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CNN International: Inside Notorious Jail Where Trump is Set to Surrender; Meeting of Major Emerging Countries Opens in South Africa; Moscow Claims to Thwart New Ukrainian Drone Attacks; Japan to Begin Releasing Fukushima Wastewater As Soon As Thursday; Thailand's Parliament to Vote on New Prime Minister. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired August 22, 2023 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani and 17 other defendants this week are expected to be formally booked at the Fulton County Jail, also known as Rice Street, a hulking, crumbling structure that's garnered a notorious reputation.

The sheriff of Fulton County insisting that despite their high- profiles, Trump and the others will be treated like every other defendant booked at this jail.

SHERIFF PATRICK LABAT, FULTON COUNTY, GEORGIA: If you're indicted, then we're going to treat you as though you're indicted here locally. And so we will consider to do fingerprints, mug shots, et cetera.

TODD (voice-over): What might it look like inside when Trump and the others formally surrender? Retired Fulton County Sheriff's Lieutenant Charles Rambo says, normally, people who are surrendering come through the facility's front door first. But regardless of which entrances Trump and the others arrive at --

CHARLES RAMBO, RETIRED LIEUTENANT, FULTON COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: They would be pat down, led to the booking office in the rear. From there they probably will have to have ties and shoe strings and all those types of things taken. Then from there the persons would be fingerprinted, given a booking photo.

TODD (voice-over): Donald Trump and the other defendants are expected to be photographed for mug shots, but it's unclear when those pictures will be made public. People familiar with the process tell CNN, normally those booked at this jail are searched thoroughly by a jail deputy and at some point, given a medical exam and a pre-trial screening to determine if they can sign out on their own recognizance.

But it's not clear if Trump or the other high-profile defendants in this case will go through those steps. For a normal defendant it would take hours to go through those procedures. But with these defendants --

CHRIS TIMMONS, FORMER GEORGIA PROSECUTOR: I don't expect Trump to spend hours in this jail. Because the longer he is, I mean, it's a pain. But it's going to be a hassle for the entire sheriff's department or at least those that are at the jail when the president is there. It's going to be a circus.

TODD (voice-over): If they didn't have bond agreements, Donald Trump and the other defendants might have been held in custody at this jail, which observers say could be a nightmarish experience.

TIMMONS: The Rice Street Jail is not a pleasant place. It's dirty. It's scary.

TODD (voice-over): Last month, the Justice Department launched a civil rights investigation into the Fulton County Jail following multiple deaths inside the facility.

Last year, inmate LaShawn Thompson was found dead in his cell. His family says unsanitary conditions including insect and lice infestation contributed to his death.

BEN CRUMP, ATTORNEY FOR LASHAWN THOMPSON'S FAMILY: Even the sheriff agreed that it was deplorable conditions like a third world country.

TODD: Three officials with the Fulton County Jail stepped down earlier this year after a preliminary investigation into LaShawn Thompson's death. Sheriff Patrick Labat acknowledges the poor conditions. Says he welcomes the Justice Department's investigation and he sought more than $2 billion in county funding to build a new jail.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

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MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: And welcoming ceremonies getting underway right now in South Africa as the at the 15th BRICS summit begins. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa formally welcoming Chinese President Xi Jinping to the meeting, other nations as well as Brazil, India and Russia. Expanding the emerging alliance will be one of the top agenda items at the summit in Johannesburg. But it also could be a point of tension because not all the countries agree on all -- when to expand or who to admit.

NOBILO: CNN's Beijing bureau chief Steven Jiang is focusing on what China is hoping to achieve at this BRICS Summit. But first get an overview from CNN international correspondent David McKenzie. He's in Johannesburg for us. David, how far is this meeting about trying to form a world of multipolarity and break the Western domination and hegemony?

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Bianca, I think broadly that is a big theme of this, whether it's stated that succinctly or not will be another matter. I think the fact that President Putin is not here but will be attending virtually. Speaks both to his isolation and to Russia's continued involvement in the world ironically. Because they have a virtual seat at the table with Brazil, India, China and South Africa. BRICS is in many ways an odd collection of countries already. You have the world's largest autocracy and world's largest democracy in the same grouping.

But broadly speaking, the attitudes towards Western powers, differing in nature between these countries, is something that there will be a theme running through this conference. I think a major topic will be whether they are going to expand BRICS. Certainly China wants that, possibly India, South Africa appears to have entered that camp as well. But Brazil I think will be harder to convince.

Saudi Arabia, DRC, multiple countries, the UAE, are trying to get into BRICS and to form a wider alliance that I think to if not really set up explicitly to counteract the G7. Certainly thematically would be looking to have a more multipolar world.

And there is some talk of standing the BRICS bank, with some new development bank, to try and give more money to BRICS countries, as well as possibly easing off the reliance of the U.S. dollar for international trade. I think that is a far longer-term objective.

[04:35:00]

But this is a meeting of powerful nations, more powerful nations since when BRICS was first conceptualized more than ten years ago. We'll see if they can get consensus on expanding this grouping, but it is a fascinating meeting with very important implications -- Bianca, Max.

FOSTER: And the most powerful country is indeed China, Steven. And we very rarely see Xi Jinping travel outside the country. So he is putting his full support behind it, it seems.

STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: That's right. It's worth noting this is only Xi Jinping's second international trip after the pandemic. The first one actually was back in March to Moscow to see his quote/unquote dear friend Putin. So this kind of dynamic and priority really in a way underscores what David was saying, that despite their vastly different political and economic models, these countries, these leaders are indeed bonded over their shear desire or even some would say grievances against the current global order led by the U.S.

So the things David mentioned, the potential expansion of the grouping and the potential reduction on the reliance on U.S. dollars, it's all going to be beneficial to China at a time when tensions remain high between Beijing and Washington. With a lot of talks about decoupling between China and the West. And it's also going to be beneficial to Xi Jinping himself, as he further cements China's leadership position in this grouping.

But remember, he also arrived in South Africa at a time when the Chinese economy is facing its strongest head winds in decades. He is facing a myriad of problems here at home. So that's why he may be seeking potential new markets for China exports, but also, he may face more constraints, even compared to just a few years ago in terms of the projects that China is able to finance or invest in the global south, particularly in Africa.

That's why some experts say the Beijing leadership is now switching gears to adopt and more low cost, high impact strategy. For example training more African officers, military officers in China and by expanding its soft power across the global south.

One thing they are doing, for example, Max, is they are launching a new show called "Classics" quoted by Xi Jinping across Africa. I'm sure officials here hope that's going to be a huge hit -- Max.

FOSTER: Yes, steven and David as well, thank you both for joining us.

NOBILO: Russia says it's defending itself from several new Ukrainian attacks. Some of them coming very close to the capital city.

FOSTER: This dash cam footage shows the orange flow from an apparent Ukrainian drone that crashed outside Moscow. Russian defense officials say it's one of four drones they intercepted on Tuesday.

NOBILO: Clare Sebastian joins us now. Clare, it's so interesting to see how the nature of warfare has shifted in Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Ukraine's response. But there's also reports that these drone attacks hit quite a high value target.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So it's hard to know if it was an actual target. Because of course Russia is saying that they shot them down that were over the Moscow region. But one of them landed in a town just outside of Moscow, just to the west, Krasnogorsk, what we know that the headquarters of the Moscow region government is there.

And it was actually, according to the governor, in that same part of that town there was a high rise building that was damaged, cars. It didn't seem like particularly significant damage. That is of course, you know, part of the hallmark of these drone strikes that we're seeing. They're shot down, relatively little damage. But it is in part designed to cause disruption, perhaps anxiety, angst.

I think a sort of big picture, stepping back on these drones. You can split them into various categories. We're seeing some in the border regions. And attacks on the border regions of Russia and Ukraine have been part of this conflict from the beginning.

Now we're seeing a fairly remarkable number hitting in and around Moscow with airport disruptions, seen their air space closures, things like that. But it seems to be designed to bring anxiety and angst to the Russian people.

And then perhaps the most interesting of all, we're seeing also high value military targets as well. There was on Saturday the Russian military said that a plane was damaged at an air base in the Novgorod region near St. Petersburg. And then on Monday, Russia hasn't said anything about this really.

But Ukraine says that a plane was damaged at another air base this time in the Kaluga region, west of Moscow. This is an air base that operates long range bombers which Ukraine has previously said have targeted its territory. So there are a lot of different ones, but the volume is striking. And I think as you say, speaks to the expanding, the sort of tactics and scope of this war in general.

NOBILO: Clare Sebastian, thank you.

FOSTER: Domino's Pizza are leaving the Russian market, shutting down all 142 stores in the country. It's the latest Western brand to exit Russia since its invasion of Ukraine.

NOBILO: When Starbucks and McDonald's withdrew, they were taken over by local businesses and rebranded. So it's possible that that could happen to Domino's which is Russia's third largest pizza delivery business. For now, the company that owns the franchise rights for Domino's in Russia, says it will file for bankruptcy.

FOSTER: Up next, Japan is pushing forward with plans to release waste water from the Fukushima nuclear plant despite concerns. The details just ahead.

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FOSTER: South Korea is urging North Korea to drop its plan to launch a satellite. Seoul says the move violates a U.N. Security Council resolution that bans all launches that use ballistic missile technology.

NOBILO: North Korea notified Japan by email on Tuesday with its intention to launch the device in the coming days in an area that falls outside of Japan's exclusive economic zone. It follows Pyongyang's failed attempt in May to launch a military reconnaissance satellite into space.

And another controversy in the region, Japan's plan to begin releasing treated radioactive water from the Fukushima power plant as early as Thursday.

FOSTER: It comes despite push back from some neighboring countries and heightened public concern, especially amongst those in the fishing industry. Now the head of Japan's Fisheries Association says that the group still opposes the move.

CNN's Anna Coren is tracking developments for us from Hong Kong. Very difficult situation though, isn't it, for Japan because it can't keep storing this amount of waste.

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, they need to decommission this plant as soon as possible. And you know, as far as the government is concerned, this is the best option. It is highly controversial this decision. As you say, it's angered people, you know, within Japan. Especially those fishermen who rely on the sea for their livelihood but also the neighbors in the region.

But as I say, Japan has basically run out of options on how to dispose of this treated radioactive water. Thursday, that is when they will start dispersing this water, treated water, into the Pacific Ocean. It's expected that it could take up to 30 years to release all of this treated water.

We've heard from the International Atomic Energy Agency. It says that, you know, the water has met international safety standards and it's not going to have a negative impact on the people or the environment. But Max and Bianca, not everyone is convinced.

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COREN (voice-over): A toxic blight on Japan's coastline, rising like a monument to the memory of nuclear disaster and bottling up its dangerous legacy.

[04:45:02]

Just over 12 years ago, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake off Japan's coast triggered a tsunami. Power was cut at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant. Its cooling systems stopped working and the plant went into meltdown. Water was pumped in to reduce the temperature of the reactor cores becoming radioactive.

1.3 million metric tons has been kept here ever since. It's been treated to remove and dilute the most dangerous elements. On Thursday, Japan will begin to release that water into the Pacific Ocean.

FUMIO KISHIDA, JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER (through translator): The offshore discharge of ALPS treated water is an issue that cannot be postponed in order to advance the decommissioning of the plant and reconstruction of Fukushima.

COREN (voice-over): The International Atomic Energy Agency backs Japan's plan to slowly feed the water into the sea. But not all of the dangerous elements can be removed. A level of the hydrogen isotope called radioactive tritium will remain in the water. Japan and the IAEA says it is safe in small amounts.

RAFAEL GROSSI, DIRECTOR GENERAL, INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY: Tritium is present there in a very, very low concentrated and it will be diluted even further to a point that it would be negligible.

COREN (voice-over): The concentration of tritium released is set to come under the World Health Organization's regulatory limit. But such assurances have not been enough to sway the fears of many in Japan and around the region.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I don't believe it at all. It's very dangerous. It contains very radioactive substances. It would become a serious problem once it's released into the ocean. We won't be able to eat the fish anymore.

COREN (voice-over): Protests have been a constant since Japan announced its plan to release the water two years ago. Many worry about the potential for bioaccumulation of dangerous elements in the ecosystem. While neighboring countries like China have accused Japan of treating the ocean as a dumping ground. But the disaster of 2011 left Japan with few options. GROSSI: This would not happen in a normal operation of a nuclear reactor. Here you have all of this accumulation and have to deal with it. You have to take a decision.

COREN (voice-over): Many difficult decisions will need to be made at Fukushima in the coming decades. Part of the reason to release the stored water is to free up space to safely decommission the plant. The legacy of the Fukushima nuclear disaster will be a lasting one.

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COREN (on camera): Now, China has been one of the most vocal opponents. A short time ago we've heard from China ministry of foreign affairs, it lodged another protest calling on Japan to withdraw this plan. It said that it would take necessary measures to protect its people. Obviously, alluding at a boycott -- a boycott of Japanese seafood. The IAEA to try to ally fears, to try and be transparent, has set up an office at the Fukushima plant. It says that it will publish data for the public in realtime or as close to as this 1.3 cubic -- metric -- sorry, metric tons, 1.3 million metric tons is discharged in to the Pacific Ocean -- Max and Bianca.

FOSTER: OK. Anna, thank you so much for joining us from Hong Kong.

NOBILO: We're following developments in Thailand where Parliament is set to vote this hour on a new Prime Minister. The populist Pheu Thai party which finished second in May's elections, has taken the reins to form a new government. While the Move Forward party, which actually won the election, has been pushed aside by Thailand's conservative establishment.

FOSTER: This comes as the country's controversial ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has returned home after 15 years of self-imposed exile. Soon after his arrival, Thaksin was arrested and taken to the Supreme Court which has now sentenced him to eight years in prison for corruption.

NOBILO: CNN's Paula Hancocks is following all of this live from Seoul. Paula, Thaksin Shinawatra was I believe was the most successful elected representative in Thailand. Historically he still has a lot of supporters back home.

HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we certainly heard he had some at the airport as he arrived a great cheer rose up as he came out to greet them. But the fact is, he is now going to be in a correctional facility. He has been treated by a doctor. They have taken a health assessment of him. He is in his 70s and found underlying conditions. So we understand that he will be in a separate room to regular inmates and will be monitored 24 hours a day.

But the fact is, he has come back on the very same day that Parliament is voting in potentially a new Prime Minister.

[04:50:00]

The only candidate that they are voting for at this point is the representative for his party, the Thaksin backed party Pheu Thai. As Srettha Thavisin could become the Prime Minister within hours. We're waiting to see the result. That vote is ongoing at this point.

So clearly, the timing is interesting that he felt that Thaksin could come back at a time when his party was potentially going to take power even though they didn't win the election. They were the second in that election. But the party, the progressive Move Forward party that did win the most votes has effectively been blocked by conservative and by military parties.

Now controversially, Pheu Thai has formed a coalition with two of those military backed parties, an 11-party coalition, which does not include Move Forward which had most of the votes. So millions of voters will be very angry at this development -- Max and Bianca.

NOBILO: Paula Hancocks for us live in Seoul, thank you.

FOSTER: Still to come, that noisy seat belt chime could be coming to the back seat soon. We'll look at the proposal for vehicles in the U.S.

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[04:55:00]

NOBILO: Time now for the stories in the spotlight.

That noisy seat belt chime that you hear in vehicles could be coming to the back seat as well. The Biden administration is proposing a seat belt warning system that includes a sound and light for the front passenger and rear seats.

FOSTER: Which we already have in these parts of Europe.

NOBILO: Definitely in the passenger seat, yes.

FOSTER: And in the back seat, because my kids never put it on and it drives me mad.

It's currently a requirement for the driver's seat. Officials say the move could save as many as 100 lives every year. Nearly 43,000 people died in vehicle crashes in the U.S. last year.

NOBILO: General Motors is planning to slash its feet of cruise robotaxis by 50 percent in San Francisco. California authorities have asked the company to immediately take some of the autonomous vehicles off the road after they were involved in two collisions. Authorities say an investigation is under way and until it is complete, General Motors can have no more than 50 driverless cars in operation during the day and 150 at night.

FOSTER: And why is it they still have them out. I'm not saying they are completely dangerous.

NOBILO: They must think it is linked to volume in terms of the likelihood of collisions. Who knows? American sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson has won the women's 100-meter

race in that the world track and field championships in Hungary.

FOSTER: It was a close finish. But Richardson managed to edge out two Jamaican sprinters in the final meters. She prevailed in 10.65 seconds, a championship record. This is Richardson's first major global event since the Olympics. She spoke about her performance after the race.

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SHA'CARRI RICHARDSON, U.S. SPRINTER: I feel amazing. I feel like hard work pays off. I've been dedicating myself. I've been keeping my faith strong this season and just believing and knowing whatever you practice, is what you put forward and I'm grateful. When I celebrated, it was because I felt like I did my best no matter what the result was going to be. I felt like I did my best.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Sounds like us after a show.

NOBILO: Do you feel like we've done our best today?

FOSTER: Yes, we've been outperformed, and we're right up front. Thanks for joining us here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster.

And I'm Bianca Nobilo. "EARLY START" is up next right here on CNN. We'll see you tomorrow.