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CNN International: 65 Million Under Heat Alerts Across the U.S.; Flood Watches in Northeast, Near St. Louis; Heat Wave to Intensify Across Southern Europe; Russia Attacking Odessa with Drones, Missiles; First Wagner Forces Arrive at Belarus Base; Judge Wants to Discuss Trial Date in Trump's Document Case; New Alzheimer's Medication Submitted for U.S. Approval; Top Investigator in Gilgo Beach Murders Say Every Step Let to the Suspect. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired July 18, 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]

CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a very warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and all around the world. I'm Christina Macfarlane in for Max and Bianca here in London. Just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: More record-breaking heat expected across the Southwest and more rainfall where we don't need it in the Northeast.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our increase in patients admitted with heat and humidity illness has skyrocketed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Most of the grain being shipped out of this Odessa port, one could understand that this city has major significance and could be one of the main targets for a Russian reprisal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't stay in extreme left or extreme right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think Trump makes it to the finish line. He will be so entangled in legal problems that he just doesn't make it that far.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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

MACFARLANE: It's Tuesday, July 18, 9:00 a.m. here in London, 4:00 a.m. in New York.

And we begin with extreme weather in the United States. 65 million people under heat alerts from Florida to California as far north as Kansas, plus millions more under flood watches. Forecasters warn record high temperatures will continue for the next few days as a heat dome scorches the Southwest. And that intense heat is spreading as far east of Mississippi. The same heat dome is bringing the threat of more flooding further north. Heavy rain is expected today from St. Louis to Nashville and 3 million people are under flood watches in New York and New England. Phoenix, Arizona is ground zero for the heatwave topping 110 degrees for 18 consecutive days. A least a dozen people have died this month from the heat. The Salvation Army has opened cooling centers and a mobile unit is delivering water, hats and sunscreen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. KARA GEREN, EMERGENCY ROOM PHYSICIAN, VALLEYWISE HEALTH: Some people get to the point where they are no longer sweating. A Lot of people are very lightheaded, dizzy, cramps, feeling very poorly and some people even have temperatures. We've had someone up to 110 degrees which is not oftentimes very fatal or certainly life changing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Well Death Valley in California hit 132 degrees Fahrenheit or 55 degrees Celsius on Monday. CNN meteorologist Chad Myers has more now on what we can expect later today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: More oppressive heat across the southwest with the heat dome right where it has been now for the past couple of weeks. Record-breaking highs likely across the Southwest. Now, there will be a bit of a break in the heat across parts of Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and even into north Texas by the time we work our way into Thursday. But where it has been hot, it is going to stay hot. Probably 100 to 150 possible record high temperatures broke just over the next few days in the Southwest.

And that's why we have these warnings posted. They don't post these just because it is summer. It has to be some threshold above normal. And look at the threshold above normal for Phoenix. You should be 107. You're going to 118. So, yes, obviously you get to that threshold. It's going to hot obviously in Death Valley, going to be hot in Bakersfield, hot in Palm Springs. And that is where it has been and really hasn't looked like it will change for a very long time. Here's next week and it just says above average.

Notice though this in the Northeast and in the East, significantly below average as we like to see some rainfall but not in the places that it's going to rain. Again, more flood alerts into the Northeast, Vermont and New Hampshire, with more and more rounds of showers. Now these are not the intense type of showers we saw last week that caused the significant flooding. The problem here with the watches is that there is no place for the water to soak in. One inch is just going to run off and into those creeks and streams.

Also a fairly strong threat there across parts of the Midwest southeast of St. Louis as one or two bands rolls through Nashville. This is just one computer model. Things could spread out left or right, east or west, but just know that it's heat, it's humidity.

[15:35:00]

When you get that type of weather out there, you can certainly get a lot of weather when it comes to very, very heavy rainfall. And that is what I think that we'll see in the East and then the continued hot weather in the West.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACFARLANE: Well southern Europe is also looking at another day of scorching heat. Spain, Italy and Greece are baking in temperatures well above normal for this time of year. Residents and tourists are looking for any way they could beat the heat. One climatologist compared the bubble of hot air in the region to a giant pizza oven. And the extreme heat is sparking wildfires across Greece and in Spain's Canary Islands, off the West Coast of Africa. Thousands have been evacuated as nearly 5,000 hectares have bushed.

CNN's Barbie Nadeau is live for us outside the Trevi Fountain in Rome. And Barbie, records today that parts of Italy could expect to see the highest temperature ever in Europe.

BARBIE NADEAU, CNN REPORTER: That's right, Christina. You know, this is extremely hot and there are a lot of people out here, a lot of tourists out there trying to enjoy their short periods of time in Rome under the sun. Now the Italian Health Ministry is saying to people, please don't outside under direct sunlight between the hours of 11:00 and 6:00 p.m., try to stay inside. That's when tourists -- they want to go to museums, to churches, try to be inside, but we're not seeing that happen.

The Italian authorities have initiated a new protocol in the emergency rooms and things like that to deal with heat related emergencies. You know, today is supposed to be the hottest day. And as you said, records might well be broken. And it's hot already and it's not quite -- not that late in the day that here. It's still morning -- Christina.

MACFARLANE: Yes, and it looks very busy for 10 a.m. understandable. Barbie Nadeau live there in Rome, thanks, Barbie.

And first convoy of Wagner military forces has arrived at an abandoned military base in Belarus and at least two more are coming. CNN has confirmed this through an analysis of satellite images. But the whereabouts of Wagner's leader who staged a brief rebellion against Russian leadership last month remains unknown.

Meanwhile in southern Ukraine, Russian forces have launched drone and missile strikes overnight against the Black Sea port city of Odessa. It came after Ukraine used naval drones to attack the bridge connecting mainland Russia and occupied Crimea. And Russia ended the Black Sea grain deal. CNN's Alex Marquardt and his team witnessed what happened overnight in Odessa.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: As what our CNN team has witnessed, a local military official saying that the air defense systems have been engaged in combat. That lines up with what we have seen, which is loud explosions in the distance, spotlights in the skies, and bright streaks flying across the sky several times behind me. What exactly those are, we don't know. They could be drones that are being shot out of the sky or some kind of other air defense, but it is clear that the city is engaged in defending itself.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACFARLANE: Well, CNN's Clare Sebastian joins us here to discuss. And Clare, I want to get straight to the evidence we're seeing with Wagner on the ground in Belarus -- the images coming into CNN. I mean, it's been a month since this failed insurrection and this is the first evidence we're seeing of the military on the ground.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: First actual view of what we believe to be Wagner fighters. I want to show you some of the images so as to try and explain what we're seeing. This is satellite imagery that shows -- I think you can see sort of the road looping around that -- that's an off-ramp from a highway heading into this military base in Belarus there. You can see a line of cars along that straight road through the middle of the picture heading into the base. We believe those are cars related the Wagner private military company because our team was managed to match them up with social media video, previously posted, showing a line of cars, a convoy -- this is it -- stopped at a highway in Russia flying Wagner flags.

Now what's striking about this one, the shear number of these vehicles that we think there's about 115 different vehicles in this convoy. Separately from that, we've been able to geo locate two more social media videos showing new convoys, each of them with around a hundred or so vehicles on highways in Russia heading we believe toward Belarus. So this suggests that Wagner fighters are now building up their numbers at this previously abandoned camp in Belarus.

Our team has visited this camp just a couple weeks ago and that there weren't any Wagner fighters there at that point. So this appears to be a relatively new development. We did have reporting around this. Ukrainian border guards have in fact believe that Wagner was already in Belarus. Belarus itself has said that Wagner was training its forces. But is important because even though, you know, President Putin says Wagner doesn't exist, it hints at potentially, you know, they're now close to the Ukrainian border -- a future role in the conflict. Also a destabilizing force in the region. So it doesn't even say I'll keep watching.

MACFARLANE: Yes, a significant development and of course we'll keep across these new images and anything more we see coming in.

[15:40:00]

Elsewhere, what more do we know of the damage that was caused to Odessa overnight and of course, the continuing fallout from Russia's retreat from the Black Sea grain deal?

SEBASTIAN: Yes, so on Odessa, I mean, I think Ukraine is interpreting this as revenge for the attack on the Kerch Bridge. Saying that Russia -- Russia's goal is to, you know, inflict world hunger. Odessa is of course, the biggest port in Ukraine. It was one of the three ports that were included in that grain deal. Six Kalibr cruise missiles -- according to the Ukrainian military -- were launched at Odessa. They say that they shot them all down along. They say they also shot down a number of drones north of Odessa and Mala Vyska -- another grain producing region. Damage caused were reported to the city's private homes. One man hospitalized in Odessa.

So a relatively large attack although most of it appears to have been thwarted. But it speaks to not only this ongoing pattern that we see from Russia of attacks but also potentially this revenge that Putin hinted at on Monday for the attack on the Kerch Bridge. And the fallout from this grain deal international alarm is mounting. Though of course Russia has left the door open to potentially rejoining they say if their conditions are met. We just don't know exactly what the threshold of that would be.

MACFARLANE: Yes, and interesting to see President Zelenskyy says the sea port should continue with or without Russia's participation. We'll wait to see what happens there. Clare, thank you very much.

Well we're following two major developments in the investigations into Donald Trump. In Georgia, the Supreme Court dismissed the former president's effort to shut down the Fulton County investigation into his attempt to overturn the 2020 results in that state. The court unanimously ruled that Trump hadn't demonstrated the extraordinary circumstances that would require their intervention. Charging decisions are expected soon.

And in Florida the Trump appointed judge wants to discuss the trial date for the classified documents case later today. CNN's Paula Reid picks up the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: This is a significant hearing because this is the first time that both sides of this case will appear before Trump appointed Judge Aileen Cannon. She is going to oversee this case from here all the way through a possible trial. And every decision that she makes could impact how this case ultimately turns out.

Now Tuesday's hearing is focused on how classified material is going to be handled during this case. But she's also told the parties to come prepared to talk about a possible trial date. Right now there's a tentative date for next month on the calendar, but that's not realistic. It's just a place holder.

The special counsel has said it is ready to go to trial in December. But defense attorneys for the former president say it's premature to even schedule a date. They would like to delay this until after the 2024 election. So all eyes will be on Judge Cannon for which way she leans on that question.

Now, the special counsel has also asked the judge to rule on some rules and guidelines about how classified evidence should be handled. Like any case, prosecutors have to hand over all the evidence they've collected to defense attorneys as part of the discovery process. But here in addition to the usual evidence, you also have classified materials. Prosecutors want some restrictions on the extent to which those materials can be shared with the defendants. But defense attorneys have raised some objections. It's unclear though what exactly they object to. But the longer it takes the parties to agree upon these guidelines for how classified materials are shared, that could potentially delay this trial. And of course that would be a win for the defense attorneys. So all eyes are on Judge Cannon on Tuesday.

Paula Reid, CNN, Ft. Pierce, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACFARLANE: Still to come, another ground-breaking drug shown to slow the progression of Alzheimer's has been submitted for potential U.S. approval.

Plus, investigators made a startling discovery at the home of a man charged with at least three murders in New York. We'll have the latest on that investigation.

And later, how on earth did an airplane's emergency evacuation slide wind up being in a neighborhood in Chicago.

[15:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACFARLANE: Welcome back. A judge has temporarily blocked a new law in the U.S. state of Iowa which bans abortions as early as six weeks. It comes in response to a lawsuit filed immediately after Iowa's Republican governor signed the restrictive bill into law on Friday. For now abortions will remain legal up to 22 weeks into pregnancy until the court issues a final decision.

And a new medication to help slow the progress of Alzheimer's could get U.S. approval later this year. Donanemab made by Eli Lilly could be the second drug of its kind to hit the market in 2023 to help millions suffering from the disease. CNN's Meg Tirrell has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christina, experts are saying we're seeing perhaps more momentum in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease than really ever before. The new results are on a drug called donanemab made by Eli Lilly, and they follow the full approval of the drug Leqembi on July 6. Which is the first drug ever proven to slow down the course of Alzheimer's disease, that loss of memory and the ability to think clearly and perform daily tasks.

Now donanemab has shown in full phase three trial results presented at the Alzheimer's conference and in Amsterdam, to slow down the progression of the disease by 35 percent. Now, trying to put that that different way, that was really an improvement of 4 to 7 months compared with a placebo over an 18-month trial. And so, this wasn't reversing the effects of the disease or even stopping the disease's progression, it was just slowing it down.

But experts say this is really progress and perhaps just the beginning of hopefully even better treatments that may come along in the future.

Of course there are side effects to think about with both of these medicines. They work by clearing the amyloid plaque buildups in the brain associated with Alzheimer's disease and that does come with side effects, specifically brain bleeding and brain swelling.

[15:50:00]

And that was seen with donanemab in the trial, more than 20 percent of patients experienced this. Most of that the company says was mild to moderate, but there were three patient deaths on donanemab attributed to that side effect. And so, these are conversations that patients and doctors will have to have about the risks and benefits of these medicines. But they say it's a very promising time.

You know, at the same time in separate data coming out around this same conference, we are learning about where Alzheimer's is most prevalent in the United States and that's estimated to be in East and Southeast. This is the first study really looking at a county level, making estimates of where this is most prevalent. The counties estimated to have the most are Miami-Dade County in Florida, Baltimore in Maryland, and Bronx County in New York. And that's because of the highest prevalence of older people and also people who are Black and Hispanic, groups that are known to have higher prevalence of Alzheimer's dementia. This is important because they say now this can help with planning and allocating, really budgeting and trying to be able to figure out how to treat these folks as the population ages -- Christina.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACFARLANE: Our thanks to Meg.

Now officials at the U.S. Federal Reserve are pushing for two consecutive rate hikes starting this month in order to fight inflation. News on a July hike that's due after the Federal Open Markets Committee meets next week. But officials are already eyeing September for the second consecutive hike.

Meantime a new U.S. retail sales report will come out today. It could sway the Fed's decision depending on whether Americans are spending or not. Those financial markets are hoping to keep Monday's momentum going. Let's take a look at the future indices there. You can see Dow futures are up just over 0.03 percent. And Nasdaq futures down. On Monday, the Dow gained nearly a quarter of a percent. The Nasdaq finished nearly a full percent higher. And S&P 500 gained 0.4 percent.

Police say the wife and daughter of the man charged with three of New York state's of Gilgo Beach murders were shocked, disgusted and embarrassed when they were told to suspect Rex Heuermann -- suspect Rex Heuermann was living a double life despite the large amount of tips and evidence gathered by a local police commissioner. He says there has always been reason to link the suspect to the case. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY CARTER, SUFFOLK COUNTY DEPUTY POLICE COMMISSIONER: In the case with Rex, every investigative step that we took failed to eliminate him. And it caused the task force to continue and narrowed their focus. And while he became a person of interest, every step that we took let us further and further down that road.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: But now more troubling information continues to come in as police dig for the truth. CNN's Brian Todd has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The investigation of Gilgo Beach, New York, serial killing suspect Rex Heuermann intensifying. Officials found more than 200 firearms in a walled-off vault behind a locked metal door in the basement of Heuermann's Massapequa Park, Long Island, home. And investigators were still removing the guns on Monday afternoon.

None of the women Heuermann is charged with killing were gunshot victims. But authorities have also searched a storage facility nearby, a source telling CNN they're trying to pinpoint whether Heuermann kept any souvenirs, items belonging to the victims.

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: In these serial killer cases, what we see in offender characteristics is that they keep things from victims so that they can use them to relive the murders, to fantasize about it again.

The Gilgo Four was a group of four women whose remains were found near Long Island's Gilgo Beach in 2010. The case went cold, but using surveillance, DNA technology and combing through phone records, investigators zeroed in recently on Heuermann and arrested him on Thursday.

He's charged with murder in the killings of Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, and Amber Costello. And court records say he's the prime suspect in the death of a fourth woman.

RAYMOND A. TIERNEY, SUFFOLK COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: That investigation is continuing with regard to Maureen Brainard-Barnes. And, you know, we feel confident that -- that we're going to be able to eventually charge that murder. But we're not going to put a timeframe on it.

TODD (voice-over): But those four women are among 11 sets of human remains that were found scattered across the south shore of Long Island between 2010 and 2011.

CASEY JORDAN, CRIMINOLOGIST AND BEHAVIORAL ANALYST: Can they link him to the other seven? I think that short of a confession, maybe through let's make a deal, it's very unlikely that they would be able to link those to him forensically. It's too much time. TODD (voice-over): Prosecutors say Heuermann has led a double life.

REX HEUERMANN, MURDER SUSPECT: Rex Heuermann, I'm an architect. I'm an architectural consultant. I'm a troubleshooter. Born and raised on Long Island.

TODD (voice-over): In addition to owning and running an architecture firm, the 59-year-old is married and has two children.

JORDAN: The only way they can keep this trajectory of successful killing going is to have a double life or otherwise just move around constantly.

[15:55:00]

TODD: Authorities say Heuermann's wife and two children were out of state during the times that the three women, who he's charged with killing, died. Heuermann's wife and children are cooperating with investigators.

Heuermann has pleaded not guilty to the three murders he's been charged with so far.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACFARLANE: Well the deaths of four women in the Northwest region have been linked to one person of interest. That's according to the local district attorney. Their bodies were all found early this year. No charges have been filed in any of the cases and authorities aren't naming that person of interest. Investigators believe there is no active threat to the community.

Still ahead, Senator Joe Manchin once again proving to be a thorn in the side of his own party. We'll hear his thoughts about a possible presidential bid.

And two super powers are trying to find a way forward on climate change as scorching heat sears the planet.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACFARLANE: 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 is hour.

65 million people are under heat alerts across the U.S. and forecasters warn record high temperatures will continue for the next few days. The same heat dome is pushing more rain to the Northeast.

And later today, the Florida judge in Donald Trump's classified documents case is expected to discuss a potential trial date ...

END