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U.S. Prepares For Hurricane Hilary; Hurricane Hilary Remains Dangerous Category 1 Storm; State of Emergency Declared in Southern California; President Biden Briefed on Hurricane Hilary; Hurricane Hilary Could Bring a Year's Worth of Rain to the Southwest; L.A. County Opens Shelters for Unhoused Residents; Nevada and Arizona Bracing for Impacts of Hurricane Hilary; Red Cross Mobilizing Ahead of Hurricane Hilary; GOP Presidential Candidates Talk to Activists at Georgia Gathering; GOP Presidential Candidate Chris Christie Slams Trump; GOP Candidates Prepare For First Debate With Or Without Trump; Trump Campaign Slams DeSantis For Listless Vessels Comment; Hawaii Death Toll Reaches 114, 1000+ Still Missing; U.S. Official: Ukraine Should Focus On Counteroffensive; Republican Candidates Lack Unity On U.S. Support For Ukraine; Wildfire Race In Canada, Thousands Evacuating; Hurricane Hilary Impacting Sporting World; Patriots Rookie Carted Off After Apparent Head Injury; Messi Scores Again, Leads Miami To Leagues Cup Title. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired August 20, 2023 - 06:00   ET

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

[06:00:34]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome to CNN THIS MORNING. It is Sunday, August 20th. I'm Victor Blackwell.

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Amara Walker. Thank you so much for spending a part of your morning with us. We are keeping a close eye on Hurricane Hilary as it closes in on the southwestern U.S.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a very, very dangerous and significant storm.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: Residents are filling up sandbags as forecasters warn of catastrophic flooding. Evacuations have been ordered, events canceled, and officials are telling people to stay indoors. Allison Chinchar is standing by with the timing and impact we'll see from the storm.

BLACKWELL: Republican presidential candidates are sharpening their attacks ahead of this week's first GOP debate. Who we'll likely see on that stage and their messages to Republican voters ahead of the debate.

WALKER: President Biden will head to Hawaii tomorrow to see firsthand the damage left behind by the Maui wildfires. We will have an update on the recovery efforts ahead of his visit. BLACKWELL: Thousands of people in Canada have been forced to evacuate as wildfires threaten their homes. Why firefighters say the situation is critical despite a break in the weather.

WALKER: And it's not just a trophy on the line. How today's World Cup final will be history making no matter who wins.

And we begin this morning with a large portion of southern California waking up under a state of emergency this morning as Hurricane Hilary is barreling towards land. The weakened but still dangerous Category 1 storm is bringing 85 miles an hour winds along with it and right now it's still about 385 miles south of San Diego.

BLACKWELL: The eye of the storm is expected to make landfall in Mexico's Baja, California, within hours. And some flooding and damaging winds along the peninsula have already been reported. The outer bands of the hurricane are already hitting southern California, too, and the storm is expected to weaken again before coming ashore in the U.S. but officials warn that it could still cause catastrophic and life-threatening flooding.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): Please, please listen to emergency personnel, local officials. Take seriously debris flows and floods, flash floods, lightning, possibility of tornadoes. Stay safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Some spots could get up to 10 inches of rain and that has people in flood prone areas taking all necessary precautions. Sandbag stations have been set up for people to help fortify their homes.

WALKER: Along the coast, Hilary could create large swells and dangerous rip currents. All state beaches in Orange and San Diego counties have been closed as a result. CNN's Natasha Chen has more now from Los Angeles.

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Amara and Victor, officials in San Diego have been telling residents there to be prepared for the most intense weather to come through Sunday afternoon. First strong rains followed by heavy winds, especially in the mountain areas, inland to the east. In fact, we have got lots of national parks and preserves like Death Valley, Joshua Tree, Mojave, they are all closed, discouraging people from coming.

A lot of plans for big events and concerts have been canceled or postponed this weekend. For example, baseball games that were scheduled for Sunday moved to Saturday. The concerts at the Hollywood Bowl canceled. And even the U.S. Navy has moved their ships and submarines from San Diego temporarily until this weather passes through.

The coast guard and other emergency officials are telling people throughout southern California to really just avoid the water, stay out of the water, stay out of the flood-prone areas. Now, people whose homes and areas may have seen flooding in the winter storms months ago should be prepared to do similar things here with sandbags, bringing items indoors, not driving out into the weather if they don't have to.

But officials also say that, you know, the wildfires and earthquakes that Californians are used to -- that Californians who are used to those disasters should be prepared in this case, especially since this is an event that can be tracked by radar as opposed to those other natural disasters that sometimes you can't tell the direction or the timing of them. Officials are really just warning people that if they don't have to be out, please do not go out Sunday and Monday.

[06:05:01]

The school districts and other employers may be making their own decisions come Monday about whether students and workers actually show up to their place of work or to school. Amara and Victor, back to you.

BLACKWELL: Natasha Chen for us there. Thanks so much. The White House is watching Hurricane Hilary very closely. The president has been briefed on the storm and the impacts it could bring to the southwest.

WALKER: CNN White House reporter Priscilla Alvarez joining us now from Washington, D.C. Priscilla, good morning. So, FEMA officials held a call yesterday ahead of the storm. How are they preparing?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, they are sending out their teams to prepare ahead of time for any type of recovery or assistance that may be needed after the hurricane hits. Now, the FEMA administrator said in a call with reporters that they do not have to pull resources from Hawaii to help with this hurricane in southern California and that they are putting all of their preparation into motion.

Now, the president has been briefed on exactly that, the latest preparedness plans as this hurricane barrels towards southern California. And, of course, it comes as he himself is preparing to go to Maui tomorrow to see the devastation left behind by the wildfires.

Now, the president receives a briefing every morning about potential extreme weather hitting the United States. This, of course, is one of them. And now he is also getting briefed on what the prep is ahead of that hurricane coming in so that residents are prepared, so that the administration is prepared as they also try to put -- or at least work on recovery for Hawaii.

WALKER: All right. Priscilla Alvarez, thank you. Now, Hurricane Hilary could drench parts of the southwest with a year's worth of rain. And one concern is for people who are homeless.

BLACKWELL; The L.A. County sheriff's office flew over some homeless encampments on Saturday to warn people to get to shelter or seek higher ground.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The surrounding area you are in extreme danger (INAUDIBLE) seek higher ground immediately.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: So, L.A. County is opening at least four rec centers across the city as shelters for the homeless.

WALKER: Parts of Nevada and Arizona are also bracing for the storm. Officials in Nevada have deployed over 100 National Guard members to prepare for Hilary. And in Arizona the Red Cross has begun mobilizing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EDGAR OLIVO, AMERICAN RED CROSS ARIZONA AND NEW MEXICO: This is not a time to panic. This is a time to prepare. We are activating all of crew to bring supplies, start thinking about shelter positioning and ensuring that we have enough resources for the communities in the area.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Let's focus now on the path of this storm here and who is most at risk. CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar is in the weather center. What are you seeing?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: OK. So, we have got very active tropics right now. You have got a whole bunch of systems out possibly into the Atlantic. But the main focus for this morning is going to be Hurricane Hilary. Still a Category 1 as of the latest update. Sustained winds of 85 miles per hour. Its forward movement picking up pace now up to about 21 miles per hour.

This storm will continue to slide through some pretty cool water. So, we expect further weakening over the next 24 hours. It is expected to push into California as a tropical storm. And really the biggest concern out of this potential system is going to be the rain. We are already starting to see that extreme surge of moisture begin to spread into states like California, Arizona, as well as Nevada.

And again, here when we take a look, again, you can see a lot of the heavy rain is really focused over San Diego, Palm Springs, spreading up into Las Vegas. Bishop, California, and Las Vegas, Nevada, have already set rainfall records yesterday from the amount of rain they have already had. And, keep in mind, we are going to continue to see more rain as we go through the rest of the day today and tomorrow.

Widespread totals likely about two to four inches. But there will be some spots that pick up six, eight, even 10 inches of rain before this is all said and done. Now, the timing -- we are starting to see some of those heavier bands come in. We really start to see the peak of the heavy rainfall this afternoon and especially as we head into the evening hours tonight.

But even once we get into Monday, you're still going to be looking at some pretty heavy rain showers Monday morning. We finally start to see an exit to a lot of that rainfall once we get to the latter half of the day on Monday. So, again, even then though you are still looking at some light showers. We are just starting to see more of that moisture spread into states like Idaho, areas of Washington, Oregon, and some other states as well. We will have a further breakdown of this, Victor and Amara, coming up in just about 20 minutes.

WALKER: All right. Thanks so much for watching closely for us. Allison, appreciate it. And you can stay on top of all the developments surrounding Hurricane Hilary and its path at CNN.com/stormtracker.

Still to come, several 2024 Republican contenders took their message to Georgia. There was little mention of former President Trump. But, of course, one candidate did not hold back.

BLACKWELL: Plus, more than a thousand people are still missing as crews search the devastation from the Hawaii wildfires.

[06:10:00]

The latest on the search as President Biden prepares to tour. And in Canada the future of thousands is in doubt after wildfires forced families from their homes there. The latest on the evolving situation ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALKER: Later this week, former President Trump will be in Georgia to surrender on his fourth criminal indictment. But at gathering of Republican presidential candidates his dominance of the race was largely ignored.

BLACKWELL: Erick Erickson, a popular conservative radio host, organized the event. But most of the candidates who participated avoid speaking -- avoided, rather, speaking about Trump or his legal troubles. CNN's Eva McKend reports.

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER: Conservative activists from across the region had the opportunity to hear from a number of 2024 Republican hopefuls on this final day. They heard from Vivek Ramaswamy and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. True to form Ramaswamy focusing his remarks on railing against corporate diversity efforts as well as talking about the importance of restoring patriotism in this country.

[06:15:09]

For his part, Christie talking about school choice, public safety and really strengthening America's foreign policy. Trump not a focus of this event. Erick Erickson, who put this on, did not invite Trump, and was very deliberate in not asking the candidates in these 45-minute wide-ranging interviews for the most part about Trump. Still, after Christie left the stage, he addressed reporters and he attacked Trump for skipping out on next week's first Republican debate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There is no other conclusion to come to that he is both afraid of me and he is afraid of defending his record. And if I had his record, I would be nervous about showing up, too.

Let's face it, guys. By Wednesday, he is going to be out on bail in four different jurisdictions. That really -- when are we going to stop thinking that's normal? When are we going to allow our country to understand again that nominating someone who is out on bail in four jurisdictions is not a winning formula?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKEND: Though Trump remains dominant in the polls, there is still an appetite from some Republican primary voters to move on from Trump. Spoke to some people seriously considering supporting Governor DeSantis.

Eva McKend, CNN, Atlanta.

BLACKWELL: Eva, thank you. Let's bring in now Daniel Lippman, White House reporter for "Politico." Daniel, so, we know where Chris Christie stands. Asa Hutchinson, if he makes this debate stage in three days, where he stands on Trump. Any indication from any of the candidates out there at the gathering or as we've seen over these last few days that they will start to make a more direct case about the electability or the suitability of former President Trump to be the nominee?

DANIEL LIPPMAN, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, POLITICO: Well, I think we have already started to hear stuff about the electability. But I think those types of messages will gain some relevance and currency in the months ahead as he starts to face these trials. And so -- but I think it might be too late once he has been convicted of a trial or two next year, we might already see half of the primary calendar go through and he might have already won a lot of those delegates. And so -- then it becomes almost too little, too late.

And so, I think a lot of those candidates who are afraid to stand up to Donald Trump, they want to get his 50 percent of voters, or at least get 20 percent who are more soft Trump voters. And so, they can't really criticize him too much.

BLACKWELL: OK. So, that's if he is convicted. And even if these trials -- these cases go to trial next year before the election -- this question about timing, but you talked about not wanting to offend the Trump base, those MAGA voters.

I want you to listen here to a portion of an interview that Governor Ron DeSantis did with the "Florida Standard" in which he starts talking about specifically here Trump supporting members of Congress. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: A movement can't be about the personality of one individual. If all we are is listless vessels that are just supposed to follow, you know, whatever happens to come down the pike on Truth Social every morning, that's not going to be a durable movement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: The Trump campaign spokesperson tweeted, DeSantis goes full-blown Hillary and called MAGA supporters listless vessels. Trump Super PAC they tweet, to Hillary Clinton, Trump supporters are deplorables. To Ron DeSantis, they are listless vessels. DeSantis must immediately apologize for his disgraceful insult.

His strategy to this point has been what you said, to show some contrast but also to try not to offend Trump supporters. Is this a significant problem for him, that they are trying to now capitalize on this?

LIPPMAN: Well, this might be why we haven't seen DeSantis do too many media interviews where he is challenged and given these types of questions, which lead to this type of answer. But I think calling someone deplorable might be a little bit more, you know, off the mark. And so, that's a little bit more offensive.

So, I think DeSantis has, you know, issues with his personality in terms of he has had six months on the, you know, on the, you know, public stage and he has not shown his ability to win over many Republicans. They don't think, you know, if he is unwilling to stand up to Trump, then how is he going to fight against Biden?

And some of the culture war issues like going against Disney has not been to his benefit. He has said, oh, we are moving on from Disney. And so, he is not even talking about Disney that much because it has backfired on him.

BLACKWELL: There really is -- part of the point is that if you take the listless vessels reference out of it, what he is saying is that you need someone who is focused on principles, that is not following whatever the whims are of the former president that he decides for the day.

[06:20:04]

The question then comes back to the governor. Then what is the strong counter? Where is that stronger contrast, and is he making that?

LIPPMAN: Well, right now he has been talking about basically for the last few years culture war issues, woke issues, fighting against progressive companies and saying, hey, if you're a conservative person, they do not look out for your interests. And so, I think if you saw that memo from the DeSantis super PAC, they are really worried about Vivek Ramaswamy, who is kind of the original anti-woke guy.

I wrote a big story about him in January where I followed him around in Iowa and he is very attractive on these issues if you care about this stuff. He wrote the books on it, literally. And so, I think we should watch out for him in the debate to be a pretty compelling figure for Republican conservative voters who are saying, hey, I don't want Donald Trump but I want someone more persuasive, more -- someone who is in touch with issues I care about. And Ramaswamy is -- you know, he has made hundreds of millions of dollars and he is not afraid to engage with the mainstream media, which you kind of need to if you are trying to reach those suburban voters in swing states.

BLACKWELL; Yes. Ramaswamy is far closer to DeSantis than DeSantis is to Trump. In the latest Fox poll, Ramaswamy is at 11. DeSantis at 16. Trump well above 50 percent -- 53 percent in the latest poll.

So, you mentioned the never back down memo that says, defend Trump, hammer Ramaswamy. For DeSantis, his never back down super PAC. The DeSantis campaign has now released a memo to their supporters and to their donors looking ahead to the debate saying that his objective will be to lay out his vision to beat Joe Biden, revise American decline, and revive the American dream.

I mean, it seems like they forced -- the super PAC forced the campaign's hand so it didn't look like he was just taking directives from the super PAC where a lot of the money that supports Ron DeSantis comes in.

LIPPMAN: Yes. I don't know if they would have done that memo if you hadn't had that previous memo posted on that Axiom Strategies Web site. That memo isn't shocking that was released. It was, you know, a great scoop for "The New York Times."

But, you know, talking about your record, talking about Casey DeSantis, that's not exactly, you know, Nobel prize-winning, oh, this is a, you know, astrophysics here. And so, presumably he has been working on this. We just don't see this very often in the media out there.

And I think it's just a -- we have to remind ourselves how strange a situation we have where the top candidate -- the top Republican rival to Trump is being told by his own, you know, super PAC to defend his top rival because I think in any other campaign you just don't see that. You try to attack that rival.

And so, we are still in unprecedented times in our country where all of the candidates are -- or many of the candidates are afraid that Trump is going to go after them, even if he is not even on the debate stage.

BLACKWELL: Yes. All right. Daniel Lippman, first appearance since your wedding. Congratulations.

LIPPMAN: Thank you, Victor. I have the ring.

BLACKWELL: Somebody's husband this morning.

LIPPMAN: Yes.

BLACKWELL: Daniel, thank you.

LIPPMAN: She is still asleep. She will watch the clip later.

BLACKWELL: All right. Congratulations to you both. Thanks, Daniel.

LIPPMAN: Thank you.

WALKER: All right. Congratulations, Daniel. Coming up, President Biden is set to travel to Hawaii after the deadliest U.S. fire in more than 100 years. What he plans to tell the residents when he arrives.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:28:04]

BLACKWELL: We are getting more developments out of southern California where people are preparing for their first tropical storm in more than 80 years. Hurricane Hilary, now a Category 1, is expected to make landfall as a tropical storm later today and bringing catastrophic flooding, some heavy winds, and downpours with up to 10 inches of rain expected in some areas.

WALKER: California Governor Newsom -- Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency yesterday deploying more than 7,000 responders. He has been pleading with residents to try to stay safe during what officials say will be the wettest tropical cyclone in state history.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWSOM: Please, please listen to emergency personnel, local officials. Take seriously debris flows and floods, flash floods, lightning, possibility of tornadoes. Stay safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: Well, so far residents have been evacuating. They have begun evacuating parks and beaches. They are closing. And first responders are bracing for dangerous water rescues. Let's hope people stay out of the water as they have been warned.

Let's go back now to CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar. Allison, let's talk about the flood threat from the storm because officials in the southwest region are really trying to drive home the point that it is the rain that could pose some threats.

CHINCHAR: Right. That's right. I mean, yes. You are going to have a wind component. You're going to have other components to this but the rain is really the biggest threat out of this particular system. We are already starting to see the rain showers begin across southern California, Nevada as well as Arizona, but it's going to continue to spread elsewhere as we go through the rest of the day today.

We are talking about widespread totals of two to four inches, some even exceeding eight to 10 inches. So, you have got this high-risk area right here in pink surrounding that moderate risk. That includes Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Diego. And what they're talking about is the potential for excessive rainfall. I know you hear two to four inches and you think, gosh, that doesn't sound bad especially if you live east of the Rockies.

[06:30:00] But take this into perspective. This right here is last summer, Death Valley National Park. All of these cars trapped in mudflow after a severe flooding event took place after, wait for it, less than an inch and a half of rain fell. This was caused by less than an inch and a half of rain. And that's because this area averages only two inches in a year. The forecast for the next 36 to 48 hours is two to four inches.

So, this is what we talk about when we say severe flooding because in these areas, it doesn't take much. They're going to get a year's worth of rain in about 24 hours. That's also why you've got the flood watches. And it's not just for the Southwest, these spread into some of the Northwest states as well because that's where the system is headed.

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Allison Chinchar, we'll continue to check back with you. Thank you very much.

Now, on Monday, President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will head to Maui to tour the devastation there firsthand, after the deadliest U.S. fire in more than 100 years scorched the island last week.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: And now, even with more than 100 dead, thousands displaced, and more than 1,000 estimated to still be missing, people are already looking to rebuild. CNN's Bill Weir here has more from Maui.

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Amara, Victor, good morning. Aloha once again from Maui on the 11th day after the catastrophic fires changed life on this island forever. And I wish I had more news to share about the number of the missing. But while the search area seems to be jumping pretty dramatically in the last couple of days, it's that over 1,000 missing number that haunts so many people here on this island this many days after the tragedy.

And now that communication is largely up around the island, the number of people in the shelters has gone down dramatically as they're taking the displaced and moving them into hotels, either where their employees or donated rooms around the state. The state is helping picking up that bill. And they are preparing for the President and First Lady's visit here on Monday.

Deanne Criswell, the FEMA administrator is coming back to Maui. She was here last weekend. She's coming with the President to set in a press conference. They're not sure if he's going to fly over the damaged area or actually walk around the burn zone there. The White House has yet to release that, but she does insist the president will stand with the people of Maui and especially here from local leaders on how they want to rebuild.

That's the loudest course we're hearing right now is local leaders in Lahaina who have just implored the governor and state administrators to listen to them, to have -- put them -- give them a seat at the table as they talk about plans when to reopen this area, how to rebuild. There's so much tension that goes back generations over law there and land rights that are really coming to a head right now. So, in the meantime, everybody is waiting with sort of bated breath.

In some cases, for the worst news a family could ever get. But for others, they may never know, given that the entire town, almost three and a half square miles there, was cremated by those flames.

We'll keep an eye out for you and cut in with any late-breaking details throughout the day as they become available. Victor, Amara?

BLACKWELL: We know you will. Bill Weir for us there, thank you. And for ways to help Hawaii wildfire survivors, go to cnn.com/impact or use your mobile device to scan the Q.R. code right there on the screen.

Up next, horrifying scenes from the war in Ukraine sparked international condemnation. A missile attack that hits a town square, a university, and a theater. And now, seven people are dead. Nearly 150 people are injured.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:35:00]

WALKER: 15 children were among the 148 people injured in a devastating strike Saturday on the Ukrainian city of Chernihiv. The region's governor says dozens of people are still hospitalized this morning while the rubble is being cleared from the city streets.

BLACKWELL: News of this latest attack comes as U.S. military officials tell CNN that they're concerned about Ukraine's focus in the war. They call Kyiv's efforts and attacks of Russia's infrastructure in Crimea a distraction from its counteroffensive to retake ground.

CNN Reporter Katie Bo Lillis is following that part of the story from Washington.

KATIE BO LILLIS, CNN REPORTER: Victor, Amra, against the backdrop of this stalled counter-offensive, Ukraine in recent weeks has been ramping up its attacks on Crimea, this symbolically and strategically critical peninsula that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. Ukraine has launched missile attacks on key bridges connecting Crimea to the mainland, as well as Russia. And it's hit logistics and command and control hubs with artillery fire.

For Ukraine, the idea is to try to isolate Crimea and make it more difficult for Russia to sustain its military operations on the Ukrainian mainland. Of course, they see Crimea as a critical part of Ukrainian territory, and these attacks as a key element of the counter-offensive strategy. For now, though, military and intelligence officials that we spoke to say it's too early to tell whether these attacks are having any real impact on Russia's ability to defend against the Ukrainian counter-offensive.

But, Victor, Amara, what we are hearing is some real skepticism behind the scenes in some corners of U.S. government. For some military officials, these attacks on Crimea are a valuable raise of resources, especially given that many U.S. analysts now believe that Ukraine overall is stretching itself too thin between multiple axes of attack. As one senior defense official put it to us, it's not the Russians off balance a bit, but it's not doing anything decisive. And it would probably be better for everyone for them to just focus on the counter- offensive.

Now, at least for now, the United States is not actively advising Ukraine against striking Crimea, this official told us. But what is almost certainly true, according to the analysts we spoke to, is that the longer the counter-offensive drags on without any significant gains, the greater its chances of failure.

Victor, Amara?

[06:40:14]

WALKER: All right, Katie Bo Lillis, thank you very much.

For more now, let's bring in retired general James "Spider" Marks. He's a CNN Military Analyst. Good morning to you, Major.

Good morning.

WALKER: So, let's talk about this new reporting from our Katie Bo Lillis that American officials are concerned about the strategy in Ukraine where they're focusing this emphasis on Crimea. And we're learning that, you know, of course, some American officials are not happy about it. What are your thoughts on this strategically?

GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS (RET), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, I think Katie Bo's reporting is spot on. It's a little bit critical to say that it might stall, that it might not be successful. That's a truthful assessment, or at least there's an element of truth within that, and there's some concern.

The thing that the Ukrainians are doing right now is they are expending intellectual firepower, and they're expending firepower on objectives that are not directly attributing, or at least contributing, to the success of trying to isolate Russian forces. And then as a result of that isolation, you then must reduce those forces.

When you go after targets in Crimea, they've also taken shots into Moscow a couple of weeks ago, those are distractions. What needs to take place is all of those weapons systems, all of that planning, all of the direction that the Ukrainians need to take right now, needs to be on one or two very specific objectives so that they can achieve some immediate tactical success and then exploit that success.

When you start throwing firepower in the direction of Moscow and then deep into Crimea, you're not going to achieve that.

WALKER: So, why does Ukraine's counter-offensive so slow going so far? I mean, two months in, and there hasn't been any major breakthroughs at this point. I mean, what's the biggest concern?

MARKS: Well, look, the Russians are in a defensive posture. Attacks against defensive positions require a three-to-one advantage. I would suggest the Ukrainians probably don't have that three-to-one advantage in terms of the attack. And also, the Russians have been digging in over the course of the previous five months before the offensive began, which means they have defense in depth. They have positions that support positions. They have fire that crosses each other, which means they've laid a ton of mines. It makes it very, very slow going.

This is an incredible tough task on the part of the Ukrainians. That's why, frankly, when you look at the strikes in Crimea, you get the sense that they are trying to throw some haymakers, you know, that wild left punch. That's not going to achieve success. What's going to achieve success is continued tactical penetration of those defensive belts so that you can isolate those forces. Once a unit is -- once a military unit is isolated, they're incredibly vulnerable. That's what Ukraine needs to try to achieve.

And I would say one more thing, Amara, that what the Ukrainians are doing now looks not dissimilar to what the Russians did when they invaded in February. The Russians got way over their skis, multiple axes of approach, and the Ukrainians very, very quickly were able to stop them and then to push the Russians back. I hate to say it, but it looks like the Ukrainians might have failed to learn that lesson.

WALKER: Wow, all right. Well, you know, what about Ukrainian air power? Because we're hearing from the Ukrainian Air Force commander that Ukrainian pilots, they've already begun training on F-16 fighter jets. The training, obviously, as you know, is intensive. We're hearing it'll take about six months. It's not clear how long the training though has been going on.

How long will it take to get some F-16s in the air? And could this help in terms of changing the game?

MARKS: Well, it certainly can help. Yes, you bet. The challenge is you just don't fly in F-16, you've got to fight in F-16, so you've got to have time in the cockpit. And also, any aircraft that you are using must be in support of what your operational objectives are. So again, you fight in concert with all those other elements of power that you have. You've got to synchronize all of that.

So, aircraft by themselves will be -- will be good. What you want to have is that overpowering advantage, that three-dimensional fight, where you have long-range fires preceded by great intelligence, fires that are coming from the air, so that as you maneuver, you've got some support over your shoulder. That's what the Ukrainians need to achieve.

The F-16 by itself won't do that. It's certainly a plus-up. It's a phenomenal platform. But it needs to be used in concert with all those other capabilities.

[06:45:03]

WALKER: I'm wondering what you think, General, when you hear the Republican candidates -- well, in general, they're definitely not on the same page. You know, you hear the likes of Chris Christie and Mike Pence who they firmly support backing Ukraine, and then you have, you know, Trump and DeSantis and Ramaswamy who want less U.S. involvement to simplify some of their comments.

The fact that there is this unpredictability, right, as we head into 2024, how does that play into Putin's and Ukraine's calculus?

MARKS: Yes, great -- that's a great question. I mean, I view this as the filter of a soldier, right? I'm not a politician. I don't tend to be. The key thing is, from Putin's perspective, from Xi's perspective, from other autocrats throughout the globe, they are now trying to figure out whether President Trump or President Biden was the one-off. In other words, who's going to win this thing going forward, so they're going to hold back to see what's going on.

The key thing is, you have to be able -- Ukraine -- the balls in Ukraine's court, if they can achieve some success, success will beget success irrespective of party I would imagine.

WALKER: General Spider Marks, always good to hear from you. Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Still to come, officials say it is the worst wildfire season in the British Columbia history. Tens of thousands of people in the province are being told to get out, and there could be many more evacuations to come in the days ahead.

[06:50:00]

BLACKWELL: Our top story this morning. Southern California bracing for a storm like it has not seen in decades. Right now, Hurricane Hilary is bearing down on the California coast. It's a category 1 storm right now. And if it makes landfall in California as a tropical storm, as many expect, it would be the first in 84 years. It would also be only the third tropical storm or stronger to do so on record.

Coming up, we'll talk with former FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate about his concerns and what preps need to take place in the next two hours.

Right now, thousands of fire rescue personnel from all over the world are battling almost 400 active wildfires, 400 in British Columbia, during what officials say is the worst wildfire season in the province's history.

WALKER: This morning, 35,000 British Columbia residents are under evacuation orders, and 30,000 more are under advisory warnings after officials declare a state of emergency this weekend in response to the wildfires. CNN's Paula Newton has more from Ottawa.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Victor, Amara, the situation with the wildfires here in Canada, not as critical as it has been in the last couple days. Authorities say they've had some luck with the weather, but there is still a very challenging situation in two specific places. And again, this really comes at the end of what has already been a very challenging wildfire season in Canada.

I want you to look at this map. So, the first challenge was in the northwest territories, in Yellowknife, the capital there. This was a city of 20,000 now evacuated. Their fear was that the wildfire was moving ever closer to that city. Some luck with the weather, changing winds. Cooler weather means that authorities on the ground there have had a chance to try and stem the tide of that fire, if you will. The actual flames have not yet reached that city. Although the city does remain evacuated and nearly 20,000 people are wondering when they can go home.

Then there is the situation also critical in British Columbia. There are up to 30,000 evacuations there, but the situation most critical in West Kelowna and Kelowna. And there, fires continue to burn and really putting so many neighborhoods and critical infrastructure there in jeopardy. Authorities on the ground say again they had some luck with the weather, a wind change, cooler temperatures. It means that the water bombers were able to get in the air, but authorities are reluctant to really call this a reprieve.

Again, a critical situation. You are dealing with nearly 200,000 people in that area and they want to make sure that with all the firefighting resources there on the ground, that this fire will stay away from that city. Victor, Amara?

WALKER: All right, Paula, thank you.

And still ahead, 35 days, that's how long it took Lionel Messi to win his first trophy in an Inter Miami jersey. We'll show you how he got it done, of course, in nail-biting fashion.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:55:00]

BLACKWELL: Hurricane Hilary cleaves towards California. Several sporting events have been postponed, but there is one notable exception.

WALKER: That's right. Coy Wire is here with the details. Good morning, Coy!

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you. Happy Sunday. MLB decided to actually play three games across Southern California early on Saturday to get them in before the storm. Major League Soccer, though, they postponed the two matches they had scheduled for today.

Now ESPN citing -- a source says that for now the NFL, though, has decided to go on with tonight's preseason game in Inglewood between the New Orleans Saints and LA Chargers. CNN has reached out to the league for comment and not yet heard that. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Eastern. Meanwhile, scary moment, Patriots rookie Isaiah Bolden trying to make a tackle last night taking a hit from a teammate during the game against the Packers. He remained on the field for several minutes. And just like the unprecedented move to cancel the game due to an injury in Damar Hamlin's case seven months ago, this one was as well.

The team says Bolden does have feeling in all of his extremities, and he spent the night in the hospital for observation. Here's his teammate and team Captain Matthew Slater.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEW SLATER, CAPTAIN, NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS: Clearly, our team was shaken by what happened. I just think a lot of times all of us, regardless of the profession, we think that we're supposed to go about our day and things are just supposed to happen the way they're supposed to happen. And we're supposed to come back home and go do it again the next day. I think we all need to realize how blessed we are and we need to live our lives with a lot of gratitude.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: All right, moving on now to soccer. In less than a month, Lionel Messi has taken Inter Miami from the worst side in Major League Soccer to a title. Leagues Cup final, 23rd minute in Nashville, Messi gets messy. Lio let and lose the cannon, his 10th goal in seven matches. And look at this one, two, three, four, five, six defenders around him, and the goalie. My goodness.

That tied the game at one. And it went to penalties. Messi casually leading it off for Miami. It took 11 rounds before finally Drake Callender stuffed in the shot from the opposing keeper there. Messi and Inter Miami are your inaugural Leagues Cup champs doing it in dramatic fashion. And check this out. The team giving Tata Martino a shower afterwards at the podium. And that is perfectly fine campaign, you all. I guess it was worth it in the moment.

Finally, women's world cup final happening now in Sydney, Australia. Spain has a 1-0 lead at the half. Team captain Olga Carmona, just 23 years old, with the goal. History is on the line for both teams. Whoever wins this will be forever remembered as the team that hoisted that women's World Cup trophy for the first time in their nation's history.

Our Amanda Davies is there for us if this match ends in time. I'm sure she'll be fit in live to the show to bring us all the sights and sounds.

BLACKWELL: Certainly will.

WIRE: OK.

BLACKWELL: Thank you, Coy.

WALKER: Good to see you, Coy.

BLACKWELL: The next hour of CNN THIS MORNING starts right now.