Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

CNN International: Sen. Manchin Won't Rule Out Third Party Candidacy; U.S. Climate Envoy Meets China's Foreign Policy Chief; International Crews Battle Canadian Wildfires; U.S. Sending Fighter Jets in Response to Iranian Activities; Fighting Rages in Sudan as Conflict Enters Fourth Month. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired July 18, 2023 - 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: And later today, the Florida judge in Donald Trump's classified documents case is expected to discuss a potential trial date.

There's growing fear among Democrats that the -- in the U.S. that third party candidate could take away votes from President Joe Biden and hand the White House to Donald Trump next year. A Democratic Senator with a history of bucking his own party may be getting ready to enter the race. CNN's Jeff Zeleny reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Senator Joe Manchin openly flirting with a third-party presidential bid in New Hampshire.

SEN. JOE MANCHIN (D-WV): We're here to make sure that the American people have an option, and the option is can you move the political parties off their respective sides? They've gone too far right and too far left.

ZELENY (voice-over): What he calls the unity ticket, many Democrats fear could be a spoiler, by siphoning just enough votes from President Biden to help Donald Trump win back the White House.

MANCHIN: I've never been in any race I've ever spoiled. I've been in races to win. If I get in a race, I'm going to win.

ZELENY (voice-over): At a town hall meeting in St. Anselm College in New Hampshire, Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, and Jon Huntsman, a former Utah Republican governor, made their pitch for no labels. A bipartisan group trying to move the nation beyond its partisan gridlock. Afterword they sat down with CNN's Kaitlin Collins.

MANCHIN: And right now, people are sick and tired of what they're seeing, and upset about, all they see is turmoil and havoc. And we can do better than this. And the people expect us to do better. And this is a good movement. adjust, or make adjustments to, or tweak a little bit. Everybody's involved. But I can tell you, a lot of excitement, Kaitlan, a lot of excitement. ZELENY (voice-over): They said Americans deserve a third choice if a rematch emerges next year between Biden and from

JON HUNTSMAN (R), FORMER UTAH GOVERNOR: Should the political, the mainstream political system produce the same results in 2024, as it did in 20, in which case, three-fourths of the American voters have said, no, not again. We want an option.

ZELENY (voice-over): For more than a decade, the No Labels movement has promoted bipartisanship over extremes. The group, which registers as a nonprofit and declines to disclose its donors, plans to raise $70 million for a candidate in waiting. On Monday night, the group unveiled what it called a common-sense policy book, aiming to find middle ground on controversial issues from abortion rights, to guns, to immigration. It's a centrist agenda that sounds downright utopian in today's deeply divided Washington.

MANCHIN: We're trying to make sure that parties understand you can't stay in the extreme left or extreme right.

ZELENY (voice-over): No Labels has only secured ballot access in Arizona, Alaska, Oregon, Utah, and Colorado, aides say, with the goal of reaching 20 states by the end of the year.

Another threat to Biden's reelection bid comes from Cornel West, the former Harvard scholar who is mounting a Green Party presidential bid. He too rejects the label of spoiler.

CORNEL WEST, U.S. GREEN PARTY PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I wish they would spend as much time focusing on the plight of poor and working people as they do, focusing on the spoiler. I don't even like that category since so many of folk, who vote third party, don't vote at all.

ZELENY (voice-over): While third-party efforts have shown little promise in modern American history, deep displeasure with Trump and Biden have shined a brighter light on the prospects this year, mindful of an enthusiasm shortfall facing Biden, Democrats are increasingly sounding the alarm. Haunted by Ross Perot's independent bid in 1992 and Green Party runs from Ralph Nader in 2000 and Jill Stein in 2016.

Manchin, who has yet to say if he intends to seek re-election to the Senate next year or run for higher office, dismissed such concerns.

MANCHIN: I'm not here running for president tonight. I'm not. I'm here trying to basically save the nation.

ZELENY: Manchin says he will make a decision about his future by the end of the year, of course deciding whether to run for reelection in the Senate or perhaps a presidential race. As for No Labels, they'll keep holding town meetings like this across the country making their choice next year after Super Tuesday when it becomes clear who Joe Biden will be running against in the Republican field. And Manchin says he has no plans of being a spoiler in this race. Some Democrats even those at the White House are not so sure.

Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Goffstown, New Hampshire.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACFARLANE: And be sure to tune to CNN later today, Florida Governor and GOP presidential candidate, Ron DeSantis, joined CNN's Jake Tapper for an exclusive interview. That's on "The Lead" at 4:00 p.m. Eastern, 9:00 p.m. here in London.

Now the U.S. climate envoy is holding another round of talks in China meant to restart negotiations between the two countries that are the world's biggest polluters. John Kerry has been meeting with the Communist Party Foreign Policy Chief Wang Yi as both U.S. and China suffer through extreme heat.

CNN's Anna Coren is covering this for us live from Hong Kong. And Anna, both countries say they are seeking to find common ground in these climate talks. Has any progress been made yet?

[04:35:00]

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christina, John Kerry really is taking talks to the next level telling China's top diplomat that climate cooperation between the two countries would in fact redefine their strained relationship. As we know, things have been at an all-time low. He met with Wang Yi at the Great Hall of the People this morning and Kerry said that, you know, talks could provide a fresh start for the world's two largest greenhouse gas emitters on other issues that have caused serious tensions such as trade and Taiwan. Let's have a listen to what Kerry had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KERRY, U.S. CLIMATE ENVOY: Our hope is that this could be the beginning of a new definition of cooperation and capacity to resolve the differences between us. We both know there are real differences. But we also know that from experience, if we work at it, we can find the path ahead and ways that resolve these challenges.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Kerry is not your average U.S. diplomat. He was presidential Democratic nominee. He was the U.S. Secretary of State under Barack Obama. I mean, he is the consummate diplomat. Wang described him as my old friend. Saying that they worked together on a series of problems. Kerry also had a message from the U.S. President Joe Biden saying Biden values his relationship with Xi Jinping and is committed to stability in the U.S./China relationship and hopes to achieve efforts together that makes significant difference to the world.

Now yesterday, Kerry met with his counterpart Xie Zhenhua for nearly 12 hours. Wang praised both for their hard work. And Kerry said in a tweet, and let's me read some of it to you.

That the climate crisis demands the world's two largest economies work together to limit the earth's warming and take urgent action on coal and methane pollution.

Now climate experts will say that any move to cooperate on methane or greenhouse gas -- responsible for roughly 30 percent of global warming -- could provide a way forward. We know that both U.S. and China realize the importance of climate diplomacy and there is hope that they can get on the same page before COP 28 in Dubai, which starts end of November -- Christina.

MACFARLANE: Yes, especially at a time when we're seeing these soaring temperatures there. Anna Coren there live from Hong Kong. Thanks, Anna.

Now smoke from the Canadian wildfires has drifted far enough south to blanket Atlanta, north Georgia and other parts of the Southeast U.S. Some 20 states are under smoke advisories as those historic wildfires continue to rage. But now as we hear from Paula Newton, health is arriving in the form of international firefighters.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They've come all the way from America's Southwest.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome to Quebec.

NEWTON (voice-over): Now here in Northern Quebec's scorched lands, joining hundreds of other American and international firefighters, doing what they can slow wildfires that just won't quit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At this point, we're just trying to secure the edge and make sure that the communities are safe.

NEWTON (voice-over): The Silver State Hotshot Crew is looking for hotspots. They are firefighting crews specially trained and skilled, now taking on Canada's record-breaking wildfires.

NEWTON: I know you're from Montana, Big Sky Country, but this was a big fire.

ZAC KROHN, U.S. FOREST SERVICE FIRE MANAGEMENT OFFICER: Yes.

NEWTON: It's a big territory.

KROHN: And the scope for us in the States, this would be one of the largest fires ever to occur in -- in the United States. So yes, it's a giga fire.

NEWTON (voice-over): The total area burned in Canada already has shattered records, now 10 million hectares. That's almost 25 million acres, an area nearly as large as the state of Ohio, and still burning.

MATT RAU, INCIDENT COMMANDER, SOUTHWEST AREA INCIDENT MANAGEMENT TEAM: And when they burn like this, there's no way to even put people in front of it to even stop the fire. There's no amount of resources on the ground or from the sky that's going to be able to stop one of these fires when they -- when they get the momentum.

NEWTON: As shocking and frankly, unsettling as it is, this fire is just far too large to extinguish. In fact, the area already burned is larger than most countries on the planet. It means that not only does the fire burn, but there is going to be a lot of smoke.

NEWTON (voice-over): And that means many American cities could be shrouded in smoke on any given day for weeks or months to come.

RAU: Don't be surprised if -- if it continues. And secondly, this is -- this is a problem that is going to go on into the future. When it's the year to burn and the conditions are right, it's just going to continue to burn.

NEWTON (voice-over): Here in Quebec, many were evacuated within minutes as the flames threatened towns, and fires burned with raging speed.

[04:40:00]

Jimmy Seaburn (ph) is grateful to see American help. He says he had minutes to leave in June and was upset to leave behind the family pets. They were fine when he returned six days later, but he fears his home will be threatened again.

NEWTON: C'est incroyable, mais ce n'est pas normal. Oui? It's incredible, but it's not normal.

SEABURN (ph): (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

NEWTON (voice-over): He says it's not normal. But cautions we should all learn to expect the worst from the weather now.

The rain helps. It has finally arrived in some places. But in the words of one Canadian official, it's like a drop in an otherwise empty bucket.

The mayor of this town, Chibougamau, says that the rain is an answer to prayer. She may not have to evacuate her town again. But they have to adapt, she says. No one imagined so much would burn so quickly.

NEWTON: Where you scared?

MANON CYR, MAYOR OF CHIBOUGAMAU, CANADA: Strangely, I wasn't scared. I was mad. And then I have to come down, and say, Manon, you have a job to do. And that's why, you know, I stayed calm. And I said to my people, let's be patient. Let's do it and keep it Zen.

NEWTON (voice-over): It may be difficult to stay calm as Mother Nature rages. The cliche applies here in every way possible. Canada is burning. And it's not out of the woods yet.

Paula Newton, CNN, in Northern Quebec.

(END VIDEOTAPE) MACFARLANE: Still to come, emails meant for the U.S. military get sent to an African country thanks to one tiny typo. But the scale of the mistake is massive.

Plus, heavy clashes continue in Sudan as fighting between the two warring sides enters its fourth month. A live report just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[04:45:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SABRINA SINGH, DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: In response to a number of recent alarming events in the Strait of Hormuz, the Secretary of Defense has ordered the deployment of the destroyer USS Thomas Hudner, F-35 fighters and F-16 fighters to the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility to defend U.S. interests and safe guard freedom of navigation in the region.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: And that was Pentagon deputy press secretary there announcing that the U.S. is deploying fighter jets and a Navy destroyer to the Middle East. The move comes after two instances earlier this month in which Iranian Navy ships attempted to seize merchants' vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman. In one instance Iranian personnel opened fire on an oil tanker and hit the ship near the crew's living spaces. Officials say U.S. air and maritime forces are working together to monitor the water way.

Now here's proof everyone needs a copy editor and an that innocent typo can put national security at risk. Millions of e-mails meant for Pentagon employees, were accidentally sent to the country of Mali over the past decade due to the similarity of U.S. military's email address and being .MIL and that the name for the west African county .ML. In some cases sensitive information like hotel reservations for senior U.S. military officials were revealed. Some of the errant key strokes came from outside users mistyping emails meant for the U.S. government but some of those making the typos were regrettably Pentagon employees.

Now the fighting in Sudan shows no signs of ending. Conflict monitors say the paramilitary Rapid Support Force on Monday took control of a town of south Darfur triggering clashes and looting. It's the latest in the cycle of violence that comes as fighting between the paramilitary and Sudanese army enters its fourth month.

Joining me know is CNN's David McKenzie. And David, the RSF have reportedly been carrying out targeted destruction of communities in Darfur. So what do we know about this latest attack?

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well what we know is -- and I think it's important to get the big picture here. Which is that the RSF, Christina, seems to be gaining more control over zones of Darfur, that vast area in the western part of Sudan. And this is critically important because the RSF, the Rapid Support Forces, is a paramilitary group which is warring with the conventional military in Sudan now for more than 90 days, is really a follow-on from the Janjaweed militia that were notorious for targeting often non-Arabic tribes over the last 20 years and have been implicated in war crimes back during the conflict in Darfur all those years ago.

Now it seems, as multiple analysts and witnesses have said to us, that history is repeating itself and some of them say it is repeating itself in an even worse and more horrific fashion. There have been multiple reports of mass graves in and around western Darfur. This is now, this latest news that the RSF is taking control, possibly, of a significant town in the southern part of Darfur. What it speaks to is the military unable to secure those zones far outside of the capital.

And inside the capital Khartoum where heavy fighting continues, there is some feeling that the RSF, at least at the moment, may have the upper hand. And you saw very bold statements put some days ago put out by the Hemedti, the leader of the RSF -- widely known as know as Hemedti -- to indicate that they feel confident that there is still no end in sight of this conflict when people expected civilian rule to be coming into Sudan. Instead what we've got are the warring parties causing mayhem and displacing millions -- Christina.

MACFARLANE: And now we are into the fourth month. I mean, David, what hope is there at this point for a peace talk revival? Because yesterday we heard these reports that the Sudanese army returning to Saudi Arabia to possibly resume talks with rebel forces. But it's unclear if any of that is actually happening.

MCKENZIE: Multiple international actors are trying to solve the situation, at least get a ceasefire. At the latest count, you have the Saudis and Americans seem to be involved repeatedly in trying to broker a cease fires. You got the Egyptians who have invited the sides for talks. You got the Ethiopians and the Prime Minister there saying that they can help under the auspices of the East African community and African Union to find some kind of hope.

You know, just a short time ago I was speaking to a leading analyst on Sudan and he said there should be some criticism of international actors for in a way competing as to who should be the one to broker any kind of cease fire. There is a certain level of suspicion, of course, from the warring parties as in some cases Egypt is seen as a backer of the armed forces.

[04:50:00]

Other groups are seen as backers of the RSF. So it's a complex picture. Of course, the blame has to squarely fall on the generals who are fighting this conflict. But there does seem to be a call for more coordination for peaceful resolution of this fighting.

MACFARLANE: It certainly is a complex picture and continues to be. But this is important reporting. David McKenzie there, live from Johannesburg, thank you. Just ahead, it is not the place you really want to find an airplane

evacuation slide. Hear how one ended up in someone's backyard in Chicago.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACFARLANE: Now for the stories in the spotlight this hour.

In Cincinnati, it is no man left behind unless you are with the grounds crew for the Reds. During a rain delay Monday night, one team worker got trapped under the giant tarp used to cover the field while the rest of the crew ran along without him. He eventually found his way out there and got right back to work. The Reds were tied 2-2 with the San Francisco's Giants when the game was suspended and they will resume later today. There he goes. And out he pops.

[04:55:00]

Now country singer Miranda Lambert stopped her concert in Las Vegas on Sunday calling out fans who were more interested in taking selfies than listening to music.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIRANDA LAMBERT, SINGER: Something down fell apart.

I'm going to stop right here for a second. You know, I'm sorry. These girls are worried about a selfie and not listening to the songs. It's pissing me off a little bit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: The grammy winner later restarted her song while the audience cheered her on. Other performers like Beyonce and Adele have similarly called out fans in the past for paying more attention to their cell phones than the show.

Speculation is swirling over a mysterious object that washed up on a beach this western Australia. It's a giant metal cylinder, taller than a person and some believe it could be from MH-370 -- the Indonesian Airlines flight that disappeared almost a decade ago. But aviation experts say it's more likely part of a space rocket. Whatever it is, authorities say it's and poses no threat to the community. Police are guarding the cylinder while they investigate the findings with Australia's military and maritime experts.

And a guy who lived near Chicago's O'Hare Airport said he knew right away what fell into his backyard belonged to a big jumbo jet. Take a look at what he found. Officials say an emergency evacuation slide fell off a United Airlines Boeing 767 on Monday. An investigation into how it happened is under way. The homeowner who found it reported it to the aviation authorities.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATRICK DEVITT, FOUND EVACUATION SLIDE IN BACKYARD: Yes, the lady -- the lady that we spoke to at the Department of Aviation had said to us, well, how do you know that it's from a airplane? Well, because there's a giant slide in our backyard that's bigger than a car, ma'am. Of course it's from an airplane.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Now if you're in the U.S. and feeling lucky, you should know that the Powerball jackpot is now at $1 billion. The next draw is Wednesday night. But now your odds of victory are incredibly slim. Just one in 292 million according to the lottery company. Still worth a go, isn't it?

That does it for CNN NEWSROOM here. I'm Christina Macfarlane in London. "EARLY START" with Christine Romans is next.

[05:00:00]