secretary blinken: that's right. which only underscores the importance of china taking urgent action to deal with its emissions. i think what secretary kerry, what john conveyed was a sense of urgency. we are in a position where every g-7 country has adopted plans that if implemented would hold global warming to 1.5 degrees celsius. the same cannot be said of the g20, the g-13, beyond the g7. we are trying to help countries, encourage countries, prod countries to make the necessary progress to adopt the necessary targets and plans and implement them. we have made the single largest investment in history in combating climate change through the inflation reduction act. we have demonstrated that we are serious about this, and we will have the tools to make good on our commitments. here's what i think -- when it comes to china, if it wants to be seen as a responsible leader globally, it has to be responsive to the signals it is getting from the region from around the world. one of those demand signals, and certainly that

blinken: thank you. so on the cooperation, what you can expect to see coming out of this summit is collaboration on a trilateral basis that is further institutionalized in a variety of ways to include regular meetings at a variety of levels, senior levels. so that is something that i see fully coming out of friday. with regard to afghanistan, you've heard me say this before. i'll repeat it now. the decision to withdraw from afghanistan was incredibly difficult one because also the right one. we've ended perk's war. we don't -- america's war. and that has enabled a us to meet the many challenges of our time from great power competition to the many trance national -- trance national issues. we continue to work on supporting the afghan people. we have some end during litmus when it comes to that. as you know, we brought back virtually all of the american citizens who say they want to depart in the course of the withdraw and that effort continues well after. it continues to this day and i believe some 900 or

here's what mr blinken had to say about wagner.e, we have concerns when we see something like the wagner group possibly manifesting itself in different parts of the sahel. and here is why we are concerned... because every single place that this group, wagner group has gone, death, destruction and exploitation have followed. insecurity has gone up, not down. it has not been a response to the needs of the countries in question for greater security. i think what happened and what continues to happen in niger was not instigated by russia or by wagner but to the extent that they try to take advantage of it and we see a repeat of what has happened in other countries where they've brought nothing but bad things in their wake, that wouldn't be good. niger has been a crucial staging post for us and other troops fighting islamists in the region. so, mr blinken was asked, will us troops stay if the junta continues to defy calls from the regional bloc ecowas to step down? we strongly support the work that ecowas is doing to try to help restore

how much sweet does antony blinken have at the moment? have at the moment?— have at the moment? an interesting cuestion, have at the moment? an interesting question, someone _ have at the moment? an interesting question, someone who _ have at the moment? an interesting question, someone who speaks - have at the moment? an interesting question, someone who speaks on l question, someone who speaks on behalf of the united states in that position of secretary of state, whatever he says is deemed as the voice of the us in matters of food security and the situation in niger. there is a lot of interest in what he had to say. his views on the president of niger who is under house arrest, the wagner group, a lot of interest, and also, a sense in which whilst he was speaking to the bbc yesterday, in that exclusive interest, focus on accuracy —— africa, the secretary of state was in miami trying to see. what speculation is that you are seeing eight us that are increasingly trying to assert itself, may be more prominent in terms of what happens movin

blinken: we have seen this as the disruption of the constitutional order.t's determined that the constitutional order be reestablished, that is what everyone is focused on area from our perspective, i have been in close contact with the president and leaders throughout africa, everyone is working toward the same objective. >> five people have been killed after two russian missiles hit a residential building in done ask -- donesk. authorities say the first strike killed four civilians. 31 people have been injured. meantime, 30 people are missing after two overcrowded migrant boats sank off a coast. the vessels departed from the port city on thursday. the italian coast guard says it has recovered two bodies and rescued dozens of people. italy is experiencing a surge in migration. al jazeera reports. >> operations have stopped because of high wind and rough see, it's estimated about 30 people are still missing. weather conditions should continue for the next two days. the number of illegal migrants is around 80,000, more than double than the same time last yea

blinken: good afternoon mandela.an incredible pleasure to join you for the first in person mandela washington fellowship summit in four years. and to see, to feel the incredible energy, the ingenuity, the talent in this room. my friend, my colleague, thank you for the wonderful introduction, but also for everything that you do every single day to help build and strengthen ties between our fellow citizens in the united states and people around the world. not the least of which are mandela fellows. let me just start by saying how grateful i am to everyone who has made this year's mandela at washington fellowship program possible. it does take a village in that village includes our university house, our partners and my own colleagues, educational and bureau affairs, bureau of africa affairs and in our embassies and consulates around the world. and to you, to our exceptional fellows, congratulations, congratulations on completing this program. [applause] like liz i was here in 2014 with president obama, and that is indel

here's what mr blinken had to say about wagner a little earlier...see something like the wagner group possibly manifesting itself in different parts of the sahel. and here is why we are concerned... because every single place that this group, wagner group has gone, death, destruction and exploitation have followed. insecurity has gone up, not down. it has not been a response to the needs of the countries in question for greater security. i think what happened and what continues to happen in niger was not instigated by russia or by wagner but to the extent that they try to take advantage of it and we see a repeat of what has happened in other countries where they've brought nothing but bad things in their wake, that wouldn't be good. the wagner leader, yevgeny prigozhin, has released an audio message referring to the coup in niger. the recording emerged on telegram, though the date and location can't be independently verified. mr prigozhin had this message — apparently — for the coup leaders... translation: we are always on the side of goodness, - jus

and blinken says the u.s. work is not done. remain dona. >> humanitarian assistance to the afghan people. some 1.9 billion dollars since august of 2021. and we continue to work to help the taliban accountable. and blinken says the u.s. is still working to resolve problems with the taliban diplomatically. >> in washington, i'm anna wiernicki. >> coming up next in sports, forty-niners hoping clean up their defensive mistakes after their blowout loss to the raiders sunday. sports director jason dumas has reaction from defensive coordina >> a neighborhood south florida facing interesting problem, a takeover by peacocks as newsnation's it. xavier walton tells us veterinarians are now doing vasectomies to try take care of the problem. >> the beautiful birds are creating ugly scenario for some south florida residents. the peacock predicament is like clockwork. started a lot of attention. the best solution according to a pine crest councilwoman peacock, sec timmy's prado says a humane way of mitigating the peacock pop

blinken has spoken to the leaderthere. he blinken has spoken to the leader there.re dedicated to finding a peaceful resolution that ensures that niger is a partner in security and develop: mr blinken's call comes as tensions rise between west african nationsment on tuesday night, nigeria cut off the supply of electricity to niger. it accounts for 70% of the country's power. the world bank said that it suspended aid to niger. and in a meeting, defense ministers from countries in the west african regional bloc, ecowas, looked at using force adding that they would only do so as a last resort. the leader of niger's coup flew to the capital to meet with the leader who seized power there in 2021. mali and burkina faso, which is also ruled by a militaryjunta, ruled by a militaryjunta, ruled that any use of would constitute a declaration of war against their countries as well. on wednesday night, the united states said that it would evacuate its nationals from the country. paris has confirmed it evacuated nearly 1,000 people, including 560 french citizens after its embassy

and secretary of state antony blinken has rejected a call by australia's top diplomat to end the bideninistration's efforts to extradite wikileaks founder julian assange to the united states to face espionage and hacking charges. australian foreign minister penny wong made the remarks during a joint news conference with blinken after talks in brisbane on saturday. >> we have our view that assan ge's case has gone on for too long and our desire is that it come to a conclusion and we have said that publicly. that reflects the position we are articulating. amy: a growing number of australian elected officials, including prime minister anthony albanese, have urged the u.s. to drop its case against assange, who is an australian citizen. secretary blinken responded saturday saying assange was charged with quote "very serious criminal conduct." >> the actions that he is alleged to have committed risk very serious harm to our national security, the benefit of our adversaries and put name to sources at grave risk. amy: australian lawmaker andrew wilkie, who is co-chair of the bring julian assan

on fentanyl, we are part of the global coalition on synthetic drugs established by antony blinken.are we doing? in mexico we have clear instructions by president lopez and the head of the navy, army and of course the head of health , what are we doing? we established a system. when i say we, it is mexico. for tracing the whole value training of synthetic drugs. the first thing we are going to do is control the precursors of synthetic drugs. where are they coming from? we don't go to the precursors but we receive them. we need to follow up the beginning to the end now the problem with the precursors of synthetic drugs is they come in very let's say difficult formats to trace. it is not containers. we are talking about sometimes a package, a small thing. but we are pulling together a digital tracking system that is very sophisticated and very interesting. and the most important control that we are setting up are in the coastal areas and the ports of this is happening both in coastal areas and the border and we are collaborating quite a bit between mexico in the u.s. but also canada,

secretary of state antony blinken says russia needs to stop using food as a weapon.thursday, blinken chaired a meeting of the un security council focused on global food supplies and russia's invasion of ukraine. our reporter anna wiernicki reports on how the nation's top diplomat said diplomat says the 2 issues conflict and hunger go hand in hand. >> u.s. secretary of state antony blinken warned russia on thursday to stop using hunger as a weapon. every member of the united nations. should tell moscow. >> treating the world's most vulnerable people as leverage. >> blinken says 90 countries are joining a u.s. pledge to combat the disruption of food supplies as a tactic of warfare like he says russia is doing in ukraine last month, russia withdrew from a deal allowing ukraine to safely export grain through the black scene. blinken called that move and assault on the global food system because ukraine is one of the world's top producers of wheat and corn. what he's russia's response been to the world's distressing outrage. >> bombing ukrainian grand mining port entrance

secretary of state antony blinken visit niger in march and he announced $150 million of direct assistanceled the country a model of democracy. did the u.s. focused too much on niger's geo chose tj -- geostrategic ports as an ally and the region and too little on the government and what is happening in the country? >> i think at that time and currently niger continues to be an incredibly important partner in the region and othe african continent. it continues to be an important partner in a number of spaces including when it comes to security cooperation. as i said these aspects continue to be at risk with this attempted takeover but i would echo secretary blinken's words from that trip earlier this year. >> the bbc has been speaking to protesters who support the coup on the ground in niger and they say the west, particularly france but also allies including the u.s. as needing to leave niger and they want pressure to be their primary partner. does the coup open the door for russia to expand its influence in africa? nearly >> the incidents -- in africa? >> the incidents that have unfolded

last night on social media, blinken wrote that he had spoken to niger's democratically elected presidentmohamed bazoum. he's been under house arrest since a military coup two weeks ago. earlier blinken said he was worried that russia's wagner mercenaries could take advantage of the instability in niger. >>> back home now, a los angeles judge sentenced rapper tory lanez to ten years in prison for shooting and wounding hip-hop star megan thee stallion. the 31-year-old canadian rapper was found guilty of three felony charges last year for shooting megan several times in the foot during an argument in 2020. yesterday in court, lanez said he takes full responsibility for his actions. his lawyers plan to appeal the sentence and conviction. >>> there was one lucky ticket in last night's mega millions drawing. that's right, a single ticket matched all six lottery numbers. that ticket was sold in florida. the jackpot was the largest in mega millions history, more than $1.5 billion. still too early to know who won, though. the jackpot has been rolling over since april. >>> coming up, healthy heart

secretary of state antony blinken spoke on the phone with paul whelan today.a former u.s. marine who has been wrongfully detained in russia since 2018. he's serving his 16-year sentence in a remote russian prison camp on trumped up espionage charges, which he and the u.s. government deny. paul whelan's brother, david, joins us now. david, paul told your parents the conversation was "long and frank." what else can you tell us about what paul said to secretary blinken? >> that's really all we know. it's difficult for paul to have phone calls, and so i think he probably took the opportunity to be as clear as he could about his concerns about his situation with secretary blinken. >> any idea how the call happened or why it happened today? >> i don't. i think that secretary blinken is obviously sent a message, and that message is for paul and our family, that the u.s. government is continuing to advocate for paul and his release. and i think it's also a message for the kremlin, that the u.s. government hasn't left up. in fact, their lead foreign policy person is wi

also tonight, cnn has learned that secretary of state antony blinken just spoke by phone with paul wheeler, an american wrongfully imprisoned in russia. and as the death toll of the maui wildfire climbs above 100, there are now growing questions about the cause of the disaster and the governor's response. josh green will join us live this hour. welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> tonight the wheels are in motion for donald trump's arrest, arraignment and trial in the georgia election subversion case, the fulton county district attorney proposing some key dates amid negotiations with trump's lawyers about details of his surrender. let's go to cnn's sarah murray who is just back from atlanta where she's covered the indictment and done an excellent job. tell us about the d.a.'s proposed trial date and how it fits into this already very busy legal and political calendar for the form are prer president. >> as you pointed out, she's proposing this march 4th trial date. when you look at the calendar, it's really a

antony blinken went to china, got basically nothing too. maybe fourth time's the charm. already that both sides have agreed to some sort of biannual twice a year commerce meeting, which is, i would say, a bare minimum for something successful. broadly speaking, though, it's not good optics for the chinese side. i don't think the us side realises this, but we've sent four different people now to china and they've sent no one back to the us we've invited wang yi. he hasn't come yet. so we're looking, i think the next couple of weeks are going to show china's true response for this. but so far, i would say it's at least mildly positive if they've agreed to some meetings. real estate is a big part of the economy, 25 sometimes 30% of the gdp depending on the year. and that's really suffering. and probably the actual data is worse than the reported data. so i think that's the big difference that gina raimondo may have more success than her three cabinet minister predecessors is simply that china is not looking as good now. they're concerned about the economy. they want to do s

us secretary of state, antony blinken, speaks to the bbc...estruction and exploitation have followed. south american leaders meet to discuss measures to save the amazon rainforest. thousands gather on the streets of bray — to pay their respects to the singer sinead o'connor. hello, i'm lucy hockins, welcome to bbc news now. three hours of fast—moving news, interviews and reaction. we begin with the major political emergency unfolding in west africa — following a military coup in niger. diplomatic efforts to find a resolution to the crisis have stepped up a gear — with a warning from washington. speaking to the bbc, the us secretary of state, antony blinken, has voiced his concern that

a source tells cnn blinken gave the retired u.s.couragement on the phone telling him to keep the faith. whelan has been wrongfully detained for four years. jennifer hansler is joining us from washington, d.c. this is a fascinating story. presumably it is not easy to connect america's top diplomat with a prisoner in russia. so how significant is this? >> well, this is very significant. as you mentioned, it is exceedingly rare that the top u.s. diplomat would be able to speak with a detained american while they are still detained. this is the second time we're told that blinken and paul have spoken, first time causes back was -- was back if december. and blinken relayed the message that paul should keep the faith and the united states is doing everything they can to try to bring him home as soon as possible. we don't have a lot of details around the logistics of how the call was set up. we know paul is able to make calls from the prison kafrl. and this is a significant call also in the timing. it comes when russia has not responded in

they also say that blinken assured him us officials are doing everything possible to secure his freedom. >> time now for a look at your thursday morning weather. storms are expected today from the carolinas to florida. the storm in north carolina was part of that same system that killed a woman in her car near duke university. the winds strong enough to push a barbecue right off the deck. also, more rain and storms today in upstate new york and new england. some areas were getting an inch of rain per hour yesterday. and then we checked today's high temperatures in northwest heat wave begins to break triple digits in the southwest and texas. about the murder. >> hornets experts are warning now about its cousin, the yellow legged hornet. >> also ahead, the major announcement from team usa overnight after the women's soccer team had their worst ever world cup. >> and closing the gap between supply and demand for organs. and update from doctors about the pig kidney functioning properly in a hu to make yourself feel okay to drive... man: z-w-x. vo: you're not okay to drive. man: y-g-k-l-v-w.

so what secretary blinken said is very much encouraging.issue that the united states and the rest of the international community has left, only with one leverage , to make the taliban adhere to some of the promises they have made or to brutalize less their own population, and that is to not recognize them. but there is one additional, if i may, point, and that is the taliban would only hear and act if the united states goes even further, theoretically, and say taliban are not respecting that doha deal -- nick: between the trumpet was titian and the taliban nick: the united states could say that unless they respect it, the doha deal could be notified. nick: does the u.s. have leverage over the taliban? guest: in fact there is a lot less leverage for shaping taliban behavior now than there 20 years of waging war in afghanistan. and that did not effectively shape taliban behavior as we see today. i think you can see the taliban having learned the lesson over 20 years that consistency on their part does gain -- it enables them to achieve their

secretary of state antony blinken warned russia on thursday to stop using hunger as a weapon. every member of the united nations. should tell moscow. >> treating the world's most vulnerable people as leverage. >> blinken says 90 countries are joining a u.s. pledge to combat the disruption of food supplies as a tactic of warfare like he says russia is doing in ukraine last month, russia withdrew from a deal allowing ukraine to safely export grain through the black scene. blinken called that move and assault on the global food system because ukraine is one of the world's top producers of wheat and corn. what he's russia's response been to the world's distressing outrage. >> bombing ukrainian grand juries. mining port entrances, threatening to attack any vessel in the black sea no matter its flag. no matter its cargo was asleep and stately. and but russia's deputy un ambassador blames the west for damaging the world's food supply through with sanctions on russian food and fertilizer exports. >> blinken says the u.s. will do whatever is necessary to keep rushing goods flowing if m

mr blinken�*s call comes as tensions rise between west african nations. accounts for 70% of the country's power. the world bank said it had suspended all aid to niger. and in a meeting in nigeria's capital on wednesday, defence ministers from countries in the west african regional bloc, ecowas, discussed the possibility of using force to restore democracy to niger, adding they would only do so �*as a last resort�*. meanwhile, the deputy leader of niger's coup flew to mali's capital to meet with the military leaders who seized power there in 2021. mali and burkina faso, which is also ruled by a militaryjunta, have warned that any use of force by ecowas against niger would constitute a declaration of war against their countries as well. on wednesday night, the united states said it would evacuate its nationals from the country, but that its embassy remains open. paris has confirmed it evacuated nearly 1,000 people, including 560 french citizens, after its embassy in niamey came under attack from demonstrators on sunday. in a televised address in the past fe

you mentioned secretary blinken.ate department as a whole try to stay away from calling this a coup when it is quite obviously one. i think they want to keep their options open. one sake who is declared, the u.s. is supposed to stop most of its security systems. there are ways around that, there are loopholes. i reported recently it may bring mali a u.s. led there. the u.s. finds a way it needs to but niger is so central to the counterterrorism paradigm and security interest in the region. i think they will do everything they can to keep air base201 in action and as much u.s. military presence there as possible. amy: it is interesting that it is guinea, burkina faso and mali warning about intervention against ecowas. they have not spoken out. do you think that has emboldened the justa in niger to take over? and what would an ecowas intervention look like and how they are seen in africa? olayinka: absolutely. that is what i mention in a piece which i wrote earlier in the week where i stated that one of the reasons for

we heard from antony blinken. the most advantage out of a situation like this. , . ., , advantage out of a situation like this. , , ., , this. yes. the coup leaders in niger have asked — this. yes. the coup leaders in niger have asked the _ this. yes. the coup leaders in niger have asked the wagner _ this. yes. the coup leaders in niger have asked the wagner group - this. yes. the coup leaders in niger| have asked the wagner group forces for support following the ecowas deadline at the ultimatum to cede power to president mohamed bazoum. we know mali and burkina faso, their co—leaders arrived in the capital of niger, niamey, yesterday, to show solidarity in the event of military intervention if ecowas decides to do that. , , ., intervention if ecowas decides to do that. , ,, intervention if ecowas decides to do that. ,, ., that. give your assessment on the resence that. give your assessment on the presence in _ that. give your assessment on the presence in the _ that. give your assessment on the presence in the ar

blinken's statement. stuart: thanks, ashley.at marges and same story the dow is up significantly at 300 point gain. boeing helping the dow to the sal id gain and nasdaq now down 23 points. big tech on the downside. what's coming up for you, extraordinary, singer knee owe said -- neyo said 5 and 6 year-olds should not be allowed to make life changing decisions about their gender. roll that tape. >> i feel like parent haves almost forgotten what the role of a parent is. when did it become a good idea to let a 5, 6, 12-year-old make a life-changing decision. neyo is now apologizing. we have the story. diversity, equity, inclusion position skyrocketing in the past couple years and more than a third of diversity professionals are out of a job. that story is next. ♪ i'm a bear. i'm coming out of hibernation after the best nap of my life... and papa is hungry. and while you're hittin' the trail, i'm hitting your cooler. oh, cheddar! i've got hot dog buns! and your cut-rate car insurance might not pay for all this. so get allstate, and

i asked our security correspondent, frank gardner, for his assessment of mr blinken's comments — andc efforts to try to reverse this coup have not worked. niger is one of several countries in west africa belonging to, ecowas, the economic community of west african states. they have got together and said that enough is enough. if the coup plotters won't back down, we will intervene militarily. there was a one—week deadline which expired on sunday. ecowas�*s bark is worse than its bite, they are reluctant and haven't got unanimity on how to intervene militarily. i think it is almost inevitable wagner want to move in there because they have been able to sew up mali, burkina faso, the central african republic, where they have a lucrative arrangement with those governments. they provide security solutions, and i use that word very broadly, because they are accused of horrendous human rights atrocities, massacres of civilians and so on, which they deny. in exchange for that, they get lucrative mineral contracts, minerals, diamonds and gold, and niger is the world's seventh largest producer

secretary of state tony blinken held a private call with the families of the five americans currently broke last week that four wrongfully detained americans had been moved out of the notorious prison joining a fifth in house arrest there. it's seen as the first step in a deal between the united states and iran that would include making $6 billion in iranian funds more accessible to tehran in exchange for their return home, a return that their families have been waiting for and fighting for for years. joining us now, two of those family members. neda shargi and tara tahbaz. emad and morad have been wrongfully detained since 2016. truly, truly, it's wonderful to see your faces. i'll talk about the call with blinken in a sec, but you were actually able to speak to your father since he was moved to house arrest. this is the first time that you're speaking out since then. what did he look like? how did he seem? what did he say? >> as soon as i saw that incoming video call coming in my heart sank because i knew that this was a sign to see if he was okay, he was there and as soon as i answe

troops from the territory of ukraine well, as long as the kremlin does not do this, says anthony blinkene united states will continue to help ukraine as long as it takes and will provide weapons. after anthony blinken only hinted about what will be in this new package, the spokesman for the pentagon came out and he already said in more detail, in particular, there will be ammunition for the patriot air defense system, as well as ammunition for heimers because they are, of course, due to the fact that we shoot down russian missiles even very fast. that is, they are becoming less and we need more of them. there will also be ammunition for artillery guns of caliber 155 and 105 mm , 120 mm tank guns, and for anti-tank missiles, jeweling and tall, and also we we are receiving equipment for demining those minefields in which the russians , well, so kindly instructed, in particular, in zaporizhzhia and in the donetsk region, so that our advanced assault units of the armed forces of ukraine did not experience difficulties during the counteroffensive and the breakthrough to the sea of ​​azov, the

all we know is that secretary blinken was meant to be the foreign minister. he ended up meeting with his counterpart instead because he traveled in the foreign minister's stead. we have no information. >> i want to leave a little time for audience questions. you have given a very landmark speech at brookings a few weeks ago about the new washington conservatives. this is an important speech. it built on the speech that you gave last year were you characterized the restrictions on our technology exports. making equipment, manufacturing equipment and having a small yard. that does not mean -- i believe you have understandably been visited by lots of senior tech leaders. including the head of intel. his argument was china is a third of our bottom line. we used that bottom line to fund development here in the united states so we can remain cutting edge. have those arguments at home? how have you responded? >> we said small yard, high fence. we have to keep it small. we are talking about a very small number of very high end chips that were covered by the semicondu