Return to Transcripts main page
The Global Brief with Bianca Nobilo
FBI Searches Trump's Estate In Classified Records Probe; Explosions At A Crimea Air Base; Israel Launches West Bank Raid. Aired 5-5:30p ET
Aired August 09, 2022 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[17:00:28]
CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN HOST: Hello, everyone. I'm Christina Macfarlane, in for Bianca Nobilo. A very warm welcome to THE GLOBAL BRIEF.
Just ahead, former President Donald Trump's estate is searched by the FBI. We'll have the latest from Florida.
Then, explosions at a Russian airbase in Crimea leave one person dead. And the threat of disaster looms over a nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia.
We'll be live in Ukraine.
And, Israel launches a raid in the West Bank. Three Palestinians are killed.
Now, the FBI is keeping silent about its first ever search former U.S. president's home. But Donald Trump is broadcasting the news, trying to
capitalize on what he calls political persecution. FBI agents executed a judge-approved warrant to search his Mar-a-Lago estate on Monday.
That means they met the high bar showing probable cause exists to believe a specific crime has occurred. Sources say the search involved documents
taken from the White House to Mar-a-Lago after Trump left office. The National Archives has confirmed some of those documents were classified
national security information.
Let's go straight out live now to Randi Kaye. She is near Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Florida.
Randi, this search came quickly and out of the blue. I mentioned that some of these documents are classified. Has there been any indication this hour
as to why the FBI entered his residence or even how much was taken?
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We only know at this point, because the Department of Justice isn't saying much, nor is the FBI, they are not
commenting on this. We know the former president was under investigation for his handling of presidential documents. We know from a source familiar
with this investigation that boxes of items were indeed removed from Mar-a- Lago yesterday and during this search of the premises.
They went through his office. They went through his personal quarters. So, we have confirmed items were taken, including documents. It's unclear what
those documents were. The former president himself has also said they went through his safe. He described it as his house being under siege.
But as you mentioned, they were here, the National Archive had taken about 15 boxes back in January from Mar-a-Lago, items that Donald Trump had taken
from the White House and brought here to Mar-a-Lago. Some of those items were indeed classified information.
So, they were clearly looking for something. What's unclear is what that item was. Did they find it? We have not been told if there was a specific
item they were looking for, a specific document. We just know they searched the premises for quite some time.
At the center of all this is the Presidential Records Act, which prevents, it requires a president to preserve historical record. So, lots of
questions about the search warrant. Why it went all the way up to the Justice Department, to search a former presidents home.
We know that Department of Justice investigators were here as recently as June, talking with Donald Trump's lawyers about boxes of items that were
still here. They had a meeting in the basement. So, it's unclear why this happened all of a sudden and why it happened without any notice at all
given to the former president.
MACFARLANE: Yeah, Randi, you at his residence there in Mar-a-Lago, where we heard things are getting rowdy with Trump base supporters turning out
there in the last few hours. What is the scene there? And also, what is this signaling to you about how this is already playing out for Donald
Trump, politically?
KAYE: Well, his supporters have been out here since the news of this search at Mar-a-Lago broke. They've been out here since yesterday. They are
really rushing to his defense. They are calling it politically motivated. This is an attempt to keep him from running for office again.
As you know, he's considering another run for the White House, he has not officially declared yet. His supporters say he's been cooperating. They
don't understand why his search was done while he wasn't on the promises. He was in New York City, at Trump tower at the time.
And they say it's really all for show. So, it's a question of how this is going to play politically. That is still unclear. We also know he is
fundraising off his search that happened here at Mar-a-Lago. He's already asking for donations based on what happened here.
So, he is trying to rally his base, to gin up support, given what the FBI and the Department of Justice has done here.
MACFARLANE: Yeah, certainly has been very vocal in the last 24 hours. Randi Kaye, thank you so much there, from Mar-a-Lago.
[17:05:02]
KAYE: Sure.
MACFARLANE: Well, authorities in the U.S. state of New Mexico say they've made an arrest in connection with the murders of four Muslim men.
Albuquerque's police chief said they tracked down a vehicle involved in a missing murder, and the driver is the primary suspect.
Three of the men were killed over a two-week period. The latest happened on Friday. The first victim was killed in November last year. Police say all
the victims were of South Asian origin and were ambushed.
A powerful and mysterious explosion has rocked a Russian air force base in Crimea, far from the Ukrainian-controlled territory. It's not clear what
triggered them.
The blast sent a mushroom cloud rising over the base, forced dozens of nearby residents to evacuate. Health officials say one person was killed
and at least nine others were injured, including two children. Russia denies it was an attack and says a detonation of ammunition caused the
explosion. Ukraine's defense ministry says it cannot determine what caused it.
CNN's David McKenzie is live for us in Kyiv tonight.
David, these are dramatic pictures of the blast which, quite frankly, must have come as a surprise to those in Crimea who have been relatively
untouched by this war.
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right. The Russian occupied Crimea, extraordinary images of beachgoers
turning in shock and seeing that large cloud. Several explosions at the site of a Russian airbase there in the western part of Russian occupied
Crimea.
Now, as you said, the Ukrainians haven't said what caused this from their side. The Russians said it was an accident of some kind of munitions
blowing up, but downplaying the damage. One person has been killed by that explosion. Several were injured there.
They also announced an evacuation of the area. You saw images of cars trying to get out as quickly as they could from that part of the peninsula.
Now, the question everyone will be asking is whether Ukrainian forces have the assets which can reach that far into Russian occupied territory. That's
up for debate. Certainly, a short time ago, the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, made an address. He did touch on the history of
Crimea, saying it will be won back by the Ukrainians after it was taken in 2014 by Vladimir Putin's Russian military. But he didn't touch at all on
the reasoning why this happened, whether they were involved or not. At this stage, a bit of a mystery -- Christina.
MACFARLANE: And, David, meanwhile, the situation around Zaporizhzhia nuclear plants remains volatile, with the threat of nuclear disaster still
a distinct possibility.
MCKENZIE: Well, that is right. Again, the IAEA, the atomic agency, the head of that released a statement a short time ago saying that this broke
almost all the rules of engagement that they had asked for at the beginning of this conflict, when it came to civilian nuclear power. He did say,
though, there wasn't an immediate danger of nuclear fallout. But the danger remains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MCKENZIE (voice-over): Drone footage of the Russian military right inside Europe's largest nuclear site. Ukrainian and the Western allies often blame
Russians for shielding their weapons here. Now they accused them of much worse.
VOLODYMYR ZELENKSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We are actively informing the world about Russian nuclear blackmail, about the
shelling and mining of Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
ANTONIO GUTERRES, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: Any attack to a nuclear plant is a suicidal thing and I hope that those attacks will end.
MCKENZIE: Ukraine blames Russia for shelling at the giant site. Russia blames Ukraine. But the attacks threatened six Soviet era nuclear reactors.
The Atomic Energy Agency head says that there is a real threat of a nuclear disaster.
And what is the consequences of that?
PETRO KOTIN, CHAIRMAN, ENERGOATOM: There could be a cloud, and radioactive cloud. And then all consequences will depend on the weather, actually, and
what the wind direction and where it will go, how strong is the wind. So --
MCKENZIE: The head of EnergoAtom, Ukraine's nuclear company, says that after the strikes, just one electrical cable is left intact, powering the
cooling of Zaporizhzhia's reactors. If the power supply and the backup fail, Europe faces the specter of a Fukushima like disaster, when the 2011
tsunami caused catastrophic reactor meltdowns.
KOTIN: This is a very similar situation, because if the diesel stops, we will have a disaster with the meltdown of these nuclear materials within a
half hour.
MCKENZIE: Back in March, Russian forces demonstrated their level of concern for nuclear safety as they took control of Zaporizhzhia. Ukrainians
say 1,000 technicians are still being held hostage. And as war grinds on, the threat to the plant and Ukraine's energy security continues, Ukrainian
officials now believe Russia is trying to connect the plant to its own grid, attempting to cut off the country that they are determined to
conquer.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCKENZIE (on camera): Well, Christina, what they are calling for is some kind of demilitarized zone in and around that land. I have to say, that's
probably a long shot at this point.
There is also been hints from the Ukrainian leadership for sometime now on major counteroffensives south of this country. And so, the conflict, of
course, in the area of that plant is not looking like it's dying down anytime soon. You've got Russians on one side of the river, Ukrainians on
the other side and to the north of that plant. This really is a recipe for potentially very dangerous situation, as this fight drags on into the weeks
and months ahead.
MACFARLANE: So much at stake in that region right now. David McKenzie, thank you very much for that report.
Well, Palestinian officials say three men were killed during Israeli military occupation in the occupied West Bank Tuesday. One of them was
Israel's apparent target, the man believed to be involved in a series of shooting attacks on Israeli. According to Israeli statements, security also
surrounded a building before launching a shoulder fired missile. Members of the Islamic jihad military groups had its members were involved in violent
confrontations. Palestinian officials say around 40 people were injured in the clashes.
Well, the raid in the West Bank comes after a weekend of violence in Gaza.
Ben Wedeman brings us the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Christina, the cease- fire is holding in Gaza but the West Bank the fire didn't cease. Israeli troops stormed into the Palestinian City of Nablus, killing a commander
with al-Aqsa martyrs brigade, and two of his comrades. More than 40 city residents were wounded, protests soon broke out in Elvira, Hebron and
elsewhere.
In Hebron, Israeli troops shot and killed a Palestinian teenager, according to the Palestinian ministry of health. While all this was happening, it's
back to unrelentingly bleak reality in Gaza.
(voice-over): It's over for now. The airstrikes, rocket barrages, have come to an end. But in Gaza, it never ends. Sixteen-year-old Mahmoud
surveys what, until Saturday, was his home in Gaza's neighborhood.
You feel like you don't have a life here, he says.
For more than 20 years this mall strip of land, home to 2 million people, has reeled from one round of death and destruction to another. In Gaza City
Shifa Hospital, 10-year-old Miar Sheikyan (ph) is recovering from shrapnel wounds to her shoulder, chest, and abdomen. She was wounded on her way to
the corner store. Her 11-year-old cousin Hasim (ph) was also wounded. Miar's mother, Mona, despairs for the children's future.
It seems when I die, she says, the generations after me will inherit bigger and bigger wars.
In the next room, two-year-old Bashir (ph) lies sleeping. Shrapnel lodged in his head.
Outside the hospital, life goes on. The markets are bustling.
Gaza seems to have an incredible ability to bounce back, war after war. But each one of these wars leaves yet another layer of scars.
Psychologist Aya Samor (ph) has been treating people here for decades. He lists the woes awaiting the young.
No work, no life, the feeling he is no tomorrow, he says. The feeling is if they are on death row, no hope, no optimism. Ten-year-old Atollah (ph)
tries to find buyers for his minute with no luck. Surviving war, surviving peace, it's all a struggle that never ends.
Ben Wedeman, CNN, Gaza City.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: Our thanks to Ben for that report.
OK, coming up -- gang warfare, poverty and the city in fear. We'll have an exclusive report from Haiti's capital after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:17:57]
MACFARLANE: Gang warfare, widespread poverty and a crumbling government, Haiti is in the grip of a violent crisis that is forcing hundreds to flee
their homes. Gangs not controlled dozens of neighborhoods in the capital. Those who stayed behind brace a firefight outside their homes every day,
and hundreds of people have been killed so far.
CNN's Nick Paton Walsh has this exclusive report from Port-au-Prince.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR (voice-over): The descent into the abyss in Haiti is fastest here. For one certainty, is when
the police SWAT team we are with cross into gang territory, they will take fire.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're shooting! They're shooting!
WALSH: It is now a blunt war for control of the capital.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where are they shooting from?
WALSH: The police need to prove that they can be here. The gangs, the police cannot.
And it is all ordinary citizens who are caught in between. Here, a passenger on a civilian bus that was hit in the street.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Make sure you take them to the hospital with the armored vehicle. You guys are close to there.
WALSH: In the days before, police said they rescued six hostages in this same area, and killed a leader of the 400 Mawozo gang.
Police struggled to hold ground so the gangs, whose currency is kidnapping and drugs, are gaining far too much, especially right here.
Rounds hit the armored vehicle.
They think that they see where the gunmen are.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The building that says "SMS". The yellow and red one!
LOUDSPEAKER: Get away! You're too exposed! It's dangerous!
WALSH: They run, but not like it is their first time under fire, perhaps even this day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As soon as we get to that point anything that moves, light it up!
[17:20:11]
WALSH: They slide back, perhaps the gangs have fled down the alley.
It's this kind of intense violence that so many cite when they talk about Haiti's spiral towards collapse.
The firepower they bring does not in itself change who's in control. Gangs able to block main roads at will with trucks.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stay behind the wall there.
WALSH: And it requires a major operation to clear them. Gangs now often match or outgun the police. They have a bulldozer too. Demolishing rival
houses in one area.
Locals fled at night during ten days of clashes in July that left over 470 dead, injured or missing, said the U.N., as the G9 gang expanded control,
burning and demolishing. Those who survived fled here where a mix of flies and rain stop them from even sleeping.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They burned my house in Cite Soleil and shot my husband 7 times. I can't even afford to see him at the hospital. Down here
the children are starving.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have four kids, but my first is missing and I can't find him. I looked for him everywhere but can't find him.
UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: My mother and my father have died. My aunt saved me. I want to go to school but it was torn down.
WALSH: To see where acute desperation can lead, we travel to what's left where the government rarely treads. Don't be fooled by the beauty, there is
no paradise here, only hunger, heat, trash and the business of leaving.
Traffickers boat out to the Bahamas, Cuba, Florida, if you are lucky. And while these places are sending Haitians back in record numbers, the U.S.
Coast Guard is also stopping four times as many this year as last.
These exits are what Johnny arranges.
JOHNNY, MIGRANT SMUGGLER (through translator): If we die, we die, if we make it, we make it. I am the one who buys the boat. It can cost up to
$15,000. We are hoping to get 250 people for the next trip, because the boat is big.
WALSH: Not everybody made on the last trip three months ago.
JOHNNY: The boat had an engine problem, water got inside of the boat, we called for help, but it took too long, 29 people died on that trip.
WALSH: These aren't people who usually share their trade secrets, but maybe now they are relaxed because the authorities are busy. The boat is
aging, scraps of the net plugging holes, engines not fixed yet. But this is where Johnny hopes that 250 people will huddle, maybe as early as next
week.
Not really something you want to be in on dry land, let alone out at sea for days.
One man tell us what he saved for a year to get to here.
I graduated and worked as a teacher he says, but it did not work out. Now I am driving a motorcycle every day in the sun and the dust. How will I be
able to take care of my family when I have one?
I am not afraid. I will be eaten by a shark or make it to America.
A hope so remote, it could only exist here. Where they say the choice is between fire and water. Even if all day, every day, already feels like
drowning.
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: A truly horrendous situation for the people of Haiti there.
OK. Rescuers are still unable to enter a Mexico mine, where ten miners are trapped. Officials on Tuesday say conditions were not suitable. They found
too many obstructions like piles of wood and flooding. Jones will continue to be used to determine when rescuers can't enter the mine, which officials
hope they can be the next day or so. More than 600 people have been assisting with the rescue efforts.
China is continuing its military drills around Taiwan, days after the visit to the island by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Taipei says 45 Chinese
warplanes and ten vessels were detected around the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday, and that 16 Chinese fighter jets cross the strait's median line.
China says its measures are justified and responded to comments made by Taiwan's foreign minister.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WANG WENBIN, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON (through translator): This so-called foreign minister is only the director of one of China's
regional foreign affairs bureau.
[17:25:01]
China's countermeasures against Pelosi's that one visit are entirely justified, reasonable and legitimate. They are to warn provocateurs and
punish Taiwan independent forces.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: Meanwhile, Taiwan is holding its own live fire artillery drills this week. The defense minister tells CNN these are regularly
scheduled exercises, not in response to China.
Now, communities all around the world are fighting against extreme weather conditions. Take a look at some of the key stories that we are following
this hour. Record rains in South Korea's capital knocked out power, flooded streets and forced evacuation of hundreds of people. Authorities say at
least eight people have died, including three who were trapped in a flooded semi basement.
More rain is forecasted until Thursday. Temperatures are set to peak again in the U.K. this week. Britain's weather service is issuing an amber heat
warning for parts of the country. It is the second most severe warning and will be a place for Thursday through Sunday evening. The warning follows
the driest July in England since 1935.
Extreme heat is also a major issue in parts of the United States. Over 45 million people are under heat alerts across the Pacific Northwest.
Temperatures are expected to hit triple digits, 100 degrees Fahrenheit or 37 degrees Celsius in New York, Philadelphia and Boston.
Finally, 4,000 beagles are looking for their forever homes after being rescued from a research facility in Virginia. The Humane Society and other
organizations remove the dogs after a transpired that the facility was breeding them to be sold for animal experimentation. The dogs had also been
exposed to cold, nutrition and overcrowding. Many other eagles will now receive care before looking for their perfect match. I am willing to take
them all home with me, just a mention.
That was your GLOBAL BRIEF.
Do stay with CNN "WORLD SPORT", which is up next, covering the very latest on Serena Williams' retirement plan. The 23 times grand slam champion has
announced that she was a about to tennis after the upcoming U.S. Open. She says she will focus on other things important for her.
Thank you for watching. "WORLD SPORT" up next.
END
