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Ukraine Arrests Woman Over Alleged Plot To Kill Zelenskyy; Leaders From 8 Nations Meeting For Amazon Summit In Brazil; U.S. Diplomat Meets With Junta Leaders In Niger; South Korea Tells Scouts To Leave World Jamboree Site As Typhoon Nears. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired August 08, 2023 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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LAILA HARRAK, CNN ANCHOR: Hello everyone, I'm Laila Harrak. Ahead on CNN Newsroom. Attempted assassination Ukraine detains a woman allegedly involved in a plot to kill President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. And protecting the Amazon leaders from eight countries will meet in Brazil for a two-day summit as the Brazilian President tries to undo the destructive legacy of his predecessor.
Plus, the irony of Zoom the company has enabled so many people to work from home now wants its own workers back in the office.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from CNN Center. This is CNN Newsroom with Laila Harrak.
HARRAK: We begin this hour in Ukraine where at least seven people have been killed after Russian missiles hit residential areas in the Donetsk region. It happened on Monday in the eastern city of Pokrovsk. At least 57 others have been injured.
Ukraine's Minister of Internal Affairs said earlier that police officers rescuers, and even a child were among those hurts. One local official says the rubble has now been cleared.
Well, Ukraine security services a woman is now in custody in connection to a plot to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Ukrainian security officials published a blurred image that they say shows the informant for Russia. She has not been named but officials say she's from the southern Ukrainian region of Mykolaiv. CNN's Fred Pleitgen has more on that and the fighting that grinds on in Ukraine.
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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Nearly half a million munitions. That's how much the Ukrainian say the Russian army fired at them in only a week's time on the Eastern Front. Still, Moscow reporting only modest gains.
Over the past three days the advance of Russian troops in this direction amounted to 11 kilometers along the front and more than three kilometers into the depth of the enemy's defense, the army spokesman says. But the Ukrainian say in most areas they are the ones advancing and Kyiv is hitting Putin's military behind the front lines as well.
After Ukrainian see drones hit both the Russian tanker and a warship in the past days, now an air attack damaging a vital bridge connecting occupied Crimea to Ukraine's mainland. A local Moscow installed official trying to downplay the significance. These are sneaky punches he says, really sneaky. They can't be forgiven. They are just snarls from a wounded animal.
Strikes like these often made possible by Western supplied air launched cruise missiles. Glory to Ukraine President Zelenskyy wrote on a French model during a visit to his air force this weekend. But now Ukraine's Intelligence Services it boiled a Russian plot to assassinate Zelenskyy using an informant trying to scout out his whereabouts.
The Ukrainian say questioning revealed the person was involved in other attempted plots as well. The Ukrainian say their troops had been making some gains on the southern front, putting pressure on entrenched Russian forces there.
Russian President Vladimir Putin meeting with the boss of one of Russia's top arms makers urging him to speed up manufacturing of modern weapons. Manufacturers promised me that they would increase the amount of production he says, they deliver on that promise, but it needs to be increased even more.
This Russian drone footage shows the aftermath of some of the fighting in Ukraine South, very little territory won or lost, but nearly every building completely destroyed. Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.
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HARRAK: The U.S. State Department said it was productive that China attended a meeting aimed at restoring peace in Ukraine. The meeting hosted by Saudi Arabia over the weekend ended with delegations from a number of countries agreeing to continue consultations and dialogue. Here's part of the State Department's reaction to China's attendance.
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MATTHEW MILLER, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: We have long said that it would be productive for China to play a role in ending the war in Ukraine if it was willing to play a role that respected Ukraine's territorial integrity and Ukraine's sovereignty. We believe it's helpful for countries to attend and hear directly from Ukraine.
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HARRAK: And while the State Department spokesperson went on to say U.S. officials met with China's Special Envoy at the meeting to deliver that same message as well. A senior U.S. official has met with the military junta in Niger to push for a diplomatic resolution to the country's crew.
The Acting Deputy Secretary of State says they had a frank conversation, but made no progress in restoring constitutional order. All those talks happened on the same day that the Niger young coup leaders met with other officials from Mali and Burkina Faso's own juntas.
Mali reaffirmed its support for Niger and condemned the regional bloc ECOWAS, which has weighed military intervention in the country to restore the ousted government. Well, the Niger young junta says it has deployed additional troops in the capital to prepare for such a scenario but a former ECOWAS chairperson believes there won't be any need for violence.
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ELLEN JOHNSON SIRLEAF, FORMER ECOWAS CHAIRPERSON: I really believe that it may seem now that we are headed toward a major crisis. We are headed toward major violence, you know, and conflicts. I believe that the ECOWAS authorities will find a way out of that.
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HARRAK: Well, meantime the current leaders of ECOWAS have scheduled another meeting on Thursday to discuss the situation. CNN's Larry Madowo reports.
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LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): There appears to be a showdown looming between Nigeria's military junta and the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, over the future for the country. When they meet at this extraordinary summit on Thursday, ECOWAS leaders have to decide whether they go ahead with the threat of a military intervention, or they will explore other diplomatic or political solutions.
In Niger, the military commander has been talking in apocalyptic terms about an impending attack from a foreign power, closing the airspace, bringing military units to the capital Niamey, and also trying to show that they have public support, listen to some of these supporters of their military junta.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (through translator): If ECOWAS forces decide to attack our country before reaching the presidential palace, they will have to walk over our bodies, spill our blood, and we'll do it with pride.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It's France that's behind this ECOWAS force that wants to attack us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I think that everywhere in the world, they see that the people were mobilized. They're going to have to crush us all to reach the presidential palace.
MADOWO: Because of the huge anti France sentiment in the country, there are many people who feel that even this threat of military intervention by ECOWAS is really France pulling the strings there. It's going to be pointed out that pro-democracy voices, people who support President Bazoum appear to have disappeared almost completely from the national discourse in this Niger, partly because the military has tightly controlled the narrative there.
The U.S. State Department says it's been in direct contact with the military junta there and told them to step aside, even though they've shown no signs of listening to any of the international voices so far. Larry Madowo, CNN, Nairobi.
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HARRAK: J. Peter Pham is a former U.S. Special Envoy for the Sahel region and a Distinguished Fellow at the Atlantic Council. He joins me now from Washington. So good to have you with us.
Victoria Nuland, the US's acting Deputy Secretary of State held what she described as very frank and difficult talks with one of the military leaders. What does her visit to Niger air signal to you the first trip by U.S. official to the country since the coup?
J. PETER PHAM, DISTRINGUISHED FELLOW, THE ATLANTIC COUNCIL: Yes, I think it's a very important step by salute, Acting Deputy Secretary Nuland for making that journey at the end of a very long and tiresome journey that took her to not only the Middle East, but also Central Africa.
And I think it's important that the channels of communication remain open. This is a country that the United States has invested in very heavily over the course of three administrations, both Democrat and Republican, and where the investment has been paying off, up until the coup.
So, there's a lot there not just investment in terms of money, but also in terms of lives. Remember the service of the Special Operations Forces, personnel who were killed in Northern Niger, just a few years ago. So I think it's an important step to have dialogue, especially to deescalate some of the bellicose language has been traded back and forth between Niger and some of its neighbors.
HARRAK: Still, Peter, it's very extraordinary, I would say very striking in terms of, you know, what you just outlined the U.S. and also other Western nations have poured hundreds of millions of dollars into aid for Niger, both military and non-military. Yet nobody saw this coming.
How should Washington react from your point of view?
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PHAM: Well, certainly we have to be unambiguous. We have to stand by our principles, as well as what a U.S. law requires, which is acknowledged that a coup took place. And there are consequences to coups, and we do not condone them otherwise. On the other hand, we also have to deal with some frank realities.
This has been up to now, one of the success stories and I would argue it's still a success story, because the units have special operations forces that were trained by the United States and equipped and also trained by France and some of our other allies. Those units weren't involved in the coup. The coup was a minority group of elite presidential guards who felt marginalized. Their commander was facing possible dismissal. There were some investigations of corruption.
So they moved to, if you will, protect their own selfish interests and put at risk not only the security gains which have occurred, but also the development gains over the course of the last few years in Niger.
HARRAK: Now, the coup leaders justification for seizing power by force and ousting President Bazoum is what they say is the deterioration of the security situation in Niger and general mismanagement of the economy by the Bazoum administration.
Give us a sense in terms of how much support does President Bazoum endure (ph), what kind of mandate did he have before this coup is he seen as a competent leader?
PHAM: Well, President Bazoum took office just shy of two years ago, after -- in the first peaceful democratic transfer power Niger has had in its 60 years of independence after winning 55 percent of the vote in an election which 70 percent of Nigerian voters took part. So there's no denying his democratic credentials.
And as far as security (INAUDIBLE) improved, the first half of this year saw the lowest level of violence in Niger since 2018. So it's been five years since the levels have been brought down to this law. And that's largely through the special operations forces trained by the U.S. and France and other allies that are operating at the periphery in small teams.
It's also to not just the military action, but dialogue that Bazoum administration has carried out with some of the extremists, one -- people who have joined them for a paycheck, not necessarily for belief in or in their extremist ideology, and bringing them back. We've seen for the first time IDPs, internally displaced persons being resettled. So there's been a lot of gain.
HARRAK: Now an emergency summit will be held in Abuja, Nigeria on Thursday to see if they can get out of this stalemate. Could the U.S. play a mediating role?
PHAM: Well, I think the Acting Deputy Secretary Nuland threw in during her visit to Niamey today, the offer that the U.S. might possibly use good offices to help facilitate because unhelpfully the rhetoric on both sides really in the West Africa has been elevated.
Nigeria leading ECOWAS, the regional bloc, threatened military options were on the table. Well, in diplomacy, a cardinal rule is never make a threat unless you're prepared to carry it out. And quite frankly, they weren't prepared. In fact, there's even evidence that there's not even a political
consensus within Nigeria, much less across the entire block, as the Nigerian Senate rather strongly objected to Nigeria taking this role.
On the other hand, some of the coup states in the region, Burkina Faso, Mali, in particular have been very bellicose in supporting the coup in Niger, have enough province of their own. So the notion that Burkina Faso which were the junta controls barely a third of national territory could come to anyone's rescue is quite frankly reasonable.
HARRAK: J. Peter Pham, a former U.S. Special Envoy for the Sahel Region and Distinguished Fellow at the Atlantic Council. Sir, thank you for sharing your insights with us.
PHAM: Thank you for having me.
HARRAK: Still to come. A tropical storm is headed toward a major scouting event in South Korea making for some not so happy campers. Our officials are responding to the extreme weather.
Plus, leaders from eight countries are gathering in Brazil to discuss ways to protect the Amazon rainforest. But can they overcome their differences and reach a consensus. I'll ask a climate expert.
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HARRAK: Scouts in South Korea are being evacuated from the site of the world Scout Jamboree as Tropical Storm Khanun is set to hit the country this week. Officials say 37,000 participants are being moved to Seoul as part of an emergency plan. But it's not the first problem to plague the camping event. Thousands of scouts from the U.S., Britain and Singapore left over the weekend due to concerns over the heat and more than 1,000 people visited the camps hospital on Sunday alone.
All parents overseas also say they've heard complaints about food shortages and lack of beds. The U.K. Scout CEO says he wants to make sure this never happens again.
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MATT HYDE, CEO, UK SCOUTS: I would just encourage that there is a proper independent learning review. So we all capture lessons whether that applies to future January's or any other events that anyone frankly is organizing because we cannot be put in this situation again. It's not fair on anyone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRAK CNN meteorologist Chad Myers is following the storm and other developments from the CNN weather center.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST (on camera): Watching a couple things out here in the Pacific still Khanun and now Tropical Depression number seven, show you where that goes in just a second. Let's focus on this 95 kilometer per hour tropical storm.
No real organization with it yet some dry air still wrapping in but when I show you the visible, you may see some development, at least trying to get some of these areas wrapping in around to the north of Okinawa, so maybe some of that drier air is moving away and eventually 110 kilometers per hour as it approaches parts of South Korea.
It has to run over parts of Kyushu. Again though we'll see the rainfall again with this storm before it finally works its way on up into the Korean peninsula. Some of the rain here across Seoul and Point South could be quite heavy. We don't need any more rainfall certainly don't need the wind.
And then here you go. There's tropical depression that number seven, at this point in time on this computer model is no longer a tropical depression. Obviously, it will have grown into something significantly stronger at that point in time.
We'll still see the rainfall here in Seoul parts, especially on the east coast here. Some of the spots could pick up 250 millimeters of rain simply because of the way the wind is going. So here goes TD number seven. But notice in five days, 120 hours from now on up to 140 kilometers per hour. We're going to have to watch that as our next system comes in from the east.
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HARRAK: Thanks to Chad Myers. In the coming hours, leaders from eight Amazon countries will be meeting in Brazil for a two day summit to discuss ways to protect the critical rainforest from deforestation and other threats.
While Colombia says it supports a plan to protect 80 percent of the Amazon by 2025. But that might be a tall order. CNN's Rafael Romo has more on the challenges the world's largest rainforest faces.
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RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): They move slowly through the jungle. Their weapons are caught and loaded. These environmental agents are searching for signs of illegal logging. It doesn't take long before they find what they're looking for.
Illegal logging has been a challenge in Brazil for decades. But experts say it grew worse over the last four years when former president Jair Bolsonaro was in power.
The commander in charge of the unit conducting this raid says the previous government only cared about solving emergency situations, but lacks strategic planning to really combat deforestation. His team later makes an arrest.
In his first speech after taking office on January 1, current president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said one of his government's goals is to reach zero deforestation in the Amazon, adding that Brazil doesn't need to get rid of its trees to remain an agricultural powerhouse.
ROMO (on camera): And now Lula is about to spearhead what he hopes will be an international effort to save the Amazon with the cooperation of all the countries that host the world's largest rainforest, although almost 60 percent of the Amazon is in Brazil. It also extends through Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela.
ROMO (voiceover): Last month, President Lula met with Gustavo Petro, his Colombian counterpart at Leticia, a city in southern Colombia on the Amazon River and just across the Brazilian border.
Last week, the Brazilian government said preliminary data from the country Space Research Agency show deforestation in the Amazon has fallen by 66 percent since July of last year, to its lowest point in six years. And this week, the Brazilian President is hosting heads of state of Amazon countries at a summit to be held in the Brazilian city of Belem at the mouth of the Amazon River.
Lula said he's going to try to convince the other heads of state to work together in a cohesive way to fight organized crime to take care of the Amazon and the people who live in it.
According to the Brazilian government, the meeting intends to start a new stage in cooperation among the countries that host the biome through the adoption of a shared policy for the sustainable development of the region.
Efforts to save the Amazon are nothing new. The Brazilian government has raided illegal mining and logging operations over the decades, but the results have been disappointing.
A study by Purdue University showed that deforestation drove the massive Amazon rainforest fires of 2019, which destroyed thousands of square miles of Amazon rainforest, roughly the size of New Jersey and according to an analysis by the Council on Foreign Relations published last year, it's estimated that between 17 and 20 percent of the Amazon has been destroyed over the past 50 years. And some scientists believe that the tipping point for die back is between 20 and 25 percent deforestation. Rafael Romo, CNN, Atlanta.
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HARRAK: Natalie Unterstell is president of the think tank a Talanoa dedicated to climate change policy. And she joins me now from Rio de Janeiro. So lovely to have you with us again, Natalie. The Amazon summit will address rainforest conservation in terms of deliverables, what sort of action do you expect to come out of this any binding commitments that we can look forward to? NATALIE UNTERSTELL, PRESIDENT, TALANOA: This is a -- this is the first time in 45 years that the eight South American nations that are members of the so called Amazon Cooperation Treaty, are gathering and they are expected to deliver a firm commitment to really save the rainforest from reaching the tipping point.
That means not reaching not surpassing 25 percent of forest loss in the coming decades. What we know already is that the forest is showing signs of losing its capacity to regulate the rainfall in the region and the global climate due to deforestation. So that's why the leaders are expected to commit to halt and reverse this process as soon as possible. Brazil is proposing zero deforestation by 2030 and trying to get other countries on board.
HARRAK: Can you outline for us what the challenges are the complexities that are involved in protecting such a vast area like the Amazon?
UNTERSTELL: Well, first, as you mentioned, it's a vast area and there are severe security issues. So currently, what we are seeing is that the borders, through the borders.
[01:25:03]
There's lot of gold and timber and other forests reaches that are crossing with that control and without real scrutiny from governments. And that's why it's not up to one country or two to really, you know, reverse this process, they have to come together. They have to coordinate particularly on those security issues to avoid this criminal activities that are leading deforestation that are driving this whole process that can even lead to ecological collapse of the region. So this is one of the main challenges they have. And that is a shared one, right.
The other one is that it's sort of easier to really stop deforestation when you fix the security issues, but then you have to build an economic alternatives, right, because people have to leave, they need the alternatives to do so. So this is also part of the conversation here. So building a new economy that can be forced based or what we call her here, the bio economy that can sustain the people and can sustain the rainforest, too.
HARRAK: So a multi-pronged approach. What role does Brazil play when it comes to reducing rainforest deforestation?
UNTERSTELL: Well, first most of the rainforest is located in Brazil. And it's actually 60 percent of Brazil's territory. So it's a big mass of land and resources, right. And secondly, because the borders are so vast what the other countries. If Brazil doesn't control with doesn't really do its homework, the other nations are vulnerable to, so it's really a heavyweight.
And in terms of political will, we have seen now a super change in relation to the previous government. We have a new government and in power. President Lula is taking a completely different approach from its predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro. So he is really committed to climate and forests agenda, politically.
And that means, for instance, calling this -- calling these other seven nations to come together to Belem at the heart of the rainforest, to discuss these critical issues, and also to call the international community to share the costs of protecting the rainforest.
So Brazil under Lula now wants to be a leader, leader of the rainforest nations. And that's why he is in Valais right now and trying to convince his peers to come together to tackle deforestation as soon as possible.
HARRAK: Natalie Unterstell, president of the think tank Talanoa. Thank you as always for joining us.
UNTERSTELL: Thank you.
HARRAK: Street artists in Basra, Iraq are now painting at night to beat the heat, with temperatures as high as 53 degrees Celsius during the day. Artists say the heat and humidity caused their paint to dry too fast not to mention the physical and psychological fatigue they experience.
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AHMED MAGED, IRAQI ARTIST (through translator): Painting is our source of livelihood. For me personally, this is how I make a living. I've postponed many orders for paintings and continued to postpone because I cannot work in these high temperatures.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRAK: According to the United Nations Iraq is the world's fifth most vulnerable country to the climate crisis.
Still ahead, a look at what health experts are saying about the British government's plans to house migrants on a barge moored in southern England.
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HARRAK: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Laila Harrak.
The controversy over how to deal with the influx of asylum seekers in the U.K. is growing more complicated. On Monday, health experts warned of a possible risk of infection aboard a barge that is being used to house migrants.
ITN's Carl Dinnen has more now from Portland in southwest England.
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CARL DINNEN, ITN CORRESPONDENT: Asylum seekers bussed through Portland were welcomed by a small group of campaigners on the way to Bibby Stockholm (ph). Although some of the buses only seem to have brought a handful of people on board, the campaigners have prepared welcome packs.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've got a map of Portland, because obviously they are new to the area. And it will help them find their way around. We've got notes (INAUDIBLE) and pens so they can write things down for English lessons --
DINNEN: But not everyone here thinks this kind of welcome is appropriate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Take these back to the community fridge or Portland food bank.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you support the community.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Take them down there then.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Helps to up community fridge.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are not there --
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're not there on --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We all want to support the refugees, why not? Don't you want to support them?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not over the people of Portland.
DINNEN: These are not the first migrants to stay on the Bibby Stockholm. It has previously housed migrants in the Netherlands and indeed construction workers in Scotland. But the mayor of Portland says the 500 people being put on it here is too many.
CARRALYN PARKES, MAYOR OF PORTLAND, ENGLAND: You have issues of accommodation for workers, it's 220. Now, they are talking about more than double that figure because they believe human beings belong in communities. That's why human beings should be taken care of not on a barge.
DINNEN: But 500 is just a drop in the ocean of 137,000 outstanding asylum decisions. Nearly 60,000 people are awaiting them in temporary accommodation like hotels and the pressure is all upwards with 15,000 migrants already having crossed the channel in small boats this year.
And the Home Office said 20 people have refused to come here. That is more that have actually boarded the barge.
CHERYL AVEWRY, U.K. HOME OFFICE DIRECTOR FOR ASYLUM ACCOMMODATION: So we successfully on-boarded the first cohort today. And there's a few people on board. We have had a few challenges. But this is part of a ongoing structured process to bring a cohort of up to 500 people on board. DINNEN: The first residents of the Bibby Stockholm can expect to stay
here for 3 to 9 months. What happens to those not granted asylum after that depends on whether the government can get its Rwanda plan through the courts.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRAK: Russia may be keeping an additional eye on the war in Ukraine from space. The defense ministry launched a new satellite from a cosmodrome in the country's northwest on Monday. Russian state media reports it was placed into orbit and is functioning normally.
Its Rio-based navigation system is the Russian equivalent of the E.U.'s Galileo system and the U.S.'s GPS.
And Russia is preparing to launch its first lunar landing spacecraft in nearly 50 years this Friday. The Luna 25 lander will spend a year on the moon, searching for ice near its south pole.
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HARRAK: According to the Russian Space Agency, the discovery of sufficient quantities of ice could support humans on the moon in the future. India launched a similar lunar probe last month.
Still ahead, Donald Trump's legal team responds. What the former president's attorneys have to say about proposed restrictions in his election plot case.
Plus, police are investigating what prompted a massive fight on a boat dock in the state of Alabama. We will bring you video from the scene.
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HARRAK: The judge in Donald Trump's election interference case is planning hearing this week on how to handle evidence. The Justice Department and Trump's legal team are arguing over restrictions on what the former president can disclose to the public.
CNN's Paula Reid has more on that and Trump's other legal troubles.
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PAULA REID, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: In Washington, CNN reporting exclusively that former New York police commissioner, Bernie Kerik talked to special counsel investigators.
TIM PARLATORE, ATTORNEY FOR BERNIE KERIK: It was mostly about, you know, all the efforts in between the election and January 6 of what the Giuliani team is doing.
REID: The meeting is the first known investigative steps since the special counsel's office filed charges against former president Trump last week. Kerik's attorney, Tim Parlatore, saying he doesn't think Trump's former lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, will be indicted.
PARLATORE: No. Not a chance.
REID: Also, Trump's lawyers arguing in a new court filing that they shouldn't be restricted from talking publicly about some evidence in the election interference probe.
JOHN LAURO, DONALD TRUMP'S DEFENSE ATTORNEY: The press and the American people, in a campaign season, have a right to know what the evidence is in this case.
REID: While so-called protective orders aren't unusual, prosecutors say it is especially important in this case because of Trump's public statements and how they could have a chilling effect, like this recent social media post that read, "If you go after me, I'm coming after you."
Trump also lashing out specifically at this former vice president, who could become a witness at trial, calling him "delusional" and "not a very good person". Pence saying he would testify if asked.
MIKE PENCE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: People can be confident, we will obey the law. we will respond to the call of the law, if it comes. And we'll just tell the truth.
REID: Trump even attacking Jack Smith at a fund-raiser in South Carolina, just days after his second arrest and arraignment in federal court on a case brought by the special counsel.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Jack Smith. He's a deranged human being.
REID: Trump's legal team testing out their defense in the court of public opinion, including arguing that what Trump did was covered by the First Amendment.
[01:39:57[
LAURO: There was no fraudulent conspiracy. That is part of the reality of the defense. Biden said in November 2022 that he wanted to see President Trump prosecuted and taken out of this race.
REID: But these defenses were quickly rebutted by some of Trump's former top allies. Former attorney general Bill Barr drawing a line between speech and conspiracy.
BILL BARR, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: He can say whatever he wants. He can even lie. But that does not protect you from entering into a conspiracy. All conspiracies involve speech.
REID: The Trump team also bracing for a fourth indictment in as many months. This time, coming out of Fulton County, Georgia --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I think that we can expect at.
REID: -- where the former lieutenant governor just got subpoenaed in that grand jury investigation. And district attorney Fani Willis is getting ready to announce possible charges against Trump for his actions in Georgia around the 2020 election.
FANI WILLIS, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, FULTON COUNTY, GEORGIA: I took an oath and that oath requires that I follow the law. That if someone broke the law in Fulton County, Georgia, that I have a duty to prosecute. And that's exactly what I plan to do.
REID: CNN observing additional security for Judge Tanya Chutkan. She is the judge overseeing the Trump prosecution related to January 6 here Washington, D.C. She's also the judge who will rule on that protective order and is unclear when she will make that decision.
Paula Reid, CNN -- Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRAK: Police in the U.S. State of Alabama have issued arrest warrants for four people connected to a large brawl that broke out on a dock over the weekend. It is unclear what caused the fight but police say more warrants may follow as they review the footage.
CNN's Ryan Young breaks down what happened.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And altercation on a Montgomery, Alabama boat dock over the weekend between a group of white boaters and a black employee escalated into a massive brawl that resulted in multiple arrest warrants.
Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed is calling for justice to be served for attacking a man who was doing his job.
MAYOR STEVEN REED -- MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA: It's an unfortunate incident. And it's something that we're investigating right now. We will continue to go through that process before we take any additional steps.
YOUNG: It all began when the black employee was trying to clear the dock space where the Riverside Cruise, the Harriet 2 normally docks. The cruiser was about to return to shore and he needed space to dock.
LAUREN SPIVEY, WITNESS: You know, just doing his job. And for some reason, they didn't like it. They didn't want to move the boat. And he decided to get physical with him.
YOUNG: You can see in the video, the black employee on the dock arguing with one of the men from the pontoon boat. And then another shirtless white man charging at the employee and hitting him in the face. Soon after that, you can see several others join in on the attack of the dock employee.
In some of the video, which has gone viral, with millions of views, people on the boat can be yelling for someone to go help the employee.
And then at one point, you can see a young man who has jumped off the boat, swimming ashore to help the man who is being attacked. SPIVEY: The boat got closer, the guys and the crew members, everyone
caught up. That is when it happened. That's the reason why when they got off the boat they came right to that smaller boat.
YOUNG: And that's when more fighting ensues, turning into an all-out brawl that included several people getting hit over the head with a folding chair. Soon after, officers started trying to take control, handcuffing people in the fight.
SPIVEY: You know, they were the antagonist in the whole situation, arrest them because unfortunately, when things happen, people of color are the first to be put in handcuffs.
YOUNG: Many questions remain about the melee that appear to be very much split across racial lines.
REED: We are fully engaged and we are doing all of our due diligence to find out exactly what took place.
YOUNG: You know, we've learned from police that there are four warrants that have been issued. And we're told there will be a Tuesday news conference that will be around 2:00 Eastern. We should learn more from police and city officials about this. I could say it's really captivated the Internet. People are paying attention to what the next steps are.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRAK: Still to come, while Zoom keeps the work-from-home dream alive for millions of people, the video communications company wants its own employees back in the office.
Plus, England survive a (INAUDIBLE) Women's World Cup. How they managed to edge past the resilience of Nigeria.
[01:44:34]
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HARRAK: Zoom became a household name during the pandemic. The video communications company has help enable the work-from-home revolution. Now though even Zoom is requiring its workers to start returning to the office. As you would expect, not everyone is ready to ditch their couch for a commute.
CNN's Tom Foreman reports.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, the irony here. The company that taught us all how you could work-from-home and see each other, Zoom is now saying it wants its workers in the office at least two days out of every week.
And they are not alone in doing that. Several others are doing the same thing. Google, SalesForce, Amazon and the U.S. government, all saying we like the idea of people being there face to face. We like the synergy. We like the productivity that comes out of it. They are convinced that's better.
Now, a lot of workers are not so convinced, especially younger workers and those who are more highly educated. They are saying, look, we don't like commuting. 48 percent say it's one of the reasons they don't want to come into the office. It costs gas, it costs time, it costs money.
They don't like paying extra childcare. When they are home, they can take care of that. 14 percent think that. 13 percent say they are better able to focus.
What is the difference here and what they want? Generally, employers want 1.6 days at home per week. That's weird. We don't take 0.6 days. So basically, they are saying two days at home a week is enough. Workers want a little more than that, so basically three days at home per week.
The workers have a really strong hand to play here right now because so many employers are still trying to find enough people. And interestingly working from home, one study found, workers equate that to an 8 percent higher salary if they had the freedom to work-from- home a lot.
So you could see for employers, yes they want people back. But it's an uphill climb.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRAK: Joining me now is Nicholas Bloom, a professor of economics at Stanford University. His research focuses on working from home, management practices and uncertainty.
Professor Bloom, so great to have you with us. Does it make sense for Zoom to take this decision?
NICHOLAS BLOOM, PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS, STANFORD UNIVERSITY: I think it does, you know. So they are still being pretty generous. You should put this in context and say, most get to work-from-home three days a week, if they live within 50 miles. If they live even further away they can work-from-home full-time.
It kind of depends what you compare it with. If you go back to 2019, that would be an incredible and generous offer. Obviously compared to what we saw about a year ago, that seems like you are holding people back. But yes, I think for Zoom it is a good decision. For employees, you still get to work-from-home three days a week. That is a pretty good deal.
HARRAK: What drives this decision?
BLOOM: Basically, there's two ways to run a firm. One is to be fully remote. So it's a good option, you don't have to pay for office space. That's maybe 10 to 20 percent of savings. And you can hire globally. You can hire people all over the world. But in Zoom's case, they already paid for their office and they
already have their employees locally. So they don't get any of those gains. And what they're losing out is that people never come into work, it's harder to mentor, it's harder to build culture, it's harder to innovate.
Zoom of course, are saying look, we have the office, we have the local employees. We'd like you guys to come in for a couple of days a week so that you can be more productive. And you know, I think it is honestly a very sensible decision.
HARRAK: A sensible decision. But was there anything that surprised you about this move?
[01:49:59]
BLOOM: Yes. I'll tell you the thing that surprised me. Essentially in Zoom, almost exactly a year ago I had lunch with Eric Yuan, who's the CEO. And I was asking him about this.
And they were basically doing this already, you know, informally about a year ago. So in some ways the astounding thing is it took them so long to formally announce this.
And I think a lot of it is (INAUDIBLE) PR. You can see that this has been a huge story today. You know, I've heard so much about it, you know, social media is alive with discussion.
And I think, honestly, Zoom was dreading announcing it. I don't know why they decided today to announce that. They have been doing it informally, to be honest, having folks come in a couple of days a week for you know, at least a year now.
HARRAK: And Professor Bloom, what are you seeing? Is there a trend towards firms asking their employees to come back to the office?
BLOOM: No. It's a great question. There isn't. Let us give you some data here. We surveyed 10,000 Americans a month. The census of a full 2,000. There's also a great swipe data of how many people swipe their cards in and out.
All of those three data sets for the U.S. are totally flat. Europe is a bit low, but flat. Asia is a bit low still but flat. So work from home is up. And it's fallen back down from the early pandemic days. But it appears to be flattening out. And you know, certainly it's a lot harder than it was in 2019 and it really stopped falling for most of 2023, honestly (ph) it's been flat.
HARRAK: Is it efficient to have workers back in the office? How do you look at it right now, in this moment?
BLOOM: Well, as we heard earlier, employees value it about something like 5 to 10 percent. The number is 8 percent on average pay increase to get to work-from-home 2 to 3 days a week. And it looks like, from my research and others, that doesn't damage productivity.
So it makes a lot of sense to let people work-from-home up to three days a week. They are happier, the firm doesn't lose.
Letting them work-from-home full-time gets a lot harder. If you never physically see people, it's kind of harder to discuss things. It's a lot harder to mentor particularly senior employees.
So I think in moderation, work-from-home is great. But fully remote is more challenging for a company like Zoom, given they have the offices, given people live nearby. I don't really think it made a lot of sense.
HARRAK: It didn't make a lot of sense. Final the question for you, Professor. Have people really ever left the office? You know, ever since lockdown and remote working, these lines between professional and private have basically blurred. And there are many other more important questions that are being raised and have to be addressed.
BLOOM: Yes, exactly. I mean, you know, to be clear, it's not that everyone is going back. There are some folks I think if you're working in call centers, data entry. These people can be fully remote. What we're seeing is managers, professionals coming back.
The bigger questions you talk about, include things like the impact on the environment. There's a huge benefit from having people not commuting every day. In fact some cities, we heard earlier on childcare. In our data we see, if you're working from home, you're spending maybe a day, 20 minutes extra, 10 to 20 minutes extra on childcare which is a huge gain.
So there's a much bigger picture out here. Certainly working from home is lower than it was in 2020, but it's way up versus pre-pandemic and it's very much (INAUDIBLE).
HARRAK: All right. Professor Nicholas Bloom, thank you so much. Great having you on.
All right. Now building off the success of the blockbuster "Barbie" movie, Mattel says it is launching a limited edition "Weird Barbie". It's a signature doll modeled after Kate McKinnon's character in the film with a similar hot pink outfit, crazy markings on her face and oddly cut hair to emulate a doll that has been played with just a little too much.
"Barbie" is produced by Warner Bros. Pictures which is owned by CNN's parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery.
In the day ahead, four countries will compete for the last two spots in the Women's World Cup quarterfinals.
First, a match between a couple of trail blazers, Colombia, the second South American team to ever win a tournament group will take on Jamaica who are playing in the knockout stage for the first time.
And later, Morocco, the only World Cup first timers to have reached the knockouts will face France, one of the favorites to win it all.
The winner of that match will play co-host, Australia, who are coming off a strong win over Denmark rather. And CNN's Don Riddell reports.
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DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: The one and only time that the Women's World Cup hosts have won the title was back in 1999. U.S.A.'s famous win against China in a penalty shootout.
Well, Australia must fancy their chances of doing it this time with previous champions, U.S.A., Germany, Norway all out of the tournament already.
[01:54:56]
RIDDELL: A massive crowd of over 75,000 packed the stadium in Sydney to see the Matildas strolling past their mark, 2-nil, forward Caitlin Foord streaking past defenders to slop the ball home just before the half hour mark.
The Aussies kept up the pressure in the second half in the 70th minute, Hayley Raso scored her third goal of the tournament.
But arguably the biggest cheer of the night came ten minutes after that when Australia star striker, Sam Kirk (ph) came on as a sub for her first appearance of the tournament. It was a Matilda's master class. Player of the match, Foord was so hyped up afterwards that they had to pull out the bleep button.
CAITLIN FOORD, MATILDAS PALYER: I'm so proud of everyone tonight. We just ran out (EXPLETIVE DELETED) and gave it everything. And we knew if we defended well, there was going to came chances and we're going to score. That's what we did tonight. So yes, just super proud of everyone.
RIDDELL: This Women's World Cup has been full of surprises and has been historic too with three African teams reaching the knockout stage for the first time. Only one of them is left. But Nigeria won plenty of admirers for the way they went out to England on Monday.
And England, frankly, are rather fortunate to be in the quarter finals. They were given an almighty scare by the Super Falcons.
In the group stage, Nigeria had held the Olympic champions, Canada, to a goalless draw and against the European champions, England, they hit the crossbar twice. And England were really up against it. Their frustration boiled over when Lauren James stepped on Michelle Alozie, a petulant act which earned her a red card.
England had to play the 30 minute extra time period with only ten players. They held on though. Nigeria came unstuck in the penalties. They missed their first two kicks handing the England the initiative and they settled it with a ferociously accurate kick from Chloe Kelly.
England won the shootout, 4-2. They will play either Colombia or Jamaica in the quarter finals. SARINA WIEGMAN, ENGLAND WOMEN'S NATIONAL TEAM COACH: We stuck together
as a team. But we have had a very, very hard game. Then we had a red cards. Then we stuck together. We made it through the extra time and we won the penalties.
How we did that as a team, and the team, yes, just went going. I'm so proud of them.
RIDDELL: Chloe Kelly becoming quite the football legend at the age of 25 also netting the winning pen in the (INAUDIBLE) against Brazil earlier this year. And of course, scoring the Euro 2022 winner against Germany.
Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRAK: And thank you so much for watching. I'm Laila Harrak.
The news continues on CNN with Rosemary Church right after this.
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