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Maui's Economy Devastated by Wildfires; Interview with Maui City Council Yuki Lei Sugimura; Devastating Maui Wildfires Claim At Least 55 Lives; Frantic Search for Missing Family Members Following Deadly Maui Wildfires; Judge Says Trump's Right to Free Speech is "Not Absolute"; Before Debate, Republican Candidates Visit Iowa State Fair. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired August 11, 2023 - 10:30   ET

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

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[10:30:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: The deadly wildfires in Hawaii are impacting every aspect of life for those on Maui. Tourism now at a standstill. Homes and businesses burnt to the ground as we see an image -- after image. People who have evacuated, they have no homes or jobs to return to in the western part of the island.

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EDDIE GARCIA, FARMER IN MAUI: Everyone's lost their job, they've lost their house, they've lost their family. I think there's going to be hundreds of people dead. And I don't say that as any conspiracy theory. You've probably been here on vacation. If there's a way you can help, it's your turn. Help here because it's needed. Every single home in Lahaina is gone. It's like I said before, it's apocalyptic.

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BOLDUAN: And that's exactly what you see in those images. Joining us right now is Yuki Lei Sugimura, vice chair of Maui City council. Thank you so much for being here. You are still in your home in Maui, but there had been, as I was -- as -- my understanding, there had been fires burning around your home. First and foremost, I mean, do you feel safe? Are there still fires? Are you still in danger?

YUKI LEI SUGIMURA, MAUI CITY COUNCIL: So, I live up country, on Haleakala Mountain, and I don't see the fires anymore. It was -- I could see it on the -- on -- off my balcony, on the horizon. But those are gone. So, it's much safer.

BOLDUAN: What do you make of the images and the stories that you're hearing coming out of Lahaina?

SUGIMURA: Yes. So, the saddest thing is that, really, Lahaina is shut off to most people. No one can get in unless you're authorized to get in, or providing supplies and things that the community may need. There are also people -- the death toll rises daily even throughout the day.

So, we're at number 55, but I believe that number is going to rise. There are K-9 cadaver dogs that have come in from Nevada to help us, which kind of tells you what the officials or those in charge are thinking they need to do. I think they need to go through property by property, house by house just to see who's there.

[10:35:00]

And, you know, and trying to help and save people that we can, but also, we're pretty realistic that there are sad stories ahead.

BOLDUAN: Many more sad stories, unfortunately it seems. What does Maui need right now?

SUGIMURA: So, the -- we are getting an outpouring of support. Our Mayor, Richard Bissen, has the -- had a site visit with our governor, our senior senator, Brian Schatz, and just to tour the devastated area. And we are getting help from across the nation. As you know, President Biden issued an emergency -- sent FEMA here to help us, which has been a -- be of great help but this is going to be millions of dollars of repair that has to happen with this fire devastation.

And we also have Hawaii Community Foundation has set up an account called Maui Strong, and they're asking for financial donations for people who can. And are -- they are working with our county and government to basically find out where the needs are and where those dollars should be spent. So, if anybody has any thoughts of helping us, that is Hawaii Community Foundation, Maui Strong is the name of the account that they're taking donations.

People from -- we have aircrafts and -- standing by from the big island to send over supplies to what we need. We also have the city county of Honolulu have sent firefighters. So, we're getting support from, you know, really across the nation, besides the president and our governor reaching out. You know, we also have National Association of Counties who, as you know, the counties have experienced all kinds of devastation. And those that have are reaching out to us and sending us -- realizing -- we really appreciate that.

BOLDUAN: Some people who've lost everything in Maui, we -- we're hearing from them, and they're now starting to wonder why there wasn't more of a warning or a better warning of how dangerous the situation was becoming and how quickly. I want to play something for you, one resident from Lahaina.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLE MILLINGTON, LOST HOME AND BUSINESS IN LAHAINA FIRES: We have tsunami warnings that I think should have been utilized. I think this could have been handled so much better in so many ways. But so many of us residents felt like we had absolutely no warning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: That's Cole Millington. He says that he -- there should have been more warning. He says, he basically got no warning. He was on CNN just this morning talking about this. Do you think something went wrong here? Do you think people should have been able to get more of a warning?

SUGIMURA: You know, I think that, just as the nation is looking at us and surprised by the magnitude of the wind that came 80, 50-mile-an- hour winds, I'm not sure if our Maui Emergency Management was even prepared for this kind of magnitude, you know, of emergency. Yes, we can always do better in communication. And this will definitely -- myself as a council member, we're going to look at what is the communication and how could it be better. We could have done it better.

BOLDUAN: Yes. Councilwoman, thank you so much for coming on. A long road ahead. Thank you.

For more information on how you can help Hawaii wildfire victims, you can go to CNN's -- cnn.com/impact. You can learn much more there. You can also text "Hawaii" to 707070 to donate.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN NEWS CENTRAL CO-ANCHOR: All right. Just in to CNN, we are getting new details from inside the courtroom. This is the first time that we have heard from the federal judge overseeing the January 6th case against Donald Trump. And for the first time, she has weighed in on what role the first amendment will play in her approach to this case. Don't forget, this may be key to the Trump defense. So, we'll have much most are on that, next.

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[10:40:00]

BERMAN: All right. The breaking news, we are getting new details from inside the courtroom where, for the first time, we are hearing from the federal judge who is overseeing the January 6th trial against Donald Trump. This is both sides, their first appearance before that judge. And, frankly, she's saying a lot in some ways, I think, more than we expected in this first appearance.

So, let's get right to Katelyn Polantz to get a sense of what is going on inside that courtroom, and the signs we're getting from Judge Chutkan.

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Very much so, John. So, Judge Chutkan, she is, essentially, on a legal sense in what was supposed to be talked about today. She's giving Donald Trump's team what they wanted, largely, to narrow the protection over evidence that they're receiving before trial.

But, John, this hearing has taken a turn where it has been about something much bigger. that justice and the administration of justice is more important than a political campaign. And that is how this judge, Judge Tanya Chutkan, is going to manage this case going forward. Here's what she said some direct quotes. [10:45:00]

"The fact that he," Donald Trump, "is running a political campaign currently has to yield to the administration of justice. And if that means he can't say exactly what he wants to say in a political speech, that is just how it's going to have to be. I cannot and I will not factor into my decision what effect it will have on a political campaign for either side."

That comment came after Trump's lawyers raised the possibility that she was giving an unfair advantage to Joe Biden. And she says, no, that's not what this is about. This is about an order governing discovery and how much Donald Trump is going to be able to talk about the evidence that he's never seen before and is going to be learning about as he progresses toward trial.

And then the other thing that has been discussed today are these statements that Donald Trump makes about witnesses. His lawyer tried to raise this idea that, oh, he's been talking about Pence, is that what you mean? Mike Pence as a candidate opposite, Trump in this Republican nomination? But the Judge Chutkan stepped back and said, no, there are other orders in this case that say Donald Trump, as a criminal defendant, is out on bail. And he, as he's out on bail, he is not able to intimidate witnesses or obstruct justice, period.

And, she said, her direct quote there was, "I will be scrutinizing them," meaning statements he makes that could be obstructive or intimidation, she will be scrutinizing them very carefully. And so, going forward, there's clearly a warning being sent to Donald Trump's team and the former president himself that this case is important and his political campaign, whatever he says out there publicly on social media, that is not going to dictate what happens from now until the trial.

BERMAN: All right. To be clear here, Judge Chutkan seems to be laying down some markers for what happens going forward. As if to say Donald Trump, as a defendant, out on bail needs to be careful about what he says going forward. Also, laying down a marker saying that running for president is no different than any other job. It won't get any special preference in terms of, one might interpolate or extrapolate from that, the timing of the trial, correct?

I mean, if running for president is no different than any job. Running for president shouldn't be a reason to delay the trial at all. But, Katelyn, what the judge has actually ruled on, you suggested, is giving the Trump team a little bit what they want. Explain that.

POLANTZ: Yes. So, she does, at one point, call this Trump's day job, essentially. She does say those words, it's he's day job, that he's running for president, and that she's going to be making decisions otherwise. But the legal issue here, John, that she had to determine today was whenever the Justice Department gives Donald Trump evidence that they've never seen before that's been collected in this case. Things like grand jury transcripts, other information that they have from subpoenas, search warrants, all of the investigative work that they did. When that gets given to Donald Trump, can he disclose what he's learning? Can he talk about it freely? Can he talk about what witnesses said about him in the grand jury before a trial? And there's reason that the court is saying, no, you can't do that because you have to protect what the jury will learn, for the first time, at trial as the Justice Department puts on their case.

But the divide here was that the Justice Department wanted to lock all of that down and have Trump not allowed to talk about any of it as they're handing it over. And Trump's team said, well, why don't you designate what's sensitive and what's not. And the things that are very sensitive, we can abide by what you want to do here and have him not talk about that.

And so, the Justice Department today they said most of what they're going to be handing over that Trump's never seen before is sensitive, but it appears the judge is having a little bit of a nuance here where she is going more with the proposal that Trump's team had legally for what to do with his evidence, how to govern it going forward, than what the Justice Department wanted, which was a little bit broader.

But, really, John, these two sides on the legal issue here today, they were not that far apart. And, really, this discussion became much more about the speech that Donald Trump can make and what he needs to abide by as he awaits trial.

BERMAN: All right. It's a very important distinction. We're going to have much more time to talk about this over the next hour because things have happened here on many levels. The very specific where there wasn't much distance between the two sides, but perhaps a much more important side of what is to come in this case. Katelyn Polantz, we'll speak to you again in a short while. Thank you very much.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us, Former Vice President Mike Pence taking to the stage once again at the Iowa State Fair. Yesterday he was accused of treason by a Trump supporter at the fair. The unscripted moments that have become campaign tradition. We'll be taking you back to Iowa for more. We'll be right back.

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[10:50:00]

BOLDUAN: Welcome back. You're looking live at the Iowa State Fair. That is Former Vice President Mike Pence speaking to voters once again. Caucusgoers, once again, right now in Iowa. Mike Pence and so many Republican presidential candidates are flocking to the famous Iowa State Fair, to woo voters in what can be fun, what is definitely always unscripted, and is sometimes offering up some awkward campaign moments.

Mike Pence seeing one of those yesterday, being heckled while making his pitch to voters yesterday. But he's at it very clearly back at it today. CNN's Kyung Lah is live at the fair for us with -- Kyung, so we're -- now we're doing pork chop on a stick. Is that what you're telling me?

[10:55:00]

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: OK. So, this is a politically significant and economically significant piece of meat. This is the pork chop on a stick. First of all, I need to say thank you to Charlie at the Pork Producers Association. It's not supposed to be available until the top of the hour. But because it's for you, Kate, he did indeed cook this early. He's been doing this for 17 years.

And it's these one-on-one connections. This moment that we had with Charlie where he said, I'm going to cook Iowa's famed pork chop on a stick for you. That is politically significant for caucusgoers and for the politicians who are trying to win their vote. They need the Charlies to come out in January and support them and get other people to rally for them.

So, these fairs are very potent. The question is, though, is does this matter right now in the era of Donald Trump? Because Donald Trump isn't going to be flipping pork chops, that we know of. He is going to walk through the fair. But he's setting his own rules. And so very much this primary, Kate, has been upended. What Iowa has traditionally been has changed. But the other candidates still playing by the rules. We are going to see Mike Pence flipping this pork chop in just about 90 minutes at the Pork Producers' tent, maybe not with Charlie, but he will be flipping these pork chops in just a bit.

BOLDUAN: I mean, I am always in love with you, Kyung Lah, and I am loving this -- don't even, and she did it. Eating on T.V. is a risky, risky maneuver.

LAH: Oh, it's very good.

BOLDUAN: Eating on television, guys, you don't -- that is not J.V. This is varsity right now, as we're seeing from the one and only Kyung Lah. And thank you to Charlie, as we should say.

Kyung, in the box next to you, I'm seeing Mike Pence. He's with the Governor Kim Reynolds. And he's -- he was sitting there with a lemon shakeup. Just, to your point about this whole thing, these are the fun -- these are moments that are a lot of great videos that we put on T.V. with -- from the Iowa State Fair. But it is these one-on-one connections, these moments with voters and caucusgoers that really do matter in the all-important first-in-the-nation caucus State of Iowa. Thanks for being there, Kyung. You're the best.

John.

BERMAN: A politically significant --

BOLDUAN: Pork.

BERMAN: -- piece of meat.

BOLDUAN: Like, I -- BERMAN: That's our Kyung Lah.

BOLDUAN: She's the best.

BERMAN: Well, just to review what Kyung just spoke about was a politically -- well, Kyung is frankly eating right now.

BOLDUAN: Well, she's the lucky one.

BERMAN: Is a politically significant --

BOLDUAN: I don't want us to stand here.

BERMAN: -- piece of meat.

BOLDUAN: And Kyung --

BERMAN: All right. All right. Thank you to Kyung Lah for that.

BOLDUAN: I just -- I love that woman.

BERMAN: All right. Shifting gears. New reporting just in from Maui where, for the first-time, rescuers will get inside some of the structures burnt down. They fear that is where many of the missing might be.

The first hearing before the federal judge here in the January 6th case against Donald Trump, a trove of new information, deeply revealing comments from the judge. The first concrete signs of how she intends, perhaps, to try to rein in Donald Trump.

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