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CNN International: 63 Killed in Johannesburg Building Fire, Dozens Injured; Idalia Slams Florida, Now Soaking Carolina Coast; U.S. Senator Seems to Freeze While Speaking to Reporters; Trump Accused of Inflating Net Worth; Giuliani Liable for Defaming Election Workers. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired August 31, 2023 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and all around the world. I'm Bianca Nobilo.

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Max Foster joining you live from London. We're following this breaking news this hour.

A tragic scene unfolding at a building in Johannesburg, South Africa where fire has claimed at least 63 lives. We're told the flames have been extinguished now and emergency workers are conducting recovery operations. More than 40 people were injured as well by the flames that broke out around 1:30 a.m. local time, presumably whilst many of those inside were asleep.

NOBILO: A city spokesperson says the five story building was filled with hundreds of informal settlements, and we're hearing disturbing details about the victims and what they endured.

FOSTER: Let's go straight to CNN's Dave McKenzie. He's live on the scene in Johannesburg -- David.

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Max and Bianca. It's a terrible scene here. If we just look into what is happening, there are police, there are firefighters, the building is just over my right shoulder. And in the early hours of this morning, maybe around 12:31 in the morning, witnesses say that this fire broke out and it spread very rapidly. Neighbors from the nearby building say people were jumping out to try and escape the infernal.

Local administrators here are saying that there are many children amongst those burned in this fire. More than 60 people now dead. And just a short time ago, forensic teams were passing by our position, are getting dressed in their scrubs to try and start the very difficult process of identifying some of these bodies.

Now as bizarre as this sounds, what they believe is that this building was hijacked and that is unfortunately something that happens all over downtown Johannesburg. An area where a landlord may be vacated and criminal gangs or others dealt with the situation by bringing in people, cramming them into existing apartments -- multiple people per apartment. And that is why, as you described, it is described as an informal settlement, not an apartment building as you would normally understand it.

And if we just look at this building for a second. You can see there was a large Inferno 3 or 4 stories up and above that. So the worry is it might be that there was a candle or some other illegal potential electricity connection.

And now some of the local authorities are coming here to observe the scene. But people here are angry that over many years they were aware of the situation and not enough was done -- Max and Bianca.

FOSTER: As you say, the great challenge now is going to be to identify the bodies and working out exactly who was in the building because of the nature of the way they were living.

MCKENZIE: The firefighters are just asking us to move out of the way. I'll just try step a couple of steps this way to finish this broadcast.

Yes, it's goanna be very difficult to identify these bodies. It was a raging inferno at the very worst possible time because many people were sleeping, Max and Bianca. The cause of the fire is yet undetermined. But you know people living in Joburg, even myself included, expected something like this to happen at some point. There have been over the years multiple very devastating fires in informal settlements around the country. This in some way is more dramatic, more tragic. It's people crammed inside a building. This is the only kind of housing they could afford. I think a lot of questions will be asked now.

Many promises over the years have been made to sort out this situation, and the dysfunctional government that is in Johannesburg hasn't figured it out. There is of course a huge amount of people just off camera waiting at the scene to try and find out what happened to their loved ones. I fear that the death toll will rise. Firefighters described how they've had to pick through the floors trying to find survivors or recover bodies. Here's what one firefighter said earlier to the assembled crowd.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT MULAUDZI, JOHANNESBURG EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT SERVICES SPOKESMAN: We are discouraging the residents around here to go back to the building because we don't know about the structural integrity of the building, so it might be very much dangerous for them to go back there. Hence we're discouraging them to try and take a chance to go there and then try and maybe and solving some of the things -- their belongings inside the building.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[04:05:00]

MCKENZIE: Now it's a tragic scene, but there are multiple bodies lie -- laid out on the street. We are removed from that area, as you'd understand, as the authorities try to pick up the pieces here. There's no sense that this was deliberate. But it is a very tragic day and speaks to the deep inequalities of this country that people have to live like this -- Bianca, Max.

FOSTER: David in Johannesburg, back with you as you get more details on that, death toll is expected to climb as he says. Thank you.

And now it's tropical storm Idalia, which is losing strength as it moves along the coast of North Carolina. The storm expected to move offshore over the next few hours, but not before doing an estimated $9 billion in damage across northern Florida.

NOBILO: Georgia and the Carolinas are seeing serious flooding, especially in coastal areas. Water levels at Charleston Harbor in South Carolina, rising to near record levels. Residents are being asked to stay inside and avoid downed power lines.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEPUTY CHIEF JASON KRUSEN, CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA FIRE DEPARTMENT: Our flooding is our biggest concern right now. We've been lucky the winds have been not as bad as we anticipated, which is a good thing. But the flood is still a concern. So when we have flooded streets, we're hoping a lot of that will subside very quickly before light. But we're still going to have those pocketed areas where we have a standing water. So we don't want people to venture out even on foot if they're not even driving into the area because they want to enjoy the city. We just ask that they stay in a little while, let us get out, let our crews get out and assess the area.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: Video from Goose Creek, South Carolina, shows a weak tornado tossing a car around like a toy. You can see it there. Only minor injuries there, thankfully.

Let's bring in meteorologist Karen Maginnis at the CNN Weather Center. Karen, thankfully this has now been downgraded. However, storm surges and rainfall presumably continue to present horrific a rift.

KAREN MAGINNIS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, there is still a lot of tropical moisture associated with this and it's being thrown onshore. This is the forecast radar. This indicates what we expect as we go throughout the morning hours and towards the afternoon. Look at this, it looks like there's spin here, but when you look at the satellite imagery, it's a very weak signature. But there's still so much convective activity, there is the potential for an isolated tornado.

But mostly what we're seeing in these very vulnerable areas of North Carolina, from right around Morehead City, Kill Devil Hill, Emerald Isle, extending back towards the Piedmont Region is that we could see significant rainfall amounts between 4, 8 inches, maybe as much as 10 inches. Certainly possible here.

South Carolina didn't go unscathed. Some of the heaviest rainfall totals we saw was just to the West of Charleston, in an area called Hampton. They saw nearly 10 inches of rain fall, or about 250 millimeters. All right, this is what's happening right now. Still has supporting

winds of 60 miles per hour or 100 kilometers per hour racing to the northeast at 21 miles an hour. So you would think it would be out of the picture, sooner than later, but that's not the case. This is still capable of throwing that moisture back onshore, as I just mentioned. And there are a lot of bedroom communities across this region. It might not be densely populated, but there are a lot of beautiful small communities and they are along the Noose River there along the Pamlico River. And those areas are going to flood with that much precipitation. And the accompanying wind will contribute to some localized flooding there as well as it forces some of that moisture in some of those coves.

A lot of rivers running out of their banks across eastern South Carolina, from the Midlands, all the way to the low country region of South Carolina. But there you can see still some flash flood warnings out from just about if we triangulate from Wilmington to Fayetteville to Morehead, North Carolina, so still dangerous conditions still prevail.

And this is unbelievable. The computer models are suggesting this is still going to be a tropical storm even as we go towards the weekend and that interest in Bermuda, be aware of Italia, which is a very curious thing in their statement. But anyway, we'll stay on top of it. Allison Chinchar comes up at the top of the hour. Back to you -- guys.

NOBILO: Meteorologist Karen Maginnis, thank you so much.

FOSTER: North Carolina residents should be on the lookout for tornadoes over the next few hours. CNN's Dianne Gallagher has more on that from Carolina Beach.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: As Tropical Storm Idalia moves up the Carolina Coast before it breaks away from land here in the Carolinas, we are feeling the effects of that storm and will likely do so until late Thursday morning. According to officials here in New Hanover County, wind bands like what you're seeing here are going to go into the midmorning area and they expect the worst of it to actually come right around the time most people would be commuting for work.

[04:10:04]

The Emergency Management director telling me that they anticipate they could see moderate flooding and moderate winds and that their concern is that they could have areas that they already consider to be trouble areas, experience extra flooding because of the king tide when those waters were already very high.

Now, in speaking to the town manager here in Carolina Beach, they say they're most concerned about flooding in areas and are asking visitors to stay not just out of flood water but out of the ocean as well. Because of Hurricane Franklin out in the Atlantic, as well as the oncoming tropical storm Idalia the swells and the currents are simply too strong, they say for visitors and people who are not experienced surfers or swimmers. They're asking those visitors not to go into the water and they're saying that they're going to extend that request likely into the holiday weekend, even as the weather gets better because they feel that it still may be dangerous, as the remnants of the storm remain below the surface.

Dianne Gallagher, CNN Carolina Beach, NC.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBILO: Idalia first roared ashore along Florida's Big Bend area as a dangerous category three hurricane, bringing storm surge and wind gusts not seen in that part of the Gulf Coast in at least 125 years. You can see the fury of the storm near Perry, Florida where the roof at this gas station came crashing down, taking gas pumps with it.

FOSTER: And this home catching on fire as devastating storm surge inundated communities from the Tampa area all the way up to the Big Bend on Wednesday. And in the island city of Cedar Key, a water level record was shattered when the water surged up to 9 feet. One resident who rode out the storm there, says Idalia left a lot of damage behind.

NOBILO: Crystal River is another Florida community now dealing with the aftermath of the devastating storm surge. One official said the city was decimated. CNN's Gloria Pazmino brings us the latest from there.

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Max, Bianca, we are here in Crystal River not far from where Hurricane Idalia made a landfall to the north of where we are. And as you can see here, there are still dealing with some flooding here in the area. A lot of the streets where we are standing now are flooded. And it's very difficult to navigate. As you can see, this intersection still has a little bit of standing water.

And I've been here all day. I've been watching as this tide comes in and out and the water begins to recede.

Now this is a small community and we heard from the mayor earlier today who told us that City Hall took on about 8 feet of water when the storm surge came in. Now City Hall is in this direction and also in this direction is the Gulf of Mexico and the river. Once they join, that's why we are seeing this water here as the tide has been moving in and out throughout the day. Remember, we're still dealing with that Super Moon which is affecting the tides, so this water could change significantly in the next several hours.

Now two rescues here in this area. The local Sheriff's Department telling us they've carried out about 75 rescues so far. There is a curfew here in town and they are asking residents who have evacuated to just hold off before returning to the area.

I want you to hear directly from one of those residents. Her name was Bernice. I spoke to her earlier today. She told me she was born and raised here in this town and she has never seen the water come up this high. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BERNICE, RESIDENT CRYSTAL RIVER: It's sad to see it like this because as I was walking further down southeast of the Highway 44 area, the water began to get deeper and it was like pushing me back. And that's when I realized it was time to turn around. Like I said, it's sad because I've been here all my life. Pretty much teared up right now because it's just sad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAZMINO: So you can see that people are still grappling with the devastation and the damage that their homes have had to endure. And they're really just in shock that so much water could move into this town so quickly. For what -- for the most part, people have heeded the evacuation orders. The reports that we are getting so far, it looks like a lot of people did manage to get out before the storm made landfall. So that is good news.

And now to the power. Still several 100,000 people without power across the entire state of Florida. But crews are out there trying to get the lights back on. That is going to take several days depending on the level of damage in the area.

[04:15:00]

But it's one of the things that we did see throughout the day today, a lot of utility crews out there trying to get the power back on.

So Idalia has moved out of Florida. It has moved on to the northern part of the country to the Carolinas and to Georgia. But the clean up, the devastation and the assessment of damage here is just beginning. Back to you guys.

NOBILO: For the second time in weeks, there are serious questions about the health of Mitch McConnell.

FOSTER: The Republican Senate leader struggled to answer a question on Wednesday, appearing to freeze while speaking to reporters. Manu Raju brings us all the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Now for the second time in as many months, the health scare for Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell this after he froze back in July in Washington for about 30 seconds during a press conference with reporters. He later answered some questions. His office said at that time that he was lightheaded and Republicans said he was dehydrated. Then the Senate recessed. It has been gone since late -- early August, where they have been -- members have been back in their home states travelling across the country. Talking at various events as Mitch McConnell did on Wednesday in Covington, Kentucky.

There, he spoke to a local Chamber of Commerce. Started to give a speech, answered questions. Then you had a press conference with reporters at the event. At that press conference, he was asked by a reporter about whether he will run for reelection in 2026. At that moment, Mitch McConnell once again froze for 30 seconds.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are your thoughts on running for reelection in 2026?

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): What my thoughts about what?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Running for reelection in 2026.

MCCONNELL: Oh, that's right.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you hear the question, Senator? Running for reelection in 2026? All right. I'm sorry, you all, we're going to need a minute.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Now, in addition to the two moments in which McConnell froze, there has also been other health scares this year. Namely back in March when he fell down, hit his head, had a concussion, broke some ribs, was gone for the Senate -- from the Senate for several weeks, had to go to the hospital, went and recovered at a rehab facility. And he's had a couple of other episodes in which he fell this year. McConnell is a childhood survivor from polio. He's also 81 years old, walks slowly and there's questions about his health.

He has indicated that he plans to serve as Republican leader through the rest of this Congress. He's a longest serving party leader of any party in the history of the United States. But what will happen to the end of this Congress? Which is at the end of 2024. Will he serve in 2025 and 2026 as Republican leader? Those are still open questions. And also not saying if you'd run for reelection in 2026.

McConnell, who is 81 years old, according to his staff, is still feeling fine despite that episode. Just after said that he was feeling lightheaded. They also said that he went to go see a doctor before his second event that day. But there is no word yet on what the doctor said, what the underlying cause was of this incident that has caused a lot of concern even among some of his allies.

But McConnell was on the phone with some of his allies in the aftermath of this incident, including some top Republicans including John Thune and Shelley Moore Capito. And both of their officers tell me that Mitch McConnell was feeling fine. He sounded like his usual self and look forward to seeing him when the Senate returns on Tuesday.

Manu Raju, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: North Korea reportedly firing two ballistic missiles late on Wednesday, describing it as a tactical nuclear strike drill. NOBILO: Pyongyang says the launches are a response to the U.S. deploying quote strategic assets as part of this month's joint U.S. and South Korean military drills. The missiles came down in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.

FOSTER: It happened a day after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited his naval command and called on them to raise their war readiness. And hours after South Korea says the U.S. flew a B-1B strategic bomber over the Yellow Sea as part of those drills.

NOBILO: Often seen in beige.

Coming up, Rudy Giuliani will have to pay restitution after spreading lies about two election workers, and this is just the first of many legal battles that the former Trump lawyer is now facing.

FOSTER: Donald Trump is accused of inflating his net worth by staggering sums. We'll get into their numbers and possible motive as well.

NOBILO: And later on an official at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is calling for easing restrictions on marijuana. We'll explain.

[04:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NOBILO: Welcome back. The New York Attorney General's office says Donald Trump is not as wealthy as he claims. Lawyers say that Trump inflated his net worth over a decade long period by as much as $2.2 billion during one of those years. The findings were released as part of the civil fraud lawsuit against the former U.S. president, his adult sons and the Trump Organization. The attorney general's office, accuses them of grossly inflating asset values to defraud banks and insurers, and of making false or misleading financial statements from 2011 to 2021, the Trump camp denies the allegations. Trump testified that he had very little, if any, involvement in putting the financial depositions together.

And Max, you've got some other Trump legal news.

FOSTER: Indeed, I have. Two of Donald Trump's co-defendants in the Georgia election interference case, are asking a judge to formally separate their trials from the sprawling indictment. Lawyers Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesbro have both denied wrongdoing and have already invoked their rights to speedy trials, which could start as soon as October.

If the judge agrees, the move would undercut efforts by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to hold one huge trial for all 19 defendants. She also wants proceedings to start in October.

Donald Trump's former lawyer has lost a defamation lawsuit here. Well, in the U.S. state of Georgia. A federal judge ruled that Rudy Giuliani is liable for spreading repeated lies about two election workers in 2020.

[04:25:03]

Giuliani accused them of tampering with ballots, but later admitted he could no longer contest that he made false statements. Sara Murray has the latest on the case and what's next for Giuliani?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: More legal problems for former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani. A judge saying Rudy Giuliani forfeits a case that had been ongoing where some election workers from Georgia accused Giuliani of defaming them. He had accused Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss of ballot tampering, even though he didn't have the goods to back up these allegations.

A judge said because Giuliani did not comply with the discovery in this case, did not hand over the documents he needed to as part of this case, he forfeits, meaning he loses. That means there's going to be a trial to determine what kind of damages he could end up having to pay out to these election workers. That could happen later this year or early next year.

The election workers in this case said they felt gratitude about this decision. They said Rudy Giuliani made their lives a living nightmare.

Meanwhile, a political adviser to Giuliani slammed this decision and said Giuliani wants to try to reverse it. It's hard to see how the New York Mayor is going to do that though. One of the issues he's cited over and over again are his cash flow problems.

Sara Murray, CNN Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: The two women who just won the defamation case say Rudy Giuliani's unfounded claims of election meddling, upended their lives and caused them to suffer in ways few people can understand first hand. They both testified before the January 6th committee.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUBY FREEMAN, FORMER ELECTION WORKER IN FULTON COUNTY, GEORGIA: I've lost my name and I've lost my reputation. I've lost my sense of security. All because a group of people starting with number 45 and his ally Rudy Giuliani decided to scapegoat me and my daughter, Shaye.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: What the women's attorney calls the ruling a significant step in the right direction. But, says Rudy Giuliani has more work to do.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL J. GOTTLIEB, ATTORNEY FOR SHAYE MOSS AND RUBY FREEMAN: Only he can explain why he has made the strategic decisions that he's made to, to show up and litigate this case. But just not turn over any of the discovery and evidence that we asked for and to not comply with the courts orders for everything from producing basic documents to us on his financial condition to paying us $89,000 in attorneys fees that he was required to pay us and still hasn't.

So I don't know why he's chosen this path. I can't speak for him or for the strategic decisions he's making, but it's not been a very effective strategy. It's one that's led him to a place where liability is now established and we really look forward to being able to put forward our damages case and to pursue that over the coming months.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: American Airlines flight attendants are the latest aviation workers to vote in favor of a strike. Off duty flight attendants for American held informational picketing events at a dozen airports nationwide on Wednesday.

FOSTER: The vote doesn't mean a strike is imminent. Earlier this year, pilots at American and Southwest Airlines voted to authorize a strike. The pilots of American have since approved a new contract.

Some scary moments for Delta Airlines passengers and crew on a flight from Italy to Atlanta, Georgia on Tuesday. A Delta spokesperson tells CNN that 11 people were taken to hospital after the flight experienced severe turbulence right before landing in Atlanta.

NOBILO: The passenger who recorded this video tells CNN the 1st 10 hours of the flight were fine. Then the turbulence struck and the plane just dropped straight down. She says that she thought the plane was crashing and she says that several people were injured, including some of the flight crew.

A medication that can save a person from a potentially fatal opioid overdose will be available next week in the U.S. without a prescription. The Food and Drug Administration approved the drug for over the counter sales back in March.

FOSTER: Are sold under the brand name Narcan, the nasal spray can revive an overdose victim in just a few minutes. The drug company says that makes it a two dose package. It'll sell about $45.

Up next, the streets and homes flooded along Florida's Gulf Coast after Idalia unleashes her fury. We'll hear from one man who chose to ride out the storm.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These are all little old school Florida villas. And they were just picked up and carried into the Gulf. So that was heartbreaking to see.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[04:30:00]