Heatwave Hits Large Areas of U.S.; British Government Warns Iran to Release Captured Oil Tanker and Crew
CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Well, good morning. We're so glad to see you on this Saturday. It is July 20th. I'm Christi Paul.</s>VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell. You are in the CNN Newsroom.</s>PAUL: And of course, we want to begin with what, sadly, what is the latest death in this blistering heat wave that is affecting so much of the U.S. this morning. This death in Arizona, an A.C. technician appears to have died from excessive heat while he was working in an attic.</s>BLACKWELL: Now, this is obviously dangerous and uncomfortable for a lot of people, 150 million people across 30 states are under heat alerts with the temperatures feeling like they are above 110 degrees in some cities. Consider this in Michigan -- more than 200,000 people there, they don't have power. Let's go to CNN's Polo Sandoval live from New York. Polo, we have seen your reporting on the heat, and people are doing a lot of creative things to try to stay cool.</s>POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Even for the south Texan standing in front of you, it is certainly getting a little warm here. Standing in the shadow of iconic Unisphere fountain here in Queens, New York, I can tell you that yesterday this place was packed with people. Today it will be even hotter. We expect even more people here trying to get some much needed relief from this heatwave, Victor and Christi. Some of those vulnerable are the elderly and children.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is incredible out here.</s>SANDOVAL: Much of the United States is sweltering.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This year, it's really hot. It's like burning hot.</s>SANDOVAL: About 195 million people are under heat watches and warnings, part of a potentially record-breaking heat wave set to scorch the country through Sunday.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have one, two, three, four of the teachers over there, because they can't handle it. And here is just me who is over here.</s>SANDOVAL: Major cities have opened up cooling centers for those without air conditioning, and officials from New Mexico to New Hampshire are warning people to stay indoors, stay hydrated, and check on their neighbors.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look out for the elderly. Look out for young people. They are the most vulnerable.</s>SANDOVAL: In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio declared a heat emergency, cautioning residents to reduce electricity use and ordering high rise office buildings to raise their thermostats to avoid power outages.</s>MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We keep emphasizing set it at 78 degrees. Unless you have a specific condition where you need it to be cooler, 78 degrees will keep you safe, will keep you cool enough, will keep you healthy. And again, we want to always be careful not to use more electricity than we need to.</s>SANDOVAL: Major events also being cancelled, the Ozy Musical Festival in New York to horse races in Saratoga. And in Illinois, zoo workers are doing their best to help the animals beat the heat.</s>SANDOVAL: And back out live in Queens, New York, you see behind me, guys, it is never too early to try to get a prime spot here in the park under the shade, or again, in the midst of this iconic fountain here. And guys, it's going to get hotter here, too. According to the scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, last month was the hottest June every recorded on the planet. And when you hear from experts, Victor and Christi, they say we're likely only going to begin to see more of these heatwaves happening more frequently, part of this ongoing climate crisis.</s>PAUL: All right, Polo Sandoval, thank you so much. Good point to make as we go to CNN's meteorologist Allison Chinchar who is live in the Weather Center. And Allison, how long is going to last?</s>ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: At least a few more days for some folks. They may not even see relief until, say, Monday or even Tuesday of the upcoming week. Again, you've got about 75 percent of the U.S. population that's going to have that temperature of 90 degrees or higher, with the feels-like temperature being very warm. The reason why this is happening is you have a dome of high pressure, this high pressure that is basically sitting over the eastern half of the country. Naturally with the high pressure, you have air being pushed down to the surface. But it's hot. It's summertime, like it should be. So that heat begins to rise. But the high pressure basically pushes all that hot air back down to the ground, preventing it from being able to escape. Here's the thing, though. It is not just one city that's dealing with this oppressive heat. You have numerous cities, numerous states, 30 of them to be exact, that are dealing with this oppressive heat. You have excessive heat watches, excessive heat warnings, and even heat advisories and stretching from New Mexico all the way up to Maine. And it's not just for today. It will carry through to the weekend. Looking at the forecast high temperatures, not the heat index, the temperature, we are expecting 96 today in Chicago, 97 for St. Louis and Kansas City, 98 for places like Oklahoma City and Dallas, 100 for the actual temperature in Washington, D.C. But it is going to feel even warmer than that, because when you factor in the humidity, and it feels-like temperature, what it would feel like on your body, it is going to be 108 in Washington, D.C., 106 for Chicago, 103 in Oklahoma City. To understand what that means is the feels-like temperature is basically taking into account sweat. You are outside, it's 90 degrees, obviously everybody sweats. But when you have high humidity, that sweat cannot evaporate from your skin, basically making it feel like you are wearing an extra layer of clothing, and that makes you feel even hotter than what the temperature already is. The good news is, Victor and Christi, once we get to next week, we finally will start to see some relief from this heat, but some areas are going to have to wait to at least Tuesday or Wednesday to do that.</s>BLACKWELL: Allison Chinchar, thank you so much.</s>PAUL: We want to get to the escalation and tensions between Iran and the west right now. Just in the past hour the European Union joined the list of international organizations and countries calling on Iran to release a British flagged oil tanker that it captured in the Strait of Hormuz.</s>BLACKWELL: Iran claims the ship was involved in an accident with an Iranian fishing boat after reportedly ignoring the boat's distress call. The British government warns there will be serious consequences if Iran does not release the tanker and its crew. Clarissa Ward joins us now. Clarissa, are British officials expounding at all on what those serious consequences could be?</s>CLARISSA WARD, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No, they are not, Victor. And indeed, by saying that those serious consequences would be favored as diplomatic options as opposed to military options, I think they are making it clear that they really do not want to see this situation escalate any further than it has already very much in danger of doing. Now, we do know that the foreign secretary here, Jeremy Hunt, has spoken to recently to the Iranian foreign minister, Zarif. He took to Twitter to express disappointment with Zarif that despite previous promises to try to deescalate tensions in the Persian Gulf, he now views Iran as continuing to further escalate those tensions. We also know that the Iranian charge d'affaires here in the U.K. has been summoned, but we don't exactly what course exactly the U.K. is going to take to try to make sure that that tanker and the 23 people aboard does indeed get released, Victor and Christi.</s>PAUL: Clarissa Ward, thank you so much. We appreciate the update.</s>BLACKWELL: Democrats are divided on the question of whether to impeach President Trump. Congressman Seth Moulton has been pushing for impeachment from the start, and this week he has made it clear that it's a centerpiece of his presidential campaign. He joins us next.</s>PAUL: And Senator Bernie Sanders is in Iowa this morning, busy week ahead for him. Why this weekend is an important one for the senator and his campaign.</s>BLACKWELL: Also, it has been a half-century since the U.S. won the race to the moon when Neil Armstrong set the Eagle Lander on the moon with just seconds to spare. Coming up, we will talk you live to the room where they made it happen, Houston's Apollo Mission Control.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Houston, the Eagle has landed.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Roger, Tranquility. We copy you on the ground.