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At Least 1,000 Feared Dead At Hajj Due To Heat; How Heat Affects The Body; IDF Claims "No Indication" It Struck Palestinian Camp; Public Clash Intensifies Between U.S. And Israel Over Weapons; Millions Grappling With Heat Around The Globe; High Temps Affect Cities' Low Income/Minority Neighborhoods; Boeing Starliner Return To Earth Delayed; Edmonton Beats Florida To Force Game 7 In Stanley Cup. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired June 22, 2024 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers watching us here in the United States, Canada and all around the world.
I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
A blistering heat wave is sweeping the U.S. with nearly a third of the country under heat alerts. We'll take a look at the health impacts of high temperatures.
Donald Trump and Joe Biden are in a fundraising race as we approach the first official debate between the two presidential candidates. We will have new numbers from both parties, highlighting their financial push for support.
Plus U.S. facing criticism once again, as senior officials reaffirm support for Israel amid growing tensions with Iranian backed militants in Lebanon. How the region is responding to the threat of an expanding military conflict.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from Atlanta this is CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber.
BRUNHUBER: We begin this hour with the extreme heat impacting millions of people across much of the U.S.
Almost all of the continental U.S. could see temperatures above 90 degrees Fahrenheit over the next few days. In California, some parts of Los Angeles County will have temperatures in the triple digits lasting into early next week.
New York City could see 90 degree temperatures for the next seven days, which would be the longest ever in June for the city. And Washington, D.C., could reach triple digits for the first time since 2016.
In total, more than 100 million people are under excessive heat watches, warnings and advisories, with the worst heat this weekend in the mid-Atlantic states and stretching to the Midwest.
Extreme heat will also spread to the Southeast, where it'll feel about 105 degrees Fahrenheit in some areas.
So from the U.S. to the Middle East where the extreme heat has been deadly, the U.S. State Department says multiple U.S. citizens died during the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca this week. The official overall death toll from all countries stands at 531. But more than 1,000 are feared dead.
Large numbers of unregistered pilgrims are unaccounted for and Saudi Arabia and Egypt have yet to release official figures. CNN's Scott McLean has been following the situation in Mecca.
So Scott, it's just a tragic situation. The list of casualties grows.
What more are we learning?
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Kim. Look, if you've never been to the Gulf, it is kind of like summer there is kind of like winter in the Arctic. In that I mean that you do everything that you can to spend every moment inside a climate controlled building, because the conditions outside are frankly unbearable.
This year's Hajj, I mean, of course, it's hot every summer in Saudi Arabia. But this year's Hajj temperatures are on a whole 'nother level. On Monday, for instance, the mercury hit almost 52 degrees Celsius. That is downright dangerous.
And yet, of course, the Hajj is the religious obligation of all Muslims to complete at least once in their life, provided that they're financially and physically able to. Some people save up their entire lives to do this.
And so there's not much, including extreme heat, that's going to keep people away. The problem, though, is that the Hajj is almost entirely outdoors. You can't just drive up to every site involved. It involves a fair amount of walking.
For instance, in one part, in one ritual, you have to climb Mount Arafat. It's not really much of a mountain. It's more of a small hill. But still, in this kind of heat, it must feel like climbing Everest. And so despite best efforts to keep people cool, this year's Hajj has been especially deadly.
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MCLEAN (voice-over): The stoning of the devil, one of the key rituals of the Hajj pilgrimage. It's a symbolic rejection of evil. But with temperatures unusually high, even for this time of year, the temptation here, a much simpler one. Water only goes so far when it's 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Azza Hamid Brahim found out the hard way. Like many, she gave up on the way there.
AZZA HAMID BRAHIM, EGYPTIAN PILGRIM (through translator): We thought we were about to die. We didn't even have the strength to reach the steels due to the extreme heat.
MCLEAN (voice-over): The soaring temperatures making this year's pilgrimage exceptionally deadly. Videos shared on social media showed bodies on the sides of roads, their faces covered. In some cases, they looked simply abandoned.
ARZU FARHAJ, PAKISTANI PILGRIM: Most of the people, they died on the roadside and some were fainted due to the heat and heat stroke.
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So they should make such arrangements that during the summer season, when the Hajj season is in the summer, they should arrange a big transportation for the whole year.
MCLEAN (voice-over): Saudi Arabia says it did make some arrangements to deal with the heat, deploying 1,600 soldiers along with 5,000 volunteers, installing dozens of air conditioned tents and overhead water sprinklers to cool down crowds.
But many are traveling on tourist visas rather than Hajj specific ones that don't get access to these amenities. They add to the nearly 2 million pilgrims expected, officially, the sheer scale and the heat, a deadly combination.
BRAHIM (through translator): A lot of people died. The ambulances were overwhelmed. You would talk to someone and suddenly they would die. It was a very hard day.
MCLEAN (voice-over): The Hajj may be officially over but with Saudi Arabia yet to release any numbers, be that injured or dead, the number of victims may still yet sharply rise.
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SCOTT: So these are some of the official numbers that we have of pilgrims who have died this Hajj. You will notice that we know of 28 Egyptians who have died. But Reuters is now reporting, citing an Egyptian medical source, that the true number of Egyptians who died this year is more like 600.
And the vast majority of those are unregistered pilgrims.
What do I mean by unregistered?
Saudi officials, in an effort to reduce overcrowding and avoid the kind of deadly stampede that we have seen in past years, has issued special Hajj visas. But you can get to Saudi Arabia these days on a work visa or a tourist visa quite easily. The problem though is that you won't have access to the same kind of
cooling amenities, like a tent, an air conditioned tent in the desert, for instance, that the official participants have had.
And it seems like a lot of those people who have died are in that category. Egypt and Jordan, for instance, are now investigating companies who may have helped those pilgrims go through these unofficial routes to the Hajj.
And Tunisia's now fired minister of religious affairs suggests that negligence may have played a part in the deaths of citizens from his country -- Kim.
BRUNHUBER: All right. Scott McLean in Istanbul. Thanks so much.
The risk of heart attacks, stroke and infection increases when people are exposed to extreme heat, especially temperatures of 125 degrees Fahrenheit or about 51 degrees Celsius. CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta breaks down how extreme heat affects the body.
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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, simply put, we're starting to talk about temperatures that, for a lot of people, are just outside of human survivability. I mean, it's hard to comprehend.
But the body can keep up to a certain point. Then after that, especially if you have underlying illness, it can be a real problem. There are three main things that happen as the body's trying to keep up.
You're starting to divert blood toward the skin to try and cool that blood. But as that happens, you're taking blood away from other organs in the body, including the gut. It's part of the reason you start to feel nauseated when it's really hot outside.
And eventually that your gut can start to leak toxins into your body, which can cause organ failure. Simply being dehydrated from siphoning that blood to the skin, losing your fluids through sweat, that can put a significant strain on your heart, especially if you have underlying heart disease.
And you can also get bad enough dehydration to cause kidney failure as well. So all these things are happening simultaneously in an effort to cool you down. But if they can't keep up, ultimately, it can make you very sick or even die.
Keep in mind when you sweat, if it's very humid outside, your sweat's not going to be as effective at cooling the body. Also, people start to get very confused when it gets hot outside as a result of the dehydration. So you may start to make poor decisions as well.
One thing to keep in mind is that, typically at night time, the temperature will drop and the body can get some reprieve. But when you when you look at some of the temperatures over there,
you're talking 93 degrees, possibly even at night. So there really is no rest for people. Even here in the States, obviously, we're talking about significant heat and there's all sorts of advice on what you should do when it gets really hot outside.
Try and get inside. Obviously try and get into air conditioning. One of the biggest things that people don't do a good job of is simply staying hydrated. You need to be drinking about a cup of water every 20 minutes.
Really, that consistent water drinking is important as opposed to chugging a lot of water and not drinking for a long period of time. Try and keep up with your electrolytes as well That doesn't necessarily mean salt tablets but try and keep up with your electrolytes in general.
Two more things I want to point out, heat stroke versus heat exhaustion. These terms get thrown around a lot. Heat exhaustion is less severe. Skin is typically cool and clammy.
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The person is heavily sweating. The pulse is, typically a little weak peak.
Heat stroke is worse and basically you stop sweating. The body is starting to shut down. The heart is really pumping hard so someone may have actually a strong pulse when they're in the throes of heat stroke.
Finally, just look at what has happened over the nearly past 40 years, 36 years. The number of heat-related deaths have gone up 74 percent. So it's getting hotter. People are paying the price more and more. So please pay attention. Get inside as much as you can and take care of yourself.
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BRUNHUBER: We're just days away from the most important event so far of the 2024 U.S. election, the first presidential debate. It'll happen right here on CNN. But before we get to that, here's how the candidates have been fundraising lately.
In May, Donald Trump outraised Joe Biden for the second month in a row. Biden's campaign says the president's haul last month totaled $85 million. That figure pales in comparison to the staggering $141 million Trump's team says he collected last month.
The Trump campaign says it had a surge in donations following their candidate's criminal conviction in New York.
Now Biden is apparently preparing for the debate with a tight circle of advisers. He is said to be sharpening attack lines, getting ready to fend off smears and practicing with formal mock debates. Sources say Biden's personal lawyer is likely to reprise his role as a
stand-in for Trump during those practice sessions. The president has been focusing on ways to hold his rival accountable during the showdown. CNN's Alayna Treene has more on Donald Trump's preparations.
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ALAYNA TREENE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, former president Donald Trump and his team are trying to adjust the expectations for next week's debate. Now what I find really interesting about this is that, for months now, Trump and his advisers have tried to paint Biden as this weak and feeble candidate.
They've argued that he is mentally and physically unfit for office and have even tried to argue that he couldn't stand on a debate stage for 90 minutes as the debate will be next week.
But now they're trying to change that. They believe that Biden really has a low bar and so they're trying to raise the expectations. Take a listen to what Trump told the all-in podcast yesterday.
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DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: He beat Paul Ryan pretty badly, and I assume he's going to be somebody that will be a worthy debater. Yes. I would say -- I think, I don't want to underestimate him.
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TREENE: Now I can tell you from my conversations with Donald Trump's team that there is some concern behind the scene that they have put too low of a bar on for how Biden could perform.
And so that's where a lot of this is coming from. But as for the preparations, unlike the Biden campaign, Donald Trump will not be engaging in mock debates even though in the past, we know people like Rudy Giuliani and Chris Christie have stood in to play his opponent.
Instead he's engaging in what his team is dubbing policy discussions. I'm told he's engaged in more than a dozen of these with vice presidential contenders, senators, policy experts and people from his prior administration, like Kellyanne Conway, Stephen Miller and Rick Renown (ph).
Now some of the topics they have focused on, I'm told, are the economy and inflation, border crime, all of the issues Trump's team sees as the most important ahead of November.
But just to give you some specifics here, I know that Donald Trump and J.D. Vance, one of his top contenders for running mate, they met earlier this month at Mar-a-Lago. They tried to sharpen his rhetoric on the economy and try to predict some of the discussion and the questions that the moderators could ask.
He also met last week with senators Marco Rubio and Eric Schmidt, where they talked about American democracy and specifically addressed his handling of the January 6th attack on the Capitol.
Another area and vulnerability, I should say, that they've worked on behind the scenes has been his conviction in the Manhattan courtroom on 34 counts of falsifying business records.
And so even though Donald Trump's team is trying to really downplay the amount of preparation that they're arguing he needs, I've been told for many people that they also recognize he does need to do his homework and he is preparing -- Alayna Treene, CNN, Washington.
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BRUNHUBER: Tune in to see the CNN presidential debate right here, of course, on CNN, coming up June 27 at 9:00 pm Eastern time. And we will replay the political face off in its entirety at a few different times.
You can watch it at 7:00 am London on Friday, June 28th. That's in the afternoon in Hong Kong or 12 hours later at CNN in London or 10 in the evening in Abu Dhabi.
The deadly strike on a supposed safe zone in Gaza, 25 Palestinians were killed after being told it was a humanitarian area. What Israel is saying about it just ahead.
Plus new worries that the Israel-Hezbollah conflict could become a full-blown war and the message the U.S. is sending to Israel about it.
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Plus American Paul Whelan makes a new plea to the White House to help him get out of prison in Russia. This time, he's calling for some drastic steps that haven't been done before.
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BRUNHUBER: Israel says an initial inquiry shows there's no indication that its troops carried out a deadly strike on what's supposed to be a safe zone in Gaza.
Gaza's health ministry says 25 people were killed at the al-Mawasi humanitarian area near Rafah. The International Committee of the Red Cross says its field hospital received 22 bodies and 45 wounded people. Tens of thousands of people have fled to al-Mawasi in recent weeks as Israeli operations expanded in Rafah.
The Israeli military says it's reviewing the incident. CNN's Nada Bashir is live in London with more.
So more civilians reported killed.
What more can you tell us? NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we've been hearing from officials on the ground in Gaza with regards to the situation in the south. And in particular, these humanitarian zones around the southern city of Rafah and the coastal area of al-Mawasi.
As you mentioned, dozens reportedly killed according to officials on the ground.
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They have reported intensive airstrikes by the Israeli military. Had a statement a little earlier today from the Palestine Red Crescent, saying Israeli army is intensively targeting what it said were safe areas in Mawasi, Khan Younis and in Rafah.
In Rafah, the situation is very difficult. There are numbers of martyrs on the roads and in the camps that no one can reach.
This is of course, a situation that we have heard repeatedly now, according to the officials on the ground, with paramedics unable to reach those injured and killed in these airstrikes because of the security situation on the ground.
But crucially, of course, it is important to underscore that these are humanitarian zones we've heard repeatedly now over the past eight months from the Israeli military ordering civilians to move south.
We know, of course, that tens of thousands of civilians have sought refuge in shelters in the southern cities in Rafah, in Khan Younis and crucially in the al-Mawasi coastal zone, which has been deemed a humanitarian zone.
And we have seen all three regions targeted on numerous occasions frequently with a significant civilian death toll. And the Israeli military has said it is not aware of an Israeli military strike on the al-Mawasi humanitarian zone, on that coastal area but that the incident is currently under review.
We've been hearing as well from the International Committee of the Red Cross, we've been hearing from Doctors without Borders and other humanitarian organizations, all reporting intensive airstrikes in the southern regions with civilians killed.
And of course, crucially this is happening alongside a worsening situation when it comes to access to humanitarian organizations and the dwindling humanitarian supplies currently in the Gaza Strip.
We've seen the southern crossing into Egypt that Rafah border crossing, of course, closed to humanitarian organizations, a huge backlog of trucks waiting to transport aid into Gaza. The Kerem Shalom crossing into southern Gaza also repeatedly closed and facing obstructions, according to aid organizations.
And the repeated closure and reopening of that pier established by the U.S. military in order to allow access to humanitarian organizations, overall a hugely difficult situation, hugely challenging logistical situation for humanitarian organizations, who have been desperately attempting to get aid into Gaza.
What we are seeing now is a severe shortage in humanitarian supplies as well as medical supplies as well. Doctors without Borders warning that it may have to suspend some of its operations in parts of southern Gaza because of these dwindling supplies.
And as we know, parts of northern Gaza already been plunged into famine. We are seeing a significant and severe hunger crisis across the Gaza Strip with no hopes at this stage for a ceasefire to finally be established. That situation is only expected to get worse.
BRUNHUBER: CNN's Nada Bashir in London, thanks so much.
The U.S. is promising to back Israel if a full-out war breaks out with Hezbollah. Now it comes as cross-border attacks between Israel and Hezbollah are ramping up. It was one of the issues brought up with top Israeli officials visiting Washington this week. CNN's MJ Lee has more.
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MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: A senior Israeli delegation has been in Washington, D.C., this week to meet with their U.S. counterparts, holding a series of meetings to discuss a wide range of issues.
Including, of course, the ongoing Israel Israel-Hamas war, the ceasefire negotiations, the situation in the northern border of Israel as well as Iran.
And I'm told by a senior official familiar with some of those discussions that in one of those meetings, U.S. officials reassured their counterparts that if a full-out war were to break out between Israel and Hezbollah, that the Biden administration is fully prepared to have the backs of the Israelis.
Although the U.S. would not deploy American troops on the ground in that situation. And this certainly comes at a really volatile moment in the region.
We've seen in recent weeks this tit-for-tat cross-border attacks escalating between Israel and Hezbollah, which has really heightened concerns that there could be the eruption of a whole other conflict in that area.
And the U.S. has been very emphatic throughout all of this, really since October 7th, that is a situation they don't want to see. They have really urged for deescalation. But again, all reporting is that this week U.S. officials still reassure their Israeli counterparts that, if that were to happen, the U.S. would fully support Israel as it defends itself.
And potentially really goes on the offensive. Now the timing of this expression of support is also really interesting because it comes on the heels of prime minister Netanyahu of Israel really creating some controversy after releasing a video accusing the U.S. of withholding weapons and ammunition from Israel.
That episode ended up really fueling what has been.
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Growing tensions that we have seen play out in public between the U.S. and Israel as this war has continued on -- MJ Lee, CNN the White House.
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BRUNHUBER: American Paul Whelan is calling on the White House to take drastic action to get him out of prison in Russia. Now he spoke exclusively with CNN on the phone Friday after marking 2,000 days behind bars.
Well, said the U.S. should turn up the pressure on the Kremlin by locking up. Some Russians listen to this.
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PAUL WHELAN, AMERICAN, PRISONER IN RUSSIA: The U.S. needs to go out and do something -- fill up Guantanamo Bay with Russian officials, arrest Russian spies, do something that makes the Kremlin sit up and take notice and say, OK, yes, right.
Now it's time that we're going to get Evan and Paul back and then we want back what you've got of ours and we'll call it a day.
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Whelan was referring to "The Wall Street Journal" reporter Evan Gershkovich, who's going on trial for alleged espionage on Wednesday. Whelan is serving a 16 year sentence for purported spying.
They both deny their charges and the U.S. considers them wrongfully detained.
Large cities face an uphill battle during heat waves, especially as they become more frequent. Still ahead we will talk to an expert about one option cities have on the table.
Plus rising sea levels take a toll on millions in Bangladesh by eating away their coastline. We'll have those stories and more coming up, stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world.
I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM. Back to our top story. More than 100 million people across the U.S.
are under excessive heat watches, warnings and advisories.
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New York City could see 90 degree temperatures for the next seven days, which would be the longest ever in June for the city. The worst heat this weekend will be in the mid-Atlantic states like New Jersey, where people are flocking to the beaches this weekend to try to beat the extreme heat.
And in California, some parts of Los Angeles County will have temperatures in the triple digits lasting into early next week. Experts say it's important to drink plenty of water and use sunscreen.
And joining me now is Dr. Michael Treglia. He's the lead scientist for The Nature Conservancy's cities team in New York.
Thank you so much for being here with us. So when we think of hot cities, we think of Phoenix, Miami, Houston; not necessarily New York or Washington in the Northeast, which is what we're seeing now.
MICHAEL TREGLIA, THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: All right. Yes. Thanks so much for having me, Kim. Yes.
Cities in general tend to be a lot warmer than surrounding areas. There's a phenomenon called the urban heat island effect.
For basically cities in general tend to be warmer than their surrounding regions because of things like lots of asphalt, concrete buildings that retain heat and then high density of things like vehicles and equipment such as air conditioning that generates a lot of heat.
So it's not just places like Miami and Phoenix. But yes, New York, Boston, Chicago can definitely have really bad heat waves.
BRUNHUBER: And unfortunately we know that the heat disproportionately impacts low-income neighborhoods and communities of color. And I saw a report from New York where you are, for instance, suggests that Black New Yorkers are two times more likely to die from heat stress than white New Yorkers.
Why is that?
TREGLIA: Yes, so there's a lot of factors that play in there. So in general there's been a lot of historic challenges that have been set up, disinvestment in certain neighborhoods through the practices such as redlining, where areas were not really deemed suitable for zones.
Where they had high communities of color, large immigrant communities. And so those areas often became more industrialized, even though they had resident populations of people who have color and lower income communities. And so these areas become very heavily developed with not much space for trees and other forms of green space. And those are things that really helped keep the environment cooler.
And then some of these facilities and things actually contribute to the urban heat challenges. And then on top of that, you have, by virtue of folks being low-income in many of these spaces, there might not be able to afford air conditioning units or the energy to run electricity.
Air conditioning units in their homes.
BRUNHUBER: And it affects so many people. I mean, that New York City report shows that more than 60 percent to 70 percent of residents live in these most vulnerable heat areas. So it shows just in urban cities like New York, just how widespread the problem can be.
As you say, cranking up the AC, obviously, isn't the long-term solution here. You specialize in green solutions.
So what more can be done to help those who are, who are the most vulnerable?
TREGLIA: Yes, that's a great question. So I think kind of a few different time scales. Most immediately we really need to deal with the problem of getting people cool, right?
So often that is making sure people can get to cooling centers or find a friend that has air conditioning that they can use.
It's your finding the sprinklers out in New York City that Department of Parks and Recreation has some sites that have different water features to help people cool, right?
So that's like the most immediate today. What can we do to help people be safe and avoid getting sick and even dying in turn from the heat.
But then next, a little bit further out, we need to think about really maintaining and creating more green space, open space. Trees and their canopy really help cool the environment. They actually cool the ambient air temperature.
They also provide shade which makes it more comfortable for people. Then even just aesthetically, it might make people more likely to leave their hot un-air conditioned apartments and can even create a cooler, safer path to get to walk a cooling center.
And then in the longer term, the kind of longer, longer term, we need to think about how we can really mitigate climate change, right?
So all of these challenges are being exacerbated by the fact that we have a warming climate globally. We're already seeing more heat waves, warmer temperatures, right?
And so some of that is reducing carbon emissions through things like more renewable resources, more renewable energy, appropriately sited.
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To support better support biodiversity along the way but also sequestering carbon in different ways.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, we really need to do something to address these problems. I saw on that report in an average year in the 2030s, they're projected to be up to three times as many days with temperatures over 90 degrees Fahrenheit and nearly four times as many heat waves than there have been in the past.
So if we think it's hot now, I mean, just wait a decade, right?
TREGLIA: That's right. I mean, already in New York City, we have about 350 people dying from heat stress directly or from heat-related illness. Or the warmer temperatures are exacerbating preexisting conditions.
BRUNHUBER: We'll have to leave it there but really appreciate having you on, Dr. Michael Treglia, thank you so much for joining us.
TREGLIA: Yes.
Thanks so much for having me.
BRUNHUBER: So as some parts of the world bake under extreme heat, others are inundated by flooding.
In China, the death toll from torrential rains and floods in the southern part of the country has grown, to at least 55 people. The region has been pummeled since earlier this month, which forced tens of thousands to evacuate.
In Chile, officials say more severe weather could be on its way after heavy rains caused flooding in central and southern regions.
Official say thunderstorms, high winds, hail and even light snow could hit next.
And in Mexico, people are dealing with the aftermath of tropical storm Alberto, which made landfall on Thursday. The storm brought heavy rain and flooding, causing some people to lose everything.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): All of the street was destroyed. We don't have anything to (INAUDIBLE). Electricity, water, nothing. The road was destroyed when I left home. Everything was destroyed.
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BRUNHUBER: U.S. forecasters expected Alberto to dump nearly 10 inches or 25 centimeters of rain in parts of Central America and Mexico.
Well, hotter temperatures and rising sea levels are a dangerous combination in Bangladesh. It's one of the worlds most densely populated places.
But about two-thirds of its land is less than 16 feet or five meters above the waterline. As Elisa Raffa reports, the country is losing more and more of its coastline because of climate change.
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ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST (voice-over): Along the coast of Bangladesh, Abdul Aziz (ph) watches waves crash on land his home once stood
on. After a cyclone hit the fisherman's home here in 2007, he packed up his bags and moved inland.
ABDUL AZIZ (PH) (through translator): My land is inside the sea. The Hilsa fish are swimming there in the water now, on my land.
RAFFA (voice-over): Bangladesh is among the countries most impacted by climate change, says its government. Officials say an increase in global
temperatures and a rise in sea levels will lead to flooding in large areas of the country, causing a displacement of an estimated 40 million people by
the end of the century.
AZIZ (PH) (through translator): Where else can we escape?
If the seawater reaches my current home, then I'll be in danger. I won't have anywhere left
to go.
RAFFA (voice-over): A study led by a professor in Bangladesh found that sea levels on the country's coast are rising 4.2 to 5.8 millimeters a year.
Compared to the global sea levels rising at an average rate of around 3.5 millimeters a year.
ISMAIL HOWLADAR, FARMER (through translator): We are experiencing more storm surges now. And when the surge is higher the seawater intrudes into
our houses and land, it damages the houses and also the crops. It brings only loss for us. Sometimes it takes away from the houses also. If it takes
the soil away from the base of the pillars, how will a house stand?
RAFFA (voice-over): The government has announced several measures to combat rising sea levels and is calling for notably bigger, richer
countries to curb their own emissions.
Elisa Raffa, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE) BRUNHUBER: For Boeing's Starliner ahead, what it means for the two U.S. astronauts who were supposed to use it to return to Earth. That's coming up. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: NASA has delayed the Boeing Starliner's return to Earth for a second time. The spacecraft docked with the International Space Station on June 6th, with two Americans astronauts on board. They were supposed to return after about a week.
But engineers on the ground are trying to learn about problems encountered on the trip to the ISS. And those problems included helium leaks and thrusters that suddenly stopped working. NASA says the delays mean astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams won't come back to Earth until July.
Daniel Dumbacher is CEO of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and he joins us live from Potomac, Maryland.
Thank you so much for being here with us. So unravel the mystery here for us.
What's happening there?
The thruster problems and leaks, what do we know about the issues and how serious they might be?
DANIEL DUMBACHER, CEO, AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF AERONAUTICS AND ASTRONAUTICS: Well, first of all, thank you, Kim, for having me this morning. What you're seeing is a test flight, the Starliner, this is a test flight with Suni and Butch to go up and see how all the systems were working.
And as with any new vehicle, you find some things that need to be addressed; little operational issues and other issues that you need to work on. And that's what the team is trying to address.
BRUNHUBER: So I mean, the way you're speaking about it sounds as if it's kind of routine. But the astronauts are stuck up there for longer than they were supposed to be.
Any concern for their safety?
Are there contingency plans?
DUMBACHER: No concern for their safety, right at this point on orbit. There -- everything's looking good. They -- and actually that concern for safety that you see the NASA Boeing team working hard to make sure they understand the issues and what they need to do. They've -- NASA has said that the vehicle is safe to return in an
emergency situation. So they're trying to make sure that they have the vehicle ready to go. Realize that coming home is from orbits not that simple a thing. They will be traveling at points 22 times the speed of sound. So a lot of energy to dissipate.
They want to make sure they have the control systems working properly so that they can get the astronauts safely home.
BRUNHUBER: So as you say, I mean, this is a test flight and they want to make sure all the issues are worked out.
But I mean, the Starliner has seen more than its share of issues with long delays and now more problems here.
I mean, how big of a blow is this latest setback to Boeing and this project?
DUMBACHER: Well, that'll be determined over time.
I don't think it's a big setback. I think, again, what we're seeing is the result of a test flight and doing the initial checkout rides.
[05:45:04]
It's obviously disappointing. You'd like to be able to go faster. But you want to make sure you do it right and you do it safely. And that's what they're doing with the NASA Boeing team.
BRUNHUBER: Now despite these setbacks, I mean, looking at the big picture, it seems these public-private partnerships like what we're seeing with NASA and Boeing, that's the way forward. And we're seeing globally the space race heat up. I'm thinking of the recent successes, for example, of India's program.
And in that country, the space program was state controlled. But now that's changed.
Is it fair to say that whoever is able to leverage those partnerships the best could end up winning the space race?
DUMBACHER: Well, I think what you see is that global competition occurring, Kim. And it's China, India, the United States, Russia, all of the spacefaring nations.
And it is a global competition. And this partnership, the evolution of the NASA industry, commercial space industry, is actually what you would expect from our mode of operation in the United States, of the government getting the initial risks mitigated, understanding how to do this.
And then over time it transitions to private industry. And we're in that transition now. And I think the partnership that you see between Boeing and NASA, SpaceX and NASA and other companies on other parts of the NASA program, are the wave of the future. And it's part of that natural evolution so that the commercial
industry in our country takes it over and makes it more efficient and makes it economically viable.
BRUNHUBER: Really appreciate having your expertise on this, Daniel Dumbacher, live in Potomac, Maryland. Thank you so much for being here with us. Really appreciate it.
DUMBACHER: Thank you. Kim, greatly appreciate it.
BRUNHUBER: All right.
NASA has confirmed that debris found in North Carolina is from a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. The material that fell from the sky earlier this year had been expected to burn up completely on reentry and, instead, a piece of the craft landed in two locations, North Carolina and Saudi Arabia.
The debris that fell in the U.S. ended up in the woods on mountains and near people's homes. NASA and SpaceX say they're unaware of any injuries or structural damage caused by the space junk. But they say they'll use the information gained to improve their modeling. Another Dragon craft is due for reentry later this summer.
All right.
After the break, it's now a winner takes all Stanley Cup showdown after the Edmonton Oilers defied the odds. Details just ahead, stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Well, the Edmonton Oilers are on the verge of one of the greatest comebacks in sports history. After going down 0-3 in the NHL's Stanley Cup final, it forced a game, winner take all game seven against the Florida Panthers. CNN sports anchor Andy Scholes joins me now.
So just lay out exactly how unlikely this would actually be if they were to pull it off.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORT CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kim, this is the 29th time a team has fallen behind 3-0 in the Stanley Cup final. Only twice before has a team been able to force a game seven and only one team ever has completed the comeback. It was the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs.
So the Edmonton Oilers on the verge of making some pretty cool and some pretty rare history here. And the crowd was just incredible in Edmonton for game six last night, both in the arena and outside, where thousands were watching on a big screen. And seven minutes into the game, all the people watching erupting as
Warren pulled those scores up, a nice pass there from Leon Draisaitl. I gave him the lead. Big moment in the second period. Alexander Barkov (ph) thinks he scored for Florida to cut the lead to one.
But Edmonton challenged it, saying it was offside. And the goal was overturned and look out close this was. Sam Reinhardt's skate just millimeters over the blue line. Fed his coach Paul Maurice, he was just livid at that call. Florida would never recover. Oilers going to win 5-1 there.
Now a win away from completing the comeback to win in Canada, its first cup since 1993. Game seven, give me Monday in Florida.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's just another elimination game. Right?
Where our backs are against the wall. Obviously, the crowd was unbelievable and getting started. We're comfortable playing in these games and we've proven we can play in them and we played in a bunch of them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Honestly, we're just having fun. We really believe -- we believe in each other, we believe in this group.
We're just excited to keep our season going. That's what it's been about just one game at a time, one day at a time and, yes, we're looking for the next one.
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SCHOLES: Game seven should be fun.
Ukraine, meanwhile, keeping their Euro hopes alive with a huge win over Slovakia, tied to 1, 80th minute, Nikola shared shop Aramco, a perfect volley pass there to Roman Aram, Chuck, who puts it in. That would win it for Ukraine 2-1. This is the first win a major tournament since Russia's invasion two years ago.
If they beat Belgium in their final group stage match on Wednesday, Ukraine would advance to the knockout round.
All right, another amazing play, this one from the T20 men's World Cup, England's jaws bottler making a superb one added diving catch off the slightest of deflections. Incredible grab there but coming in a losing effort, South Africa winning by seven runs.
The defending champs now on the outside looking in with one game left in the Super 8 (INAUDIBLE) to the semifinals on the line.
From some great defense in cricket to some booming off hits in baseball, Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani facing his former team, the Angels, for the first time. Ohtani hit 171 home runs in six seasons for the Halos. Now he's gotten one against him and it was a two-run moon shot, 455 feet, just straightaway center in the fifth inning. And Ohtani's 23rd of this season. The Angels, though, they would win that one 3-2 in 10 innings.
And finally belated birthday to Scottie Scheffler and Tom Kim. Both were born on June 21st. Scheffler turning 28 Friday, Kim turning 22 as it turns out.
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Well, they got a little tradition going.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Earlier today --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was a birdie.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- we had some pizza early on the week. I had a lot of pizza, so I kind of told myself, no matter wouldn't do that in a tournament. But it's my birthday and it's kind of a tradition. You, me, Scottie and we have the same, we have the same birthday. So we had an early birthday celebration. y
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SCHOLES: And Kim, that celebration, it seemed to have worked quite well, for them. Kim's leading the Travelers the week, 13 under Scheffler, he's tied for second, two shots back. So whatever they ate might need to do it again.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, that's right. Exactly it. Before we go I just want to ask you, you know, going back to hockey, game seven you got to pick it.
Who's going to win?
SCHOLES: All the momentum right now is with the Oilers, it seems like -- the way they've been winning these games too, just running away with them. Hard to imagine the Panthers rebound and are able to win games. But hey, it is going to be in their home building.
But I mean, it just seems like the Oilers are a team of destiny at this point.
BRUNHUBER: And that is the right answer, my friend, thank you so much. Appreciate that.
All right.
Well, before we, go calling it U.K. royalty paying tribute to U.S. pop royalty. Have a look.
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(MUSIC PLAYING) BRUNHUBER (voice-over): If you didn't recognize it, it was "Shake It Off" from music superstar Taylor Swift. The Royal Guards played it outside Buckingham Palace Friday to mark the first night of Swift's sold-out shows at London's Wembley Stadium.
Authorities say Swift's eight-concert run in London is expected to bring in more than $350 million for the city; 700,000 people are expected to attend the shows.
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BRUNHUBER: All right. That wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. For viewers in North America, "CNN THIS MORNING" is next. For the rest of the world, it's "AFRICAN VOICES: CHANGEMAKERS."
