Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

American Nurse, Daughter Released In Haiti; Ukrainian Officials Defend Speed Of Counteroffensive; Wildfires Trigger Evacuation In Maui; Sen. Feinstein Briefly Hospitalized After Fall; Judge Rules Suspect In Gilgo Beach Murders Must Give DNA Swab. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired August 09, 2023 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: What you are learning about the kidnapping and the release?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Brianna, it's not clear why mother and daughter where kidnapped in the first place. What I can tell you is that kidnapping for ransom has become an epidemic in Haiti over the last few years. More than a thousand people were kidnapped in the Caribbean country between January and June this year -- according to a report by the U.N.

As to where the victims are right now, what I can tell you is that the Christian humanitarian aid organization that Alix Dorsainvil works for says that they can confirm the safe release of their staff member and friend in El Roi Haiti -- that's the name of the organization. Also said in a statement that today they're praising God for answered prayers while asking people not to contact Dorsainvil or her family because, quote, there still much to process and to heal from in this situation.

As you may remember, the nurse is married to Sandro Dorsainvil, the Christian organization's director. The same day they were kidnapped in late July, Brianna, the U.S. State Department ordered the departure of nonemergency government personnel from Haiti as the security situation in the country worsened. This is how a department spokesman reacted to the news earlier today. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEW MILLER, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: I'll say that we welcome the reports of their release. We have no greater priority, of course, then the safety and security of U.S. citizens overseas. We express our deepest appreciation to our Haitian and U.S. interagency partners for their assistance in facilitating for their safe release. And out of respect for their privacy we'll let the individuals speak for themselves when they feel ready.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: Well, Brianna, the Haitian National Police told CNN they can't comment on the matter because they're still investigating the case. Now back to you. KEILAR: Such good news they have been release. We'll look for more details. Rafael Romo, thank you -- Jim.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: There are concerns among many Western officials that Ukraine's counteroffensive against Russia in the east is stalling. President Zelenskyy is under pressure to show that his war plan is having an impact. There he spent today meeting with top military leaders. He admitted the counteroffensive has been slow and difficult. At the same time at least two people were killed today after a Russian strike on apartment buildings, stores and a church in Zaporizhzhia.

CNN's military analyst and retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton joins me now. You have heard the concerning assessments of the state of Ukraine's counteroffensive in the eastern part of the country. Do you share concerns that given the difficulties they face so far, they said less likely they'll be able to eventually break through?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, Jim, I think this is something we could have definitely foreseen. Especially given the amount of minefields and everything that we have in this area right in through here. The trenches, all of the things that we've talked about over the last few weeks. This is almost insurmountable -- the activity actually on the part of the Russians because they've had a long time. They've had seven, eight months to entrench themselves. And that is really the problem. They've been able to entrench themselves without too much activity that prevented them from doing this.

SCIUTTO: You say almost insurmountable. I mean, there's a whole host of equipment that Ukrainians have been supplied with. Including the M- 160 -- that's a mine removal device. You have -- Abrams tanks have been approved, they're not there yet but you have the Leopard tanks there. Do you believe there is something that can go now or should go now that would make a difference in -- ?

LEIGHTON: Yes, in fact, we have the M-160 right here that you pointed out earlier. There's also an emphasize N-58, which actually is in Ukraine right now, but it's not in sufficient numbers. And that is really the problem that we've had because these are the types of devices that would be essential in large numbers to help clear the minefields. In addition to that, of course, you know, you look at things like the F-16. That requires at least 4 to 5 months to train pilots. And that's based on a really optimistic assessment by the Arizona International Guard.

SCIUTTO: It's a long time away even if they were to clear it today, right? Before it has an impact on the battlefield. The other one that there's discussion about is the attack on these ATACMS and other long- range missile system which the U.S. has hesitated to send. Is that a game changer?

LEIGHTON: It can potentially be at least a localized game changer because of the longer distance that the ATACMS missiles have. And what the Ukrainians really need is the ability to hit the Russian forces in the rear. They need to be able to go after their command post, their supply depots. All of the things that their kind of attacking with drones right now. But they need to be able to interdict their supply lines. They need to be able to interdict their command and control. This is one way to do it. The F-16 would be another way to do it. These are the kinds of things that they need and that stuff should flowed yesterday.

SCIUTTO: Exactly, we should help aid in pushing for that as have many of their advocates here in the U.S. have been pushing for some time. Cedric Leighton, thank you so much -- Brianna.

[15:35:00]

KEILAR: Next hour, officials in Hawaii will be holding a news conference to provide an update on this devastating wildfire situation that is unfolding on Maui and also on the Big Island. Adam Weintraub is joining us now. He is the communications director for Hawaii emergency management. Adam, thank you for being with us. We are watching these horrific pictures. We are so sorry for what Hawaii and specifically Maui is dealing with right now. Can you give us an update on what is happening right now.

ADAM WEINTRAUB, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, HAWAII EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: Thanks for having me. The reports that we're getting are still incomplete. There are some communication difficulties on Maui that began last night and have continued into this morning. At this point we have no confirmed reports of fatalities.

I have heard that there are at least three people were airlifted for Maui to Honolulu for medical treatment with very serious burns. But we don't believe that that's a full picture yet. And we expect as the day shifts from yesterday that it worked all night, begin to get relief that we'll start to get more concrete information coming out from the field.

KEILAR: And give us a sense of why -- listen we know you do not have coms with these affected areas. We know that this is probably as issue of your crews going actually physically going door to door and they have to communicate with you with some difficulty. Can you give us a sense of what that is like as they are trying to reach these communities?

WEINTRAUB: Well the greater majority of this work is being down by the folks on the ground at Maui and Hawaii counties. They are working with their county emergency operation centers. We exist to support those effort and until they get their arms around them they have requested any particular assistance other than reconnaissance and firefighting assistance from us. We're working on those requests and we're coordinating federal funds. But I think they are still -- it's so caught up with fighting the blaze and responding to the needs on the ground. I just haven't had time to file a report to upward towards us at this point. So we're letting them do their jobs and we stand ready to support them as soon as we get the details that they can provide us with.

KEILAR: Do you have any sense then of how they are doing this? Are they going to the affected residential areas to survey the damage, to see if there are casualties?

WEINTRAUB: I know that there will be damage surveys on the ground starting as early as today. In some cases, the winds and the fire are still making for a fairly uncertain situation. So some of this is just trying to keep people out burnt areas until we can get them secured. We also know that there are more than 2,000 people who came into the Maui airport yesterday on their planned vacations and they were surprised to discover that they weren't going to be allowed to leave the airport and go to their hotels. Because the fire situation is so real.

So we are also trying to coordinate with the visitor services and potentially evacuate some of the folks that no longer a hotel to go to. We're working closely with our partners state wide to handle that. So several very fluid situations. We're trying to get our arms around all of it right now.

KEILAR: How unexpected was this moving? How quickly did this go, and how much did this catch people by surprise, Adam?

WEINTRAUB: I think that if given the fairly wet intermittent we had here, I think people are a little slow to really assess the full danger of the fire risk in the leeward areas of the island, so have dried up very quickly, as we've gotten into the height of the summer. And with the high winds that were being generated by the weather system to our north and hurricane Dora to our south, we normally will see a trade wind pattern this time of year. That's usually 10 to 20 miles an hour. What we were experiencing was 30 to 40 mile an hour winds with 80 miles an hour gusts over very dry vegetation and less than 40 percent humidity.

When something went up either because of a power line down, sparked from a piece of outdoor equipment, it spread very rapidly. We have red flag conditions continuing through the day today before the winds will begin to subside.

Luckily we have had the ability on Maui have quickly starting in the Big Island, to get some aerial firefighting equipment up in the air. It was too dangerous to do that yesterday. That's part of the reason why they were able to spread so fast and without containment.

KEILAR: OK, so back up with that today.

[15:40:00]

Adam, what do you say we've heard people who were ability to get out of the danger zone but they are not able to touch base with some of their relatives who are in the area, coms obviously are such a problem. What are you -- what are officials saying to them about how they can reach their loved ones? And what are you saying -- and what can be done for folks who don't even have 911 access -- don't have phone service in the affected areas?

WEINTRAUB: So, our understanding is that the 911 service is being resort, if it's not back up already. A couple tips that we let people know about during any emergency situation. One of which is that the cell phone networks here frequently get overwhelmed quickly. It can be easer and faster to try to contact someone on the continental United States than it is to reach somebody here on the islands. We also recommend that if you haven't been able to get through by calling, try texting. The text network is a little bit more resilient than the cell network. I also can tell you that we are bringing -- working to bring in additional equipment that will provide some resilience to the communication networks quickly. We're working with our partners in both the state and federal level to try and get some official equipment on the ground that can affect optical systems.

KEILAR: OK, and real quickly, that text number is what?

WEINTRAUB: For the text -- you talking about to reach authorities?

KEILAR: Yes, for folks who are going to need it.

WEINTRAUB: I would have to get back to you. I'm just saying -- I was suggesting that people who are trying to reach family members, they would have a easier time texting than calling.

KEILAR: I see. OK. and that makes --

WEINTRAUB: If it's helpful to you, I can provide the local number.

KEILAR: All right, Adam, thank you so much. We are so sorry again as we watch these pictures and we're waiting just for more information about just how bad the damage is. We know that you're very busy and we thank you for your time today.

WEINTRAUB: Thank you.

KEILAR: Jim.

SCIUTTO: There are new concerns about Senator Dianne Feinstein's health after she suffered a fall. We're going to be live on Capitol Hill with details, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:46:48] KEILAR: Another health scare for Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein. The 90-year-old was taken to the hospital yesterday after falling at her home. Her office downplaying the incident, but this comes as she already faces pressure to resign. Although she has said that she will not be running for reelection in 2024. We have CNN's Lauren Fox on Capitol Hill for us. Maureen, how is the Senator doing?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, she's back home recovering now. That is according to her office, Brianna. But I'll read you just a brief statement from her office. Like you said, they are downplaying the significance of this issue saying, quote:

Senator Feinstein briefly went to the hospital yesterday afternoon as a precaution after a minor fall in her home. All of her scans were clear and she returned home. We are also told that Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer spoke with her this morning. In a statement, the majority leader said that he thought Senator Feinstein sounded good on the phone. That she says that she is recovering at home.

But like you noted, this comes after there had been a barrage of questions about Senator Feinstein's health, especially just before recess. If you remember, she was on the Senate Appropriations Committee and hey were getting ready to vote in that committee. And she started to read a statement saying that she supported this defense spending bill. That's when her staffer came up to her reminded her it was actually time to vote. That they were not reading statements. And once again, the chairwoman of that committee, Pattie Murray, said quietly to Senator Feinstein, just vote aye. Which she did just moments later.

In a response to that incident, her office said in July that it was a confusing situation. That they were switching back and forth between voting and having statements confirming their support for this bill. But obviously, it just raised eyebrows given the questions that have arisen in the months since she returned to the Senate after she was hospitalized back in February for complications from shingles -- Brianna.

KEILAR: All right, Lauren Fox, thank you for the very latest there.

The judge weighing in on whether prosecutors can get a DNA swab from the Gilgo Beach murder suspect. Why investigators call it extremely important to the case.

Plus, the story of a hungry hawk and a terrified snake, and the Texas woman who got caught up in the circle of life, not to mention the food chain.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PEGGY JONES, SURVIVED SNAKE AND HAWK ATTACK: It was just -- it was like, I think I went into survive mode.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:53:43]

KEILAR: There are new developments in the Gilgo Beach murder investigation. A judge in New York just approved prosecutors' request for a DNA swab from the suspected killer Rex Heuermann. CNN's Jean Casarez has been following this story closely for us. Jean, the judge approved the request, so now what?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the next step will be that the investigators, law enforcement, prosecutors will take that buccal swab -- it's a cheek swab -- from the defendant to get his actual DNA. And the defense attorney must be present for that. Now judge also appears to have set perimeters saying that that DNA

that you now collect could be compared to the hair that was found under the burlap of victim Megan Waterman's body. She was wrapped in the burlap. It can also be used for comparison from that half eaten pizza crust that authorities say that defendant Rex Heuermann deposited in a trash barrel on Fifth Avenue outside of his offices.

But it is curious because the bail application back when he was arrested said that they had tested that hair in two different independent laboratories.

[15:55:00]

They had compared it to the DNA from the pizza crust, and they in that bail application say that 99.96 of the North American population could be excluded as being from the same person, being from anyone but Rex Heuermann, could be but excluded. But the judge seems to have set these perimeters.

Now here's what's interesting. There was a case that was reported out of New York last year and the judge said according to New York law, once you get that DNA, you could use it for any investigative purpose at the local level. That's what the defense has to be concerned about here. There are so many other victims that he has not charged with and they are looking at all of this. We know that.

KEILAR: Yes, we do know that. And as you said, there are many victims, many families wondering what happened to their loved ones. Jean Casarez, thank you so much for the latest on that.

And now to other headlines that we are watching this hour.

A fire in eastern France killed 11 people at a vacation home. It was hosting people with disabilities and members of a charity group. Authorities are trying to determine the cause. They're investigating whether the building was up to code.

And in Australia, police say poison mushrooms know as death caps are responsible for the deaths of three people. Authorities say a woman serve them to her former in-laws who were guests in her home. She did not get sick and is now a suspect in a homicide investigation.

And a Texas woman caught in the middle of a life and death battle between a hawk and a snake. The bird apparently dropped its reptile lunch her arm as she was mowing her lawn. I know that is very graphic. I am so sorry. She said the snake then wrapped -- it's better there though, right? The snake wrapped itself around her arm. Tried to bite her and then the hawk swooped down to reclaim lunch with its super sharp talons.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PEGGY JONES, SURVIVED SNAKE AND HAWK ATTACK: The only thing that I could think of, my husband was at the front of the property and I was screaming and I knew he couldn't hear me. And the only thing I could think of was just to call on Jesus name to come and help me. (END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Now luckily, she is OK, as you see there. But certainly, you know, that is a very traumatic -- the hawk eventually did, by the way, get the snake.

One very lucky person in Florida celebrating after winning the largest Mega-Millions jackpot in history, an estimated $1.58 billion. Game officials say the ticket was sold at a Publix grocery store in Neptune Beach, near Jacksonville. And that is where we find CNN's Amara Walker. All right, Amara, what's the mood like there today?

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: I would say curious. Everyone wants to know who is this winner that won this $1.58 billion Mega-Millions lottery jackpot. Who defied the one in 303 million odds. And of course, the question is, when the person comes forward will they opt for the annual payments over 29 years or will they get that lump sum cash payout of $783 million. That's before taxes. So after taxes, the math will come out to about $500 million.

I do want to tell you the numbers again in case you, you know, you bought your ticket here at this Publix at 630 Atlantic Boulevard in Neptune Beach, Florida. The winning numbers are 13, 19, 20, 32, 33, mega ball 14. Now, Brianna, we may not know for maybe a few months, a couple weeks, because the person -- if this person opts for the cash payment, they have up to 60 days to claim the prize. And there's also this 90-day grace period, according to Florida law, that will protect their identity unless they opt to release names earlier.

Don't forget, there's also seven ticket holders who became millionaires overnight. Two people, two tickets sold here and one in Florida, one in North Carolina for $2 million. Five tickets sold in California, Pennsylvania, two in Texas, one in West Virginia for a million dollars. And look, there's plenty of money to go around because Publix here also getting $100,000 in commission just for selling the ticket. And, look, at the end of the day, I won $2 by getting Mega Ball fortune correct. But I'm not going to tell you, Brianna, how much money I spent on the tickets. At end of the day, I'm still in the red.

KEILAR: Two bucks, Amara, that's not even going to get you a delicious Publix sheet cake. Not even. But you know what? It's nice to just be --

WALKER: Really, no, no. Barely tip from Starbucks or something.

KEILAR: Right, something like that. All right, Amara Walker, thank you so much for that.

All right, so we are waiting right now on a press conference that is expected to start here in just minutes from Hawaii on those terrible fires that we have been covering on our program. "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR, THE LEAD: Hawaii's governor says he expects loss of life from his state's apocalyptic wildfires. "THE LEAD" starts right now.

States of dire emergency. Unprecedented wildfires prompting evacuations in parts of Hawaii.