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CNN International: 3 Dead, Dozens Injured After Tornado Hits Texas Town; Trump-Appointed Judge Jump-Start Oversight of Documents Case with Order on Security Clearances; Republicans Renew Scrutiny into Hunter Biden; Several U.S. Government Agencies Hit by Hackers Exploiting Flaw in "MOVEit" Software; Ukraine Claims Partial Success in Several Areas; Greek Coast Guard: 9 Crew Members of Boat Arrested on Suspicion of Human Trafficking. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired June 16, 2023 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a warm welcome to our viewers in the U.S. and all around the world. I'm Max Foster. Bianca off today. But just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People were climbing out of rubble. There was a fire nearby. It was just a really, really horrible scene.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the first order from Judge Aileen Cannon since former President Trump was arraigned earlier this week. In this order she is urging the lawyers for both sides to have their security clearances in place as this goes forward.

FRANCIS SUAREZ, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I believe America is still a shining city on a hill whose eyes of the world are upon us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Max Foster and Bianca Nobilo.

FOSTER: It is Friday, June 16th, 9:00 a.m. here in London, 3:00 a.m. in northern Texas. Where a small town is reeling after a deadly tornado touched down. At least three people were killed and dozens more injured on Thursday when a tornado carved a mile and a half long path of destruction through the town of Perryton near the border with Oklahoma.

The damage is heartbreaking. Many people lost everything. Officials say as many as 200 homes may have been damaged. A mobile home park was especially hard hit. Local high school has opened its gymnasium for shelter. Nearby communities and state agencies are rushing to send help. The town is currently without electricity. The hospital is operating a generator power. XL energy says it has power down facilities for safety purposes whilst they assess the damage. The tornado that hit Perryton, Texas was part of an outbreak of severe

storms stretching across much of the U.S. There were more than 200 storm reports on Thursday and it's not over yet. More than 50 million people are under threat of severe storms today. CNN meteorologist Chad Myers has the latest.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, what a day it was on Thursday across parts of North America with at least seven tornados reported. One of them or two of them may have actually been stronger than the tornado that did hit Perryton, Texas. This is an area here across parts of Oklahoma and Texas that widely scattered people. These towns are 20 kilometers apart, ten miles apart before we actually see from one down to the next. And when we have a day like today, we just hope that those tornadoes miss all those towns. Well, today that wasn't one of those days.

Also with the hail that came a down, some of it 4 inches in diameter. And you kind of look at that and you go, wow, that's 10 centimeters, that's a big hail storm. Especially a terminal velocity hitting your roof or hitting your car, maybe even anyone that's outside.

There will be more weather for you for tomorrow kind of sliding across from the northwest to the southeast almost in the same areas. This is an area we're mostly concerned with. Likely not as many severe weather reports tomorrow as we had on Thursday -- or Friday and Thursday. But other than that really, I mean, there's going to be an awful lot of rainfall as well. Some spots will pick up enough rain that could make some flash flooding, that's the next risk as he storms continue to the southeast.

FOSTER: Our storm chaser Bryan Emfinger is calling in right now. He was in the town of Perryton, Texas as the tornado hit. Thank you so much for joining us. You took some drone footage, didn't you? Just talk us through what you saw there in terms of damage.

BRYAN EMFINGER, STORM CHASER WITNESSED TORNADO IN TEXAS (via phone): Yes, you know, when I thought that the tornado developed, it developed basically right on the edge of town and moved across. And I could see that there was, you know, a lot of debris in the air immediately. So I knew that lot of homes and businesses had been damaged and destroyed.

But it wasn't until putting up the drone, you know, that you really get a sense of the scale and basically that the tornado cut a path right across the center of town from southwest to northeast across the entire town. It went through residential areas where mobile homes, many mobile homes in one mobile home park were just completely destroyed.

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Then it went across the downtown area. And so, the heart of the city also heavily damaged and buildings destroyed.

And then on the east side of town, it went through the industrial park where all the, you know, main businesses and a lot of employment of the town is. So it really just carved a horrible path across the entire town.

FOSTER: Did you expect this path -- did they expect it to take this path?

EMFINGER: Well, the main issue is just that the storm -- the tornado developed very rapidly from a storm that, you know, just minutes before didn't really look like it was about to tornado. So the warning came in basically when the tornado did. They were pretty much simultaneous. So the people didn't really have a whole lot of time. That was no fault of the weather service. Sometimes, you know, tornadoes develop rapidly. You know, this was one of those instances where that was really the main issue.

You know, when I saw that -- especially that mobile home park, that was the first thing that it hit whenever it formed and it just happened to be right there, probably the worst place that it could have hit in the whole town. And, you know, the destruction kind of shows.

FOSTER: When we look at your images is just extraordinary to think that there weren't more casualties. Are you surprised by that as well?

EMFINGER: Absolutely. Whenever especially again that mobile home park, you know, and that is when the tornado was weakest. And it got stronger from that point on. At least it appeared to be stronger. And when I first saw those images that my drone was capturing, I just had a sinking feeling. Just didn't think that considering that the tornado formed, you know, kind of rapidly, maybe people didn't have a chance to get to their safe room. You know these people are pretty weather aware out in this part of the country. But still, when a tornado forms that rapidly and the warning comes, you know, basically as a tornado is touching down, and then it hits a mobile home park, that's almost kind of like worst case scenario. And so, if the count stays as low as it is, it really is a miracle.

FOSTER: What help do they need and are they getting it?

EMFINGER: Yes, so whenever I was there most of the help was from neighbors. You know, people were just helping each other. People from parts of the town that weren't hit were traveling into the damaged areas. You know, I just saw so much -- so many amazing things. One that sticks out is there was a home that was in the road, it got destroyed and the pile of debris of the home was in the road and the road needed to be cleared and bulldozed. And so, just 50 people were out there digging through the rubble to get stuff to try to save before, you know, everything was bulldozed away.

I know probably another thing besides just manpower for helping doing things like that is, you know, it's going to be hot, you know. And there's a lot of people that are going to be without power. There's a lot of people that do not have homes and need places to stay. And I know those are big asks, but, you know, there is hundreds of people that are now homeless in this town and, you know, and they're going to be dealing with, you know, electricity that's out at least for the next few days. And so, you start thinking about water, you know, food. I know that I've heard officials call for just about anything that anybody can give them, they need.

OK, Brian Emfinger, thank you so much for sharing those incredible images. And our thoughts with everyone there today.

And more severe weather to tell you about as well. A flash flood emergency is being issued for parts of northwestern Florida. The National Weather Service says the Pensacola area could see intense rain of up to 12 inches or more than 30 centimeters which is potentially life threatening. Around 100,000 people are in the flash flood zone.

We are hearing for the first time from the Trump appointed judge who will preside over the federal criminal case against the former president. Judge Aileen Cannon has given attorneys five days to notify her on the status of the necessary security clearances in the case and we're told Trump's legal team has already reached out to the Justice Department. CNN's Paula Reid has those details.

PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: This is the first order from Judge Aileen Cannon since former President Trump was arraigned earlier this week. In this order she is urging the lawyers for both sides to make sure that they have their security clearances in place as this goes forward. She asked the Trump lawyers to be this touch with DOJ by Friday and then gives them five days before they have to give her an update on their progress.

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That's a pretty tight time line and that's so significant. Because here one of the main tensions between the prosecution and the defense is how quickly this is all going to move. The special counsel has said, he wants a, quote, speedy trial. But the Trump lawyers have every reason to want to delay this until at least after the 2024 election.

And the judge here has considerable power over how quickly this moves. And that comes in part from all these little decisions that she makes about how quickly things should happen here. So it's interesting that her first scheduling order is a pretty tight time line. But ultimately the Trump legal team is not finalized yet, so there could still be additional lawyers that still need to get their clearances that'll drag this out. And while these all seems like kind of small trivial matters in the grand scheme of things, the fact is that days or weeks that this gets dragged out, those add up and could make the difference in terms of whether this trial happens before or after the 2024 election.

Paula Reid, CNN, Washington.

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FOSTER: Republican supporters of Donald Trump have adopted a simple response to the former presidents growing legal problems and that's Hunter Biden. U.S. House Republican James Comer and others are demanding the FBI turnover a document that alleges the president's son was involved in a bribery scheme many years ago. But so far there's been nothing to back it up. CNN's Sara Murray has those details.

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SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A bold and unsubstantiated claim from a senior Senate Republican.

SEN. CHUCK GRASSLEY (R-IA), JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: The foreign national who allegedly bribed Joe and Hunter Biden allegedly has audio recordings of his conversation with them, 17 such recordings.

MURRAY (voice-over): Even prompting members of his own party to pump the brakes.

SEN. RON JOHNSON (R-WI): I'm not aware that we have verified that those recordings exist.

MURRAY (voice-over): Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says a foreign national has audiotapes of Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden related to an alleged bribery scheme involving the foreign national when Biden was vice president. The existence of the tapes allegedly documented in an FBI document known as an FD 1023.

GRASSLEY: These recordings were allegedly kept as a sort of insurance policy for the foreign national in case that he got into a tight spot.

MURRAY (voice-over): Now Grassley tells CNN even he isn't sure if the tapes are real.

GRASSLEY: I just know they exist because of what the report says. Now maybe they don't exist, but how will I know until the FBI tells us, are they showing us their work?

MURRAY (voice-over): This, as fellow Republicans, question the legitimacy of the tapes and the motivations of the foreigner making these salacious claims.

REP. JAMES COMER (R-KY): We don't know if they're legit or not, but we know that the foreign national claims he has them.

JOHNSON: This could be coming from a very corrupt oligarch who could be making this stuff up.

COMER: The Committee on Oversight and Accountability will come to order.

MURRAY (voice-over): The tapes are the latest unverified allegation Republicans have raised as they investigate the Biden family's business dealings and the work of the FBI. When these allegations came to light under the Trump administration, then Attorney General Bill Barr tapped Pittsburgh U.S. Attorney Scott Brady to look into them. Investigators were unable to corroborate the claims.

REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): It was thoroughly checked out by the Trump Justice Department and they couldn't find anything there.

MURRAY (voice-over): But some of the allegations were passed along to Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss, who was overseeing an ongoing criminal investigation into Hunter Biden.

BILL BARR, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: It was provided to the ongoing investigation in Delaware to follow up on.

MURRAY (voice-over): On Capitol Hill this week, the FBI's deputy director refused to discuss the tape.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): Do you have those 17 recordings?

PAUL ABBATE, FBI DEPUTY DIRECTOR: I'm not going to comment on any investigative matter, Senator.

MURRAY: Now the FBI has repeatedly stressed that this form at the center of it, these FD 1023s, they document unverified allegations. As for the White House, it has dismissed the claims against Joe Biden. In a new statement, White House spokesperson Ian Sams says everything in their so-called investigation seems to be mysteriously missing. Informants, audiotapes and most importantly of all any credible evidence.

Sara Murray, CNN, Washington.

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FOSTER: The 21-year-old U.S. National Guardsman accused of posting classified documents online has been formally indicted. Jack Teixeira is facing six counts of willful retention and transmission of classified information related to national defense. The was arrested and charged under the Espionage Act in April. The Justice Department says Teixeira took photos of documents marked secret and top-secret from a military base and posted them on social media. He's not yet entered a formal plea and remains in federal custody.

The U.S. is assessing the damage from a cyberattack on Thursday that impacted several government agencies. The breach is blamed on Russian hackers known for extorting ransom from their victims. CNN's Natasha Bertrand is in Washington with the details.

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NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Several U.S. federal government agencies have been hit in a global cyberattack in which hackers have managed to exploit a flaw in a widely used software.

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The U.S. Cyber Security and Infrastructure Security Agency told CNN on Thursday that it was, quote, providing support to several federal agencies that have experienced intrusions affecting their "MOVEit" applications and is, quote, working urgently to understand impacts and ensure timely remediation.

Now MOVEit is a widely used file transfer software that hackers appear to have found a vulnerability in, earlier this year and began exploiting in late May. Progress, the U.S. firm that owns the MOVEit software has now urges victims to update their software packages and has issued security advice.

Now so far, the U.S. Department of Energy is the only federal agency to confirm publicly that it was hit. Saying in a statement that records from two of its entities were compromised and that the department is investigating the incident.

So look, the hackers have used the vulnerability to target not only federal agencies but also state governments and academic institutions including Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and Georgia Statewide University System.

In terms of who is behind the hack, a Russian speaking ransomware group known as "Clop," last week claimed credit for some of the cyberattacks which have also affected employees of the BBC, British Airways, oil giant Shell and state governments in Minnesota and Illinois, among others.

But while Russian hackers were the first to exploit the vulnerability, experts say that other groups may now have access to software code that is needed to conduct attacks and are simply taking advantage of it. So broadly the new hacking campaign really shows the widespread impact that a single software flaw can have if it's exploited by these skilled criminals and it's putting new pressure on federal officials who have pledged to combat the ransomware attacks that hobbled schools, hospitals and local governments across the U.S.

Natasha Bertrand, CNN, Washington.

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FOSTER: Ukraine says its military offensive is showing results but the pace of that advance is open to interpretation. We'll bring you up to date with how much progress Ukraine has made so far.

Plus, one of Canada's worst mass casualty traffic accidents in years. Police are investigating how and why a semitrailer truck crushed into a bus full of seniors. What we know, next.

And a shocking development in the migrant boat disaster. Greek authorities have now arrested some of the survivors who were rescued from the ship wreck. Those details when we come back.

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FOSTER: It's a marathon not a sprint. That's how the U.S. defense secretary is describing Ukraine's ongoing offensive against Russian forces. In a new statement released a short time ago, Ukraine says Russia is putting up desperate resistance around Bakhmut were Ukraine says it's been advancing. You can see some of the fighting in this video from Bakhmut.

Kyiv also says that it has made a partial success in several areas including liberation of multiple settlements in the Zaporizhzhia region. And in some areas Russian troops are reportedly trying to get on the offensive. Salma tracking all of this. And that would be a very powerful symbolic gain making progress in Bakhmut.

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, but take it bit by bit, right? Slow but gradual, steady but sure, is the words that were hearing from Ukrainian military. And we just have a new statement from them that's been issued again. They are speaking of desperate resistance. They've been talking about how tough this fight is of course because Russia just like Ukraine has been preparing for months for this. They've been fortifying their positions along hundreds of miles of these frontlines. Digging in trenches, putting in anti-tank equipment, digging land mines to prepare for the advance of Ukrainian forces.

And perhaps the most heavily fortified area is to the south of Zaporizhzhia which is of course crucial for Russia. If you pull up a map, you will understand why it is that area south of Zaporizhzhia that builds that land bridge that connects Crimea, Russian occupied Crimea, to the rest of those frontlines. It connected to the Sea of Azov, the Black Sea.

Essentially it is the supply route. It is the source. Russia needs to hold on to that territory and Ukraine's plan -- again if you are just reading between the lines here -- is to try to punch through the defensive positions and cut off that land bridge.

Where are they on that? Well we're about a week now I think since President Zelenskyy made that acknowledgement I would call it, that the counteroffensive is underway. And they say in the pass week they've been able to take about 100 square kilometers, liberate 100 square kilometers, the Ukrainian military said, south of Zaporizhzhia, that's about 39 square miles.

And north towards Bakhmut, of course, as well, they say they've been able to push three kilometers. But this is going to be a tough fight. One that Russia is prepared for and one where Ukraine is going to have to find and capitalize on weaknesses.

FOSTER: Salma, thank you.

At least 15 people are dead and ten injured after a semitrailer truck collided with a bus carrying senior citizens at a level crossing in rural Canada. Police in the area say it's one of the worst traffic accidents ever in that province. Flags have been lowered at the provincial legislature. CNN's Paula Newton has more from Ottawa.

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PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Police officials were clear to say this was no local accident. In fact, they say that so many people are still reeling from what has become now a national tragedy. What we know -- we know that a group of seniors, about 25 of them, were traveling about a two-hour drive on a bus to go to a casino in Manitoba.

That casino, Sand Hills, confirms to CNN that they were supposed to be there throughout the afternoon. That bus approached a four-lane highway, and in attempting to cross it was hit by a large tractor trailer, a large truck.

Apparently, the accident scene for miles, there was smoke billowing flames. People rushed to the scene and attempted to help those who were there.

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But people describe a very grim scene with so many people having to be triaged there by the side of the highway. I want you to listen now to the police official describing what it's going to take now to try and figure out exactly why this happened. Listen.

SUPERINTENDENT ROB LASSON, MANITOBA RCMP: So this is -- this new for us and our investigators and it's very emotionally draining for them as well. And as I mentioned, this is a very complex, large investigation with lots of things we have to unfold and unpack.

NEWTON: Now, police say a forensic reconstruction team will be on the scene to try and figure out what happened. You have to remember, witnesses say that the skies were blue, the road was dry. There really isn't an explanation so far.

They also said a couple of other interesting things. They say that perhaps there was a stop sign missing there at the intersection. Police wouldn't speculate but say it's something that they're investigating. And also crucially that the two drivers had survived. And while they are injured, police will speak to them when it's time. And in fact, hospital officials say that they still do not have a status report on those injured.

Paula Newton, CNN, Ottawa.

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FOSTER: Greek authorities say they have arrested nine crew members of the migrant boat that sank early on Wednesday off the coast of Greece. They were apparently identified among the rescued survivors and are now being held on suspicion of human trafficking. The boat sank in very deep water and there's little hope of finding additional survivors. Many women and children were believed to be trapped below deck.

CNN's Melissa Bell joins us live from Kalamata, in Greece. This is a very deep area of the sea, which is why we're not going to, you know, potentially see all of the bodies come to the surface.

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Max. In fact, what you're talking about, it is about 50 miles off the coast here of the Peloponnese. It's an area of the Mediterranean that is 4,500 meters deep. The fear is that we may never know the true number of those who were actually on the boat nor their names. And the likelihood is -- the speculation is that it will probably never recover their bodies or the ship wreck either, Max.

750 though is the idea of the number of those who were on the boat -- given by some of the survivors. 750 including of course all those women and children that we now understand were inside the hold of the boat. For them there would have been very little chance. You're talking about a sinking that would have taken, say the group Coast Guards 10 to 15 minutes once it began.

Now the desperate search here in Kalamata has been on the part of relatives, those who could who rushed here to try and get news of the loved ones that they feared might have been on the boat. Of course, most have been disappointed.

But we have just seen this image this morning, Max, as the 104 survives were taken out of the hangar where they have been kept over the course of the last 24 hours or so and towards the Greek capital. A moment when one of those who'd come to try to get news was able to be reunited with his brother. Through a fence, but was able at least to see him, to touch him. Something -- a very moving moment of course to watch.

But most have been disappointed, either because they haven't had any access to the people, the loved ones that they know to have survived or much more frequently given the number of those who were killed. People who've come and found that theirs were not the names they were looking for were not on the list of the survivors. A huge tragedy of course on a human level. But that raises also, Max, important questions for the European Union and in particular countries like Greece and Italy that have been on the forefront of attempts by people to get across the Mediterranean to seek asylum here in Europe.

Over the course of the last few years they've long been calling for a better sharing of the issue amongst European countries. It seems the EU is about -- certainly moving closer towards a compromise that goes in their direction. These kind of ship wrecks, I do say many NGOs that are working here around the clock in Kalamata are likely to increase rather than decreasing here -- Max.

FOSTER: OK, Melissa in Kalamata, thank you.

The fighting in Sudan is now in its third month with no end in sight. More than 2,000 people have believed to have been killed and the U.N. reports most hospitals near the conflict areas are out of service now. Doctors Without Borders describes the capital of Khartoum as a profoundly chaotic and violent situation that almost defies comparison. Fighting broke out in April between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. In an exclusive report CNN's Nima Elbagir reveals how the notorious Russian mercenary group Wagner is involved in the conflict in Sudan. Here is a preview of a report.

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NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The fighting on the streets of Sudan is relentless. Ceasefire after ceasefire has not held. The RSF's key ally, the notorious Russian mercenary group Wagner, has been sustaining their fight and providing the impetus to slaughter innocent people by supplying arms. We're going to show you how.

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