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CNN International: Ukraine: Not Expecting U.S. F-16 Jet Deliveries this Year; ECOWAS Defense Chiefs Meet to Discuss Using Force; Volunteer First Responders Pour Water on Hot Spots; U.S. President to Visit Maui Disaster Zone on Monday. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired August 17, 2023 - 08:00   ET

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

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BIANCA NOBILO, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, this is CNN "Newsroom". I'm Bianca Nobilo in for Max Foster. Just ahead, CNN follows Ukrainian military unit on the front line. We'll have a report from the village recently liberated. Then regional West African bloc ECOWAS says it's opens to a peaceful solution in Niger.

But warns the country's constitutional order must be restored by all means necessary. And a source tells CNN that Rudy Giuliani makes a desperate appeal to former U.S. President Donald Trump to pay his legal fees. We'll have the latest on Giuliani's trouble finances.

Ukraine says despite having big hopes, American made warplanes won't be protecting its skies this year. The country's Air Force spokesman says progress is being made towards training pilots. But Kyiv is not expecting F-16 deliveries anytime soon. Ukraine has persistently lobbied its Western allies for these fighter jets.

Meanwhile, the grinding battle on the ground continues. A regional official says one woman was killed and another wounded in Russian shelling near Kupiansk in the Northeast. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh joins me now live from Dnipro, Ukraine. Nick, what are you seeing on the ground?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, but certainly the news, although I think many Ukrainians follow is optimistic that they could get the f 16 program complex as it is essentially training in English. Ukrainians to fly F-16 jets for which they need to create an entire repair and maintenance infrastructure most likely here in Ukraine to get that functioning.

The fact that they're not going to have a booth to the air defenses is of course hard news to hear. We've seen ourselves that its Russian air superiority, their ability to drop half metric ton bombs at will on advancing Ukraine positions that's causing significant -- as indeed is slowing Ukraine's offensive border point out.

No NATO military would even remotely think about trying a counter offensive like this without controlling the skies first. But still, there are moments of Ukrainian success where that grind and slow bid to move forward sees some victories. We were just on the outskirts of Urozhaine, probably the first key village that Ukraine has claimed has fallen back into its hands been liberated for the last two or three weeks.

And a sign that despite criticism from some Western analysts of how slow this is going, they are indeed seeing constant progress. Here's what we saw.

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WALSH (voice over): There may be ruin around them but that direction is forwards. We're with the 35th Ukrainian Marines. The first report is to get to the outskirts of Urozhaine. Yet another village announced liberated Wednesday. The victories may be small.

But a constant so just down here Urozhaine yet another town taken as the counter offensive does move forward. We were just seeing the neighboring village taken last week, but they keep moving.

WALSH: That much incoming were getting out of here as quick as we can while they control Urozhaine, the Russians do everything they can to make it a nightmare, the Ukrainians to be there.

WALSH (voice over): The unit showed us the intense fight captured by drone. This their tank advancing, dropping a string of anti-mine explosives behind it they said which then once it turned detonated. The unit released a video of them in the town Wednesday of how they turned their firepower on what was once a Russian stronghold that shelled them.

The company commander recalls many more Russians hidden there than he expected. Very many died he says especially when they started to run and when they held houses. Lots of them died there. But they were caught as they fled the smoke around Russians likely made by cluster munitions.

Ukraine has said it is already using some rounds controversially supplied by the United States. We could not confirm if these fight here with new American cluster bombs. But the losses suffered were clear. And they say their use is less of an ethical dilemma when you're in this brutal fight.

I don't understand it he says. That site is using whatever they want. Our people are dying from all this and it's, OK when the other site die it's not I don't understand.

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His footage shows how young some in the assault were. He has no time for Western analysts who say this should be moving faster. I would say they can always come to me as a guest and fight with me he says. If someone believes that you can fly over the minefield on a broom, like in Harry Potter, it doesn't happen in a real fight.

If you don't understand that, you can sit in your armchair and eat your popcorn. Yes, it's out here. The last month of advances fill both empty and grueling, littered now with Russian dead. They haven't moved perhaps as far as it has felt.

WALSH: These just empty farm fields in which many have died to take each kilometer.

WALSH (voice over): The Russians mind so hard here. They use this machine to do it. So much damage done, it's hard to imagine what plans Moscow had for here at all, had they kept it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBILO: That was CNN's Nick Paton Walsh reporting there from Ukraine unfortunately having audio issues at the end. Now at this hour, West African Defense Ministers are discussing the crisis in Niger. Ahead of that meeting, a commissioner for ECOWAS said constitutional order will be restored in Niger by all means necessary.

Last week, the regional bloc decided to activate a standby force in response to last month's military coup in Niger. Defense Chiefs at the two day meeting in Accra, Ghana will consider whether to use that force to reinstate constitutional rule. Stephanie Busari joins us now live from Lagos with the latest on the situation.

Stephanie, is there a sense within ECOWAS that a peaceful resolution to this is truly possible? And how far will the result depend on the popular sentiment in Niger towards the coup leaders?

STEPHANIE BUSARI, CNN SENIOR EDITOR AT AFRICA: Bianca, so the people of Niger are the real pawns in this potentially deadly standoff between the military junta and ECOWAS leaders. These are the people in one of the world's poorest countries.

And the people telling me that the mood there is calm, but they're apprehensive that their country already ravaged by insurgency, poverty, and all some other ills will face military action. And we've seen protests we've seen some mass protests in favor of the coup leaders.

We don't know how stage those are. But at the heart of this are resources. This is one of the top 10 producers of uranium. But people ask why do we still live in poverty, and so many are hopeful that this military regime will bring a new kind of life fought for the people of Niger.

But life has become tougher since the coup happened on July 26. Sanctions have been placed, and many of them are living in darkness right now. But as you say that military chiefs are in Accra, debating whether to deploy these standby forces or when they will be deployed.

And they really want to make sure that dialogue is the last. This military action is the last resort and dialogue is taken to the very last minute, but will the concept label, will they listen? Will they acquiesce to the requests of the ECOWAS? They seem quite entrenched in their position with President Bazoum democratically elected President charged with high treason?

So it's a real waiting game right now as these military chiefs in Accra debate, the next step forward, Bianca.

NOBILO: Stephanie Busari, thank you so much for bringing us the latest on that. At least 60 migrants are believed dead after a boat disaster off the coast of Cape Verde, West Africa. That's according to the International Organization for Migration. IOM says that the boat with 101 people on board left Senegal on July 10 and was rescued this past Tuesday.

38 people were saved and it's not clear exactly what caused the disaster. The U.S. President is hoping to foster a deeper relationship between two Asian allies to counter China's influence in the region. Joe Biden heads to the presidential retreat at Camp David Friday to host a trilateral summit with the leaders of Japan and South Korea.

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Tokyo and Seoul have long had a strained relationship but both allies are vital to U.S. strategy and interests in the Indo-Pacific region. We turn now to Sudan. And what's been called one of the worst days in Darfur's genocide-scarred history. Eyewitnesses spoke to CNN about a gruesome massacre that unfolded in West Darfur two months ago.

But we must warn you of course, some of the images that you're about to see are graphic and the report includes distressing descriptions of conflict. Our Nima Elbagir has this exclusive report.

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NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The streets of El Geneina in Sudan's Darfur region are eerily quiet, filmed at great risk by survivors. The video shows racist graffiti defacing walls and corpses littering the streets seen here in their own propaganda.

Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces RSF occupied Geneina in June after a heavy shelling campaign and fighting in their war for dominance over Sudan's army. A CNN investigation has now uncovered some of the cost of the RSF victory here in Geneina. Survivors aid workers and body collectors described to CNN how.

Together with their allies, the RSF gunned down hundreds of civilians in and around Geneina on June 15, in one of the most violent massacres to date in the recent history of this genocide-scarred Sudanese region. Using satellite images, eyewitness testimony and geo locating what few videos have made it through the telecommunications blackout, cutting Darfur off from the world.

JAMAL KHAMISS, HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER & EYEWITNESS: I lost 8 members of my family that day during the escape from El Geneina to Chad.

ELBAGIR (voice over): This man says he buried hundreds of victims in Darfur since April. But on that day, he couldn't even reach his slain relatives. The RSF troops are drawn from Darfuri Arab tribes and together with its leader Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, aka him a deep are implicated in the year's long genocide in the region against African tribal groupings. It's unsurprising then that the war between the RSF and Sudan's military for control of the country, took an even more sinister turn here in Darfur. Mirroring the RSF previous tactics, forcing civilians to flee many were arriving in Geneina. That is until June 14 when the West Darfur Governor seen here at his arrest by the RSF was executed.

The RSF blamed for the killing denies responsibility. As hundreds attempted to flee they were harassed and threatened. Even children joined in, a lucky few made it to Chad.

SABRY MOHAMED, FORMER EL GENEINA RESIDENT & EYEWITNESS (ph): They were going into houses killing people. Snipers were everywhere.

ELBAGIR (voice over): Bringing with them stories of ethnic targeting.

MOHAMED (ph): On the road out of the city, we were stopped and searched. They took our phones. Men were separated from the women so they could kill us. We ran but they shot some of us.

ELBAGIR (voice over): Evidence shows much of the killing occurred here outside the main hospital in Geneina. Then fleeing civilians were ambushed again in Wadi Kaja. Satellite images show the river which is usually shallow enough for cars to cross had water running high that day.

Scores struggled in the water some shot as they drowned. Survivors say they had gunfire from all directions.

KHAMISS: I saw 17 kids who were shot dead then thrown into the water. This was one of the most surreal scenes I've witnessed.

ELBAGIR (voice over): Even as they fled Geneina for Adre. Across the border in Chad, our evidence shows men, women and children were shot as they fled. At the MSF hospital in Chad, survivors arrived with gunshot wounds in the back legs and buttocks. The lead doctor told CNN all injuries consistent with being shot from the back.

Over 850 people flooded the hospital in Adre between June 15th and 17th according to MSF. More than any other period since fighting began in April. Body collectors say according to their count, around 1000 people were killed on the day of June 15, buried in dozens of mass graves.

Survivors say the RSF is replicating these same tactics across the region. Even as they're supposed to celebrate in the aftermath of mass killings and the sweep of escalating ethnically targeted attacks.

ELBAGIR: A spokesperson for the Rapid Support Forces told CNN that they categorically deny the assertions that we put forward in our reporting without though denying any of the specifics that we shared with them.

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It's also important to note that the RSF have previously denied the findings of an investigation where we uncovered evidence that RSF troops had engaged in rapes. Before subsequently the leader of the RSF stating that those who had been implicated in violations were to be prosecuted. Nima Elbagir, CNN, London.

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NOBILO: More information on how to help Sudanese refugees. Go to CNN.com/impact to find a list of humanitarian organizations that you can support. We'll be right back.

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NOBILO: A sobering report from Hawaii, the death toll from the devastating wildfires that swept through Maui has gone up to 111. Hawaii's Governor Josh Green told CNN that he estimates over 1000 people are still unaccounted for. Search and rescue crews are combing through the burned ruins.

About 38 percent of the disaster zone has been searched. On Celebrity and longtime Maui resident lost his restaurant in the fire. Mick Fleetwood, a leader of the band, Fleetwood Mac spoke to CNN earlier on.

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MICK FLEETWOOD, FLEETWOOD MAC DRUMMER AND MAUI RESTAURANT OWNER: Going into the futures is not appropriate conversation right now in my particular way of explaining it, what it needs to be is the immediacy of what has to be taken care of. And everyone is coming out of a very tragic situation which can lead to certain confusions and guidelines now I think are the magic formula.

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NOBILO: Bill Weir has more now on how some residents are trying to put out some hotspots with bottled water.

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BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT : Aloha again from Kula, Maui, where the effort to put out these pesky hotspots in this upcountry fire continue. This is Maui Fire Department with the yellow bucket. You recall a report from yesterday where they we had guys out in these canyons with bottled water trying to put smoking hotspots down until they actually eventually got some help from this chopper here.

But the latest here is just that death toll continues to tick up in a way that has people worried about whether it'll jump if this will just be a sort of a constant. One or two a day, about a third of the area in Lahaina town has now been searched. They've radically increased the number of dogs.

Now I believe the Governor said there's 40 dogs working in that scene now says that they should be able to get a lot more covered in the near term here. I did see a couple of folks in FEMA vests talking to homeowners today maybe trying to get them into the system to make a claim for a one-time cash payment or get some housing repair help but if your house looks like this, there's not going to be any repairs.

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So for working class, especially Native Hawaiians, there's a lot to worry that they'll be tempted to -- and can't afford to rebuild and dwindling that soul the cultural heart and soul of Hawaii, the natives is a great worry to a lot of folks here, especially rebuilding Lahaina town. There are concerns, it turned into another Honolulu.

There's a lot of talk about the alarm system. We continue to get conflicting information about what happened with the Governor saying that maybe some of those sirens were old and didn't go off. We did hear from the fire chief who says it was never set off in the first place that the communication between the field and somebody to computer to start the alarm broke down given the speed of the fire.

There were tests, they do test these alarms the first of every month so a lot of questions there for the investigation as that is unfolding. The President First Lady coming on Monday, we'll see if that solves any wounds from a lot of people who feel abandoned. Here still no signs of National Guard.

Although they say they've doubled the number of troops now close to 500 to help put out these fires, we'll keep looking and keep you posted as best we can.

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NOBILO: Still to come, one of Donald Trump's co-defendants says he needs some help paying his legal bills. We'll look at just how much Mr. Trump might be willing to shell out for longtime ally.

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NOBILO: Negotiations are underway for Donald Trump to surrender in Georgia. You're looking at live pictures of the Fulton County jail and that is where the Former President and 18 of his co-defendants have just eight more days to turn themselves in. They face a host of charges alleging they participated in efforts to subvert Mr. Trump's 2020 election loss in Georgia.

The District Attorney wants the trial to start on March the fourth but that's the day before Super Tuesday when more than a dozen States will have presidential primaries. And we've also learned that one of the co-defendants Rudy Giuliani is having trouble paying his legal bills and went directly to Donald Trump asking him to help pay.

Let's get more now from CNN's Katelyn Polantz. Katelyn, tell us what you know about Rudy Giuliani's financial situation? What he might have asked the Former President for and what the former president's response might say about their relationship?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Bianca, his legal bills have piled up and they've piled up in recent months, largely because of the work that he did for Donald Trump after the 2020 election. We've spent so much time talking about the criminal investigations and new charges out of Georgia, against people including Rudy Giuliani.

But that's not where the big legal bills really come from. They come from fighting lawsuits and Rudy Giuliani is fighting several lawsuits related to what he was saying on Trump's behalf after the 2020 elections. Specifically they are defamation lawsuits were different organizations.

So, two voting machine companies, three private individuals, including two election workers that Giuliani was speaking about after the election. They're all claiming that Giuliani slandered them whenever he said false statements about the election and was trying to insinuate across America that there had been fraud. The votes had been switched from Donald Trump to Joe Biden, which just wasn't true.

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And so as these lawsuits progressed, there are things you have to pay for that are quite pricey just to keep your head above water in responding to the lawsuits. So Giuliani is getting subpoenas, it's costing tens of thousands of dollars a month for him just to be able to respond to those subpoenas provide electronic records.

On top of that he's been sanctioned to the tune of almost $90,000, one of the company's Smartmatic, a voting machine company. They're asking for additional sanctions to be placed on him. That is not even at the point where he would be losing these lawsuits which could cause massive bills for damages, for harm the sort of bills that could bankrupt a person.

And so he's drowning beneath this. He did have a debt of $320,000 in recent months that was paid off by Donald Trump's Save America pack. That came after months of Giuliani trying to get help from Donald Trump, including him making a pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago, to Trump in April to try and get Trump to pay for some of his bills.

And Donald Trump has been paying for many people's bills who have been with him both during the 2020 election and then afterwards, but this is a situation where Trump has not been as willing to help Giuliani. There was a very clear split between the President and his personal attorney Giuliani after the election in the moment that Giuliani was at his most prominent in talking about election fraud.

They did part ways after the 2020 election. And so now Giuliani is in a situation where Donald Trump is not going to give him more money but has helped him out of a debt. And now we wait to see what happens in these lawsuits because he doesn't have a clear route forward for the amount he has to pay.

NOBILO: CNN's Katelyn Polantz, thank you so much. And thank you for joining me on CNN "Newsroom". I'm Bianca Nobilo in London. "World Sport" with Patrick Snell is up next.

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