Return to Transcripts main page
CNN NEWSROOM
North Korea's Workers Party Congress Convenes; Race for the White House 2016; London's Mayoral Race; Russia Sends Orchestra to Play in Palmyra; Nairobi Building Collapse Death Toll Rises; North Korea Holds Workers Party Congress; India Faces Severe Water Shortages; Real-Time Footage of Canadian Wildfire Spreading; Inside a Nuclear Sub. Aired 2-2:30a ET
Aired May 6, 2016 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[02:00:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): An important day for Kim Jong-un as North Korea's largest political gathering gets under way.
GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): America's highest ranking Republican tells CNN he cannot back Donald Trump. At least for now.
ALLEN (voice-over): And CNN gets rare access to one of the most advanced nuclear attack submarines in the world.
HOWELL (voice-over): From CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to our viewers around the world. I'm George Howell.
ALLEN (voice-over): And I'm Natalie Allen. CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
ALLEN: Thank you for being with us.
And we begin this hour in Pyongyang, where North Korea is holding perhaps its most important political gathering in decades. Thousands of members of North Korea's ruling party are in Pyongyang right now for their first congress since 1980.
HOWELL: According to what the nation's leader, Kim Jong-un, told state media, the congress will outline the country's goals for the coming years. It is also expected he will use this moment, the gathering, to unveil new party leadership and to consolidate his grip on power. CNN is live in Pyongyang this hour. Our correspondent, Will Ripley, making his 10th visit to that country and now joining us live.
Will, it's always a pleasure to have you for your insight and your reporting. You've been covering this event that hasn't happened now for more than 30 years.
Before I ask the obvious question of why now, what can you tell us about what you have seen this day or, Will, what you haven't seen, as this gets underway?
WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: George, it's very limited, what we have seen, frankly. More than 100 news organizations, including CNN, have been invited in to cover the Workers Party Congress, the first in 36 years. The current Supreme Leader, Kim Jong-un, had not yet been born when the last party congress was held back in 1980.
This time around we didn't know where we were going until we left the hotel this morning. We drove around the city, really, for quite a while, before we found an area to park. And then we walked a couple of blocks to the outside of the April 25th People's House of Culture, this is the venue where the Workers Party Congress is being held. It was also held in that same venue back in 1980.
But we had to stand across the street and we could only shoot exteriors of the building and talk to a few people as they were passing by. We were not given any access inside the congress.
And in fact, North Koreans also don't know what's happening in there right now because on North Korean state TV, there is a revolutionary drama that is airing playing. And there was a children's school performance that was playing earlier.
We expect that later in the day there will be news coverage with the party's message, the outcome of what happened today. But it just goes to show there really isn't the same level of transparency here or, really, any transparency, like you'd see in other countries.
As everything else, the message is controlled, it is prepackaged and approved before it is distributed to the people.
HOWELL: So you have not seen inside that venue yet. People there in North Korea will wait until, as you say, the footage is aired on state media there.
Will, at a time in North Korea, where the pressing questions are whether this will be a country that is focused on war or peace, economically, will this be a country that's focused on boom or bust?
The question, why is this happening now?
RIPLEY: Kim Jong-un, over the past several years, has promised the North Koreans repeatedly that he would improve their living standards but at the same time has made it very clear he also wants to aggressively grow the nation's nuclear weapons arsenal because he said that it is the only way for North Korea to survive as a sovereign state.
And so that message has been repeatedly delivered to people and everybody who we asked on the streets of Pyongyang repeats that exact message back to us, that they feel the economy is improving and there are anecdotal signs that it is, if you look around Pyongyang, more cars, more people fashionably dressed, more people with personal electronics. So there is some slow economic growth.
[02:05:00] RIPLEY: However, people also say that even if it means more sanctions and more hardship, even back to the time in the late '90s, when they remember having to eat grass porridge, they say they will go through that again willingly if their leader determines that they need to do that to continue building their arsenal.
So they're not afraid of the new U.N. sanctions. They're not afraid of their economic growth being stopped as a result of this. But their leader has promised that they can have a strong economy and a nuclear arsenal, even though a lot of outside observers are skeptical about whether that's actually realistic.
HOWELL: CNN correspondent Will Ripley, live for us in Pyongyang, Will, we appreciate your reporting.
And for our viewers, always interesting to check Will's Instagram account, WillRipleyCNN, some really interesting images that Will shares for us there.
Will, thank you.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
ALLEN: We turn now to U.S. politics in the race for the White House. The country's highest level Republican, Paul Ryan, says he is not backing Donald Trump yet. Ryan is Speaker of the House of Representatives. He is second in line to succeed the president after the vice president.
HOWELL: This is an important move because it basically gives other Republicans permission, some cover here to hold off on giving their support to Trump. Ryan told our Jake Tapper why he is not backing the nominee at this time. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAKE TAPPER, CNN CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: You have said throughout this process that you will support the Republican presidential nominee. Now you have a presumptive nominee, Donald Trump.
Will you support him?
REP. PAUL RYAN (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: Well, to be perfectly candid with you, Jake, I'm just not ready to do that at this point. I'm not there right now and I hope to, though, and I want to, but I think what is required is that we unify this party.
And I think the bulk of the burden of unifying the party will have to come from our presumptive nominee. I don't want to underplay what he accomplished.
He needs to be congratulated for an enormous accomplishment, for winning now a plurality of delegates and he's on his way to winning a majority of delegates, but he also inherited something very special, that's very special to a lot of us. This is the party of Lincoln, of Reagan, of Jack Kemp. And we don't
always nominate a Lincoln and a Reagan every four years but we hope that our nominee aspires to be Lincoln and Reagan-esque that that person advances the principles of our party and appeals to a wide, vast majority of Americans.
And so I think what is necessary to make this work, for this to unify is to actually take our principles and advance them. And that's what we want to see. Saying we're unified doesn't, in and of itself, unify us.
But actually taking the principles that we all believe in, showing that there's a dedication to those and running a presidential campaign that Republicans can be proud about and that can actually appeal to a majority of Americans, that, to me, is what it takes it unify this party.
TAPPER: So you're saying you can't support or endorse him right now?
RYAN: Yes, I am basically saying that. Look I'm -- I thought about this two days ago. I thought actually this thing was going to go to June 7th at the very least, probably to a convention. And so this is all pretty new for us.
But at this point I think that he needs to do more to unify this party, to bring all wings of the Republican Party together and then to go forward and to appeal to all Americans in every walk of life, every background, a majority of independents and discerning Democrats.
And so I think conservatives want to know, does he share our values and our principles on limited government, the proper role of the executive, adherence to the Constitution?
There are lots of questions that conservatives I think are going to want answers to, myself included.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: So Donald Trump's response?
Well, at a rally in West Virginia, he did not address Ryan's rejection but he did release this statement, saying the following, quote, "I am not ready to support Speaker Ryan's agenda.
"Perhaps in the future we can work together and come to an agreement about what is best for the American people. They have been treated so badly for so long that it is about time for politicians to put them first. Exclamation point from Donald Trump."
ALLEN: CNN political commentator Peter Beinart joins me now.
Peter, nice to see you. Thanks for being with us.
I want to ask you, first up, what do you make of the Speaker of the House, the highest ranking elected Republican, Paul Ryan's refusal right now, to back Donald Trump? PETER BEINART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's pretty remarkable. This is the kind of thing we have not seen in my lifetime in American politics. Usually when someone wins their party nomination, the party coalesces around them quickly.
This is not happening in the case of Donald Trump, both because Republicans find him -- some Republicans find him genuinely odious and dangerous. And also because they feel that his loss in the fall could endanger their position. And I think with Paul Ryan, I think both things are going on.
[02:10:00]
BEINART: I think he genuinely does at a deep level find Donald Trump disturbing in terms of what he represents about the kind of vision he has for America.
But also he's concerned that there could be epic losses for the House Republicans that he represents. And he feels that by not endorsing Trump or at least not endorsing Trump right away, he gives those congressional Republicans some cover if they themselves don't want to endorse Trump because they think it gives them a better chance of surviving.
ALLEN: Yes, understand all of that.
But is part of this posturing before presumptive unifying?
BEINART: We don't know. If Paul Ryan were certain that he were going to unify, I think he would have kept his mouth shut. Donald Trump is going to Washington. Paul Ryan didn't have to say anything.
I think this was a shot across the bow to Donald Trump to suggest that Trump is going to have to do certain things if he wants to get Paul Ryan's support and a signal to other Republicans that Paul Ryan is giving his blessing for them not to support Donald Trump.
I think as a result of this, there will be a number of politicians who do not support Donald Trump and the Republicans will be higher. And so, no, I don't think you will see the normal kind of unifying that happens in a party after a candidate has won the nomination.
ALLEN: And we also know there's a growing list of Republicans shunning the convention. Former candidates, Mitt Romney, John McCain, both former Presidents Bush announcing they will not attend.
Does that matter in a move towards any kind of unification or not?
BEINART: Yes, it does matter. What American history teaches, recent am history, is that divided parties lose. To have most of the major former presidential candidates of a party not even be willing to go to the nomination, not even willing to say that they support Donald Trump against Hillary Clinton, this is unprecedented and I think is yet more evidence that Republicans are headed for absolute disaster this fall.
ALLEN: All right. We'll continue to watch it, of course. Many months to go. But let's turn now to Hillary Clinton, the lead Democrat.
The e-mail nightmare just continues for her. CNN learned that federal investigators have interviewed a number of Clinton's closest aides as the FBI continues to probe the e-mail situation with the security of her server.
Will this continue to give fuel to Donald Trump and affect her campaign?
BEINART: It certainly gives fuel to those people who don't like Hillary Clinton. And remember, there has been a scale of scandals connected to Hillary Clinton since the 1990s. I myself don't think they really add up to very much.
But they have been all the fuel that people who don't like Hillary Clinton need to view her as untrustworthy, dishonest. But I think, at the end of the day, it's extraordinarily unlikely that she will be indicted.
ALLEN: Many months to go. We'll wait and see. As always, we appreciate you joining us and your comments. Peter Beinart for us, thanks, Peter.
BEINART: My pleasure.
HOWELL: So in the meantime, Donald Trump appears to be trying to make nice with Latinos. But there is some question about whether it actually worked, though. He tweeted out this photo on Thursday for Cinco de Mayo, a Mexican holiday, widely celebrated in the United States.
ALLEN: That's Trump pictured with Mexican food on his desk.
And his tweet, "The best taco bowls are made in Trump Tower grill. I love Hispanics."
Of course, he has called Mexicans rapists and he wants to expel Mexicans from the United States. So many people are questioning this tweet and, of course, the Twitterverse lit up with all kinds of comments.
HOWELL: A lot of comments there on social media about that image from Donald Trump.
Other election coverage that we're following, results from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Voters are headed to the polls Thursday to elect members of their national legislatures. And despite Scots' rejecting independence, from the U.K. at a referendum, less than two years ago, the population is embracing the nationalist party that spearheaded that separatist campaign.
ALLEN: The SNP should retain its majority in the Scottish parliament as the Unionist Labour Party loses ground.
In Wales, Labour appears to have kept its lead in the national assembly.
Counting gets way in Northern Ireland within the next hour.
And in London's mayoral race, controversy has erupted over the Muslim faith of a top candidate. Here's CNN's Phil Black.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This mayoral race, like London, is made up of diverse characters, a rich white man up against the son of an immigrant bus driver. Labour's Sadiq Khan says he owes London everything.
His family lived in public housing; he went on to state's schools. He went on to become a lawyer, Member of Parliament, government minister and now possibly mayor of London. If he wins, he'll become the first Muslim to hold the office.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SADIQ KHAN, LABOUR PARTY LONDON MAYORAL CANDIDATE: I'll be the first Muslim to preach extremism and (INAUDIBLE). My experiences and me being me I think allow me to be the best mayor for London.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACK: Zac Goldsmith's campaign has been accused of dug whistle racism --
[02:15:00]
BLACK: -- by trying to link Khan to people who have to support radical Islam. Goldsmith denies that, says it's about Khan's judgment and values not race and religion.
Goldsmith is the conservative party candidate, the son of a billionaire and a current member of parliament.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZAC GOLDSMITH, CONSERVATIVE PARTY LONDON MAYORAL CANDIDATE: My promise for London, which is to solve the housing crisis, close the gap between demand and supply, help Londoners earning average incomes, get the keys to their first term. It's about protecting the transport budget to keep London moving.
BLACK: Whoever wins, he won't match the flamboyant style of the current office holder. Boris Johnson is stepping down to further his national political career. He's expecting to take a run at the top political job in the U.K. when the current Prime Minister David Cameron walks away -- Phil Black, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. Still ahead this hour, survivors freed from underneath the rubble of a collapsed building. A day of dramatic rescues in Nairobi.
ALLEN: Also, a Russian orchestra performs in a World Heritage site in the Syrian city of Palmyra. Why some say the concert is just propaganda.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(SPORTS)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
HOWELL: Welcome back to NEWSROOM. A story we are following in Pakistan: 14 people have been arrested after the --
[02:20:00]
HOWELL: -- barbaric killing of a 16-year-old girl. Police say a tribal council ordered her death, saying that she damaged the village's reputation after helping a couple to elope. The girl's mother is among those arrested.
ALLEN: Police say the teenager was choked, poisoned, tied to a van and burned alive. As horrific as that is for me to even say, a human rights commission says there were more than 500 so-called "honor killings" -- that's what they're called -- last year in Pakistan.
HOWELL: Now move on to a story, the war in Syria and what is being called an obscene attack that could amount to a war crime. That is how the U.N. is condemning an airstrike on a Syrian refugee camp that happened near the Turkish border. A human rights group says at least 28 people were killed, many of them were women and children.
ALLEN: It's not clear whether Syrian or Russian planes launched this attack. Syria has agreed to ceasefires in other areas of the country. A survivor had this message for Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking foreign language).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: Poor man and the refugees, that's just horrific.
Well, Russia sent a renowned orchestra to perform amid the ruins in the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra.
HOWELL: It is quite to the contrary of what we just heard there from that gentleman in Syria. The Britain's foreign secretary calls the concert, quote, "a tasteless distraction from the suffering of millions of Syrians."
Our senior international correspondent, Fred Pleitgen, witnessed the performance. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Attack helicopters hovering over our convoy at all times for protection. Russia's army went to great lengths to bring a massive group of journalists to the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, recently liberated from ISIS.
When we arrived, a surprise: a classical concert featuring a Russian star director right in the ancient amphitheater and a greeting from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"This concert is a way to thank those who fight against terror," he said, "ready to sacrifice their lives."
The star musician, Sergei Raldugod (ph), named in the Panama Papers for alleged links to offshore companies with cash flows of hundreds of millions of dollars. He has denied any wrongdoing.
Also on hand, Russian soldiers, who demined Palmyra after ISIS was ousted, a sign of the pride Russia takes in its Syria intervention.
Palmyra was liberated from ISIS control in late March after the Syrian army launched a massive offensive.
When ISIS moved in to Palmyra, many experts feared the worst, that the terror group would flatten this entire remarkable ancient site. But when ISIS was driven out of here by the Syrian military, of course, with a lot of support by the Russian air force, the experts were surprised to find how much of it remained intact.
But some treasures, like Palmyra's Triumph Arc, were destroyed. Now experts are debating how to restore them. But threats like unexploded ordnance remain.
While Russian demining teams have cleared both the ancient city and a nearby town, they are also training Syrian troops to find and destroy explosive devices. The commander says the bombs ISIS left behind were particularly sophisticated.
"ISIS left bombs behind that were professionally made," he said. "We found high-grade explosives and at least three suicide vests."
Russia clearly views the liberation of Palmyra as a major victory not only for the Syrian, but for their forces as well, one they want the world to take note of even as Syria's civil war drags on -- Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Palmyra, Syria.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: And just to the north of Syria and in Turkey, the prime minister there says that he is stepping down. It's an announcement that comes amid an increasing rift between him and Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
ALLEN: That announcement came as Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the ruling AK party is, quote, "entering a new era." He said he wouldn't seek the leadership of the party at an extraordinary congress later this month and spoke earlier about his decision.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AHMET DAVUTOGLU, TURKISH PRIME MINISTER (through translator): I did not negotiate with anyone. I do not have a vision of calculations on a position based upon the negotiation of the values and the principles I believe in.
[02:25:00]
DAVUTOGLU (through translator): Your companion comes before the path. I want to be sure that my friends and I set off on a path together, shoulder to shoulder and, when we are not together, I would want them to tell me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: The prime minister has held that post since August of 2014.
ALLEN: We turn to Nairobi, Kenya, now, where the death toll at a building that collapsed last Friday has just risen to 40, even as more survivors were pulled from the rubble. Our Robyn Kriel details the dramatic developments from Kenya.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBYN KRIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Amongst the rubble, a woman's hand. And then, a voice. Life. After six days buried alive underneath a seven-story building, a middle-aged woman was found injured, dehydrated but alive.
A total of four people were rescued alive from this rubble on Thursday. Almost one week later. It took hours for rescue officials and the Kenya Red Cross to reach her, gently removing the rubble for fear of hurting her even more.
She spoke to rescuers saying she was OK and alive and finally she was freed and rushed to hospital for emergency medical care.
The building collapsed in Nairobi Huruma suburb after heavy rains, leaving more than 30 people dead and around 17 missing. Early on Tuesday morning, a 6-month-old baby girl was rescued. Her father spoke to CNN on the phone about the moment he was reunited with her in hospital.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I called her and she responded. At the same time, she lifted her hand to show me that I am with you and she was alive in the house.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KRIEL: Baby Dealeryn survived because she was placed in a blanket and in a bucket, moments before the collapse. Her mother, however, was killed. Rescue workers say they will not stop until they've retrieved everyone, alive or dead, from the rubble -- Robyn Kriel, CNN, Nairobi, Kenya.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: Well, much of the world is watching as North Korea's highest political gathering in 30 years is underway right now. Next here, a look at what may transpire at this event in the capital.
HOWELL: Plus in India, millions are being hit by a brutal drought and a heat wave there. Why even a monsoon might not be enough to help. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:30:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Atlanta. I'm Natalie Allen.
GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): And I'm George Howell. Here is a look at the headlines we're following for you this hour.
(HEADLINES)
ALLEN: We want to turn to Pyongyang now, where North Korea is holding perhaps its most important political event since 1980. Leader Kim Jong-un told state-run media, the 7th Party Congress, meeting right now, is outlining the country's goals for the coming years.
HOWELL: He's also expected to use the gathering with thousands of members in attendance to unveil new party leadership and also to consolidate his own grip on power.
ALLEN: Let's bring in Jasper Kim in Seoul, South Korea. He's the director at the Center for Conflict Management at Ewha University.
Thanks for joining us again, Jasper. I want to talk to you about the timing of this. This is the first time in almost 40 years for a party Congress to be held in North Korea, the highest party gathering in decades.
Why now?
JASPER KIM, CENTER FOR CONFLICT MANAGEMENT: Well, I think there's a couple reasons. The first is that it's been about five years since Kim Jong-un took control and basically he wants to send a message to the Workers Party that I've got control and that I'm here to sustain control and power of DPRK.
And, second, the fact that he's going to the Workers Party Congress to deliver this message is a clear sign that he wants to emulate the leadership, not of his father but of his grandfather, the DPRK founder, Kim Il-sung. And you see that Kim Jong-un tries to emulate him not just in terms of who he's speaking to in the Workers Party Congress in terms of that forum, but also the way that he looks, the way that he carries himself. And that's very interesting.
ALLEN: Yes. And how -- can you elaborate on how he's perhaps moving away from his father to emulate his grandfather?
KIM: Well, his father avoided speaking to the Workers Party Congress at all. That's why it's been so long albeit maybe he's just trying to focus more on the military.
But with Kim Jong-un, you see basically going back full circle to his grandfather's leadership style. And that may be for several reasons.
I think the fact that Kim Jong-un realizes he's the third generation of the Kim dynasty clan, and so the power might be a little bit attenuated. So he want to ratchet things up and say, basically, here's a clear reminder. I'm from the very DNA fabric of the founding of this country.
So I think that's a very clear strategy by Kim Jong-un to emulate his grandfather and not his father before him.
ALLEN: And what does it say about his particular goals with moving his country forward?
He hasn't shown that he's afraid at all of international sanctions. He continues his nuclear ambitions and, at the same time, the economy continues to be shattered there in North Korea.
So what is his message as far as moving the country forward, to the people perhaps?
KIM: Well, he's got to have a three-pronged message. The first one is basically to consolidate power. And that can occur in shuffling people at the very top. Some of the people of the senior members of the party's congress are up to the late '80s and early '90s.
So he needs to replace those people, in his view, with some of the younger, more reform-minded leaders, who have expressed more loyalty to Kim Jong-un.
Second is to basically state the nuclear policy of the DPRK, the Kunjin (ph) policy in Korean. And that's been demonstrated through actions. And here it will be a formal declaration --
[02:35:00]
KIM: -- at the Workers Party Congress.
And third, which is a big X factor, is whether he will declare any type of economic reform policy. If he does, however nuanced or direct it may be, it could be a very clear signal that the DPRK will follow China's and Vietnam's footsteps and make it a next Asian dragon.
ALLEN: All right, we'll be covering it. Our Will Ripley is there like members of the media but, of course, they're very measured in what they can report on.
But thank you so much, Jasper Kim, for joining us there from Seoul.
KIM: Thank you.
HOWELL: Now we move on to India, where millions of people are suffering from a severe drought and a brutal heat wave there. Our Sumnima Udas is live in New Delhi following the situation there.
Sumnima, it's good to have you. So this heat wave, I would imagine, is especially difficult for the poor, those people who may not have air conditioners or places to escape the heat.
How are folks dealing with these very hot temperatures?
SUMNIMA UDAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's been incredibly difficult for a lot of people, George. And some respite is expected with the monsoons.
But a lot of experts say even that is not really going to make a difference, George, because the groundwater levels here are so low, so depleted from years of water mismanagement, corruption and just also lack of planning, that major reservoirs are actually 80 percent empty.
And this drought is particularly dangerous as well right now, George, because there's been a double whammy of sorts.
You've got the drought on the one hand but you've got also a large part of India affected by heat waves, we're talking about 45 degrees Celsius, even 47 degrees Celsius in some areas. That's like 110, 115 degrees Fahrenheit in a large part of India.
So currently government officials say some 370 people have already died because of these heat waves. And this is just the beginning of May. The worst part is still to come. Towards the end of May, it gets even hotter. And at around that time last year, some 2,300-2,500 people died.
So a lot of people are very, very concerned.
Have a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UDAS (voice-over): Farmland and river beds so terrifyingly parched they've cracked deep cracks. Reservoirs have dried up. And many of the wells are empty.
India is no stranger to drought. Experts say climate change, rapid population growth and years of groundwater mismanagement have strained India's already scarce water resources. But this is the worst it's been in decades.
Two back-to-back weak monsoons have caused unprecedented water shortages in ten out of India's 29 states. The government says some 330 million people are affected. "The water crisis is very bad here. Wells have dried up in almost every household," she says.
Villagers have no choice but to watch for kilometers in temperatures soaring above 40 degrees Celsius to the few wells that aren't completely dried up.
The water levels are so low, though, even if they pump for hours, not a drop of water.
"Since 6:00 in the morning, we are pumping and we managed to fill sound three pitchers. To fill a pitcher, we need to pump for an hour," she says.
Residents in this part of Maharashtra, India's richest state, haven't had running water for months. To provide some respite, authorities have dispatched trains carrying water, but residents say it's not enough.
"They say water has been brought by railway wagons and dispatched through tankers, all this they say to the media, but in this part of the city, one water tanker makes a trip only after eight days," he says.
Relief is due with the arrival of the monsoon rains in mid-June. India's meteorological department is forecasting above-average rainfall. But experts say the groundwater levels are so depleted water woes will remain for some time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
UDAS: To give you a sense of why environmentalists say these monsoons aren't really going to get it, make a difference, in that town of Latour (ph), which is the worst affected, where the authorities have sent the water train, environmentalists say there should only be a maximum of 3,500 groundwater wells.
But instead they have got 95,000 of them. And most of them are illegal. So people are doing what they can to survive. They're drilling away. But even these sources, water sources that really should be used in emergency situations or really as a backup, even those are now running out -- George.
HOWELL: It is a desperate situation for so many millions of people. The hope that --
[02:40:00]
HOWELL: -- there will be rain and some relief in sight. Sumnima Udas, live for us in New Delhi, thank you for your reporting. We'll stay in touch.
ALLEN: The world has been watching this massive fire just erupt and take out more than a city in Canada. And people are still getting out and to safety. We'll have an update ahead on the raging fire and one evacuee's story behind this footage right here when we come back. (MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
HOWELL: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. Canadian authorities on Friday will use 400 cars to help people escape the flames of a very intense wildfire there. On Thursday, helicopters flew thousands of people over the devastated Fort McMurray community, down to Alberta's capital of Edmonton.
Look at those images.
ALLEN: They haven't been able to get away. The wildfire is now 85,000 hectares. Hundreds of firefighters of course there battling the flames as powerful wind gusts continue to fuel them. Some incredible footage from an evacuee is giving us a look at how harrowing this fire is up close.
HOWELL: He managed to stay very calm as he filmed his journey out of that town, while embers fell all around him. CNN's Chad Myers has this story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST (voice-over): Michel Chamberland lives in the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Fort McMurray, an area now more than three-quarters destroyed.
He works the overnight shift at an oil company. So he was asleep Tuesday afternoon when he got a call from a friend to get out. He grabbed a few things and left in his truck, filming from the front and back cameras. He let his office know he wouldn't be in that night.
At several points, you can see embers from the fire had landed across the street, lighting new fires near the houses. As he drove on, embers started falling on his truck and on the vehicles of those around him.
He said he could feel the pressure to try to get out of there and the view looking backward was even more hellish. Finally, he sees the smoke clearing ahead of him and calls a friend.
MICHEL CHAMBERLAND, EVACUEE: I was driving out, the flames are right next to me, I could feel the heat in the car, it's not even funny.
MYERS (voice-over): Chamberland tells CBC he's now safely with his parents in Edmonton, feeling saddened, devastated and shocked, not sure what to expect --
[02:45:00]
MYERS (voice-over): -- when he returns to Beacon Hill -- Chad Myers, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: And you just empathize with people that are dealing with that. I've covered wildfires in Washington State. And I just know, when you're talking to people, they're worried, first of all, will the embers hit their home?
Will they lose their home?
And secondly but more importantly, will they simply escape and survive?
ALLEN: I've never seen anything like that, people driving that close in such a situation.
Here's Derek Van Dam with more about it -- Derek.
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: George, Natalie, that movie, I can't stop watching that real-time footage of a wildfire basically spreading. I mean, it's terrifying and mesmerizing at the same time, 85,000 hectares burned, that's 849 square kilometers.
To put this into perspective for our viewers at home, this is roughly 14 times the size of Manhattan -- or it is the same equivalent size, roughly, of the size of Singapore Island.
Can you believe that?
I just cannot get over this astounding fact. And we're going to revisit this video, because, again, it is terrifying but also mesmerizing to watch. And we're actually watching science play out right in front of our eyes.
I want you to see something. Notice the flames and how they're just getting whipped up by the strong winds. By the way, when we have these intense forest fires like this, they could actually create their own weather pattern, strong updrafts. We'll get to that in just one second.
Notice the little embers starting to fall on the back side of this guy's truck. That's important because these little embers are starting to create what is called a spot fire.
We zoom in a little bit further on this video and you can start to see the front yard of this particular residence. And we've got a little flame starting to flare up across this neighbor's yard. And you're basically watching in real-time how a wildfire spreads.
This is amazing stuff. What we're looking at here is called a spot fire. Right? So we get this intense, intense bushfire or wildfire that begins. And we get these embers that either start from the combustible items, like trees or dry grass, and then we get the strong winds that bring these embers, sometimes that can burn up to six minutes in total.
And they can travel over bridges, overpasses, pavement, roadways, until they find something else that's combustible to start on fire. This is called a spot fire. This is exactly how wildfires spread and
become so dangerous.
Take a look at this. This spot fire that you watched in action just one moment ago, extremely sporadic, it's causing multiple ignitions over a wide area and it can often overpower the firefighting resources of any major wildfire like this.
So Natalie, George, even with 1,100-plus firefighters, 145 helicopters and 22 air tankers, these spot fires make this situation all that much more dangerous. It is going to be extremely difficult for these firefighters to get this under control. Thoughts and prayers of these guys --
ALLEN: Yes, hopefully the people have gotten out of harm's way at this point. All right, Derek, thanks.
Coming up here, CNN gets a rare look inside a U.S. nuclear submarine. We'll show you where it stands in a new naval arms race. That's ahead here.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:50:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(WEATHER REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ALLEN: Up next here, a rare look inside what is considered to be the world's most advanced nuclear submarine.
HOWELL: Its mission is to prepare for a war that may never happen. CNN's Jim Sciutto received permission to visit the U.S.S. Missouri.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's five and eight. You launched the open window two.
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF U.S. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The crew of the U.S.S. Missouri nuclear attack submarine, training for war.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fire, tube 2.
SCIUTTO (voice-over): They simulate firing torpedoes and cruise missiles from depth, towards targets on sea and land.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Torpedo course 3-3-7. Unit running, wire good.
SCIUTTO (voice-over): And they're constantly testing the sub's enormous speed and maneuverability.
SCIUTTO (on camera): So we're in the midst of another steep ascent. You're hearing that alarm as we approach 20 degrees. We're going to get to a 25-degree angle. Keep in mind, I'm standing up straight now, but as I'm leaning forward, that's keeping me vertical in relation to the ground as the angle ascend gets sharper.
SCIUTTO (voice-over): These are just exercises, but the Missouri -- the "Mighty Mo" to its crew -- has repeatedly come nose-to-nose with real-world threats.
When Russia annexed Crimea and launched military action in Syria, the Missouri was deployed nearby. And when a Russian sub turned up off the coast of Florida in 2012, it was the U.S.S. Missouri called into action to track it.
SCIUTTO: That's just showing hey, showing where they can go?
SCIUTTO (on camera): That's a showing, hey, showing where they can go.
COMMANDER FRASER HUDSON, U.S.S. MISSOURI: Honestly, I think it's operational experience. If anything were to ever happen, they have experience. They know those waters. I don't think it's a political statement on their part at all.
SCIUTTO (voice-over): Russia is deploying attack submarines in numbers and with aggressiveness and advances in technologies not seen since the Cold War. And now, China, North Korea, Vietnam, India and others are joining a new arms race under the sea.
Commodore Ollie Lewis command a squad of 10 Atlantic base subs including the Missouri.
COMMODORE OLLIE LEWIS, COMMANDER, SUBMARINE SQUADRON 12: We were operating on places where we didn't have to rely on an adversary being there to challenge. That's changing. We're back to the point now where we have to consider that there's an adversary ready to challenge in the undersea domain and that undersea superiority is not guaranteed.
SCIUTTO: The Missouri's greatest asset may be its silence. Invisible to satellites, virtually inaudible to other ships and subs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dive, dive.
SCIUTTO (voice-over): Giving the U.S. the element of surprise.
HUDSON: Whether there is a submarine there or not, they don't know. A potential adversary has to take that into their calculus when they make decisions to do bad things.
[02:55:00]
SCIUTTO (voice-over): And so, underwater is where these boats and their crews spend 90 percent of their time deployed. SCIUTTO (on camera): So U.S.S. Missouri is coming into port now, Mayport Naval Station in Jacksonville, Florida. And that's not something -- if you're a submariner -- that you do very often. Their most recent deployment, they were out for 181 days, 163 days were at sea. That is the life of a submariner.
SCIUTTO (voice-over): And that is a call to action the U.S. Navy's 70 submarines are getting more and more often.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: Our Jim Sciutto, quite the assignment there on the U.S.S. Missouri. We're back in a moment with another hour of CNN NEWSROOM. We'll have all the top stories from this day.
HOWELL: And we'll also hear from an official with the American Lung Association about new rules for e-cigarettes in the United States. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. Stay with us.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
ALLEN: For the first time in 36 years, North Korea holding its Workers Party Congress and CNN is live for you in the capital, Pyongyang.
HOWELL: Plus, CNN goes to the Palmyra ruins in Syria, where an acclaimed Russian orchestra performs.
