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Wildfires Now Ravaged in Parts of Maui, Hawaii; More than a Dozen Indictments Are Expected in Georgia for another case Vs. Trump; U.S. Sets New Rules and Restrictions On High-Tech Investments in China; Lahaina Residents Shared Their Experience During the Wildfires in Maui Island; ECOWAS Leaders Arrived in Nigeria to Settle the Ongoing Niger Coup; Sweden and Japan to Face Off at the Women's World Cup Quarterfinals. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired August 10, 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. I'm Rosemary Church. Ahead on "CNN Newsroom."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNKNOWN: The wind came, the gas stations blew up, everything caught fire by the brush and then we just had to evacuate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Paradise is burning. We will bring you the harrowing stories of people trying to escape the deadly wildfires taking over the Hawaiian island of Maui.
Plus, we're learning more than a dozen people could be indicted in the Georgia election probe involving Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. Will the former president be on that list?
And we're live in Hong Kong with a look at President Biden's new restrictions on U.S. investment in China.
UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from CNN Center. This is "CNN Newsroom" with Rosemary Church.
CHURCH: Right now wildfires are raging in parts of Hawaii. They have killed at least six people on the island of Maui.
Footage from the tourist hotspot shows a decimated community that looks more like a war zone than a tropical haven. Many people don't have power or cell phone service and thousands are in shelters as emergency crews carry out search and rescue operations for those still missing. Hospitals are overwhelmed with patients suffering from burns and smoke inhalation. Federal and state leaders are holding a news conference this hour and we're expecting an update on the devastation. Well meanwhile, forecasters say the heavy winds in Hawaii are starting
to weaken. They've been fanned by a nearby hurricane even though the storm is hundreds of kilometers away. CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam has this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNKNOWN: Looks like an area that had been bombed at the border.
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST (voice-over): Tonight, at least six people confirmed dead and a massive search and rescue operation underway in Maui County as wildfires engulf two Hawaiian islands. New helicopter video showing homes and businesses burned to the ground.
UNKNOWN: In my 52 years of flying on Maui, I've never seen anything like that.
VAN DAM (voice-over): The state now activating military Black Hawk helicopters to fight the fires that are burning across Maui and some brush fires on the Big Island.
Maui's mayor saying more than 2,000 people are in shelters. All of this as winds associated with Hurricane Dora continue to push across the island and fuel the flames.
SYLVIA LUKE, HAWAII LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR: We never anticipated in this state that A hurricane which did not make impact on our islands will cause this type of wildfires. Wildfires that wiped out communities, wildfires that wiped out businesses, wildfires that destroyed homes.
VAN DAM (voice-over): Lieutenant Governor Sylvia Luke, who is acting as the governor as Governor Josh Green travels back to Hawaii, said he's expected to return tonight and he's preparing to request emergency federal assistance from the White House.
LUKE: Governor Green and I have been talking very closely. We just feel so sad and just great sympathy and prayers out to the people of Maui.
VAN DAM (voice-over): State officials also enacting an emergency proclamation discouraging tourists from traveling to the popular destination.
With late word tonight that American and United Airlines are canceling all flights to Maui's airport.
LUKE: This is not a safe place to be.
VAN DAM (voice-over): Tonight, burn patients and people suffering from smoke inhalation. Complicating evacuations? 911, cell and phone services are down.
UNKNOWN: Oh my god.
VAN DAM (voice-over): Right now, emergency response teams are working together to gain control of the flames, the disaster wiping out power to thousands of homes and businesses.
And according to Maui County officials, the U.S. Coast Guard has rescued at least 12 people from the waters off Lahaina, saying they jumped into the ocean to escape the smoke and fire conditions. Some Lahaina residents comparing the scene to an apocalypse.
[03:05:00]
UNKNOWN: People are basically running for their lives.
VAN DAM (voice-over): Many, now saying, they're homeless.
UNKNOWN: Our house is gone. Everything that we had ever known was gone.
UNKNOWN: Everyone I know in Lahaina, their homes have been burned down.
VAN DAM (on-camera): Similar to what Southern California residents experienced with Santa Ana winds, the winds that moved up and over the topography of Maui actually went through some very basic thermodynamic processes. It actually warmed up, it also dried out, and the speed of the winds increased as it moved down the slopes of the mountains of Maui.
And it's not until Hurricane Dora and this high pressure to its north will continue to move away from the islands will we see these winds completely relax. Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Federico Bursich is calling in from Northern Maui. The flames made it to his home, which is now in rubble.
Thank you so much for talking with us at this difficult time, and I'm so sorry to hear of the loss of your home in these wildfires. Where were you at the time, and is everyone okay?
FEDERICO BURSICH, EVACUEE, WAIEHU, HAWAII (on the phone): Yes. Hello everyone. Yes, everyone's okay. My house used to be exactly at the center of Lahaina Town where we have the Banyan tree that is exactly in front of the harbor, the Lahaina Harbor. I used to leave like one minute away walking.
So basically everything started at 5 a.m. when the energy turned off and it was wind all day and the wind was just increasing and increasing and increasing. Basically around 3 p.m. I was at the Lahaina Harbor, checking the wind, talking with a couple of captains that were checking on the boats, because I work for a company, Caraman Company.
We saw from the harbor there was black smoke by the highway, pretty close to Lahaina town. So I went back to my house, two minutes away from the harbor. The wind was blowing nonstop. I have -- like a small warehouse at the back that flew over the neighbor's house. The wind was still super strong. The smoke was getting darker and black. It was pretty strong heading northeast. So it wasn't like towards my house.
I was with three other people, two roommates and a friend. Neighbors were outside, we were checking and we studied hearing explosions. One gas station that is around like five minutes walk from my house, started to get on fire so we could see the explosions of the gas station.
A lot of people walking around, a lot of people completely stressed, cars started to draw by, people asking if we were doing fine and neighbors started to talk together since we got one of the neighbors telling us, hey guys grab your stuff and leave.
By that moment the fire was like two minutes away from my house walking so I was able to grab my passport. My important, I don't know, like documents, two shorts, two t-shirts, and around three, no, sorry, 4:45, I was leaving my house with the three other people. We drove by, the highway was already super busy, but the flames were, we could see it from the corner of my house, like just behind the cinema work.
From there on, we drove to La Unia Poco Park, where a lot of people, local people that live close to me or everything, we were parking there because that's like a special place for everyone. And we were all in shock. All the trees were blew now.
Everything, like we could see the roots and were all big, really big trees. We stayed there. People were evacuating there. It was kind of a meeting point, trying to decide where to go, like Cajului, Kihei, trying to see how we're doing. We, from that La Unia Poco park, we went to a house up La Unia Poco, like up the hill that we can see the fire burning.
CHURCH: And Federico, now that you know that your house is lost and presumably many others in your neighborhood, what do you plan to do now? Will you stay and rebuild? And what about all your neighbors? What are they saying about where they see their lives going from here?
BURSICH (on the phone): So from where I'm staying now, I work in this boat company, and we got on one of the boats with a lot of donations. We stopped by Canna Valley, and then later, the sunset, I went to my house. And I basically walk from Front Street all the way over. There's nothing left of Lahaina town. It's impossible to reveal.
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The only things that were standing was the church, Lanakai Church that is at Eakinson and Wyneth Street. And then the other thing is timing was the Hotel Lahaina Shores and everything else was burned. Like from the highway towards the Lahaina Harbor, from one side of Front Street to the other end, Puamana to Wahikuli, it's all completely ashes.
There's nothing. I've been recording everything like where I was walking and describing the -- the streets, but there's nothing left. It's impossible to reveal this, nothing.
I was walking, there's still fire there. It was kind of uncontrolled, but I was able to stand on the stairs. The only thing left were four or five stairs at the front of my house.
CHURCH: Federico, Federico Bursich, thank you so much for talking with us, and I'm so sorry that you've lost your home and for all of your neighbors too and we wish you and everyone there the very best. Thank you.
And if you would like information on how to help those impacted by the Hawaii wildfires, please go to cnn.com/impact.
Donald Trump's legal troubles are expected to get a whole lot worse next week in Georgia. Sources say the Fulton County prosecutor will pursue more than a dozen indictments of the former president and his allies. And these are state charges separate from the federal indictments brought by special counsel Jack Smith.
More now from CNN political correspondent Sara Murray.
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SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Fulton County District Attorney Fanny Willis is expected to seek indictments against more than a dozen individuals when she goes to present her case before a grand jury next week. Sources are telling me and my colleagues. Of course, Fanny Willis has been overseeing this sprawling criminal investigation into efforts by Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election.
Trump has been pretty clear publicly that he expects to be indicted for a fourth time, and of course he is at the heart of her investigation. But there are many other avenues she's looking at, such as a voting systems breach in rural Coffee County, Georgia, as well as the fake elector scheme in Georgia.
And sources are telling us that there are people who participated in those efforts who believe that they could face charges as part of her investigation next week as well.
Again, we've seen signs that we're getting closer. We've seen the ramp up. We've seen the security perimeter harden around the Fulton County courthouse. And we could be just days away from learning who exactly is going to be charged in this roughly two and a half year investigation into Donald Trump and his associates.
Sara Murray, CNN, Washington.
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CHURCH: A newly unsealed court filing shows special counsel Jack Smith's team secured a search warrant in January for Donald Trump's Twitter account. It was part of their investigation and efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The search was so secret that Twitter was barred from telling Trump it was even happening.
Twitter, which has changed its name to X, was fined $350,000 for delaying handing over its records, but the company, run by Elon Musk, ultimately complied. The FBI says it's reviewing the shooting that happened Wednesday when
its special agents killed a man in Utah who allegedly made threats against President Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and others.
CNN's Josh Campbell has details.
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JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: FBI agents in the U.S. state of Utah fatally shooting a man Wednesday morning while attempting to take him into custody. According to federal court records, Craig Robertson had been under investigation for allegedly making online threats against U.S. President Joe Biden, who was set to be in the state of Utah on Wednesday. Now, I'll read you one of these alleged online posts from the suspect.
He wrote, I hear Biden is coming to Utah, digging out my old ghillie suit that refers to camouflage worn by snipers and cleaning the dust off the M24 sniper rifle.
That post obviously very concerning to the U.S. Secret Service as well as the FBI. A law enforcement source tells me that as FBI tactical agents tried to arrest a suspect, they were giving him commands when the suspect pointed a gun at the agents. One FBI agent opening fire, fatally shooting that suspect.
Now, this entire investigation began back in March when a social media company contacted the FBI regarding concerning material that they were seeing on their platform allegedly tied to this suspect. One particular threat was against the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, I'll read you part of that post the suspect allegedly writing heading to New York to fulfill my dream of eradicating another George Soros two-but political hach DAs. I'll be waiting in the courthouse parking garage with my suppressed 9 millimeter to smoke a radical full prosecutor that should never have been elected.
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The suspect then went on to allegedly write in graphic detail how he would kill Manhattan's district attorney.
Now back in March, the FBI confronted the suspect. He was under surveillance, but agents eventually approached him, brought up this online material. The suspect allegedly, according to a federal criminal complaint, telling the FBI that this was all a dream. He told them to come back when you have a warrant.
That they did, showing up at his residence Wednesday morning. Again, that suspect fatally shot after a law enforcement source says he pointed a gun at those agents. The FBI says it is investigating the circumstances surrounding that shooting, has no further comment at this time.
Josh Campbell, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE) CHURCH: Ecuador's president has declared a state of emergency and three days of national mourning after the brutal assassination of a presidential candidate. Six people have been arrested over the killing, which appears to be caught on video. And we're about to show you that footage, but we need to warn you, it is disturbing.
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At least 12 gunshots could be heard on that video, which appears to show the killing of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio. Officials say he was gunned down at a campaign event in the capital Quito on Wednesday.
The country's attorney general says security forces later exchanged fire with the suspect and he died in custody. Government officials say the presidential election will be held on August 20th as scheduled.
Well, coming up next, new developments out of Ukraine, where a massive drone attack is being reported. The latest in a live report just ahead.
Plus, the Biden administration sets new rules to limit U.S. firms from doing business with China's high-tech industries. A live report from Hong Kong on that.
And later this hour, the financial fallout from Moody's downgrade of regional banks. Plus, a look at why Americans are doubting the economic recovery.
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CHURCH: We are following new developments out of Ukraine where the western region of Rivne has suffered a massive drone attack overnight. A local official says an oil depot was destroyed but so far there's no word on casualties.
Officials in Ukraine now say at least three people were killed and nine others injured in a Russian attack on a residential area in the city of Zaporizhzhya. The same missile strike also destroyed a church and retail outlets.
Following the attack, the Ukrainian president reiterated his call for more air defense systems. Meantime, Ukraine's Deputy Defense Minister says forces have achieved partial success on the southern front and are pushing forward in the direction of Bakhmut, Militopol and Berdyansk.
And CNN's Clare Sebastian joins us now live from London. Good morning to you, Claire. So what is the latest on the drone attack in Western Rivne?
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Rosemary, drone attacks on critical infrastructure are a pretty well-worn part of the Russian strategy. This one though, notable because the region of Rivne, the town, it's called Dubna, where this happened, are pretty far west. It's just about a two-hour drive from the Polish border.
We've seen attacks in the Western regions before, but they are less common. And also because it's being described as massive. You can see the regional head there standing in front of this huge blaze.
He says that an oil depot has been destroyed. There are, as of now, no casualties, but a massive operation underway to put it out. The Air Force in an update saying that 10 attack drones were launched from the Northeast, of which they managed to thwart by various means.
Seven of them, but still seems to be a serious amount of damage there and this comes Rosemary after Moscow has reported 13 drones in total they managed to avert their accusing Ukraine of firing two of them towards Moscow to those two were shot down another two shot down near the Crimean Black Sea port city of Sevastopol and they say nine more were averted using electronic warfare and crashed into the Black Sea.
Now Ukraine isn't saying anything about this latest round of drone attacks. There were also two launched towards Moscow, according to the mayor there on Tuesday night into Wednesday. But these are happening with increasing regularity.
We did hear just over a week ago President Zelenskyy promise that the war is returning to Russian soil. It does smack of a strategy while not causing massive damage or any injuries really to sort of crack the facade for the Russian people to bring home the idea that this is not in fact a special military operation but a full-scale war. Rosemary?
CHURCH: All right. Our thanks to Clare Sebastian, joining us live from London.
Well, Beijing is lashing out at new U.S. trade rules announced on Wednesday, saying the move seriously deviates from the principles of market economy and fair competition. Months in the making, the rules target U.S. private equity and venture capital firms, as well as joint ventures seeking to do business with China.
And CNN's Anna Coren joins us live from Hong Kong with the latest on this. Good to see you, Anna. So, how this will new trade rules work exactly, and what else is China saying about this?
ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think it's guaranteed, Rosemary, that it will escalate tensions between the world's two largest economies. We're already hearing, you know, China very upset at this.
[03:25:01]
But as you say, President Biden has signed an executive order banning new American investment in key technology industries in China, here in Hong Kong, and Macau that could be used to enhance Beijing's military capabilities. This was long expected.
The Chinese even knew about it, but now we know the details. It will target three sectors. Semiconductors and microelectronics, quantum information technologies and certain artificial intelligence systems. Now this means that U.S. private equity, venture capital, joint ventures and greenfield investments will not be allowed to invest and help China develop technologies that could support its military modernization and undermine U.S. national security.
The Treasury Department released a statement, let me read it to you, it said the Biden administration is committed to keeping America safe and defending America's national security through appropriately protecting technologies that are critical to the next generation of military innovation.
A U.S. official, you know, stressed that this was a national security action, not an economic one, but China is not buying that. Beijing strongly believes the US is trying to cripple it and contain its rise.
The Chinese Commerce Ministry said it was gravely concerned by the order and we also heard from the Foreign Ministry they released a statement, let me read that to you.
It's a blatant act of economic coercion and scientific and technological bullying. The real purpose is to deprive China of its right to development and safeguard its own hegemonic interests.
Rosemary, this comes as tensions between the U.S. and China are at their most strained in decades.
There has been that parade of top U.S. administration officials recently visit Beijing in an attempt to get U.S.-China relations back on track. This is something that Joe Biden desperately wants, but this executive order, expected to be implemented next year, could certainly affect his plans.
CHURCH: Yeah, indeed. Anna Coren, joining us live from Hong Kong with that report. I Appreciate it.
And still to come, residents on Maui flee wildfires tearing through their island paradise. We'll hear from some who don't know if they have anything to go home to.
Plus the coup leaders in Niger welcome a delegation from neighboring Nigeria will have the latest on efforts to restore democracy to the West African nation.
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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: An update on our top story this hour, the deadly fires scorching Hawaii. Just minutes ago, officials said they are trying to get communications back up and running in the devastated Maui tourist town of Lahaina and bolster the island's water supply. They're also pushing for federal disaster relief and working on housing for those who lost their homes. The flames have killed at least six people in Maui. Several others are missing, and search and rescue operations are ongoing.
Meanwhile fires are also spreading on the island of Hawaii known as the Big Island and we're told two new brushfires have erupted in recent hours.
Hawaiian residents have been horrified by how quickly the blazes spread. CNN's Brian Todd has reactions now from locals about what they've seen
and experienced since the fires started.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bands of flames and smoke that spread horrifically fast, arriving without warning, giving people little or no time to evacuate. Those are the consistent, terrifying accounts of victims and witnesses on Maui.
DUSTIN KALEIOPU, LAHAINA RESIDENT: We saw the smoke start about a block away from our house, and this was maybe 3:30, 4 o'clock. By 5:30, our house was gone. Everything that we had ever known was gone.
TODD (voice-over): Claire Kent says she also got out of her house just in time.
CLAIRE KENT, LAHAINA RESIDENT (on the phone): It was like as soon as you were out the door, it was like holy cow. Within an hour. The flames had moved all the way down to the end of the neighborhood.
TODD (voice-over): Kent and other residents of the town of Lahaina and the area surrounding it giving harrowing accounts of what they saw and providing images to match them.
UNKNOWN: Oh, my gosh look at the harbor.
TODD (voice-over): This video of a building violently burning was taken by Alan Dickar who says at least one of his houses caught on fire. He says this is a historic area of Front Street where he has a gallery.
ALAN DICKAR, LAHAINA RESIDENT (on the phone): I started taking a video of it because I was amazed that there were no firetrucks there, and then as I turned and looked down Front Street, Front Street exploded in flames.
TODD (voice-over): Motorist Marjorie St. Clair narrated as she drove through the flames in Lahaina.
MARJORIE ST. CLAIR, LAHAINA RESIDENT: It's like Lahaina is on fire. Oh my god.
TODD (voice-over): Jeff Melachar said he was told his house was gone after he evacuated. He took this video of what he said was a Salvation Army facility in flames.
Claire Kent, who works on a boat, sent us these pictures of fire in the distance and what appeared to be smoke and flames on the water. She said the Coast Guard and private boaters had to scramble to rescue people from the ocean.
KENT (on the phone): They were sending boats from Montlaya to help pluck people out of the water because they had just run down and started swimming to get away from the fire.
TODD (voice-over): Kent says it's not just the victims who are in shock. Rescuers also traumatized.
KENT (on the phone): My friend got out of his car and he was covered in head to toe in ash. His eyes were black, his mouth was black and he had gone back and was helping getting people out. He had a car full of old people and he was just like, look on his face. I mean, it was terror.
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TODD (voice-over): Claire Kent and other survivors say these apocalyptic scenes were made even worse by the lack of communication. They said because power was knocked out and self-service was terrible, they couldn't see news reports or get any communication ahead of time that the fires were spreading.
She says at one point, quote, "there were guys on bicycles just screaming at people to leave."
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
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CHURCH: Again, if you would like information on how to help those impacted by the Hawaii wildfires, you can go to cnn.com/impact. And we'll be right back.
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CHURCH: The new trading day gets underway in the U.S. in about six hours from now. And here's where futures stand right now. That's looking pretty encouraging. Meantime, European markets are up and running, and they too are all in positive territory. Here's a look at how markets across Asia fare today. A mixed bag will mostly up, but the Seoul KOSPI down there just slightly, though.
Well, investors are keeping an eye out for a key inflation report today.
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Stocks on Wall Street closed lower across the board on Wednesday ahead of July's consumer price index. The Dow lost 191 points, or .5 percent. The Nasdaq was off more than one percent. And the S&P 500 was down seven-tenths of a percent.
Joining me now is Justin Wolfers, a professor of economics and public policy at the University of Michigan. Good to have you with us.
JUSTIN WOLFERS, PROF. OF ECONOMICS AND PUBLIC POLICY, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: A pleasure Rosemary.
CHURCH: So Moody's has put the credit ratings of six large U.S. banks under review for a possible downgrade including Bank of New York Mellon, State Street and Northern Trust. What's your reaction to that move?
WOLFERS: I think there's not a lot really here. So the perhaps more important move was the 10 smaller regional banks, which they actually did downgrade. That'll matter a lot for those banks, but really, it doesn't matter that much for the broader economy because the U.S. has literally thousands of banks. And really what drove Moody's here was people have noticed that interest rates are higher than they used to be. And so savers are saying, hey, if I'm going to put my money in the bank, I want a few percent -- percentage points of interest.
That's great for most folks who are watching your program right now but it's bad for the bottom line of the banks and that's what Moody's was worried about.
CHURCH: Yeah, that's interesting. I mean Moody's actions sent stocks tumbling, didn't they, with investors pretty nervous about more banking sector trouble ahead. What needs to happen to calm the waters because clearly markets aren't happy about any of this?
WOLFERS: Well, we had, as you know, a pretty big amount of financial turmoil when Silicon Valley Bank went down and a couple of others were right on the cusp and also went down. That led the Fed to take a really close look at a bunch of things. And there's been a lot of pressure on banks to make sure that they weren't at risk of being the next Silicon Valley Bank. And the Fed has declared the banking system overall to be stable. And they're the ones inside really examining these banks pretty closely. So I believe them.
There's a reason that the regional banks were always a little more susceptible. They're regulated differently. And also some of their customers now are understanding that not all banks are created equal. As a result, people are looking for a little more security. That's bad news for the small banks, but actually quite good news for the bigger banks as folks withdraw funds from one place and put it elsewhere.
CHURCH: And inflation in the U.S. is falling. The job market has been strong. How do you explain the economic disconnect there?
WOLFERS: The economic disconnect being that the economy is delivering good news. Sometimes good things happen.
And, you know, Crikey, Rosemary, I've been here through 2020, 2021, 2022, the terrible pandemic and awful recession. And I'm just thrilled that good things are happening. Unemployment is 50 years long --
CHURCH: Justin, the American people don't read it as that. The American people, when they've been polled, they think that it's the worst it's ever been. So somehow, that message isn't landing? WOLFERS: Well they certainly don't think it's the worst it's ever been
but I do agree there's something of a disconnect that people are not quite as happy as you might expect. Now there is an interesting part to this which is if you ask people how is the American economy doing they say and particularly Republicans say it not well.
They're being asked to judge this bigger thing that's outside their lives. Ask them instead about the thing they're actually expert in. Do you feel secure in your job? Do you think you're going to get pay rises coming? Do you think if you lost your job, you'd be able to find a new one pretty quickly? And once you ask about people's actual experiences, now they sound a lot more optimistic. So the reality is that most people are doing okay. And I don't want to say everyone is, but most people are doing okay.
They recognize the reality that they're doing okay but they're not convinced that everyone else is doing okay.
CHURCH: Alright and also too we know inflation numbers are coming out what are you expecting?
[03:44:56]
WOLFERS: So the headline inflation numbers, it's been coming down quite dramatically. It was 9 percent a year ago and it's round about down to 3 percent now and it'll be somewhere thereabouts. I'm not expecting a lot of news or a lot of information but that's because the last couple of months have been really good news and so we've all become a lot more confident that inflation is on the way down and I hope that trend continues.
CHURCH: Justin Wolfers, great to have you with us. I Appreciate it.
WOLFERS: My pleasure.
CHURCH: Leaders of the West African bloc, ECOWAS, will meet in the coming hour in Nigeria to discuss the coup in neighboring Niger. They're pushing for a diplomatic solution but have threatened military action to restore democracy.
Niger's military leaders met Wednesday with two envoys from Nigeria offering some hope for dialogue. Then they lashed out at France for allegedly violating Niger's airspace and freeing terrorist prisoners to destabilize the country. France denies the claims.
CNN's Salma Abdelziz is following developments live from our London bureau. She joins us now. Good to see you, Salma. So West African leaders, they're set to meet very soon in Nigeria. What's expected to come out of these talks? And what more are you learning about the health and safety of President Bazoum?
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So this is an extraordinary summit set to take place in just about one hour's time in Abuja. And this comes, Rosemary, after a deadline came and passed on Sunday that ECOWAS had set a seven-day deadline for the military junta leaders to either return to their barracks and return Mohammed Bazoum to his, to power. Of course, the democratically-elected president or else, but the or else was kind of unclear. And that's why they're meeting today, Thursday, to determine the next steps.
Of course, they have said, the ECOWAS leaders have said that they prioritize finding a diplomatic solution, but they have not ruled out the possibility of a military intervention.
However, I must emphasize that that's highly unlikely. There seems very little consensus within the bloc itself to carry out a military intervention. You have several nations like Mali and Burkina Faso that have had their own coups in recent years and have already expressed that they would side with the military junta in Niger if a military intervention took place, even within Nigeria's political class.
Very little willingness there for a military intervention. The fear and concern is that that could further destabilize the region, further destabilize Nigeria, which of course shares a border with Niger. And diplomatic solutions, attempts for talks and outreach, have so far fallen on deaf ears. There's been multiple attempts this week.
The Deputy Secretary of State of the United States, Victoria Nuland, carried out a visit where she said she had frank discussions with the coup leaders, but that was very little traction.
There was also an attempt at a tripartite meeting earlier this week, the African Union, ECOWAS, all meeting, and the United Nations rather, all trying to carry out a meeting with the military leaders. That was turned down as well. So really hope fading here for a diplomatic solution. And if you put the military intervention to one side, what other options could really be discussed today at the ECOWAS meeting?
That's going to be the question. Do they extend the deadline? Well, that hasn't really worked. What can they do to push a coup leadership that has so far been able to really solidify its power in recent weeks by holding on to that capital, by shutting down airspace, and by sending out a rather effective message, Rosemary, to a youth population that feels disenfranchised and marginalized?
CHURCH: -- Abdelaziz, joining us live from London with that report. I Appreciate it.
And still ahead here on "CNN Newsroom," it's Japan versus Sweden at the Women's World Cup quarterfinals. We will bring you up to speed on the quarterfinal matches next.
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[03:50:00]
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CHURCH: And now there are eight. After nearly three weeks of the Women's World Cup, fans are gearing up to watch the first quarterfinal match today when Spain meets the Netherlands. And then on Friday, Japan and Sweden will be going head to head for a spot in the final four. CNN's Amanda Davies has a preview of the matchup.
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AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT: What a setting, hey. Welcome to Auckland in New Zealand. Set to be the venue for Friday's heavyweight quarter final clash between the only previous World Cup winners left in the tournament, Japan and Sweden.
The Sweden captain, Magne Eriksen, said it was heart that ultimately pulled her side through that incredible encounter on Sunday, knocking out the defending champions, the USA, on penalties.
It will be a very, very different prospect though for her side up next against the tournament's top scorers so far a Japanese outfit who have cruised through relatively untroubled to this point.
JONNA ANDERSSON, SWEDEN DEFENDER: It's like I always have had that feeling that we can go all the way of course that's what you should aim for when you're in the tournament and it's getting closer but for us I think it's really important to focus on the the game that we have now the quarterfinal of course you can look further ahead but we need to perform, we need to win that game but I'm very sure and confident that if we play good and if we perform we can go all the way but now all our focus is on the quarterfinal.
[03:55:02]
DAVIES: Sweden broke Japanese hearts at the Tokyo Olympics, beating them 3-1 in the quarterfinals to send them out in the tournament they really wanted to win on home soil.
But both sides here will feel the last eight is too early to be going out, knowing arguably this is their best chance in a generation to get their hands on the biggest prize.
Amanda Davies, CNN, Auckland, New Zealand.
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CHURCH: And thanks for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. Have yourselves a wonderful day. "CNN Newsroom" continues with Bianca Nobilo, next.
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