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U.S. Attorney Leading Hunter Biden Criminal Probe Named Special Counsel; Maui Reels As Number Of Dead Now 80, With Death Toll Climbing; G7 Leaders Affirm Long-Term Support For Ukraine; Trump To Campaign At Iowa State Fair; Australia Face France At 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup Quarterfinals. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired August 12, 2023 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welcome to all of you watching here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber.
Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, thousands of fire victims are staying in emergency shelters with many not knowing when basic services will be restored and if their homes are still there.
Plus Hunter Biden is being investigated by a special counsel. Why Republicans aren't pleased with the developments.
And Australia and France fighting for a spot in the World Cup semifinals. We'll have the latest on all the action.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber.
BRUNHUBER: We begin this hour in Hawaii, where we're getting a better understanding of the devastation caused by deadly wildfires that tore across the island of Maui. And sadly a new death toll; 80 people are now confirmed dead from the fire.
That number could rise dramatically in the coming days as crews with cadaver dogs sift through the ashes of homes and buildings. The only public road in and out was open briefly on Friday to give people a chance to see what's become of their homes but authorities closed it again a short time later.
Officials say the fire is 85 percent contained but the danger isn't completely gone. Criticism is growing on how authorities responded to the fire and why emergency management says the sirens weren't activated when the fire broke out.
Many people were unaware how bad things had gotten until it was too bad to leave. The governor talked about what went wrong.
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GOV. JOSH GREEN (D-HI): What we understand is, when the fires reignited in Lahaina in the late afternoon or early evening, they were focusing on fires elsewhere on the island. And the telecommunications were destroyed very rapidly. Communication was cut off by the destruction of 1,000 degree heat coming down the mountain.
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BRUNHUBER: The destruction is difficult to fathom, an entire community eliminated in a matter of hours. Our Veronica Miracle reports.
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CHIEF JOHN PELLETIER, MAUI POLICE: When the mayor said it's all gone, it's all gone. It's all gone. It's gone.
VERONICA MIRACLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Unimaginable shock, an entire city burned completely to the ground.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Devastation, everything gone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody lost everything.
MIRACLE (voice-over): We surveyed the damage from above and the destruction is difficult to imagine.
MIRACLE: So the view from above, it's apocalyptic. You can see a row of cars clearly trying to make it out many of those stuck in accidents in a traffic jam on a one lane road. All of those cars reduced to ash.
MIRACLE (voice-over): Lahaina residents will be allowed back into the city today to see the destruction up close but not without a warning from the governor, who told a local TV station in Hawaii,
"I want to caution everyone, Lahaina is a devastated zone. They will see destruction like they've not seen in their lives. Everyone, please brace themselves as they go back."
As some may be able to return to their hometown, as many as 1,000 people are still missing and unaccounted for.
PELLETIER: Honestly, we don't know. And here's the challenge, there's no power. There's no internet. There's no radio coverage.
MIRACLE (voice-over): And there's fear the climbing death toll will go even higher, with more than 1,000 buildings destroyed.
PELLETIER: I do not know what the final number is going to be. And it's going to be horrible and tragic when we get that number.
MIRACLE (voice-over): Thousands are still displaced and thousands of travelers are still waiting to get off the island.
GRANT GIFILLIAN, AUSTRALIAN TOURIST: Yes, we're just visitors. We're leaving primarily because we're just using up food and resources that the locals need.
MIRACLE (voice-over): People remain without power and many have no water.
GOV. JOSH GREEN (D-HI): We're talking about more than just days. We're talking about weeks to months, in some cases, to get energy fully restored.
MIRACLE (voice-over): And shelter space on the island is filling up quickly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're kind of at the limits in some of the essential Maui wants. And we'll have to be creative with our team after this, to try to get more for folks on the west side.
MIRACLE (voice-over): As the reality of the situation sets in, so does the frustration with how it happened.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have tsunami warnings that I think should have been utilized. I think this could have been handled so much better in so many ways.
MIRACLE (voice-over): And questions are now starting to circulate among the people who inhabited this once paradise island.
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MIRACLE (voice-over): Why weren't they warned sooner?
GREEN: I think that the tragedy would have been very difficult to anticipate, especially as it came in the night with high winds. But that does not mean that we won't do everything we can in the future to stop this.
MIRACLE (voice-over): Veronica Miracle, CNN, Maui, Hawaii.
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BRUNHUBER: Winds are forecast to decrease across Maui today and a few scattered showers are possible. The fires were fanned by a combination of winds and drier than usual conditions.
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BRUNHUBER: My next guest works on development of machine learning for weather and climate predictions. Peter Dueben joins us from Germany.
Thank you so much for being here with us. When we're looking at the situation, we're learning that the threat of high winds and wildfires were minimized ahead of the tragedy.
Could more accurate models lead to better predictions and lives saved in cases like this? PETER DUEBEN, ECMWF: Yes, absolutely. We have seen this in the last couple of decades, that the models are getting better and better. Therefore, predictions were better, so it was more and more possible to issue earlier warning for extreme events, not just for this situation but cyclones in general, high precipitation events.
So yes, better models lead to better predictions and those can help save lives.
BRUNHUBER: So many of those better models are coming with the use of AI.
How does AI-powered weather forecasting compare to traditional forecasting in terms of accuracy and speed and so on?
DUEBEN: Yes, that's a very interesting question. There's a lot happening right now at the moment.
So since the last five years, we were looking into machine learning for weather predictions. In the last half year, weather models based on machine learning were getting as good or even better than conventional models in some of the aspects of weather predictions.
But there's a caveat to this. The models are quite different in nature. So some kinds of predictions are better with conventional models. Other kinds of conditions are still now better with the (INAUDIBLE) model than the (INAUDIBLE) synergies.
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DUEBEN: So for example, for strong winds, the conventional models will still be better. For the positioning of cyclones, the machine learning models are getting very good. It's really the synergies we need to look into, to really make the best of the both worlds, to predict those events as soon as possible.
BRUNHUBER: Interesting. Just from a layman's point of view, you'd think AI would be more intelligent and be able to forecast some of those things better.
So for winds, why would AI be more limited than traditional models?
DUEBEN: So traditional models are built on the physics. We look into the equations and the systems and we use super computers to solve the equations.
For machine-learned models, they learn from the data. The data is basically about the atmosphere for the last 40 years. If you look into extreme events, that happens once in 100 years. It doesn't mean that the machine learning models will be perfect in learning those events.
And we also don't really know exactly what machine learned models are doing. We don't have a physical understanding behind them. They are a different beast.
And the reasons why they are not so good in strong winds, we also understand, because it depends on the way, how those models are trained that they are better in making predictions rather than extremes.
But this doesn't mean that in the future we will not be able to build more sophisticated models for specific tasks. So it's a very dynamic situation. Lots of good developments toward machine-learning models, helping, making better predictions in the future.
BRUNHUBER: But as it stands, AI wouldn't have been able to, in this case, predict what was going on because it was so exceptional, this idea of having these high winds and the fire threat, is that right?
DUEBEN: I think just right now, I would agree with that. But I don't think that's probably true in a year from now. The speed of developments is quite strong at the moment. And we still need to learn how to use those machine learning tools in the best possible way and build specific tasks.
We will also try to understand how machine learning would have helped in this specific situation. And I'm pretty sure in a year from now, we'll be able to make more use of those models than we are today.
BRUNHUBER: Interesting. I really appreciate your insights on this very interesting topic. And clearly, topical on a day like today. Peter Dueben in Cologne, Germany, thank you so much for speaking with us.
DUEBEN: Thank you.
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BRUNHUBER: Donald Trump and legal team are on notice. The federal judge presiding over the election subversion case against the former president is warning to be extra careful of what they say publicly about the case. Jessica Schneider has the latest.
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JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: The case against Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., is moving rapidly and the judge in this case is really being firm on what Trump and his legal team can and cannot disclose about this case to the public.
So Judge Tanya Chutkan issued a protective order that lays out that Trump and his team cannot disclose any sensitive information given to them during this discovery process. That includes material about the grand jury or search warrants.
And she also issued several warnings to Trump. She noted that, even though he's running a political campaign, he still has to, in her words, yield to the administration of justice.
She said if that means that his political speech has to be somewhat limited, then that is how it's going to be. And she says she's going to be carefully scrutinizing statements from Trump and his team. She says anything that can be interpreted to be intimidating to
witnesses or prejudicial to potential jurors, it could really threaten the whole process in this case. So under all these terms, prosecutors said they're prepared to begin handing over material immediately.
That includes 11.6 million pages of documents. It includes hundreds of recordings of witness interviews, which Trump, of course, will be prohibited from disclosing publicly. And now we'll see how quickly this case can go to trial.
The prosecution already said they want it to start January 2nd. Trump's legal team has to propose their start date sometime next week. They'll likely propose it after the election in 2024.
But really at the rate the judge is moving, she might want to move closer to the prosecution's proposed January 2024 date. So we will see -- Jessica Schneider, CNN, Washington.
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BRUNHUBER: Republican critics have long demanded that Hunter Biden be investigated by a special counsel. But now that it's happened, there's complaints it's too little, too late.
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BRUNHUBER: On a post on social media, Kevin McCarthy blasted the appointment, saying the federal prosecutor has already investigated Hunter Biden for five years and can't be trusted to prosecute him. Paula Reid has more on why this decision was made at this time.
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PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, according to the Justice Department, on Tuesday, U.S. attorney David Weiss, asked the Justice Department to change his designation to special counsel, for the purposes of the Hunter Biden investigation.
Now Weiss is a Trump-appointed U.S. attorney and has been investigating Biden for five years but the Justice Department has not put forth any official explanation for why he suddenly wanted to change his status and become a full-blown special counsel.
But there are some clues in the court documents and court filings, because, on Friday, court filings reveal that the plea agreement that had been reached between the U.S. attorney and Hunter Biden has fallen apart. It has reached an impasse, after a judge expressed some concerns and had some questions about this plea deal.
And according to court filings, it appears that case related to some tax charges and one charge related to gun possession could go to trial. Once you are special counsel, not only can you bring a case in any jurisdiction, you also have to write a full report, detailing your findings.
The Justice Department emphasizes that that will help with the transparency around this investigation. But it is not clear that Republicans on the Hill are going to see it that way, because they wanted Weiss to come and talk to them, testify, answer questions.
And it is unclear how becoming a special counsel could impact his willingness to testify before them. We know the previous special counsels, like Robert Mueller and John Durham, have testified but only after their investigations and after they submitted their reports.
Now a source tells CNN that what the White House was not notified before the special counsel announcement nor for Hunter Biden's lawyers.
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BRUNHUBER: Ukraine is cracking down on suspected corruption among its military. President Zelenskyy goes after officials who made money on recruiting troops for the front lines.
Plus more pushback against potential military intervention in Niger. What protesters are saying about the regional bloc's decision to put troops on standby. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Ukraine is considering mandatory evacuation of all children from Kupyansk as Russia steps up its artillery strikes. Meanwhile, Ukraine's president is cracking down on corruption in military recruitment centers.
He fired all top regional military recruiters across the board and at least some of them now face criminal investigations for reportedly profiteering on their jobs. For more on all this, Salma Abdelaziz has more from London.
Let's start with the evacuation of the children.
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There's already mandatory evacuations in place for residents in Kupyansk. Now authorities considering specifically an evacuation order for children. There's about 800 children that live there. So that would make them the priority.
It comes as Ukrainian officials say that Russia is intensifying efforts in the Kharkiv region, to grab land and push its forces forward. Ukraine military officials saying that Russia is trying to make the north region the epicenter of the fighting, pulling away Ukrainian forces from their focus in the south along the southern access.
So true concern about the children living in that area. It comes just a day after that attack, that horrifying attack on a hotel in Zaporizhzhya, one that the United Nations called "utterly inadmissible," because it was a hotel being used as a children's camp.
So all of this painting an image of concern and worry about the youngest living in those front line regions. It comes as, you mentioned, President Zelenskyy is fighting corruption among his own ranks.
In a recent video statement, he said the heads of all military recruitment offices across the board in Ukraine will be dismissed from their jobs amid allegations of corruption. He says anyone carrying out misdeeds, corruption during a time of war, he accused them of high treason. Take a listen.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Some took cash, some took cryptocurrency, that's the only difference. The cynicism is the same everywhere. Illicit enrichments, legalization of illegally obtained funds, illegal benefit, illegal transportation of persons liable for military service across the border.
This system should be run by people who know exactly what war is and why cynicism and bribery in times of war constitute treason.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ABDELAZIZ: It's not the only time that Ukraine has had to tackle corruption during the war, during this conflict. Earlier this year, there was a major shakeup in his cabinet after allegations of war profiteering came up among his own men, among his own ranks.
This is critical. It strikes a nerve at a time of war when tens of thousands of soldiers are fighting and dying on those front lines. President Zelenskyy wanting to appear strong, wanting to appear responsive, saying that investigative committees, government-backed committees will continue their work.
Some 100 criminal proceedings have already been opened but this is critical to Ukraine's allies. They need to know the funding, the billions of dollars they are pouring into Ukraine is being used appropriately.
BRUNHUBER: In the context of President Biden just asking Congress for billions more, exactly right. Salma Abdelaziz, thank you.
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BRUNHUBER: As Ukraine fights brutal Russian aggression, its allies are starting to work on deterring future incursion by Moscow. G7 countries said they are opening talks with Kyiv on how to build a military capable of heading off a future Russian invasion.
Meanwhile, about 1,000 Ukrainian Marines are returning home after six months of training in Britain. They were trained by British forces on how to storm beaches and conduct amphibious operations. And in Washington, the White House says it's open to training
Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16s on U.S. soil. European countries are still putting together plans for that training.
As the number of dead in Hawaii continues to rise, there are questions about what could have been done to prevent the disaster. State officials underestimated the threat posed by wildfires. That's next on CNN NEWSROOM.
Plus Republicans have been demanding a special counsel take over investigations of Hunter Biden. But they are complaining now that one has been named. Details, coming up. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
An update on the devastating wildfires in Hawaii. Authorities now say 80 people have been confirmed dead. The number is expected to rise in the coming days.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I sat up on top of the roof and I battled the fire for about three hours. I couldn't do it anymore. Then I said, I have to move. Then I ran to the ocean and just -- I gave in.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you literally saved yourself by jumping into the ocean.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you turned around and looked back, what did you see?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Devastation, everything gone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Criticism is growing over how officials handled the early moments of the wildfires as flames spread across the island. No warning sirens were activated, which critics say cost lives. Pamela Brown reports.
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PAMELA BROWN, CNN CHIEF INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): CNN is learning Hawaii officials underestimated the risk of wildfires in a recent report, even as other documents show official knew they lacked resources to prevent and fight fires.
ABBY FRAZIER, CLIMATOLOGIST, CLARK UNIV.: We had advanced notice coming into the summer. This week, the winds, the low humidity and the fuels, any ignition would have sparked a pretty big fire and that's exactly what we saw.
BROWN (voice-over): In a state report out just last year ranking natural disasters, Hawaii officials classified the wildfire risk to human life as low in this color coded chart.
The assessment, though, coming years after Hurricane Lane fanned the flames of fires in Hawaii ravaging Maui and Oahu in 2018. That perfect storm of conditions highlighted the threat and how unprepared officials in Hawaii were dealing with such a disaster.
With a county report in 2021 noting Hurricane Lane made small fires swell and stretch public safety resources, with strong winds, grounding air support. That storm should have been a wakeup call, according to this planning document from Hawaii's Emergency Management Agency.
Other state and local documents show Hawaii lagged behind in preparedness for the devastating wildfires playing out now that have killed more than 50 people, left countless people missing and triggered widespread evacuations. A cruel deja vu for some residents.
MARK STEFL, LOST HOME TO FIRE TWICE: About four years ago, we had another hurricane and we lost our house in a fire. Rebuilt and what happened yesterday is killing me right now. We just lost our house again twice in four years.
BROWN (voice-over): A 2021 report also makes the troubling point that despite the increasing number of wildfires, fire prevention was given, quote, "short shrift" in a strategic plan from Maui County's Department of Fire and Safety.
The plan also included, quote, "nothing about what can and should be done to prevent fires," which it called "a significant oversight."
FRAZIER: Given how catastrophic this event was, I think there will be a lot of pressure on the state and other organizations to improve their fire prevention actions that they're taking statewide.
BROWN (voice-over): The increase in fires in Hawaii comes as Maui has faced increasing drought conditions in recent years, contributing to warnings like this in a May webinar from Nani Barretto with the Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization.
NANI BARRETTO, HAWAII WILDFIRE MANAGEMENT ORG.: Hawaii has a big wildfire problem. We are on par with the most fire prone states in the western continental U.S. The impacts of fire are broad and long lasting.
BROWN (voice-over): Now residents like Mart Stefl are left to rebuild again as the threat of future disasters looms with no clear plan in place. STEFL: I mean, I know what I need to do. We've done it before. It sucks.
BROWN (voice-over): Pamela Brown, CNN, Washington.
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BRUNHUBER: If you'd like to help those impacted by the Hawaii wildfires, you can go to cnn.com/impact. There you can find a list of vetted organizations that you can check out.
Friday's announcement that Hunter Biden will be investigated by a special counsel came as a surprise to most people and left many of the harshest critics unsatisfied.
Hunter Biden has faced a plea deal on back taxes and a gun charge but that deal fell apart, which means he will most likely head to trial. Some presidential hopefuls were asked about it while campaigning in Iowa. Let's listen.
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MIKE PENCE (R-IN), 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think it's about time that we saw the appointment of a special counsel to get to the bottom of not only what Hunter Biden was doing but what the Biden family was doing, the American people deserve answers and I welcome the appointment.
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GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You see this stuff with Hunter Biden. It's like if he were Republican, he would be in jail by now. We all know that.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think the DOJ is putting up a charade. They are blowing smoke to make it appear like they are bringing him to justice, when they are just satisfying a quest to take down their political opponent.
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BRUNHUBER: Hunter Biden's attorneys and his client has been investigated already and the danger is he will become a victim of the highly charged partisan atmosphere in D.C.
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ABBE LOWELL, HUNTER BIDEN'S ATTORNEY: Every MAGA right-wing person yelling and screaming and saying it's not right and it's not fair and it's not just, you have the former president trying to use Hunter Biden as a way to excuse his own conduct.
And at some point, that could pierce the noise and be so noisy that it gets in the way of the facts and the law.
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BRUNHUBER: Joining us live from New York is criminal defense lawyer Bernarda Villalona, who is also a former prosecutor.
Thank you so much for being here with us. So first off, this is the same person who has been overseeing the case now for years.
What difference does being appointed special counsel make?
BERNARDA VILLALONA, CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYER: Well, with being appointed a special counsel, what's going to happen in this case is he has broad latitude, meaning he can actually pursue charges in other jurisdictions aside from Delaware.
Remember, he still remains as the U.S. attorney for Delaware but now he can look at other jurisdictions without having to look for the other jurisdictions to cooperate.
Also, it gives him independence in the sense that he's not going to be under the scrutiny of day-to-day supervision from the Department of Justice. So that is the main authority that he's getting, is the independence and the broad latitude.
BRUNHUBER: But this has been going on for five years now.
So why now?
Is this just about public perception or is Hunter Biden in worse legal jeopardy here?
VILLALONA: That's the million-dollar question, why now after five years?
But why now after you were going to enter into a plea agreement that was going to end these charges?
So what's the difference between the a couple weeks ago and now?
They are saying that Weiss requested to be special counsel and that's why Merrick Garland decided to appoint him as special counsel. But it doesn't change things.
If I were Hunter Biden, I would be nervous. I would be nervous because, at the time of the plea, the judge specifically asked the prosecution, is the investigation still ongoing?
And that right there, that answer was yes. So why would they have entered into a plea?
Will there be additional charges for Hunter Biden?
Is he facing additional charges in other jurisdictions?
Will this end in a trial?
Will this end in a plea?
What will happen, we don't know. We're going to have to wait and see. But it's more to appease the Republican base.
BRUNHUBER: But it's not appeasing any Republicans. They have been panning this after all the special counsel, a Trump appointee, we should note was implicated in the so-called sweetheart deal. And House Republicans, as we heard there, they are still going after the Bidens.
So how big of a drag will this be on Joe Biden in an election year?
VILLALONA: First off, you're never going to be able to appease everyone. I find it so difficult here because the Republican Party had been saying a special counsel should have been appointed from the very beginning.
Here you have a special counsel. Here you have a Trump-appointed U.S. attorney, that originated under Trump. You finally have a designation of special counsel. In terms of how it's going to affect him, aside from running as a candidate, you also have to think he's also a father. He is the father of Hunter Biden. It's going to have a personal effect.
And questions are going to come up throughout the entire campaign. Hopefully, maybe they will be able to resolve this matter before the November election. But who knows. It's going to take a while.
It's definitely going to be conversation that's going to be happening throughout this campaign, whether it's on the Democratic side or Republican side. But either way, let's remember Hunter Biden is separate from President Biden.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, absolutely, although Republicans will be clear to sort of square that circle. Bernarda Villalona, thank you for your insights, really appreciate it.
VILLALONA: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Donald Trump will campaign at the Iowa State Fair later today where he remains the front-runner in a crowded race for the nomination. But he will have to tone down his usual rhetoric after a judge is warning not to make inflammatory statements. Kyung Lah has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The rides,
the animals, the deep-fried everything.
Then add in more than a million visitors to the Iowa State Fair and you have the reason why presidential candidates are flipping pork burgers in the first-in-the-nation caucus state going to Iowans where they are is how they've traditionally won the caucuses --
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MAYOR FRANCIS SUAREZ (R-FL), MIAMI, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you. Yes.
LAH: -- county by county, one voter at a time. As former vice president Mike Pence draws some attention, many pass right on by.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Trump was here, they'd be packed here, I think. If Trump goes to jail, then I'll change my mind.
LAH: Cooking in the rear of the pork tent.
CHARLIE JOHNSON, FARMER: Love it and put out the word for pork.
LAH: Iowa farmer Charlie Johnson, he's seen cycle after cycle of Republican candidates flip pork in his fair tent. This year, Johnson doesn't want the usual Iowa persuasion.
As far as moving you at all, is that even possible?
JOHNSON: No. I'm pretty well stacked where I'm at. Most people have got their minds already made up. Like I say, I know in my area, it's Trump country.
DAVE PRICE, LONGTIME IOWA POLITICAL REPORTER: So different. We haven't experienced anything like this that I can think of because of Trump.
LAH: Dave Price has covered Iowa politics as a reporter for more than two decades, when Trump comes to the fair this weekend, he will skip the traditional soapbox and the interview with the state's popular Republican governor, writing his own rules and still leading in the polls.
What Price doesn't know is if that lead holds until January's caucuses.
PRICE: There is still concern from Republicans about, hey, we want to win in '24, we lost in '20, we want to win in '24. And is Trump really the guy to get the party there?
LAH: At the fair's famed butter cow, you hear the party's divide and the role the indictments play, even among lifelong friends like these three Republican women.
Are the indictments changing how you feel?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, because I do think a lot of that is for effect.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lot of those are trumped up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't find the charges against him being trumped up at all. That's my opinion. And I believe in our judicial system. So I hope our judicial system holds together.
LAH: On Saturday, think of the Iowa State Fair as having its main event, at least politically. Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump will both be here at the fair at around the same time.
And Trump will be bringing Florida state representatives to accompany him here at the fair. Not so much a decorum break there but think of it more as trolling to jab at DeSantis -- Kyung Lah, CNN, Des Moines, Iowa.
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BRUNHUBER: Still ahead this hour, more protests against a West African bloc as it moves closer to military intervention in Niger. Why some people are voicing support for coup leaders instead. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Supporters of Niger's coup staged a large protest against the regional bloc, ECOWAS, a day after had activated a standby force for potential military intervention.
On Friday thousands of people condemned the bloc as they rallied near a French military base in the capital. They also demonstrated against France, saying the former colonial ruler should leave their country for good. Jim Bittermann joins us from Paris.
For many in Niger, what role is France playing in this crisis?
JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SR. INTL. CORRESPONDENT: In this crisis, France is trying to keep the position of the government, keep its head down because they have been trying to let them handle the situation on its own.
They have this base there; 1,500 French troops are based near the capital. And they would like to avoid the kind of thing we saw with the demonstration yesterday, where demonstrators were saying things like down with France, we need Russia's help to get rid of these French.
There's a lot of animosity to this day against the French community, who were there for almost a century in charge and, as a consequence, the demonstrators would have liked to see the French get out. The French are saying their military deal was with the government.
That deal stands, as far as they are concerned. The French diplomats have, to some extent, scaled down their operations. But the military base is still where it was. For the moment, that seems to be where it's going to stay.
BRUNHUBER: Jim Bittermann in Paris, thank you so much.
Still ahead, down to the wire. France and Australia need penalties to settle their World Cup match. It's going on right now. Please stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: At the Women's World Cup, France is taking on co-host Australia for a chance to advance to the semifinals. After over 120 minutes, neither team has been able to score and now the match is being decided in penalties. Amanda Davies joins us with more.
I'm watching the screen as they are about to take the final penalty.
What's the atmosphere there?
You must be able to cut the tension with a knife.
AMANDA DAVIES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I can tell you the atmosphere is unbelievable here. I suspect the mood here is tenfold. We are 2,000 miles away in Auckland with this playing out in Brisbane.
(APPLAUSE)
DAVIES: That was another Australian penalty scored. They are 4-3 ahead, I believe, as things stand. I'm struggling to see it and listen to the commentary and speak to you. What I might do is step away from the camera. And we'll let you watch the fans so I can work out what I have missed.
(APPLAUSE)
BRUNHUBER: Oh. All right. So I think Australia has to score. So France just scored one of their penalties. Now Australia has to equal this or France wins, if I have that right.
DAVIES: Yes, we're now in sudden death penalties. That's exactly right, Kim.
BRUNHUBER: I'm just watching on my end here on the TV. The French team is going crazy. We're seeing the Australian player put the ball down to take this penalty. I can see people just watching this with bated breath. What are you seeing?
DAVIES: The nerves. The nerves are real here.
BRUNHUBER: Oh, all right, she sent the keeper the wrong way. Australia still alive. That's why you're seeing the cheers and excitement in the crowd there.
(CROSSTALK)
DAVIES: Both of these teams have a first-ever Women's World Cup semifinal at stake.
BRUNHUBER: Boy, the nerve that it takes to deliver on a stage like this with so much at stake, I just can't imagine it.
[05:55:00]
DAVIES: Yes, this is the longest penalty shootout in Women's World Cup history.
BRUNHUBER: Oh, my gosh.
DAVIES: There was nothing at all to split these two sides over 120 minutes.
(APPLAUSE)
BRUNHUBER: And France scores again, so Australia will have to score again here.
I'm surprised, while we wait for Australia to take the kick, that New Zealand would be so behind their rivals in this.
Is that what you're seeing?
DAVIES: I have to say, there is a lot of support for Australia, a lot of people wearing the green and gold. There's a big French contingent here as well. But there's been a brilliant co-hosting atmosphere of this tournament.
The first Women's World Cup that has been co-hosted. And the real understanding of the importance for the region. This Australia team are very much carried the mantle, seen as the golden generation that has galvanized more support behind their national women's football team than ever before.
(APPLAUSE)
BRUNHUBER: OK.
(CROSSTALK)
DAVIES: And we go on.
BRUNHUBER: I mean, it feels like this could go on forever. I just can't imagine; now we're getting into the penalty takers who didn't want to take the penalties. And you never know what's going to happen then.
DAVIES: This is down to the wire. This is who will hold their nerves.
BRUNHUBER: Just unbelievable. We'll have to leave it there, as we have this match still in the balance. We will have to leave it.
(APPLAUSE)
BRUNHUBER: Oh, my gosh. OK, France just missed. That's why you're hearing the cheers from the crowd. We have to go. I'm Kim Brunhuber. "CNN THIS MORNING" is next.
