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Key Hearing in Trump Documents Case Tomorrow; Interview With Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor; Strike on Crimea Bridge; Climate Change Impacts. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired July 17, 2023 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:10]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: A strike on a crucial bridge between Crimea and Russia. This is a key artery for supplying the Kremlin's war in Ukraine. Plus, Russia pulls the plug on a critical grain deal. What that means for food prices and global hunger.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Plus, brutal heat and catastrophic floods, climate change not just a threat in the future. It's hitting close to home for millions of Americans right now, from record-setting temperatures in the West to deadly rising waters in the East.

We have got your forecast and the impacts.

KEILAR: And: "This person was a demon." That's how police are describing the man accused of a string of murders on Long Island in New York. Could a so-called flood of evidence that -- tie the suspect to other cold cases?

We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

A strategic and highly symbolic attack on a critical Russian bridge. New video into CNN showing heavy damage to the Kerch Bridge. This is Russia's artery that links to occupied Crimea. And you can see giant holes. You can see the twisted metal here along a portion of the nearly-12-mile-long span.

And there appears to be significant damage to one of the bridge's road spans, though Russia says traffic on a parallel rail bridge does continue to operate, two strikes reportedly carried out before dawn this morning. A source in Ukraine's security service telling CNN this was an attack, it was a joint operation with Ukraine's navy. Russia claiming that two people were killed here.

And this is a bridge, mind you, that was built after Moscow illegally annexed Crimea back in 2015. It's a supply line that is vital for Russia, particularly in Southern Ukraine.

In the meantime, the White House is urging Russia to immediately reverse course after the Kremlin announced today that it would terminate its deal that allows Ukraine to export its grain. The Biden administration says Russia pulling out of the grain deal will -- quote -- "worsen food security," that it will harm millions of vulnerable people around the world.

The impact of the global -- on the global food market could be devastating here, the European Commission saying that Ukraine accounts for 10 percent of the world's wheat market, 15 percent of the corn market, 13 percent of the barley market, and it's also a key player in the sunflower oil industry.

CNN senior national security correspondent Alex Marquardt is live for us in Odessa, Ukraine, in the south.

So, Alex, let's start with this attack not too far from you on the Kerch Bridge. What more are you learning this hour?

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, we have just heard from Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time since this attack took place early this morning.

Remember, this was a personal project of Putin's. It was something that he wanted, he ordered to be built not long after his illegal annexation of Crimea back in 2014. When it opened just a couple of years later, he was there for the opening. He drove a truck across that bridge.

So we just saw him meeting with senior Russian officials. He did call this a terrorist attack, echoing what we heard earlier today from different Russian ministries. He did highlight the fact that this attack by Ukraine killed two Russians. They were parents of a young child. That child has now been orphaned, he said.

And he did say that this attack by drone, sea drone, surface drone, did severely damage the bridge. It caused significant damage that temporarily halted both car and train traffic. For now, the rail traffic is back up. The railways are back up and running.

I want to show you some new satellite imagery -- I think you have got it -- that we just got in from Maxar. You can see there closely the damage that was done to the roadway on the bridge. You can see a darker area that appears to be from the explosion.

We're now learning from Russia's deputy prime minister that that roadway is going to be out of commission for quite some time, until at least September 15, so no car traffic, no truck traffic on that vital bridge until mid-September. And that's only going to be one lane. It's not going to be fully operational again until November.

So what we know from the Ukrainian side, Brianna, is that they have claimed responsibility, which, in and of itself, is quite remarkable, because they rarely claim responsibility for their most brazen, their most daring attacks. They say that it was this joint operation between their navy and their security services called the SBU.

[13:05:08]

The SBU tweeting earlier today that the bridge is asleep again -- Brianna.

KEILAR: All right, Alex Marquardt, thank you so much for that.

Obviously, Boris, just one of many developments with this grain deal that Russia has pulled out of.

SANCHEZ: It is significant.

We're going to discuss that and more with former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor. He's also the V.P. for Russia and Europe at the U.S. Institute of Peace.

Ambassador, always great to see you.

Let's walk through the why. Why is this bridge a target?

WILLIAM TAYLOR, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE: The bridge is mainly a target -- the first answer is that -- exactly what you described.

That is, it is the way that the Russians are getting military equipment into Crimea, and then into Southern Ukraine. So this is clearly a military target. This is a supply line. This is weapons. This is soldiers, ammunition. That's the first reason.

The second reason, you have also described, this is a symbolic connection, which the Ukrainians hate, between the Crimean Peninsula and Russia, so they were glad to take this out.

SANCHEZ: Symbolically very important.

Let's get into the details of Russia pulling out of this grain deal now, Russia announcing that this major U.N.-brokered grain deal is over. It helps to provide foodstuffs from Ukraine to much -- needy nations -- or nations that are in much need, I should say.

Antony Blinken, the secretary of state, describing Russia as using food as a weapon. Do you agree?

TAYLOR: I agree. I agree.

And there's no reason for the Russians to block off the supply of grain from Ukraine to the rest of the world, in particular, to Africa and other nations that, as you say, need this, need the grain. They -- the Russians have blockaded the Ukrainian ports, in particular, the Port of Odessa, where you were just reporting from.

And they blocking those ships and threatening those ships, even though Odessa is not controlled by the Russians, even though the Russian navy should not be in that area, even though that's international waters between Odessa all the way out to Turkey, through the Bosphorus, they are threatening any of these things.

So it's very difficult for shippers to move -- to use that land area.

SANCHEZ: Well, Russia has said that, by withdrawing from this pact, that is not going to have any guarantees for safety in the Black Sea.

How might that impact the broader conflict?

TAYLOR: That's exactly the threat that the Russians are making. That's exactly the threat that the Russians are making, they can't guarantee, which means they could attack those grain ships.

And insurers and, indeed, grain ship operators are not going to be willing to move their ships in that area. So this is a way that the Russians are trying to pressure the Ukrainians. They're obviously failing. They have used different areas, different ways to try to pressure them, different ways to try the United States, Europeans, the Africans.

And, so far, it has not worked.

SANCHEZ: Russia argues that its own demands for its side of the deal are not being met. Is there a way to get the Kremlin back to the table?

TAYLOR: There is a way.

And the U.N. and the Turks have been instrumental in trying to broker that. The Ukrainians don't deal directly with the Russians on this. So this is the -- the Turks and the U.N. work with the Russians and they work with the Ukrainians. So it's up to the Russians to agree to the proposals that the Turks and the U.N. have made.

SANCHEZ: And, notably, President Erdogan was set to meet with Vladimir Putin later this month. He said after it was announced that the Kremlin was backing out of the deal that he was going to reach out to him right away.

We will see what the results are.

Ambassador, Ambassador Bill Taylor, always good to see you.

TAYLOR: Boris, thank you.

SANCHEZ: Thanks so much -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Life-threatening weather conditions on both sides of the country today.

In the Northeast, there is a deluge of flash flooding, and also an urgent search for a 2-year-old girl and her 9-month-old brother in Pennsylvania, their family car swept away in a powerful storm, killing their mother.

Flash floods also killed four other people. And, as that same region braces for more rain here in the coming days, other parts of the nation are suffering from extremely high temperatures. There are 80 million people in 12 states that are under excessive heat warnings. Phoenix has broken 110 degrees 17 days in a row now, 17 days.

So, we're going to get the latest on that.

First, though, let's get the latest on this search for survivors in Pennsylvania.

CNN's Danny Freeman is live for us in Bucks County.

Danny, this is just terrible to hear about this story. What are officials saying?

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Brianna, truly a terrible story, especially for this tight-knit, small community here in Bucks County.

We're in Upper Makefield Township. We're only a little bit away from Route 532, where the bulk of this flooding happened, where this tragedy happened. But the one thing that we're hearing from first responders now is that they have been able to triple the number of assets they have on the ground and in the air to make sure that they find these two children who are still missing.

[13:10:01]

Now, just to recap we're talking about Saturday night. That's when this flash flooding happened. And we're also talking primarily one family of six. They were visiting from Charleston, South Carolina. They came up, there was a mother, a father, three children, and a grandmother.

Well, the father and the 4-year-old boy in this incident, they were able to escape, the grandmother also able to escape some of the most intense flooding that they experienced. But then we learned yesterday on Sunday afternoon, that the mother in this family was killed.

At this point, we're still looking for and first responders are still looking for a 9-month-old boy and his 2-year-old sister, again, a truly hard story with five dead here after flooding this weekend -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Just horrific.

Danny Freeman, thank you for the latest on that. We will continue to monitor that search.

I do want to get more now on these record-breaking temperatures in the Southwest, which is where CNN's Rafael Romo is. He is in Las Vegas.

I guess the question, Rafael, is, this really comes down to tourists listening to warnings to be safe, to stay inside when they need to. Are they listening?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, for the most part, they are, Brianna.

A lot of shopping, a lot of going to the casinos trying to stay out of the heat. And let me tell you, officially, the temperature here in Las Vegas is a little over 100 degrees. But that temperature is taken at a weather station at the airport in the shade and a few feet off the ground. Take a look at our thermometer. This is not necessarily the most accurate thermometer in the world. But it gives you a good idea of what happens when you leave anything -- and I mean anything -- in the sun here in this part of the country.

It went past the highest mark of 120 degrees -- look at that -- a while ago.The local office of the National Weather Service took some surface reading yesterday and found out that concrete in the sun can get as hot as almost 144 degrees, while asphalt was even worse. The reading was 157.9 degrees.

So, the surface is going to be very dangerous for everybody, especially children and pets. We also spent some time in the Hoover Dam area, where we spoke with a couple of tourists about how this heat feels like.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It feels like you're actually on fire after you're out here for a while. And we have just been -- I just slammed about two bottles of water at lunch. This is definitely, like, touching surfaces.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm not used to burning myself on concrete.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's just harder to breathe. Like, without the moisture in the air, it's just kind of hard to breathe. So it makes things a little difficult.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: And, Brianna, the local office of the National Weather Service here in Las Vegas is reminding people that the heat is the number one weather-related killer in this part of the country -- now back to you.

KEILAR: Yes, a good reminder.

Now you go inside to the casino, Rafael. That is your assignment here between live shots.

(LAUGHTER)

KEILAR: Rafael Romo, thank you so much.

So, heat isn't the only factor that is keeping millions of Americans indoors, however. There is smoke. We see it here in Washington, D.C. It is coming from these Canadian wildfires once again hovering over New York, Chicago, Detroit and Pittsburgh and a number of other cities.

CNN's Paula Newton has the latest on this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: This is the Canadian wildfire season that just won't quit. The season started early. It will likely end later.

There have been wildfires burning in Canada literally from one end of the country to the other. And while there has been some rain, it has done very little to dampen these large, incredible, record-breaking fires. I mean, think about it, 10 million hectares -- that's nearly 25 million acres, a land area the size of Ohio -- has already burned, and the season is little more than halfway done.

As Canadian officials put it to me, look, even if it does rain, it is little more than a drop in an empty bucket. It is for that reason that many tell me this is more than one country can handle. There are in fact firefighters here from all over the world and, principally, American firefighters here.

I want you to listen now to the incident commander here from America Southwest talking about why many people in North America will continue to get air quality alerts for some time to come. Listen.

Do you expect to be back more frequently in the next few years, given what you're saying?

MATT RAU, INCIDENT COMMANDER, SOUTHWEST AREA INCIDENT MANAGEMENT: Absolutely. I expect that not only -- not only will we back in Canada, but folks from Canada with back in the U.S.

We regularly assist Australia as another one of our prime partners that we share resources with. Same thing is happening in Australia. So this wildfire crisis is not a Canada situation. It's not just a U.S. situation. It is a global crisis that we're dealing with.

NEWTON: And remember, here, there aren't just fires burning in Eastern Canada, in Western Canada as well.

[13:15:04]

The Canadian government called in for more resources from the Canadian military this weekend. There have been, sadly, two deaths among firefighters trying to cope with these blazes. And, at this point, officials say that this may not end until the first snowfall in Canada. And, again, it will be unlike any wildfire season ever seen.

Paula Newton, Chibougamau, Quebec.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: All right, Paula Newton, thank you -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Between the floods, the heat and the wildfires, it cannot be ignored that this is starting to feel like the new normal.

CNN chief climate correspondent Bill Weir joins us now.

So, Bill, what are scientists and climatologists saying about all of these broken records?

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Well, in the words of one marine scientist down at the University of Miami, this is bonkers.

This is a world where they're used to seeing records broken by maybe half-a-degree, not five degrees, which is the case down around the Florida Keys. The Florida Bay there literally has the temperature of a Jacuzzi, of a hot tub, which is hugely stressful on all the sea life, for the people who depend on that industry, as well as just a livable ecosystem down there.

But it's too warm for tropical fish in Florida. It's too warm for trout in the streams of Montana. It's too warm for millions of species that are literally now moving, as to try to escape this heat, not the least of which, of course, humanity now.

And we saw strange records before. It's interesting. Vegas hit that record today. Portland hit it last summer, when that big heat dome settled on the Pacific Northwest, these freakish occurrences where they're happening in odd spots around the globe. Now, this summer, we're starting to see how long these things can last, now that El Nino is here.

Last year, last couple of years, we were actually -- we were benefiting from a natural sort of air conditioning called La Nina. That was replaced with a new heating system known as El Nino. That combined with all that pent-up energy due to 150 years of burning fossil fuels. And it's only going to get hotter the more of those we burn.

That's really -- the problem is very -- the problem is very basic. Solving it is hugely complicated. John Kerry just touched down in China for the first time in a long time to talk about climate negotiations there. And he does so at a time when that country records a record 127-degree Fahrenheit temperature, Boris.

SANCHEZ: And, Bill, you hit the point of China. This could also have huge national security implications as well. There was an ominous headline from the CIA.

The associate military affairs director says that climate change -- quote -- "supercharges almost every other global threat."

So what is that risk?

WEIR: Oh, as you say, life as we know it. Every part of it is touched in some way by this story as well. And, yes, if you're looking at a millions of people forced to be climate migrants to escape either a rising seas near the coasts or droughts or famines that come as a result of failing crops, you can see the ripple effects going forward.

And it's not cooling off. And that's the main message is, we can control how hot it gets. But what is already here is here.

SANCHEZ: A significant moment in human history.

Bill Weir, thank you so much -- Brianna.

KEILAR: It is a big week in the classified documents case against Donald Trump.

The first major court hearing is set for tomorrow, as Trump's legal team attempts to delay the trial for months, so what to watch for ahead.

Plus, police releasing new details on that suspected serial killer linked to the murders of several women found on Long Island's Gilgo Beach, including his arsenal of some 200 guns.

And on a much lighter note, the GOAT has officially arrived. After months of anticipation, soaring ticket prices and a brief weather delay, Inter Miami unveils Lionel Messi to thousands of fans in a star-studded event. And wait until you hear how much people are paying for his first match.

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[13:23:13]

KEILAR: Today, former President Trump's lawyers are set to finish applying for security clearances, so that they can view the key evidence gathered by federal prosecutors in the classified documents case against Trump.

Now, tomorrow, a pretrial hearing is going to focus on how sensitive information is handled throughout the criminal trial. And ahead of that, the special counsel's team has asked the judge to move things. In a new filing, they say the defense never responded to their proposed rules for sharing classified records.

I want to bring in CNN legal analyst former federal prosecutor Elliot Williams to talk a little bit more about this.

What are we expecting to see tomorrow?

ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: So, tomorrow is a relatively straightforward status conference -- or, pardon me, would be a relatively straightforward status conference if this were not the former president of the United States on trial.

KEILAR: That's right.

WILLIAMS: But it's quite basic and straightforward.

So let's just go through who some of the key players are, Brianna. Now, obviously, you have Walt Nauta, who's one of the defendants. He's a former staff member too. I think we all know who the 45th president of the United States, Donald Trump, is. They are charged in a criminal indictment with a number of counts of mishandling sensitive information and obstruction of justice.

Judge Aileen Cannon will be overseeing the matter. Now,she took some heat and there going to be a lot of eyes on her tomorrow and at all points through this hearing because of a prior ruling a few months ago that really got picked apart by the public and an appeals court that seemed to be sort of just a pretty gross mishandling of the law.

Jack Smith, the prosecutor overseeing the whole thing, the special counsel.

KEILAR: So everything is supposed to be submitted today, right, so that they can proceed. After that, how long does it take for the security clearance process to wrap up?

And what happens if there's some kind of hiccup or one or both of the attorneys doesn't get a clearance?

WILLIAMS: So, those two attorneys you talked about are Stanley Woodward and Sasha Dadan. He's based in D.C. She's based in Florida.

[13:25:03]

Those are Walt Nauta's attorneys. There was a lot of delays that slowed the thing down getting them to apply for everything. Now, the clearance process, really, what they're looking for is, are you fit to handle classified information? Usually, it takes a few months, but you can expedite one such thing. It can be expedited.

Mine all took a few months, but I was never representing a former president of the United States.

KEILAR: You were low priority.

WILLIAMS: I was low priority. Even...

KEILAR: That's right.

WILLIAMS: Even as a senior Justice Department official, it was relatively low priority.

KEILAR: Yes.

WILLIAMS: Now, what they're looking for, Brianna, are things like, are you subject to being bribed for the information you have?

And some things that weigh on that are your personal finances. Do you gamble? Do you have serious debts? And they will ask a lot of questions of you and the people around you for information like that.

Do you have foreign ties? I have a sister who was born in Jamaica before my parents moved to America. And I had to answer a bunch of questions about that on my background checks. And, of course, criminal records, I don't believe any of these attorneys have those. But if you got one, it's going to get in the way of your background check process.

So, that could slow things down a little bit. Most importantly, though, this case can go ahead if one attorney is cleared. What the judge would do is say that, for the time being one person, the one cleared attorney, can start receiving evidence from the prosecutors, right?

Now, if you were Walt Nauta, you would kick and scream and raise holy hell by saying that makes no sense, right? My attorneys can't talk to each other and prep for my trial.

KEILAR: Well, exactly. But how, realistically, would you do that if you have an attorney who can't actually deal with the documents that are at the center of the case?

WILLIAMS: Sure. It would be temporary, at least to start. And given some of the delays that they have been responsible for, for taking their time filing, the judge could maybe grant such a motion, but we will see what she does with that.

KEILAR: Talk about the timeline here.

WILLIAMS: Yes.

KEILAR: Because what we have seen from the lawyers for both Trump and Nauta is that they really want to delay this thing

WILLIAMS: They really do. And they, in fact, asked quite recently for an indefinite delay of the trial, not even setting a trial date.

Now, Jack Smith and his team, the special prosecutor, identify -- they blasted Trump's team in a filing last week, saying an indefinite continuance -- that's where they'd asked for the whole thing to be pushed off into the future -- is unnecessary, will inject additional delay into this case, and is contrary to the public interest.

That's not going to happen. I think the judge will set a trial date. Now, what they're all looking for -- Judge Cannon initially said August 14. That's just a couple of weeks for a trial. That ain't happening. Get that out of your head. The special counsel has asked for December 11 as the time this could go to trial. That's pretty ambitious.

And the former president has said, postpone it indefinitely. Let's never bring this to trial. That's not happening either. So, this will really fall to the judge to decide when this case is going to go to trial.

KEILAR: Do we really need to do this, right? But do we really need...

(CROSSTALK)

WILLIAMS: And, real quick, like, the Sixth Amendment to the Con...

KEILAR: Yes. Yes.

WILLIAMS: Like, the rule is for his protection as a defendant to go to trial quickly.

KEILAR: That's a very good point. Good point.

Elliot Williams, thank you so much for taking us through all of this. WILLIAMS: Thanks, Brianna.

KEILAR: Boris.

SANCHEZ: Still to come: Police say they received a flood of evidence after the arrest of a New York man suspected of being a serial killer. We will tell you how they tracked him down.

Plus, Taiwan's vice president expected to travel through the United States next month, a move that China is calling an ambush visit. We will explain why in a moment.

Stay with us.

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