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CNN International: Powerful Storm Bears Down on Hong Kong; Spain' Men's Coach Apologizes for Applauding Rubiales; Trump Pleads "Not Guilty," Waives In-Person Arraignment; Ukraine Adapts Civilian Drones to Destroy Russian Weapons. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired September 01, 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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MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, welcome to CNN "Newsroom", I'm Max Foster in London. Just ahead, Hong Kong braces for a powerful typhoon that could bring serious flooding. Already hundreds of flights have been canceled. We'll have a live update. And Russia is again reporting Ukrainian drone attacks on its soil.

What, if anything does this mean for the Ukrainian counter offensive. And Former U.S. President Donald Trump has entered his fourth not guilty plea since leaving the White House, details just ahead. Tens of millions of people in Hong Kong and along China's southern coasts are hunkered down.

As Typhoon Saola approaches the storm has weakened a bit in recent hours, but still carries punishing winds. A T9 warning has been issued the second highest storm warning Hong Kong has and residents are being told to stay away from expose windows and doors. Officials still say Saola may be the strongest typhoon to hit China's Pearl River Delta in more than 70 years. Let's bring as CNN's Ivan Watson in Hong Kong, Ivan?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Either that so the super typhoon is definitely getting closer. The Hong Kong observatory is reporting that the eye wall is within 40 kilometers of this city, which is largely shut down. Schools were closed today hundreds of flights canceled as well.

Most businesses closed down but as you can see along this highway, we are still seeing some traffic moving along but short. We can see right behind me here that a tree has been blown down. And the weather forecasters here are predicting that the storm surge that could come to Victoria Harbor, which is just across this highway for Mangkhut be up to three meters.

And in other parts of the city, up to six meters. Now this city is no stranger to typhoons to super typhoons, there was one in 2019 Mangkhut that knocked tens of thousands of trees. But I would say that the population does take these storms very, very seriously. People are in their homes. There's already leaking in my own apartment right now in my building. And it's not just affecting Hong Kong. Of course what's happening right now there are shelters open here and hundreds of people have gone into some of those shelters. But it's also affecting the nearby city of Shenzhen, which had many trains canceled.

Also the airport shut down as of midday on Friday, schools closed as well as this entire densely populated region of southern China prepares for this super typhoon. The authorities here are predicting that the winds are only going to get stronger in the hours ahead as the eye wall of the super typhoon comes closer and closer to this city. So we've got several potentially tough hours still ahead of us here, Max.

FOSTER: OK, stay safe Ivan, thanks for bringing us that we'll come back to you with updates. CNN Meteorologist Allison Chinchar has been tracking typhoons while the two typhoons we're talking about there they are on the screen. I mean, how do you view them?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right, because both of them are things we need to keep an eye on over the next few days. Obviously, the more imminent threat right now is the particular system bearing down on Hong Kong sustained winds right now of the typhoon 220 kilometers per hour.

It is moving to the west, northwest at just 17 kilometers per hour. Again, you can it's already starting to be picked up on the Hong Kong observatory radar. You can see some of those really heavy bands really starting to spread inland. And again, you're going to continue to see more of these heavy bands throughout the rest of the day.

The track is going to bring it further to the west before dipping back down to the south and about the next 48 hours or so it will undergo weakening during that time, but it's still going to provide very gusty winds and extremely heavy rainfall when it does so flooding is still going to be a concern even as this drops down in intensity.

It's not going to lose a lot of the moisture with it. So you're still going to have tremendous amounts of rain coming through. Now the secondary system we are also watching farther out to the east. This one is starting to barrel down towards Taipei and Taiwan.

It's still likely a little bit of a ways out but sustained winds right now 140 kilometers per hour, this one moving practically due west at 19 kilometers per hour. We anticipate this one crossing over into Taiwan likely in about the next 36 to 48 hours. Now you will start to see impacts before that those outer bands starting to allow those winds to pick up.

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We're going to start to see rain showers begin to increase in not only intensity but also frequency and about the next 24 to 36 hours. Then from there it continues to make its way off towards Mainland, China. We do anticipate weakening further from that particular system too, as it spreads west. Tremendous amounts of rainfall from both of these systems. The first system you're looking at widespread amounts of about 75 to 150 millimeters of rain are secondary system when it crosses over Taiwan, you're talking widespread amounts of exceeding 200 millimeters.

Some of those areas could pick up 250 even as much as 300 millimeters of rain, so a tremendous amount of rain for both of these areas. You're going to have that concern not only of the flooding, but also looking at the potential for some mudslides as well, back to you.

FOSTER: OK, Alison, appreciate that. Thank you. Thailand's King has reduced the prison sentence of Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra from eight years to one. Thaksin who returned to Thailand last week after a 15 year self-imposed exile had submitted a request for a royal pardon, though it's not clear exactly when that was.

The Former Prime Minister was ousted in a military coup in 2006. He later fled the country over a corruption conviction. The coach of Spain's national football team Luis de la Fuente has apologized for applauding a speech by Luis Rubiales last week. With a now suspended Football Federation President said he would not resign after kissing star player Jennifer Hermoso the Women's World Cup.

De la Fuente acknowledged his applause was unacceptable and calls for improving equality in football. De la Fuente confirmed he had not reached out to Hermoso adding that she is going through a quite difficult time. CNN's Atika Shubert joins me live from Madrid.

I mean, people are distancing themselves, obviously for the man at the center of this controversy, but we're going to hear from him later today. So wait to see.

ATIKA SHUBERT, JOURNALIST: Well, you know, we were just come out of the presser there. And the presser was supposed to be about revealing who would be playing for the men's team. However, they had to tackle this issue head on and he addressed the questions.

He was very repentant about applauding this speech -- Rubiales. And he was very much trying to distance himself. Take a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LUIS DE LA FUENTE, SPAIN'S MEN'S NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM COACH: I don't have to resign. I have to ask for forgiveness. I made a mistake, a human mistake. I've said it. It was inexcusable. But right now, if I could go back, I wouldn't do that. I'm sure of that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHUBERT: Now, a number of critics have been saying that De la Fuente and others who applauded Rubiales that appeared to be supporting Rubiales should resign clearly De la Fuente will not resign there. But you know, it doesn't mean that the pressure is coming off.

In fact, it's just increasing I spoke to the Head of the Women's Football League UEFA and she said all of those people who applauded Rubiales should resign. She says there is some hope however, for change given that Rubiales does appear to be on his way out. In fact, she took a kind of pride in the fact that it had been women's issues to trip him up. Take a listen to what she told us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEATRIZ ALVAREZ, PRESIDENT OF SPAIN'S PROFESSIONAL WOMEN'S SOCCER LEAGUE: I believe its divine justice that it is women's football that put this man outside the Federation as he has ignored it or his life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHUBERT: Now there has been a lot of upset that you know the victory of Spain in the Women's World Cup has been overshadowed by this but there is a silver lining and that is that this could be a catalyst for change. We'll have to wait and see what happens later today, possibly with the ruling by the Sports Council on what will be the fate of Rubiales.

FOSTER: OK, Atika in Madrid, thank you. We're beginning to see what appears to be a clear strategy by Ukraine to bring Russia's war to its own territory. Regional officials say air defenses intercepted one drone and headed towards Moscow, while another head of city in the Kursk region.

It is a fourth day in a row Russia is reporting Ukrainian drone attacks. Meanwhile, the Kremlin isn't commenting on a claim by Ukrainian intelligence that a drone strike on an airbase deep inside Russia on Tuesday was launched from inside Russia. Putin say whether the attack was carried out by Ukraine. CNN's Nada Bashir joins me now. I mean, what do you think have, Nada?

NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: Look clearly this is bad in terms of the optics for Russia as we saw in that attack on Tuesday night for military aircrafts were damaged. In fact, two were completely destroyed according to the Ukrainian Defense Intelligence Service or further to sustaining significant damage.

This is a base which is used for both military and commercial aircrafts. It is just about 800 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. And the fact now that Ukraine is claiming that attack was launched from within Russian territory is certainly a blow to Russia not only of course from the logistical front.

This is an important base but also crucially, this is a symbolic blow this is definitely bad optics for the Russian Armed Forces but as you mentioned that we've heard today from the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, he has declined to comment on these claims, in fact, referring to the Russian Defense Ministry.

But this comes as we continue to see a sharp uptick in the number of drone attacks, not only on Russian occupied territory within Ukraine, but crucially now within Russia territory, as you mentioned, and we've seen those attacks increasing over recent weeks. In fact, this morning was no exception. We heard from the Mayor of Moscow, saying that Russia's air defenses intercepted yet another attempted drone attack over the capital. This is something that we're seeing almost now on a daily basis. And it is important to note that Ukraine typically does not claim or acknowledge responsibility for any of these drone attacks.

And, in fact, we've heard from Ukrainian officials saying that they do not use as part of an agreement weapons supplied by international partners to target Russian territory that they're acting purely within a defensive framework. But we've also had indications in the past from Russian authorities and officials saying that these attacks will continue to increase in both range and scale.

So long as Russia continues, it's offensive in Ukraine. In fact, we heard earlier this week from a presidential adviser in Ukraine, saying that the clear message here the signal that we're seeing in this increase in drone attacks on Russian territory is that this war, Putin's war is now being felt at home and it's being felt by the Russian people within their own territory. And the impact of President Putin's aggression is now impacting those within his own territory, Max.

FOSTER: OK, Nada, thank you. Excuse me. Former U.S. President Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty to the racketeering and conspiracy charges he's facing in Georgia. The charges stem from his efforts to overturn the 2020 election last there. Mr. Trump had been scheduled to be arraigned in person next week.

But he waived that right and made the play via court filing on Thursday. We've also learned that judge in the case plans to allow the proceedings to be, live streamed and televised. CNN's Zachary Cohen joins us live from Washington with the details. I mean, this idea of that trial being televised, just is going to be, let's say quite a big event.

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: No, absolutely Max, and that's really could be seeing a lot of Former President Donald Trump in the courtroom, if this trial ends up being televised. Now, under Georgia State law, you know that cameras are allowed in the courtroom, which is why the judge said it was important for transparency reasons that this be televised.

But as we know, there are defendants in this case, who are trying to move this case to federal court where cameras are not allowed to it remains to be seen how that might impact things. But overall, we saw Donald Trump enter his fourth not guilty plea in response to criminal charges since he left the presidency.

And since he left office, you know, he waived his right to an arraignment and to appear in person for next week, as you said, so we won't be seeing him in court next week. But his lawyers are contesting when a trial might end up starting, you know, some defendants who wanted to speedy trial in this case, maybe starting their trial as soon as October 23.

Trump's lawyers are arguing that is not nearly enough time for them to prepare and mount a, you know, an appropriate defense for the Former President. So, some tension over when a potential trial date could start and if Trump's case could be separated from that of the other 18 co-defendants in this case, but Trump making clear that he wants to push that date back as long as he possibly can.

FOSTER: OK, Zachary Cohen, thank you so much. Five years ago, Paris introduced rental e-scooters on its streets and today, Venture Capitalists become one of the first major European cities abandoned. After the break we'll ask if other places might follow soon.

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FOSTER: Paris has officially said goodbye to rental e-scooters becoming one of the first major European capitals to ban the battery powered devices from its streets. In April, Parisians voted in a Referendum organized by the mayor's office and while turnout was low, almost 90 percent of voters supported the ban.

Referendum was called after a number of e-scooter related accidents resulting in injuries and even deaths in France. Privately owned e- scooters will not be affected they'll still be allowed in other parts of Europe. Barcelona is partially banned electric scooters from the City Centre while in London.

There are restrictions on their use as e-scooters are removed from the streets of the French capital. At least one operator says they will be re-distributed to other cities in Europe. CNN's Jim Bittermann has reported on e-scooters joins me now live from outside Paris.

I don't know if you're a fan of them, Jim, but certainly when I was last there, they really weren't cluttering up the streets.

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I have a confession to make, Max, I like to walk you know in Paris is a pretty good walking city, I know, that's my problem. But the scooters really were a hazard. Last year, for example, there are more than 500 accidents and more than 400 injuries.

They also have been three deaths from the east scooters have plowed into people who are walking along like me, for example, Max.

FOSTER: Private ones will still be allowed. But that's going to reduce the number so will increase safety. Presumably, as I understand it, all of the rental e-scooters are going to be sent to other cities like where I am in London, so there's going to be a knock on effect.

BITTERMANN: Well, it's basically the private companies that own these scooters. And it's up to them do their Merchandising, and I know they're trying to sell them in places like London and up in Ireland and other places in Europe, basically, because they've got thousands of them on their hands.

In the Paris area, for example, the started off in 2018, as you mentioned, five years ago, and there were literally thousands on the streets. There were more than a dozen operators that were operating these things, and then Paris tried to reduce the number of operators. They figured that would help the problem.

So they went down to three operators that were allowed 5000 scooters each. And these operators then went on. And rather than and basically, one of the key problems with them was he the way the rental scheme is promulgated. Basically you pay a year old, you get on the bike, and then you pay for the number of minutes you use it.

In the case of Paris, it was about a euro. And for the original fee, and then 25 euro cents each minute that you're using, and so that encourage the riders to basically hurry up and run through red lights and driving on sidewalks and do all sorts of things that were illegal. And that's really where the problem is not the scooters so much as the users, Max.

FOSTER: We said that the turnout for the Referendum was pretty low. It was very decisive. But is there a divide? Because when we look at the video there, we see that it's a lot of younger people that are on the Mainland. They're really useful, aren't they? If you're coming out late at night and you want to get home, you can't get a taxi, you can't get a train?

BITTERMANN: Absolutely. I mean, the estimate there are about 400,000 people use them a month. And in fact there are mostly young people and tourists and others who would like to get around the city and having said that one of the big selling points of the scooters is that they say well get car traffic off the streets.

Well, that's not really true because the people who use the scooters really aren't the kind of people who would go on cars anyway, that kind of people who should be on maybe we'll be using in case of Paris will be using public transportation to go around.

FOSTER: OK, Jim Bittermann, thank you so much. We'll wait to see what the other cities do, as a result there.

BITTERMANN: Yes.

FOSTER: Still to come how civilians in Ukraine are sharpening their drone skills to turn them into tools of warfare.

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FOSTER: Russian officials say Ukraine launched drone attacks overnight and early Friday morning targeting both Moscow and the Kursk regions. It's just the latest in a series of such attacks inside Russia. Ordinary commercial drones are proving indispensable in Ukraine's war effort, often flown by some pretty unlikely pilots as well. CNN's Christiane Amanpour reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR (voice-over): Any support is welcome in Ukraine, especially if it appears blessed by Jesus say these drone students set up in an abandoned church working on their simulators. And convinced their cause is just.

YULIA, UKRAINIAN DRONE PILOT: We do whatever we can now to resist because Russians want to kill all cold paths. This is --

AMANPOUR (voice-over): Next door in the construct and repair class, Yulia solders and tweaks and teaches this part is fairly simple and fun, she says.

AMANPOUR: And did you study engineering? What are you in normal life?

YULIA: I'm the writer and film director.

AMANPOUR: You're a writer and a film director.

YULIA: Yes.

AMANPOUR: And now you're a drone operator.

YULIA: Yes.

AMANPOUR (voice-over): We're not allowed to disclose the location where, Yulia and the others with theory into practice.

AMANPOUR: Here in this innocuous looking field with a rudimentary obstacle course, this could almost be child's play, but with deadly results of course. These are all civilian drones that the Ukrainians are repurposing for their current war effort. They can be bought off store shelves but this signifies a turning point in the conduct of modern warfare.

AMANPOUR (voice-over): A $500 drone that's been weaponized can take out vehicles and weapons systems worth millions. Software engineer Lyuba Shipovich started the Victory Drones initiative.

LYUBA SHIPOVICH, CO-FOUNDER OF VICTORY DRONES: The most advantages it's one of the most cost effective weapon and it's also it's also a weapon and it could be used as circumstances for -- purposes. So if you see the enemy you can hit enemy you can hide like your soldiers, spirit.

AMANPOUR: But enemy can see you?

SHIPOVICH: Yes, if you're don't use security measurements.

AMANPOUR (voice-over): Like hiding or disguising their signals because the Russians are adapting fast. She says they're mostly crowd funded and have deals with the Ukrainian military to train frontline troops tens of thousands so far, in what's become indispensable strategy.

That was just practice dropping a water bottle full of sand. But just a few days ago, the group says one of their former trainees took out this Russian tank on the Eastern Front. They can also wipe out artillery positions and troop carriers.

AMANPOUR: How long did it take you to learn to fly?

AMANPOUR (voice-over): Many of these citizen soldiers are women busting stubborn myths. And Yulia, of course, agrees in fact, she assembles the drones her husband flies too.

AMANPOUR: And a lot of women have taken up this fight?

[08:25:00]

YULIA: Yes, we are all people and we're fighting for our existence.

AMANPOUR (voice-over): Christiane Amanpour, CNN, Ukraine.

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FOSTER: Pop star Taylor Swift taking her record breaking Eras Tour to the big screen, the megastar rolled out the trailer for our upcoming concert film on Thursday. It is called Taylor Swift the Eras Tour concert film and starting October the 13th. It'll splash onto screens across North America tickets already on sale let's see if it crashes the system this time.

And with Swift also posting this reminder singing and dancing along in areas attire is encouraged. You may have never heard about her but Noonoouri signed on with Warner Music Germany, and it's a big deal. Why, because she's an avatar and the first to release a single is called -- .

Noonoouri is described as a digital model an international Instagram star and she hopes that her debut song or greeted us can build on a bridge between the digital and analog worlds. A famous song says Video Killed the Radio Star so the question is, will AI kill music stars?

Well, we'll have to watch out and see. Watch out Taylor Swift perhaps. Thanks for joining us here on CNN "Newsroom", I'm Max Foster in London. "World Sport" is up next.

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