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Trump Facing Mounting Legal Trouble in Several Probes; Zelensky Accuses Russia of Nuclear Blackmail; Study: Extreme Heat Belt to Impact U.S. by 2053; William Ruto Defeats Raila Odinga to Presidency in Kenya; Americans Moving to Mexico City for Cheaper Cost of Living. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired August 16, 2022 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:30:00]
CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Christina Macfarlane. If you are just joining us, let me bring you up-to-date with our top stories this hour.
Voters will soon decide the fate of Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney who is facing a tough primary race in Wyoming. Polls show a majority of Republican voters support Trump backed Harriet Hageman.
And the U.S. Justice Department will not release details of its search into Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home. The DOJ says doing so would compromise the criminal investigation.
We've heard a lot of different stories from Donald Trump since federal agents recovered 11 sets of classified material from Mar-a-Lago. That includes some heated attacks on the FBI. On Monday the former president claimed agents stole his three passports along with everything else.
Calling it, quote, an assault on a political opponent at a level never seen before in our country.
One former Trump official tells CNN his messaging is nothing new.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEPHANIE GRISHAM, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Paranoia and anger, if I had to guess. I was actually speaking with somebody in Trump world today and we were actually talking about what it must be like. And you know, we saw some crazy things and he was always very paranoid. He always was very paranoid. That's something I've talked about before. Paranoid about leakers, et cetera. But he was also very paranoid about things. He thought people were stealing from him a lot. So today when I say the FBI stole my passport, that came as no surprise to me.
I think right now he's angry and he is paranoid. I would imagine he's nervous. There are so many investigations happening and so much news coming that it's hard almost to keep up with.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: Well, the former president's legal woes don't end with the Department of Justice. "The New York Times" is reporting that former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg is nearing a plea deal with Manhattan prosecutors. It comes just days after Trump spent hours pleaded the fifth in a similar civil probe into his business. CNN's Tom Foreman has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With legal battles raging all around Team Trump, the news out of New York is not good for the former president. Just days ago, he squared off against nearly a dozen assistant attorneys general on allegations he fraudulently raised the value of his company to get favorable loans, then dropped it to pay less in taxes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Trump, how do you feel?
FOREMAN (voice-over): Trump calls it a witch hunt that he reportedly took the Fifth hundreds of times despite a history of ridiculing those who do the same.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The mob takes the Fifth. If you're innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?
FOREMAN: A similar probe by the Manhattan district attorney is also still alive. In Georgia, a top political ally, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, has been ordered to testify about Trump's failed effort to overturn his 2020 election loss in the Peach State.
TRUMP: I just want to find 11,780 votes.
FOREMAN (voice-over): Trump's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, has been told he is a target and has been ordered to meet with the grand jury there this week. Those close to the losing candidate insist they did nothing wrong but questions have been raised about the legality of their pressure on state officials.
FANI WILLIS, FULTON COUNTY, GEORGIA DISTRICT ATTORNEY: We're going to look at everything until that investigation is complete.
FOREMAN (voice-over): And heavy legal fire is coming from Washington, D.C., too.
MERRICK GARLAND, ATTORNEY GENERAL: The search warrant was authorized by a federal court.
FOREMAN (voice-over): The seizure of reportedly classified documents from Trump's Florida home has triggered sharp questions for Trump and for the Justice Department from some Republicans.
REP. MIKE TURNER (R-OH): Show us the goods. We need to determine, is this a national security threat?
TRUMP: We fight like. FOREMAN (voice-over): But there is so much more. A federal grand jury is scrutinizing Trump's effort to overturn the election. And justice, along with the January 6th Select Congressional Committee is looking at Trump's role in the attack on the U.S. Capitol, of which he is also being sued by several police officers, injured in violence.
FOREMAN: In many of these cases, Trump's allies could ultimately face criminal charges and he could too. An idea that was long considered unthinkable for a former president. Yet political analysts note a former president behaving as Trump has was also considered unthinkable.
Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[04:35:93]
MACFARLANE: Now officials in Russian-controlled Crimea say at least two people were hurt after an explosion at an ammunition depot. The Russian defense ministry says a fire caused the ammunition to detonate. It comes just a week after a series of explosions caused major damage at a Russian air base in Crimea.
Well meanwhile, Ukraine claims to have hit a Russian base used by the Wagner paramilitary group in eastern Ukraine. Video posted on social media appears to show the aftermath of the attack and pro-Russian accounts links to Wagner say that there were casualties.
Now in Kyiv, Ukraine's president is accusing Russia of nuclear blackmail after days of shelling around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. The attacks has raised fears of a potential meltdown prompting grave warnings from world leaders.
Well for more let's get to our CNN's David McKenzie who is live for us this Kyiv. This statement, David, from President Zelenskyy, an attempt to galvanize the international community to take an even tougher stance on Russia against what is a very real threat here of nuclear disaster.
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christina, that threat hasn't gone away. And there've been ongoing attacks, shelling, rocket attacks in the region of that nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia. Now, it is important to stress that both sides accuse each other of these attacks. But president Zelenskyy as you say in his nightly address hitting hard at the international community asking for them to do more to try and secure the site to get Russian soldiers out of there that occupied it in March. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): If now the world lacks the strength and determination to protect one nuclear power plant, it means that the world will lose to terrorists. Yield to nuclear blackmail.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCKENZIE: Well, the U.N. secretary-general has been in discussions, Christina, with the defense minister of Russia trying to ensure some level of safety. But it's worth again remembering that this is right on the frontline between Russia and Ukraine. And those ongoing strikes put this entire area, the region in fact, in danger -- Christine.
MACFARLANE: And, David, moving to eastern Ukraine now. What more do we know about the circumstances around the attack on the paramilitary Wagner group?
MCKENZIE: Well, we've geolocated these videos and it's showing a devastating attack on this building in the east. Now according to a variety of sources, this was a base used by the Wagner mercenary group that has been notorious for its alleged war crimes both in Ukraine and frankly in other parts of the world.
This would be a significant blow, psychological more than anything, by the Ukrainian military. It points to a possible intelligence failure that revealed that base. In the last few hours though, Ukraine has admitted that they are taking -- losing some position to Russians in the very fierce fighting in the eastern part of this campaign where the Russians have been pushing incredibly hard with sustained artillery and rocket fire on that area of Donetsk. And you know, while the attention has been on the south and this very alarming situation at the power plant, in terms of the wider war, I think the east is really where the Ukrainians are digging in and trying to maintain their positions and not be overrun -- Christina.
MACFARLANE: All right, interesting. David for now thank you very much there. Live from Kyiv.
All right, still ahead, chaotic scenes in Kenya. First fights and chairs thrown moments before officials announce the winner of a presidential election.
Plus, researchers are warning climate change will make heatwaves in America even hotter and more frequent. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri will explain the extreme heat felt, next.
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: In a sobering study to show you what is happening across the United States. Of course, we've talked quite a bit about extreme temperatures but showing you what things could look like here in the next two to three decade, we'll break down the study coming up in a few minutes.
[04:40:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACFARLANE: Welcome back. More than 100 million Americans from Texas to the Great Lakes will be living in a so-called extreme heat belt in the next 30 years due to climate change. That's according to a new study from the nonprofit First Street Foundation which found that the current 7 hottest days of the year in the U.S. will increase to 18 by 2053. Temperatures could exceed 125 degrees Fahrenheit or 52 degrees Celsius on the hottest days of the year. CNN Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri has the details.
JAVAHERI: Good morning, Christina. Yes, this particular study a fascinating look here at how the climate change and extreme heat events are going to change across the United States in the coming decades. I want to show you this because First Street Foundation, it's a nonprofit group that analyzed this using peer reviewed extreme heat computer models to kind of analyze extreme temperatures around the United States. Models show you 2023 the estimation is that about 8 million Americans would experience at least a day of 125 degree heat indices across the U.S., namely around the Southwest. That's not too surprising of course. And here you'll notice a few scattered about the Central United States.
Now using this model extrapolating out 30 years, you can see about a tenfold increase, more than a tenfold increase in the distribution of extreme heat days, again 125 degree temperatures where over 107 million Americans, some in major cities across the Central U.S., and across areas as far south as Texas, as far north as the Great Lakes region, Chicago, St. Louis, Memphis, just to name a few cities that would experience the extreme temperatures.
And notice the disparity here when it comes to the duration of these extreme temperatures. We know the southern U.S. expected to have the highest increase here as far as how many days of such temperatures you experience. Right now, generally about seven or so days is what we're seeing across the United States of the extreme hottest days. This model suggests that the Southern United States will see the most dramatic increase in some areas, mainly across southern portions of Florida, Miami-Dade County in particular, as many as almost 40 days of temperatures of this magnitude.
So essentially when you have one week of a heatwave for some of these areas, and by heatwave, I mean significant heatwaves, this now could become a one month event and that's the dangers of a sobering study that has been released -- Christina.
MACFARLANE: Our thanks to Pedram.
OK. Kenya's election officials have declared William Ruto to be the country's next president defeating Raila Odinga by a narrow margin. But some of Odinga supporters tried to prevent officials from announcing the results.
[04:45:00]
Chaotic scenes at the national tallying center in Nairobi, authorities had to be called in to break up the fist fights and scuffles that you see here. In other parts of the country Odinga's supporters protested the results with some burning tires in the streets.
Well, CNN's Larry Madowo joins me now from Kisumu, Kenya. And Larry, I know you were there in Mr. Odinga's hometown when the results came in. Unsurprisingly, this is new leading to allegations of vote rigging by his campaign. So, what's going to happen next here?
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christina, it's not clear if William Ruto will ascend to the presidency in two weeks uncontested or if Raila Odinga's coalition will go to court to challenge his win, which is likely. They have seven days to file an election petition if they choose to do so. We'll hear in the hours ahead if that is their choice or whatever that decision is, but they contested that win because they said that they were not allowed to see the final outcome, the final result before it was announced as had been promised by the Electoral Commission here. And they even claimed that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission's website, its results service essentially had been hacked without providing any evidence.
So, this uncertainty about whether or not William Ruto will be the fifth president or there's a possibility that this all goes before the Kenya Supreme Court and as happened in 2017, the Supreme Court might decide to throw it out, annul the election and then Kenyans will have to do another repeat election. We'll have to wait and see. But William Ruto did accept his win and this is what he said afterwards.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM RUTO, KENYAN PRESIDENT ELECT: In this election, there are no losers. The people of Kenya have won because we have raised the political bar. I want to say that the people of Kenya led by the 14 million who turned up to vote are the biggest winners.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MADOWO: There are already congratulatory messages coming from regional leaders in Africa. It's a stunning reinvention for William Ruto who after the defeat of 2007 was charged with crimes against humanity and tried in the international court but those cases collapsed. Here in Kisumu which is the bedrock of Raila Odinga's support, there were celebrations here for hours before that announcement. It quickly turned into disappointment, heartbreak, anger, some protests and now they wait for what Raila Odinga and what he will do next -- Christina.
MACFARLANE: Yes, the opposite of what Kenyans wanted, another potentially contested election. Larry Madowo there in Kenya. Thanks very much, Larry.
Now social distancing may be a relic of the past for most of us now, but an updated booster shot could be in your future. The U.K. is the first country to approve one, it's made by Moderna and will target both the original strain of the virus and the Omicron variant. Health officials say it triggers a strong immune response to both strains of the virus and some of the Omicron subvariants.
All right, still ahead --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I grew up in New York.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: LA.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Atlanta, Georgia.
ERIK RODRIGUEZ, U.S. EXPATRIATE LIVING IN NEW MEXICO CITY: In San Diego my apartment was probably $2,500.
CULVER: For one bedroom?
RODRIGUEZ: For a studio.
CULVER: For a studio.
RODRIGUEZ: Here, I have a one bedroom and I pay $800 a month.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: Why some Americans are moving to Mexico City and working remotely and how that's impacting the local economy.
[04:50:00]
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MACFARLANE: Gas prices in the U.S. have now fallen for 62 straight days and that downward trend might continue to the end of the year, potentially dropping below $3 a gallon. AAA says the national average is now $3.95. The drop coincides with falling oil prices which hit a six month low on Monday.
Well meantime, due to the rising cost of living in the U.S., some Americans are finding it more practical to live and work in Mexico. But the influx of foreigners paying in U.S. dollars has some locals concerned about the economic impact. CNN's David Culver reports from Mexico City.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Look past the charming cafes, scenic parks, flashy apartments, and you'll see this capital city for what it's becoming, a refuge for migrants.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I grew up in New York.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: L.A.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Atlanta, Georgia.
CULVER (voice-over): Perhaps not the border crossing you expected, Americans leaving pricy U.S. cities heading south to work from home in Mexico City.
ERIK RODRIGUEZ, U.S. EXPATRIATE LIVING IN NEW MEXICO CITY: It is starting to feel like home. I've been here for several months already
CULVER (voice-over): Born and raised in the U.S., Erik Rodriguez hardly speak Spanish and admits he's not here to rediscover his Mexican roots so much as to save money.
RODRIGUEZ: In San Diego my apartment was probably $2,500.
CULVER: For one bedroom? RODRIGUEZ: For a studio.
CULVER: For a studio.
RODRIGUEZ: Here, I have a one bedroom and I pay $800 a month.
CULVER (voice-over): The State Department says 1.6 million U.S. citizens live in Mexico, but they don't say how many are living and working there on tourist visas. The Mexican government does not track that data either. But they recorded more than 5.3 million American tourists flying in during just the first five months of this year. Nearly a million more than that same period in 2019 pre-pandemic.
Rodriguez is among the unrecorded but undeniably present so called digital nomads, here officially as tourists. Most working remotely for U.S. companies still getting paid in U.S. dollars, allowing for a far more affordable life in Mexico.
RODRIGUEZ: I think there was a sense of, we want people to come here to stimulate the economy. Thank you for being here. But I know that recently there's been kind of complaints from locals about the effect that expats living here has had on their own lifestyles.
CULVER (voice-over): Sandra Ortiz (ph) is one of them.
SANDRA ORTIZ, MEXICO CITY RESIDENT: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE).
CULVER: The prices are going up high. She said it's difficult because a lot of these foreigners come in to have a bunch of money to be able to spend on some of these apartments and rents.
[04:55:04]
CULVER (voice-over): For more than 50 years, Ortiz and her four siblings ran a restaurant popular with locals on a prime corner in the increasingly desirable Roma neighborhood. But as prices climbed, Ortiz says it became unaffordable for the family.
And in February, she says they were evicted. All their belongings piled onto the sidewalk.
CULVER: You had five minutes to get everything out and move it out of the business?
CULVER (voice-over): So where do the locals go?
That's what we need to be asking ourselves, Fernando Bustos Gorozpe tells me. The pandemic, coupled with the global inflation have made matters worse, leaving locals in fear of a culture clash.
This is part of the problem, he says. The expats move here because it's cheap, not because they want to truly immerse in the local culture.
Families like the Ortiz's feel they're getting pushed out. Sandra and two of her siblings now working at another restaurant, no longer the owners. The thought of visiting their old restaurant, too painful. We went by renovations already underway, high end apartments coming soon.
David Culver, CNN, Mexico City.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: Now for fans of American muscle cars, it's the end of an era. Two of dodge's iconic models the Challenger and the Charger are being phased out after the upcoming model year as Dodge prepares for an all-electric future. But before that happens, Dodge is offering customized convertible versions of the two cars which will set the buyer back an additional $26,000. Dodge will also make a series of last-call special edition Chargers and Challengers.
And in the NFL, defensive lineman Carl Nassib tells CNN he's leaving Las Vegas and joining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Last year Nassib made history when he became the first active player in the league history to announce he's gay. This will be his second stint with the Bucs.
And that will do it for this edition of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Christina Macfarlane in London. Do stay tuned, "EARLY START" with Christine Romans is next.
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