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Fourth Indictment Looms for Trump and his Team; Severe Weather Felt in Eastern U.S. with thousands left powerless; U.S. Diplomat Talks to the Nigerien Coup Leaders, but no outcome happened; Brazil Hosts the Summit of Amazon Nations; Four People Arrested in a Viral Video of a Brawl in a Dock; Zoom to Return to In-Person Workplace for its Employees. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired August 08, 2023 - 03:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[03:00:00]

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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. You're watching "CNN Newsroom" and I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead, Donald Trump's legal battle is picking up steam as his lawyers push back on a request to limit what the former U.S. president can say about the election interference case against him.

Severe storms roll across the eastern U.S., tearing down trees and toppling power lines, leaving hundreds of thousands in the dark.

And police in Montgomery, Alabama are promising to make arrests after a massive brawl broke out along the city's riverfront.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN Newsroom with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Good to have you with us. Well, the judge in Donald Trump's election subversion case appears ready to move forward quickly. She wants to schedule a hearing this week on how to handle evidence and what Trump can say publicly about the case.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys are facing a 3 PM Eastern deadline today to come up with options. The Justice Department wants restrictions on Trump, fearing he could disclose sensitive information or intimidate potential witnesses. But the former president's attorneys say that would infringe on his first amendment rights.

Special counsel Jack Smith has charged Trump with four felony counts including obstruction and conspiracy for his plot to overturn the 2020 election. More now from CNN senior crime and justice reporter Katelyn Polantz.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SR. CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: It's now going to be up to a federal judge to determine how much Donald Trump can talk about the things he learns from the Justice Department investigation that led to his recent criminal charges in federal court related to the 2020 election and January 6th.

The reason it's up to the judge is because there is a fight that's been brewing for a couple days since his indictment where the Justice Department has wanted to put a non-disclosure provision over all of the evidence that it may turn over to Donald Trump that he's never seen before and that hasn't been in the public sphere.

Now, Trump's lawyers, by a judge's prompting, hit back on Monday night saying they don't think that what the prosecutors, what the Justice Department is proposing as far as nondisclosure agreements go is fair. They want things to be much narrower. They don't want to infringe upon Donald Trump's free speech abilities.

And so now there is going to be a determination made by Judge Tanya Chutkin in federal court, the judge who's overseeing Trump's criminal case related to January 6 about exactly how evidence should be handled as it gets turned over and both sides are preparing for trial.

That's the legal argument. There's also some political sniping that's happening. That's because the Justice Department, whenever they filed to ask the judge to get involved in this dispute on Friday, they raised some Trump posts on social media, specifically a post where he wrote, I will go after you, or if you go after me, I'm coming after you.

And so when Trump said that, the Justice Department started arguing this is a veiled threat of some sort, that he may want to use information he's getting in order to chill witnesses, potentially chill the fairness of the trial that he will have ultimately in D.C. District Court. Now, Trump's team says that's not the case at all. That social media post that he made was generalized political speech. It didn't share any sensitive information.

And it shouldn't be at issue when they're determining this legal issue over non-disclosure related to evidence. But whether the judge addresses those social media posts is going to be a big question moving forward. Will she address them at this time or even look for them in the future and how will prosecutors respond to them as well?

All of this too is not happening in a vacuum. It is happening at the same time that the Justice Department continues to investigate very clearly some of the activities after the 2020 election, specifically related to Rudy Giuliani, one of the people named as a conspirator who's not charged with any crimes at this time, but a conspirator in the conspiracy case against Donald Trump.

[03:05:00]

The reason we know they continue that investigation is because Paula Reid and others were able to break the news on CNN on Monday night that Bernie Kerik, a close associate of Rudy Giuliani, had gone in to speak to the special counsel's office for about five hours on Monday as part of this ongoing investigation for an interview. At the end of that interview, his attorney asked -- was asked if Rudy Giuliani will be charged by the special counsel, and he said, no, not a chance. But it does indeed signal some investigative activity that is in addition to or outside of the case already against Donald Trump, the former president.

Katelyn Polantz, CNN, Washington.

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CHURCH: Donald Trump and his legal team are bracing for another expected indictment on state charges in Georgia. CNN's Nick Valencia has that story.

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NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Indictments could come at any day and we're being given several indications that this sprawling and wide ranging investigation, which has gone on for more than a year, could be nearing its end.

Let me get out of the way and show you what I'm talking about. These orange barricades were erected around the Fulton County courthouse last week. Monday morning, metal barricades were put in front of the street in front of the courthouse to block off vehicle traffic. The street is still open to foot traffic, but they're taking security here very, very seriously.

We're also learning about who was subpoenaed to appear before the Fulton County grand jury. It was just a short time ago that we learned that former Lieutenant Governor Jeff Duncan has been asked to appear before the Fulton County grand jury. And it was while the Republican was the Lieutenant Governor here in Georgia that he was the president of the Georgia State Senate, the same state Senate that Rudy Giuliani, Trump's former attorney, appeared before three times to have spread conspiracy theories and election lies.

Duncan, now one of three people who has been subpoenaed to appear before the grand jury, that coupled with the security precautions, the strongest indications yet that this investigation could be nearing its end.

Nick Valencia, CNN, Atlanta.

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CHURCH: Jessica Levinson is a professor of law at Loyola Law School and she's also host of the Passing Judgment podcast. Good to have you with us.

JESSICA LEVINSON, HOST, PASSING JUDGMENT PODCAST: Good to be here.

CHURCH: So in a new court filing Monday, Donald Trump's legal team accused special counsel prosecutors of a politically motivated campaign to restrict the former president's First Amendment rights, his team pushing back in response to that protective order, limiting what he can say by arguing that Trump's ability to share information on the January 6th case is covered by his First Amendment rights for free speech. What is your legal response to that argument?

LEVINSON: My legal response to that is that that's more of a political argument than a legal argument. There are protective orders. They are a thing that exists. They are not exceedingly rare. They happen in the District of Columbia, where this case will be tried. And it doesn't mean that somebody's First Amendment rights are infringed upon.

As we all know, the First Amendment does provide robust protection for speech, and particularly for political speech. And the former president is a current political candidate.

But when it comes to being a defendant in a criminal case, it does not infringe on those rights to say there are certain other compelling reasons why we don't want this case, as the Department of Justice said, tried in the court of public opinion, why we don't want the former president and his legal team to share certain information.

And I think, frankly, this is part of a concerted effort for the Trump team to say that the judge and the Department of Justice are simply trying to chill him, trying to gag him, but essentially create a gag order.

CHURCH: And Jessica, this new filing from the Trump team came in response to the special counsel trying to protect the government's evidence. After some social media posts, specifically one of Trump threatening he would go after those who come after him. But his lawyers say the former president was talking about political enemies, not the judge or the special counsel. But protective orders are unusual, aren't they? So how necessary is this order for this particular case given what we know?

LEVINSON: I think in this case, it makes a lot of sense for the reasons that you just laid out, which is the former president has posted and he has posted on social media some things that I think absolutely can be understood by a reasonable person as being threatening.

And in my view, some of those posts seem like he is almost daring the judge to implement a protective order so he can say this judge is against me. It's not just the Department of Justice who's against me, it's also the judge here.

So I think there is a utility for the former president, even though he says, I don't want the protective order, there's a political utility for him if it actually is implemented, because then he can give speeches and he can say, I would tell you so much more. I would tell you why this case is a political witch hunt. But the judge who's against me, she's prevented me from doing so.

[03:10:12]

CHURCH: So on that very point, how do you expect the judge to respond to this argument from the Trump team pushing back against these strict evidence rules? LEVINSON: So I think in this case, the judge will find and of course,

it's difficult to predict, but the judge will find that there are good reasons for at least a limited protective order in this case.

And this is a judge who has already ruled in some cases dealing with January 6 defendants, and she has been one of the more aggressive judges in terms of sentencing of January 6 defendants. She takes the events of that day very seriously.

This is also a judge who has previously ruled against the former president when it came to a claim of executive privilege in a different case. And so I don't think this is a judge that is going to be frightened. I don't think this is a judge who will fall for political arguments masquerading as legal arguments.

CHURCH: And Jessica, all this comes as a fourth Trump indictment looms, this time in Georgia. But as his legal woes intensify, his political support increases. And he has said himself, all he needs is a fourth indictment to win the 2024 election. But where does all this leave Trump's legal peril, even if it helps his political fortunes?

LEVINSON: Well, if the former president does again become president, then that gives him an enormous amount of leverage, at least with respect to the federal cases. If he does become president and if we are facing a situation where he's been convicted on either of the federal cases, he could, I believe, either pardon himself or at least try to. He could also, if those cases have not been completed, try and direct his attorney general, whoever that person is, to try and dismiss the cases. Now, a judge would still have to agree.

But that's a long way of saying that I think the former president's best defense is to try and run out the clock, to try and push all of these cases as far down on the electoral calendar as he possibly can.

CHURCH: Jessica Levinson, thank you so much for joining us and sharing your legal analysis. Appreciate it.

LEVINSON: Thank you.

CHURCH: Severe thunderstorms are rolling across much of the eastern United States. On Monday alone, more than 600 storms were reported, with strong winds and heavy rains causing damage across the country. This was the scene in Tennessee after storms came through Knoxville, ripping roofs off homes and scattering debris around this apartment complex.

Storms and at least one tornado in the state of Indiana uprooted trees and destroyed buildings and police say a man in Alabama died after being struck by lightning in a parking lot.

At one point on Monday, more than one million people in the U.S. were without power and right now, more than 600,000 customers across 10 states are still without power.

Thousands of flights were impacted as ground stops were put into effect at several major U.S. airports. According to FlightAware.com, more than 8,400 were delayed and more than 1,700 flights were canceled Monday.

And CNN meteorologist Chad Myers has the weather forecast for today.

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CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Another round of severe weather later on this afternoon, although not nearly what we had on Monday.

Some storms across the deep south, also a few in the high plains there, parts of Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado. Storms roll across the deep south in the afternoon. Another batch of storms will be for your Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. But for the most part, this is just going to be kind of a rainmaker to the Northeast and some gusty winds. That's all we're really going to see here. We're not going to see a million people without power.

There's the rainfall potential here across parts of New England. It's all because the ground up here is still saturated. It's saturated from the weeks and weeks and weeks of rain we had over the past few. And so it just hasn't had a chance to dry out. Like down here that has just dried out.

The country cut in half where the southern part way in excess of normal, and then the northern part very, very pleasant. How about 79 in Omaha, 83 in Denver? Can't argue with anything like that. But then down here where the deep south kind of meets the Gulf of Mexico, that's where temperatures are going to be high. Humidity will be high and were 5 to 10 degrees above normal for the next three. Same story back out here. Closer to normal in some spots, but even for Sacramento on up to 90, Bakersfield 99 for later on today and for Death Valley only 112. And in fact, that's 4 degrees below normal. Have a great day.

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[03:15:03]

CHURCH: Thanks for that. Well, meantime, a growing number of wildfires are scorching hundreds of thousands of acres of land across several U.S. states. The National Interagency Fire Center says nearly 90 large fires have burned more than 500,000 acres in nearly 12 states.

In New Mexico, firefighters are still battling a fire that started over the weekend due to lightning. Officials say hot, dry, and windy conditions could lead to more active fires.

And this was the scene in California where the York Fire caused widespread devastation. The National Preserve in the area is closed due to the fires.

And the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating a deadly helicopter accident from Sunday where two aircraft collided while fighting the Broadway fire near Los Angeles. One helicopter was able to land safely, but officials say the other crashed, killing all three firefighters on board. In the coming hours, drones will be used to examine the crash site.

After that, the wreckage will be taken to a secure location for further examination. According to Cal Fire, the three deaths are the first during the state's 2023 fire season.

We're turning now to Ukraine, where at least seven people have been killed after Russian missiles struck residential areas in the Donetsk region. It happened on Monday in the eastern city of Pokrovsk. This is new video showing the aftermath of that strike that left at least 67 others injured. Ukraine's Minister of Internal Affairs said police officers, rescuers and two children were among those hurt.

And meantime, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is warning that Russia may be left without vessels if it continues to attack Ukrainian ports. His comments come just days after Ukrainian sea drones hit both a Russian tanker and a warship.

And Ukraine's security service says a woman is now in custody in connection to an alleged 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 Mikhailov.

And CNN's Clare Sebastian joins us now from London. Claire, what more are you learning about this alleged plot to assassinate President Zelenskyy?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Rosemary, we don't know much more than what the security services have already laid out. They haven't named this woman, they haven't given us her citizenship. They do say that she was a resident of the Mikhailov region and that she was a saleswoman in a military store.

Beyond that, we don't know much. They're saying that she could face 12 years in prison. But I think this really draws attention to two things. One, that President Zelenskyy is under threat. This is something we've known since the beginning of the conflict. And in fact, President Putin himself has said we're not fighting against the Ukrainian people, although I think the victims of various recent attacks might dispute that, but that they are fighting against what he calls the regime in Kyiv.

So we know that there have been attempts in the past on President Zelenskyy and this is clearly something that's ongoing that the security services have to combat.

Secondly, I think is the issue with informants that they are in a constant battle against this trying to prevent information. Not only for example about in this case the itinerary of the president leaking out, but they also said that this same woman was trying to gain information as they tracked her beyond that trip by president Zelenskyy to the Mikhailov region they continue to track her when they say that she was trying to track down information about electronic warfare systems ammunition storages all things that are critical to the Ukrainian efforts on the front line. So look I think it's potentially convenient for the security services

that given the publicity around this being an assassination attempt on Zelenskyy. They were able to sort of get a lot of information out about this and created a deterrent at this critical time in the conflict.

CHURCH: And Clare, what's the latest on that attack on the eastern city of Pokrovsk?

SEBASTIAN: Yeah, we're hearing Rosemary, that the recovery efforts are ongoing there. They had to pause, according to the Interior Minister, overnight because of the constant threat of shelling.

This city, Pokrovsk, a town really, I think would be more an accurate description, is about 50 kilometers, some 30 miles from the eastern front line. So it is regularly under shelling. But this, we understand, was two missile strikes.

[03:19:58]

An official saying tens of minutes apart hitting residential buildings, hotel catering facilities, restaurants, things like that.

Destruction clearly very, very intense. Seven people now are here and killed, some 67 injured and you can see by the types of people that were injured, policemen, rescuers, that this looks like what they call a double tap where one missile is fired and then while the rescuers move in, another one is as well. So this is something that clearly the rubble is still being picked over and the work continues there Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right, our thanks to Clare Sebastien joining us live from London.

And 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 report, it was placed into orbit and it's functioning normally. Its radio-based navigation system is the Russian equivalent of the EU's Galileo system and America's GPS.

Well, Russia also is preparing to launch its first lunar landing craft in nearly 50 years this Friday. The Luna 25 lander will spend a year on the moon searching for ice near its south pole. 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 probe last month and it's now orbiting the moon.

Well, still to come. A senior U.S. diplomat meets with coup leaders in Niger. We will tell you what they discussed and whether they accomplished anything.

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[03:25:00]

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CHURCH: The senior U.S. official has met with the military junta in Niger to push for a diplomatic resolution to the country's coup. The acting deputy secretary of state says they had a frank conversation but made no progress in restoring constitutional order.

Instead, the junta has been trying to strengthen its authority. On Monday, it hosted allies from Mali and Burkina Faso. And earlier, it brought more troops into the capital to prepare for any potential military intervention from the regional bloc, ECOWAS. This Thursday the bloc is expected to hold a meeting on the matter.

And CNN's Stephanie Busari joins us now from Nigeria. Stephanie, what is the latest on the political instability in Niger and what is the likely next step now for the military junta?

STEPHANIE BUSARI, CNN SR. EDITOR, AFRICA: Yes, so everything hinges really on these talks that are happening on Thursday. Everyone is, there's a lull in the tough talking and the rhetoric action.

As you know, military action was promised on Sunday. That deadline has expired. Now it seems that all sides are quite keen to reach a resolution that does not involve any military action. And but -- Victoria Nuland saying yesterday that she had very frank and difficult conversations with some of the military leaders in Niger.

But interestingly, she didn't meet General Tianny, but he met with Mali spokesmen who were visiting the country. But you know, he does seem keen to get to the table and have some talks. And Victoria Nuland was keen to emphasize that it would be very wrong and very tragic for the people of Niger. If Wagner, who had been on the sidelines making some attempts to perhaps come in to join any kind of conflict that happens, it would be tragic for the people of Niger if that were to happen.

So, a lot really hinges on this meeting that's happening with the ECOWAS leaders on Thursday. The tough talking has subsided. And both -- all sides seem willing to seek a diplomatic resolution to this Rosemary.

CHURCH: Let's hope that happens. Stephanie Busari, joining us live from Lagos. Many thanks.

And still to come, we will have more on the severe weather that battered the eastern U.S. on Monday and left more than a million customers without power.

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? We'll take a look.

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[03:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHURCH: More than 120 million people were under severe weather warnings on Monday, as more than 600 dangerous thunderstorms rolled across much of the eastern U.S., bringing with it strong winds and heavy rain.

The storm shredded roofs and sent debris flying in Knoxville, Tennessee. And even at this moment, nearly 30,000 customers in the state are without power. They're part of more than 600,000 customers across 10 states that are without power after the storm took down power lines.

Thousands of flights were also impacted at several major US airports. According to FlightAware.com, more than 8,400 flights were delayed and more than 1,700 canceled on Monday.

Well, forecasters say this week is going to be a scorcher in Spain. Meteorologists predict temperatures of up to 44 degrees Celsius, that's 111 degrees Fahrenheit, by Wednesday in parts of the Iberian Peninsula. It's especially concerning since the extreme heat could fuel more wildfires in the region.

In Portugal, firefighters in the central part of the country are getting the upper hand, at least for now, on one of the many wildfires burning there. More than a thousand firefighters have been battling blazes in the area and there are concerns the dry conditions could reignite some of them.

Well, 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. Colombia says it supports a plan to protect 80 percent of the Amazon by 2025. But that might be a tall order.

[03:35:00]

CNN's Rafael Romo has more on the challenges facing the world's largest rainforest.

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RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 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 black strategic planning to really combat deforestation. His team later makes an arrest.

In his first speech after taking office on January 1st current president Luis 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.

(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.

(voice-over): 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's 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 dieback is between 20 and 25 percent deforestation.

Rafael Romo, CNN Atlanta.

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CHURCH: Nearly 100 people have been arrested in the U.S. and Australia in connection with an alleged child sex abuse ring. Australian federal police shared these images showing what they say are computers from the suspects. Investigators say their joint operation has led to dozens of indictments and convictions. They say the suspects ran a highly complex peer-to-peer network with child abuse material being shared on the dark web.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HELEN SCHNEIDER, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE COMMANDER: The lengths that this network went to to avoid detection is an indication of just how dangerous they were. The longer people like this avoid detection, it means the longer the cycle of abuse continues. This was a sophisticated network and while we have charged 19 people, the AFP and our partners do not rule out further arrests in relation to this matter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: This comes two years after two FBI agents were shot and killed while executing a search warrant for a computer programmer suspected of having child pornography.

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's being used to house migrants.

ITN's Carl Dinnen has more from Portland in southwest England.

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CARL DINNEN, ITN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Asylum seekers bussed through Portland were welcomed by a small group of campaigners on their way to the Bibby Stockholm.

Although some of the buses only seem to have brought a handful of people on board.

The campaigners have prepared welcome packs.

[03:40:05]

UNKNOWN: We've got a map of Portland, because obviously they'll be new to the area and it will help them find their way around. We've got notebooks and pens so they can write things down for their English lessons.

DINNEN (voice-over): But not everyone here thinks this kind of welcome is appropriate.

UNKNOWN: Take these bags to the community fridge or Portland Food Bank.

UNKNOWN: People here do support the community fridge.

UNKNOWN: Take them down there then.

UNKNOWN: We helped set up the community fridge.

UNKNOWN: You're not there?

UNKNOWN: But we also want to. We also want to support the refugees, why not? I thought you want to support them?

UNKNOWN: Not over the people of Portland, I don't know.

DINNEN (voice-over): 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, PORTLAND, ENGLAND MAYOR: When it was used as accommodation for workers, it was 220. Now they're talking about more than double that. It's beggars' belief. Human beings belong in communities. That's where human beings should be treated and taken care of, not on a barge.

DINNEN (voice-over): 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 had refused to come here. That's more than have actually boarded the barge.

CHERYL AVERY, U.K. HOME OFFICE DIRECTOR FOR ASYLUM ACCOMMODATION: So we successfully on-boarded the first cohort today, and there are 15 people on board. We have had a few challenges, but this is part of a long-going structured process to bring a cohort of up to 500 people on board.

DINNEN (voice-over): The first residents of the Bibbi Stockholm can expect to stay here for three to nine 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)

CHURCH: Still to come, police are investigating what prompted a massive fight on a boat dock in Alabama. We'll bring you video from the scene.

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[03:45:00]

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CHURCH: Welcome back everyone. Well 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's unclear what caused the fight but police say more warrants may follow as they review the footage.

CNN's Ryan Young shows us what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) RYAN YOUNG, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An 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 Stephen Reed is calling for justice to be served for attacking a man who was doing his job.

STEVEN REED, MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA MAYOR: It's an unfortunate incident and it's something that we're investigating right now. We'll continue to go through that process before we take any additional steps.

YOUNG (voice-over): It all begin when the black employee was trying to clear the dock space with a riverside cruise, the Harriet II normally docks. The cruiser was about to return to shore and needed its 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 (voice-over): 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 joining 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 heard yelling for someone to go help the employee. Then at one point, you can see a young man who has jumped off the boat, swimming ashore to help the man who was being attacked.

SPIVEY: The boat got closer, the guys and the crew members and everybody cut off and that's when it happened. That's the reason why when they got off the boat, they came right to that smaller boat.

YOUNG (voice-over): 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 antagonists of the whole situation. Arrest them, because unfortunately when things happen, people of color are the first to be put in handcuffs.

YOUNG (voice-over): 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 (on-camera): Yeah we've learned from police that there are four warrants that have been issued and we're told there'll be a Tuesday news conference that'll be around two o'clock eastern. We should learn more from police and city officials about this. But I can tell you this really captivated the internet and people are paying attention to what the next steps are.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: The filmmaker behind what many consider the most famous car chase in movie history, the "French Connection" director, William Friedkin, has died.

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Among Friedkin's many credits during his long career was "The Exorcist" and "To Live and Die in L.A." His death was announced by his wife, former Paramount Pictures CEO Sheri Lansing.

[03:50:03]

Friedkin won the 1972 Academy Award for Best Director for The French Connection. Director William Friedkin, dead at the age of 87.

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CHURCH: Oh, the irony that is Zoom. The video communications company became a household name during the pandemic, helping to enable the work-from-home revolution. But now even Zoom is requiring its workers to start returning to the office. As you'd expect, not everyone is ready to ditch their couch for a commute.

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So Zoom is trying what it calls a structured hybrid approach, meaning employees who live near an office need to go in just two days a week. Google, Amazon, and other tech companies have also implemented similar policies.

Well, building off the success of the blockbuster "Barbie" movie, Mattel says it's 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 face markings and chopped hair to emulate a doll that's been played with just a little too much.

Well, the doll is available for pre-order on Mattel's website until August 18th. The "Barbie" movie was produced by Warner Brothers Pictures, which is owned by CNN's parent company Warner Brothers Discovery.

And thanks so much for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. Have yourselves a wonderful day. "CNN Newsroom" continues with Bianca Nobilo, next.

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