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Liz Cheney Faces Tough Challenge in Wyoming; DOJ Targets Rudy Giuliani; Fears Growing Over Shelling in Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant; Dreams Frozen for Afghan Women. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired August 16, 2022 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. You are watching CNN Newsroom. And I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead, Donald Trump's legal woes are mounting with some of his closest allies being called to testify in election probes and the Department of Justice reaffirming the seriousness of its criminal investigation into classified documents seized by the FBI.

Primary elections will soon be held in Alaska and Wyoming where Republican Trump critic Liz Cheney faces a difficult fight to hold on to her House seat.

And China has reportedly sanctioned officials in Taiwan, claiming the recent visit by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi incited pro- independence activities.

UNKNOWN: Live from CNN center, this is CNN Newsroom with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Good to have you with us.

We begin this hour with the growing legal troubles for Donald Trump and some of his closest allies and advisers. First, the U.S. Justice Department is opposing the release of the affidavit used to get the search warrant for Trump's Florida home. The department says the ongoing criminal investigation involves highly classified materials. And making the details public could compromise their work and discourage cooperation from witnesses.

In the meantime, prosecutors in Georgia have notified Trump's former attorney, Rudy Giuliani, that he is a target in their investigation. They are looking at efforts by the ex-president and his associates to overturn the state's 2020 presidential election results.

And a federal judge has ruled that Republican Senator Lindsey Graham must testify before a grand jury in that same investigation. Giuliani's attorney says if they want to play hardball, we know how to play hardball. And Giuliani himself had this response. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER PRESIDENT TRUMP'S LAWYER: It's just a further desecration of the sixth amendment. I was his lawyer of record in that case. And the statements that I made are either attorney client privileged, because they were between me and him, or they were being made on his behalf in order to defend him.

When you start -- when you start turning around lawyers into defendants when they are defending their clients, we are starting to live in a fascist state.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: More now from CNN political correspondent Sara Murray.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Prosecutors investigating whether Donald Trump and his allies committed any crimes in Georgia in their efforts to overturn the 2020 election, have informed Rudy Giuliani as of Monday that he is now a target in their investigation.

Now this is a pretty stunning development, he is the person closest to former President Donald Trump that we have learned is a target in any of these investigations. Now we already knew that Giuliani had been under scrutiny by these prosecutors and they wanted him to appear before the special grand jury and give testimony on Wednesday.

Giuliani's attorney Bob Costello says he is still going to appear before the special grand jury, but it is unclear exactly what information he is willing to provide. Costello said that if prosecutors think Giuliani is going to answer any questions about his conversations with his former client Donald Trump, they must be delusional.

Now Giuliani appeared in Georgia multiple times in the wake of the 2020 election. He even appeared before lawmakers there, spreading conspiracy theories about the election results. Of course, we'll wait to see if he answers any questions about that in his Wednesday appearance. Back to you.

CHURCH: It is primary day in the U.S. states of Wyoming and Alaska. The big focus is on several prominent Republican women. Former vice- presidential nominee Sarah Palin is trying to mount a political comeback by vying for Alaska's at large congressional seat.

Alaskan Senator Lisa Murkowski voted to impeach former U.S. President Donald Trump, who has been lashing out at her and supporting her opponent, Kelly Tshibaka. But the most closely watched race will be in Wyoming where Representative Liz Cheney is in serious danger of losing her seat.

[03:04:54]

Cheney is an outspoken Trump critic and the vice chair of the House committee investigating the attack on the U.S. Capitol.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny explains what she is up against.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. LIZ CHENEY (R-WY): We have to set aside partisan differences and understand that there is something much bigger at stake here.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: On the eve of the Wyoming primary, Liz Cheney is in the fight to hold her congressional seat, even as she begins eyeing the next steps in a bigger battle ahead.

CHENEY: Many people will come to me and said I've never voted for you before, but I'm going to do at this time. And I say great, let us keep that going.

ZELENY: A Republican from one of the states most storied political families, Cheney has become a pariah in her own party. And she is turning to Democrats and independents for a last-minute lifeline.

ANNETTE LANGLEY, WYOMING VOTER: I never thought I would vote for Cheney. But she has earned my respect.

ZELENY: Annette Langley said she is a proud Democrat but she stood in line for nearly an hour to change parties and vote Republican.

LANGLEY: She might not win, but she needs as much support as possible for doing which she is doing.

ZELENY: The odds are long, considering how former President Donald Trump's shadow looms large in Wyoming. With the states rolling summer beauty has been punctuated by a scorching political campaign between Cheney and Harriet Hageman.

HARRIET HAGEMAN (R), U.S. HOUSE CANDIDATE, WYOMING: We are fed up with Liz Cheney.

(APPLAUSE)

ZELENY: If the crossover vote does not save Cheney, her admirers hope it could help avoid an embarrassing blow out. That Trump would revel in.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Liz, you are fired, get out of here.

ZELENY: Mike Sullivan is a former Democratic governor of Wyoming, who served three decades ago.

FMR. GOV. MIKE SULLIVAN (D-WY): Wyoming, always a trail blazer.

ZELENY: He planted a Cheney sign in his front yard to send a message for democracy and the rule of law.

SULLIVAN: Without regard to her politics, she has reflected herself as the leader. I think that history will prove and the legacy that she leaves will be a very impressive and important one. ZELENY: Joe McGinley, a former GOP county chairman in Casper said he

believes some Republicans are afraid to admit their support for Cheney, fearing the wrath from Trump and his loyalists.

JOE MCGINLEY, CHENEY SUPPORTER: There are a lot of people out there that are supporting Representative Cheney who are just afraid to speak out unfortunately.

ZELENY: The outcome of Tuesday's primate will make clear whether such a hidden Cheney vote exists, or if Republicans reward her for not changing positions in the face of the brutal campaign.

CHENEY: I will never violate my oath of office, and if you are looking for somebody who will, you need to vote for somebody else on the stage, because I won't.

ZELENY: These days Cheney is hard to find outside of friendly audiences at house parties, which aides a tribute to rising threats of violence. She told CNN last month that she was well aware of the headwinds facing her.

CHENEY: I don't intend to lose, but some things are more important than any individual office or political campaign.

ZELENY: Perhaps it's less a question of whether Congresswoman Cheney winds on Tuesday, then what she will do if she loses. Now of course, she does keep her position on the January 6 special committee investigating the attacks for the next several months. She also retains her congressional seat until early January. But her aides tell me that she is planning a longer-term battle against her ultimate quest. That's keeping Donald Trump out of the White House.

Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Jackson, Wyoming.

CHURCH: Joining me from Los Angeles is political analyst Michael Genovese, he is the author of "The Modern Presidency: Six Debates That Defined the Institution."

Great to have you with us.

MICHAEL GENOVESE, POLITICAL ANALYST: Thank you.

CHURCH: So, let us start with Liz Cheney who faces a tough fight in her Wyoming primary race in the coming hours. Because of her determined anti-Trump stance, how critical is this race for the Republican Party, and of course the nation, and if she loses, and most analysts say she will, how likely is it that she will run for president?

GENOVESE: I think the race is emblematic of pretty much everything that's going on in the Republican Party right now. Liz Cheney made the mistake of speaking truth to power. Always a dangerous thing, but in Trump world, it's even more dangerous.

Because Donald Trump loyalists are so passionately in his favor, and so strong in their commitment to him, that any deviation is dangerous. And so, if you look at the 10 Republicans who voted for impeachment of Donald Trump, two of them won their primaries, three of them lost, and fourth looks like tonight will lose. And four of them simply did not run again.

And that tells you how powerfully Donald Trump is seen in the party and how much control he has over the primaries. He's been able to both personalize, weaponized and nationalize the congressional races. Many local races tend to be local. And based on people liking their current, their member of Congress, Donald Trump has managed to completely change the mathematics of all elections. Maybe after Donald Trump, they want somebody who was squeaky clean. And that opens the door for Liz Cheney.

[03:10:02]

CHURCH: So, since last week's seizure of classified documents from Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home, we have seen an unprecedented increase in threats of violence against the FBI and others, with some even threatening civil war. How far might this go do you think?

GENOVESE: You know, this is unusual in American politics, because politics has always been a blood sport. It's always been tough. And there are some dirty politics involved. We've never been in a position since the Civil War where violence is openly discussed and threatened.

Online you see people saying, kill FBI agents, the FBI office in D.C. has been barricaded. This is unprecedented and Donald Trump encourages it. You will remember January 6th, we thought that was an aberration. We now know it's not. We know it's part of a strategy to weaponize politics. And his followers are very willing to go to the trenches for him.

This is unusual in American politics and it's very dangerous. You need Republicans to stand up and say, enough is enough. They did that in Watergate, they are not doing it now. And so, if Donald Trump is going to be stopped and if the violence will be limited, it has to be the Republicans who do it, it's their problem, he's there probably.

CHURCH: And as you say, they are not doing that yet. Donald Trump's shifting explanations for having those classified documents stored at his home have been stunning enough. But now with these threats on the rise, he says he would like to help bring down the temperature in the country of a fire that he actually stokes.

So, what is going on here and is this helping or hurting Trump politically as we get closer to the November midterms.

GENOVESE: It helps Donald Trump within the party, it hurts him nationally. And so, in the party, he has been able to really dominate the primary season. You know, when it first started, he lost a few and won a few. But since the early failings, he has been very, very effective in getting his people nominated and getting his enemies, sees them as enemies defeated in the primaries.

So, he has had a great effect within the Republican Party. Nationally, he has not been able to make that convert into either an independent or others who will vote for him and support him. And so, what he is doing he is strengthening his base, but narrowing his potential vote.

So, he's not doing himself any great favors after he gets out of the party. After he gets out of the party, he is really having many negative attitudes about him. And he doesn't have the support of independents.

CHURCH: And just very quickly, Rudy Giuliani has been told by prosecutors in Georgia that he is a target of the special purpose grand jury investigating whether former President Donald Trump and his allies violated the law in their efforts to change the 2020 election results here in the state of Georgia.

So, Giuliani went from being subject to being the target. What could this potentially mean for him legally? And how might this impact Donald Trump do you think?

GENOVESE: It's a huge step, to be the subject means that we are looking at something. To be the target means we are looking at you. And the grand jury is looking specifically at you as a potential person of perhaps an indictment. That's the wakeup call. It normally tells somebody to talk to your lawyer. And maybe approach the government to make a deal. That deal would involve basically turning over Donald Trump.

And so, Donald Trump probably is nervous about this. Rudy Giuliani is in his 80s, he doesn't want to spend time in jail. And so, the cost of staying out of jail might be to turn over everything you know about Donald Trump. This is really a worrisome time for Donald Trump in this regard.

CHURCH: Incredible last few days that we've covered there. And still so much more to do. Michael Genovese, thank you so much for being with us. I appreciate it.

GENOVESE: Thank you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: And still to come, what we are learning about a recorded strike on a Russian-backed mercenary group in Ukraine.

One year after the Taliban took over. They want billions in Afghan assets unfrozen.

And the global community wants girls to get an education. A report on all of that from Kabul, that's next.

[03:15:00]

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CHURCH: Officials in Russian controlled Crimea say that these two people were hurt after an explosion at an ammunition depot. The Russian defense ministry says a fire caused the ammunition to detonate. Evacuations are now underway, and it comes just a week after a series of explosions caused major damage to a Russian air base in Crime which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014. Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the incident.

Meanwhile, Ukraine says that its troops delivered a major blow to a notorious Russian-backed paramilitary group. Social media videos appear to show the aftermath of an attack on a base in eastern Ukraine, apparently being used by the Wagner Group, a private military unit. And pro-Russian accounts linked to the group say that there were casualties.

To the south, Ukraine is attacking bridges part of a campaign to cut off key Russian supply lines and loosen Russia's grip on the region.

For more, we want to bring in CNN's Clare Sebastian who joins us live from London. Good morning to you, Clare.

[03:19:56]

So, Ukraine's President Zelenskyy is calling for strict sanctions against Russia for nuclear blackmail around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. What is the latest on this?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Rosemary, fears are mounting around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant which is the biggest facility of its kind in Europe. Russia has been occupying that power plant since the early days of the war. And recently, we've seen an uptick in shelling causing international alarm.

What we are now seeing, far from withdrawing from the area as the international community has called for Russia to do. A local Ukrainian official has said that they are occupying administrative buildings in the area around the plant, bedding in as it were and President Zelenskyy really stepping up the rhetoric around this, calling for international action. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (through translator): Russia does not stop its blackmail actions at Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and around it. Provocative shelling of the nuclear power plant territory continues. Under cover of the station, the occupiers are shelling nearby towns and communities. The Russian military hides ammunition and equipment right in the station's facilities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN: So, a dangerous situation there, Rosemary. He is calling for international sanctions on Rosatom, which is Russia's nuclear monopoly. This would not be an easy task. Russia is a major player in nuclear supply chains around the world.

For example, the U.S. imported about 14 percent of its uranium for its own nuclear power plants from Russia in 2021. The E.U. imported about 20 percent of its uranium, so very intertwined in the world. We're back at this question of how to disentangle the sort of economic elements from Russia to reduce its leverage here.

And meanwhile, the situation around the plant remains the most immediate concern. There was a phone call on Monday between the Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu and the U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres no clear sign of progress between the two sides though on the path forward there.

CHURCH: All right, Clare Sebastian joining us live from London. Many thanks for that.

Basketball star Brittney Griner's legal team has filed an appeal against the Russian court's verdict. Griner was sentenced to nine years in prison for smuggling drugs into Russia. She was detained in February for carrying vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage.

The U.S. maintains that Griner has been wrongfully detained and is negotiating a potential prisoner swap with Russia in an attempt to bring her home.

Iran says that it's close to resuming its nuclear deal with the United States and other world powers. According to state run media, Iran's team has delivered a response to the latest E.U. proposal. Iran's foreign minister says Tehran is at the point of agreement if the U.S. is realistic and flexible.

The original 2015 deal was meant to keep Iran from developing nuclear weapons for 10 years. But then President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the agreement and hit Iran with new sanctions in 2018.

As the Taliban celebrates the first anniversary of their return to power, the U.N. warns that we must not forget the women and girls of Afghanistan. They have been systematically excluded from public life. Female students no longer allowed to attend secondary school.

CNN's chief international correspondent, Clarissa Ward reports from Kabul on the many ways Afghanistan has changed a year into Taliban rule.

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's a three- hour journey from Shakila's (Ph) home to the center of Kabul. But each morning she and other women make this walk, driven by hunger with the need to feed their children. Their destination is this bakery, one of many across the capital where crowds of women now sit patiently every day, quietly hoping for handouts.

So, all the women have been pressing pieces of paper with their phone numbers into our hands, they're desperately hoping that maybe we can help them.

Shakila (Ph) tells us on a good day they might get two or three pieces of bread. Every morsel counts.

Were you doing this a year ago, or has the situation become worse in the last year?

"There is no work this year," she says. "My husband has a cart, but now he only earns 30 to 40 cents a day."

One year after the Taliban took power, Afghanistan is isolated and increasingly impoverished. Largely cut off from the global banking system and the foreign aid that once funded almost 80 percent of this country's budget.

[03:25:05]

It is also unmistakably safer. One thing the Taliban has been able to improve is security. Outside Kabul's airport, shops are open and streets are calm. Excuse me, cover my face?

UNKNOWN: Cover.

WARD: Far cry from the chaotic scenes we witnessed last summer. He told me to cover my face. But he does not want to comment on that truncheon he's carrying.

Tens of thousands risked life and limbs to try to flee the country.

UNKNOWN: Stay behind them. Stay behind them.

WARD: Many feared for their lives. Others that the Taliban would take the country back to the Middle Ages. To these girls, that fear has come true. They were just a year out from graduating. The Taliban announced a de facto ban on girl's secondary education after sixth grade. Now they have improvised ways to defy the ban, setting up unofficial schools where they continue their studies.

Nahid Sadat's (Ph) dreams of a diploma may have vanished, but her drive has not.

UNKNOWN: I say to myself that I am so powerful. I'm strong. And these things can't break my hands and my dreams and what I want to do.

WARD: Do you ever feel scared?

UNKNOWN: Yes. It's so risky for us that we don't cover our face. And we study our lessons.

WARD: You are very brave.

UNKNOWN: Yes, I know.

WARD: Girl's education is one of the main reasons no country in the world has yet recognized the Taliban government. A point we put to foreign ministry spokesman, Abdul Qahar Balkhi.

When will the Taliban allow teenage girls to go back to school?

ABDUL QAHAR BALKHI, SPOKESPERSON, MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS: From the perspective of the government, there's a range of mix of issues that has led to the temporary suspension of secondary schools. The most important and significant part of this is that the policy of the government of Afghanistan is education for all citizens of Afghanistan.

WARD: And yet all the citizens are not currently able to get an education. What is the holdup? BALKHI: It seems that international actors are unfortunately

weaponizing the issue of education, instead of coming forward and interacting positively, they are trying to find moral justifications for some of the inhumane policies of sanctions, which is leading to the collective punishment of the entire people of Afghanistan.

WARD: Do you want to see girls going to school again?

BALKHI: The policy of the government of Afghanistan is very clear. And that is education for all citizens of Afghanistan.

WARD: The Taliban says it wants to see peaceful and positive relations with all countries, including the U.S. But those prospects were dramatically diminished when the head of Al-Qaeda, Ayman al- Zawahiri was killed by U.S. drone strike in a villa in downtown Kabul just over two weeks ago.

BALKHI: We've made it very clear that the government of Afghanistan was unaware of the arrival of presence of Mr. Zawahiri in Kabul. So far, we haven't been unable to establish as a fact -- as a matter of fact, that Mr. Zawahiri was indeed present in Kabul.

WARD: Isn't that almost more frightening, though, the idea that you are claiming potentially the leader of Al-Qaeda was here in the center of the city and you didn't even know about it?

BALKHI: Again, we contend that notion that he was even present here. But even if he was, these types of incidents happen everywhere in the world.

WARD: But they really don't. I mean, how can the U.S. possibly trust the Taliban leadership though to stay true to its promise that it will not allow sanctuary to be granted to terrorist groups?

BALKHI: If we look at the Doha agreement, the articles that define the commitments of the government of Afghanistan, all of them had been fulfilled. And if we look at the commitments that the United States of America has made, sadly, they have not fulfilled a single article. But we are hopeful and continue to urge the United States to adhere to that agreement.

WARD: It's a brazen position that complicates efforts to unfreeze funding, to help the Afghan people. Millions of whom remain hungry and reliant on the kindness of strangers.

[03:30:00]

Clarissa Ward, CNN, Kabul, Afghanistan.

CHURCH: And still to come, how the semiconductor business is taking center stage as U.S. lawmakers visit Taiwan amid growing tensions with China.

And later this hour, a new study warns California's climate could swing from one extreme to another. Details on the alarming risks of a so-called mega flood. That is still to come. [03:35:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Well, as we mentioned earlier in the hour, primary elections today in Alaska and Wyoming will test the continuing influence of former President Trump on the Republican Party. Wyoming is drawing the most attention. January 6 committee vice chair Liz Cheney is struggling to keep her seat in the House of Representatives against challenger Harriet Hageman.

Recent polls show Hageman who is endorsed by Trump leading by a wide margin. Cheney is the most prominent critic of Trump in the Republican Party. She voted with Democrats to impeach the former president, which tanked her poll numbers in the conservative state.

Well, state run media in China is reporting seven officials in Taiwan have been sanctioned for supporting independents for the self- governing island. A statement says pro-independence activities became more egregious after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan earlier this month. These officials and their family members were reportedly be banned from entering the mainland and the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau.

This move is in addition to the leaders China has previously sanctioned. Taiwan's foreign ministry quickly responded. Saying it cannot accept threats and intimidation from, quote, "an authoritarian regime."

CNN's Kristie Lu Stout joins me now from Hong Kong. Good to see you, Kristie. What is the latest on this continuing fallout in response to this second now U.S. congressional delegation visiting Taiwan?

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, more strong responses from China in the form of these new sanctions on seven Taiwanese officials. But also, more details about the latest U.S. congressional delegation to visit Taiwan being led this time by the U.S. Senator Ed Markey.

They have met with the Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and other top officials. They have also met with representatives of TSMC. This is Taiwan's chip making giant. On the agenda, to discuss ways to expand economic cooperation between Taiwan and the United States including investments in semiconductors, as well as how to improve the semiconductor supply chain.

Now earlier today, there was a tweet sent by Senator Markey, in which he described the nature of the visit. He said this, quote, "I am honored to have met with Taiwanese officials like President Tsai and Foreign Minister Wu. As well as the Taiwan semiconductor manufacturing company. The United States must continue to support Taiwan's meaningful participation in the international community," unquote.

Now this is very significant. The fact that Senator Markey and this entire delegation met with TSMC. This is the world's largest contract chip maker. It produces 90 percent of the world's super advanced computer microchips. It also comes at an interesting time.

Earlier this month, the U.S. President Joe Biden signed the CHIPS and Science Act, in order to boost the competitiveness of the America's own semiconductor industry. And Taiwan is playing a role in helping the United States to meet that goal. TSMC in fact, has already pledged about $12 billion U.S. dollars to help create a new chip fab in the U.S. state of Arizona.

So, it remains to be seen if this visit could lead to additional investments in the semiconductor space. Now, meanwhile, we've been monitoring comments from the Taiwan President, Tsai Ing-wen. And she did make a comment about the semiconductor industry.

I just want to quickly show this to you. She said this, quote, "the Taiwan Strait is the main route connecting the East China Sea and the South China Sea. Therefore, the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait is critical to the stability of the global high tech product supply chain, semiconductors, one area in focus during this visit. Back to you, Rosie.

CHURCH: All right. Thank you so much, Kristie Lu Stout joining us live from Hong Kong.

Well, chaotic scenes in Kenya moments before officials announced the winner of the presidential election. The results that sparked these skirmishes coming up.

[03:40:00]

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CHURCH: Kenya's new president elect is ruling out forming a government with his main rival. But William Ruto says there are some areas where he and other opposition leader Raila Odinga, Odinga, rather, can agree. Election officials on Monday declared Ruto the winner in last Tuesday's vote defeating Odinga by a narrow margin. He will be Kenya's fifth president since the country gained independence. And he won the office on his first attempt.

But it took almost a week to tally the votes. And some of Odinga's supporters rejected the results, throwing the race into chaos.

CNN's Larry Madowo joins me now from Kisumu in Kenya. So, Larry, a very divided response to the results of Kenya's presidential election. What is the latest on reaction to President-elect William Ruto's win?

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There is still a lot of celebration in parts of the country that support William Ruto, especially in the north where he comes from and other parts of the country. He has national support, we got to say that. But so does Raila Odinga. And those people who voted for Raila Odinga feeling still disappointed today and hoping that there is some way to turn this thing around.

[03:44:55]

We saw a lot of intrigue yesterday when just before the announcement there are some chaos at the national tallying center. Anti-riot police had to be called in to separate those supporters of Raila Odinga who did not want that announcement to be made. But even more fascinating was four commissioners of the electoral commission calling a separate press conference before the announcement and declaring that they could not support the final winner of the presidential election.

It was unprecedented. I've covered the elections in this country since 2007, I've never seen anything like that, Rosemary. And so, we expect to hear more from them. They only say that they couldn't trust the final outcome because the final bit of this election was opaque. They didn't give a lot of information. And therefore, it has led to some speculation about exactly what they meant.

But that all seemed to jive with what Raila Odinga team is saying. That this was not a transparent process and they were not allowed to verify the final outcome before William Ruto was declared president. So that chaos was the background for the declaration of William Ruto as president. And he addressed it directly afterwards.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM RUTO, KENYAN PRESIDENT-ELECT: What happened this evening is an unfortunate situation. I think that it is an attempt by our competitors to rollback what we have achieved as a country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MADOWO: What we have achieved as a country is something that many Kenyans are proud of. The fact that it is called a boring election it didn't see any violence during the election. And it's almost seven days that Kenya have to wait for presidential declaration.

The path forward for Raila Odinga here is most likely a challenge of the election in the Supreme Court. He has seven days to file a petition, and the Supreme Court will have 14 days to determine it. Rosemary?

CHURCH: All right, we'll continue this. Larry Madowo joining us from Kenya covering the elections there. Many thanks.

Just ahead, a new study warns that California could swing from one climate extreme to another. Details on the alarming prediction of a so-called mega flood. That's coming up.

[03:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Well, more than 100 million Americans will be living in a so- called extreme heat belt in the next 30 years due to climate change. That is according to a new study from the nonprofit First Street Foundation which founded the current seven hottest days of the year in the U.S. will increase to 18 by 2053.

And in that heat belt which would stretch from Texas up to the Great Lakes, temperatures could exceed 52 degrees Celsius or 125 Fahrenheit on the hottest days of the year. And scientists are warning of a disastrous event that could happen in California in the next four decades, and it's not an earthquake.

You are looking at what is now drought prone areas in the state that are predicted to one day be a vast inland sea. A new study by Science Advances shows that climate change has doubled the chances of what's called a mega flood. Climate scientists describe it as a severe flood across a broad region that has the potential to bring catastrophic impacts to society.

And I spoke earlier with climate scientists Daniel Swain.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANIEL SWAIN, CLIMATE SCIENTIST, UCLA: It sounds a little bit paradoxical to be talking about the risk of a severe flooding that in the midst of what is essentially a historic drought in California and in the southwestern United State. But it may see, it may be a little bit less paradoxical than it might seem at first glance because we know that in a warming climate, that the water vapor holding the potential of the atmosphere increases rapidly with rising temperatures.

So, that's one of the main reasons why the risk of extreme flood event in California is going up. The atmosphere can hold more water vapor, it essentially freezes the ceiling on how much intense precipitation can become. But it doesn't necessarily increase precipitation all the time.

In fact, that very same mechanism that increase in the water vapor holding the potential of the atmosphere also increases the severity of droughts. And we kind of think of it like the atmosphere are acting like a giant sponge that can soak up more water, potentially and squeeze it out in the form of increasingly extreme rainfall. But the rest of the time, it's just extracting more moisture from the landscape, leading to more drought.

CHURCH: So, what would a vast inland sea in California look like? And who would it affect?

SWAIN: Well, the last time the flood of this magnitude occurred in California was all the way back in 1862. It can be known as the Great Flood of 1862. And at that time, of course, Californian was much less urbanized and developed than it is today. There was about 400,000 people living in the state then as opposed to nearly 40 million today.

And California also lacked large water and flood control infrastructures. All those levies and dams that can mitigate flood risk under certain circumstances. So back in 1862, the Central Valley did indeed fill up like a temporary inland sea almost 300 miles in length. And that was incredibly destructive, as you might imagine to the adjacent towns and cities that were developing there as well as to agriculture.

Today, I don't think that we would see that same 300-mile inland sea because of the modern flood control measures that are in place. But the flooding would still be quite widespread. And there would be vast areas inundated that haven't seen flooding really in the recorded history.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And I also asked him what measures need to be taken now to reduce the risk of a mega flood. Take a listen.

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[03:55:06]

SWAIN: To increase, not just public awareness but also awareness among the entities of the state and regional and federal level that are involved in flood control and disaster preparedness, and to really highlight the fact that this is a risk that is increasing in a warming climate, even in the same warming climate that is simultaneously bringing an increase in drought and water scarcity to the same regions.

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CHURCH: Experts say the flood would be unlike anything anyone alive today has ever experienced.

I want to thank you for spending part of your day with me. I'm Rosemary Church. CNN Newsroom continues with Christina Macfarlane next.

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