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96 Dead in Maui Fires with 3% of Disaster Area Searched; Georgia D.A. Preparing to Present Election Case to Grand Jury; DeSantis Faces Hecklers as GOP Candidates Flock to Iowa; Federal Government Poised to Aid with Maui Recovery. Aired 6-6:30a ET
Aired August 14, 2023 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. Phil and I are so glad you're starting your morning with us. Good morning.
[06:00:48]
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR/CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Happy Monday.
HARLOW: It's good to be back. We missed you.
MATTINGLY: It's good to be back. It's very good to be back. A lot of news.
HARLOW: Yes, we have a lot of news to get to, and some tragic news out of Hawaii, so let's get started with "Five Things to Know" this Monday, August 14.
Breaking overnight, 96, that is the death count so far from the Hawaii wildfires, and only 3 percent of the disaster area has been searched. The governor calling it a fire hurricane. It spread faster than a mile a minute, and now a new lawsuit against the state's main electric provider.
MATTINGLY: And just hours from now, the Fulton County district attorney is expected to begin presenting her case to a grand jury in the Georgia election subversion case. This means a potential fourth indictment looms over former President Donald Trump.
And CNN learns exclusively about key evidence obtained by prosecutors.
And a home explodes outside of Pittsburgh, killing five. Gas systems were operating, quote, "as designed," according to officials, who say it could take months or years to figure out exactly what happened.
HARLOW: Also this, the raid of a newspaper headquarters in Kansas is raising serious concern over First Amendment rights. Police seizing everything from computers to servers to cell phone of reporters and editors.
MATTINGLY: And the story Poppy cares about so much --
HARLOW: Not really. MATTINGLY: -- the fight called. Mark Zuckerberg says, quote, "It's time to move on" from a proposed matchup with fellow billionaire Elon Musk.
CNN THIS MORNING starts right now.
HARLOW: It's been just devastating for what -- what is happening in Hawaii as the -- the death count goes up and up.
MATTINGLY: Yes, the pictures are extraordinary. They're heartbreaking. And it's tough to put into context, given just how devastating it's been.
HARLOW: And the lack of warning that we're learning about. We're going to get into all of it. But here's what we know.
Breaking overnight, 96 people are confirmed dead in Hawaii wildfires with only 3 percent of the disaster area searched so far. Just think about that. They have so much more to search.
You're looking at video of what is left behind. This morning, Hawaii's governor says FEMA crews are discovering other tragedies in an ongoing fashion. He says extra search-and-rescue crews are on the way along with 20 cadaver dogs. Authorities are asking family members to provide DNA to try to identify people who died.
MATTINGLY: And there are new questions about how this actually happened and the response to it. The power company now facing a lawsuit for not cutting electricity when forecasters warned about powerful wind gusts.
"The New York Times" reporting that firefighters had to cope with hydrants that were running dry. An official says backup generators maintained the supply, but water started spewing out of melting pipes, leading to low pressure. Here's the governor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. JOSH GREEN (D), HAWAII: I've authorized a comprehensive review of what happened in the early hours of the fire and the hours thereafter.
We will build back together. We will find out what we could have done to prevent such loss of life, to the best of our ability.
As of now, the best information we have is that, in those hours when the fire sparked, there were several fires across Maui. One fire was deemed to be out. It must not have been completely extinguished, because when the winds rose up, winds guesting as high as 81 miles per hour, the fire spread rapidly, we believe between 60 miles per hour and 81 miles per hour across that part of the island.
And that meant that fire traveled 1 mile every minute, resulting in this tragedy. With those kind of winds and 1,000-degree temperatures, ultimately, all the pictures that you will see will be easy to understand. Because that level of destruction in a fire hurricane is something new to us, and this age of global warming was the ultimate reason that so many people perished.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: You heard the governor there of Hawaii, just calling it a fire hurricane, something new to them, he said. Pointing really at climate change and global warming.
And you also heard him say that these flames spread 1 mile per minute. That is faster than anyone can run. It's as fast as you can drive on the freeway. Here's a sense of what that was like.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
We're dead! We're dead!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
[06:05:00]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, no, no, no. Not like this. Not like this! Not like this! No, God! (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Start running.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, no! Oh, no! Oh, no! No, we've got to get out or something.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's nowhere to go.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED) The car, the car!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: They did get out. Those people are safe. They ended up taking shelter on the rocks.
Other survivors now struggling with what to do next as so many line up to try to get back into Lahaina. Here's our Mike Valerio.
MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Poppy and Phil, good morning.
Even at this early hour of the day, we're standing here at the Wahaihi (ph) Juncture. This is the checkpoint to get into the Lahaina disaster zone. No other way in but right here.
And whenever you are standing here talking to people -- families, people who have lived here for decades -- it's an extremely emotional juncture for anybody who crosses through here.
A few hours ago, we met a woman named Susan, and she told us just what it is like to experience the dramatic change from this idyllic landscape to the moonscape of ash is streets, debris; and explained to us in quite moving terms everything that she has seen. Listen to what she told us. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUSAN, SURVIVOR: When I drove through on Friday, I had no clue what I was going through. I got so -- everything is gone. I lost friends in there. You know, they were going back to get their animals, you know, and she died.
So I mean, you know, it's really sad, because people come over here. You know, I heard there was a snorkeling boat looking at Lahaina town. Give them respect. You know? It's so bad. This is -- you know, people died here. You know, people -- I mean, it's not just a vacation -- it's not just a place for vacation. We live here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VALERIO: Now Poppy and Phil, to give you an idea of the contrast that we're seeing, earlier this weekend on Saturday, one of the routes into the disaster zone opened up. And it was organized chaos. Mostly chaos, I would say.
It was about a mile-long line to get in. Profound frustration, a lack of communication perceived between law enforcement. People who were just struggling to see if their homes survived.
Now there's a better system. This is the only way in. A counterclockwise direction on a map that we've made, showing you the only way into the disaster zone, taking you about an hour from this position that we're in, about a thousand feet above the Pacific Ocean into the area near Lahaina.
So people, again, trying to see what has survived, as we start a new week here, an uncertain week, in the heart of Maui.
Poppy and Phil, back to you.
HARLOW: Mike Valerio, thank you for the reporting. We're going to continue to follow the fires and the aftermath all morning here.
MATTINGLY: Well, also this morning, we're following a fourth possible indictment that is looming over former President Donald Trump as the district attorney in Fulton County, Georgia, prepares to present her case to a grand jury.
Now, as soon as today, Fani Willis is expected to start presenting evidence in her sprawling investigation of the alleged scheme to overturn President Joe Biden's 2020 election victory in the state of Georgia.
HARLOW: So here's CNN's exclusive reporting. The prosecutors have text messages and e-mails that show Trump lawyers were behind the breaching -- the breach of a voting system in Georgia.
Over the weekend, Trump continued to insist he did nothing wrong.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there any chance you'd take a plea deal in Georgia?
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We did nothing wrong. We don't take pleas. That's a wise guy question. You're just a wise guy. We don't take plea deals, because I did nothing wrong.
It's called election interference. You know what that is? These indictments are brought out by people (ph) who can't even put two sentences together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: Our Sara Murray broke that reporting with our colleague, Zach Cohen. She joins us live outside of the Fulton County courthouse in Atlanta.
It's explosive to see that direct link in, you know, what your sources are telling you guys, writing.
SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Poppy. I mean, look, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and her team have spent more than two and a half years investigating this case. As soon as today, they could go before this grand jury and seek charges against more than a dozen individuals.
And this is coming, as you point out, as we are learning about new evidence prosecutors have obtained throughout the course of this long- running investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MURRAY (voice-over): Security precautions already underway at the courthouse in Atlanta as Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is expected to begin her grand jury presentation this week on former President Donald Trump and his allies' alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.
FANI WILLIS, FULTON COUNTY D.A.: We've working for two and a half years. And we're ready to go.
[06:10:03]
MURRAY (voice-over): It's the clearest sign she intends to seek charges this week as the widespread investigation into election interference comes to a head.
Jeff Duncan, Georgia's former lieutenant governor and CNN contributor, confirming he's been summoned to appear before the grand jury.
JEFF DUNCAN, FORMER GEORGIA LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR: I did just receive notification to appear on Tuesday morning. I'll certainly answer whatever question is put in front of me.
MURRAY (voice-over): Independent journalist George Chidi posted on social media he's also been called to testify on Tuesday. Chidi said he walked in on a group of shadow electors, gathered to sign an illegitimate certification for then-President Trump in December 2020. GEORGE CHIDI, INDEPENDENT JOURNALIST: They all marched me out of the
room, and then they posted somebody out front to make sure nobody else went in.
MURRAY (voice-over): In addition to putting forward fake electors and the infamous phone call from President Trump to Georgia's secretary of state --
TRUMP: I just want to find 11,780 votes.
MURRAY (voice-over): -- the breach of voting systems in rural, Republican Coffee County is part of the probe.
Sources tell CNN investigators have long suspected the breach was a top-down effort by Trump's team, rather than an organic effort by Trump backers. And sources say they have text messages and e-mails that directly connect members of Trump's legal team to that breach.
MURRAY: Did you have any sense that this was sort of tied to other operatives in the Trump campaign, that it was anything beyond sort of lower-level people in Coffee County?
BRAD RAFFENSPERGER (R), GEORGIA SECRETARY OF STATE: Not initially, but there were allegations. And then, as you dig down deep, more is revealed. And then you realize that that wasn't truthful.
MURRAY (voice-over): Surveillance video previously obtained by CNN shows a local election official escorting a team of pro-Trump operatives in to examine the machines on January 7, 2021. The group included Scott Hall, an Atlanta bail bondsman and Fulton County Republican poll watcher.
SCOTT HALL, ATLANTA BAIL BONDSMAN AND FULTON COUNTY REPUBLICAN POLL WATCHER (via phone): I'm the guy that chartered the jet to go down to Coffee County to have them inspect all of those computers. They scanned all the equipment, imaged all the hard drives, and scanned every single ballot.
MURRAY (voice-over): According to text messages obtained by CNN, former elections official Misty Hampton offered a, quote, "written invitation" six days prior to examine machines.
That invitation shared with attorneys working with Trump and others, hunting for election fraud on behalf of Trump's then-lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
"Just landed back in D.C. with the mayor. Huge things starting to come together!" an employee for the firm hired to access voting machines wrote in one text in an apparent reference to former New York mayor, Giuliani. "We were just granted access by written invitation to Coffee County's systems. Yay!" another message reads.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MURRAY (on camera): Now when I talked to Rudy Giuliani's lawyer, he insisted Giuliani had nothing to do with the Coffee County breach, and then in more colorful fashion, pointed the finger at Sidney Powell, another member of Trump's post-election legal team, and said, You can't hold Giuliani accountable for what Sidney Powell was up to -- Poppy, Phil.
MATTINGLY: All right. Great reporting. Sara Murray for us, live in Atlanta. Thank you.
HARLOW: Donald Trump and other Republican presidential candidates squaring off over the weekend at the Iowa State Fair. The former president tried to upstage and steal the spotlight from his top rival, Ron DeSantis.
The Florida governor faced hecklers on the ground and in the air.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You've got to be willing to stand for what's right, even when it's not popular. And even when --
(BELLS RINGING)
GOV. KIM REYNOLDS (R), IOWA: You know what? You know what? We're in Iowa. And in Iowa, we're Iowa nice. So let's give everybody the opportunity to hear our candidates.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: So that's a plane circling above. It says -- with one of those banners. It says, "Be likable, Ron."
Let's bring in CNN chief national affairs correspondent, Jeff Zeleny. That's not very Iowa nice, Jeff.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, we should point out that those were liberal protesters and hecklers there.
HARLOW: Yes.
ZELENY: So perhaps a sign of strength, as well.
But look, it was a weekend of risk and opportunity as this big field of Republican candidates descended on Iowa.
Of course, former President Donald Trump seized many of the headlines, but his rivals spent far more time talking to the actual voters who are going to open this campaign in just five months.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZELENY (voice-over): Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and his wife, Casey, riding bumper cars with their kids. A weekend filled with the traditions that make the Iowa State Fair a quintessential stop on the presidential campaign trail.
DeSantis encountered protests from some progressives and support from many conservatives, as he walked through the fairgrounds, which he described as a sign of strength.
DESANTIS: I think when the left comes out, that's a sign of strength, because they know that we will beat Biden. And they know we will be able to turn this country around. And they do not want that.
[06:15:04]
ZELENY (voice-over): Former President Donald Trump took the spotlight when he arrived, bypassing traditional fair events but greeting admirers.
He trolled his leading rival by traveling with Florida members of Congress who have endorsed him over their state's governor. And with a looming fourth indictment expected in the coming days, he pledged to remain the frontrunner in the race.
TRUMP: We're not taking any chances. We're way up in the polls in Iowa and all over the country. We're up by over 50 points. That's a lot, but we don't want to take any chances. We'll be back. We love you very much.
ZELENY (voice-over): Some Republicans still backing Trump are open to considering other candidates, or at least hearing them out.
GLENN LIVINGSTON, IOWA REPUBLICAN VOTER: Right now, the one is Trump for running. I'm for him, you know. My mind is open, of course. You've got -- you know, we've got to do something different.
ZELENY (voice-over): Iowa's Republican governor, Kim Reynolds, says she believes the primary race is far from settled.
REYNOLDS: It's so early. People are paying so much attention to the national polls. And I can tell you, it's just not reflective of kind of what I'm hearing from Iowans as I'm traveling around. There's always surprises. It's just -- that's part of the process.
VIVEK RAMASWAMY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hi, guys. It's good to see you.
ZELENY (voice-over): Republican hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy worked the crowd courting younger voters with a message of change, while taking a subtle jab at President Biden.
RAMASWAMY: I think that it takes a person of a different generation to reach the next generation. Young people have lost their sense of national pride.
I don't think an octogenarian can reinspire and reignite pride in the next generation.
ZELENY (voice-over): Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley logged hours at the fair, flipping burgers and playing games after a fair- side chat with Governor Reynolds. She urged Republicans to turn the page.
NIKKI HALEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It is time that we leave the negativity behind, the drama behind.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZELENY (on camera): And if you look at the shirt that Nikki Haley was wearing there, it perhaps describes her message. It says, "Underestimate me, that will be fun."
So clearly, when we talked to a lot of Iowa voters over the last several days and months, many of them have more open minds. There's no doubt that the former president has his core supporters.
But it is always surprising to know that many people are just beginning to look at this race. Of course, next week, the first presidential debate happens on the Republican side.
That, of course, could reshape things, as well. This campaign five months from tomorrow is when it opens in Iowa -- Poppy, Jeff.
MATTINGLY: You know, he's -- you know, Jeff is a "Des Moines County Register" alum and Nebraska's finest.
HARLOW: One of the best newspapers in the country.
MATTINGLY: Nebraska's finest, Jeff Zeleny.
This is like your 40th state fair you've been to?
ZELENY: I mean, I went as a young child, Phil, so yes. No, not quite 40th, but a lot. And we've seen a lot of candidates. And, listen, a lot of open minds, a lot of food. A great weekend for all.
HARLOW: We know you enjoyed the reporting as much as you enjoyed the food at the fair. But I was saying last week, it's second only to the Minnesota State Fair, where my kids cannot wait to have a pickle on a stick.
MATTINGLY: Those are fighting words for Zeleny, but we'll take it.
HARLOW: Thank you, Jeff.
ZELENY: Thanks, guys.
MATTINGLY: Well, coming up, as the death toll mounts, we're going to speak to the Biden administration about the latest efforts to help survivors. The catastrophic wildfires have killed at least 96 people in Maui.
HARLOW: And an investigation is underway into why a house in Pennsylvania exploded, killing five people, including a child.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:21:11]
MATTINGLY: New overnight, the Maui wildfires are now blamed for 96 deaths, and that number is expected to rise. And a lawsuit has been filed against Hawaii's main electric provider, claiming that electrified power lines blown over by high winds caused by Hurricane Dora, quote, "foreseeably ignited the fast-moving, deadly and destructive Lahaina fire."
The new lawsuit does not state exactly how the power lines allegedly caused the wildfire. An official cause of the wildfire has not yet been determined.
But the blaze is America's deadliest fire in more than a century, with more than 2,000 structures damaged or destroyed.
Joining us now, associate administrator of the Small Business Administration and the Office of Disaster Recovery is Francisco Sanchez.
Sir, thank you so much for taking the time. You've been on the ground. Tell us what -- We've seen the pictures. What have you seen on the ground with the destruction?
FRANCISCO SANCHEZ, SBA ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR, OFFICE OF DISASTER RECOVERY & RESILIENCE: Good morning.
We can't begin to understand the grief and the loss that these communities are going through. What we saw on the ground is nothing short of catastrophic or heartbreaking.
The president signed a major disaster declaration, and he was very clear: bring every federal resource that we have available to help these communities recover.
So the people of Maui, the people of Hawaii need to know that they're not at this alone, and the entire federal (ph) family is committed to helping them recover.
As a matter of fact, this weekend being on the ground, and the president sent a member of his cabinet, the Small Business Administration and Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman joined the head of FEMA to get a sense on the ground, a survey in person of what challenges this community will face.
And what was very clear is that this is going to be a long-term recovery. And it's going to require a whole of government approach, a whole of community approach to make sure we get this community back on its feet.
HARLOW: Thank you again for joining us. And can you explain what that means? Because I think what's so striking to us is to see an entire business district decimated. Right?
Often when we talk about these disasters, it is several -- it's not the entire area. And that's what happened in Lahaina. What can these business owners count on from the federal government? What does "whole of government approach" mean to them? Do they get made whole?
SANCHEZ: We walked through that district. And this was not only an entire district, this was a very historic -- HARLOW: Yes.
SANCHEZ: -- part of the community that has a lot of cultural value. And so beyond just the businesses, just the impact that's reverberating across the state.
For us, it means people think about small business and you think about the role SBA plays day in and day out, building businesses across this country. We are uniquely positioned to help homeowners, businesses, renters and private nonprofits.
So a business owner that was impacted as an individual, we can help them. For business owners, we saw businesses of every size just burned to the ground, business that -- a traditional store front where you can walk in, have a meal or buy something local; to those entrepreneurs that may simply run a table at a fair selling some of the things that are made in that community.
So this town is so deeply dependent on tourism, and we're coming up on one of the busiest times of year for them. And so for us, focused on helping them with the capital they need to start back up and to make sure they're resilient.
And so this is going to be an effort that we're going to work with very closely with FEMA, local state officials. We did meet with local chambers of commerce, economic groups. We visited some business owners that were impacted.
And so the challenge is real, but SBA is going to bring every possible resource. Not just our disaster programs, but everything we do, day in and day out, bring to the table to help these communities get back on its feet.
MATTINGLY: To that point, I think almost 80 percent of the income generated on Maui comes from tourism. We've heard from local residents saying that they don't want to see tourists at this moment in time, given the scale of the disaster.
There's a difficult balancing act here, and I know you guys end up kind of in the middle of it, to some degree. I guess my biggest question is, how fast can these businesses, if tourists are not coming, how fast can they expect the federal government and the support provided by the SBA to reach them? What is the length of time this is going to take?
SANCHEZ: Well, in terms of the resources that are available now, the president signed a declaration before the fires were even completely out.
Our first SBA team members were on the ground that same day, along with FEMA. So some of these business owners are still in shelters. This community was devastated. And so there's not a lot of structures around.
Some parts of the island are obviously still operating. These parts of the community, the governor was clear when we met with him. Parts of Maui are open. If -- this community, particularly it's impacted, and people ought to respect that space.
But while those folks are still getting to some safety and some stability, we are in the shelters with FEMA providing those resources. We are there, ready now. Some people, as you mentioned, simply aren't ready yet, but when they are, we'll be here to help.
MATTINGLY: Before I let you go, do you believe there have been some concerns on the ground, justified, given what they've been through, from residents, saying that the response from federal, state, and local has simply not been adequate up to that -- this point. On the federal side, do you disagree with that assessment?
SANCHEZ: I'll tell you what I saw on the ground. There were first responders still doing life-saving work. And so from our part, we're focused on our role and mission from the Small Business Administration on the recovery piece, working with FEMA.
We're on the ground now. We're working in those shelters now. And we're committed to be here. We were here from day one. And we'll be here as long as it takes. And we'll be as flexible as we can be to make sure they have those resources across SBA and all our federal partners, when it gets to the recovery piece.
MATTINGLY: All right. Francisco Sanchez, Small Business Administration. Thank you, sir.
SANCHEZ: Thank you.
HARLOW: New developments in the Hunter Biden case after his lawyers say federal prosecutors pulled back on an agreed-upon plea deal that would have resolved the charges against him. Is this thing going to go to trial?
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[06:30:00]
