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CNN International: Russia Hits Odesa Region in Fourth Night of Attacks; Trump Widely Expected to be Indicted for Third Time; Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Denies Anti-Vaccine; Claims; More Triple-Digit Temps for Southwestern U.S.; Heat Wave Impacting Tourists in Europe. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired July 21, 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 welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and all around the world. I'm Christina Macfarlane in for Max Foster and Bianca Nobilo here in London. Just ahead --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Even if former President Trump is indicted in the coming days, the special counsel's work is far from over.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Department of Justice has prosecuted people time and again for interfering with their ability for their vote to be counted.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have never been anti-vax. I have never told the public avoid vaccination.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The capacity of Ukrainian's air defense is not yet enough to protect the entire Ukrainian sky.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Max Foster and Bianca Nobilo.
MACFARLANE: It's Friday, July 21. 9:00 a.m. here in London and 11:00 a.m. in Odesa, Ukraine. Where the region has come under Russian fire for a fourth night in a row. Ukraine says Russian missiles hit grain infrastructure overnight destroying more than 100 tons of food. It all happened after this -- air raid sirens went off in the city of Odesa but Ukraine's Air Force later they residents the all clear. Meanwhile, the U.S. says its cluster munitions supply to Ukraine have been used in battle. U.S. National Security Council says they're already having an impact on the battlefield.
Well, for details on more of this Scott McLean is joins me here now. So, Scott, a fourth night of bombardment in Odesa and genuine concern now, and evidence really that the air defenses in the port city are becoming unable to cope with the prolonged bombardment and the type of missiles that are being fired on the city.
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. There's no indication that despite it being a quieter night, that any missiles were shot down early this morning. And even yesterday morning. Case in point, 19 missiles were fired at Odesa in the region, only 15 of them were shot down so little -- sorry, only 5 of them were shot down. So only a little better than a quarter there. And the difficulty, as you point out, is the types of missiles that are being used. These are used to sink ships. They fly at such a speed and at such a trajectory and an altitude that it makes it extremely difficult to shoot them down.
And you know, Ukrainians are being accustomed by this point to going about their daily lives with the exception of when the sirens are going off. But I can tell you from personal experience, sometimes you hear the sirens after you hear the actual explosion. And that seems to be the case this morning as well.
Ukrainians say the two missiles that struck these grain facilities for agricultural storage facilities, came in at such a low altitude that the air defenses didn't actually detect them until late and that's why you had the sirens going off simultaneously to the actual blast. So basically, the Ukrainians are saying, look, we have at least two patriot batteries already, we need a lot more to adequately protect the country.
MACFARLANE: We saw U.S. officials last night confirm that cluster munitions are now being used by Ukrainian troops on the battlefield. I mean, it was just two weeks ago, of course, that the U.S. said that they would send these under much controversy. Do we know how they're being used and, you know, how much of an impact they're having?
MCLEAN: Yes, so a top White House official, John Kirby, said that he would guess that they've been in use for about the last week or so. But yes, you mentioned they're controversial because this is a fundamentally different kind of weapon. This is a bomb that essentially breaks up into, you know, 80, 90 smaller bombs that spread across the area of about a football field and not all those little bombs actually detonate which causes problems down the road similar to land mines. And that's why countries like the U.K. and other European countries they actually outlawed them. Obviously, the Americans have not, neither have the Ukrainians.
Putin -- Vladimir Putin has denied that the Russians has used these at all, but he said that he would consider using them if Ukrainians start to. So perhaps that's something that we may see on the battlefield now that we have confirmation that the Ukrainians have used them. As for how effective they've been, John Kirby, that White House official I mentioned, talked about this with reporters yesterday. Listen.
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JOHN KIRBY, NSC COORDINATOR FOR STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS: They're using them appropriately. They're using them effectively and they are actually having an impact on Russia's defensive formations and Russia's defensive maneuvering. I think I can leave it at that. (END VIDEO CLIP)
[04:05:04]
MCLEAN: One of the other interesting points that John Kirby made when he was speaking to reporters is he said that the U.S. is concerned about Russia targeting civilian ships carrying grain or going to port to collect grain. The Russians have already said that civilian ships headed into port are fair game because they could be carrying weapons. Kirby is now concerned and the CIA director made similar comments yesterday that the Russians may strike civilian ships going into port and then blamed the Ukrainians. They're warning of a potential false flag operations. The Russians obviously, they called this pure fabrication.
MACFARLANE: Yes, the U.S. calling it out quite early on. Scott, thanks very much.
All right. The U.N. Secretary-General condemned Russia's attacks on Odesa. Antonio Guterres said the destruction of port facilities is having a negative impact well beyond Ukraine. Grain prices spiked on Thursday and wheat and corn futures continue to rise after Russia's decision to pull out of the deal allowing Ukraine to export grain through the Black Sea. Ukraine's foreign minister on Thursday accused Vladimir Putin of racketeering by killing the agreement. And the World Food Program says the U.N. will not give up on negotiations to revive the deal. The agency tells CNN the collapse of the deal leaves a massive hole in their operations.
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MATTHEW HOLLINGWORTH, WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME UKRAINE REPRESENTATIVE: We relied on the Black Sea initiative to move 725,000 tons of food to people living in places like Afghanistan and Yemen, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan and so on, countries that desperately need that food assistance. And this was a country where we could guarantee on high quality, competitive market priced food.
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MACFARLANE: Donald Trump's legal team believes they had until midnight Thursday to formally respond to a target letter that Trump said he received from special counsel Jack Smith, but that deadline has now apparently passed without response from Trump. Smith has numerous criminal investigations involving Trump and the former president has already been indicted twice so far. Legal experts expect Trump to be hit with a third criminal indictment in that case. A former special counsel at the Pentagon explains the legal jeopardy facing Trump.
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RYAN GOODMAN, FORMER SPECIAL COUNSEL AT U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT: When you look at this charge for denial of rights, it's actually like a hand and glove situation. It is about election law crimes. The Department of Justice has prosecuted people time and again for preferring with their ability for their vote to be counted. For interfering for their vote to be certified. And for the use of violence to prevent their vote from being exercised. So this is something that they've tried many times before -- or have prosecuted successively, I should say, many times before.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: But one of Donald Trump's former aides testified before the federal grand jury investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election. This is the third time the grand jury has heard from Will Russell. Meanwhile, more witnesses -- interviews are being scheduled. CNN senior legal affairs correspondent Paula Reid has more.
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PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: As anticipation builds for a probable third Trump criminal indictment, CNN has learned the special counsel investigating January 6 is scheduled to speak to at least two additional witnesses over the next several weeks.
Now, the former president received a target letter this past weekend, he said he received it on Sunday. But we know in the weeks preceding the sending of that letter, investigators were reaching out to several witnesses they had never spoken with before, trying to set up interviews. Now some of those have already been completed -- like the interview with Rudy Giuliani. But other people couldn't get a date on the calendar until well into next month.
Now they can still indict former President Trump before they finish all their interviews. In fact, we saw that in Mar-a-Lago. They indicted former President Trump and his co-defendant Walt Nauta and then investigators continued their work. They've even sent out at least one additional target letter as they continue to gather evidence in that probe.
But it's clear even if former President Trump is indicted in the coming days, the special counsel's work is far from over.
Paula Reid, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: Well Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was grilled on Capitol Hill Thursday by members of his own Democratic Party angry over his COVID conspiracies and censorship claims. CNN's Eva McKend has the story.
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EVA MCKEND, CNN U.S. NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER (voice-over): Democratic presidential candidate and spreader of vaccine misinformation, Robert Kennedy Jr., invited to testify on Capitol Hill.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the witness's times, do not censor the witness.
REP. STACEY PLASKETT (D-VI): I'm not censoring the witness. I'm not censoring the witness. He still --
MCKEND (voice-over): In a testy hearing on censorship, with Kennedy telling the committee, his views are protected speech.
ROBERT KENNEDY JR. (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The First Amendment was not written for easy speech.
[04:10:00]
It was written for the speech that nobody likes you for. I was censored, not just by our Democratic administration, I was censored by the Trump Administration.
MCKEND (voice-over): Democrats accuse Republican leadership of giving Kennedy's dangerous rhetoric a platform in Congress.
PLASKETT: That's not just supporting free speech. They have cosign on idiotic, bigoted messaging. It's a conscious choice.
MCKEND (voice-over): Regarding Kennedy's blatant lies where he said, COVID-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews, and Chinese.
Now Kennedy brazenly claimed --
KENNEDY: I'm under oath. In my entire life, I have never uttered a phrase that was either racist or antisemitic. I have spent my life fighting, my professional career, fighting for Israel.
MCKEND (voice-over): But the CEO of the American Jewish Committee called his prior remarks deeply offensive, and incredibly dangerous. Kennedy repeatedly claimed he didn't say things that are in fact on camera.
KENNEDY: I've never been anti-vaccine. Everybody in this room probably believe that I have been. Because that's the prevailing narrative. I have never told the public avoid vaccination.
MCKEND (voice-over): But Kennedy has attacked safe vaccines, including the COVID- 19 vaccine, and promoted false claims like childhood vaccines can lead to autism. And that HIV was caused by vaccine research. Even saying this on a 2021 podcast.
KENNEDY: I see somebody on a hiking trail carrying a little baby, and I say to him, better not get him vaccinated.
MCKEND (voice-over): Another key driver for the GOP-led hearing is to call out what they deem was social media censorship of a damning Hunter Biden story.
REP. ELISE STEFANIK (R-NY): This was illegal government censorship to protect, and prop up Joe Biden, on the eve of the 2020 election.
MCKEND (voice-over): But Democrats argue, misinformation is the larger threat. PLASKETT: They want to force social media companies to promote conspiracy theories, because they think that's the only way their candidate can win the 2024 election.
MCKEND: Despite some of Kennedy's outlandish claims, he still enjoys some support. The latest Quinnipiac poll has him at 14 percent among Democratic and likely Democratic voters. Still, Kennedy faces an uphill battle as he takes on President Biden in the Democratic primary.
Eva McKend, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: Now investigators believe the suspect in the Gilgo Beach serial killings may have lured victims to his home. He's charged with murdering three women, whose remains were found along a New York beach in 2010. Brynn Gingras has the latest.
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SHERIFF ERROL D. TOULON JR., SUFFOLK COUNTY, NEW YORK: He's laying on his bunk. He's been extremely quiet, not really talkative to staff.
BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Accused serial killer Rex Heuermann alone and under suicide watch behind bars as the investigation into his alleged killings expands.
DEPUTY COMMISSIONER ANTHONY CARTER, SUFFOLK COUNTY, NEW YORK POLICE: I think in the coming days as we continue to gather evidence, anything's possible.
GINGRAS (voice-over): His wife of more than 27 years now filing for divorce. In a statement, her attorney said: The sensitive nature of her husband's arrest is taking an emotional toll on the immediate and extended family.
COMMISSIONER RODNEY HARRISON, SUFFOLK COUNTY, NEW YORK POLICE: If you ask me, I don't believe that they knew about this double life that Mr. Heuermann was living.
GINGRAS (voice-over): A week after his arrest, the investigation spans three states. Authorities are searching not only his Long Island home, but also his office and nearby storage facilities. Two Las Vegas condos he purchased and in South Carolina where he owns land.
Sources tell CNN there agents towed Heuermann's truck, which they say connects him to one of three murders he's charged with committing more than a decade ago. Authorities are combing through evidence.
HARRISON: So we're looking for potential trophies, souvenirs, jewelry, anything that could be attached to the four women or other women that he might have been involved with.
GINGRAS (voice-over): Several departments are also reviewing cold cases to see if Heuermann is connected. This as more women are coming forward saying they too were solicited by him.
NIKKI BRASS, FORMER SEX WORKER: I had a really, really bad feeling, like my gut was like telling me I needed to get away from him.
GINGRAS (voice-over): Heuermann's phone logs and his DNA, police say, are smoking guns in a case that ran cold for years. Court paperwork describes how he used burner phones to taunt victims' families and researched this case as recently as last month.
HARRISON: It tells me that he was concerned, trying to take a look at, you know, where do we stand as a investigative team?
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Did we have someone that we may be possibly looking at it? I'm sure that would have probably scared him.
GINGRAS (voice-over): The 59-year-old New York City architect has pleaded not guilty, but a friend of one of the victims believes police got it right.
CHRIS BIRD, KNEW VICTIM AMBER COSTELLO: It just makes me mad because he's such a big monster.
GINGRAS: And authorities say after Heuermann's arrest, all he did was ask for an attorney. He was very quiet. The ride with authorities from Manhattan to the jail where he was taken -- which is about an hour and a half. He's been very quiet in his cell as well, not accepting any visitors at all. That's a stark difference from what his attorney said happened after he was presented with the charges in the case where he said he was distraught.
Brynn Gingras, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: Now this just into CNN. South Korean police say one person was killed in a stabbing attack near a subway station in Seoul. Three others were wounded and taken to hospital. Authorities say a man in his 30s has been arrested.
OK, still ahead, the heatwave scorching southern Europe is taking a toll on some popular tourist sites. What Greece is planning for visitors to the Acropolis.
Plus, it's been a thrilling opening to the Women's World Cup. And we're just hours away from the world number one team, the United States taking on Vietnam. A live record from Sydney, Australia is just ahead.
[04:20:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACFARLANE: Welcome back. The Southwestern United States can expect another weekend of triple digit temperatures. The scorching heatwave is breaking records from Phoenix, Arizona to Death Valley, California. CNN meteorologist Jennifer Gray has the forecast.
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JENNIFER GRAY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: The main reason we have seen all of this heat not only across the U.S. but around the world, are these areas of high pressure that really just haven't moved. And we call them heat domes where it just traps the heat inside and until a big shift occurs and the large-scale weather pattern, we really won't see much change at all.
So we're going to continue to see extremely hot temperatures across the U.S. You can see in the Deep South and in the Southwest, same story continues -- the same story continues, excessive heat warnings, heat advisories in place. However, we will see a dip in temperatures across the Southern Plains. And this will be for Friday into Saturday. You can see a little bit of that heat goes away across the Gulf Coast. But still seeing above average temperatures for much of the Southwest, much of Texas and then expanding well to the north by the time we get into the beginning part of next week.
So still in breaking record territory with 170 or more possible records broken once again through the rest of the week. We're looking at high temperatures in the triple digits in Dallas. We do drop slightly on Saturday, but then close to 100 on Sunday. Houston triple digits, Del Rio triple digits and so really hot continuing. 21 consecutive days of high temperatures above 110 for Phoenix. We are still on that streak, that record-breaking streak for them and temperatures are going to stay above 110 for the foreseeable future. You can see it all the way through Thursday at least.
High temperatures hitting 124 in Death Valley. Palm Springs hitting 120. Phoenix close to 120 on Friday. And temperatures are expected to stay above average all of next week and beyond. This from the Climate Prediction Center.
We also have a risk of severe weather. This is for portions of the South, the mid-Atlantic, the Northeast. We could see damaging winds, large hail, this is for Friday. You can see from the forecast radar just some storms racing through by the time we get into Friday night, even into Saturday. And so we are going to be on the lookout for severe weather there over the next 24 hours or so.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: While the heat has gotten so bad in Athens, Greece that the city is closing the Acropolis and other popular tourist attractions during midday hours. Workers at the monument are staging a partial strike through the weekend. They say conditions are unbearable. 20 visitors have fainted due to the heat. Athens is still bearing the brunt of the heatwave with temperatures expected in the upper 30s today, 40s on Saturday and Sunday. And Madrid and Rome with see mid-30s.
Let's take you live now to Paris and our CNN Melissa Bell. And Melissa, we know of course this is peak tourist season. But with this unprecedented heat sort of sweeping across the region, I mean, surely tourist cities and tourist attractions are going to have to reassess their safety measures.
MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT: That's right. We've seen it at the Acropolis, where we're seeing -- even though there's live pictures -- that sweltering heat in Athens, which is set, Christina, to increase over the course of the weekend and into next week. As that fourth heatwave hits the European continent, specifically its southern part.
But it has also been over the course of the last few days the Coliseum in Rome that has had to close its door to tourists. So there is the impact that this heat is having, of course, on the tourists and what is Europe's -- one of Europe's heaviest tourist seasons -- and the impact these long-term changes could have on what that means for tourism and those parts of Europe. So used to welcoming those many millions of tourists every summer.
But there is, what it means of course for locals. You're talking about temperatures that Europeans are simply not used to having to live with. And of course this on a continent, Christina, where there's very little air conditioning. We're simply not equipped.
What you are likely to see as well over the course of the next few days with those rising temperatures again in parts of Spain, Greece, Italy, is again the health systems coming under increasing strain. As we've seen over the course of the last few days with hospital admissions for instance in Italy -- parts of Italy increase by 25 percent.
But also those wildfires that have been so devastating in Greece with many thousands of people evacuated over the course of the last few days already. And a huge difficulty that authorities are having in bringing them under control.
[04:25:00]
Roads now are being placed under a state of emergency. And all of these individual Canadairs that have been brought in, not just by the European Union, but by individual European member states to try and help Greek firefighters get to the end of these fires that are now in their fifth day, just keep picking up day after day.
What you are likely to see over the next few days, Christina, are those very parched conditions that we see in so much of southern Europe as a result of the high temperatures. And a rekindling of the flames that we saw caused such devastation last summer.
Remember, it was only a year ago that we saw the wildfires spread as far north as London. So once again, parts of France, parts of Spain being placed under warnings, not just of the heat, but of those fires that are likely to be rekindled and to spread again through parts of Europe that have simply not seen it.
Bear in mind that a couple days ago, you were looking at wildfires in Switzerland, in the Swiss Alps, Christina. So there is the short-term impact of how the tourists and locals get through these summer months. But the long-term question of how Europe can actually adapt to these changing conditions at a time when we start to understand that these are long lasting long-term changes -- Christina.
MACFARLANE: Yes, and I vividly remember seeing those wildfires here in London last summer. It was quite a shock for everyone. Melissa Bell with the latest from Paris, thanks, Melissa.
And as Melissa was mentioning, the searing heat is making it difficult to get control of wildfires burning in three areas of Greece. Residents in Attica region, just north of Athens, are evacuating their homes and farms as a major fire there has rekindled. Firefighters are dropping water from planes and helicopters to try and douse the flames and they're getting help from the French, Italian and Israeli crews. Wildfires are also burning in Laconia in southern Greece and on the island of Rhodes.
Now there's been growing animosity between Sweden and Iraq after an attack on the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad and the desecration of the Quran in Stockholm. We'll have the details.
Plus, the Pentagon and U.S. Army sharing new details on the American soldier who bolted into North Korea.
