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CNN This Morning

Hilary Remains Dangerous Category 1 Storm; State Of Emergency Declared In Southern California; President Biden To Visit Hawaii On Monday; Source: Trump Expected To Surrender Thursday Or Friday; GOP Candidates Prepare For First Debate With Or Without Trump; DeSantis Campaign Lays Out Debate Strategy To Donors, Supporters; Tropical Storm Threatens Catastrophic Flooding in Southern California; Ukrainian Drone Hits Kursk Train Station; Ukraine's Urozhaine Liberated; Colorado River Crisis. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired August 20, 2023 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: 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 one nil 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 fed in live to the show to bring us all the sights and sound.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Certainly will.

WIRE: OK.

BLACKWELL: Thank you, Coy.

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: Good to see you, Coy.

BLACKWELL: Next hour, CNN This Morning starts right now.

WALKER: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to CNN This Morning. It is Sunday, August 20th. I'm Amara Walker.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Thank you for spending part of your morning with us. We are watching very closely the Southwest where they're preparing for Hurricane Hilary as it closes in on the region. Officials are warning of historic and catastrophic flooding. People are sandbagging. They're creating some sandbags to put them there outside their homes and events are canceled. Allison Chinchar is here with the forecast and impacts we'll see today.

WALKER: Also, Republican presidential candidates are sharpening their attacks ahead of this week's first Republican primary debate. Who we will likely see on the stage and their message to republican voters ahead of the debate.

BLACKWELL: We are learning one of -- more details, I should say, about drone strikes in Ukraine that have wounded more than a dozen children. We'll have the latest on that. Plus, CNN takes you inside a newly liberated Ukrainian village for a look at life after Russia's invasion.

WALKER: Officials have eased restrictions along the Colorado River as levels have risen, but some are warning it's the wrong move. They're concerns about the longevity of the river next.

We begin with Southern California and Mexico on high alert this morning as Hurricane Hilary is inching closer and closer to land. The storm, still a category 1, is packing winds right now of 85 miles an hour. It is expected to make landfall on Baja California in Mexico in the next few hours before moving north to the U.S.

BLACKWELL: City of San Diego could get a direct hit from the storm. Right now, Hilary is about 385 miles off the coast of San Diego. And while the storm is expected to weaken before it makes landfall, city officials are warning people that it still could be very dangerous.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS HELSER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF EMERGENCY SERVICES: This is a large storm with a huge footprint, unlike what we usually see in san Diego. Normally, we're used to small pockets that kind of bounce around. That's not the case. It's already pouring rain out into the desert and east of us. So it will come and it will have the impact that's projected.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Just the threat of mudslides and flooding is forcing some people to leave their homes. An evacuation order is already in effect for parts of San Bernardino County. And on Catalina Island, people who have certain medical needs have been strongly encouraged to evacuate the island.

We spoke to a man who said that he's heading back to the island this morning to ride out the storm.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD BEAVER, LIVES IN CATALINA ISLAND: Not sure what to expect tomorrow, but we've been warned that the power might be turned off in the island. So, storm surge, waves and things. So it could be pretty rough, I guess.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: Across Southern California, store shelves, look at that there, they're empty as people prepare to stay indoors, at least for the next couple days. CNN's Natasha Chen with 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've got lots of national parks and preserves like Death Valley, Joshua Tree, Mojave, they're 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.

[07:05:06]

Now, people whose homes and areas may have seen flooding in the winter storms months ago should be prepared to do similar things herewith 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, the 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. 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, thanks.

And for a look at exactly where Hilary is now, let's head to CNN's Weather Center and check in with meteorologist Allison Chinchar. So what do you see? ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right. So we're still continuing to see the storm weaken as it gradually pushes into those colder waters that was expected. That's going to continue to be the forecast as we go through the rest of the day today.

Sustained winds right now 85 miles per hour. It's picking up its pace now moving 21 miles per hour to the north northwest. It's going to continue to weaken, like we said, moving through those colder waters so that by the time it does cross into California, we expect it to just be a tropical storm.

Now what that means is you're still going to have some of those gusty winds late this afternoon starting to kick up 40, 50, even 60 miles per hour. It will likely stay that way even through Sunday evening. But by the time we get to tomorrow afternoon, we'll finally start to see those winds beginning to calm back down as the center of the system begins to spread north.

But the biggest concern absolutely out of this is going to be rainfall. You're starting to see that surge of moisture continue to spread not just into California, but even farther north into Nevada, into areas of Oregon and Idaho. The heavier rain is going to really start to push into southern California and western Arizona.

Once we get into this afternoon and continue through the evening and overnight time frame, you're looking at widespread areas about 2 to 4 inches, but there will be some spots that pick up 6, 8, even 10 inches of rain in total when this is all said and done by the time we get through on Monday.

The track of this, again, there you can see a lot more of those heavier bands setting in this afternoon. It starts to spread more into other areas, Nevada, eventually into Oregon, Idaho. So even though they are well away from the center of the storm right now, they are still likely going to have some similar impacts too.

It's just going to take longer to get up to some of these areas. We've already set two rainfall records so far, one in California, the other in Las Vegas. We anticipate setting even additional rainfall records going forward. We will have a bigger breakdown of the actual rain and what is forecast coming up in just about 20 minutes.

WALKER: All right, Allison Chinchar, appreciate it. Thank you.

And, of course, you can stay on top of all of the developments surrounding Hurricane Hilary at cnn.com/stormtracker.

Well, President Biden and his team are closely monitoring Hurricane Hilary this morning. FEMA officials held a call yesterday ahead of the storm to brief the president. In that call, FEMA explained that they are deploying a team to Southern California so it's in place when the storm hits. None of their resources will be pulled from Maui to help with this storm.

I'm joined now by Craig Fugate, he is a former FEMA administration. Good morning, Craig. Really appreciate you joining us this morning. So what is the top priority for a team on the ground like that when preparing for a storm like this?

CRAIG FUGATE, FORMER FEMA ADMINISTRATOR: Well, it's really to get in with the state regional office and the local officials so that as they start looking at what they potentially would need, FEMA's already working on it. The thing we've learned going as far back as Katrina, as far back as Hurricane Andrew is you can't wait until you know how bad something is to start moving resources in. So again, they'll be linking up with local officials, state officials anticipating what they're thinking and start moving resources in anticipation of those needs.

WALKER: And what kind of resources are we talking about?

FUGATE: Well, for flooding, what we're probably looking at with this storm is going to be widespread power outages. So everything from emergency power to cleanup kits, to some basic commodities. But as was pointed out, this is primarily going to be a rainstorm. We're looking at a lot of flooding.

And historically, this is the thing I think we sometimes lose track of. We keep talking about wind. These storms are deadly from water. In fact, more people drown in hurricanes and tropical storms than they do from the wind. And so the important message you're putting out there, stay home, stay off the roads, don't drive through flooded areas, could keep the death toll down given the severity of the storm.

[07:10:02]

WALKER: Yes, you know, I'm from Southern California, Craig. My family is there. You know, we're used to wildfires. We've dealt with, you know, plenty of earthquakes, but storms, even the simple rainstorm we're not used to. And now we're talking about, you know, a tropical storm.

Are you -- do you have specific concerns about the fact that it's, you know, at least the winds and some of the gusts could hit and of course as rain event could hit an area that is not accustomed to this kind of rainfall in such a short period of time? And is California set up to handle a storm like this?

FUGATE: Well, you know, as far as the response from California Office Emergency Services and their team, I'm not concerned about that. California is one of those states with a lot of resources, a lot of capabilities. I am concerned and this has been something we're seeing repeated over and over again.

There's extreme weather in areas that have never experienced it before. And what we don't know, what we don't know. Our infrastructure wasn't built for it. You know, comparing it to other types of different disasters doesn't always tell us what's going to happen.

And I think the big concern is people underestimate how deadly this flooding can be, particularly if they've been in an area that's not usually seen this and drive outthinking that normal areas would be OK finding them underwater and try to drive through them and drown. WALKER: Yes, you know -- yes, that's definitely a concern. And, you know, I think what's at the top of mind for so many people is this climate crisis, right? We're seeing disaster after disaster, obviously, fueled by climate change. And the impact that we're seeing is FEMA's resources being drained.

We heard from, you know, Deanne Criswell, FEMA's administrator, who said that their disaster fund is nearly out of money. It's only August, which means the peak of hurricane season is not even here yet. When you hear that and it's going to cost about $6 billion, that's what we're hearing in terms of the estimate, in terms of, you know, Maui's wildfires and the response there, what could this mean for the future? I mean are you concerned?

FUGATE: Well, obviously and again, when people say it's FEMA's money, it's not as yours, it's the taxpayer's money. And the taxpayer is increasingly seeing more and more of these events. And the other thing we're seeing is combined with the insurance crisis because FEMA only reimburses for uninsured losses.

So we see more and more people underinsured or without insurance, more and more governments without insurance. It increases the tax bill for you and me and this is increasing. So again, Congress -- I'm not worried about FEMA running out of money, but I do think we need to be concerned as a nation that if we're not investing more and buying down our risk and making more investments and building resilience for future, not past events as taxpayers, we're going to continue to pay the bill.

WALKER: Yes. And of course the hope is that Congress will pass a supplemental funding bill to help with natural disasters.

Lastly, Craig, tomorrow President Biden will be visiting Maui, obviously, to take a firsthand look at the devastation there from the wildfires. I know you know what it's like to deal with criticism during or after a disaster. And, you know, we've heard from a lot of Maui residents, you know, who've been frustrated, emotional, angry. They have felt forgotten by the federal government and neglected. Do you think this trip comes a bit late?

FUGATE: No. Again, they work very closely with the governor's office. The timing of these trips is always based upon when the governor and local officials say, OK, we can now support a presidential visit which we don't ever want to take away from in recovery efforts.

So this was a timing issue that was agreed to with the governor and local officials. And again, the president's role -- I can almost tell you what the president's going to say is that, you know, FEMA and the other federal agencies are going to be there long after the cameras go and you're not forgotten.

And this is really the role I think sometimes that presidents find themselves thrust into as the consoler in chief, representing the nation, making sure communities understand they're not going to be forgotten, they're not going to be left behind. But it doesn't take away from the difficulty and the pain of what has happened, nor the long recovery that's going to take place.

WALKER: Well, Craig Fugate, we really appreciate your time and of course we'll be watching the storm and hoping for the best. Thank you so much.

BLACKWELL: Still ahead, former President Trump and 18 co-defendants have until the end of the week, Friday to be specific, to surrender to officials in Georgia. Plus, we're learning children are among the nearly 150 injured in a Russian missile strike in Ukraine.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:18:49]

BLACKWELL: Former President Donald Trump has until this Friday to surrender in Georgia on charges related to the 2020 election. He and 18 co-defendants are accused of conspiring to overturn the state's election results. Sources tell CNN that Trump is expected to surrender Thursday or Friday.

WALKER: But negotiations between Trump's team and Fulton County officials are ongoing. It's unclear at this point how it'll all play out. CNN's Isabel Rosales has more.

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sources tell CNN that Trump's team has already been in contact with DA Fani Willis's team and that those conversations are expected to go into early next week. Conversations specifically about the conditions of Trump's appearance and the logistics about his surrender.

We've also heard from the Secret Service, a spokesman telling us that the agency has been on site here at the jail over the last couple of weeks, in contact with the sheriff's office here in Fulton County and also with the city of Atlanta ahead of Trump's surrender and also planning for his first court appearance.

Now, we've heard from officials here, including the sheriff, Patrick Labat of Fulton County, that Trump and his co-defendants are going to be treated the same as everybody else.

[07:20:04]

So let me walk you through what the normal booking process would look like here at the jail for a newly charged defendant. And that process would involve hours of waiting, simply waiting for their turn to get fingerprinted and get their mug shots taken. Also, there is typically a body search that is conducted by a jail deputy.

Although in the past, high profile defendants who have voluntarily surrendered have been able to forego that body search. A medical screening also typically happens, and a pre-trial consultation to determine whether it's appropriate for someone to be released without bond.

Here's what the sheriff had to say about the nature of this case.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF PATRICK LABAT, FULTON COUNTY, GEORGIA: Our goal is to treat everybody equally. And so if you're indicted, then we're going to treat you as though you were indicted here locally. And so we will continue to do fingerprints, mugshots, et cetera, in the safest possible fashion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSALES: And it is much more likely that this process will still be conducted much more swiftly for these co-defendants, just due to the high profile nature of some of them, including Mark Meadows, the former Chief of Staff. And then also due to all the safety precautions that are involved with transporting somebody that is a former president of the United States.

It's also possible that Trump and his co-defendants might not even have to show up in court for that first appearance, for arraignment. And that is because the judge could choose to conduct that arraignment virtually or choose to allow them to waive that right to an arraignment.

If that happens, it's unclear when the public will be able to see Trump in a Georgia courthouse for the first time. Clearly, though, the clock is ticking. Trump and his fellow 18 co-defendants have until Friday to turn themselves in.

Reporting outside the Fulton County Jail, Isabel Rosales, CNN, Atlanta.

BLACKWELL: Joining me now is Tia Mitchell, Washington Correspondent for the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Tia, good morning to you. So before we get to Thursday or Friday, we've got a big event on Wednesday, that's the first GOP debate.

And the former President, it's clear now, at least from the latest reporting, could always change, that he's not going to be there and that he is going to try to upstage them maybe with an interview with Tucker Carlson. Washington Post is reporting that it'll likely be taped the night before, unsure where it'll be released. Does a taped interview with Tucker Carlson maybe posted on X somewhere, really steal the spotlight from the event?

TIA MITCHELL, WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION: I think it steals some attention, particularly people like us, who have no choice but to pay attention to what former President Trump does as the leading Republican presidential nominee. There's also kind of the audience of X, the audience of conservatives who are very active on social media.

They might be more inclined to pay attention to a Trump and Tucker Carlson video that drops, as you said, on X or maybe a similar platform. However, I think your average voter, your average person who isn't glued to social media, who isn't a news junkie, and who probably finds the debate a little bit more accessible for them on their TV or their cable channels, that might not have as much impact. I mean, for example, Tucker Carlson himself isn't as visible as he was when he had the Fox News platform. So it would be the same for anyone he chose to interview at this point.

BLACKWELL: Let's talk about who will be on the stage. Ron DeSantis, governor of Florida, the highest polling candidate, although Trump at 53, he's at 16 in the latest poll. This is a debate five months before the voting actually starts. It's not in one of the early states, but there is a lot on the line for him when you consider the trend of his polling and the trend of, let's say, Vivek Ramaswamy and others. What's on the line for DeSantis Wednesday night?

MITCHELL: Well, it's a couple of things on the line for DeSantis. Number one, as you mentioned, his polling has actually been getting worse, not better, in recent weeks. So he really needs a good debate. He needs just some good weeks in general to turn things around, to prove to potential supporters and potential donors that he's on an upswing because a surging candidate will be able to draw more resources that can sustain a campaign versus if he is considered to have, you know, petered out, then his campaign could kind of dry up.

The other thing is there are a lot of concerns about Ron DeSantis's ability to meet the moment just as a good candidate, his ability to connect with an audience, his ability to communicate a winning message.

[07:25:06]

So in general, he also needs -- he doesn't just need a good debate to kind of swing his campaign around. He needs a good debate to kind of prove to the Republican electorate that he's a candidate worth taking seriously and that he's a candidate who can go up against Donald Trump him.

BLACKWELL: So Governor DeSantis was in Atlanta for the gathering. This group of Republican candidates, everyone except for Donald Trump, was invited. He spent about 30 minutes with Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, as did the former vice president, Mike Pence. We know that Chris Christie spoke with him by phone. Kemp spoke with Tim Scott earlier.

Kemp has said that he will endorse the eventual nominee. But what would an endorsement from him mean before then?

MITCHELL: I think that's complicated. I think in a lot of ways, Governor Kemp -- for those who are either never Trumpers or we need to move on from Trump, those types of Republicans do see something in Governor Kemp. And therefore, amongst those Republicans, I think a Kemp endorsement or a Kemp co-sign could indicate that a candidate is of that ilk.

He's the type of Republican who can be conservative, lead the party, and help them move beyond Trump. However, we know that as of right now, that is not a majority of the Republican Party. So for those Republicans who are still Trump, Republicans who are still pretty MAGA, so far, Kemp has been perceived as someone who has fallen out with President Trump, but, generally speaking does not directly challenge President Trump.

He has not necessarily traded barbs with President Trump. Now, he did rebuke President Trump more recently, but that was considered a departure from Kemp. And again, Kemp has said that even if Trump becomes the nominee, he will support him, he will vote for him.

So there's risks there if Kemp has a clean break by endorsing someone else. Marjorie Taylor Greene, for example, made that very clear last week. So, number one, I don't know if Kemp's going to choose to do that, but if he does, that could really turn off the MAGA base of the Republican Party, which would then be counterproductive for anyone who received Kemp's endorsement.

BLACKWELL: Yes, it cuts both ways. Tia Mitchell, thanks for being with us this Sunday morning.

And make sure to join Anderson Cooper as he breaks down the details of the criminal indictment of Donald Trump in Georgia. "The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper" airs tonight at 8:00 right here on CNN.

Still ahead, we're tracking the very latest on Hurricane Hilary, which is threatening catastrophic flooding in parts of Southern California.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:30:00]

WALKER: A large portion of Southern California is waking up under a state of emergency this morning as Hurricane Hilary barrels towards land. California governor, Gavin Newsom, is deploying more than 7,000 responders as residents who plan to wait out the storm, they are stuffing sandbags and stocking their refrigerators before Hilary makes landfall as a tropical storm later today.

BLACKWELL: In the next 48 hours, Hilary is expected to bring catastrophic flooding, fierce winds, heavy downpours to Southern California to the coast there, in what officials say it will be the wettest tropical cyclone to in the state's history.

We're joined now by CNN Meteorologist Allison Chinchar. So, the rain from Hurricane Hilary, that's really the major concern over the winds, right?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. Yes. And it really is because it's going to be more widespread. You're going to have a larger population that really sees the impacts from the rain. Now, we take a look where the rain is now. You're starting to see a lot more of that rain surge back in, not only to California, but also Nevada, areas of Arizona, even Utah. And eventually, it will spread into the Pacific northwestern states as well.

The overall threat, again, is very widespread. Places like Los Angeles, Las Vegas and San Diego under a moderate risk for excessive rainfall. Las Vegas, one of two places that and Bishop, California have already set record rainfall amounts that was from yesterday. More records are likely to come in the next 24 to 48 hours. But it's this pink area here, that's a high risk for excessive rainfall. The highest category you could be. And that included Death Valley National Park and places like Palm Springs and Palm Desert. To put this in perspective, this is a photo from last summer, Death Valley National Park, all of these cars trapped after a severe flooding event took place and they had mudflows subsequently afterwards. This was caused by less than an inch and a half of rain. OK. Less than an inch and a half. And that's because this area only sees about two inches roughly every year.

The forecast for the next 36 hours is two to four inches. So, you are talking a year's worth of rain in a short period of time. And even last year when we had significant flooding problems, they only got less than that. So, again, we are likely going to see those problems not just in Death Valley, but really for a lot of these areas of Southern California, Nevada, portions of Utah, Arizona and then even spreading farther north. That's why you have all of these flood watches in effect.

Another concern also is severe thunderstorms. We have the potential for damaging winds and, yes, even a few tornados for areas of Southern California as we head into the afternoon and the evening hours.

BLACKWELL: All right. Allison Chinchar, thank you so much.

Still ahead, Russia is reporting two new drone strikes from Ukraine. One at a train station. We're live with the latest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:35:00]

WALKER: A Ukrainian drone crashed into a railway station in the Russian City of Kursk this morning. Pictures released by the governor there show damage to the building's roof as well as a waiting room. One of the station's platforms has been closed for the moment, but two others are still in service.

BLACKWELL: The attack comes amid a slow but steadily increasing number of victories by the Ukrainian military. Our CNN Chief International Security Correspondent Nick Paton Walsh joins us live now from Zaporizhzhia. And, Nick, you have been travelling with Ukrainian marines. What have you learned?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes. During this week, we had another small but important village taken by the 35th Ukrainian marines, part of an axis in the southeast area of the counteroffensive they are currently pursuing. Significant losses, I think it's fair to say, on both sides during that.

Some suggestions, not confirmed, may be cluster bombs, possibly some that had been supplied by the United States, we couldn't confirm that precisely, may have been involved in assisting Ukraine's motion forward, but certainly a sign that Kyiv would hold up, that whatever the talk about the pace of their counteroffensive, it is taking new ground. Here's what we saw. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[07:40:00]

WALSH (voiceover): There may be ruin around them, but their direction is forward. We're with the 35th Ukrainian marines, the first reporters to get to the outskirts of Urozhaine, yet another village announced liberated, Wednesday. The victories maybe small, but are constant.

WALSH: So, just down here, Urozhaine, yet another town taken as the counteroffensive does move forward. We were just seeing the neighboring village taken last week, but they keep moving.

With that much incoming, we're getting out of here as quick as we can. While they control Urozhaine, the Russians do everything they can to make it a nightmare for the Ukrainians to be there.

WALSH (voiceover): The unit showed us the intense fight captured by drone. This is their tank advancing, dropping a string of anti-mine explosives behind it, they said, which then, once it turned, detonated. The unit released a video of them in the town, Wednesday, of how they turned their fire power on what was once a Russian stronghold that shelled them. The company commander recalls many more Russians hidden there than he expected.

Very many died, he says. Especially when they started to run. And when they held houses, lots of them died there.

But they were caught as they fled. The smoke around Russians, likely made by cluster munitions. Ukraine has said it is already using some rounds controversially supplied by the United States. We cannot confirm if these fired here were the new American cluster bombs, but the losses suffered were clear. And they say, their use is less of an ethical dilemma when you're in this brutal fight.

I don't understand it, he says. That side is using whatever they want. Our people are dying from all this and it's OK. When the other side die, it's not? I don't understand.

This footage shows how young some in the assault were. He has no time for western analysts who say this should be moving faster.

I would say they can always come to me as a guest and fight with me, he says. If someone believes that you can fly over the minefield on a broom like in "Harry Potter", it doesn't happen in a real fight. If you don't understand that, you can sit in your arm chair and eat your popcorn.

Out here, the last month of advances feel both empty and grueling, littered now with Russian dead. They haven't moved perhaps as far as it is felt.

WALSH: These just empty farm fields in which many have died to take each kilometer.

WALSH (voiceover): The Russians mined so hard here. They used this machine to do it. So much damage done, it's hard to imagine what plans Moscow had for here at all had they kept it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALSH (on camera): Now, look, in the punishing heat in which Ukraine is trying to prosecute this counteroffensive, they have this obvious major issue of Russian air superiority. Yes, they have things they can field around to try and reduce that, but fundamentally, Russia can drop half metric ton bombs on their positions as they move forward. That's why the discussion around Ukraine getting F-16s is so urgent for them now.

Indications from the country's defense ministers today that some of the training on Ukrainian pilots may have begun, that's likely to be Denmark, maybe the U.K., possibly the Netherlands involved in that in the near future. But they can't get them fast enough. They need them, they say, right now to tackle that Russian air superiority, to give Ukraine the change to bomb back and push their counteroffensive forward.

And look, important to remind people, this is an essential war, frankly, for European and NATO security. A Russian victory here would have far-reaching consequences for Europe and American security in the decades ahead. And many analysts think, if Ukraine doesn't see some significant progress in the two or three months ahead, we are in for a very difficult winter where Russia may well settle in, concretize its conquest so far and proclaim that some kind of win. Back to you.

WALKER: All right. Nick Paton Walsh, appreciate your reporting. Thank you.

Still ahead, CNN gets a firsthand look at a major threat to the Colorado River.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:45:00]

WALKER: All right. Back to our top story this morning. Southern California is bracing for a storm like it hasn't seen in decades. Right now, Hurricane Hilary is bearing down on Southern California as a Category 1 storm. And if it makes landfall in California as a tropical storm, it would be the first to do so in 84 years. It would also be only the third tropical storm or stronger to do so on record. We are tracking all of this, and we will have the latest forecast coming up at the top of the hour.

BLACKWELL: Colorado River water levels have been plummeting for more than two decades. But federal officials now are easing water cuts designed to prevent crucial reservoirs from drying up. The decision was made because of the heavy snow fall this winder that helped shore up some of the water levels. But experts are warning the Colorado River water shortage crisis is not over. Lucy Kafanov reports.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[07:50:00] (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SINJIN EBERLE, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, AMERICAN RIVERS: This river is iconic.

LUCY KAFANOV, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Sinjin Eberle has spent much of his life on the Colorado River.

EBERLE: It's a remarkable, remarkable area of the world.

KAFANOV (voiceover): As an avid adventurer and Colorado River advocate, his mission in life is to protect it.

EBERLE: This is one of the most important places in the nation, and it's one of the places that we need to be really diligent about taken care of because it does contribute so much to all of us.

KAFANOV (voiceover): The Colorado River is the lifeblood of this region. Powering cities, watering farms, and quenching the thirst of some 40 million people. It's a critical refuge for wildlife and a playground that's under threat.

EBERLE: It's being overused. There's more demand on the river. There's more water being taken out of the river than the river can handle. If we continue to over extract the bank account, we are going to run dry.

KAFANOV (voiceover): An unusually wet and snowy winter brought some relief, replenishing snow pack and boosting water levels for the first time in years. But with the rapidly changing climate, experts are warning, it's not enough.

EBERLE: It's been so hot and so dry in the Southwest that much of the benefit we got out of the snow pack is literally evaporated.

KAFANOV: The one or two extra wet winters is not going to solve this crisis?

EBERLE: My concern is that people will assume that the situation is getting much better and that we can take our foot off the gas in terms of conservation. This system can crash and it can crash fast.

KAFANOV (voiceover): Over the last century, the river has shrunk by roughly 20 percent. Those losses are more apparent in the lower basin states, but the impacts are being felt across the entire waterway.

KAFANOV: Raft in the Colorado is a breathtaking experience. It's a slow and sometimes bumpy ride through ancient time at a moment when it seems like the Earth's clock is speeding up. Even here, the effect of climate change, rapid growth and water over consumption are threatening the very existence of this river.

DAVIDE IPPOLITO, COLORADO RIVER RAFTING GUIDE: We boat through Cataract Canyon. It's the best roller coaster in north America. Class five rapids all the way down when it's high water. And yet, my most dangerous part of my job is when I get to this ramp, it's extremely dangerous. KAFANOV (voiceover): The river has shrunk so much that it's nearly impossible for Colorado River guides like Davide Ippolito to pull boats out of the water.

IPPOLITO: It's kind of like pyramid building. You have guides putting roller tubes underneath boats. As that boat is pulled up, guides are running and putting those tubes under until we get to flat land on top like ancient Egyptian technology, literally.

KAFANOV (voiceover): It's such a hassle that many tours now float an extra 50 miles downstream, adding up to two days, not to mention cost to a trip. What worries Ippolito more than the business impact is the threat to future generations.

IPPOLITO: So, if we want to live out west and we want to protect our heritage out here and we want to have enough water for our kids and grandkids, then we need to solve these issues now. It's no longer problem we can kick down the line.

KAFANOV (voiceover): A sentiment echoed by Eberle.

EBERLE: It would be heartbreaking to lose this place.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAFANOV (voiceover): Victor, Amara, the Colorado River remains in the midst of a massive climate change driven drought which has lasted for 23 years and it's the region's worst in 1,200 years. As you saw in the piece, one unusually wet and snowy winter isn't enough to magically erase this crisis. And so, it remains critically important for states, tribes and agriculture to keep working together to find ways of using less of this dwindling resource. Victor, Amara.

BLACKWELL: Lucy Kafanov reporting for us. Thank you so much. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:55:00]

WALKER: What happens when a two-headed snake doesn't see eye to eye?

BLACKWELL: It's a question that could make your head spin. CNN's Jeanne Moos has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): After over two years, he's headed back, both heads ready to turn heads at the Cameron Park Zoo in Waco, Texas.

MOOS: Do the two heads get along?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They almost ignore each other.

MOOS (voiceover): Meet Pancho and Lefty, named after the country western song.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pancho needs your prayers, it's true, but save a few for Lefty too.

MOOS (voiceover): The harmless western rat snake was found by a local resident and donated to the zoo when it was two weeks old.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He has two different brains.

MOOS (voiceover): In seven years, he's grown from eight inches to three feet.

MOOS: Is he right-hand headed or is he left headed?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The dominant head is the right head. However, the left head does have idea of its own.

MOOS (voiceover): And when Lefty goes one direction and Pancho goes the other, it's trouble. The snake gets hung up on things and injures himself. In 2021, the wound got so bad, he had to be removed from his exhibit to be treated and to heal. That waxy-looking substance on Lefty's neck protects the injured area.

MOOS: So, which head eats?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They both do.

MOOS (voiceover): But the dominant right sometimes drags lefty away from a mouse meal. The right head gets more to eat, though it all ends up in the same stomach. 20 years ago, I covered a two-headed turtle named Lefty-Righty whose head stole food from one other. When one head yawned, the other did, too. They got caught on plants.

The snake's exhibit has been revamped, so there's little to get stuck on.

[08:00:00]