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Shells and Threats Fly Across Korean DMZ; Thai Police on the Hunt for Bombing Suspect; Families of Bangkok Victims Visit Site of Bombing; Greek Prime Minister Resigns, Calls for Snap Election; China Growth Fears Spark Selloff in Asia; New Poll Has Trump Topping Bush and Rubio in Florida; Former President Jimmy Carter Discusses Cancer and Treatment Options; World Temperatures Soar to New Highs; Migrants Flock Daily to Greek Island; Banksy's Bemusement Park Dismaland to Open; Aired 2-3a ET

Aired August 21, 2015 - 02:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


[02:00:05] NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: Tensions flare on the Korean Peninsula as North and South Korea exchange fire over the Demilitarized Zone.

Greece's prime minister calls early elections just weeks after parliament passes another round of strict austerity measures. What's behind that.

Also we'll take you inside the difficult and dangerous journey migrants must take to reach Europe. Quite a poignant photograph to share with you this hour.

Hello, everyone. I'm Natalie Allen. Welcome to our viewers here in the U.S. and around the world. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

Our top story this hour. Reports say North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has ordered his military to enter a wartime state with South Korea. The South swiftly responded by saying it will strongly retaliate if there is additional provocation from the North.

Tension between both sides increased following an artillery exchange along their heavily fortified border on Thursday. Let's turn now to CNN's Kathy Novak. She's following these increased tensions there for us.

Hello to you there, Kathy.

KATHY NOVAK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Natalie. Yes, KCNA, that's North Korea's state news agency has reported that the leader Kim Jong-Un called together his central military commission and told them to be fully battle ready to launch surprise operations any time within the next couple of hours. And this is against the backdrop of an increasingly tense couple of weeks that we've seen here on the peninsula.

Last week we saw South Korea blaming North Korea for landmine attacks that badly wounded two South Korean soldiers. North Korea denies planting the landmines that caused those explosions. But South Korea retaliated by resuming a program of psychological warfare, that's something that it hasn't done in more than 10 years. And what it involves is using large speakers along the Demilitarized Zone, that's the DMZ, and blasting anti-North Korean messages across the border.

That's something that greatly angers the regime of Kim Jong-Un. On the weekend it was threatening to blow up the speakers and launch indiscriminate strikes against South Korea and then yesterday the South Korean Defense Force reported that two shells were lobbed from North Korea towards South Korea. The U.S. believes it was attacking or targeting those speakers.

In response, South Korea launched dozens of shells of its own and that's how we have reached this stage now. North Korea has issued an ultimatum to South Korea saying it must stop those broadcasts by a just couple of hours from now, tomorrow time, or it will launch military action -- Natalie.

ALLEN: All right. So the back-and-forth continues. All the while the U.S. has been involved in joint military activities, exercises, with South Korea. Are those ongoing and are those adding any fuel to the tensions?

NOVAK: Yes. Those are scheduled to continue for another week or so, Natalie. And whenever they happen, whenever the United States and South Korea get their militaries together for these joint drills we always have this kind of bellicose rhetoric coming from North Korea. It's something that greatly angers the regime of Kim Jong-Un. They say that they see it as an act of provocation and act of war.

On the weekend we saw KCNA announcing threats against the United States over these joint drills. It was threatening to attack the U.S. mainland if the joint drills between the U.S. and South Korean military don't stop but they are ongoing and that is contributing to this increasingly tense atmosphere here -- Natalie.

ALLEN: All right, Kathy Novak for us there in Paju.

And we also have a development in Seoul. We want to show you live video now of some protests under way. These are people in Seoul, South Korea. And you can see their sign, their anger against North Korea and they're letting it be known. So yet one more angle in the ongoing tensions and rhetoric and outspokenness on both sides and we'll continue to follow developments of course.

Now we turn to Thailand where authorities are trying to find a woman they say may have been involved in Monday's deadly Bangkok bombing. Investigators say she may be one of 10 people suspected of planning the attacks for one month. Although officials do not suspect international terrorism is at play here, Thailand's government-run news agency says a reward for the main suspect has now doubled to about $56,000.

CNN's Andrew Stevens retraces what we know of that suspect's movements on the day of the bombing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ANDREW STEVENS, CNN ASIA-PACIFIC EDITOR: CNN has been given internal police documents that track through CCTV pictures the path just before and after that deadly explosion. And it begins with a man in the yellow shirt getting out of a tuktuk. These among one of the most popular forms of transport in the city.

[02:05:13] We're outside the Grand Hyatt Hotel, easily noticeable by those big white columns. The time was 6:37 on a Monday evening. From where he was dropped off to the entrance of the shrine has taken me just over 1 1/2 minutes to walk but it took him almost 14 minutes and we don't know why. Police say this is the missing link in the timeline. But at 6:51 security cameras show him inside the shrine walking towards this corner. The blast site.

There was a bench there at the time. There was also a man in a red shirt sitting on the bench. At the time this place was busy, local Thai people coming home from work, were mingling with tourists. All offering blessings, hoping for a bit of good luck.

(Voice-over): Video shows what happens next. The suspected bomber sits down as the man in the red shirt gets up and stands in front of him together with another man in a white shirt. The bomber slips off his backpack and leaves it on or under the bench. The time is 6:52. Three minutes later, the bomb detonates. Killing 20 people.

This security camera captures the suspected bomber about 50 seconds after the blast outside the Peninsula Plaza. He's come back the same way he went in. He is about a block and a half away from that shrine. He would have heard the blast.

A little more than a minute later he's pictured on the back of a motorcycle taxi driving away from the blast. On his way to Lumpini Park.

(On camera): And this is where he got off. It's only about 2 minutes or so up the road. The reason we know he got off here is that we spoke to the rider who brought him up. He didn't want to go on camera but he did tell us that the suspected bomber gave him a piece of paper with Lumpini Park which is just over here written in English on it. They didn't speak but he said he heard him on the phone and he sounded like he was speaking in a foreign language.

But from here, the trail goes cold. It's conjecture now where he went from this point. And the driver told us one last chilling thing. He said, the suspected bomber seemed completely calm.

Andrew Stevens, CNN, Bangkok.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Well, we all have been seeing what these families are going through as they have learned of the loss of their loved ones. Twenty people died, as he said, in the bombing. Most of them foreigners.

CNN's Saima Mohsin has that part of the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAIMA MOHSIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The uncontrollable grief of a man who's lost his loved one. He's come to identify the body. His distress painfully very clear.

Outside Erawan Shrine where flower sellers once stood and music played, the mangled aftermath of the bombing. Since the shrine reopened, a steady stream of people have come here to lay flowers, say a prayer, light incense. They pray silently. Some out loud. Hoping their prayers are heard.

This attack has deeply hurt everyone in Bangkok. Locals and foreigners. In pain. Burned out lamp posts and surveillance cameras destroyed, not before capturing images of the man in yellow police believe to be the main suspect who planted the bomb.

The force and flames of the bomb so powerful and high that they blew the windows out of this high-end mall next door. Incense permeates the air, back in its rightful place. Masking and replacing the smell of the attack.

And at the center of the Erawan Shrine, open to all faiths and cultures, the Hindu God of Creation now scarred by the worst of humanity. Most people come to the shrine to be close to God. Now relatives are coming here to see for themselves where their loved ones have been killed.

Saima Mohsin, CNN, Bangkok, Thailand.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[02:10:03] ALLEN: And we will of course continue to bring you any updates on the search for who is behind this here on CNN.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is stepping down and he's called for early parliamentary elections. Tsipras plans to run again. He says it's up to the Greek people to decide who will lead the country forward.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEXIS TSIPRAS, GREECE PRIME MINISTER (Through Translator): Now that this circle is coming to an end, and that many people thought that they were going to keep the -- their seats and their positions, I feel this obligation to the judgment and to the people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Let's turn now to Elinda Labropoulou. She's in Parga, Greece for us as always following a political process and the Greece economy for us.

Elinda, was this a surprise move by Tsipras, and what's behind it?

ELINDA LABROPOULOU, JOURNALIST: Well, we did expect Mr. Tsipras to call a snap election at some point. The timing, however, is quite significant because it comes right after the signing of the new bailout deal. And it also comes at the time, at the very same day that Greece made its first debt re-payment to the European Central Bank using money from that new bailout loan.

So in many ways, you could say that Mr. Tsipras has just done what he needed to do in order to make sure that the country is fine in terms of its immediate requirements to the creditors before deciding to call these elections.

Now opponents are saying that the reason that he decided to call the elections now is largely to do with the facts that he has a very difficult job ahead of him in terms of implementing the reforms and the new measures so he's trying to capitalize on his immense popularity. He remains extremely popular after these seven months in government. To be able to win these new elections.

I mean, at the moment, all the polls show that he would be fast to win these elections. It's surprising in many ways for a politician who has just made such a huge U-turn in these seven months and have taken Greece nearly out of the euro, you know, capital controls remain in place. But at the moment, Mr. Tsipras remains a very strong politician in Greece.

ALLEN: All right, Elinda Labropoulou for us. Thank you.

European stock markets will get their first chance to react to the political upheaval in Greece. Next hour, right now markets in Asia are struggling mainly due to fears over China's economic growth.

Joining me now from Hong Kong is Peter Lewis, the director of Peter Lewis Consulting.

Thanks for being with us, Peter. Several factors, of course, whirling markets worldwide including fears of a global slowdown and we'll talk about oil prices in a minute. But let's talk about the source of uneasiness and that's China's economy.

How much is due to China's devaluation of its currency last week? Also, is there concern that conditions are worse in China than being reported?

PETER LEWIS, DIRECTOR, PETER LEWIS CONSULTING: Yes. I think that's right. We saw a key gauge of manufacturing this morning slipped to a six-year low and that combined with the devaluation that we saw last week suggests that China's growth is slowing, certainly below the official target of 7 percent and certainly below where the last GDP data indicated.

And also the markets are being affected out here by currency devaluations around the region. We saw Kazakhstan and Vietnam devalue their currency yesterday. A lot of Asian currencies are falling against the U.S. dollar and there is now a real concern that China is no longer the motor of global growth that it has been and China is going to be far more focused on stimulating its domestic economy rather than acting as the engine of the global economy.

ALLEN: And so what does that do as far as jitters around the world? The possible ramifications?

LEWIS: Well, I think for equity markets it's bad news. I think it combined with also what we're also seeing in the commodities markets. We've seen commodities slide to multiyear lows. And we've seen the oil price, West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, has now fallen eight weeks in a row. And that's affecting a lot of commodity producing countries particularly emerging market countries who are seeing their economy slip into recession and their currencies declined.

That combined with what's going on in China is now starting to affect the developed markets. So we've seen Japan out here slide. We're seeing European markets fall. Wall Street last night fall and we're seeing U.S. futures now indicating another sharp decline at the open later on, on Wall Street.

ALLEN: We'll be watching for that. Well, one financial expert said a short time ago here that a sell-off is needed in the financial markets because they are disconnected from the real world. What do you think about that?

[02:15:08] LEWIS: Well, I think in many ways they have been disconnected from the real world for quite a while now. In some ways, the surprise could be that it's taken so long, certainly for maybe U.S. markets, to the catch up with what has been going on sort of elsewhere. But that's combined also with the Fed which looks like it will raise rates in September, although it's not at all certain and the last Fed minutes were quite dovish and did cast a question mark over that.

But nevertheless, U.S. equity markets have really performed very well and outperformed most of the rest of the world and now they're starting to look at what's going on in China. Look at what's going on with some of these currency devaluations with the force in commodity prices and they're starting to get concerned.

ALLEN: We appreciate your analysis. Peter Lewis, joining us live from Hong Kong. Thanks, Peter.

LEWIS: Thank you.

ALLEN: Los Angeles Police have searched the home of Kiss front man Gene Simmons. Authorities say a Crimes Against Children Task Force in Southern California served a search warrant at the rock star's home Thursday but no one in the Simmons family is a suspect.

A representative for Gene Simmons says a crime may have occurred at the home last year while the singer was away on tour. Authorities have not released any more information.

U.S. Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump continues to surge ahead in the polls. He's become so popular among some, he needs a bigger venue for his next campaign event. We will tell you where that will be next here.

Plus, we're looking at the impact of climate change. Find out why scientists say one number could cause a global catastrophe.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:20:50] ALLEN: Welcome back. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live coverage.

Well, as Donald Trump's popularity surges in the polls so does his ability to draw larger crowds at his campaign events. In fact Trump's next pep rally, what he's calling his biggest campaign event yet, actually had to switch locations.

The rally in Mobile, Alabama, Friday night was supposed to take place at the city's civic center but a huge attendance spike forced the Republican frontrunner to relocate to a nearby football stadium. Tens of thousands are expected to attend.

Meantime, a new poll from Quinnipiac University shows Donald Trump outpolling his fellow Republican candidate Jeb Bush in Bush's home state of Florida.

Our Tom Foreman has been looking at the new numbers and explains why Florida matters so much.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you. Thank you. Wow.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How the New York billionaire is winning the sunshine state is something of a mystery. The new poll finds that Florida Republicans don't trust Trump much. They don't believe he shares their concerns and they think their former governor Jeb Bush is a better leader but Trump is trouncing all his opponents just the same.

TRUMP: My group. These are my people. These are my people.

FOREMAN: Bush is hitting back at Trump by appealing to the deep conservative streak among his home state's four million registered Republicans.

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He was a Democrat longer in the last decade than he was a Republican.

FOREMAN: With the nation's third largest Latino population listening, Florida's U.S. Senator Marco Rubio is also trailing Trump and questioning his ideas about immigration.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The majority of it is really not a workable plan that could ever pass Congress.

FOREMAN: It is desperate work. Because for all the candidates in both parties, Florida is critical.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lift-off. FOREMAN: The place that sends rockets to space also sends people to

the White House. And has enough delegates to be a major prize in the primaries and with 29 electoral votes it can decide who gets the White House in the general election.

(On camera): It's done it before. As the nation's largest wing state, Florida's vote in the presidential race has come down to the thinnest of margins. Remember George W. Bush, Al Gore and hanging chads?

(Voice-over): And even as recently as 2012 Barack Obama beat Mitt Romney by less than 1 percent of the vote there. Still, it is a measure of Florida's political power and importance that in the past 10 presidential elections, it has failed to pick the winner only once. Bill Clinton, in 1992.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Congratulations.

FOREMAN: Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Jeb Bush is defending himself for using a term that for many is deeply offensive. In an interview with a conservative radio host, Bush said greater enforcement was needed so you don't have, quote, "anchor babies," end quote, coming into the country. The term refers to children born in the U.S. to parents who are not citizens. Bush said he doesn't believe that the term is offensive and got testy with a reporter who asked him about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Anchor baby, is that not bombastic --

BUSH: No, it isn't. Give me -- give me another word.

(CROSSTALK)

BUSH: That's like a seven -- that's not another word. That's a seven -- look. Here's the deal. What I said was it's commonly referred to that. That's what I said. I didn't use it as my own language. What we ought to do is protect the Fourteenth.

Do you want to get to the policy for a second? I think that people born in this country ought to be American citizens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Democrats have been quick to pounce on the term including Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. She tweeted out this response to Bush's taunt to give him a different term for so- called anchor babies. "How about babies, children, or American citizens?"

Clinton's campaign is scrambling over the controversy surrounding her use of a private e-mail server as secretary of state. On Thursday, a U.S. district court judge ordered the State Department to ask the FBI for information on the server. That may be relevant to an ongoing lawsuit from a conservative organization related to records over the employment of Clinton's top aide Huma Abedin.

[02:25:01] The server which was wiped clean earlier this year was turned over to the FBI last week. A State Department spokesperson declined to comment.

Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter delivered some difficult news about his health on Thursday. He told reporters he had an advanced and highly aggressive form of cancer. Stage four melanoma. He said the cancer had spread to four spots on his brain.

CNN's chief medical correspondent explains more about Mr. Carter's diagnosis and treatment options.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: What we know is that there are four areas, four different areas of the brain that appear to have melanoma in it so you would not typically recommend an operation in that situation because of the nature of this and being different areas of the brain. So it is going to be sort of pinpoint radiation. They use what's called stereotactic radiation and to sort of focus the beams on those areas. And he started that now, he started that this afternoon. He may in fact already be done with his first treatment.

In addition, for the melanoma in his body, they're going to use a type of chemotherapy drug which basically serves to bolster up the immune system that helps the body's own immune system fight the cancer cells in the body.

That drug incidentally, just to give you an idea of the status of cancer treatment, the drug he's going to be getting hasn't even been approved for a full year yet. So these are some brand new options for him.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Sanjay Gupta for us there. In fact Mr. Carter has already undergone his first radiation treatment. He says he'll continue teaching Sunday school as long as he's physically and mentally able.

Droves of migrants land on the shores of Kos every day. Ahead a view from above at the journey refugees take to reach this Greek island from their war-torn land.

Plus, a World War II mystery. Coming up we'll tell what two treasure hunters claim to have found deep in the mountains of southwestern Poland.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:30:27] ALLEN: And welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. You're watching CNN live coverage. I'm Natalie Allen. Let's update you on our top stories.

South Korea says it will strongly retaliate if it is provoked by North Korea again. This statement coming after reports that Kim Jong-Un just ordered his military into a state of full readiness for war against the South. Tension between both sides increased following an artillery changed among the heavily fortified border on Thursday and Japan is now expressing concern over what it called North Korea's provocative acts.

In Thailand authorities are trying to find a woman they say may have been involved in a deadly Bangkok bombing. Meantime, two men seen on surveillance video turned themselves into police Thursday. It does not appear they are linked to the attack.

Macedonia has declared a state of emergency in its north and south to cut off the flow of migrants coming from Greece. The country has called out its army and deployed riot police to the border. More than 40,000 migrants have landed in Macedonia in the last two months.

Closing off Macedonia would create a bottleneck in Greece which is considered unsafe for migrants because of the bad economy there.

Senior international correspondent Atika Shubert shows us what it's like for one group landing on the Greek island of Kos.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Out for a sunrise swim in Kos, retirees spot the latest arrival coming in. Rowing in and struggling against the tide. We view them from above and as they land.

(On camera): This is the extraordinary scene every morning. Boat after boat of migrants and refugees coming ashore. These ones having rowed all the way from Turkey. As you can see, for many of them, they're just happy to have survived the night.

(Voice-over): These are from Pakistan. They paid almost $1,000 each for an inflatable dinghy whose engine broke, forcing them to row across. None of them can swim.

(On camera): Was it dangerous?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very dangerous. The water is very, very dangerous.

SHUBERT (voice-over): Within minutes, a municipal clean-up crew arrives and sweeps their life jackets away. Local men on motor bikes appear and swiftly pack up the boat, motor and all, and ride off. What is now clearly a morning routine on Kos with hundreds arriving every day.

(On camera): Now that is Greece. That is the goal. But how to get there. Well, take a look at it from the air. For many migrants and refugees they see this distance as just 2 1/2 miles, about four kilometers between Turkey and Greece. You could almost swim it, if you could swim. And many who make the journey cannot. But for them, this is still the safest route across the Mediterranean.

(Voice-over): Safer but still dangerous. For so many only the beginning of a long and difficult journey across Europe in search of a new home.

Atika Shubert, CNN, Kos, Greece.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: A photographer captured a powerful image of one family arriving in Kos on one of those boats Atika Shubert just showed us. This image has gone viral on social media. It shows the father, a Syrian refugee, clutching his family, overwhelmed at what they had just gone through.

Photographer Daniel Eter joins us now via Skype from Dusseldorf, Germany. He took this photo.

Daniel, thank you for joining us.

DANIEL ETER, PHOTOGRAPHER: Thank you for having me.

ALLEN: We learned from Atika that this is a place where people came ashore. So you were there anticipating migrants who were making it to get a picture like this.

ETER: Yes. I was on assignment for the "New York Times" and I went to that particular beach for a few mornings in a row very early before sunrise.

ALLEN: And what's the story, Daniel, behind this photo? How many are in this family? This father obviously overwhelmed. And we certainly the horrid dangerous trips these people are willing to take for a better life. What do you know about their trip and what they endured?

ETER: The family came on a very small inflatable rubber raft. Not even like a professional boat. And they were on that boat with 12 people in total. It was probably good for four, maximum six people. I just looked at the photos again and the boat was about to sink. It would have taken probably like half an hour or more.

[02:35:03] And so they finally reached the shore and finally reached safety and everybody there was just overwhelmed and relieved and especially this father who when he went out the boat could barely walk. He was like, struggling to get out of the boat. And he was helped by his older sons and then the family was just overwhelmed and tears of joy and sadness and relief. And you know, love for the family all came together in that one moment.

ALLEN: Certainly did. His face says so much there. Did they talk about their decision to get here? The money paid? The courage that it took to board the boat and believe they could make it? And did they talk about what they were fleeing from? What they've been through?

ETER: Yes, they came from d'Azur in Syria, which is a city that has been bombed and like there have been fighting for years. And only two weeks ago, they left for Europe to -- you know, to find a safe life basically for them and for their children.

ALLEN: And where do they hope to go? Where do they hope to start this new life?

ETER: Like most of the refugees and migrants, they want to go to Germany. And the last thing I heard, they were on a ferry that took them to Athens and they should be in Athens now.

ALLEN: Well, we have seen so much videos, so many people, migrants, fleeing Africa and the Middle East. And that picture there says so much. And we thank you for joining us to talk about it.

Daniel Eter, photographer working for the "New York Times" there. Thanks.

ETER: Thank you.

ALLEN: Well, many migrants apply for asylum to stay in Europe but only a few find permanent refuge after going through all of that. The graph shows the number -- the graph here, shows the number of asylum places each country granted per one million people. Sweden has granted the largest number of asylum applications relative to its small population of about 9.6 million. Germany's population is more than eight times the size of Sweden but you can see it only granted 666 applications per million people over the last year. Our data comes from the World Bank and the European Commission.

July is going down as the world's hottest month on record. Coming up, we'll look at what's behind the extreme weather.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:40:58] ALLEN: We want to turn our attention now to climate change so far this year. 2015 has been the hottest year the world has seen. And now this past July has set a heat record. Also with these increased temperatures scientists are stressing the importance of one number. Two degrees Celsius. Here's why.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two degrees Celsius. It's probably the most important number you've never heard of. Environmental policy experts say that temperatures, two degrees Celsius, or 3.6 Fahrenheit, may be the edge of the cliff for climate change. If global average temperatures were more than that, we'll greatly up the odds of new and worsening climate.

Stay below that mark and we may be able to avoid some of the worst aspects of global warming. Like super droughts. Mass extinctions and extreme sea level rise which will hit coastal cities. When we burn gas in our cars or coal in our power plants we're adding carbon to the atmosphere and warming the planet.

Scientists say the earth's surface temperature has warmed 0.85 degrees Celsius since 1880, the Industrial Revolution. If we want to slow climate change we're going to have to cut back and fast. If we don't, the world could hit two degrees Celsius in just a few decades.

This simple little number raises a bunch of huge and complex questions. What exactly happens if we cross that threshold? Or even get close? And how can we prevent that from happening? Many experts say it's still possible for us to stop short of two degrees. To stay back from the cliff. But it's going to take a global effort.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Yes, it will. Earlier I spoke with David Sandalow, an expert on climate change from Columbia University. Here is what he had to say about the latest research and the impact humans are having on weather systems.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID SANDALOW, CLIMATE CHANGE EXPERT, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: In July we had the warmest year ever recorded. Last year 14 of the 15 warmest years in history have been in this century and you know what, last month in Iran, southwestern Iran, there was a city that reached 163 degrees Fahrenheit over 70 degrees Centigrade for its heat index. We are starting to see the very extreme results of global warming.

ALLEN: Yes, we covered that here. What about the weather extremes, though? On one side the world there's massive flooding. On the other, there's excessive drought. How do people understand that?

SANDALOW: You know, that is exactly what the climate scientists have predicted. When we put these heat trapping gasses into the atmosphere, it speeds up the water cycle. And that means we get more intense bursts of rain and more drought. And that's exactly what we're seeing. The data is very strong on this.

ALLEN: The president announced his plan to curb greenhouse gas emissions. But will the U.S. acting alone do any good? People invested in climate talks at the end of this year in Paris say without the United States and China and to some extent India we're not going to reduce heating at the levels we need to achieve.

SANDALOW: Yes. This is a global problem and it requires a global solution. The United States is a critical player. It's the largest economy but China is a critical player, too. It's the largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world. We all have to come together and work on this problem. And the good news is, that's starting to happen. A year ago there was a historic agreement between President Obama and President Xi Jinping of China. The two countries are coming together right now to work on this problem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Well, climate is the one reason for various weather patterns and El Nino is another one and there are two major typhoons brewing in the Pacific due to our El Nino we're experiencing this year.

And our meteorologist Allison Chinchar has more on that. These are twin storms.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. And that actually plays a very key point and this is the first time we've had two. Now if Goni gets up to super typhoon status it would have been the first time we had two super typhoons in the same area since 1997, which is the last time we had a big El Nino event.

ALLEN: El Nino.

CHINCHAR: So again there's the correlation there. But also one other thing we want to take a look at is the impact of El Nino on our oceans, specifically the Pacific Ocean. Typically on a normal non-El Nino major year you get very strong trade winds along the equator which produce normal conditions.

You also get the upwelling currents. That makes a wonderful breeding ground for a lot of the fishes. The fishermen like to have those years. When you have El Nino, that upwelling is gone so it makes a very bad year for fishermen and also animals like seals, walruses that rely on those fishing areas. They no longer have those. Also the trade winds ease in the Pacific. That actually helps to boost a lot of the Pacific for getting an increased amount of typhoons and the intensity of those typhoons.

Ironically in the Atlantic, the trade winds actually increase a little bit. And that actually allowed that along with windsheer actually make it a not so favorable environment for hurricanes to form in the Atlantic Ocean. So again quite opposites there on the spectrum.

Here are the typhoons that we are looking at right now. We have both Goni and also at Soni. Both at typhoon status right now. As we take a closer look at Goni, you'll notice it's right now in between the Philippines and also Taiwan. Gusting up to 230 kilometers per hour. But the sustained winds right now, 185 kilometers. It's still moving due west at nine kilometers per hour but it is expected to shift off towards the north and east within about the next 24 hours.

As it does, though, it will line itself basically just in between Japan and Taiwan and taking that track off there. That's actually a good thing meaning the eye doesn't actually make land fall over land specifically. Now there will still be a lot of moisture out there regardless of where the eye wall actually makes it. Take a look at the eastern edge of Taiwan. We're talking about total numbers exceeding 250 millimeters over the next 48 hours.

But the western side of Taiwan, which is actually where more of the population is, that should be a little bit drier. So that's much better news to have. Forecast accumulation again take a look at some of those numbers exceeding 250 millimeters in the last four -- in the next 48 hours. So again, we'll have to keep an eye on it.

Also the wave heights again those are going to be a concern that we want to take a look at. But really the key is going to be the next 48 to 72 hours in terms of really finding out how much rainfall really does fall in that area.

ALLEN: All right, well, Taiwan was hit a couple of weeks ago. Here they good again.

All right. Allison, thank you.

So you can read more about El Nino on our Web site and you can also check into the climate change stories that we are beginning here at CNN. For more on our Initiative 2 Degrees, head over to CNN.com.

Tianjin, China is dealing with major environmental repercussions from last week's deadly warehouse explosions. Officials say sodium cyanide levels in nearby waterways are more than 350 times higher than the safety limit. And large numbers of dead fish have washed ashore near the blast site.

Chinese officials are dispelling any connection to the explosions saying no toxic levels of cyanide have been found in the river. Chinese media report the same species of fish died at that location before.

And some newly released satellite images are revealing the extent of the destruction in Tianjin. Let's start with this image taken on June 15th. That's nearly two months before the blast. Now look at this set satellite image taken on August 17th. Five days after the explosions. Entire streets and buildings are just gone.

And here is a side-by-side look at Tianjin before and after. The blast killed at least 114 people, 69 others are still missing.

You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. And next, the graffiti artist Banksy that is opening a new theme park. And it's not one we promise that you have ever seen before. We'll see what Banksy thinks of this theme park coming up.

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[02:52:54] ALLEN: Britain's knew newest theme park opens its doors on Friday. But a theme park it is. It's likely to leave you more bemused than amused. It's called Dismaland. It's the concept of the illusive street artist Banksy, the kind of place where a fairytale castle takes on an air quite different than what you've seen before. We want to warn our viewers that Robyn Kriel's report contains flashing images. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBYN KRIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Europe's horse meat scandal, the migrant boat crisis, life in a police state.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome to Dismaland.

KRIEL: This is no ordinary art show.

(On camera): Well, after months of anticipation, Banksy's biggest expedition to date a play on Walt Disney's Disneyland. Inside

(Voice-over): Cinderella's crashed carriage, the princess surrounded by paparazzi. The piece speaks of shattered dreams of wannabe princesses and today's hungry celebrity pop culture. Social issues of corruption, injustice and politics at the forefront. Challenging our ideas, provoking discussion and arguments.

Featuring artists such as Banksy himself, as illusive and anonymous as ever, cementing his status as a key player on the global arts stage. Right next to big names like Damian Hurst. Californian Jeff Gillette says he's never met Banksy and was contacted by the guerrilla artist's people via Facebook and invited to participate.

JEFF GILLETTE, ARTIST: It's more, you've got to go in there and experience and think and wonder and maybe get mad or maybe laugh, and that's all here. That's a deeper entertainment than I think any other theme park would have.

KRIEL: The bemusement park is almost meant to be interactive and experiential.

(On camera): What would you think, turn upside down in some weird and wonderful way?

(Voice-over): With rides, carnival competitions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, first winner of the day.

KRIEL: And controversial migrant boat crises turn into a bumper game.

[02:55:00] There is nothing lighthearted or simple here. Dismaland is the tragic end of a fairy tale rather than its beginning.

Robyn Kriel, CNN, Weston-super-Mare, England.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Two men in southwestern Poland claim they have solved the mystery of a Nazi train full of the Third Reich's gold. According to legend the train vanished towards the end of World War II. Many thought it could be in a tunnel sealed after the conflict ended. But now two men, on Polish, one German, say they have found it but won't be handing over the location for free.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIKA TOKARSKA, WALBRZYCH DISTRICT COUNCIL (Through Translator): These two men want 10 percent of the value of the train's contents. So we suppose they know what is inside.

JAROSLAW CHMIELEWSKI, ATTORNEY (Through Translator): My client are not treasure hunters. They do not want it cause any sensation. They just have big experience in the region.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Local lawmakers are taking the claim seriously enough to begin discussing the next steps with police and fire officials. We'll see if they have found it for real.

Thanks for watching this hour. I'm Natalie Allen. I'll be right back with George with more news for you in the next hour.

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