Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

CNN International: Trump Arrested and Processed at Fulton County Jail; Firefighters Struggling to Contain Greece Wildfires; U.S. to Start Training Ukrainians on F-16s in October; Blackswan has no Korean Members. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired August 25, 2023 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, welcome to CNN "Newsroom", I'm Max Foster in London. Just ahead, booked and fingerprinted the first U.S. President with the mug shot turns itself in remaining defiant as ever. Russia's President speaks out after the apparent death of Wagner Boss Yevgeny Prigozhin.

We live in St. Petersburg. And wildfires are raging in Greece as strong winds of fanning the flames. We're looking at what progress firefighters are making. We begin with the moment we all saw coming but still were shocked to watch a defiant and angry Donald Trump arriving at the Fulton County Georgia jail to be arrested and processed.

Though this is the fourth time the Former President has been indicted in recent months. The breadth of the charges and the scope of the case make this one different. Our Nick Valencia has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A mug shot an inmate number p 01135809 will forever be associated with a Former President Donald J. Trump was arrested on state charges related to election subversion in Georgia Thursday. He was booked and released on bond at the Fulton County Jail. Former President took to the right wing network Newsmax to discuss his surrender.

DONALD TRUMP, 45TH PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Terrible experience. I came in I was treated very nicely, but it is, what it is I took a mug shot which I never heard the words mug shot that wasn't didn't teach me that at the Wharton School of Finance. And I have to go through a process since its election interference.

VALENCIA (voice-over): Ahead of his surrender, Trump agreed to a $200,000 bond and other release conditions including not using social media to intimidate co-defendants and witnesses in the case. This is the fourth criminal case filed against the Former President this year.

TRUMP: What has taken place here is a travesty of justice. We did nothing wrong. I did nothing wrong. And everybody knows that.

VALENCIA (voice-over): Trump continues to deny any wrongdoing in this case, and the others.

TRUMP: It should never happen. If you challenge an election you should be able to challenge an election. I thought the election was a rigged election, a stolen election. And I should have every right to do that. As you know,

VALENCIA (voice-over): Trump shared his mug shot and his truth social and his ex-account formerly known as Twitter, with the words election interference and never surrenders below it. It was his first tweet on X since January 8 2021. Two days after the insurrection, the Former President was not the only high profile person to surrender on Thursday.

Former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows surrendered himself to the Fulton County jail. He has been charged with violating Georgia's RICO Act and soliciting a public officer to violate their oath. He denies any wrongdoing.

FANI WILLIS, FULTON COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: A Fulton County grand jury returned a true bill of indictment.

VALENCIA (voice-over): Just last week, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis charged Trump and 18 co-defendants with meddling in the 2020 Georgia presidential election laws. On Thursday, the District Attorney filed the motion requesting a trial date of October 23, 2023.

That date was set after Kenneth Chesebro the co-defendant who was considered the architect of the fake electors plot requested a speedy trial as his right. His trial was set to begin on that date. Trump's attorneys say he opposes the proposed trial date.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA (on camera): It has been a revolving door of activity here at the Fulton County Jail. Just two of the 19 co-defendants remain to turn themselves in and the hours are ticking away. Fani Willis here the District Attorney has given them until noon today to make that happen, Max.

FOSTER: A lots more to happen in this case, particularly on Monday, Nick.

VALENCIA: That's right. Former Chief of Staff for the Former President Mark Meadows has been arguing that a federal statute protects him from having his criminal proceedings heard in a state court. He's trying to get that moved to federal court. He has a federal court hearing on Monday and very interestingly to note, Brad Raffensperger.

The Secretary of State here in Georgia has been subpoenaed to testify in that federal hearing. So we'll hear more about that infamous phone call the so called perfect phone call according to Donald Trump, in which he encouraged Brad Raffensperger to find more than 11,000 votes to overturn the election results here in the State of Georgia, Max. FOSTER: OK, Nick Valencia, thank you so much for that. The Kremlin says genetic testing is underway to determine if Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was killed in a plane crash outside Moscow on Wednesday. This is spokesman Dmitry Peskov vehemently denies the Kremlin had any culpability.

We're also hearing from the Russian President for the first time since that crash. Vladimir Putin is promising a thorough criminal investigation. But he said it would take some time and he offered his sympathy to the families of those on board.

[08:05:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA: First of all, I want to express my sincere condolences to the families of all the victims, this is always a tragedy. Preliminary information suggests that Wagner Group employees were also on board.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Meanwhile, both the U.S. and the U.K. believe Prigozhin is likely dead. CNN's Matthew Chance is in St. Petersburg in Russia at the memorial for Prigozhin. Matthew, Putin said that Prigozhin was a man of difficult fate. What did you make of that? What else he said?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, Vladimir Putin making these first remarks after not commenting at all for 24 hours after the plane crash that killed 10 people, including we believe, Yevgeny Prigozhin. That's not been officially confirmed as yet.

Although you can see from this makeshift memorial that has sprung up here in St. Petersburg, where Yevgeny Prigozhin was from its right outside the Wagner headquarters, in fact, where they ran their operations from in this city. They're memorials like this, all over the country in various cities were ranked Wagner recruited from people coming laying flowers like these, paying their respects, lighting candles as well.

It's an interesting photograph over here, let me show you this. As I think that was the latest picture that appeared of Yevgeny Prigozhin somewhere meant to be in Africa, it says, in Russian in this hell, he was the best, you know, speaking about him, of course, in the past tense.

You come over here you can see as well, Wagner arm patches that have been put here. You've seen a lot of people coming here paying their respects. There's a sort of constant stream of people doing that, and laying things like flowers and writing messages and things like that.

This is something that we've all noticed. And it's quite interesting. It's a sledge hammer. Pretty heavy, I can tell you, and it's a, you know, a potent symbol, it became this hammer, a potent symbol of the extreme violence, that Wagner used because it was with a hammer like this, that they executed, someone they regarded as a traitor.

And they feel that they videoed it. And it became sort of an iconic picture of just how extreme and how violent this Russian group restriction group was, or is, in its actions, particularly in Ukraine, but elsewhere around the world as well. I mean, there's a bunch of other stuff here, Wagner flags here, as well, photographs, various other memorabilia.

As people in this city come out, not in great numbers, I have to say, but come out and pay their respects to Yevgeny Prigozhin. There are a lot of people who really believed he spoke for a lot of Russians. Yes, they may not have said it. Some people have said to me, you know, he said out loud, about corruption in the military.

What many Russians are actually thinking inside their heads, but don't want to say. And so it was for that reason, I think, along with the fact that a lot of people joined Wagner. There's a lot of family members of people who are coming out who are in Wagner to pay their respects as well.

It's for that reason that Yevgeny Prigozhin to enjoy a certain degree of popularity across Russia. Now, it's not clear whether that population will increase if it's finally officially confirmed that he's dead. Or whether this will become you know another sort of forgotten chapter in history in in Russia's recent turbulent history, Max.

FOSTER: Is very early, isn't it? In terms of the investigation, but the Russians are carrying it out? What do we know? What are the actual facts right now?

CHANCE: Well, I mean, there aren't that many facts yet, except for the fact that this aircraft carrying 10 people crashed. We don't know the cause of it. Was it a bomb? There's some speculation of that. Was it anti-aircraft fire? Well, that's something that Russian investigators say they're going to try and get a handle on.

There's also been I think you mentioned it already. There's also been a response from the Kremlin to the allegation that they may have been behind that airplane crash, where they categorically denied that Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson, saying that's absolute lies.

But I think that won't do much to, you know, answer the suspicions of many people in this country and outside the country that two months to the day that Yevgeny Prigozhin led, essentially an uprising against the Kremlin and the biggest challenge against Vladimir Putin's authority in 23 years, two months to the day.

That's when the plane that he was apparently traveling on crashed. I think most Russians if they're honest, and they are saying this to us off camera, I believe that's far more than a coincidence.

FOSTER: OK, Matthew, there in St. Petersburg. Thank you so much for that update, the flowers there. Spain's Defiance Soccer Chief says he will fight to the end this after a week of fierce criticism over his conduct. [08:10:00]

Video shows Luis Rubiales giving an unwanted kiss with star player following Spain's World Cup victory. CNN's Sports Andy Scholes joins us now live from Atlanta, I mean most people frankly expecting him to resign at that meeting.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Max, there were some reports that was going to be the case but that is not what happened this morning Spanish football chief Luis Rubiales, he was defiant on Friday morning, refusing to step down following a week of fierce criticism after that video showed him placing an unwanted kiss on a star player during that trophy presentation.

For Spain's winning World Cup team Rubiales, he claims the kiss was mutual however, that player Jenni Hermosa has said she didn't like it, didn't expect it. Rubiales was speaking at the extraordinary General Assembly on Friday says he's going to fight to the end calling what was happening to him unjust campaigns and fake feminism.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LUIS RUBIALES, SPANISH FOOTBALL PRESIDENT: It was spontaneous, mutual you for it. And with consent, which is the key. This is the key to all the criticism of all the campaign which has been mounted in this country that it was without consent. No, it was with consent.

I said a small peck and she said OK, then the peck happened during all of the celebration, with her patting me on the side a few times, and then excusing herself, with one more hand on the side, and going off laughing. That's the whole sequence. That the whole world understood that the whole world thought was an anecdote. And above all, she says was an anecdote, and nothing more.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Ever we all has got multiple rounds of applause during his speech and a standing ovation at the end from some in attendance. The union representing Spain's women football players has called for Rubiales to be punished as it vowed to fight back against "machismo and sexism".

Spain's Women's Football League meanwhile, it's filed a complaint with the Spanish High Council of sport which does have the power to remove Rubiales soccer's governing body FIFA also announced they have opened disciplinary proceedings against Rubiales, but Max, as you can see, Rubiales is not going to go willingly he is going to have to be forced out of that position, if he is to leave.

FOSTER: Yes, it does sound that way. Andy, thank you so much for bringing us that. In Greece firefighters are still struggling to find multiple wildfires right now that have killed at least 20 people this week. Greek police have made 79 arson related arrests, as the fires raged on strong winds and hot dry conditions that make it difficult to contain those flames. Officials say more than 200 wildfires are broken out across Greece since Monday. The biggest fire is near the town of Alexandroupolis. This video shows the firefighting crew dumping water on Mount Parnitha near Athens. More than 200 firefighters are working in this particular area, assisted by six aircraft and seven helicopters according to Greek media.

Let's bring in CNN's Eleni Giokos who is near the firefighting crews near that forest. I can see the wind affecting things there.

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Max. It is very windy. So I apologize. I didn't hear you and your question properly. But we've been here for an hour and a half. And we were hoping by the time we'd get on air that this enormous frontline would be put out and it's still raging on it has been a heroic effort by the men and the woman piloting the planes and the helicopters.

You're looking ahead to the Gulf of -- now towered by massive plumes of smoke that is the pickup point of full water for the aerial assistance that we've been witnessing all day. We have seen about four or five different front lines across the mountain of Parnitha today and as you can see a lot of firefighters and assistance now going down to that exact front line.

I want to give you a sense of what we're seeing. So here on Parnitha Mountain it's been raging since Tuesday afternoon, there was hope that maybe we'd see it subside or get it under control. It is not now under control at all according to the fire department. We've also been hearing from the EU forest fire info system, saying 1.3 billion square meters of land has been burned in Greece thus far that would make it a record for the EU.

In Alexandroupolis, as you mentioned 73,000 hectares have been burned. That is currently the biggest frontline that we're seeing. Right now, the death toll has increased to 20, 18 of the bodies were found earlier this week one because of smoke inhalation yesterday and another because of a heart attack related to the fires 79 cases of arson. This is possibly one of the most perplexing issues that have come out during this wildfire season.

[08:15:00]

That is of course exacerbated the situation, you've got climate change, you've got heat, you've got wind and now you have people deliberately setting fires, Max.

FOSTER: Yes, absolutely. Yes, frustrating and crystal, isn't it? Eleni Giokos, thank you for joining us from near Athens. Still to come, the U.S. says it'll start training Ukrainian pilots fly F-16 jets. Could this be a game changer a year and a half after Russia's invasion? We'll take a look.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Ukrainian pilots will start cutting their teeth on the F-16 fighter jets in the U.S. this October. The Pentagon says they'll be learning to fly those jets, airbase in Arizona which will run side by side with separate training led by Denmark and the Netherlands.

Nada Bashir joins us now with more details on these developments. I mean, it's the beginning of a very long process. And just to express that they actually have to learn English, don't they before they can even start the effective training?

NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: Absolutely, that training is set to take place in October. But before that those Ukrainian pilots as well as maintenance engineers will be heading to Texas in September where they will undertake that English language training focusing primarily on that specialized complex English that they will need to operate these F 16 fighter jets.

That is a prerequisite before they can begin their training in Arizona in October. This is a process that is going to take months we've already heard from Ukraine's Defense Minister saying that he doesn't expect Ukraine's pilots to be able to fully operate these jets before six months.

Although he has said it is up to the instructors to determine when these pilots will be ready. But as far as Ukraine is concerned, they will not be operating these F-16s before the end of the year.

FOSTER: In terms of you know, you got the training then you got to get the jets over to Ukraine. I mean, when we actually get to see them in the air.

BASHIR: Well, look, the U.S. has been clear from the get go. The jets cannot be transferred to Ukraine until these pilots are fully trained. And of course, the U.S. is working in conjunction with European allies. So they've set up agreements so far with Denmark and the Netherlands, Norway the latest to join in that.

These are partners who will with U.S. approval be transferring at some point these jets to Ukraine. No clear timeline just yet on when the Ukrainian Air Force will be getting his hands on these F-16s in country. But of course, the hope is that this will be sooner rather than later.

But of course, the training is the one important factor here. That is what the U.S. is waiting on. We've heard from President Biden and the White House. They have said that they are in talks with other European allies who may be able to supply the F-16s. And so at this stage, just three countries have committed but there could be, more coming in the coming weeks and months.

FOSTER: Surely they don't have time to train up the engineers also needed to look after them.

BASHIR: Yes, well, this will be part of that training process.

[08:20:00]

It's not just pilots we've heard heard from the Pentagon they said that several pilots are taking place but dozens of maintenance engineers will also be taking part in that training process. So they will be heading to Arizona and Texas along with the pilots. That will be a key focus, of course to ensure that on the ground in Ukraine, this program operates as smoothly as possible.

And of course, the hope for Ukraine is that this will be a turning point. This will mark a shift in their counter offensive the Air Force spokesperson has already said that he hopes that this will give them the edge the superiority in the skies particularly in those occupied territories.

They have been calling -- F-16s for some time now. In fact, President Zelenskyy has been calling on the spy F-16s from its allies as well as the U.S. since the very early stages of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. So the hope is that once this training is complete once F-16s are in Ukraine, this will give that counter offensive an important boost.

FOSTER: Nada, thank you. Still to come, plenty of bands dream of K-Pop stardom, but getting to the top is very hard. When we return, we follow Blackswan an ambitious group with a bit of a twist.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: When K-Pop bands, I mentioned the names BTS and Blackpink sprang to mind but have you heard about Blackswan? This new band hopes to make it big in Seoul despite the fact that none of its members were actually South Korean. Paula Hancocks went to listen to the Whidbey pop princesses.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Water bomb 2023, a K- Pop concert in the heart of Seoul, where staying dry is not an option. And a key gig for Blackswan, a K-Pop band with no Korean members. They're not the first to try it. But Blackswan are hoping they will be the act to break through.

HANCOCKS: Some of the obvious question, you're a K-Pop group. There's no K there's no Korean does it matter?

FATOU, MEMBER OF BLACKSWAN: Actually, there's K because we think in Korean and K-Pop is Korean pop. So as long as the language is there, it is still K-Pop.

HANCOCKS (voice-over): Singing in Korean Black Swan members say they also draw on influences from each of their cultures. Their recent song Karma was filmed in India where band member Sriya is from the music video MV has been viewed over 5 million times on YouTube.

SRIYA, MEMBER OF BLACKSWAN: It has been really, really great because it's a first ever MV shooter in India. And also it shows like a proper Indian culture, Indian dresses outfit and then the dance.

HANCOCKS (voice-over): Blackswan members are also from Brazil, Senegal and the United States, a global band for a global movement, the band says.

FATOU: And if they see us, like we're all different color, they feel different backgrounds, cultures, and if they see us achieve it, it's going to put more fire underneath behind them.

HANCOCKS (voice-over): One difference, the members did not start as young teenagers undergoing brutal K-Pop training as other young hopefuls do. Two members only signed up two years ago.

YOON DEUNG-RYONG, CEO OF DR MANAGEMENT: They're usually four to five years of training period as they need to learn the language, dance moves, singing, even though they're being trained within the K-Pop system. We need to respect the cultures of these members and we can't just tell them what to do.

HANCOCKS (voice-over): The group says training was still tough, but what about the Korean public reaction to this different brand of K- Pop?

[08:25:00]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are other famous bands such as Twice and IZ*ONE who are considered K-Pop bands even though they have foreign members from Japan and elsewhere.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's more like a mindset for me like K-Pop, it's not just because you're Korean and making music in South Korea.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As there are no Koreans in the group, I've always looked at the group with doubts about them being K-Pop although they technically are.

HANCOCKS (voice-over): A number of non-Korean K-Pop groups have emerged over recent years.

LEE GYU-TAG, ASSOCIATED PROFESSOR OF CULTURAL STUDIES AT GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY KOREA: I believe there may be a possibility to have, let's say, American K-Pop British K-Pop or Japanese K-Pop. Why not? But it may also make K-Pop lose their Pacific identity is K-Pop.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Be unique! Hello this is Blackswan!

HANCOCKS (voice-over): Paula Hancocks, CNN Seoul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Well, joins SpaceX/NASA mission to the International Space Station has been postponed. NASA says unresolved technical issues cause delay. The new target launch is scheduled for Saturday at 3:27 am Eastern Time. The SpaceX Dragon capsule is set to carry four astronauts to the International Space Station.

The latest forecast shows favorable weather conditions for the new launch time. Thanks for watching me here on CNN "Newsroom", I'm Max Foster in London. "World Sport" with Andy is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)