tv CNN Newsroom Live CNN July 30, 2022 2:00am-3:00am PDT
2:00 am
♪ hello and welcome to all of you watching us here in the united states, canada and all around the world i'm kim brunhuber. ahead on "cnn newsroom" -- >> just relieved to get out of there. i'm going to lose everything i have. >> catastrophic and deadly flooding across kentucky as rescuers are still working to reach people in areas where the roads are simply gone. we'll look at what role climate change is playing in all of this. russia and ukraine's blame game.
2:01 am
two nations pointing fingers after an attack on a prison holding prisoner of war. we're live in kyiv with the latest. how russia is getting around sanctions by plundering sudan's gold. ♪ >> announcer: live from cnn center, this is "cnn newsroom" with kim brunhuber. it's 5:00 a.m. in eastern kentucky where a humanitarian tragedy is unfolding and will likely get worse. president joe biden has issued a major disaster declaration for the state as catastrophic flooding has killed at least 16 people, including 6 children and that death toll is expected to rise. raging waters decimated entire neighborhoods, scores of people are still missing. kentucky governor andy beshear says it's hard to know how many. he explains why here.
2:02 am
listen. >> there are so many areas we still can't get to. the water hasn't crested in some parts of eastern kentucky. so we can't even get in to some hollers and see who is there. there are people out there all across kentucky and america that are scared because they can't reach their relatives with cell phone service down, thousands without power, water systems overwhelmed. so we are still in search and rescue for what is an on going disaster. in the days ahead, as the water goes down, we'll turn towards the rebuilding. that's going to take years. it is devastating for us. >> bridges have been demolished and some houses, as you can see, have been completely carried away by the raging water. cnn's evan mcmorris-santoro reports the sheer scope will make rebuilding difficult.
2:03 am
>> reporter: this is going to be a real challenge with such a large area hit to get good, unaccounted for numbers. homes destroyed, roads washed out, rescuers working around the clock as the governor of kentucky warns the death toll from another round of catastrophic flooding could more than double in the coming days. the latest heart breaking discovery, the bodies of at least six children recovered from the flood waters. rushing waters ripped homes off their foundation and cars into piles. judy butler and her husband made it out of their house just in time. >> we got out. we pulled out to the road and about ten minutes later we looked out and it went from the back of the fence to the carport. >> reporter: the fast-rising flood waters forcing many people to evacuate and causing hundreds of water rescuers across the state. >> i'm going to lose everything i have, for sure. but it's better than losing my life. >> reporter: beverly spent hours in chest-high water trying to
2:04 am
keep her dog afloat. >> finally i was hanging on to a fern rope. i thought, i have to do it. i have to swim. but it was super swift. i never swam in water like that. >> reporter: the kentucky national guard is also assisting in rescue efforts, lifting people from their homes. as some buildings were left almost entirely submerged. officials say the storm caught many people by surprise. >> there was no warning. people asleep in mobile homes near this water. that water had never been up to before in 50 years. they've lived there and never worried about it, so you never thought about it. caught in their sleep and just washed away. it's tragedy. >> reporter: power and cell phone service out in many of the hardest-hit areas, help is hard to come by. >> there's a big swath of the county that's totally isolated. the state highways are totally gone. >> reporter: one mayor says it's hard to know where to begin. >> we were so overwhelmed, we don't know what to ask for.
2:05 am
>> reporter: the worst is far from over. governor beshear urging residents to have a safety plan in place. >> looks like it's going to rain a lot monday, maybe tuesday. >> reporter: evan mcmorris-santoro, cnn, hazard, kentucky. >> more on this extreme weather i'm joined by cnn meteorologist derek van dam. what we just heard there, unfortunately sounds like folks aren't out of the woods yet. more rain on the way. >> yeah. so we have a brief reprieve. the next 24 hours should stay dry over the hardest-hit areas, perry county, for instance, over eastern sections of kentucky. sunday into monday, as you heard the governor talk about a moment ago, that will allow for a resurgence of moisture, more showers and more thunderstorms over the areas hardest hit. look at this forecast and radar, this is going forward into the future. saturday, you notice it's dry through the course of the day today. over eastern kentucky. however, look into sunday, starts to really fill in there across that region. the potential for more showers and thunderstorms and the
2:06 am
forecast calls for an additional 1 to 3 inches over these areas. keep in mind, the ground here extremely saturated. we still have some of the major rivers cresting the kentucky river as some of those smaller streams and creek beds start to flow into those larger rivers. we see those cresting downstream. and for sunday, the weather prediction center has issued a slight risk of flash flooding across the same areas. that does extend across the tennessee river valley into virginia, west virginia as well as north carolina. all associated with this stalled out frontal boundary. now keep in mind, we had back-to-back 1 and 1,000-year flood events is that occurred not only in st. louis, missouri, earlier in the week but then of course eastern kentucky. so, this is just exceptional to see this amount of rain from the same frontal boundary producing the precipitation record rain fall for many locations. of course we all know the end result, unfortunately. this area is known as the appalachians. and we have a lot of ravines where some of the population
2:07 am
lives, mountainous terrain where the water feeds in. the water has to go somewhere, unfortunately it was just too much to handle. look what it did to one of the river gauges here. it allowed for a peak observation, shy of 43.5 feet. the old record was 43 feet. major flood stage, record flood stage for many locations. it is currently receding, but any amount of additional rain falls will allow for the rivers and creeks to swell allowing for the potential for more flooding. radar is dry. radar is quiet. we'll take it. still our flood warnings across many of the local rivers over eastern kentucky. we'll monitor if this storm prediction center or the weather prediction center starts to increase these watches going forward, but this is really the culprit there. the stalled frontal boundary. this is allowing waves of precipitation to move from the texas panhandle right through kentucky over the days to come. something we'll monitor very closely.
2:08 am
>> yeah. so much damage there. all right, derek van dam, thanks so much. joining me now is bob hen son, meteorologist and journalist for yale climate connections joining me from boulder, colorado. thanks so much for being here with us. so briefly just explain what happened with this weather system and why it's been so devastating. >> so, we've had a stationary front, which is basically a front that's not moving in any particular direction. and this front has been draped from east to west basically from the central plains over to the central appalachians. and the rainstorms, very intense ones, have been forming along this front and propagating east over and over again which we call a training pattern. something like that gets locked in place, it can be difficult to uproot it and can take some time. so, it's not unusual in summer to get these, but this has been a particularly intense one with access to a lot of moisture from the gulf of mexico and here we have it. >> so, then take us through what
2:09 am
role climate change may have played in this. >> well, we know that worldwide in many parts of the world and over a long period of time now the most intense rainfall events, the most intense short-term ones, rains you might get in 12 hours or 24 hours, those are tending to get heavier. so when it's raining really hard, we have access to more moisture because of warmer oceans, more water going into the air. so where it's raining, it could rain harder. where it's not raining unfortunately the extra heat is sucking water out of the ground. so it's kind of a double whammy, making wet places and wet times wetter and dry times dry times drier on average. >> and we talk about this being a 1 in 1,000 year rain event and the heat wave 1 in 1,000 years, the last disaster, the one before that. as one weather expert put it, what was almost impossible is now not just possible but probable. >> absolutely. we have seen all kinds of
2:10 am
records in that realm. now, we have taken actual weather records for something like 100 to 150 years in most cities. talking about the 1,000 year intervals those are estimates but based on solid science. we know, for example, england has never gotten about 104 farenheit and that just happened this week. and temperatures have been taken in england going back 200 years in some spots. so they are happening more often and this is exactly what we expect in a climate being warmed by humans that in particular hot temperatures and extremely heavy short-term rains, those are two really solid connections to climate science and human-caused climate change. >> and one factor compounding the effect here for the folks on the ground is that our infrastructure is just not designed to handle all of this water. it's something we have seen in most of the huge flooding events here in the u.s. and europe over the last year or so. in the shorter term, how will we have to adapt the infrastructure
2:11 am
to deal with the increasing frequency and severity of these extreme weather events. >> well, i think the good news is with heat waves we are learning to adapt to those. 20 years ago there really weren't such things as cooling centers, places people could go if they don't have ac at home. we have those in many u.s. city. we're a lot more proactive reaching out to folks that might be vulnerable. there's still a lot of work to be done but that's helping to tamp down some of the worst effects of heat waves in the u.s. in most places. flooding is tough because cities are paved over to a large extent. you have a lot of water running off. a city like st. louis, which used to be one of the ten largest cities in the country for a century, it's now 70. there's a lot of infrastructure built upwards of 100 years ago especially of older cities. they have to be upgraded. it's not a sexy thing to do, major process, this is why infrastructure is so important. >> bob henson, thanks so much
2:12 am
for joining us. appreciate it. >> thank you so much. and for more information about how you can help victims of the kentucky flooding go to cnn.com/impact. ♪ a deadly strike on ukrainian prisoners of war is leading to a blame game between kyiv and moscow. next, accusations fly after an attack that reportedly killed dozens of prisoners. plus, proprosed prisoner swap is just a stall and not a serious offer. we'll explain why after the break. stay with us. makes trading easier. with its customizable options chain, easy-to-use totools, and paper trading to help sharpepen your skills, you can stay on top of the mamarket from wherever you are.
2:14 am
we hit the bike trails every weekend shinges doesn't care. i grow all my own vegetables shingles doesn't care. we've still got the best moves you've ever seen good for you, but shingles doesn't care. because 1 in 3 people will get shingles, you need protection. but, no matter how healthy you feel, your immune system declines as you age increasing your risk for getting shingles. so, what can protect you? shingrix protects. you can protect yourself from shingles with a vaccine proven to be over 90% effective. shingrix is a vaccine used to prevent shingles in adults 50 years and older. shingrix does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients or to a previous dose.
2:15 am
an increased risk of guillain-barré syndrome was observed after getting shingrix. fainting can also happen. the most common side effects are pain, redness, and swelling at the injection site, muscle pain, tiredness, headache, shivering, fever, and upset stomach. ask your pharmacist or doctor about shingrix. shingles doesn't care. but you should.
2:16 am
♪ now to the latest in ukraine, which is blaming russia for holding up the implementation of their grain export deal. ukraine says it's ready to start shipments from its black sea ports but russia is yet to sign off on the location of safety routes for grain ships. now, on the battlefield, ukraine says russia's artillery keeps pounding cities in the donetsk region, but ukrainian officials say the russian ground offensive there didn't get any traction on
2:17 am
friday. ukraine and russia are also trading blame for an attack on a prison holding ukrainian p.o.w.s. russia says 40 prisoners were killed in a strike on the facility in the occupied east friday, but both sides are denying any responsibility and pointing a finger at each other. so for more on this, let's bring in jason carol, who is live in kyiv. jason, let's start with that, the attack on the prison. what more are we learning there? >> reporter: right, the prison, basically what we're seeing here are duelling narratives. let's first start with the ukrainians. the ukrainian president has weighed in on this, calling what happened he called it a deliberate war crime on behalf of the russians. he also said that he basically called it a deliberate act of mass murder. he went on to say there should be a clear recognition of russia as a terrorist state. again, more than 40 ukrainian p.o.w.s were killed during that attack. many, many more than that badly, badly injured. at this point the ukrainian intelligence is saying that the
2:18 am
attack was carried out by russian mercenaries, but russia for its part saying they had nothing to do with the attack. they're saying the attack was actually carried out by the ukrainians with the help of weaponry provided by the united states. now, cnn cannot independently verify the allegations on either side of this. the ukrainians for their part have stepped in and said, look, we like the united nations to come in and take a look at what happened. we would like the red cross to come in and take a look at what happened, perhaps conduct some sort of independent investigation. the red cross for its part has offered its assistance, also putting out a statement saying that p.o.w.s are protected under the international humanitarian law. kim? >> yet another tragedy. jason carol, thank you so much. appreciate it. and moscow's counteroffer for a possible prisoner swap of brittney griner and paul whelan is getting a frosty reception. the white house proposed
2:19 am
releasing notorious arms dealer viktor bout in exchange for the two merps, but cnn learned the kremlin also wants another russian serving a life sentence in germany for murder. the top diplomats discussed the issue friday in their first conversation since the war in ukraine began. secretary of state antony blinken said he urged moscow to take the u.s. offer seriously. here he is. >> i pressed the kremlin to accept these substantial proposal we put forth on the release of paul whelan and brittney griner. >> cnn's natasha bertrand has exclusive details about moscow's latest proposal for a prisoner swap and why the u.s. doesn't believe it's a genuine counteroffer. >> reporter: sources say after the u.s. proposed swapping viktor bout for two americans imprisoned in russia, brittney griner and paul whelan russian officials responded by saying a
2:20 am
kernel. the russians communicated the request we are told to the u.s. earlier this month during an informal back channel used by russia's domestic security service but the request was seen for problematic for several reasons. among them, he remains in german custody. because of that and because the request was not communicated to the u.s. formally but rather through this fsb back channel, the u.s. government did not view as legitimate counter to the u.s. offer. still the u.s. made quiet inquiries to the germans several weeks ago about whether they might be willing to include him in the trade according to a senior german government official. a u.s. official was a status check who was convicted of murdering a former fighter in broad daylight in berlin in 2019. now, the conversations between the u.s. and germany were never elevated to the top levels of the german government and including potential trade has not been seriously considered. now, u.s. sources are telling
2:21 am
cnn they believe the request was not a serious proposal but rather just a bit by the russians to stall and buy time until brittney griner's trial is over. tnatasha bertrand, cnn, washington. we're learning exclusive details text messages about secret service agents that may have been deleted. multiple sources tell cnn the inspector general, the department of homeland security was aware of the missing texts in may, 2021, more than a year before he informed the january 6th select committee. if the texts can be recovered, they could shed light on crucial events that day, especially recent witness testimony that donald trump apparently fought with secret service agents when they blocked him from joining his supporters at the capitol. now, it doesn't stop there. cnn also learned that texts leading up to january 6th are also missing from trump's acting homeland security chief and his top deputy. now all this as house republican
2:22 am
leader kevin mccarthy responds to key testimony by former white house aide cassidy hutchinson. manu raju pressed him on friday. >> she testified under oath saying you called her after donald trump said that told his supporters they were going to go to the capitol, and you were concerned about those remarks and said, don't come up here. figure it out. don't come up here. she said that under oath. did you tell her that? and why were you concerned about the prospect of donald trump coming to the capitol on january 6th? >> to be honest, i don't recall talking to her that day. i recall talking to dan scavino and jared and trump. that's what i talked to on television to. if i talked to herks i don't remember it. if it was coming up here, i don't think i wanted a lot of people coming up to the capitol. but i don't remember the conversation. >> why were you concerned specifically about trump coming to the capitol? >> i don't remember that. >> you don't remember being concerned about the comments.
2:23 am
>> because i didn't watch it. this is what is so confusing. i didn't watch the speech. i was working. so i didn't see what was said. i didn't see what went on until after the fact. >> did you want him to come to the capitol? >> no, i never communicated to him about coming to the capitol. i had no idea he would come to the capitol. i had no idea he was going to come to the capitol. >> you told her throughout the course of the week, she reassured you through the course of the week that he was not going to come to the capitol. >> i don't remember having any conversations with her about coming to the capitol -- the president coming to the capitol. >> now, that exchange came during mccarthy's first solo news conference in months. still to come here on cnn "newsroom," the global monkeypox outbreak claims first fatality in europe as the need for vaccines becomes more urgent in the u.s. stay with us. that's why dove men bobody wash has skinin-strengthening nutrients and moisturizers that help rebuild your skin.n. dove men+care.
2:24 am
smoother, healthier skin with every shower. hey, i just got a text from my sister. you remember rick, her neighbor? sure, he's the 76-year-old guy who still runs marathons, right? sadly, not anyre. wow. so sudden. um, we're not about to have the "we need life insurance" conversation again, are we? no, we're having the "we're getting coverage so we don't have to worry about it" conversation. so you're calling about the $9.95 a month plan -from colonial penn? -i am. we put it off long enough. we are getting that $9.95 plan, today. (jonathan) is it time for you to call about the $9.95 plan? i'm jonathan from colonial penn life insurance company. sometimes we just need a reminder not to take today for granted. if you're age 50 to 85, you can get guaranteed acceptance whole life insurance starting at just $9.95 a month. there are no health questions so you can't be turned down for any health reason.
2:25 am
the $9.95 plan is colonial penn's number one most popular whole life plan. options start at just $9.95 a month. that's less than 35 cents a day. your rate can never go up. it's locked in for life. call today for free information. and you'll also get this free beneficiary planner, so call now. (soft music) ♪ hello, colonial penn? with xfinity internet, you get advanced security
2:26 am
that helps protect you at home and on the go. you feel so safe, it's as if... i don't know... evander holyfield has your back. i wouldn't click on that. hey, thanks! we got a muffin for ed! all right! you don't need those calories. can we at least split it? nope. advanced security that helps protect your devices in and out of the home. i mean, can i have a bite? only from xfinity. nah. unbeatable internet. made to do anything so you can do anything.
2:27 am
welcome back to all of you watches us here in the united states, canada and all around the world, i'm kim brunhuber. this is "cnn newsroom." there are growing concerns about the growing monkeypox outbreak. spain is reporting what's thought to be the first death in europe from the virus. earlier friday the first person to die from monkeypox outside of africa was reported in brazil. and the philippines reported its first case of the virus on friday. officials say monkeypox can spread from person to person mostly through prolonged, physical contact, sex and also through respiratory droplets. u.s. health officials say there are more than 5,000 probable or confirmed monkeypox cases in the u.s. and cases are increasing so fast in san francisco, the city's mayor is appealing for vaccines
2:28 am
now. here she is. >> we want to make it known that san francisco has one of the highest case rates already of monkeypox of any other major city in the country. we don't want to be ignored by the federal government in our need. so many leaders of the lgbt community have also, weeks ago, asked for additional help and support and assistance. >> for more on this, let's bring in dr. peter hong, member of the california monkeypox scientific advisory committee. thanks so much for joining us here. so, short of 300 cases or so where you are in san francisco, why is that such a worry? why is the city declaring a public health emergency now? >> well, there is symbolic reason, kim, and pragmatic reason. the symbolic reason is i think
2:29 am
the city wants to really make a statement, raise awareness, but there's a really pragmatic reason which is that there isn't enough money devoted to monkeypox to control this outbreak. all the money that we have emergency preparedness is wrapped up in covid dollars, so to use that money, declaring a state of emergency, allows that flexibility. >> yeah, they want to pivot some of that covid money to fight this. now, part of the problem, of course, is the lack of testing. i want to know how bad can this get? and is there a possibility that we can get rid of monkeypox, or do you think it's here to stay now? >> well, time is ticking. and now is the moment. we may lose this moment before it either spills over to general population, infects animals in north america and then become endemic, which is something nobody really wants. >> yeah. absolutely. so, there is aside from the lack
2:30 am
of testing, there's also frustration growing about the access to the vaccine. i mean, we reported on folks who took five hours filling up forms, standing in line to get the shot. why is it taking so long? you thought after covid, shouldn't we have better muscle memory to react to a potential pandemic like this? >> well, there's a little bit of a slowness in terms of even simple things like reserving the second dose before prioritizing first doses for as many people as possible. the uk did it, new york did it, san francisco followed very quickly. and at the end of the day, there were 800,000 doses awaiting fda inspection of the facility in denmark, and that was a little frustrating because it was there -- it was like dangling a golden apple in front of you and you can't really get it. >> so, san francisco is going to prioritize vaccines for men and
2:31 am
transpeople who have sex with men, which is the population right now that seems most likely to get infected looking at the cases. there's debate around the messaging of this. some people are saying, listen, we need to do more to draw attention to this link with male on male sex to warn these vulnerable populations. other people say, well, anyone can get infected. and we're just stigmatizing them. so where do you fall in that debate? >> i think, kim, we have to be laser focus on where the disease is right now which is in gay and bisexual men and trans men as well. i think that, you know, the messaging for the general population is one not of alarm but awareness. and you're right, stigma is something that we are constantly worried about. we have seen it during hiv. just yesterday somebody came to ask me about treatment for monkeypox with t pox because she had hugged a gay man. i think that message is really
2:32 am
worrisome for me and harbinger of what might be coming in the future. >> yeah. absolutely. it's such a tough balancing act there. you know, before we came on we played a clip there from san francisco's mayor, she's joined with others who are criticizing and calling out the federal response. what more should they be doing here? w. i think there's two things. first of all, i'm proud to be a resident of san francisco. we're the first to do shelter in place, and i think this is a prescient move. the two things are really hopefully a domino effect to other jurisdictions and hopefully percolating to the national level and as a result in resources. but more than that coordination. again, we saw in covid that we were different muscles beating at different times instead of one coordinated muscle, even something as elementary as reporting cases is not really done consistently from state to
2:33 am
state right now. >> uh-huh. and if you have any advice there for folks who are listening to this and might sort of be worried, should i get tested that sort of thing, what's your message out there? >> i think we aren't using enough testing. when cnn did an investigation a couple of days ago, they found that even though we have five commercial labs set up and running, able to do tens of thousands of tests a week, there are very, very few tests done, less than 100 actually in some of the major labs. so, i think not to panic and think about the hierarchy of risk. at the end of the day, monkeypox is trying to find an animal. it's very, very difficult to get as a human. so, skin to skin is major. maybe sexual contact as well though not exclusive. going to the thrift store, going to the gym, going to the yoga studio is not really going to be very high risk at all. >> all right. great advice. really appreciate getting your
2:34 am
expertise on this developing issue. peter chin-hong, thanks so much for joining us. >> thanks so much, kim. pope francis is back hope in italy after a six-day trip to canada where he apologized for the role the catholic church played in past abuses. the pontiff spoke to reporters during the floigt back to rome. he acknowledged that indigenous people in canada suffered cultural genocide. something a canadian commission determined had occurred at so-called residential schools. generations of indigenous children were forced to attend for decades. the 85-year-old catholic leader discussed his health and acknowledged he'll have to slow down due to his age. coming up, how russia is getting around sanctions by plundering sudan's gold. it's a cnn exclusive just ahead. please do stay with us. if your moderate to severe crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis symptoms are stopping you in your tracks... choose stelara® from the statart...
2:35 am
and move toward relief after the first dose... with injections evevery two months. stelara® may increasase your risk of infections, some serious, and cancer. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu-like symptoms, sores, new skin growths, have had cancer, or if you need a vaccine. pres, a rare, potentially fatal brain condition, may be possible. some serious allergic reactions and lung inflammation can occur. feel unstoppable. ask your doctor how lasting remission can start with stelara®. janssen can help you explore cost support options.
2:36 am
2:37 am
2:38 am
♪ security forces in baghdad have used tear gas and water cannons to disperse protesters trying to break into the city's heavily fortified green zone. the protesters are loyal to powerful cleric and are angry over the nomination of a new prime minister. the cleric parliamentary bloc, more than 70 lawmakers withdrew from the governing body last month and worsened the country's political stalemate. iraqi leaders were unable to form a new government since elections last october. in an exclusive report, cnn can reveal how russia is circumnavigating u.s. sanctions by exploiting and smuggling sudanese gold. it's a move that has also stopped democratic change in sudan in northeastern africa, just as its people successfully toppled one of the longest
2:39 am
standing african dictators through peaceful protests. sudan is one of the biggest exporters of gold. russia is controlling vital government and nongovernment institutions to secure this golden financial pipeline. this team travelled to the north of sudan to show how russia manipulates the sudanese military government and using front companies to hold on to the gold illegally moving from the sudan's capital to russia. >> reporter: deep in sudan's gold country, miners toil in the searing heat. barely surviving in what should be one of africa's richest countries. providing gold for a war, a continent away. we investigate a force more powerful than sudan's government
2:40 am
controlling its gold. subverting sudan's destiny, threatening me and our sources. and thwarting democracy to evade sanctions in russia's war on ukraine. russian manager is on his way, they say. we uncover the extent of russia's grip on sudan. ♪ sudan has produced some of the most sought-after gold in the world. and putin's private army, the notorious group knows it. sudan's government is denying the existence in country, but we're not buying it. and wer gom to investigate. >> their tentacles stretch right across africa. we discovered most notorious operatives are working on sudan.
2:41 am
the head of wagner, the head of sudan ops and alexander, wagner's key enforcer. previously convicted of kidnap and robbery. working with this man, sudanese general, aka, in a quid pro quo for training and weaponry. we travel 20 miles north to gold country to look at wagner's main moneymaker, artisanal gold. miners bring rocks they extract here to be processed. 85% of sudan's gold is produced artisanally. this right here may not look like much, this is what's left after the rocks that the miners have brought in is milled. now, they've taken what they can out of it, but this gets sold. and when it's properly
2:42 am
processed, with someone who has superior technology, you can make ten times what those miners over there are making. ten times more money without any of the back-breaking work. and the only foreign processing plant operational in sudan is wagner's gold. despite a sudanese law to locals. it was sanctioned two years ago by the united states for exploiting sudan's natural resources and spreading their malign influence around the globe. according to the sudanese government, they officially ceased operations, but they are still here, still evading sanctions. we verified their location with coordinates provided by anti-corruption investigators and head there to see for ourself. as we approach, the red flag of the former soviet union blows in the wind.
2:43 am
increasingly used by russian nationalists, it brazenly marks the meadowy gold compound. a russian tanker sits next it to. we get to the entrance and decide to ask a few questions. but not before we turn on our covert cameras. well, that's convenient. they've just confirmed the russians are at this location. there's a black pickup approaching. okay. guy just confirmed the russian manager is in that black pickup and is on his way to us. a russian van races to the office but no one seems to be coming over. seems the russian manager has changed his mind. but others turn up instead. [speaking foreign language] they claim this plant is sudanese owned.
2:44 am
remember the name it's important. we head off the property to do some more filming, but we're followed. security approaches. they want us to stop. this is public ground. this is public ground. why is your van stopping here? trying to get us to move on. they're taking pictures of us, of our license plates. the reason they're so nervous, it's a front for the russian company meadowy gold. wagner is still operating illegally, a foreign company pretending to be sudanese to evade u.s. sanctions. we obtained their registration documents to prove it. the document on the left is from meadowy gold. the one on the right, al solag. these are complaints made in court against gold. these are the same. under sudanese law, a company's holdings are transferred, so are any judgments against it. here you can see the judgments against both companies are
2:45 am
identical. all they've done is change the name. wagner, hiding in plain sight to avoid u.s. sanctions and keep the financial pipeline flowing back to moscow and its war on ukraine. a dangerous business to delve into. since we arrived in country, i've been informed by sources of threats they believe to be credible against me. they say that's what happens here. when you look too closely at russia's business dealings. we're off to meet one of those sources and he asked that i come alone. >> it's a front for the russians, specifically for the forces of wagner that are working to exploit gold in sudan and its export. it's a front. it's not a company. it extracts gold and buys gold from the sudanese artisanal miners. that's not legal because the law says that any gold producer is supposed to report the quantity it produces to the central bank and to the ministry of mining and that does not happen.
2:46 am
>> inside sudan's central bank a whistleblower snapped this photo of a computer screen, showing official production in 2021 at 49.7 tons. 32.7 tons are unaccounted for by the central bank, but the real figure we're told by whistleblowers could be over 220 tons $13.h billion worth of gold a year that's being stolen from sudan. how has this happened? two years ago the sudanese people successfully overthrew africa's second longest ruling dictator. 18 months later the military staged its own coup. sweeping aside civilian rule. and they did this, we're told, with wagner's support in exchange for gold. this man had a front row seat to russia's machinations and has evidence to prove it stood to gain by supporting the sudanese military's coup. under threat of assassination,
2:47 am
he's been in hiding for the last nine months, moving from safe house to safe house. >> the russians are sudanese officers. so all the civilians in the government is an obstacle to the plan. the financial anti-corruption task force wasn't caving to pressure or threats or bribery. the armed forces were thought to be complicit of smuggling of gold with them. >> do you blame russia for the death of democracy here in sudan. >> definitely. russia carries the majority of the plain for the birthing of sudan's democracy. >> just days later, his nephew was killed by state actors, trying to stop a pro-democracy demonstration. in the two weeks we've been in sudan investigating russia's illegal gold mining, ten people were killed, protesting for change. it's not just on the battlefields of ukraine that russia is spilling blood. here too there is a human cost. the cost of russia's support of
2:48 am
sudan's generals in return for its gold. >> now cnn reached out to the russian foreign min cistry and group of companies run for comment and received no response. we also reached out the the offices of sudanese military rulers, the generals and also received no response to our request for comment. up next, 9/11 families speak out against former president trump for welcoming controversial saudi-backed tournament at his new jersey golf club. stay with us. a fast walker. thanks, gary. and for unexpected heartburn... frank is a fan of pepcid. it works in minutes. nexium 24 hour anand prilosec otc can take one to four days to fully wowork. pepcid. strong relief fofor fans of fast. my mom says s that breyers is made with real milk. [cow mooing]
2:49 am
i think i can hear the mooing. [girls laugh] breyers natural vanilla isade with 100% grade-a milk and cream and on sustainably farmed vanilla. better starts with brers. my moderate to severe plaquesoriasis... ...the burni, the itching. the stinging. my skin was no longer mine. emerge tremfyant®. with tremfya®, most people saw 90% clearer skin at 16 weeks. the majority of people saw 90% clearer skin even at 5 years. tremfya® is the first medication of its kind also approved for adults with active psoriatic arthritis... ...and it's 6 doses a year after 2 starter doses. serious allergic reactions may occur. tremfya® may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to. emerge tremfyant®. with tremfya®... ask your doctor about tremfya® today. if maga republicans get their way, abortion will be banned nationwide, with no exceptions.
2:50 am
medicare and social security will end in five years, with no replacement. elections will be decided by politicians, with no regard for your vote. if maga republicans get back in power, your rights, benefits and freedoms will be in danger. democrats will protect your rights. and the only way to stop maga republicans is to vote for democrats. ff pac is responsible for the content of this ad. hey, i just got a text from my sister. you remember rick, her neighbor? sure, he's the 76-year-old guy who still runs marathons, right? sadly, not anymore. wow. so sudden. um, we're not about to have the "we need life insurance" conversation again, are we? no, we're having the "we're getting coverage so we don't have to worry about it" conversation. so you're calling about the $9.95 a month plan -from colonial penn? -i am. we put it off long enough. we are getting that $9.95 plan, today. (jonathan) is it time for you to call about the $9.95 plan?
2:51 am
i'm jonathan from colonial penn life insurance company. sometimes we just need a reminder not to take today for granted. if you're age 50 to 85, you can get guaranteed acceptance whole life insurance starting at just $9.95 a month. there are no health questions so you can't be turned down for any health reason. the $9.95 plan is colonial penn's number one most popular whole life plan. options start at just $9.95 a month. that's less than 35 cents a day. your rate can never go up. it's locked in for life. call today for free information. and you'll also get this free beneficiary planner, so call now. (soft music) ♪ hello, colonial penn? some people have minor joint pain, plus high blood pressure. and since pain relievers may affect blood pressure,
2:52 am
they can't just take anything for their pain. tylenol® is the #1 dr. recommended pain relief brand for those with high blood pressure. if you have questions on whether tylenol is right for you, talk to your doctor. ♪ liv golf series just signed up another top professional from the long established pga tour. bubba watson is the latest to join the saudi-backed series. the announcement came as liv golf teed off its third event on friday of former president donald trump's course in new jersey. but some families of victims of the 9/11 attacks are slamming
2:53 am
trump for hosting the controversial event. cnn's polo sandoval has more. >> reporter: there will be plenty of frustration and anger into the weekend, especially for those whose lives were forever changed 21 years ago. on friday, we heard from the group 9/11 justice, they united their voices as one, hoping their message resonates a few miles away and is heard, loud and clear, at the trump national golf club here in bed minister, new jersey, the site of this liv golf tournament that has been condemned by the group, by 9/11 justice already for several weeks because of saudi links. they were specifically angered by some recent remarks by the former commander in chief, donald trump, when asked about why he is holding this event. in a brief interview with espn the former commander in chief seemed to dismiss concerns that have been brought to light by 9/11 families. >> nobody has got on the the bottom of the 9/11 unfortunately
2:54 am
and they should be. did that horrible thing to our city to our country to the world. so nobody has really been there, but i can tell you there are a lot of really great people out here today and we're going to have a lot of fun and we're going to celebrate. >> reporter: the effort by 9/11 families to stop this tournament from happening is the latest in their long, hard, fought effort to try to bring more information out to light. in fact, it was just last year the fbi released documents showing that the saudi hijackers involved in the attacks 21 years ago allegedly received support from saudi officials, and that is what is fueling the frustrations for so many family members including sandra felt, whose husband was aboard united flight 93 that crashed into an empty field in shanksville, pennsylvania, the day of the attacks. this is what she had to say on friday. >> no, there can't be no happy ending. what we want is accountability. i want my grandson to learn the truth about how his grandfather tie died and the people who supported it. that's what i want.
2:55 am
that's why i'm here. >> reporter: even after those documents have been released by fbi officials and what we have heard from the u.s. intelligence community, the kingdom itself continues to deny any involvement in not only the 9/11 attacks but also the kidnapping and murder of washington post journalist jamal khashoggi in 2018. polo sandoval, cnn, bed minister, new jersey. spain's prime minister issued unusual request to conserve energy in the midst of rising global energy prices and record heat waves sweeping parts of europe, pedro sanchez is urging workers to stay cool by being less formal. perhaps to cut the need for air-conditioning. here he is. >> translator: i would like you all to note that i'm not wearing a tie. this means we can all save from an energy point of view. and i have asked ministers, all public officials and i would like to ask the private sector, too, if they haven't already done so, not to wear a tie when
2:56 am
it isn't necessary because that way we will be tackling energy saving that is so important in our country. >> in addition to urging more casual wear, the prime minister also said his government would introduce emergency measures next week to improve spain's energy and efficiency. we're still waiting to hear whether anyone has won friday's mega millions drawing here in the u.s. mega, it truly is the top prize is $1.28 billion. so if you take the prize in a single payment, as opposed to spreading out over three decades, the jackpot drops to almost $750 million. that's before taxes. still it's the second largest payout in the game's 20-year history. good luck out there. i'm kim brunhuber. thanks so much for watching. "new day" is next. ♪
2:57 am
and paper trading to help sharpepen your skills, you can stay on top of the mamarket from wherever you are. if maga republicans get , abortion wl be banned nationwide, with no exceptions. medicare and social security will end in five yrs, with no replacement. elections will be decided by politicians, with no regard for your vote. if maga republicans get back in power, your rights, benefits and freedoms will be in danger. democrats will protect your rights. and the only way to stop maga republicans is to vote for democrats. ff pac is responsible for the content of this ad.
2:58 am
before treating your chronic migraine— 15 or more headache days a month, each lasting 4 hours or more you're not the only one with questions about botox®. botox® prevents headaches in adults with chronic migraine before they even start—with about 10 minutes of treatment once every 3 months. so, ask your doctor if botox® is right for you, and if a sample is available. effects of botox® may spread hours to weeks after injection causing serious symptoms. alert your doctor right away, as difficulty swallowing, speaking, breathing, eye problems, or muscle weakness can be signs of a life-threatening condition. side effects may include allergic reactions, neck and injection site pain, fatigue, and headache. don't receive botox® if there's a skin infection. tell your doctor your medical history, muscle or nerve conditions, and medications, including botulinum toxins, as these may increase the risk of serious side effects. in a survey, 92% of current users said they wish they'd talked to their doctor and started botox® sooner. plus, right now, you may pay zero dollars for botox®. learn how abbvie could help you save on botox®.
2:59 am
in order for small businesses to thrive, they need to be smart. efficient. agile. and that's never been more important than it is right now. so for a limited time, comcast business is introducing small business savings. call now to get powerful internet for just 39 dollars a month. with no contract. and a money back guarantee. all on the largest, fastest reliable network. from the company that powers more businesses than anyone else. call and start saving today. comcast business. powering possibilities.
3:00 am
buenos dias. good morning. welcome to your "new day." i'm boris sanchez. >> and i'm sara sidner. 16 people are confirmed dead following flooding in kentucky. the numbers could double. this morning we're hearing of survivors as the rain is coming more. we're learning the inspector general at the department of homeland security knew for months about the missing secret service text messages se
83 Views
Uploaded by TV Archive on