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CNN On Front Lines With Ukrainian Troops Amid Shelling; GOP Presidential Hopefuls Descend On Iowa State Fair; Biden Addresses Devastating Wildfires In Hawaii; U.S. Facing Triple Threat Of Respiratory Viruses. Aired 1:30-2p ET
Aired August 10, 2023 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:34:38]
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Officials in Ukraine have ordered mandatory evacuations around the eastern city of Kupiansk after Russia claimed to have captured nearby Ukrainian military positions.
This, as Poland announced plans to move 10,000 troops to the border with Belarus, which just announced they will hold joint military exercises with the Wagner Group near the Polish border.
CNN's Nick Paton Walsh has been reporting from the front lines with Ukrainian troops.
[13:35:01]
And a warning that this following report contains some graphic images.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The brutal work here the world hasn't seen but wants its results. From the West, they have words and weapons of support.
(EXPLOSION)
PATON WALSH: But out here, it's them alone. In searing heat, cloaked in dust --
(EXPLOSION)
PATON WALSH: -- in the southern counteroffensive near Orikhiv, Ukraine has the initiative.
(EXPLOSION)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
(GUNFIRE)
PATON WALSH: Yet, they have to shoot their way forward round by round.
(GUNFIRE)
(EXPLOSION)
PATON WALSH: The Russians are just past the building on the horizon.
(on camera): Let's get moving, guys. They are very anxious that we leave.
(voice-over): We're the first journalists to reach this part of Ukraine's counteroffensive push south towards Labatina (ph).
(EXPLOSION)
PATON WALSH (on camera): So, the British tank was spotted by the Russians, and so now we're moving fast out of here because they're expecting return fire.
(voice-over): The losses from their early assaults evident. There's a destroyed U.S.-supplied Bradley armored vehicle.
(on camera): In this thick dust, these tankers moving forward to fire at Russian positions, which they say are beginning to look in peril, as Ukraine's southern counteroffensive pushes forward.
(voice-over): The 15th National Guard have lost many friends here but also gained ground.
It has been incredibly tough. But some faces we saw over the past week have brightened.
Robertina (ph) has got closer.
(EXPLOSION)
PATON WALSH: Some of the assessment of their fight and the tools given towards it great here.
They're being expected to do things no NATO army would attempt with equipment they'd scoff at.
(EXPLOSION)
PATON WALSH: The Humvee we travel in with tires so threadbare no American soldier would be expected to drive it.
(GUNFIRE)
PATON WALSH: They have no time for arm-chair assessments that they are failing.
(EXPLOSION)
VITALY, TANK OPERATOR, 15TH NATIONAL GUARD BRIGADE (through translation): They are wrong. We have successes. It depends on how fortified they are. Above all, don't underestimate the enemy. PATON WALSH (on camera): And that underestimation is visible here in the nearest town of Orikhiv, pummeled by the main problem, Russian air superiority and the half-ton bombs they drop.
(EXPLOSION)
PATON WALSH: At any moment, it may not matter how much cover you have.
VITALY (through translation): SU-35 jet in the air.
PATON WALSH (voice-over): We take cover in a basement. One day, 20 rockets hit in as many minutes.
(on camera): The wait now is for what they think is another missile to come in and land.
(EXPLOSION)
(voice-over): The smell of death haunts the rubble, where entire lives have been torn through.
(on camera): This was the main humanitarian aid point of the town. And weeks ago, this was where the remaining locals would be hiding out and getting shelter from air strikes.
But it has taken a direct hit and quite a few people lost their lives when this explosion happened. You can still smell the explosive in the air.
(voice-over): In Moscow's warped world of targeting, it is these men, the military medics, who feel hunted. The underground world in which they live is hidden, as their last two triage points have been bombed.
And then the three hours a day they spend above ground, this is what happens. This is rare footage of their frontline rescues.
(SHOUTING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
PATON WALSH: The painkillers clearly not enough.
(SHOUTING)
PATON WALSH: Treatments given at up to 100 miles an hour, over bumpy, shelled roads. It seems miraculous anyone makes it.
In the back of this armored vehicle, not everyone has.
(SHOUTING)
PATON WALSH: These transfers, perilous. Their vehicles bunched together, perhaps visible to Russian jets.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
PATON WALSH: Sometimes they don't all come back.
On Friday, fellow medic, Andre, age 33, was hit by artillery. They buried him Monday.
EUGENE, MEDIC, 15TH NATIONAL GUARD BRIGADE (through translation): We went there immediately. Another team picked up the driver. And that was the hardest thing I ever did, pick up the body and deliver it to the morgue.
[13:40:06]
VLAD, MEDIC, 15TH NATIONAL GUARD BRIGADE (through translation): His family, his mother, they are in temporary occupied territories. They couldn't even come to the funeral.
PATON WALSH (on camera): Down here, death is far too close and they seem to shut it out.
EUGENE (through translation): When they hit further than 100 meters away from us, we don't pay attention. If it's closer, we just laugh hysterically.
VLAD (through translation): I tell everybody, we will all die. But a bit later, maybe in 50 years.
PATON WALSH (voice-over): They need the war to end in months though, not years, before nothing but dust is left.
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Orikhiv, Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN HOST: Our thanks to Nick Paton Walsh for that report.
It's that time of the primary season yet again, the Iowa State Fair. When we come back, we're live in Des Moines where candidates are trying to chip away at Donald Trump's lead in the polls.
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[13:45:34]
MARQUARDT: The Iowa caucuses are just five months away. Right now, the state fair is where it's at if you are a Republican presidential hopeful. They're going through the political passage in Des Moines with speeches and pitches to those Iowa voters at the fair.
Today's speakers include former Vice President Mike Pence and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum.
CNN's Kyung Lah is at the fairground.
Kyung, I want to ask you about that fried food and about the buttered cow. But more importantly, what are people there telling you?
(LAUGHTER)
KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I will get to this. You'll have to stick around and figure out exactly what this is in just a minute, Alex.
What we are hearing from people who are here in the state of Iowa, it's something we've heard throughout the entire primary, is that they were either in the camp of fully backing Donald Trump or looking for an alternative.
That's really the theme we have seen throughout this entire primary season. And that will continue today. Today is the kickoff of the Iowa State Fair.
It's notable to anybody watching politics or grew up in the Midwest. About a million people expected here in the next 10 days. This is where we will see the entire GOP field, including Donald Trump.
Trump is not expected here until Saturday. But today, we have already seen some of the people who are perhaps in the single digits.
North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, who has generally been a lesser- known candidate, but really flooding the air waves here, trying to get the people here, the Republicans to get to know him.
In a few hours, we're expecting former Vice President Mike Pence.
They have both been taken part in the soapbox. This is a tradition here in Iowa. They have 20 minutes to deliver their essential message and try to get people on board the Republican caucus members.
They're also going to be taking part in what's known as fair-side chats with Iowa's governor.
So back to this. This is a deep-fried strawberry cheesecake. I'm going to read this. It's a sweet batter, strawberry, and it's deep fried, and you just, you know --
(LAUGHTER)
LAH: Oh, it's actually really good.
(CROSSTALK)
LAH: So food in between politics. This is an Iowa tradition. That's really good.
MARQUARDT: Come for the politics and the candidates and stay for the food. There's no end in the creativity in what you can deep fry.
Kyung Lah, at the state fair in Des Moines, thanks very much. Enjoy.
Brianna?
KEILAR: So moments ago, President Biden, on his swing through the west, while in Salt Lake City, Utah, addressed the damage from the deadly wildfires in Hawaii.
Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We'll get aid in the hands of the people who desperately need help now. They have lost -- anyone who has lost a loved one, whose home has been damaged or destroyed, will get help immediately.
I've directed that we surge support to these great firefighters, first responders, emergency personnel working around the clock risking their lives.
I just got off the phone before I got here for a long conversation with the Governor Josh Green this morning. I let him know the state will get everything it needs from the federal government for recovery.
The FEMA Administrator Kriswell will be in Miami tomorrow and Maui tomorrow. And I've directed her to streamline any process -- request for help. And survivors register for immediate federal assistance without delay.
FEMA is surging disaster assistance to personnel on the island. And we're going to help survivors get access to federal assistance.
And anybody who wants to know out there where to go, if this is televised, go to disasterassistance.gov, disasterassistance.gov to learn if you're eligible for assistance.
I have ordered all available federal assets on the island, including the U.S. Coast Guard and Navy 3rd Fleet and U.S. Army, to assist response crews, along with the Hawaiian National Guard.
We're working as quickly as possible to fight the fires and evacuate residents and tourists.
[14:49:56]
In the meantime, our prayers are with the people of Hawaii. But not just our prayers. Every asset we have will be available to them. And they have seen their homes disappear, businesses destroyed, and some have lost loved ones. And it's not over yet.
But now, for the reason I'm here today. I've said it many times before. I started saying it 30 years ago and I got criticized for saying it. We have many obligations as a nation. We have only one truly scared obligation --
KEILAR: All right, this is President Biden now as he is commemorating the one-year anniversary of the PACT Act, a bill that he signed into law one year ago today protecting veterans, providing them benefits after toxic exposure to burn pits, Agent Orange, and the like.
You heard him there talking about these deadly wildfires in Hawaii. He said they are prioritizing aid to people who have lost homes. There are hundreds of families in that position now.
He said the Army, Navy, and Coast Guard is there to help with the Hawaiian National Guard. He said they are focused on evacuating residents and tourists from the disaster zone.
We did just speak with a state senator there from the Lahaina area. He said they do not have cell service. There are only very small places where they're able to call on the phone, where they're able to text.
They need food. They need fuel. Certainly, the needs are very extreme there right now.
He said the FEMA administrator is going to be on the ground tomorrow there in Hawaii. So we'll be watching all of this.
That is President Biden commenting on the damage from these deadly wildfires in Hawaii.
We'll be right back.
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KEILAR: This fall could bring a trio of threats when it comes to your lung health. State and local health officials all across the country are bracing for a rise in respiratory illnesses involving the flu, RSV as well as Covid-19.
And plans are already under way to encourage everyone who is eligible to get vaccinated against all three.
We have CNN health reporter, Jacqueline Howard, live with us now with more details on this.
Jacqueline, first off, tell us about these vaccines, when they'll be available to the public.
JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: Brianna, this is really the first time that we have vaccines available for all three of those viruses.
So starting with the flu, flu shots are already available at some doctors' offices and pharmacies. The flu vaccine is recommended for everyone 6 months and older.
And then for Covid-19, we are expecting to have an updated Covid-19 vaccine in the coming weeks. That will be important to look out for. A possible updated booster.
[13:55:07]
And then for RSV, there is a vaccine now available for newborns and for older adults ages 60 and older. Those are also being rolled out at pharmacies and doctors' offices.
We're hearing some states are possibly hosting vaccine events this fall. That's because health officials say, while they're hoping for the best, they are preparing for the worst.
Here's the health commissioner of Connecticut, Dr. Manisha Juthani.
Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. MANISHA JUTHANI, CONNECTICUT HEALTH COMMISSIONER: We're in uncharted territory. We don't really know what the season is going to look like, and it's going to look different in different areas of the country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWARD: So that's why they're making preparations. It might look different across the country.
And just as a timeline, there's a saying called "flu before boo." So that means to get your flu shot before Halloween. Health officials say that timeline applies for Covid and RSV, as well.
So get your vaccines before Halloween -- Brianna?
KEILAR: Vaccines before Halloween, I like how that rolls off the tongue.
Jacqueline Howard, in Atlantia, thank you.
Alex?
MARQUARDT: The deadly wildfires in Hawaii have now forced thousands of people to evacuate. When we come back, we'll be speaking with a homeowner who has lost everything.
We have much more on CNN NEWS CENTRAL right after this short break. Stay with us.
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