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Biden Hosts Historic South Korea-Japan Summit At Camp David; Maui County Mayor: 45 Percent Of Burned Area Has Been Searched; Trump Team Seeks 2026 Trial Date In Federal Election Subversion Case. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired August 18, 2023 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:01:15]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: An historic summit getting underway at Camp David with a clear message to China.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: California now bracing for heavy rain and floods and a rare threat the state hasn't seen in decades, some areas could see a year's worth of rain and just one day because a hurricane is on its way.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: The Emergency Management chief resigns in Maui as the emergency is still unfolding there. Crews are going through the ashes to try and locate additional victims and residents are starting to try and piece their lives back together after the wildfires tore them apart. I'm going to speak to one woman who lost her home, her business in this tragedy. I'm Kate Bolduan with John Berman and Sara Sidner. This is CNN News Central.

BERMAN: Happening now, President Biden is hosting an historic trilateral summit at Camp David. With the President today, the leaders of Japan and South Korea and the goal is clear to counter threats from China and North Korea. CNN's Priscilla Alvarez live at the White House this morning. What are the deliverables Priscilla the White House wants out of these meetings?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: The big picture here, John, is that they want to discuss those regional security challenges that you just alluded to. They want to discuss economic prosperity as well as technological advancements. And John it is the site of this summit that is also of significance and really underscores how important this is. This is going to happen at Camp David, a site of historical diplomatic negotiations and the first time that President Biden is convening foreign leaders at Camp David for these talks.

Now, when we get into the details of this, this would include according to senior administration officials, talks about annual military exercises, discussing intelligence sharing agreements, setting up a three-way hotline for the three to stay in close touch and coordination, as well as formalizing this summit to be an annual trilateral summit.

Now President Biden has tried to foster these individual relationships with these countries. But this is an opportunity for the three to get together to put their fraught history aside and to talk about their shared interests, especially against the backdrop of those mounting security concerns with North Korea and China. But what it is not John, is that there is no expectation that there would be a formal alliance commitment or a collective defense agreement.

So the question coming out of this, then is how much of this can be institutionalized and maintained not only over the course of this administration and in the near term, but also in the long term? But what is clear is that what the point of discussion will be today is their shared interest as they have seen security concerns mount in the Indo Pacific. John?

BERMAN: Yes, commitment to consult, if any of these nations is threatened directly in and of itself is fairly significant. And our viewers also need to know Japan and South Korea, historically, getting them in a room like this is unusual and rare, and has been very difficult. Priscilla Alvarez an historic day, keep us posted. Thank you very much for that. Sara?

SIDNER: Yes. And we will be watching it I'm sure. China will also be watching what happens at that summit. All right now to Hawaii, teams of the ATF, excuse me are on the ground in Hawaii right now joining the investigation into what caused these deadly fires just one of many developments coming out of Maui. Overnight, the administrator of Maui's Emergency Management Agency resigned, citing health reasons. But he's been criticized for not activating sirens to warn residents about the wildfire danger.

[11:05:00]

A day before he stepped down, he defended that decision claiming that if residents heard the sirens they would have fled to the mountains where the fire was more severe because they're usually used for tsunamis. One state senator ridiculed that claim.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ANGUS MCKELVEY (D-HI): I've heard the line that people would have panicked and ran up to the mountains because it's a tsunami siren. The reaction of the community to that is utter disbelief. It's insulting to think that people would be that clueless, that they wouldn't know that sirens blasting was because of the fire.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: For days, you've been seeing the pictures of the fires devastated the historic town of Lahaina killing so far, 111 people, there is still though more than 1,000 residents unaccounted for. The mayor of Maui County tells CNN, 45 percent of the scorched area has been searched. Joining me now is Jeremy Lee reporter with CNN affiliate KITV. Thank you so much for joining us. Can you give us some sense of what's happening now and how residents are reacting to some of this new news that is coming about it the ATF is there and that the official has stepped down who was supposed to be overseeing the emergency there? JEREMY LEE, KITV REPORTER: I spoke to a lot of residents and people who had to evacuate and flee that fire. And they told me the idea that they would have headed for the hills on hearing the siren was preposterous. There was a huge black cloud hanging over all of Lahaina coming towards them pushing them north so they, it's a claim that they really understand. Now a lot has changed in the last 24 hours, we've been cut off. I've been here for the last week, not only from the highway but also from communication.

Just recently a lot has changed the last 24 hours more trucks like these. This is a Starlink truck have shown up at various hubs on the Napili Plaza which is a distribution and collection pod assisting those who have evacuated. Also that highway, the Honoapiilani Highway, which connects the mass that juts out from the main body of Maui, it's just a two lane highway one lane in each direction that was shut down for a number of days making it impossible for us to not only communicate, but to get in and out of the region north of Lahaina including the visitor destinations of Napili where I am now all the way up to Kapalua.

SIDNER: Jeremy Lee, thank you so much for that. Thank you for giving us an update on communications there and the fact that that road, important road is open now. Appreciate your time. Kate?

BERMAN: And as we are learning everyone on Maui has their own story of loss in this tragedy. Joining us now is Jess Manina. Jess, thank you so much for joining us. We're going to show some pictures to everyone because that you sent to us. You lost both your home and your business which was a popular gift shop in Maui. First, what is the last week been like for you?

JESSALYN MANINA, LOST HOME AND BUSINESS IN MAUI WILDFIRES: There's honestly no words. We lost everything. So it's been trying to navigate and stick together. All of our communities spread everywhere all over the island. So it's been hard, just like your reporter said before, to be in contact with anybody on the west side at all. There were days that we didn't know if our family survived because we evacuated two completely different ways out of that two lane highway. So it's been trying to piece our life back together and a lot of confusion.

BOLDUAN: There's still as -- there's still maybe 1,000 or so people unaccounted for from the fires. You mentioned that it was days when you couldn't even be in touch with some of your family. I know that you mentioned to my producers how fearful you are now for some of your daughter's friends. What are you hearing?

MANINA: Unfortunately, the winds were so bad that day that school was canceled for a lot of children. Fortunately, my daughter was supposed to be starting on Wednesday, the 9th at King Kamehameha School. But for others, their children had to stay at home while they went to work. And as said before, the sirens were not let off. A lot of these people, not just children, but elderly people had no idea what was going on. They could have had T.V.s on they were home alone. I can't even imagine the heartbreak that's still going to come out.

BOLDUAN: That just puts a pit in your stomach of what could -- what we could be learning in the coming days, weeks, months they say it could even take to identify some of the remains that they are finding. You mentioned the warnings. We're hearing it from other residents on the island raising questions of why people -- why those outdoor sirens weren't set off why people were not able to get more of a warning. What kind of warning did you get?

[11:10:02]

MANINA: Absolutely nothing. The winds woke us up at 4:00 a.m. that morning. They were not like anyone's -- anybody in tears that lived in Maui has ever experienced. They were blowing shingles off the roof. Two-hundred-year-old Plumeria trees in our yard completely rerouted. It blew our fence over. So we decided to stay indoors. We were actually making vision boards on which is how my storefront on Maui even became a thing. I drew it on a vision board 10 years ago, and we just won the best gift shop in Maui. So we were doing that.

And the moment we were done with our vision board, we looked outside and saw the smoke. This wasn't the first fire we've had in the last six months. So we evacuated before six months ago. So we kind of knew what to grab and what to do. And we just made an executive decision that it was time to leave. Our neighbors thought we were crazy. They thought the winds were going to be blowing, it would never come to Lahaina and we were all wrong.

BOLDUAN: I mean, there's a lot of what ifs that you think through in these in -- after these tragedies. And what if you hadn't made that decision so quickly to get out? I mean, thank God, you, you, you trusted your instinct in that.

MANINA: I believe I might have been trapped.

BOLDUAN: There has been some criticism, not just of the fact that there wasn't warnings, but now in the aftermath of this tragedy, from some in the community about what they see as a slow and lacking response after all of this from the government, and from folks trying to help, President Biden is going to be coming to Hawaii on Monday. And I'm wondering what you want him to see or what you want him to hear.

MANINA: I just hope that more of the truth comes out. A lot of what's being shown on the news isn't really what's happening here in Maui. A lot of donations and things are being blocked by the Red Cross and FEMA and so the Ohana, the whole island of Maui has come together to help each other. I think everyone's a little bit let down at the lack of response from our government. I can't really speak to anything that would be said to Biden, we're all a little let down, honestly.

BOLDUAN: I wanted to ask you, the FEMA Administrator, she was on the ground, I think they said like 72 hours after the fires started. She was on CNN on Wednesday and asked about some of the questions around the response so far. And she said this, Jess. She said there are a lot of resources on the island. But we understand that we have to be able to get out into the community and help get that message out there. What do you think of that? MANINA: I think there's a huge lack of communication. I think the people of this island are -- there has never been more community that I've seen in my entire life, which is why I opened my shops here to cater that. The people have rallied together far more than any government has so far. Our Walmarts and Targets are empty, because all of our people here on Maui have gone to buy a brand new supplies for all of us who have lost stuff. And if it wasn't for them in these donation centers, centers that FEMA and Red Cross have not set up. Or our personal donations we do have GoFundMes and Venmo set up all of us personally, I wouldn't have food on my table with.

It's not direct money or direct funds, or food and donations, like we really kind of need to see and the Maui people have come together in tremendous ways to make that happen.

BOLDUAN: Jess, I'm so sorry that we're meeting under these circumstances, you and your family and your community, you've lost so much and figuring out what's next is even is a tough thing to even ask. But I think when you talk about vision boards, there's a vision board needed for sure for so many people right now. Thank you so much for coming on.

MANINA: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: Thank you. If you want to learn more about how you can help the victims of these wildfires you can go to CNN.com/impact. John?

BERMAN: All right, this morning, a major category four hurricane named Hilary is headed toward California with winds of 145 miles per hour. You're looking at live pictures. You can see the dark clouds of this storm menacing Cabo San Lucas right now. The storm will pass over that peninsula and head right toward California. It is expected to weaken but even so a storm like this hitting word is forecast to it is extremely rare and extremely threatening.

There are new flood alerts going out to places that have never been issued flood alerts like this before in the history of recording flood alerts. Meteorologist Allison Chinchar joins us now with the forecast here. What do you see?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right. So we just want to give you the update because we just got a brand new update at the top of the hour from the National Hurricane Center. And for the first time the National Hurricane Center has issued its very first tropical storm watch ever for the state of California. This is for mostly Southern California. It does include San Diego but stops just short of Los Angeles continuing through Orange County not quite up through Los Angeles County. But it's one of many watches and warnings that are out as you stretch down through Baja California down there.

[11:15:10]

And it's anticipation of this storms forward movement. Still a category four right now, winds sustained at 145 miles per hour moving to the northwest and about 10 miles per hour. We do anticipate this storm is going to maintain its strength for a little bit longer before finally starting to weaken as it makes its way up along the Baja California coast before finally pushing into California most likely is just a tropical storm. And the main reason for that is it's going to be heading into much cooler water. And that's really going to allow for Hilary to weaken considerably as we push into the weekend.

The biggest concern out of this storm is really going to be the rainfall across the southwestern U.S. You have the extremely rare high risk warning across portions of California, a much wider scope have a moderate risk that includes Las Vegas stretching down into San Diego. The main concern is that rain widespread, two to four inches of rain total. But there will be some areas that could pick up 8 to even 10 inches of rain.

And look at what happened to Death Valley, California when they had just an inch and a half of rain last year. So we are definitely looking at some significant impacts from this through the weekend.

BERMAN: Did I hear you right, this is the first ever tropical storm alert issued for Southern California?

CHINCHAR: It is in fact the very first tropical storm watch ever issued for the state of California by the National Hurricane Center. Yes.

BERMAN: OK. Historic again, even if this does weaken, this is something this region does not see and reason to be careful. Allison Chinchar, thank you very much. Sara?

SIDNER: Absolutely true. Having lived there, this is rare.

All right, former President Trump's lawyers are now requesting his federal election fraud trial be delayed by more than two years. But prosecutors are asking for a much quicker trial. Ahead, when the judge will decide the date.

And minutes from now, an historic summit at Camp David. We will bring it to you live.

Also Ukraine has ramped up missile strikes on Russian occupied Crimea in recent weeks. But is this an effective strategy, U.S. military officials weighing in on their concerns, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:21:48]

BERMAN: All right, how about the day after never, not really. But you get the sense they could if they would. That is the new proposal from attorneys for Donald Trump for when they want to begin to trial, the federal trial and charges to overturn the 2020 election. Now federal prosecutors proposed January 2024. The Trump team wants April 2026.

With us now defense attorney and former federal prosecutor Shan Wu. That's a big gap there, Shan. Let me read you what the Trump team put forward. They said, even assuming we begin reviewing the documents in the case today, we would need to proceed at a pace of 99,000 pages per day to finish the government's initial projection by his proposed date for jury selection. That is the entirety of Tolstoy's War and Peace cover to cover it 78 times a day, every day from now until jury selection. Your take on a proposal.

SHAN WU, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: I think they're hoping that the judge will split or fraction the baby and that gets them to the point where they want to get. That's a kind of a ridiculous proposal to delay two years. I mean, it may as well just say stayed the case until post presidency that would be more honest on their part. All those analogies and models they put forth about this impossible amount of paper to read.

First of all, this is not paper. This is the 21st century, since the late 20th century, they've been doing electronic discovery. And there's methods of going through, doing keyword searches. This is not like the days where you have boxes and boxes of paper and they're looking at each individual one. There's also tons and tons of duplicates in there, for example, multiple copies of the same e-mail, which is why you use electronic discovery. So that's really just an exaggeration trying to pose it that way. And it's good posturing. But any sophisticated judge and this judge is quite experienced, we'll see through that right away.

BERMAN: So one of the arguments that Trump team is making, not just here but elsewhere, is he has so many trials, that it's hard to coordinate them on the overlap and so you need to space them out way out over time. No, I didn't realize I think I learned this in "The Washington Post" overnight, that judges in these cases, they can talk to each other. They can check in with each other and perhaps coordinate to an extent the schedules, yes. How would that work?

WU: Absolutely. There's nothing prevents them from speaking to each other. It's not as though that somehow prejudice is the merits of the case is that prosecutors can talk to each other too just on scheduling coordination or more substantive issues. I think this has some legitimacy to it because there are genuine court dates, genuine scheduling issues that have to evolve. I think the Manhattan DA, Alvin Bragg, already indicated he was willing to step aside to let the Feds go first. I don't know that conversations happened with Fani Willis in Georgia.

I don't know that. Well, I think it's completely unrealistic her case to get to trial faster than Jack Smith's election interference case because there's this so big and comprehensive. But the judges speaking to each other whether it's, you know, a state judge talking to a federal judge or state and federal judges talking to each other. That's just a natural part of judicial administration.

[11:25:04]

BERMAN: I guess my question is, does it go from can to should? Should judge it Aileen Cannon, the Trump appointed judge overseeing the Mar- a-Lago documents case, should she speak to Judge Tanya Chutkan, the Obama appointed judge overseeing the case to overturn the election in 2020, should they get together and talk? WU: That would make a lot of sense to do. They're obviously not obligated, although, you know, if everyone goes their separate ways, and they just set their dates and they want to hold to them. Obviously someone is going --

BERMAN: Let me just jump in here. You're looking at the Laurel Cabin, outside of the Laurel Cabin at Camp David in Maryland. This is the beginning of the historic trilateral summit between the United States, South Korea and Japan left to right on your screen there is the South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, President Biden in the middle there, and then the Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

This is really a first of its kind meeting between these three leaders. They are getting together to come up with some formal proposals for security, both literal military security and economic security in the Pacific region to counter the threats from China and North Korea. We're going to have much more on the significance of this meeting. We're also going to get our first quick look at them as they sit in a room and begin to talk to each other, so standby for that.

I wanted to thank Shan Wu, whom we were speaking with just a moment ago on the trial dates facing Donald Trump, so much more on that and this historic summit at Camp David. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Welcome you both here today to inaugurate the Camp David trilateral between our three nations, among our three nations.

BOLDUAN: We're listening now to President Biden at the beginning of this historic summit at Camp David. Let's listen in.

[11:30:00]

BIDEN: It's the first-ever standalone summit between the leaders of Japan and Republic of Korea and the United States.