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CNN International: Trump Investigations; Ohio Voters Reject Measure to Amend State Constitution; Heat and Storms in the South, Moderating Elsewhere; Zelensky Calls Ukrainian Counteroffensive Difficult; House Republicans Push for Impeachment Inquiry; Three White Men Charged with Assault on Black Boat Captain. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired August 09, 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]

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and all around the world. I'm Bianca Nobilo live from London. Max Foster has the week off. Just ahead for you on CNN NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I won't be able to go to Iowa today. I won't be able to go to New Hampshire today because I'm sitting in a courtroom.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She is expected to present her case to the grand jury starting next week.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ohio, we did it! We did it!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm so happy that my brothers and sisters across the entire state of Ohio said yes, you still matter.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The leader of the coast guard at the time helped cover up the whole thing for years.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Time and time again, the academy and the institutions don't protect their people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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

NOBILO: It is Wednesday, August 9th, 9:00 a.m. here in London, 4:00 a.m. in Atlanta where a possible fourth indictment could come next week for Donald Trump. Over the president's attempts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia. Fani Willis could seek several indictments into Trump and his allies.

(INAUDIBLE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Judge Tanya Chutkan has scheduled a hearing for Friday at 10:00 a.m. to hear arguments from both attorneys for former President Trump and the special counsel about possible rules for exactly how evidence, especially sensitive evidence will be handled in this case. The special counsel has been lobbying for a broad protective order to limit the ability the former president has to share sensitive information that is turned over in this case.

But Trump's lawyers have argued for something more narrow, something that only covers the most sensitive information. They argue that that would be more in line with the protective orders in other January 6 cases. Now the Trump lawyers also asked that this hearing be scheduled next week as they have another hearing in the other special counsel investigation down in Florida on Thursday.

But Judge Chutkan, she appears, based on her scheduling orders so far, to be keen to move this along as quickly as possible. So has scheduled for a hearing on Friday. Both sides will have the opportunity to present arguments. And this will be their first time appearing before the judge who will continue to oversee this case until what is expected to a trial. Now former President Trump is not expected to be at Friday's hearing.

Paula Reid, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: In Ohio, a crucial victory for abortion rights activists. Voters on Tuesday rejected a Republican backed measure that would have made it harder to amend the state's constitution. It comes ahead of a November vote in which voters will decide whether to enshrine abortion rights in the state's constitution. With nearly 90 percent of the votes counted, more than 56 percent of the people would have voted no, while nearly 44 percent said yes. CNN's Jeff Zeleny breaks it all down for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Ohio voters roundly rejected efforts to make it more difficult to amend the state's constitution in the nation's latest fight over the abortion battle. A special election called in Ohio to raise the threshold to amend the state's constitution with the November ballot in mind when there will be a question about enshrining abortion rights protection was defeated.

The vote no side of the equation defeated the vote yes side. This was all on a measure called Issue 1. It would have required a 60 percent supermajority to change the state's constitution. Again, this would affect abortion and other matters. But it certainly was one year after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. This is the latest example that we've seen across the country of support for abortion rights winning out.

Now this is the beginning of the campaign and supporters made that clear in Columbus, Ohio on Tuesday night.

DENNIS WILLARD, SPOKESPERSON, ONE PERSON ONE VOTE: Ohio, we did it, we did it!

[04:05:00]

Tonight is a major victory for democracy in Ohio. The majority still rules in Ohio. And the people's power has been preserved. We did it, Ohio, we did it.

ZELENY: So with one campaign over, another campaign is beginning and that is for the effort for the November ballot to enshrine abortion rights in the state's constitution. There is no doubt between now and then, that certainly abortion will play a front role in the conversation here, but also in the 2024 presidential campaign as well. The outcome of this race will test the political potency for the abortion rights issue that we have seen so many examples of since the Supreme Court overturned Roe verses Wade, Ohio being the latest.

Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Columbus, Ohio.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Canadian rapper Tory Lanez has been sentenced to ten years in prison for shooting an American rapper Megan Thee Stallion in 2020. Last year Lanez was found guilty of three charges from the incident where Megan Thee Stallion was shot in the foot. His attorney says the sentence is harsh but the LA district attorney says Lanez has tried to silence the victim.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE GASCON, LOS ANGELES COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Over the past three years, Mr. Peterson has engaged in a pattern of conduct that was intended to intimidate Ms. Pete, silence her and keep her from defending and bringing her truth out. Despite the physical violence, verbal attacks and attempts at public humiliation, Ms. Pete retains strong and shared the events of that faithful night with the jury and the world.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: An attorney for Lanez argued his client is being published for his celebrity status and is being used to, quote, send an example.

More than 55 million people in the U.S. are under a severe storm threat today. This as much of the country is facing record breaking heat. CNN meteorologist Chad Myers has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Another hot day across the deep South and the Southwest but really North America almost cut in two where all of the heat is bottled up down to the south and very nice to low normal weather is up to the north. Now some of that below normal weather will go away over the next

couple of days, but still the heat is going to be across the deep South. Something else that develops later in the week is we'll see above average temperatures in the Pacific Northwest. That's going to be the story later on in the week.

But still hundreds of records are going to be broken across the South. Look at Dallas, 107, 107, 108 for the next three days where your normal should be still hot, 97, but not heat indexes like this where Dallas you will feel like 109 later on today. Baton Rouge you're going to feel like 112 where has been so sweltering all summer long.

Now there is the potential for some severe weather just on the north side of that heat. Right there Paducah, Memphis, all the way over toward Nashville as storms are going to fire in the morning hours to the west, continuing from the overnight hours that we saw showers yesterday. And then slide off to the east through the deep South and also in toward the mid South. This is the area that's going to see the significant weather around 5:00, 6:00, Paducah, Memphis and the like and then moving on again from west to east for the rest of the evening.

Some spots will have four inches of rainfall in these areas. There could be large hail too, large hail with this. But there is the rainfall there. There's a 4-inch swathe. So we know that there is going to be a significant threat there of some flash flooding in places that pick up that 4 to possibly even 6 inches of rainfall in the heaviest of thunderstorms. We'll have to keep watching that.

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FOSTER: New video just in as the wildfires in Hawaii, you are looking at Maui right now, but there are also fires and evacuation orders on the Big Island too. Smoke billowing and flames very close to a lot of homes. High winds from hurricane Dora in the Pacific are fueling these wildfires on the Hawaiian Islands. And officials say flames have destroyed multiple structures in Maui. One of the fires has burned about 1,000 acres, which is more than 400 hectares.

The mayor of Moscow says two combat drones have been shot down in the city suburbs. He says the country's air defense took down the drones that were attempting to fly over Moscow on Tuesday.

Meantime, inside Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is acknowledging his country's counteroffensive against Russia has been difficult. That comment coming as Western officials describe to CNN an increasingly sobering assessment about Ukraine's ability to retake significant territory.

CNN's Clare Sebastian joins me here in London with the latest. Clare, did we hear from President Zelenskyy any specific reasons that he thought were contributing to the slow pace of the counteroffensive?

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CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Bianca, in that sense he agrees with what we've been hearing from Western officials. It's the level of the Russian defenses, the mine fields, the lack of air power, the time that they had to wait to start the offensive while they were waiting for more weapons deliveries. He did say though, like at least we are attacking, not retreating. Ukraine has initiative here and he is urging critically at this point, patience from Ukraine's Western allies.

And look, the White House acknowledged as well on Tuesday what we've been hearing from these Western officials in new reporting. But it did give the impression, certainly if you listen to the spokesman for the U.S. National Security Council John Kirby, that they are still looking at this patiently and willing to stay the course. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KIRBY, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL SPOKESPERSON: I think every ally, every partner, every nation, and there is more than 50 of them, including of course the United States, that are involved in supporting Ukraine. Feels responsible for helping Ukraine be successful on the battlefield. Nobody wants to see them struggle. And like I said, even they admit that they are struggling and they are not doing as well as they would like. So we're all going to be dedicated to continuing to help them get what they need. And if that means more training, then more training it'll be. If that means more capabilities, then more capabilities it will be. We're all in this together. We all want to see them succeed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN: And they also trailed another U.S. assistance package coming this week, but he wouldn't give too much more detail on that. There is more nuance though if you look at recent polling of U.S. public opinion around this war. And a poll that was conducted over the month of July -- a CNN poll. 51 percent of Americans, so more than half, say they feel that the U.S. has already done enough to help Ukraine. Just 48 percent think that the U.S. should do more. Compare that to a poll taken in the early days of the conflict in February last year where 62 percent of U.S. citizens said they felt that the U.S. should do more to help Ukraine.

And this is what Zelenskyy is very worried about. The timing of this offensive bumping up against the U.S. political season and the potential for fatigue among some circles of Americans. But of course the U.S. still by far the biggest military backer of Ukraine.

NOBILO: Clare, Wagner is reportedly building a tent city near the border of Ukraine. What size is it and also what does that tell us about this continued tangled role for Wagner in this conflict?

SEBASTIAN: Yes, so this is information that has come from Ukraine's National Resistance Center which is an official body but they say that they get this information from underground sources. That apparently a military base is being set up for Wagner, essentially a tent camp near the village of Borisovka, which is just to the north of Ukraine's border, near Russian border as well. It should be said, we don't know yet how many Wagner troops have turned up there or what the status is. But the concern is of course that presence of Wagner troops -- have also seen training, by the way, near the Polish border which has caused a lot of nerves there. Will it sort of upset the balance among NATO's eastern flank could destabilize the region. And of course, this being so close to the Ukrainian border raising questions around a potential future role for that group in Ukraine. But as of now, it does seem that certainly there the leader of Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, appears to be pausing that group though in Ukraine and much more focused on Africa.

NOBILO: Clare Sebastian, thank you.

Still ahead, Americans are charging more to their credit cards than ever before. The state of the U.S. economy coming up next.

Plus, new charges in Alabama after a riverfront brawl that started with a group of white men assaulting a Black man. We'll have the latest on that investigation.

And later, the weight loss drug Wegovy could help to reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes. We'll have details on this promising new finding.

[04:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NOBILO: Americans' credit card debt levels have just reached a new but undesirable milestone surpassing $1 trillion for the first time in history. Here's how this compares to the financial crisis of 2008.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK ZANDI, CHIEF ECONOMIST, MOODY'S ANALYTICS: It's not only that we affirm where households have taken on a lot more credit card debt but, you know, interest rates on those cards have risen quite significantly. So their interest payment, you know, every month you've got to shell out now more interest to service that debt and then of course means that they have less to spend on everything else.

But no, we're not even in the same ballpark as what happened back in '08, '09. Again middle-income households and high-income households are folks that do the bulk of the spending, they're in fine shape. Their debt loads are actually pretty close to record lows. And they've done a very good job of locking in the previous record low interest rates through mortgage refinancing ways. And so they are sitting in a pretty good spot. But for low-income households, they are struggling with all this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: The Consumer Price Index report that will be released on Thursday, will give a better idea of where things stand with the economy. And investors will be closely watching for that data. Here's how futures are looking right now. It's in positive territory. On Tuesday Moody's down graded several regional banks and warned it could do the same for some larger institutions. The Air National Guardsman accused of leaking classified intelligence

online is now accused of knowingly sharing that information with someone appearing to live in a foreign country. That allegation against Jack Teixeira comes in recently filed court documents. The 21- year-old was arrested in April and charged two months later of six counts of willful retention and transmission of classified information related to national defense. And he has pleaded not guilty.

U.S. House Republicans are pushing to bring an impeachment inquiry into President Biden this fall. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy says they're still gathering evidence and have yet to decide. Other Republicans say the investigation would focus on Mr. Biden's alleged ties to his son Hunter's business dealings. CNN's Lauren Fox has this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[04:20:00]

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: While House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has gone to great lengths to make it clear that he is not announcing just yet that House Republicans would open an impeachment inquiry. Over the past several weeks he has tiptoed closer and closer. And behind the scenes many Republicans believe this is now inevitable. With one senior Republican telling my colleagues, quote, once the barn doors are open so to speak, the horses are out.

But one of the key concerns is whether or not House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is going to be able to convince his conference to get behind this. That's because usually when you would open an impeachment inquiry, you would need to have a vote of the full House of Representatives. Assuming those Democrats vote yes, you're going to need to make sure that Republicans are largely united. And there's still some work to do with some swing district Republicans. Including Don Bacon who spoke to my colleagues for the story.

Saying, quote: Did the president commit high crimes and misdemeanors? The committees need to do more digging to clarify this. There's tons of smoke, but let's verify what is beneath it all.

And despite the fact House Republicans for months have been investigating whether there are any direct links between Hunter Biden and his father, there still is no direct evidence. So one of the key questions of course from Republicans is whether or not opening an impeachment inquiry gives them more power to get documents and witnesses or whether it may be too premature. But again, behind the scenes a number of Republicans telling my colleagues that they now view this as a foregone conclusion that eventually and as soon as this fall, there could be an announcement that an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden is going to move forward in the House.

For CNN on Capitol Hill, I'm Lauren Fox.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBILO: The U.S. Supreme Court has revived federal restrictions on so- called ghost guns which are assembled from kits that anyone can buy online. Chief Justice John Roberts and fellow conservative Amy Coney Barrett, joined with the courts three liberals in the 5 to 4 vote. This ruling allows federal regulations to remain in effect while legal challenges play out. Two Texas residents as well as retailers and a gun rights group are challenging the regulations. Critics argue that ghost guns are dangerous because they have no serial numbers, require no background checks and are difficult to trace.

Alabama police say three white men are facing assault charges after footage from last weekend showed them attacking a Black man who was the co-captain of a boat trying to dock. And that initial fight quickly turned into a chaotic brawl. One man has already turned himself in and authorities say the other two are expected to follow suit. CNN's Brian Todd has the latest on this investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Three people charged so far as police give new accounts of a brawl where the video has gone viral. Footage showing several white people beating a Black man on a dock in Montgomery, Alabama. Three white men, one his 40s, the other two in their 20s have been charged with third-degree assault.

The fight seemed to break down along racial lines. The Montgomery police chief says the police, FBI, and prosecutors looked into whether there was enough information to charge for a hate crime or inciting a riot. But he says the actions did not meet that criteria.

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: As they continue to evaluate the video, speak to witnesses, that may very well change because that may give him a sense of the state of mind of the parties involved.

TODD (voice-over): The incident occurred this past Saturday evening at a riverside dock in Montgomery. Police say it started when a group of white boaters in a small pontoon boat refused to move their boat so that the riverboat cruise vessel the Harriet II, with more than 200 on board, could dock at its designated space. Police say the co-captain of the Harriett II, a Black man identified as Damien Pickett was ferried to the dock and tried to get the pontoon boaters to move their vessel. This video shows Pickett arguing with the white men who was with the group connected to the pontoon boat.

CHIEF DARRYL ALBERT, MONTGOMERY POLICE DEPARTMENT: The owners of the boat confronted him in a very hostile manner. There was words exchanged, and then it turned into a fist encounter that you've all seen. So, the co-captain was doing his job.

TODD (voice-over): The video shows as Pickett is arguing with that white man, another white man, shirtless, rushes in and hits Pickett in the face. Then several other white people join in. Pickett is pinned to the ground as they're seen beating on him.

ALBERT: The co-captain did receive treatment at a local hospital the night of the event. That's the only knowledge that we have of anybody receiving any injuries.

TODD (voice-over): At one point, a man from the cruise boat is seen swimming toward the dock. Moments later, according to witnesses, the brawl expanded when the Harriett II docked. People who were on board the Harriet II started engaging with the people on the pontoon boat.

LAUREN SPIVEY, WITNESS: I knew once that boat hit that dock, like, excuse my language, but all hell was going to break loose. I already knew it was going to be handled.

TODD (voice-over): One Black man who police say swung a folded chair at the people from the pontoon boat is being asked to contact police.

TODD: The Montgomery police chief says the investigation is ongoing and more charges are likely.

[04:25:00]

Police say a 16-year-old white male was also attacked by the operators of the private boat. Police say that young man ferried the co-captain to the dock so that the co-captain could ask the pontoon boat operators to move their vessel.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBILO: Clinical trials show that the popular weight loss drug Wegovy potentially reduces the risk of heart attacks, strokes or heart- related deaths by 20 percent. The finding is higher than many experts had anticipated. CNN's Sanjay Gupta explains the significance of this finding.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: If it holds up, it would be the first time that you have a weight loss drug, again, not to diabetes specifically, that has actually shown this benefit. So here's what they did. It was about 17,000 people that they say were in the study. Some got the Wegovy 2.4 milligrams, some people got a placebo. They got standard of care otherwise. They were followed for a year.

And what they found was at the end of that year, there was about a 20 percent reduction in cardiac events overall. Heart attacks, could be stroke, could be other things. Again, we've got to see the final paper to understand what that was specifically.

But those are pretty significant numbers. You get any medication, any kind of intervention that is leading to that sort of benefit, it's worth paying attention to. The most significant implication probably has to do with the way insurers will look at this medication. It's expensive. It's about 1300 bucks a month. For weight loss insurers may not, some may career, some may not. If you say look, we now have good evidence that it can reduce the likelihood of these cardiac events, that could spur insurance companies to be more likely to cover it. We will see.

Again, these are early days. And so far, it's been a press release, but if it holds up, I think that's going to be the biggest implication overall.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBILO: Beachgoers in New York have reported numerous shark sightings this week. Three possible sharks were spotted in Long Island Tuesday and another was confirmed in Queens. The sightings came a day after a 65-year-old woman was bitten on the leg by shark at New York's Rockaway Beach. Officials say it's the third shark attack at that location is 70 years. The woman was taken to hospital and is now thankfully in stable condition. Several beaches were closed to swimmers due to these incidents.

Still to come for you, exclusive CNN reporting on a secret investigation at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and a former leader's move to cover up its findings.

Plus, a 103-year-old woman wants to join her family in the U.S. but is stuck at the southern border. Now one lawmaker is pushing to give migrants like her a better shot at asylum.

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