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CNN International: Prosecutors Looking at Trump's Election Fraud Claims; DOJ Sues to Force Texas to Remove Floating Barriers; IAEA Discovers Mines on Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant Site; North Korea Silent About U.S. Soldier in Its Custody; Heat Dome Over U.S. to Shift Eastward This Week; Thousands Protest in Israel as Parliament Passes Controversial Law. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired July 25, 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 in London. Bianca is off this week. But just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The president thought there was no problem then. He was told that his team learned of no actionable significant fraud.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For prosecutors, they want to know his mindset. And this sort of gives a window into two sides of Trump.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This huge legal battle between the U.S. and Texas is over something that is not even effective at stopping illegal immigration.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is not going to get resolved by these legal battles and everybody trying to fight in social media and the press.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The pavement is so hot it only takes a fraction of a second to get a pretty deep burn.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're talking a lot about this heat dome in the Southwestern part of the United States. Well, now it is on the move toward the Midwest and Great Lakes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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

FOSTER: It is Tuesday, July 25th, 9:00 a.m. here in London, 4:00 a.m. in Washington where any day now the grand jury in the 2020 election interference investigation is expected to decide whether to indict Donald Trump for a third time. Jurors are set to reconvene today as we have new reporting on the special counsel's investigation. Multiple sources tell CNN that Jack Smith is looking at a February 2020 Oval Office meeting where Trump praised election security protections. He bragged about his administration's work in expanding the use of paper ballots and was so encouraged that he suggested the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security should hold a press conference. It's a stark contrast to months later when he started saying this --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This will be a rigged election.

TRUMP: This will actually be the most rigged election in history.

TRUMP: Because the only way we're going to lose this election is if the election is rigged.

TRUMP: It's a rigged election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Well, sources say the special counsel also wants to know if Trump retaliated against anyone who contradicted his claims of election fraud.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELI HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Jack Smith is looking at this case as a long-lasting broad-based conspiracy. In fact events of January 6, 2021 itself, seem to me like they will be maybe a final chapter or sort of a postscript. But the conspiracy I think Jack Smith will argue goes back even well before the election that Donald Trump had in his head for months before the election, that win or lose, and he lost, he was still going to claim that there was fraud and that was really the conspiracy in action for many months before this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Well investigators are also poring over thousands of documents by a team, led by Rudy Giuliani, trying to uncover voter fraud. CNN's Paula Reid reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Special counsel Jack Smith is now in possession of thousands of documents that were created by Rudy Giuliani's team in the days and weeks following the 2020 election. This team was tasked with trying to find some evidence of fraud.

Now, one of the people on this team is the former New York Police Commissioner Bernie Kerik. He's a close associate of Rudy Giuliani, and he has been in possession of a lot of the documents. The January 6th committee was trying to get all these materials, but he would not hand them over. Even though he is not a lawyer, he claimed that he was working for the legal team and therefore they were privileged.

But in recent weeks, the special counsel investigators reached out to Kerik to schedule an interview and also to collect evidence. And after they reached out, Kerik went to the Trump campaign, had them review the materials and the Trump campaign we're told said look, they were not going to argue privilege over this. Which suggests that they believe there is not anything too incriminating in the documents.

But now that the special counsel investigators have these. I mean, this is something that no other investigator has been able to obtain. So this is going to be the first time they'll be able to see the materials and it could be some key evidence in their ongoing investigation.

Now Kerik has also scheduled an interview for early August. He will sit down with investigators and face questions. Some of which they are already written and some new ones based on the documents he just handed over.

Paula Reid, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Texas will see you in court, that response from Governor Greg Abbott as the battle over the state's floating border barriers intensifies.

[04:05:00]

On Monday, the U.S. Justice Department filed a federal lawsuit to try to force Texas to remove the barriers in the Rio Grande. But Abbott says he's not breaking any laws.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Rather than using any laws that are on the books already, to stop illegal immigrants from crossing the border. The fact of the matter is, they're using an obscure statute to try to stop us continuing to deploy those buoys. It's not grounded in law whatsoever. We believe we have the right to do so and we will take this lawsuit all the way to the United States Supreme Court. Texas is defending its sovereignty and its constitutional right to secure the border of our state and our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Abbott says the barriers are meant to deter migrants from crossing into the state of Mexico -- from Mexico. But the Justice Department says they are a threat to navigation and the public safety. Present humanitarian concerns -- well, that they present humanitarian concerns and were installed without federal authorization.

The state's border barriers are affecting some Texans too. CNN's Rosa Flores speaks with one property other impacted by the latest moves.

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MAGALI URBINA, TEXAS LANDOWNER: We are at the south end of our property, driving along the river.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Magali Urbina owns a pecan orchard in Eagle Pass, Texas, and says her river front property used to be beautiful.

URBINA: My husband and I would come out fishing in this area. It's really pretty.

FLORES (voice-over): But she says the state of Texas installed concertina wire blocking her access to her own property by barricading the gates with metal and piles of dirt.

URBINA: Now it just looks like a war zone.

FLORES (voice-over): Historically, it's been a popular migrant crossing because the water levels of the Rio Grande are low. And most recently, Texas deployed a floating border barrier without obtaining permits from the federal government, says the State Department. The buoys are 4 feet in diameter and anchored to the bottom of the Rio Grande.

URBINA: It surprised me what they just did in front of my property.

FLORES (voice-over): Her property is in the Del Rio border patrol sector, the busiest sector on the southern border last month with more than 24,000 migrant crossings. After Mexico's top diplomat complained about the buoys violating two treaties and more than 80 U.S. Democratic lawmakers urged President Joe Biden to take legal action against Texas.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's barbaric treatment. It's extreme cruelty.

FLORES (voice-over): The Justice Department did just that.

FLORES: Did they deny you water?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking Foreign Language)

FLORES (voice-over): This as two pregnant migrants who did not wish to show their faces tell CNN they were initially denied water by Texas National Guard members as they tried to turn themselves into U.S. immigration authorities.

FLORES: She said that the Texas National Guard at first denied her water, and then afterwards, they did give them water, but it was one bottle of water for two to three people.

FLORES (voice-over): Law enforcement in airboats circled them, knocking them over after showing them handcuffs for requesting water, the other migrants said. The Texas National Guard did not respond to CNN's request for comment.

These accounts come after a Texas DPS trooper blew the whistle last week, saying Texas had been treating migrants inhumanely when troopers were ordered to push migrants back into the river and deny them water. Texas DPS now saying the trooper misunderstood orders.

LT. CHRIS OLIVAREZ, TEXAS DEPT., PUBLIC SAFETY: If a member from one of our leadership or a supervisor tells a trooper to push back migrants, what that means is to verbally tell them, go to a port of entry.

FLORES (voice-over): The billions of dollars Texas is spending to stop illegal immigration clearly not stopping the migration flow.

URBINA: I have seen people die from heat stroke on the property.

FLORES (voice-over): Urbina worries that while the U.S. DOJ and Texas duke it out in court --

URBINA: It's very frustrating.

FLORES (voice-over): -- migrants and property owners are caught in the middle.

FLORES: The office of the Texas Attorney General says that it is ready to put up a legal fight in federal court. Now the state of Texas says that the intent of these buoys is to stop illegal immigration but have witnessed migrants skirt the buoys and still turn themselves into U.S. immigration authorities.

Rosa Flores, CNN, Eagle Pass, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: A Ukrainian official says the country's air defense repelled a Russian drone attack on the capital and Kyiv region earlier today. Ukraine says all air targets were destroyed.

Meanwhile to the south, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency says experts have found mines in the site of Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is currently occupied by Russian forces. IAEA chief, Rafael Grossi, says mines were located in a restricted area and were facing away from the site. But called having explosives there inconsistent with the agency's safety standards and nuclear security guidance.

CNN's Salma Abdelaziz following all of this for us. I mean, it's a bit of an under statement, isn't it? It's been consistent with security around nuclear site.

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you have to understand that the IAEA is in a very delicate position.

[04:10:19]

For months now the IAEA chief, Rafael Grossi, has been trying to negotiate a deal to essentially create a safe zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. That means trying to get Russia and Ukraine to agree to something in the middle of a war in what is the heart of the battlefield essentially is where this nuclear power plant is sitting.

But of course this is very alarming information and it comes after Ukraine made this claim that there were mines around the site. Now, again, the IAEA chief saying it's a restricted area, that employees are not allowed to step into their area, that is clearly marked. But again, a sign of just how much this one nuclear power plant is being drawn into the heart of the conflict. Ukraine has time and time again appealed for Moscow essentially to hand over the nuclear power plant to the IAEA for administration and authority, but it continues to be Russian occupied and it continues to be a place where shells, mines, explosives land just within a short distance.

FOSTER: People are concerned a mine might sort of explode the plant. But we're not going to be talking about that, are we? I mean, they're making a point that these mines are pointing away from the site.

ABDELAZIZ: Absolutely not making that point. We have to remember that at various points the nuclear power plant has been shut down because of the fighting, because of the conflict. IAEA officials are on site to continue to administer it. But of course, it's part of the conflict to know that there is a nuclear power plant the largest in Europe, right on those frontlines. Very concerning.

FOSTER: Salma, thank you very much indeed.

Meanwhile, we're hearing that North Korea has acknowledged the U.S. and U.N. efforts to communicate about the American soldier in its custody. But the north has yet to reply to any of their questions about Army private Travis King who bolted into North Korea just last week.

CNN's Marc Stewart is tracking this live for us from Tokyo. Everyone is desperate for some information here, Marc.

MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, Max, and this is tough. Despite that, American overture toward North Korea, we are essentially in a state of silence between the two nations and that really isn't that surprising considering the United States and North Korea at least for this moment have no formal diplomatic relationship.

So right now we are seeing the focus on the United Nations Command, the UNC as it is known, has an established system with North Korea to have some kind of communication if there is an emergency situation such as this. We did hear from one of its leaderships -- from leaders from United Nations Command and that communication lines are open between the UNC and North Korea. But at this point, we are not getting any kind of specific feedback.

I mean, there are some lingering questions including the whereabouts of the soldier. His health, his condition, his welfare, in addition to any possible next steps. The lines are open, but so far, no specific response. So we'll certainly be keeping watch on Seoul for that.

Finally, Max, two other big headlines involving North Korea that we're watching today, it was late last night that we saw North Korea launch two short range ballistic missiles. They landed in the waters off Japan between Korea and Japan. But it is perhaps, perhaps and I stress that -- a show of strength once again as a U.S. submarine is in Korean ports. A submarine that has nuclear capability. We see North Korea often react to any kind of military movement. And so, perhaps last night's missile launch was an example of that. Also we're keeping watch on a Chinese delegation that is currently

visiting North Korea. The first we believe since the pandemic. Of course, North Korea and China are seen as allies, so we'll be looking for any kind of developments coming from there -- Max.

FOSTER: OK, Marc Stewart live in Tokyo, thank you.

Millions of Americans remain under alerts as excessive heat grips the U.S. with some states consistently logging record high temperatures. Officials say at least 36 large wildfires are burning across the country spurred on by the heat. The National Interagency Fire Center reports nearly 190,000 acres have been burned by the blazes. The heat is expected to spread eastwards into the Midwest and Northeast through the week. CNN meteorologist Chad Myers breaks down what Americans can expect.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, it seems like we've been talking about the heat in the Southwestern part of the United States now for weeks. Maybe even more than a month. Well that conversation is about to change. Because now this heat dome is about to shift to the east into the Midwest, not quite yet to the Northeast, but certainly through the Midwestern part of the country. A little bit of relief from the Southwest. Just taking that concentration away. Temperatures may be dropping 5, 10 degrees, but when you are 118 and now you are 108, I guess that feels better.

[04:15:00]

This is what it will look like for later on tomorrow. Temperatures are going to begin to warm up here. Later on today, things are going to be about this hot but maybe subtract about four degrees.

Now let me take you forward to Thursday. Because this is when all these heat advisories are going to begin to shift to the east. There are some very scary colors here. Omaha down to Oklahoma City back through here. And I know the forecast is for 101, 102 you see on the map. But some of these computer models that I looked at on a daily basis are going 105 to 110. That's the air temperature in the shade.

Here's what Phoenix does. Finally a little bit of a cool off. Kind of getting rid of the heat concentration. Going to push that heat off toward the east and temperatures are going to be hot here, breaking records through the Midwest. By the end of this week, 125 or more record highs will be broken. Look at St. Louis all the way to 102, that's thermometer, not even including the humidity that will be in the air, making the heat index feel even higher. And as I said, not quite to New York City. It doesn't really stretch there. But still middle 90s is going to feel hot in the middle of summer especially in those concrete canyons of Manhattan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Thank you Chad.

Still ahead on CNN NEWSROOM --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did that guy pay?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did that guy pay? He didn't pay.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: San Francisco's shoplifting epidemic, the city won't look at the thieves, so storeowners are locking up the merchandise instead.

Plus, UPS workers are preparing for what could be the largest strike in the U.S. in more than 60 years. We'll explain the sticking points.

Plus, protests in Israel show no signs of ending hours after the government pasted a controversial law. We'll head to Tel Aviv for the very latest.

[04:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Protests in Tel Aviv blocking the city's main highway and clashing with the police just a short while ago. This comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far right coalition unanimously passed into law the first part of a controversial judicial overhaul plan. For more, let's go to journalist Elliott Gotkine live from Tel Aviv. I mean, this was a bit of a triumph, wasn't it, for the government?

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: Very much so, Max and a big defeat for all of those hundreds of thousands of people that have been protesting for more than six months now and of course for the opposition and to President Isaac Hertzog. And I suppose to a degree President Joe Biden for a call for some kind of compromise in these judicial overhaul plans of the governing coalition.

But it got this reasonableness bill, this "Basic Law," as it's known in Israel, passed by the Israeli Parliament or Knesset. And we know that there already have been and probably will be more petitions to the Supreme Court to at the very least delay the implementation of this law by imposing some kind of injunction and then having a proper hearing to review whether this new basic law is in keeping with Israel's -- don't actually have a constitution technically, but with the foundational principles of Israel. Mainly to maintain it as a Jewish and democratic state.

And we've heard from the head of the Supreme Court in the past saying that would be the kind of narrow definition for whether a "Basic Law" as it is known, the quasi-constitutional laws would be acceptable or would not.

But of course, we're also in this kind of weird ironic situation where the Supreme Court is effectively being asked to block a law that is designed to block the Supreme Court from blocking certain laws and appointments. So if -- assuming this goes before the Supreme Court and if it were to strike it down, then we could have some kind of constitutional showdown. In the sense that the government may say we're not going to listen to you. But we're not there just yet.

We do know that, of course, we've had all these protests up until now. Benjamin Netanyahu the Prime Minister in a televised address in primetime last night saying that he wanted to in his words reach a general agreement on everything vis-a-vis his other plans for judicial overhaul. Such as giving the government more power to select judges and further reducing the scope of the Supreme Court's ability to strike down laws.

But given how poorly negotiations over this part of his judicial overall faired and the lack of trust between the government and the opposition, perhaps no surprise that the opposition led by Yair Lapid, the former Prime Minister of course, that he dismissed it out the hand. He said it was just, in his words, an empty show and said that Netanyahu is not really Prime Minister anymore. He is just effectively beholden to the more extreme elements of his governing coalition.

Out on the street today, we're not expecting major protests. There was a strike by the Israeli Medical Association. But these protests and these opposition to this law and other parts of the judicial overhaul, are clearly not over yet -- Max.

FOSTER: OK, Elliott Gotkine in Tel Aviv, thank you.

In just a few hours, the U.S. president will designate a new national monument to honor Emmett Till. A Black teenager whose murder in 1955 helped fuel the civil rights movement. Emmett Till was just 14 years old when he was accused of whistling at a white woman in Mississippi. Two white men kidnapped him, tortured and killed him. They were acquitted by an all-white jury. Till's mother insisted on an open casket funeral for her son exposing the brutality and horror of racism in the U.S.

On Tuesday, President Biden will dedicate a monument to both Emmett Till and his activist mother, Mamie Till-Mobley. Now it would have been Emmett Till's actual 82nd birthday that will be marked.

Now in the hours ahead, the U.S. Federal Reserve will begin its two- day meeting and is expected to raise interest rates another quarter percent. But those fears haven't been weighing on the Dow recently. It closed half a percent higher in fact on Monday. Marking 11 straight days of gains, the longest streak since 2017.

[04:25:00]

And here's how futures are currently looking. They are all positive too. U.S. GDP numbers also come out this week amid a rosy outlook from some economists. CNN's Matt Egan explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Max, remember when Wall Street was freaking out about an imminent recession? Well, those recession fears have faded big time. These days, investors are growing more and more bullish on America. Morgan Stanley has upgraded its U.S. economic outlook predicting 1.3 percent GDP growth in 2023. Now, normally that is not really anything to celebrate, but everything is relative. This is more than double what the bank had previously expected. And it is light years away from those gloom and doom recession fears.

Now Morgan Stanley had been in the optimistic camp all along, but now they are feeling even more confident.

Writing, quote, incoming data now point to a more comfortable soft landing than we had anticipated.

Now what is so interesting here is the why. Morgan Stanley is pointing to two key developments. One, manufacturing is booming. And two, infrastructure spending is surging. And both of those forces, manufacturing and infrastructure, are key pillars of Bidenomics, the administration's economic strategy. President Biden signed key pieces of legislation around both of those issues.

When you look at manufacturing in particular, companies have announced more than half a trillion dollars of manufacturing projects in the United States since the president's taken office. Everything from electric cars and computer chips, to clean energy and old-fashioned heavy manufacturing.

Now, none of this is to say that the economy in the United States is out of the danger zone completely. It's not. Inflation has cooled, but not enough where the Fed can start cutting interest rates anytime soon. Russia's attacks on the key Ukrainian port city of Odesa, well that could make inflation worse by jacking up food prices. And a potential UPS strike, that could cripple supply chain. Still it is very encouraging to see these recession fears take a back seat. This economy in the United States has proven to be so much more resilient than almost anyone anticipated -- Max.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Well, those big brown delivery trucks could soon be sitting idle unless UPS and the 340,000 employees can reach a labor agreement in the coming week. The two sides are set to meet later today in Washington as they face a strike deadline a week from now. And the Teamsters, who represent the workers, say a deal is 95 percent done. But the economic concerns including pay for the part-timers remain as sticking point. A UPS strike will be the largest in the U.S. since steel workers walked off the job in 1959.

Meanwhile, FedEx pilots have rejected a proposed new contract that would have given them a 30 percent pay raise. It is not clear why they turned it down, but unlike the UPS worker, FedEx pilots won't be able to strike if they can't reach a deal because they work under a different labor law. Union leaders say they'll go back to the bargaining table to try to reach an agreement suitable for everyone.

Still ahead this hour, under lock and key. Store owners fight back as everything from frozen foods to cosmetics is targeted by shoplifters.

Plus, summer is hotter than ever in the northern hemisphere and scientists now say they can't link that fact to human created climate change. And that's just ahead.

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