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Parliament Speaker: Ukraine's Foreign Minister Tenders Resignation; Trump and Harris Preparing for Tuesday's Debate; U.S. Justice Department Charges Six Senior Hamas Leaders. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired September 04, 2024 - 04:00   ET

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

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: It looks close, but I think in the end it's not going to be a close election.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can't trust a damn word out of that liar's mouth.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are investigating each and every one of the brutal murders of Americans as acts of terrorism. These actions will not be our last.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If it's all true, the state government here in New York was brazenly manipulated for nearly a decade.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Max Foster and Christina Macfarlane.

CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a warm welcome to our viewers joining us from the United States and all around the world. I'm Christina Macfarlane. It is Wednesday, September 4th, 9 a.m. here in London, 11 a.m. in Ukraine, where the country's top diplomat, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, has just tendered his resignation ahead of a major cabinet reshuffle expected this week.

The Speaker of Ukraine's Parliament says Kuleba's request will be discussed by lawmakers soon, and he's not alone. Kuleba is one of several ministers to recently offer their resignations. According to Ukraine's parliamentary majority leader this week, more than 50 percent of the cabinet minister's staff will be changed and new members appointed.

This comes as Russia continues its relentless air assaults on Ukraine. In the past few hours, Moscow launched an attack on the western Ukrainian city of Lviv. Officials say at least seven people were killed. One of the victims is a 14-year-old girl. Dozens of people have been injured, including a number of children, and five people were wounded in the central city of Kryvyi Rih when a hotel building was destroyed.

Well, let's go straight out to CNN chief international anchor Christiane Amanpour who is joining us now live from Kyiv.

Christiane, good to see you. I understand that you spoke to the foreign minister just yesterday for CNN. What do you make of this news, Christiane, and why it is happening now?

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, as far as we can tell, this is a formality associated with what President Zelenskyy has said publicly now in an address to the nation overnight that he wants to do, which is at this state of the war, there's now 30 months or so since the full-scale invasion began. He wants to reshuffle the cabinet.

This is not unusual. He's changed cabinet members in the past. For instance, the defense minister was changed in the last year. However, some of these resignations will be accepted. Some will be moved elsewhere to other ministries. Some will maybe be moved out altogether. We do not know what's going to happen to foreign minister Kuleba, but of course I have spoken to him.

I spoke to the minister of procurement, who resigned also just the day before. When I spoke to Kuleba, it was right after we had heard about the catastrophic attack on Poltava in central Ukraine, where the Russians launched ballistic missiles against a military academy and a hospital. To this point, we know that there's at least 50 dead and more than 100 injured.

Those numbers may climb because it was really a devastating attack, and it punched a gigantic hole into the side of this academy all the way through.

But what I asked Kuleba about was, what is the effect and the kind of reason, does he believe, for this uptick in Russian assaults, which has happened over this last week? And does the Kursk incursion, the Ukrainian Kursk incursion into that region of Russia, signify something particular? What was the message they wanted to send? Here's his response.

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DMYTRO KULEBA, UKRAINIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: Now we showed everyone, we defeated, not only we defeated the Russian army in Kursk, we defeated the argument so popular among our partners that there was a stalemate, because now everyone sees that when, everyone sees what we've been talking about all the time. When Ukraine has everything it needs, we do not lack courage and military skill to advance and win.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: So they, you know, clearly believe that they can win given all the, all the equipment that they want, as he just said. They are under huge pressure, the Ukrainians on the east, in the Pokrovsk area, as you've been, we've been talking about for the last week or so, huge pressure there, a major logistical hub. [04:05:00]

But both Dmytro Kuleba, the foreign minister, and of course President Zelenskyy, has said repeatedly, this week and before, that they need the kinds of sophisticated air defense systems, at the very least, to be able to knock out ballistic missiles. They can't do that with their own, what he told me, mobile missile defense or anti-missile defense.

They need something like a Patriot or the other sophisticated systems, because these ballistic missiles are the most ferocious. They're the fastest. It's very difficult to get out of the way in time between an alert and the ability to get to shelter. So they create a really, really huge damage.

So this is the message that Zelenskyy, Kuleba, and his government are sending out. The Irish prime minister is here today meeting with the president, Zelenskyy. It's been the Dutch prime minister who was here earlier this week.

So that is the message that they are trying to send to their allies right now -- Christina.

MACFARLANE: Yes, and Christiane, we were hearing from the reporting yesterday on that military facility about the fact that people have really had no warning with these ballistic missiles. As you're saying, they literally had minutes to run for cover. Overnight, we've seen more attacks on the western city of Lviv, which is considered by many in Ukraine to be a bit more of a safe haven, because it is on the other side of the country. It's where many displaced Ukrainians have traveled to.

What is your sense, Christiane, that Zelenskyy and Kuleba will get what they want in asking western allies for these long-range missiles to be able to strike into Russia, when we are seeing such an uptick in fighting and missiles coming from Russia?

AMANPOUR: Well, they keep asking for that permission. And they believe, at least this is what Kuleba said, and I'll quote him, they're in the last mile, he said, of trying to make that point and get an affirmative answer. Because what he says is that we are not talking about, you know, sending in weapons to destroy Russian people, Russian civilians.

What we want to do is be able to, A, attack the source of the weapons that are attacking us. That's one thing. Those come from bases inside Russia, whether they're airbases or artillery or missile-launching pads, etc. That's one thing.

The other thing is, they say we need to be able to shoot down these ballistic missiles. Again, we need the sophisticated technology to do it. Again, that is not attacking Russians, that is attacking the hardware that they're sending to kill us.

So that is how they are trying to frame it. Now, it is definitely a step up in the attack on the cities here over the last week. I mean, almost relentless, nightly. It's really spread around the country now. And again, I asked the foreign minister why he thinks, and he

basically said, well, there are many reasons, but the big reason is because he said the Russians know that winter is coming, and their aim is to, again, try to cripple our infrastructure, cripple our energy grid.

And remember, according to the stats here, Ukraine has lost at least half of its energy capacity since this war started because of the attacks. And they're happening so fast that it's difficult to repair them in time.

MACFARLANE: Can I just go back to ask you on the subject of this cabinet reshuffle, Christiane? I know you were saying just a minute ago that this is more of a formality, it has happened before. But Kuleba was one of the sort of trusted cabinet members to Western Allies. He's one of the main salesmen, if you like, of Ukraine's war effort to Western Allies.

So do you sense this is a bit of a gamble from Zelenskyy to be changing up his cabinet so extensively at this point? How much also does it have to do with the upcoming U.S. elections?

AMANPOUR: Well, let me just clarify what I meant by a formality. Offering the resignation is a formality. The cabinet reshuffle is a big deal, and he has had to go on television and announce to the people that he's going to do that.

The resignations come, and then the parliament, president, they have to decide whether they're going to accept A, B, or C's resignation, or whether they'll take certain resignation and promote that person or, you know, bid them farewell and good luck. So that is what I'm talking about.

You're absolutely right. Dmytro Kuleba has been the face after President Zelenskyy of the message of this country and of the narrative of this country ever since the full scale invasion started in 2022 and he is incredibly adept at it. He has a very good relationship with many of the Allied leaders, obviously. He's been to, I don't know what we should call them. Are they adversaries? Whatever.

He's been over to China. He's been talking to India. He's really trying to do the best he can on behalf of this government to get as much support as he possibly can, particularly support from the global south, as we say, because they do not buy in and they have not yet bought in to the NATO narrative that one has to defend Ukraine's right to existence and its sovereignty.

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Given the U.S. elections, it's also massively important. You've got the president, and we assumed the foreign minister, when I interviewed him, I assumed the foreign minister was coming to New York to the UNGA, and they also plan to meet with the Biden administration, Zelenskyy and whoever else he has with him, to present their so-called four-point victory plan. When I tried to get that out of him, he said, leave it to the

president. He will release that information when and where he deems fit.

So, yes, it's a huge diplomatic and military effort that they are waging in tandem right now. And again, we don't know what's going to happen to Kuleba, but we'll see. Keep you up to date. We interviewed him yesterday.

MACFARLANE: Yes, great timing. As always, Christiane Amanpour, incredible to have you on the ground there for us live in Kyiv. Thank you.

Now the U.S. state of Pennsylvania is ground zero for Tuesday's U.S. presidential debate. Donald Trump will be in Harrisburg tonight for a town hall meeting, and Kamala Harris will head to Pittsburgh Thursday to begin preparing for the debate. Still, the former president says he thinks the election won't be that close.

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DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Well, I hope it's not a close one. I mean, you know, I don't know how people can vote for somebody that has destroyed our country, the inflation, the bad economy. But to me, in a way, the worst is what they've allowed to happen at our border.

I can't believe that that's going to be a close election. You know, we're leading in the polls, and it looks close, but I think in the end, it's not going to be a close election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: The set to outline more of her economic proposals this week, they include $50,000 tax deductions for small business startup expenses, funding for banks to invest in startups and removing regulatory hurdles.

And more on the Harris campaign from CNN's Eva McKend.

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EVA MCKEND, CNN U.S. NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Vice President Harris returning to Pittsburgh for the second time this week, Thursday. She'll spend the weekend there preparing, leading up to next week's debate in Philadelphia. She won't be holding any rallies during this time, but we could see her pop up at a restaurant or two because she does plan to be out in the community, the campaign clearly trying to make the most out of the time that they have left.

She has historically been a studied person, and no doubt she's going to spend a lot of time trying to be ready for possible debate scenarios. But the campaign has gamed out it makes more sense to do that in a battleground state rather than here in Washington. Core to her election argument, framing herself as a champion for the middle class. She speaks to this in a new ad. Let's listen. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We all know costs are too high, but while corporations are gouging families, Trump is focused on giving them tax cuts. But Kamala Harris is focused on you.

HARRIS: Building up the middle class will be a defining goal of my presidency.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She'll make groceries more affordable by cracking down on price gouging, and she'll cut housing costs by taking on corporate speculators.

MCKEND: The first phase of her economic rollout attacked price gouging, proposed $25,000 for first time homebuyers. The next iteration of that plan slated to roll out Wednesday in New Hampshire, it's going to focus on expanding a tax deduction for costs associated with starting a business and removing regulatory hurdles like filing requirements and operational licenses for businesses of a certain size.

Eva McKend, CNN, Washington.

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MACFARLANE: Well, the Trump campaign is signaling business as usual ahead of the debate with Vice President Harris. CNN's Kristen Holmes has more on that.

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KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: With roughly a week until that critical showdown between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, Trump's team says that they really aren't changing much in terms of preparation for the debate ahead of next Tuesday. They say it's going to look very similar to what he did when he was getting ready for his debate with President Joe Biden. And that means no mock sessions, no one standing in to act as President Joe Biden or Kamala Harris, and no real role playing in terms of moderators and questioning Donald Trump.

Instead, what they're going to do is what they did before, which is these blocks of time that they call either policy sessions or policy review sessions. And during those, Trump sits down with some of his senior advisors. Sometimes lawmakers are involved, includes Jason Miller, Stephen Miller, who has advised Trump on immigration.

Vince Haley, who is a speechwriter and also a policy writer for the former president, among others, to go over what they think questions might be and how they believe Donald Trump should answer those questions. These are generally informal and they are done really anywhere from his Mar-a-Lago home to his Bedminster home to the plane in between various events.

Now, one thing to note is while they say that nothing has changed, he's going to continue to do these policy sessions like he did before. Donald Trump and his team were very happy with the results of the last debate against President Joe Biden. They were also nervous going into that debate.

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They said they couldn't control, they weren't sure how he was going to act when he was up on that stage. They were really bringing up back in 2020 when Donald Trump was on the stage with Joe Biden and went after him in such an aggressive way that it turned off a lot of viewers. They were hoping he wouldn't do that again.

Now, that's obviously still a concern when it comes to the former president. So those have been conversations they have had as well.

But again, they don't like to use the word preparation. Instead, they focus on this idea of these policy sessions and that's what they are doing ahead of Tuesday's debate. Big questions, of course, whether or not they can get through on those certain issues, particularly on tone and temperament.

That remains to be seen and will not be seen until the two of them take that stage on Tuesday.

Kristen Holmes, CNN, Washington.

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MACFARLANE: Now, nearly 11 months after the October 7th attacks against Israel, the U.S. Justice Department has filed criminal charges against six top Hamas officials. They include the late political leader Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas' current leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, and the head of the Hamas diaspora office, Khaled Meshaal. They are charged with terrorism, conspiracy to murder U.S. nationals and use weapons of mass destruction resulting in death.

The charges filed back in February were kept under seal in case the Justice Department had an opportunity to arrest any of the defendants. But an official said that with three of the Hamas leaders charged now dead, it was no longer necessary to wait. The complaint also follows the money trail and zeros in on those financing Hamas.

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MERRICK GARLAND, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: As outlined in our complaint, those defendants armed with weapons, political support and funding from the government of Iran and support from Hezbollah have led Hamas' efforts to destroy the state of Israel and murder civilians in support of that aim.

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MACFARLANE: CNN's Paula Hancocks is covering this for us live from Abu Dhabi. And Paula, we know this charge targets six Hamas leaders, as I was saying there, but three of whom are already dead. So what are the chances of this coming to anything, given that the remaining three are in hiding?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's a very good question, Christina. And when you consider that the Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar, is believed to be underground in a tunnel somewhere in Gaza, it's very hard to see how they will be held accountable.

But it is something that the Department of Justice has decided was necessary. It's the first criminal step that they've taken to try and hold those responsible for October 7th accountable. Now, it does focus on those attacks where more than 40 American citizens were killed. There was more than or at least 10 American citizens taken hostage as well.

But it does span several decades. So we have heard in this complaint that there are several decades of alleged terrorist attacks against American nationals and against others in the region.

So as you say, this was originally filed in February. It has been acknowledged now that since the death in particular of the former leader, Ismail Haniyeh, assassinated in Tehran recently, that they decided to unseal this document.

But what we're hearing from the Biden administration, what we're hearing also from the Attorney General, is that it is important to have this kind of complaint, even if something cannot be done immediately. Let's listen to what the Attorney General had to say.

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GARLAND: The Justice Department has a long memory. We will pursue the terrorists responsible for murdering Americans and those who illegally provide them with material support for the rest of their lives.

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HANCOCKS: Now, the unsealing of this complaint, of course, comes just days after six Israeli hostages were found killed in Gaza, one of them an Israeli-American, the 23-year-old Hersch Goldberg-Polin, whose parents were very vocal, who had met with the Biden administration on a number of times, who had spoken at the Democratic Convention.

And we heard from the U.S. president saying, quote: Make no mistake, Hamas leaders will pay for these crimes.

Now, the U.S. has said that there won't be American boots on the ground in Gaza. But this is one way that they can try and hold Hamas leaders to account. But, as you say, it is difficult to see how that's possible. Three, of course, are already dead, and the other three are in hiding.

But something that the American Biden administration believed was important to push through at this point -- Christina.

MACFARLANE: All right, Paula Hancocks with us live from Abu Dhabi with the latest. Thanks, Paula.

[04:20:00]

Now, the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza says at least 33 people have been killed and 67 injured in the past 24 hours due to ongoing Israeli operations, bringing the overall death toll to more than 40,800 since October 7th. CNN is unable to independently confirm the ministry's numbers.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Health Ministry in Ramallah says 33 Palestinians were killed and about 130 injured in the West Bank since last Wednesday. The IDF has been conducting operations in the West Bank for the past week to eliminate what it claims are terrorist cells operating in the area.

Now, seven years after London's Grenfell apartment tower went up in flames killing dozens of people, we could soon get some answers to who is to blame.

Plus, a former aide to two New York governors who spent years in the highest levels of state government is now accused of acting as an agent for China.

And later, we'll tell you what's in the cocktail that's all the rage at the U.S. Open.

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MACFARLANE: Bond has been set at $1 million for the man suspected of killing a college gymnast in Wisconsin. 23-year-old Chad Richards is due in court for an initial appearance on Friday, but hasn't yet been formally charged in the death of Kara Welsh. Police say there was an altercation between the two of them late Friday night. And when they arrived at an off-campus apartment, they found Welsh with gunshot wounds. She was a national champion on the vaults, and her friends say even as a child, she was full of energy.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Taught me how to do a backflip on a trampoline.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When we could, in my RV, when we could barely even speak, she was flipping around.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You could never calm her down. She was always running around, wanting to do something.

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MACFARLANE: Welsh's family said she had a unique ability to bring joy to any person she crossed paths with, and that she had much more to offer the world aside from gymnastics.

A Chicago man is charged with the murder in the shooting deaths of four train passengers early Monday. He was arrested an hour and a half after the shootings, which took place on a train heading west from downtown. Authorities say it appears all the victims were sleeping when killed, and they may have been homeless. Police recovered a pistol they confirmed was the weapon used in the attack, which they believe was an isolated and random incident.

Now, a truly shocking story out of France. A 71-year-old man is on trial for allegedly drugging his wife and getting dozens of men to rape her over nearly a decade. CNN's Saskya Vandoorne has the story, and we want to warn you, viewers may find the details disturbing.

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SASKYA VANDOORNE, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER (voice-over): Giselle wants this trial to be public so that the horrors she lived never happen again. To expose the 51 men accused of raping her while she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband, Dominique.

ANTOINE AREBALO-CAMUS, GISELE'S LAWYER (through translator): She now realizes that there are many lessons to be learned from her own story, which is why her first wish is obviously that it should come out. In the end, silence is what the aggressors want.

VANDOORNE (voice-over): The 71-year-old pensioner has admitted to crushing sleeping pills into her drink, raping her, and allowing other men to rape her at their home in Mazan, Provence. Over the course of 10 years, Dominique recruited the men over a website that is now banned.

BEATRICE ZAVARRO, DOMINIQUE'S LAWYER (through translator): Some people believe that he told them that it was a libertine game, that it was, forgive me the expression, a threesome.

VANDOORNE: After discovering footage on his computer, police counted a total of 92 rapes committed by 72 men. 51 were identified, their ages spanning from early 20s to late 60s at the time of the alleged assaults.

Giselle was so sedated that she has no recollection of the abuse she suffered, but for the first time, surrounded by the couple's three children, she'll hear and see the details of what was done to her.

AREBALO-CAMUS (through translator): The questions their children ask are mind-boggling. Who is this man who raised them? What exactly did he do to their mother?

What are their childhood memories worth, birthdays, holidays? Their whole lives are shattered.

VANDOORNE: Dominique claims the other men were all aware that his wife had been drugged and was unconscious, an allegation most of the men deny. Many of them face up to 20 years in prison, with the trial set to go on until December.

Saskya Vandoorne, CNN, Paris.

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MACFARLANE: Truly horrific.

Now, seven years after London's Grenfell Tower apartments turned into a deadly inferno, there could soon be some answers and accountability. A report from the Public Inquiry is scheduled to be released today.

The fire that erupted back in June of 2017 was the deadliest in a British presidential building since the Second World War. 72 people were killed in the 23-storey tower. The housing block was located in a wealthy area of West London, but many of its residents were low- income.

The fire has been blamed in part on the combustible cladding placed on the outside of the building, which helped the flames spread quickly. Relatives of the victims are demanding truth and justice.

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SHAH AGHIANI, RELATIVE OF GRENFELL VICTIMS: It's very painful. For us, you know, who have lost a loved one, to see that their death, you know, is going in vain is very disturbing. It actually, you know, stops us coming to a closure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Authorities have signaled dozens of people and firms could face criminal charges, but not any time soon due to the complexity of the case.

All right, still to come, Pope Francis met Indonesia's president during his first full day in Jakarta. We'll have the latest on his tour of Southeast Asia.