♪ historic flooding across parts of western europe, shocking images showing entire villages under water, dozens are dead as rescue efforts continue. a pandemic of the unvaccinated. that's how a top health official is describing the covid situation in the united states. we'll look at who the white house is blaming for the surge. and a surge of a different kind in the caribbean. cubans looking to flee the island amid protests and hardships made even worse by the pandemic. welcome to all of you watching here in the united states, canada and around the world.

i'm kim brunhuber, and this is "cnn newsroom." international rescue efforts are under way in western europe after torrential rains triggered devastating flash floods in germany, belgium and the netherlands. some rivers are still rising. the death toll has claimed to at least 150 people, mostly in germany, with hundreds of others still unaccounted for. bridges have been washed out, thousands left homeless. and entire villages inundated. rescue crews in germany have evacuated about 700 residents after a dam along the river broke friday night. now, take a close look at this individual know from the city in eastern belgium. after a week of torrential rain a barge was seen sinking in the flooded river.

and in the netherlands, dutch officials have ordered thousands of citizens to evacuate the city of venlo. >> reporter: on the streets of germany, some residents tried to pick up the pieces, some just going through the motions. >> so many people are dead. and police are searching after them. and it was horrible. we don't know how to handle it and how to get -- do anything. >> reporter: laura tells us she was hopeless when her home began to flood, hiding out for hours as water continued to rise. but she knows she's lucky to be alive. across western europe, catastrophic flooding has left scores of people dead, many more are missing. in germany, helicopters fuel survivors from swollen rivers and drop aid packages to those below.

rescuers are going door to door, looking for anyone who may be stranded as the country suffers its worst loss of life in years. widespread power outages continue amid damage to critical infrastructure, roads, bridges, entire communities washed away. here, you can really see the destructive power against the flood. this is a tree that is currently parked on top of a bridge. there's all kinds of debris that's choking up the area here. you can still see the water behind me moving at a pretty fast clip. it rose so quickly that people didn't really have time to escape. >> we climbed up the stairs. >> reporter: one resident showed us how quickly the water consumed his home trapping him overnight until it receded. >> within minutes, the climb, step-by-step. >> reporter: outside of germany, similar seen scenes of

devastation. the death toll is rising as towns emerge, destruction continuing even after the rain has stopped. a reporter's interview with the town mayer ending abruptly when a home collapsed behind him. soon after, frenzied residents tried tos ska through the roof. in the netherlands, thousands fleeing after flooding broke through a dike, engulfing their homes with water. some triey eied to salvage what can. and others leaving with their life. others not even that. atika shubert in arweilor, germany. >> atika joins us live there. you speak to the people affected. what more can you tell us about how they're coping with this tragedy? >> reporter: well, it's still very much a rescue operation

going on here. i spoke to a military official who said this area, along.river valley is devastated. almost all of the barges can be wiped out, too. we were actually just down there. this is a little village short of nestled in between several bends in the river. it normally say picturesque tourist area, it's now completely covered in mud. we were down there earlier. unfortunately, communications are completely cut off here so we had to pull off here. and military personnel are still rescuing people in areas like this where all communication has been cut off and because bridges are down, they haven't been able to get to quite a few communities on the other side of the river. it's a very flood situation, as you pointed out, kim, there are hundreds of people missing. they're trying to locate them and figure out where they are

and possibly save anybody who might still be stranded. >> and, you know, the devastation to the homes is so extreme. i mean, in terms of the next steps, what happens to all of these people who have lost their homes? >> reporter: you know, a lot of the people that we have met have been amazingly resilient. you walk into a lot of these towns, they are just caked in mud. because what they're doing, they're going into their homes, pulling out whatever they can to try to salvage what's it left. but it's an incredibly grueling process. you have to remember for a lot of these people, they've seen traumatic scenes. we've spoken to people stranded on their rooftops overnight. not rescued until the morning. one young woman said while she stayed with her father, she watched her neighbors clinging to their life for a window for several hours until finally they

let go and disappeared. they are still missing. these are the kinds of things that residents are coping with. but right now, they're just trying to find a way to save what's left of their homes, kim. >> thank you so much for that, atika shubert in germany. thank you so much. well, meteorologist derek van dam joins us now with more the extreme weather engulfing europe. derek, many experts are pointing their fingers to climate change. is it that specific to make this range to climate change? >> indeed, kim, what we have with climatologists is linking climate change with heavy rains in germany and belgium. you can see it's combined with heavy rain, flooding and drought. basically what it comes down, a warmer atmosphere can hold more

moisture. it has the ability to create more frequent and intense rainfall events just what we experienced in this part of western europe. you don't need to take my word for it with the graphics behind me. look at the research in 2016, meteorologists, environmentalists, we look at previous you historical events to compare that to what's happening to make that correlation. what they found was a similar flooding event back in 2016, the. warmer climate made that 80% to 90% more likely because of man made climate change. this is a cutoff upper level low pressure system, it's cut off from the general low atmosphere. fingerprints of the climate written all over there, with the copious amounts of precipitation in a short amount of time. that is the amount of rainfall that we're seeing increasing in

frequency as well. water seeks its own level. where is it going to go? all of the rivers, streaming in to other rivers like the rhine river, we've had 100 centimeter rise in 12 hours across that region. the bulk of the heavy rainfall moving away from the worst of the heavily impacted areas but now it shifts south. heads-up, switzerland, adriatic region, that's the area we're keeping a close eye on for the potential of flooding. kim. >> in the past, experts warned us of this and we're seeing it now. >> exactly. >> derek van dam, thank you so much, appreciate it. covid-19 cases are now on the rise in every single u.s. state. the highly transmissible delta variant is only part of the equation. the cdc is the other. saying those living in low v

vaccination areas are suffering. those who are vaccinated are better off. >> there's a clear message that's coming through. this is becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated. >> and louisiana has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country. a doctor there says people in their 40s and 50s make up half of hospitalized covid-19 patients. that's much younger than before. and many of them aren't making it. >> it's coming for us. it's a beast. that's what we're seeing in the hospital. that's why we're nervous. that's why we're here to talk to you today. because it's different. we are either going to get vaccinated and end the pandemic. or we are going to accept death. a lot of it. >> thours from now, an indoor mask mandated returns to los angeles county in hopes to bringing case numbers back down. cnn's erica hill reports. >> reporter: masks back on in los angeles county where new cases are surging.

>> anything is on the table if things continue to get worse which is why we want to take action now. >> reporter: starting sunday, faces must be covered indoors. the cases are rising in d.c. for the first time since january. >> the danger is as more unvaccinated people get infected, and delta is so contagious, it's really transmitting at a speed that i haven't seen since the very beginning. >> reporter: death up 26%. hospitalizations 36 in the last seven days. the president placing the blame on facebook and other social media platforms for not doing more to stop the spread of misinformation. >> only pandemic we have is among the unvaccinated. and they're killing people. >> reporter: the fda confirming friday it's prioritizing the review of pfizer's vaccine, noting it's among the agency's

highest priority. one official telling cnn, full approval can come in the next two months. >> for some people, the fda approval process making the difference. i do think that we have a fair amount of experience right now, a tremendous amount of experience that tells us, again, the benefits of the vaccine far outweigh the risks. >> reporter: tennessee, one of the states with the lowest vaccination rates in the country, just 38% saw new cases increase 84% in the last week. florida accounts nor 1 in 5 new cases in the country. some states now asking for help. >> this week at the request of the nevada governor, we are deploying more 100 people to the state to help enhance vaccine access and support vaccine outreach efforts. >> reporter: as the administration beefs up its own outreach -- >> wear your mask and get your vaccine. >> reporter: -- new questions about so-called breakthrough

infections in fully vaccinated residents. >> and the reality is no vaccine is 100% effective. fortunately, the breakthrough cases are generally asymptomatic cases or mild cases. the vaccines do a tremendous job of protecting against severe infection and death. >> reporter: a message noelle collier is also sharing after losing her unvaccinated mother. >> i want people to understand that covid is not gone. i'm fully vaccinated. and i still got covid but i recovered. the vaccine is worth it. >> reporter: on the heels of l.a. county bringing back indoor mask mandates over the weekend, new york city's mayor said on friday there is no plan to follow suit here in new york. the city's health commissioner telling cnn, they'll continue to follow the data in the coming weeks, again, no plans to change course at the moment. in new york, erica hill, cnn. and the los angeles county sheriff is rejecting the new

mask mandate, the sheriff said his department won't be enforcing its new rule saying it's, quote, not backed up by science and contradicts the cdc. the cdc does say that fully vaccinated people can keep their masks off around people except where federal and state laws. and the u.s. president biden is ordering to find how the pandemic came to be. and giving more credibility to the virus that it could have actually leaked from a chinese lab. a complete turnaround from what democrats were saying a year ago. >> reporter: we're learning that the biden administration believes that covids s escaped a lab as much as theory it originated from animals.

just last year, that theory that it might haves camed from a lab in wuhan was treated as a conspiracy theory and unspecific. the president ordered an investigation back in march. the intelligence community came back to him in may and saying they were split between the issue, whether covid-19 originated in the lab or in the wild. he then ordered a redoubled effort into this question. and what we're learning now is that the intelligence community being really on the fence about this this originated has also led senior biden administration officials to that theory that it escaped from a lap very seriously. now, it is important to note that this is not necessarily a theory that this was engineered as a bio weapon. this is not gaining credence within the biden administration. what they believe, this could haves escaped from a lab conducting research on bats and

it's what of that origin theory. the theories being treated very credible, both of them, and the administration urging that they're reserving judgment until the intelligence completes their review in 30 days. natasha bertrand, cnn. a the new report puts a question on thousands of immigrants in the u.s. next, how a single decision upended their decisions and their lives. . plus, they say desperate lies call for more desperate measures.

the dream of a new life is on the line again for hundreds of thousands of immigrants in the u.s. they were brought to the u.s. illegally as children, and they've been allowed to stay in the country under the so-called daca program. for many of them, the u.s. is the place they grew up and the only home they know. evan perez reports a new report ruling on friday is putting their lives in limbo. >> reporter: a federal judge in texas has ruled that the obama era program that allowed some

undocumented immigrants to remain in this country is illegal. and they blocked from accepting new advocates. and hundreds protected under the program known as deferred action for childhood arrivals. the emergency action for the judge doesn't cancel the program for dreamers who are participating in it but once again leaves themselves in devastating limbo. he's an appointee of george w. bush and ruled that congress didn't authorize the homeland security department to create daca. but hanna also wrote it wouldn't be fair for the program that so many people rely on. the u.s. justice department is widely expected to appeal the ruling which could be sent back to the supreme court which previously blocked the trump administration attempt to end the program. the high court didn't rule whether the program was legal. evan perez, cnn, washington. meanwhile, the number of

migrants illegal crossing into the u.s. from mexico is a career high. they turned away 189,000 people on the border in june, and that's the highest number in at least a decade. activists in washington are sending a message to the cuban government after the island saw its largest anti-cuba riots. the message cuba libre, or free cuba is there. and patrick oppmann reports from havana. >> reporter: the mass protests across cuba, and the communist-run government's heavy handed crackdown may be creating conditions for a new crisis on the island to american shores. cubans once again taking to the

seas to escape a worsening economic and political situation. u.s. homeland security alejandro mayorkas, himself from cuba, issuing a strong warning to those crossing the florida straits. >> allow me to be clear, if you take to the seas, you will not be come to the united states. >> reporter: that's not stopping many cubans desperate to leave. according to the u.s. coast guard, this year has seen as many since 2017. it's driven by despair. after 16 days at sea, these cubans had to be rescued when their overloaded boat capsized off the coast of florida. >> they just had a wave take them out. the boat flipped over. >> reporter: not everyone is so lucky. the coast guard reporting nearly 20 cubans died in recent weeks.

this woman's daughter and two grandchildren were lost at sea in march along with two others. beatriz told me that her daughter was trying to reunite with her husband in florida. my daughter say good mother, beatriz says, she wouldn't have done this if everything wasn't safe, if everything wasn't okay. she wouldn't have put them through this. her children are everything to her. with daily covid-19 cases more than tripling in the last three weeks and the government struggling to get it under control, cubans find themselves with nowhere to go. most air travel to and from the island was suspended during the pandemic. for many, that now means they have one option, the open waters. building a boat or paying smugglers to take you to florida is expensive. recently, it's become common to see cubans posting ads online offering homes for sale with everything inside. it's a sign, people here tell

me, of cubans trying to get whatever monies they can to buy their way on to a boat. cubans picked up by the u.s. coast guard are brought back to the island under an agreement between the two countries. cnn got rare access to the port where the exchange happens. the day we filmed there, we found among the migrants' return to cuba and a woman and her 8-month-old baby. cuba has not held migration talks in three years. >> so the recipe and conditions are there for uncontrolled migration through the ocean. something we want to avoid. we believe it's possible to avoid. >> reporter: but any cooperation seems increasingly unlikely with cuba's president blaming the u.s. for the protests. and president biden firing back with -- >> cuba is, unfortunately, a failed state. >> reporter: failed or not as cuba faces increased economic and political upheaval. the time to avoid a new

humanitarian crisis may be running out. patrick oppmann, cnn, havana. former vice president mike pence is dipping his toes into early campaign waters. pence took a trip to iowa on friday where he gave a glimpse into his potential 2024 message. cnn's kristen holmes reports from des moines. >> reporter: the former vice president walking a tight rope, he was trying to stay in the political arena, but also aware that the republican party is still the party of donald trump. he did, however, mention january 6th and acknowledge what former president donald trump never has. take a listen. >> truth is we've been through a lot in the last year. with the global pandemic, civil unrest, a divisive election. a tragic day in our nation's capitol. >> reporter: now, while he did call it a tragic day, he also did not fully separate himself

from the former president. he praised the administration. the work the administration had done, and that he was proud to serve as part of that and be a part of that. but it's very clear now that the former vice president is trying to form a political identity that is separate and outside of donald trump's shadow. but no matter vague he is about january 6th, or how much he tries to avoid it, it is eventually going to be unavoidable. because we have talked to so many trump supporters who are still so angry with mike pence over the election. they think he shouldn't have certified the election because of all of donald trump's rhetoric. so there are a lot of people waiting to hear what pence is going to say about that. and we're waiting to hear about that, too, to see if he fully separates himself from president trump or if he in turn embraces him. destruction and deluge, in parts of germany, belgium and the netherlands left cleaning up

after catastrophic flooding. coming up i'll speak to a member of the german red cross disaster efforts in one city. plus, the new spike in coronavirus is raising questions about england's plans to fully reopen monday. we'll talk about that ahead. stay with us. ♪ fixodent ultra dual power provides you with an unbeatable hold and strong seal against food infiltrations. fixodent. and forget it. flowers are fighters. that's why the alzheimer's association

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♪ welcome back. to our viewers here in the united states, canada and around the world, i'm kim brunhuber, this is "cnn newsroom." the death toll is rising as catastrophic floods inundate parts of western europe. more than 150 people have been killed. the majority of them in germany where hundreds more are still missing. images are pouring in of communities there devastated,

fully submerged in water. large-scale rescue efforts are under way. nearly 1,000 soldiers have been deployed to help with the disaster relief effort. the head of volunteering services from the german red cross, she joins me now from vinton, germany, where she joins the emergency response. thank you for joining me. with what's happening in your country, people still trapped in their homes, disaster spread over such a wide area. what are the biggest challenges rescuers out there are facing? >> yes, hello. the situation for all of the people and for us is a really serious one, as the infrastructure is totally destroyed. houses are destroyed. and floods and all. and we had to evacuate and all of these people from really extreme and serious situations.

and now the people who are see vac waited need support. they need shelter. they need clothing. food, drink, medicines to support their regular medicine. we from the red cross hand in hand with others give them this special support with a special unit. and a lot of them need psychological support because they've lost everything. they've lost, yeah, their things, and some are still looking for close relatives which they are missing. and we try to save them and to solve all of these problems. >> i want to go with a little bit more. first of all, how are you helping to provide shelter for them, concretely? and second of all, you talk about the state that they're in, the huge emotional trauma that they must be going through. they obviously must have very much with them as well because they have to evacuate so quickly. so what are sort of the needs

that you're helping with there? >> we've got a special unit who are prepared to give shelter to the people. and we bring these people to gyms, to schools. where we build up and all of these things so the people can stay there. especially, the most vulnerable of the people we are focusing on. these are people who need care, people who are evacuated from hospitals. and, of course, we have to give all of this support to them. we cook food and drink. and for all of this, we are prepared. our volunteers are trained to do exactly this. and the people are -- they are absolutely shocked on what's happened. and the situation, as the water goes back and all of these people realize that their problems stay. their houses are destroyed.

they care about what's happening next, of course. and we try, at the moment, to do our best, but our special red cross philosophy is worldwide. also, we say red cross is a network everywhere. and also is our units go back to their homes, the red cross, in all of these towns, stays and we'll try to help all of these people. >> yeah. you talked about, you know, the volunteers being prepared to help. but also that the people weren't prepared for this type of emergency. are you surprised by the lack of advance warning and preparation for a disaster like this? >> i think it's -- i can't analyze the special situation in every city. but i'm absolutely sure that we have in future to focus much more on being self-prepared.

it's something red cross and a lot of other people always talk about. and we say everybody has to focus on this. think about what you are doing in such situations. but just approach situations as we have lived through now, people become aware that this is reality. and i think because of climate change, such situations will become more often, and more serious. and i think now is the time to switch and to think more about. and everyone should be prepared and think about what am i doing, if i am in such a situation. >> yeah. that's great advice for people all over the world, as we will all have to deal with the effects of climate change. tanya knopp, thank you so much for your time and all of the great work that the red cross is doing. appreciate it. >> you're welcome.

well in just a few days, england is set to fully reopen that means no more mask requirements in shops and most public places. and bars and restaurants will be able to pack in more customers, but there could be a wrench in the plans. on friday, it was reported more than 50,000 new coronavirus cases in six months for the first time. phil black joins me more from england. phil, i notice former scientists signing on to a letter in "the lancet" saying england lifting restrictions could be a threat to the whole world, basically adding to the set of naysayers as you're set to open in a day or two. >> yeah, kim, exactly right. england finds itself in extraordinary moments where cases are rising, broadly in the uk, daily cases that haven't

been seen since the previous peak back in winter. more than 50,000 yesterday. it's going to get much higher we're today, 100,000 cases a day in just a few weeks. this is. happening remarkably just as the uk government is preparing to throw away the pandemic rule back here in england from monday. restrictions, social distancing, as you say, mask wearing, none of that will be legally enforceable anymore. and it believes that it can do this, the government does, because of the advanced vaccine program and the protection that it provides. it also hopes that by doing this in summer, and having the inevitable surge in cases that comes with reopening, that it will be more manageable. but there is just tremendous uncertainty surrounding this. even the government's own scientific advisers say they don't know how this it's going to turn out because it will come down to the people and how they choose to behave. if they continue to be cautious, the numbers in theory should

stay relatively manageable, but if they very quickly return to prepandemic, then the modeling suggests that there could be cases than previous ways, previous ways when there was no vaccine. so there's growing criticism from scientists here and there are those who believe it's reckless, essentially, the uk is, england, is creating situations that allow it to spread more readily. because we're talking about the delta variant. it's so much more transmissible. you're going to have many, it's expecting millions over the next couple of months, in addition to that the vaccine program is incomplete. so millions of vulnerable people there. you will inevitably have lots of people that are seriously ill. in a global sense, the concern is that the uk is creating a set of circumstances where you have high rate of infection, a partial wall of immunity, and

that is the set of circumstances, scientists say, where you are most likely to get a mutation. a new variant that is better at escaping the current vaccine. better at working around, beating the vaccines that we have at the moment. so, in that case, that's not just consequences for the uk, we're talking about very significant consequences for the rest of the world, and its effort to deal with the pandemic as well. so, a great deal at stake. and the reality is, we are only going to get a sense of how this is going as it unfolds in realtime. kim. >> yeah, we'll keep following this fallout in any sense, thanks so much, cnn's phil black, appreciate it. with just six days to go until tokyo 2020 kicks off, the first case was detected in the olympic village. the person is now in quarantine

outside of the village. so far, there have been 45 cases linked to the olympics. an environmental crisis in utah, one of the state's most unique natural treasures is disappearing, details ahead. plus, mounting anger over the death of a journalist in the nation of georgia. local tv stations have joined the calls for the prime minister to resign. we'll explain. stay with us. dad, why didn't you answer your phone? your mother loved this park. ♪ she did.

the funeral for haiti's assassinated president jovenel moise has been set for next friday. we also learned the fbi is in haiti and has begun its own investigation. that's because some of the key suspects in the plot appear to have connections in florida. the country's acting prime minister said if it was meant to topple the government it failed. haitian authorities say dozens of police are being investigated

over their possible roles including some who were at moise's home at the night of the attack. in the country of georgia, there are growing calls for the prime minister to step down after journalists were viciously attacked while covering a protest in the capital. the death of a cameraman several days later has galvanized the position of the prime minister with several tv stations calling for his resignation. michael holmes shows how it played out on the streets of tbilisi. >> reporter: mourners attended, thousands tbilisi. this is the face of alexander lashkarava, after being beat, after a march last week. that march was cancelled after some stormed the lgbt groups.

lashkarava or lekso as remembered by loved ones died last week end. officials have not announced the cause of his death. >> translator: toe, we bury lekso, with the power of the media feeded by a special operation for those in power. >> reporter: the violent protests came on the heels of the prime minister who had denounced the pride march. >> translator: they are involved, and i say it with full responsibility, they are organizing this parade and these rallies. and it is their goal to instigate public disorder and chaos in the country. >> reporter: now, the ca cameraman's death drawing the attention of human rights group and the media. on wednesday, four georgian tv channels devoted 24 hours showing black screens with the

names of injured journalists, and calls for the prime minister to resign. protesters also gathered in front of the parliament on monday. >> today, we have one representative of media who has died. we hold the government directly responsible for failing to provide security, and therefore, we believe that resignation of the prime minister and the government is the only response that will be satisfactory for the georgian society. >> reporter: the chants turned into a scuffle as protesters made their way into the parliament. pride advance is still controversial in georgia, a country led by a conservative government and powerful orthodox church. but violence against lgbt communities has sparked an international outcry. the eu and u.s. government condemning these attacks. >> we encourage all georgians,

including georgian officials, to publicly condemn this type of violence. it has no place in democracy. >> reporter: for her part, georgia's governor has tweeted her her response saying those responsible must be punished michael holmes, cnn. u.s. rammer biz markie called for the prince of hip-hop for his work has died at the age of 57. you may recognize his hit "just a friend." he was born in new york city, biz markie was beloved in the industry. he also worked as an actor and narrater. loved ones will miss his vibrant personality, jokes and frequent banter. we'll be right back. ♪

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example, utah's salt lake has disappeared. >> reporter: this is one of utah's most unique national treasures. the great salt lake also known as america's dead sea. standing in an area the size of delaware, it's the biggest salt lake in the western helmisphere. >> oh, so beautiful. >> reporter: but there's a big problem with its picture-perfect look, it could be no more. years of drought has pushed the lake towards historic lows. sailboats pulled from the dry marina. >> 20 years ago, this was under ten feet of water. >> reporter: showed, half of the surface is dry. that's a major worry for kevin perry a scientist at the

university of utah. perry said the dry lake soil could see naturally occurring, arsonic laced. >> what's the worst case fear? >> this lake could become one of the larger emission sources in north america. the ecosystem itself is on the verge of collapse. >> reporter: the great salt lake is also a critically important habitat for millions of birds and happens to be one of the largest breeding grounds for pelicans in the united states. if we don't take action, what's going to happen to the great salt lake? >> the great salt lake will be an environmental, economical and cultural catastrophe all in one. >> reporter: jamie butler is a wildlife biologist who dedicated her entire career to studying the great lake ecosystem. for her, the crisis is personal.

>> i grew up here. you know, a place becomes you. it like becomes you. we are great salt lake, all of us all. and we shouldn't -- >> reporter: andy wallace has spent years working on the great salt lake as a commercial pilot. have you ever seen it look like this? >> i've never seen it this bad, not in my lifetime. we're seeing the start of a major, major environmental catastrophe. >> reporter: from up above, the scale of the problem is obvious. from 6,000 feet up there's no question this is a crisis. the great salt lake is vanishing from our eyes. >> you can see on this side, the water is purple. >> reporter: the beautiful purple means it's an unhealthy lake. >> it is. it's going to become an environmental catastrophe, we're going to see so much dust, laced with heavy metals and, you know, mercury, it's going to blow into

the salt lake valley on a regular basis and evaporate health conditions. >> reporter: for years, people have been diverting water from rivers that flow into the lake to crops and homes. jamie butler says it's a change. is this a man-made problem? >> yes, this is a human-made problem. we need to change our behaviors to keep incredible ecosystems that include humans like here at salt lake. >> reporter: you can see the impact, this may look like a beach but last year, all of this was under water. loss of great salt lake will have devastating consequences in the region. one thing everyone says, it's not too late to save it. the question is whether there's a will to act, lucy kafanov.

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