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CNN International: Trump Indicted on Four Counts in 2020 Election Probe; Gilgo Beach Murder Suspect Appears in Court; Zelenskyy: Russian Strikes Attack Global Food Security; Italy, France flying Citizens Home Amid Political Crisis in Niger; Triple-Digit Temps, Severe Storm Threats in U.S. this Week. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired August 02, 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 joining us in the United States and all around the world. I'm Max Foster in London. Bianca is still on assignment. But just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Donald Trump now faces federal criminal charges for trying to hold on to the presidency in 2020.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is politics. This indictment is about pure politics.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Smith and his team followed the facts and the law wherever they lead.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Suspected Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann facing a Suffolk County courtroom.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a great deal of information, evidence, photographs, reports.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ukraine is increasing using drones to strike Russian targets inside Russia.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Striking on the ground trying to launch an offensive against Moscow. Probably would be a bad move.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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

FOSTER: It's Wednesday, August 2, 9:00 a.m. here in London, 4:00 a.m. in Washington where preparations are under way for an expected court appearance by Donald Trump on Thursday after the former president was indicted on criminal charges for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. This indictment now marks the third time Trump has faced criminal charges. In this case prosecutors allege Trump knowingly spread prolific lies of fraud as he remained determined to stay in power despite having lost. Trump faces four counts in this indictment, including conspiracy to defraud the United States. Six unindicted co- conspirators were also included in the filing. Special counsel Jack Smith says Trump's repeated lies about the 2020 election fueled the unprecedented attack on the U.S. Capitol. And he says his investigation will continue as he spoke out publicly following the indictment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACK SMITH, SPECIAL COUNSEL FOR THE U.S. DEPT. OF JUSTICE: In this case, my office will seek a speedy trial so that our evidence can be tested in court and judged by a jury of citizens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: An attorney for Trump told CNN's Kaitlan Collins he thinks this possible trial could last months or even a year and claims this is an effort to criminalize free speech.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN LAURO, TRUMP ATTORNEY: Donald Trump had every right to advocate for his position. While he was president, he saw irregularities, we saw deficiencies in the election process. He raised those. He was being told under oath by people around the country that there were problems with the election. He also saw in real time that the rules were changing without the state legislatures weighing in. And ultimately, he had every right, in fact a responsibility as United States president to raise those issues. And now his advocacy is being criminalized.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Attorney General Merrick Garland is also reacting to the indictment. Saying the special counsel has, quote, followed the facts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MERRICK GARLAND, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: In November I appointed Jack Smith, the special counsel, to take on the ongoing investigation. In order to underline the department's commitment of accountability and independence. Mr. Smith and his team, experienced, principled, career agents and prosecutors have followed the facts and the law wherever they lead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: CNN's Paula Reid has been following developments and has more from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: This is the third criminal indictment that former President Trump has faced this year. Now in this indictment special counsel Jack Smith alleges that former President Trump after he lost the 2020 election, that he pursued a series of actions to try to unlawfully overturn the results of that election. The special counsel acknowledges that the former president is within his rights to alleged fraud, to pursue litigation and to call for audits, but they say instead he pursued an unlawful series of actions that resulted in this criminal indictment.

Among them they say that he and his associates tried to install slates of fake electors to overturn the results in seven states.

[04:05:00]

They also allege that the former president and his associates applied a lot of pressure on individual states, on officials within specific states that the former president lost trying to get them to investigate and/or over turn the election results in their states.

They also allege that the former president tried to use the Justice Department with the help of a Justice Department official who is named as a co-conspirator to try to apply pressure specifically on the state of Georgia. And they also allege the former president apply pressure to his own vice president. Of course, this has been widely reported that he really pressed his Vice President Mike Pence not to certify the results of the election for now President Biden.

Now this all culminated, prosecutors allege, in the violence that we saw on January 6. Prosecutors allege that these lies that were being amplified by the former president and his associates, helped propel this sense of distrust in the government and in the outcome which in part resulted in the violence we saw in January 6. But the indictment lays out how then President Trump did not do anything to try to quell that violence and in fact he and his associates doubled down in their efforts to try to overturn the results of the election.

Now the former president is expected to make his initial court appearance on Thursday. It's unclear if he'll be in person or if he will appear via Zoom. And the investigation continues. The special counsel confirmed that on Tuesday. We also know from our own reporting that they will continue to interview witnesses including a witness that they have scheduled next Monday.

Paula Reid, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Joining me now a Thomas Gift, an associate political professor of political science at the University College London and Director of the UCL Center for U.S. Politics as well. Thanks for joining us. I mean, it's easy to get lost, isn't it, with all of these cases. But the language of this particular indictment is so profound, talking about prolific lies and conspiracy to defraud the United States.

THOMAS GIFT, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON: Well thanks so much for having me, Max. And you're right, I think that this is the blockbuster indictment that Trump critics have been waited for. Not because it's going to be easy to prove, I don't think that it will be, but just because of the weight and the scale of the charges. It goes to the worst thing Trump did in office, these destabilizing lies, an effort to shatter one of the bedrock principles of American democracy, of course, the peaceful transfer of power. And overall provoking an event on January 6 where violence was a predictable implication of stoking his base.

It's really easy to get desensitized to Trump's behavior. He's innocent until proven guilty. Obviously, and this is going to be an adversarial process in court. But basically the indictment says that Trump has every right to spread mistruths. He has every right to complain about electoral integrity. But once that digresses into a conspiracy and one aimed at impeding the certification of ballots, then it becomes criminal and especially so because it was all predicated-on fraud and deceit.

FOSTER: I think his motive -- it's interesting that this indictment doesn't focus on the violence which was so famous around that attack in Washington. It's more about the procedural steps that Donald Trump took. So just explain why that might be the strategy of the prosecution.

GIFT: I think you're absolutely right, Max. I mean, to me what is noticeable is what's in this indictment and what's not in this indictment. And what is there is this focus on the procedural steps Trump took to overturn the 2020 election. What's not there or only in the background is detail about Trump's actual role in whipping up a mob at the U.S. Capitol.

And I think that was a strategic choice by special counsel Jack Smith. He wanted to keep the attention on the facts that he is actually thought were provable, maintain a sort of surgical precision in that way and not get lost in some of these legally dicey mazes that consumed I think much of Trump's second impeachment trial and much of the House select committee into January 6. Jack Smith's audience is, you know, a court of law and not the court of public opinion. So the kinds of conduct that he thinks he can prove at a very high threshold of guilt, they are a lot different than Trump's critics generally would use to make a political argument about his malfeasance or abuse of power.

FOSTER: And you explain how difficult this is going to be in terms of a case for the prosecution. Because effectively what they are trying to prove is what Trump's mindset was and that is really hard to prove with evidence. Isn't it?

GIFT: Absolutely. I mean, for the prosecution that's going to be key. Because Trump's legal team is going to frame their defense essentially by saying that there was lack of reckless intent to commit the crime. That Trump was generally under the impression that the 2020 election was stolen and so he was just voicing his opinion without any clear malice.

I think the problem for Trump though is that there's just so much evidence indicating that he was repeatedly told that there was no widespread election rigging, that he was informed this by high-ranking members of his own administration and his inner circle. Including Attorney General Bill Barr and yet he continued to make false statements. [04:10:00]

So to me what's really the most striking about the indictment is just the relentless focus it places by the DOJ on this one point. You know, establishing that Trump has been acting out of willful bad faith and not just out of ignorance. It's a subjective point, but it's one that prosecutors are going to need to demonstrate beyond a reasonable doubt if they're going to secure a conviction.

FOSTER: OK, we're going to keep following it. Thomas Gift, thank you so much for joining us today with your insight on that.

Now Rex Heuermann, the man charged with the murder of three Gilgo Beach victims appeared in a New York state court on Tuesday. Prosecutors handed over evidence that they have been collecting days after finishing the search of the suspect's home. But for now the judge is keeping it under lock and key. CNN's Jean Casarez reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Suspected Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann facing a Suffolk County courtroom in handcuffs and a gray suit Jacket. This is his first court appearance since his arrest. During the conference here, the prosecution handed over a large amount of discovery to Heuermann's lawyers including photographs, reports and other evidence.

ROBERT TIERNEY, SUFFOLK COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: You are talking about 13 years' worth of investigation.

CASAREZ: The D.A. also saying that he does not believe any of the evidence handed over Tuesday was taken from the 12-day search of Heuermann's Massapequa Park house.

TIERNEY: It is a massive amount of material and don't forget, it's continuing because the investigation is continuing.

CASAREZ (voice-over): The hearing coming less than 24 hours after Heuermann's wife Asa Ellerup gave her first interview. Telling the "New York Post" her home was completely torn up by investigators. Her attorney releasing these photos showing boxes piled up. Some with yellow tape labeled evidence. Another photo showing what appears a section of a bathtub had been removed.

BOB MACEDONIO, ASA ELLERUP'S ATTORNEY: She came home to complete destruction of her family residence where she lived and raised the children.

CASAREZ (voice-over): Ellerup also telling the "New York Post" about the emotional toll she and her children are facing.

Saying, quote, my children cry themselves to sleep. I mean, they're not children. They're grown adults, but they're my children.

MACEDONIO: It's been extremely overwhelming for her and the children trying to piece life back together to what it was 2 1/2 weeks ago. CASAREZ (voice-over): And her attorney saying that Ellerup had no idea

about the allegations against her husband whom she has since filed for divorce from.

MACEDONIO: She's not a suspect. She has not been questioned by the police regarding any of this.

CASAREZ (voice-over): Heuermann is facing charges in connection to the murders of at least three women. Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman and Amber Lynn Costello. Their remains were found along a stretch of Long Island's Gilgo Beach in 2010. The 59-year-old New York City architect has pleaded not guilty. Heuermann's attorney claiming his innocence outside the courthouse Tuesday saying that there is no plea deal on the table.

MICHAEL BROWN, REX HEUERMANN'S DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I doubt that any one of you for a moment have even contemplated the possibility that they have the wrong guy. So what we're going to do is we're going to defend this case in a courtroom.

CASAREZ: Family members of the victims were in court. They have waited a long time for this. The district attorney of Suffolk County says that this is very personal for them, they are interested and engaged. The next court proceeding is set for September 27.

Jean Casarez, CNN, Riverhead, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Ukraine's Air Force says it shot down 23 Russian attack drones overnight. These are explosions over the capital Kyiv as air defenses did their work there. But Ukrainian officials say some Russian drones hit their targets in the southern city of Odesa. That attack damaged a critical port facility and some industrial infrastructure including a grain elevator and grain storage facility.

CNN's Clare Sebastian is following all these developments for us. I mean, it fits into the Russian strategy. They are coming dangerously close, aren't they, they're near the Danube. That means there near Romania, which means there near NATO.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, and this is what the Ukrainian military are now saying, this is not one of the seaports in the Odesa reason, this was one of the Danube ports. Which now that the seaports are essentially, you know, it's not possible to export grain through them at the moment because Russia pulled out of that Black Sea grain initiative.

The Danube ports are becoming much more important and this is the second time that one has been hit. The port of Reni was hit on July 24. And as you say, it's just across the Danube River from Romania. You can essentially see and hear these kinds of attacks from a NATO country. So this makes for a relatively dangerous moment in the conflict. But it also really now that it is not an isolated incident of these Danube ports, smacks of a very clear Russian strategy to really essentially cut off Ukraine's options when it comes to exporting grain.

That's not only something, as President Zelenskyy pointed out this morning, will affect the global food supply.

[04:15:00]

We are already seeing wheat futures up again this morning. They've been coming down for the past week or so, up four percent. But also Ukraine's economy. And this is a country that -- certainly according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture -- in 20 2114 percent of Ukraine's population is employed in the agriculture sector. It's about 40 percent of their entire exports. And so if you want to, you know, essentially handicap their ability to fund their defense, this is one way to do it.

FOSTER: It was only last week, wasn't it, that Russia was reassuring other countries that they're going to keep the grain supplies going into those countries from Russia and Ukraine.

SEBASTIAN: Yes, you know, that's what President Putin was saying at this Africa Summit, not to worry, Russia is a much bigger exporter of wheat and other grains than Ukraine and we will step into the breach. Also offering to provide it free of charge. I think, you know, that again points to the callousness of this. Right? Russia looking to make more money off its own exports not only because the prices are now going up, because it will be able to sell where Ukraine once did. So all of that, you know, is part of this overall picture.

FOSTER: Clare, thank you very much indeed.

Ratings agency Fitch has down graded the U.S. credit rating from its highest level. Citing the country's growing debt and expected fiscal decline. The move comes despite the last-minute agreement in June to raise the debt ceiling and avoid the first ever U.S. government default. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says she strongly disagrees with the down grade which is arbitrary and based on outdated data she says. A credit downgrade by S&P in 2011 pushed U.S. stocks sharply lower. So we'll wait to see what happens there today.

General Motors is recalling nearly 900 vehicles worldwide over air bag inflaters that could explode. The vehicles included are the 2013 models of the Chevrolet Camaro, Sonic, Volt and Chevy Trax, as well as the Buick Verano. Millions of vehicles with airbags from the now bankrupt Japanese company Takata are already under recall. The Takata airbags are blamed for at least 26 deaths and more than 400 injuries in the U.S. Drivers can get the airbag module replaced for free at dealerships.

Just ahead, planes filled with French and Italian nationals have left Niger as tensions escalate between the EU and the new military junta. We'll have the latest on that political crisis.

Plus, parts of the U.S. are bracing for more record high temperatures while others face severe storms. We'll have the forecast.

And later, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis are ramping up political attacks on each other over Florida's Black history curriculum. Their remarks still ahead.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Special flights carrying French and other European nationals are underway in Niger after last week's military coup. Niger's former colonial power France sent two jumbo jets to the capital on Tuesday and flew more than 350 French citizens out of country as well as people from ten other countries. Both have now landed in the French capital.

And an Italian plane carrying 87 passengers including 21 Americans landed hours ago in Rome. The foreign ministry isn't calling it an evacuation but rather a special flight for those wanting to leave.

We have team coverage of the latest developments. Stephanie Busari is in Lagos, Nigeria. But let's start with CNN's Jim Bittermann in Paris. Obviously, the important thing is keeping people safe. But what does this say about the French perspective on what's happening in Niger?

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well I think, Max, it's a little bit of tension that exists between the French and the ex-colony in Niger has created this evacuation basically. There's uncertainty about what this new regime after the coup is going to look like and French have been urging that the old regime, the former president be reinstated. That's not putting them in very good stead with the government, the supposed government, the coup leaders and the population on the streets.

So a lot of people who came out, there were 350 French so far that have made it out. There's two more flights en route. And on that first like there were 262 people that came on the first flight. And among them there was a sense of relief to be out but sorry to leave. And so, here's what a lot of them -- some of them had to say as they came off the plane.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It's a bit unfortunate to leave Niger in this situation. More like a hostage station than a coup. So that's it and we're glad to be back.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): We haven't left the house since it started, we haven't left the house. We've stayed inside until we were evacuated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BITTERMANN: So in fact, a lot of the people who came out express this kind of uncertainty about what the situation was going to bring and a good deal of relief over being back in France. And as I said, there are two more flights, two more evacuation flights that are expected during the day today. So it looks like the French are on the way to meeting the goal, their goal which was to get all of the French citizens who wanted to leave, and there's about 600 of those they say, out within 24 hours -- Max.

FOSTER: OK, Jim, thank you. Stephanie, foreigners have that option, don't they, the French in particular and the Italians. But for people in Niger, they have to stick it out and put up with this crisis.

STEPHANIE BUSARI, CNN SENIOR EDITOR, AFRICA: That's right, Max. The reality is that the people in Niger will have to face the consequences of this military takeover. Economic sanctions have already been imposed by the regional powers, ECOWAS, who have also threatened the use of force if President Bazoum is not reinstated. So tensions are escalating.

Now Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world. And some of the people who would have left would have been working on major projects to help the people of Niger, development teams and also, you know, initiatives to make life easier, to cushion the blow.

[04:25:00]

And France and the U.S. who are key allies of the pro-Western Bazoum government have also threatened to cut aid to Niger now that the military is in power. Niger received some $2 billion in international aid. So in weeks to come, the people of Niger are going to feel the pinch of this sanction, of this takeover -- Max.

FOSTER: Yes, and our thoughts are with them. Stephanie and Jim thank you both very much indeed.

Fresh off the hottest month on record, August isn't shaping up to be much cooler this week in much of the U.S. More than 50 million people remain under heat alerts. Others face the threat of severe storms and flash flooding. Our meteorologist Chad Myers has your forecast.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Summertime heat just will not go away for the middle part of the country with excessive heat warnings here well above normal for many spots. In the shade it will be 106 in Dallas. In the sun and in the humidity, it will be warmer than that. Back to 110 in Phoenix later on today after breaking that record streak of 110 or higher at 31 days. Broke that on Monday.

Below average temperatures in the northern Rockies and above average temperatures here for next few days across the Deep South. That's really been where all this heat has been and where all the records, again, will be broken. The record highs probably three or four dozen of them by the time by the time we work our way all the way toward the weekend.

Dallas near a broken record at 106 degrees every single day this week, but when you add in the heat and the humidity, it's going to feel like 110. So, yes, it even feels warmer with that mugginess.

There goes the rain that's been cooling off the desert Southwest just a little bit. Which means were going to get back into warm air again for Vegas, Phoenix, Flagstaff and the like, even into Southern California. But the rain does eventually make its way over that ridge and gets to St. Louis. I'll show you that in a bit.

31 days in a row, high temperatures 110 degrees or greater. That is a new record for Phoenix. Not the kind of record you want to break. And then for today we get to that 110 and we're back breaking a new record. It's broken so we have to start all over. Let's not do that. Temperatures all the way to 116 on your Sunday. So well above normal.

Something else that's going to happen to all above normal, is all of this rainfall is going to come over the top of this ridge, over Nebraska and then back down across parts of St. Louis. This is the area Missouri, Illinois, that could pick up significant number of storms in a row. We call that training. One storm leaves and another storm comes right in the same place. And that training can cause significant flash flooding. We see one storm for Thursday, another one for Friday. It's just going to keep going in the same places. So places that are already soggy will see more in the way of thunderstorms the next day as well. We'll have to keep watching that one.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Thank you to Chad.

Still ahead this hour, Donald Trump huddling with advisers and plotting his strategy in the face of his latest criminal indictment.

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