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Father Of Georgia High School Shooter Faces Charges; Hunter Biden Pleads Guilty To Federal Tax Charges; U.S. Secretary Of State Pledges For Aid And Pushes For Haiti's Elections; Super Typhoon Yagi To Make Landfall In Southwestern China; Boeing Starliner To Begin Journey Back To Earth. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired September 06, 2024 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is "CNN Newsroom."

The father of the alleged Georgia high school shooter is also now facing criminal charges, the latest on the investigation as another American community copes with a mass shooting.

Former US President Donald Trump unveils more economic proposals for a second term, including one that some experts warn couldn't happen without a global recession. We'll explain.

And a shocking day in court for the son of the current president. What Hunter Biden's plea deal means for him going forward.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Kim Brunhuber.

BRUNHUBER: We begin with the deadly shooting at a school here in Georgia. The father of the suspected gunman is now facing charges related to the attack that left four people dead and nine wounded. This is only the second time the parent of an accused school shooter has been charged in connection with their child's crime.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS HOSEY, GEORGIA BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION DIRECTOR: In coordination with District Attorney Brad Smith, the GBI has arrested Colin Gray, age 54. In connection to the shooting here at Apalachee High School, these charges stem from Mr. Gray knowingly allowing his son Colt to possess a weapon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: 14-year-old Colt Gray faces four counts of felony murder. Authorities say the teen admitted his guilt while being questioned. Family and friends have been paying tribute to the victims. Two students and two teachers were killed Wednesday, just two weeks into the new school year. Apalachee High School math teacher Christina Irimi was celebrating her birthday with her students when she was killed.

She's being remembered for her dedication. Fellow math teacher and football coach Richard Aspinwall is being described as quote, "very passionate and they're also remembering two children killed in the shooting." 14 year old student Mason Schermerhorn and 14-year-old student Christina Agulo, whose family described him, Christian Agulo, rather, whose family described him as, quote, "a very good kid, very sweet, and so caring."

Meanwhile, there is still hope for the nine others who were injured.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF JUD SMITH, BARROW COUNTY, GEORGIA: Obviously, we're lifting up those families. Our hearts are hurting for them, our kids, our students, our teachers. But the nine injured, I am very happy to say will make a full recovery.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: CNN's Isabel Rosales has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SMITH: I saw Colt in custody with handcuffs on. He is cooperating with as far as I know.

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Still talking?

SMITH: He's still talking.

ROSALES (voice-over): Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith was one of the first responders on campus yesterday.

SMITH: It was very nerve-racking going there, not knowing what I was about to walk into, or what I was about to see, and what the situation was.

ROSALES (voice-over): Both he and the entire school staff are crediting the fast response from law enforcement to a new security system that was implemented at the school just one week ago.

SMITH: So I had 26, I think 26 alerts during the incident when it started. Within five minutes of the first alert going off, we had the suspect in custody.

ROSALES (voice-over): The system, called CENTEGIX, works with I.D. badges that include a panic button that teachers and staff can press in an emergency situation.

SMITH: It's an I.D. card and the teachers can alert and lock the school down and we got multiple alerts that told us where this was going on. ROSALES (voice-over): The 14-year-old suspect spent the night behind

bars at a youth detention center, but on Friday when he makes his first court appearance.

HOSEY: He will be charged with murder, and he will be tried as an adult, and handled as an adult.

ROSALES (voice-over): According to a source familiar with the investigation, new details have emerged from the search of the suspect's home. Documents found in his bedroom, believed to be written by him, reference past school shootings, including the 2018 massacre in Parkland, Florida. But this wasn't the first time the suspect had a run-in with law enforcement.

A 2023 investigative report says that last year, the local sheriff's office received a tip from the FBI about a series of anonymous threats on the chat platform Discord to quote, "shoot up a middle school tomorrow." The tip included photo attachments with a profile name in Russian that translated to Adam Lanza, the Sandy Hook shooter. The suspect and his father were both interviewed.

[03:05:00]

And while his father acknowledged hunting rifles existed in the home, he said his son did not have unsupervised access to them. The suspect denied making the threats to shoot up a school, stating that he would never say such a thing, even in a joking manner. The case was ultimately cleared because law enforcement couldn't substantiate the threats.

Now we've learned Gray's father told investigators he bought the AR-15 for his son after that investigation and several months before he transferred into Apalachee High School.

And authorities are trying to figure out how the suspect managed to get that rifle into the school, especially because he was so new.

SMITH: He is enrolled in school two weeks ago, two and a half weeks ago, and only been in school two days.

ROSALES (voice-over): Isabel Rosales in Winder, Georgia, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: And joining me now from Los Angeles is attorney and legal affairs commentator, Areva Martin. Thanks so much for being here with us. So from a legal point of view, I wanna start with the father facing charges as well. So the timeline here is particularly notable. Police came to their house to investigate threats made to shoot up a school and then a couple of months later the father buys his son in AR-15 as a present so the charges take us through what the prosecution would need to show for conviction here.

AREVA MARTIN, LAWYER AND LEGAL AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: Well first of all, Kim, such a tragedy we've seen this played over and over in schools across this country, and this is the second time in U.S. history that parents are being charged murder -- with murder charges involving a school shooting with respect to their son. We saw it in Michigan with respect to the parents of Crumbley. That was the name of the school shooter in that case. And his mother and father in that case were charged and then later convicted.

And now this father facing not just involuntary manslaughter charges, but second degree murder charges along with those eight counts of cruelty to children. And essentially the charge is very similar to the one in the Michigan case where this dad is being charged for being reckless in his conduct with respect to not only the purchase of this AR-15 rifle, but the storage of this rifle.

I'm not putting this rifle in a place that would be locked, that would be inaccessible to his son, and ignoring the possibility that his son could gain access to it and could engage in this conduct that resulted in the death of four people. This just -- it's a clear signal in this country that people are tired of parents not taking seriously their responsibility to ensure that if they're going to have a firearm in their home that they have irresponsibility to make sure it is not accessible to their children.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, you mentioned that previous case but if prosecuting that case and the two parents were sentenced to jail if that was meant to -- as a deterrent to stop something similar from happening again. I mean, it doesn't seem to have worked. What will it take to you think?

MARTIN: Well, Kim, I think it's too soon, right? That case just happened. It was, in some ways, people thought it was going to be an isolated case. I think the more and more we see parents are like this father in this Georgia case charge, like those parents in Michigan, I can't help but believe that parents will start taking very seriously their responsibility.

In the case in Michigan, those families, those parents were sentenced to some very serious jail time. And in this case, we have second degree murder charges. These charges carry life in prison. So this father could be facing a very, very stiff prison sentence. And I would have to imagine that in combination with common sense gun laws.

We have to talk about Georgia. Georgia has no universal background checks, no permits even required to own a gun. No red flag laws, which allow law enforcement to take guns away from individuals who maybe have mental health issues. So it is a state where guns are readily available. So when you think about what is it going to take?

Obviously, we have to do something to make it much, much, much more difficult for guns to be purchased and that left unattended, not in locked spaces and for kids like this 14 year old to gain access to them.

BRUNHUBER: Gun laws obviously important to stopping you know shootings like this but also I mean we've seen before that investigation sometimes individuals are flagged by either you know other classmates or friends or and so on it happened in this case police investigated Colt but they say they couldn't substantiate that he was behind the online account that made the previous threats. I mean, does that surprise you?

[03:09:55]

MARTIN: Yeah, this is very unusual, Kim, as you said. This is a case where there were calls made to law enforcement that a teenager or someone on this social media platform, Discord, had made comments about shooting a school. They were able to trace what they believed to be the person that made that post to the shooter in this case did an investigation with him and his father. He said that he did not make the post, that his account had been hacked. He was emphatic that it wasn't him. Apparently his father believed him.

And the father admitted that he didn't know much about the social media site or much about what his son may have been doing on the site. But we also have comments now coming from family members that this was a young boy in crisis, that the family had gone through a very difficult divorce, the family, the father and son had been evicted from their home, and that there were calls for help by this 14-year- old that went ignored.

So again, a case where not only the parents apparently failed this 14- year-old, but the system because Child Protective Services apparently were involved with this family at one point as well. So you have to ask where were the adults. How is it that the adults completely missed that this 14 year old was capable of and planning this mass shooting?

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, still so many questions about what could have been done to stop this from happening. Areva Martin in Los Angeles, thanks so much.

MARTIN: Thank you, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: With Election Day drawing closer, U.S. presidential candidates are out on the campaign trail, pushing their economic messages. Donald Trump spoke to the Economic Club of New York on Thursday, outlining his plans to boost energy output, ease inflation and lower taxes. Kamala Harris is pledging to support new tax incentives for small businesses and increase the capital gains tax rate. She's in Pennsylvania ahead of her debate with Donald Trump on Tuesday.

Harris is planning a series of campaign events this weekend designed to appeal to Republican voters who may be wary of Trump's agenda. The campaign is looking to tie Trump to the Conservative Policy Plan Project 2025, although Trump has repeatedly denied any connection. Now his speech in New York was largely focused on his plan to boost the nation's economy, and he made a surprising pledge to the crowd saying that if he's re-elected, he will slash red tape and authorize more drilling for oil, promising an extremely appealing result. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, CURRENT PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It will be an economic revival of our country like no one has ever seen before. Energy was what caused our problem initially, energy has going to bring us back. That means we're going down, and getting gasoline below $2 a gallon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Now many experts warn it would take an economic calamity like the COVID pandemic or an all-out price war with OPEC to make Trump's promise a reality. He also vowed to end what he called Kamala Harris' anti-energy crusade. Now it's a pledge that doesn't match up with reality as the U.S. is producing more oil now than at any point during Trump's presidency. Not surprisingly, Trump's economic speech eventually took a familiar detour as he lashed out at Democrats, falsely blaming them for all of his various legal woes. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: She and her party are censoring speech, weaponizing the justices, and trying to throw their political opponents, me, in jail. This hasn't happened. I didn't do that to crooked Hillary. I said, that would be a terrible thing, wouldn't it? Putting the wife of the President of the United States in jail. But they view it differently, I guess, nowadays, but that's okay. And they always have to remember that two can play the game.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Meanwhile, the nation's top Democrat is out on the campaign trail as well, stumping for Kamala Harris. President Joe Biden was in the battleground state of Wisconsin on Thursday, rallying crowds in support of his vice president, now the party's presidential nominee. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: Vice President Kamala Harris fought like hell for all of you and for the future worthy of your aspirations. Look, just think about how far we've come. We have more to go. We have more to go. Too many people are still in trouble. But nearly four years that we've been president and vice president, we've run those extraordinary periods of progress in American history.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Prosecutors in Donald Trump's election subversion case may be able to reveal new evidence in that case just days before November's election. The schedule set by the presiding judge includes a deadline for settling many issues before she will even consider setting a trial date.

And key among them deciding whether Trump should have immunity for his actions on January 6. Now when Trump's lawyer voiced concerns about sensitive information coming out just before the election, Judge Chutkan said her focus is on a four count indictment and she's quote, "not concerned with the electoral schedule."

[03:14:58]

And in a matter of hours, we could learn when Donald Trump will be sentenced in his hush money case. The judge is expected to announce Friday if he's willing to delay the former president's sentencing date. Trump was convicted earlier this year on 34 counts of falsifying business records stemming from hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels. He's set to be sentenced on September 18th but has asked the court to delay that decision until after the election.

In a surprise move, Hunter Biden has pled guilty to all nine charges in his federal tax case. The judge accepted the plea and set sentencing for December 16th. Biden could face up to 17 years in prison for charges that include tax evasion and filing false returns. His lawyer says Biden's actions were designed to spare his family an unpleasant ordeal. He criticized the charges against Biden and hinted at a future appeal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABBE LOWELL, HUNTER BIDEN'S ATTORNEY: He will now move on with us to the sentencing phase, while keeping open the options to raise the many clear issues with this case on appeal. There's no doubt this case was an extreme and unusual one for the government to bring. Like millions of Americans, Hunter was late in filing and paying his taxes. Unlike those millions of Americans, he was charged criminally for his failures that occurred during the depths of his addiction to drugs and alcohol and which he has rectified.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: White House has declined to comment on the trial itself, but says President Biden wouldn't pardon his son or commute his sentence.

The White House and Israel appear to be at odds over the likelihood of a Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal with Hamas. We have the latest on where things stand right now.

Plus, CNN speaks with Ukraine's army chief in a world exclusive, where he tell us about Kyiv's surprise cross-border incursion into Russia. That's next. Please stay with us.

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[03:20:00]

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BRUNHUBER: The Israeli military says it has withdrawn from the West Bank towns of Jenin and Tulkarem after more than a week of major military operations. Israeli officials said it was meant to root out terrorists. The Palestinian health ministry reports Israeli forces killed 39 people across the West Bank during that time, including eight children. Residents are allowed to start returning to the area, only for some to find their homes destroyed in neighborhoods without electricity or water.

Meanwhile, Israel's prime minister is casting doubt on the likelihood of a ceasefire and hostage deal with Hamas. Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday denied reports by CNN and others that the Biden administration believes an agreement is roughly 90 percent complete.

Now, the White House is standing by its assessment. In an interview with CNN's Kaitlan Collins, the Israeli ambassador to the U.N. was asked why Netanyahu's latest comments contrast with the more optimistic statements from the White House. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANNY DANON, ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: We want to lower expectations because we have experience with Hamas. In May, the U.S. proposed a deal. We said yes, Hamas said no. In August, another deal was proposed, modified by the U.S. We agreed to the deal, Hamas said no. So they rejected all deals that were proposed. That's why we don't want to rate expectations, but we will still continue to send the head of the Mossad and other officials to negotiate. We will not stop with that. Hopefully, we will reach an agreement, but with Hamas, you never know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Meanwhile protesters in Tel Aviv carried 27 coffins representing the 27 hostages killed in captivity in Gaza whose bodies have been returned. They symbolically placed the coffins in front of Israeli military headquarters.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has appointed a new foreign minister amid a major shakeup in his cabinet. Several other ministers also resigned this week before Zelenskyy's upcoming visit to the U.S. He says his government needed, quote, "new energy." Meanwhile, the U.S. announced it's currently producing more than 40,000 artillery munitions a month for Ukraine as part of a push to increase production. Officials say they're on track to make 100,000 by 2026 at the latest.

All right, I want to go live to London now and CNN's Claire Sebastian. So Clare, lots of different threads to get into here. So first, let's start with the latest from the front lines.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, look, I think the situation right now, big picture Kim, is that Ukraine has obviously re-energized its troops through that Kursk offensive, the commander-in-chief said, telling CNN's Christiane Amanpour that they, when they did that, Russia was actually planning another attack, which they seem to have been able to avert.

He says they've been able to set up, sort of, a buffer zone in Kursk and weakened Russia's offensive capabilities, not only from that region, but also in other areas of the front line, but the situation on the Eastern Front, in particular around the strategic town of Pokrovsk, remains very delicate.

But Commander-in-Chief Syrskyi did say to Christiane Amanpour that in the past few days, Ukraine has managed to stabilize the situation there as well. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GEN. OLEKSANDR SYRSKYI, COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF, ARMED FORCES OF UKRAINE: We do everything possible not to lose Pokrovsk. We increased our defense capability in the area. Indeed, over the last six days the enemy hasn't advanced a single meter in the Pokrovsk direction. In other words, our strategy is working. Of course, the enemy has concentrated their most trained units in the Pokrovsk area. But we've taken away their ability to maneuver and to deploy their reinforcement forces from other directions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN: So he's saying that they have managed to sort of stall Russia's push in the Pokrovsk direction. Pokrovsk is a sort of very strategic location which Ukraine has been using as a supply hub. It's got highways running through it. It's a railway hub. So losing Pokrovsk would not only be a blow to morale, but also to Ukraine's strategy and its defense on that critical eastern front as well.

[03:25:09]

Now this is also a very strategic time for Ukraine diplomatically it has been pushing its allies off the back of the sort of success of its now month-old Kursk incursion to increase military supplies, to drop limitations on using long-range weapons on Russian soil. There is a meeting today in Germany, the Ramstein Contact Group meeting, which will include some 50 of Ukraine's top allies, including U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. It is likely that will come up there.

The U.K. has also pledged this morning new air defense missiles for Ukraine and we know from the German government now that President Zelenskyy will be meeting with Olaf Scholz, the German Chancellor, in Frankfurt in the early afternoon of today. So those stepped up lobbying efforts for new weapons, new military aid are set to continue.

BRUNHUBER: All right, appreciate all those updates. Clare Sebastian in London, thanks so much.

All right, just ahead, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken pledges renewed support for Haiti as the island continues to grapple with gang violence and chaos. We'll have details when we come back. Please do stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is "CNN Newsroom."

A pivotal moment for Haiti with the arrival of U.S. State Secretary Antony Blinken. Blinken is one of the highest level U.S. officials to travel to the embattled island which has been overrun by gang violence and instability in recent months.

CNN's Patrick Oppmann brings us the latest.

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PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to Haiti on Thursday to show support for that embattled country. It was just several months ago that the U.S. State Department was pulling out their non-essential personnel by helicopter from the embassy in Port-au-Prince as gangs, these violent gangs that traffic drugs and arms, were raging out of control.

U.S. State Department officials say that there has been a modest improvement in the security situation due in part to about 400 Kenyan troops that are part of a multinational force that are on the ground now and are able to at least guard Haiti's transitional government and allow for a visit like this to take place.

Of course, for the general Haitian populace, most of whom still live in areas controlled by drug gangs, it is a very different situation. Those people still live in daily fear for their lives.

So Blinken, while he was in Port-au-Prince, he called in the international community to do more for this multinational mission to shore up security in Haiti. And as well, he called on Haitian officials to hold elections that have been delayed now for nearly eight years because of the security situation. And has believe have contributed to the worsening of violence in that nation.

Later on Thursday, Blinken is set to travel to the Dominican Republic. And on Friday, meet the president of that neighboring nation that shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti. So very clearly, Blinken will be trying to marshal more international support for the Hades government, which continues just to barely hold on.

Patrick Oppmann, CNN Havana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: And for more on this, I'm joined now by Diego Da Rin. He's a Haiti expert at the International Crisis Group. Thanks so much for joining us again here. So I suppose the visit by the Secretary of State was meant to bring not just money, but attention to the situation there. So just to start, we heard there that the U.S. has -- there's been a modest improvement. So what is the latest? How bad are things right now in Haiti?

DIEGO DA RIN, HAITI EXPERT, INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP: Well, after some months in which Haiti was really in complete chaos with the prime minister who couldn't return to the country, the gangs that were completely besieging the capital, which was completely paralyzed, the airport was shut down, the main ports as well.

Now there are some signs that give some hope that there could be some security with the start of the deployment of the multinational force and a new, much more inclusive transitional government that could bring the country next year to elections, which is what has been agreed.

And with the deployment of the first contingents of the multinational mission, the gangs have mostly retreated to the strongholds within the capital, but the violence hasn't stopped some gangs outside the capital have been trying to push the boundaries of their territories, trying to test what could be the response of the foreign personnel and the local security forces.

BRUNHUBER: So I guess, yeah, modest success that's what it sounds like from what you're saying there. The gangs had been controlling some 80 percent of the capital, it sounds like they're kind of moving into other areas now but just for the people themselves does that mean that the Haitians have now more access to food, water, medical care and so on?

DA RIN: Well, not so much. The access of humanitarian aid has been granted because different humanitarian agencies negotiate this kind of access always with the gang authorities within the territories that they control. What it means more this change of situation is that there is less clashes between the gangs that before were trying to impose their military hegemony in the -- in the capital and try to invade more and more territory.

But since February what they did is that former rival gangs allied themselves to try to form a united front to confront both the state and the foreign and the foreign mission.

BRUNHUBER: Well yeah that doesn't sound promising at all. If the gangs are uniting here.

[03:34:55]

In terms of the elections, Antony Blinken said the objection -- the objective is putting Haiti on a path to elections next year I mean do you see that actually happening and then how much difference will that make it other issues are addressed first like corruption which is something that you've written about recently otherwise risk repeating the same cycle?

DA RIN: Yes, of course. Well, the new government that was established some months ago agreed all the groups that form this new government agreed to have elections so that new elected authorities could take over in February 2026. So that is a quite short deadline considering all the challenges in terms of organizing the elections, but also restoring security in a capital, as you were saying, that is mostly controlled by gangs.

And of course, that leaves less than a year and a half for it to have some very ambitious security operations against the gangs, to really try to diminish the power that they have, the territorial control, because if elections are to happen in a scenario in which the gangs control most of the capital where at least a quarter of the total population of Haiti lives that means that they will control to some extent the result of the elections.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, listen, you know, from a U.S. perspective, there have been plenty of accusations that the U.S. isn't doing enough. I mean, the country, you know, frankly, has been in chaos for so long. Many people are wondering whether it's worth the investment. What is at stake here for the U.S.?

DA RIN: Well, Haiti for the U.S. is a source of different kind of problems, as for example, a source of illegal migrants that are trying increasingly to go in different paths through different countries to the United States as the situation is beyond intolerable in many parts of the capital, but also in other cities that are controlled by the gangs and also the security crisis has an impact on the economy.

So even in cities where there is not so much violence, the violence within the capital has repercussions that makes life very, very hard in different parts of the territory. So the United States has for now is the main financial backer of the foreign mission. It has made available at least 80 percent of the funds that are available today for the mission.

So they are engaged in terms of security and now this new visit by the top official in terms of foreign policy in the U.S. in Haiti means that they are very much engaged and that they want to maintain this kind of momentum in Haiti. And it's not the first time that Blinken has really stepped up to train and shown up at critical moments in March when the capital was besieged by the gangs that were mounting these concerted attacks in the capital.

Secretary Blinken also showed up at a meeting that neighboring countries from the Caribbean, but also the U.S., Canada, France, and other countries convened with all the main and political stakeholders to try to form this new transitional government and it was at that time in that meeting that was convened in Jamaica that these new transitional government is started being established.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, let's hope it leads to change although it's a long and difficult path ahead. Diego Da Rin in Paris, thank you so much.

The eyewall of super typhoon Yagi is currently brushing China's Hainan Island. It's the most powerful storm China has seen in more than a decade and is set to make official landfall any moment now. Yagi is currently has winds of 150 miles an hour, 240 kilometers per hour, which is the equivalent of a strong category four Atlantic hurricane.

We go live now to CNN's Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. So Kristie, I understand where you are, conditions are improving, but overall, I mean, it sounds like a very powerful storm. So take us through what people are expecting and how they're preparing.

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Kim, Super Typhoon Yagi is a ferocious storm and it is on cusp of landfall. This is the second most powerful storm this year by wind speed. Its target is southwestern China and the island of Hainan known as the Hawaii of China.

Now, right now, the eye wall is just brushing northeastern of Hainan and Hainan and neighboring Guangdong province, they have been bracing for this moment. Conditions there have rapidly deteriorated. And according to state media, we learned that as of 12 noon today, Guangdong province has evacuated almost 575,000 people.

[03:40:06]

And as of this morning, Hainan Island has evacuated over 418,000 people. Now for Hainan, A super typhoon landfall is rare. Most typhoons that land there are classified as weaker. The government of Hainan, they've been on alert for days. We know that ferries, bus services, rail lines, flights have all been suspended. Residents have been stocking up on food, leaving store shelves empty. And both residents and tourists have been advised to not go outside. Several tourists have been shut down.

And with authorities warning that these winds could be, quote, "massive and destructive," people are taking notice. Hainan is known for its sandy beaches, its resorts. This is thankfully not peak travel season and the island does have a good track record for weathering storms, but this is a super typhoon that will be a menace. It will make landfall imminently and this impact will be significant, Kim. We're talking about trees down, property damage, power outages, storm surge, as well as flooding. Back to you, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: All right, we'll stay on top of this. Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong, thanks so much.

Still to come, children in Ukraine are facing another year of war as they return to school. I'll speak with a UNICEF representative about the impact it's having. That's next. Please stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Police in central Kenya say 17 students have been killed in a fire at an elementary school. The spokesperson says the bodies have been burned beyond recognition. At least 14 others are in hospital with serious burns. Kenyan President William Ruto has offered condolences to the families of the children. He's calling for a thorough investigation. The cause of the fire still isn't known. We'll have more details as they come into CNN.

The death toll from a Russian strike on a military educational facility in central Ukraine has climbed to 55. Authorities say rescue teams have completed operations after the attack earlier this week. More than 300 others were wounded. Now it comes as Ukrainian children head back to school.

[03:45:08]

The U.N. says some schools were damaged before the first day of classes, which was rocked by loud explosions. More than 2,100 children have been reportedly killed or injured since Russia's large-scale invasion began three years ago.

John Marks is Ukraine's deputy representative for UNICEF and he joins us live from Kyiv. Great to have you on. Listen, so many parents here in the U.S. will have just gone through this the bittersweet moment of sending their kids back to school but in Ukraine yet another year of kids going back to school facing the prospect of literally having to flee in the middle of math class to seek safety in a shelter other kids literally studying underground, I mean you're in Kyiv, what are you seeing and expecting this school year?

JOHN MARKS, UKRAINE DEPUTY REPRESENTATIVE, UNICEF: Yeah, thank you very much. Yes, indeed. Yeah, you're absolutely right. And for the -- for the children here in Ukraine, it's been a very difficult back to school. And as you said, all over the world, people are sending their kids back to school. It's a wonderful experience catching up with your friends that you haven't seen exchanging the experience that you've had over the summer. But here, the kids are going back to school.

Only 20 percent of the kids are still online learning. Another 22 are doing a blended approach where they're doing online and some in-class education. So just over 50 percent are actually going back to school. The others are not.

And I want to tell you just a little story about what happened to one of our schools recently on Wednesday, actually. Amelia, a seven-year- old little girl. Living in Lviv. Now Lviv is way in the west of the country. It's impossible to get further from the front lines while remaining in the country. She went back to school on Monday, caught up with her friends, but she never made it to the third day.

On Wednesday morning, a missile ripped into her apartment building, killing her, her two sisters, and her mother. The father was the only surviving member of the family. And these kind of tragic stories just reflects the reality for children all across Ukraine today. As you mentioned earlier, our U.N. data shows that 600 kids have been killed and a further 1,350 injured in attacks. But that number is likely to be much higher. 140 education facilities damaged, destroyed.

The kids that do attend school are going to school in bomb shelters, created for a safe learning space for the children to attend school catch up classes we conducted throughout the summer because the kids here because of the war are at least two years behind their peers in neighboring countries. It's a terrible situation for children here, schools have to be protected the children in Ukraine are suffering enough.

You know kids just want to go to school have fun and just be children that's almost impossible for the kids in this country to do.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, and you know the attacks on the power system making you know, just living hard enough, but then studying as well a real challenge, especially because as you say, many are studying wholly or in part online. You mentioned the kids, you know, being two years behind. I mean, we had sort of in Ukraine, the one-two punch of the two COVID years plus now three years of war. So, you know, talk to me about the medium and longer term effects that this will have on kids learning.

MARKS: Well, it's going to have a massive effect. So it is, you know, the children are the future of the country. And if you take away the educational experience from the children, what is the future for the country going to be? Who are going to be your future teachers or future doctors? You know, future anything. It's going to have a long term detrimental

impact on the entire country and its ability to move forward and be fully functioning and to be a stable partner for other countries as well.

You know, there's just, there's nothing good to say about it, but what we're trying to do as UNICEF, as I said, we're doing the catch-up classes, we're trying to build as many bomb shelters, etc., that the kids can go to. We've done 147 bomb shelters so far this year.

We've provided 40,000 digital learning devices to children so they can attend online classes, but it's not just that. It's also the psychosocial support. These kids have experienced terrible, terrible trauma. They've gone through some horrible things, unimaginable things. So the psychosocial support that these kids require is massive.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, absolutely. Just depressing to think about all the effects that this will have and hopefully the war will end soon, if nothing else, to help these poor children, so many affected. John Marks in Kyiv, thank you so much.

[03:50:08]

MARKS: Thank you. Appreciate your time.

BRUNHUBER: Alright. And we'll be right back.

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BRUNHUBER: Boeing's Starliner spacecraft will begin its journey back to Earth today. NASA plans to have Starliner undocked from the International Space Station without its crew on board. NASA decided it was too risky to fly astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams back home.

They'll remain on the space station until February. You can join us for coverage of the Boeing Starliner's return to Earth at 6:00 in the evening Eastern Time, 11 p.m. in London. The spacecraft is expected to undock from the ISS. And then just after midnight Eastern, Starliner should land at the White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico.

Key U.S. economic data is due out Friday morning. Markets in New York were mixed yesterday as uncertain investors await the U.S. jobs report to calculate whether the Fed will lower interest rates by either an expected quarter or half point. Inflation has slowed, but the job market has as well.

[03:55:00]

Wall Street's looking for signs the job market is cooling steadily rather than plunging towards recession territory and not knowing whether the Fed is behind the curve or not is causing some edginess shown by volatility in the past week.

Ticketmaster is under investigation in the U.K. over concerns the company treated customers unfairly in ticket sales for the Oasis reunion tour. Fans of the British rock band were left looking back in anger when purchasing tickets over the weekend, complaining of inflated prices, long waits and error messages on Ticketmaster's The probe is the latest problem for Ticketmaster's parent company Live Nation, which faces an antitrust lawsuit in the U.S. that could force a breakup of one of the world's biggest concert promoters.

The Kansas City Chiefs won a thriller at Arrowhead Stadium as they opened their campaign for a Super Bowl three-peat. Now kick-off was delayed due to a thunderstorm and the Chiefs left it to the last play to beat the visiting Baltimore Ravens 27-20 in the first game of the season. And yes, Taylor Swift, girlfriend of Chiefs tight-end Travis Kelce, was once again on hand for the excitement.

Well, Canines took over the catwalk in an event kicking off New York Fashion Week. A total of 21 dogs in costumes hit the runway at Sony Hall Thursday for the second annual Elysian Impact Catwalk Fur Baby Fashion Show. A slew of designers, models and charities came together with these pups ready to put their best paws forward. The unique fashion show raises awareness as well as funds for an animal welfare organization.

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KAREN FLOYD, PUBLISHER AND CEO, ELYSIAN: About 50 percent of the dogs that walk the runway are actually rescues. And some (inaudible) will bring their dogs individually but this is about promoting the adoption of animals.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: And New York Fashion Week runs until September 11th.

All right, that wraps this hour of "CNN Newsroom." I'm Kim Brunhuber, back with, well, I won't be back with more news. I'll see you tomorrow. Take care.

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