SEBASTIAN: Since mid-March, Russia has carried out six massive attacks, precision targeting Ukraine's power-generating facilities. For the first time in summer, rolling blackouts are now almost a daily occurrence.
A gas-camping stove the only way to cook a hot dinner. And yet Kateryna's resilience belies the scale of this crisis.
The recent attacks destroyed 40 percent of the country's electricity- generating capacity of DTEK, Ukraine's largest private energy company. And winter is too close for comfort.
DMYTRO SAKHARUK, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, DTEK: We have 120 days left before the start of the winter (ph) season. 120 days, so it means that the speed in which winter (INAUDIBLE) to the extreme looks high. It may not be business as usual.
SEBASTIAN: There's no quick fix. Rebuild where possible, in some cases using parts from decommissioned power plants in Europe. Start building more smaller power units to spread the risk, import more from Europe.
Are you worried that it won't get done in 120 days. That's going to mean that there are still deficits going into the winter.
SAKHARUK: The deficit will be higher than today and that will mean that people will not help light in their houses up to 20 hours.
SEBASTIAN: Even with scheduled blackouts the unexpected still happens.
"We lost the lights. That's the reality we live in," says this Ukrainian news anchor.
SVITLANA GRYNCHUK, UKRAINIAN DEPUTY ENERGY MINISTER: We call it the second frontline. Energy now is like the second frontline. We understand that the winter period will be difficult for us and -- but we are doing our best and we try to be ready.
SEBASTIAN: And that means being ready for more attacks.
[01:44:48]
GRYNCHUK: First priority is to protect our energy facilities, to protect our energy infrastructure. And the best way is air defense.
SEBASTIAN: There is progress on air defense and funding. But it's not quick enough for Kateryna and her daughter now looking the leave here for the winter and rent a house with a wood burning stove.
SERZHAN: We can rent the apartment here and we understand that there (INAUDIBLE) will live here.
SEBASTIAN: Clare Sebastian, CNN -- London.
(END VIDEOTAPE) VAUSE: Electricity has been restored to 95 percent of Ecuador after a nation-wide blackout Wednesday. Homes, businesses, hospitals, major subway system all left without power.
Residents in Guayaquil, the second biggest city in Ecuador were left without electricity during scorching summer heat. In a news conference Wednesday, the public infrastructure minister blamed the outage on faulty transmission lines and a lack of public investment in the electrical facility.
Still to come here on CNN, fast-moving wildfires still burning in New Mexico. Families evacuating with whatever they could carry, unsure if they'll ever see their homes again.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: 47 minutes past the hour here on the East Coast.
We have new images from Hanoi. This is a bilateral meeting between the Russian and the Vietnamese presidents. It began a short time ago.
This is after a very elaborate welcoming ceremony at a state level, we're told, by the Vietnamese which was put on for the Russian president. There is the Vietnamese side of the delegation. Quite a big table there with a lot of people.
Vladimir Putin has arrived in Vietnam after a two-day state visit to North Korea where he signed a very important treaty there with the North Koreans, one which revived an old Cold War treaty among those nations.
This is all part of a two-nation stop in Asia, an attempt which many believed by Vladimir Putin to show that Moscow is now isolated despite new sanctions imposed on Moscow by the West last week over the war in Ukraine.
We'll continue to watch the story throughout the day. As soon as events are happening, we'll bring them to you as they come to us.
Moving on now, more than 2 million people in the United States' state of Texas are under a tornado watch. The National Hurricane Center says Tropical Storm Alberto is strengthening, continues to bring heavy rains, coastal flooding and gusty winds along the coast of Texas as well as northeastern Mexico throughout Thursday.
The center of the storm about 135 miles east-southeast of Tampico in Mexico. So far powerful winds have knocked out power to more than 10,000 customers in Texas. The governor there Greg Abbott has issued a disaster declaration for 51 counties impacted by the storm.
Parts of New Mexico have endured multiple weather-related disasters. Water rescues are underway in the mountain village of Ruidoso after flash flooding there caused by heavy rains Wednesday.
Those storms appeared alongside deadly wildfires.
CNN's Ed Lavandera spoke with residents forced to evacuate as the flames came closer.
[01:49:46]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Michael Scott escaped Ruidoso, New Mexico just in time through thick smoke and an orange glow as a massive wildfire consumed his mountain neighborhood.
MICHAEL SCOTT, RUIDOSO RESIDENT: My truck was being hit with chunks of ash. It was almost like big gray rain hitting my truck.
LAVANDERA: Scott and his wife and his mother were able to make it out with a few belongings and their three dogs. We met them at a motel 50 miles away where all they can do is nurse the shock that everything they own might be lost.
The not-knowing is a numbing feeling he says.
SCOTT: I'm actually -- it's an incredibly helpless feeling.
LAVANDERA: Literally nothing you can do.
SCOTT: There really is and for the past 24 hours we've been in this little motel and I think well, we don't have anything left. Now where do we go.
LAVANDERA: Two massive fires around Ruidoso are burning across 20,000 acres. Emergency officials say the wild fires have destroyed 1,400 homes and structures.
We reached some of those neighborhoods and saw the charred remains of dozens of homes. Even found deer making their way through the scarred hillside.
KURT DELGADO, RUIDOSO RESIDENT: Yes. I could see the fire right outside this window.
LAVANDERA: Kurt Delgado evacuated his home to the edge of town where he set up his Papi Chulo food truck and started feeding fire fighters and emergency crews.
From the window of your food truck --
DELGADO: Yes.
LAVANDERA: -- you can see the smoke in the canyon where your house is.
DELGADO: Yes. Our house is literally right there where that smoke his.
LAVANDERA: Delgado says he'll stay here as long as he can.
DELGADO: So my parents are in that Airstream right there. We're ready to go. We're going to do what we can to, you know, just stay vigilant.
LAVANDERA: About 8,000 people have evacuated the Ruidoso area since Monday. The mountain village is an eerie, smoke-filled ghost town.
There are a few people left though like Jordan Rue (ph).
I imagine a moment like this is pretty nerve-racking.
JORDAN RUE, RUIDOSO RESIDENT: Yes. I thought -- I didn't think it was going to come this close to us but -- it happened so fast.
LAVANDERA: Our conversation was interrupted by police urging residents to evacuate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) Ruidoso get out immediately.
LAVANDERA: We managed to find our way into Michael Scott's neighborhood in Ruidoso. Many of the homes were burned to the ground but somehow Michael's home is still standing -- a slice of good news surrounded by devastation and sadness.
We were able to show Michael Scott a picture of his home. He said he had tears of joy seeing that his home was still intact but he and thousands of others are still not in the clear.
These wildfires continues to burn but the good news is that weather forecasters say rain which has already fallen a little bit on Wednesday is expected to continue into Thursday and the hope is that that will give fire fighters the relief they need to get these wildfires under control.
Ed Lavandera, CNN -- Ruidoso, New Mexico.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Well, the first Iranian women to win an Olympic medal now looking for gold in Paris but could be representing another country. That's just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Team USA. had a reality check at the start of the second round of the T20 Cricket World Cup. South Africa beat the Americans by 18 runs. The U.S. team though has been one of the big stories of the tournament so far after the victory over Pakistan and close defeat by India.
The U.S. is not out of it yet though. They have to face the West Indies and England. The top two teams in their group will progress to the semi-finals.
[01:54:51]
VAUSE: Well, the first woman in Iran to win an Olympic medal will be competing again at the Paris games next month. Despite defecting though and facing some difficulties in her new country Bulgaria, she's not giving up on her Olympic dreams. And CNN's Don Riddell has her story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: Kimia Alizadeh made history by becoming the first Iranian woman to win an Olympic medal. And now she's on her way to Paris, hoping for gold.
KIMIA ALIZADEH, TAEKWONDO OLYMPIC MEDALIST: I am targeting the gold medal in Paris which is our main goal. And I wake up every day for the gold medal in Paris. And I am trying my best and I am going 100 percent to achieve this goal.
RIDDELL: The 25-year-old Taekwondo athlete won a bronze medal representing Iran in Rio's Olympic games back in 2016. Four years later, she defected from her home country due to the present conditions saying in a statement quote, "I am one of the millions of oppressed women in Iran who they have been playing for years."
Later that year, she competed in the Tokyo Olympics as part of the refugee team.
Alizadeh will now be representing her new home of Bulgaria in Paris.
ALIZADEH: Of course it's hard when you leave your country and you face a lot of new things such as new language, new culture and new people.
And it is hard. It's a new start. I have to start from beginning. I felt like home and I really like their (INAUDIBLE). And I was really comfortable and I felt (INAUDIBLE) once I get home. I want to represent Bulgaria in my competition from now on.
RIDDELL: She's become a role model to many Iranian women since her Olympic debut and is now set to inspire people in her adopted country as she becomes Bulgaria's first taekwondo Olympic athlete.
Alizadeh did have other offers from other countries including Belgium and the Netherlands but ultimately she said she went with her heart and chose Bulgaria.
When asked if competing against Iranian athletes would impact here, she seems to have her head in the game.
ALIZADEH: This is the fight. This is the game. And every athlete's to their best to represent their country.
RIDDELL: Don Riddell, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: And thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause.
CNN NEWSROOM continues after a very short break with my friend and colleague Rosemary Church.
See you right back here tomorrow.
[01:57:19]
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