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Wildfires Scorch More Than 10,000 Acres in Spokane Area; Arson Suspect Arrested in Connection with Spokane-Area Wildfire; Moderate GOP on Trump and the Economy; Rep. Max Miller Under Pressure to End Reelection Bid Amid Abuse Claims; Michigan Senate Battle Tests Democratic Party's Direction; Ukraine Braces for Another Tough Winter as Russia Steps Up Attacks. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired August 04, 2026 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, breaking overnight, the governor of Washington State called Spokane a war zone from the fires still very much blazing there. He made the point that much of the country does not seem to realize these fires have flattened city neighborhoods. And I want to show you what he's talking about here.

This is the neighborhood around West Holyoke Abbey. You can see this is what it looked like before the fires. Now look at what it's like now.

You can see what the smoke and the flames did to that neighborhood, simply flattening it. One other neighborhood, West Pine Cliff Court. Again, before and now after.

You can see just that entire area flattened. You can see a fire truck right here. The city of Spokane has a population of 250,000.

There have been evacuations now for some 65,000 people, so a quarter of the city. Even if you expanded the county, the population is 600,000, so that would be 10 percent. Huge numbers of evacuations.

One more neighborhood, North Parkview Lane. Again, before, look at all the beautiful houses here. Now look at, oh, I'm going to X that out.

Now look after. You can see, again, the fires there are just completely flattening it. Hundreds and hundreds of structures have been destroyed, most of them homes.

So, again, people don't have places to live there. This is a devastating situation. Let's get to Derek Van Dam, CNN meteorologist, for a sense of what the firefighters there can see today and over the next few days.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, John, here's the top lines. The past 24 hours have provided the firefighters on the ground the calm winds they need to try and get the advantage, the upper hand, on these wildfires. But the reality that we are all facing is that temperatures will increase, the relative humidity will go down, a crucial weather parameter in the fight against wildfires, and there is no rain in this forecast.

Look at this image or this video here, and you can see there's very little wind pushing the smoke in the background. I believe that's a gas fire here, but the charred remains of this home, not really billowing much in any particular direction because the winds remained light. That was a video taken yesterday.

So that's what firefighters needed. But cumulatively, the three major wildfires surrounding Spokane are all at zero percent containment and have now surpassed 10,000 acres burned so far. So what will the wind do in the future?

You can see the light winds continue today. But look what happens. You can pay attention to the time stamp on the top portion of the screen.

It increases as we head into the second half of the week. We're talking Friday into Saturday. A very weak trough or a cold front will come through, and that's going to help pick up the winds.

But before the temperatures rise, the relative humidity comes down. What does that mean? That means we have increased fuel availability.

So the fuel is the dried-out vegetation on the ground. So these ingredients working together, unfortunately, make for a potential -- another volatile wildfire behavior going forward. It's already outlooked on the fire forecasts that we've seen, not to mention the lack of rain and the smoke that is just choking the Pacific Northwest.

That satellite image says it all. We've got air quality alerts for tens of millions of Americans as this spreads down the West Coast -- John.

BERMAN: Higher winds, higher temperatures later this week, not welcome at all. Derek Van Dam, thank you so much for that update -- Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, thank you so much, John. Joining me now to continue this conversation, Spokane City Council Member Kitty Klitzke. Thank you so much for being here.

Council Member, I understand that your district was perhaps the hardest hit in all this, with so many homes and buildings burned. Can you give me some sense at what the danger is at this hour?

KITTY KLITZKE, SPOKANE CITY COUNCIL MEMBER: Yes. So about half of my constituents had been evacuated, but we have shrunk the evacuation area in the city of Spokane a bit, but it's just heading north. So there are still three active fires, and they're all kind of moving towards convergence, depending on what the wind does.

And I think as you just heard in the weather report, while the wind and the humidity are more favorable right now, we expect similar weather conditions to what we had on Saturday, this coming Saturday.

SIDNER: It is -- when you look at some of these images, it looks apocalyptic. I mean, house after house on fire, and then just sort of left in complete rubble. [08:35:00]

I do want to get some sense what you're hearing about the fact that investigators have arrested a suspect for arson in all of this. Are you hearing from constituents about that particular element here? And have you learned anything new about how investigators came to figure out that there is someone who they believe is responsible for this fire that has burned hundreds and hundreds of homes and buildings?

KLITZKE: Yes, well, that was a sheriff's office investigation. So when I have questions about sheriff office activities, I call the sheriff, and I spoke to him last night. The person that was responsible for the arson was responsible for just the old road or the old trail fire.

So we have three active fires. We don't know the source of the other two fires yet, but I don't know how they found them. I'm sure they have a communications person there that can answer that, but I do know that he was arrested without incident and is being detained, and they set a million dollar bond.

So I'm just glad to hear that he is not still out in our community, possibly setting fires. It's very interesting that we had a warning out, and we knew that this weather was very dangerous, and this person decided to start a fire.

SIDNER: Look, this is being compared by some to the Palisades fire, just the amount of devastation in a place that has, what, 250,000 residents. Is that how you view this as well?

KLITZKE: No, this is my district. I'm really responding to what's happening on the ground. I'm not really thinking about what's happened in other communities, except in the context of mayors and city council members from other communities who have been through this reaching out to us and offering us advice and resources.

I've been incredibly grateful for that. This is starting to become such a common thing in the West that you're starting to join a club of communities that have burned badly and trying to find out ways to support each other, which is encouraging but devastating at the same time.

SIDNER: Do you have everything you need? Do you have the support you need to deal with this?

KLITZKE: That's a really interesting question. I think we have what is available. There's so many fires going on in the West, especially in Washington state, so resources are spread thin.

But we do, as states in the West, can negotiate mutual aid before fire season, and this is just the very beginning of fire season. So we have firefighters from all over the country and Australia helping us, but there are some things, and we have the National Guard, the Washington National Guard here, helping us control the scene and also helping fight fires. But I think that the Western states lack enough Fire Bosses, those big planes that hold a lot of liquid to help fight fires. There are so few of those in existence. I think that's something that further in the future -- because this is becoming the new norm because of climate change and because of the way that we have sprawled into rural areas and have dense populations right next to forests and farms, I think we need to think about those kinds of resources because this is going to be an every-year, every-other-year occurrence in the American West.

SIDNER: Yes, the new reality is bleak in some ways, at least when it comes to wildfires, how hot they get, how big they are, how much damage they do. Kitty Klitzke, good luck to you there in Spokane. I do appreciate you taking the time.

I know you're very busy to deal with us as well. Appreciate it.

KLITZKE: Thank you.

SIDNER: Kate.

BOLDUAN: So we have seen in just the last week how President Trump's approval rating has dipped to record lows. Only about a third of Americans approve of the job that he's doing right now, and some of the biggest drags on that number and that approval is handling of the economy, is handling of the Iran war. Let's dive inside those numbers, though, inside his own party.

CNN's Harry Enten has been doing that, running the numbers. He has some interesting insights on what he's seeing inside the GOP. Where is his weakness?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN DATA ANALYST: Yes, OK. So, you know, we often talk about, oh, that conservative base, that MAGA base. But how about where the other GOP lives?

That is moderate Republicans, Kate Bolduan, moderate Republicans. And in a word, yikes. Yikes is the word.

OK, take a look at this. The moderate GOP on Trump. This includes leaners.

This is about 30 to 40 percent of the party, depending on how you exactly look at it. Versus Kamala Harris, Trump easily was winning amongst them by 69 points back in October of 2024.

Come over to this side of the screen. Look at this decline in a Lake Erie. I mean, right now we're talking about, as we're talking about just a plus 10 net approval rate. This is within his own party. This is within his own party.

He's just barely above water. Do the quick math with me.

[08:40:00]

ENTEN: We're talking about just a +10 net approval rate. This is within his own party. This is within his own party.

He's just barely above water. Do the quick math with me. That's 69-10.

That's a 59-point drop. That is five and nine in the course of under two years. So moderate Republicans abandoning Donald John Trump, and that is a big uh-oh.

BOLDUAN: And where and why?

ENTEN: Why? Why? Well, you were mentioning it in your intro, right?

It's the economy. You think a 59-point drop is a lot? How about this one?

OK. Woo! This is a 77-point drop.

OK, moderate GOP on Trump and the economy. Back in October of 2024, he was more trusted than Kamala Harris by 80 points. Now he's just one, two, three points above water.

That is, as I said, a 77-point drop on the key issue that got Donald Trump re-elected to a second term, where the Republican Party was lock, step, and key with him. Moderate Republicans have abandoned Donald Trump, and now he is just treading water with a group that overwhelmingly supported him.

BOLDUAN: And to reinforce, this isn't overall. This is with moderate Republicans within his party, we're seeing this.

ENTEN: Correct. This is moderate -- this is -- coming over to your side of the screen --moderate Republicans within his own party. We are talking about moderates, and they make up about 30 to 40 percent of the party.

BOLDUAN: OK, and where in the economy? Why is -- when it comes to the economy, where in the economy is it hurting most?

ENTEN: Yes, OK, so you see these positives. Even though Trump has dropped tremendously, we've seen some positives on this side of the screen, right? All right, how about time for some negatives?

OK, moderate Republicans, Trump's net at approval. On Iran, he's six points underwater within his own party, within his own party. You think that's low?

How about 17 points underwater on inflation? Inflation was the name of the game with the economy back in 2024. Now moderate Republicans, who make up roughly 30 to 40 percent of the party, have absolutely left Donald Trump aside, and he is underwater on the key issue of the day.

If I'm a Republican running for Congress in those swing districts, I need those moderate Republicans, and they are leaving Donald Trump. They may be leaving those Republican candidates, as well.

BOLDUAN: It's good to see you, Harry. Thank you for that look.

ENTEN: Thank you, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Sara.

SIDNER: All right, thank you to you two.

This morning, pressure mounting on embattled Ohio Congressman Max Miller to drop his re-election bid as he faces domestic abuse allegations from his ex-wife. Axios reports President Trump spoke with Miller Monday night.

Sources tell CNN Trump allies are encouraging the president to push him to step aside. It comes as the critical deadline for him to do so is quickly approaching. CNN's Adam Cancryn joining us now from Washington.

What are you learning here? Because he, so far, has remained defiant.

ADAM CANCRYN, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, Sara, Max Miller really under intensifying pressure here from within his own party to drop out over these domestic abuse allegations, and that has included now President Trump getting involved. Republicans have been encouraging the president to get involved, to try to push Max Miller out of this race for a little bit now. Trump, according to Axios reporting now, did call Miller personally last night, but he didn't quite go as far as to say, hey, you've got to get out of the race. Telling him, reportedly, quote, "Things aren't looking good." Expressing doubts about kind of his ability now to win this race with these allegations hanging over him.

But he has not been willing, so far, to kind of go to the point where he says, either privately or publicly, hey, Max Miller, you need to leave this race for the sake of the GOP. Max Miller, for reference, he is staying in. He says he's staying in, even though there is this now tight deadline to kind of figure out what to do in this race.

You had mentioned today is the last day for a special primary to be held if Miller were to drop out of this race. Beyond today, it comes down to county party chairs. They would have to kind of choose a replacement if Miller dropped out.

But that is even, you know, that's still a pretty short runway. We haven't until August 10th here. That is the drop dead deadline for Miller to be replaced on the ballot.

So really coming down to the wire here, a lot of pressure building up in this must-win race for Republicans.

SIDNER: Yes, I mean, these allegations are very serious. We'll see what happens and what he does. Adam Cancryn, thank you.

To you -- and a quick programming note -- Congressman Max Miller will be on "THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER" answering questions today at 5 p.m. Eastern -- John.

BERMAN: And that's no small thing.

SIDNER: No.

BERMAN: If it holds.

With us now is Ayesha Rascoe, the host of NPR's Weekend Edition, Sunday and Up First. Also with us, CNN senior political analyst Ron Brownstein. Ayesha, I'm fascinated that Congressman Miller is going to come on with Jake later today or at least is scheduled to.

[08:45:00]

If you're a Republican around the country, an elected Republican in Ohio, what do you hope he says?

AYESHA RASCOE, NPR HOST, WEEKEND EDITON SUNDAY AND UP FIRST: I think I think if you're an elected Republican in Ohio, you hope he does not say anything and that he drops out the race. I mean, I think that's just the bottom line. You do not want someone get it -- look, I don't know what he can say at this point. You know, he did the live stream that did not help him, right?

I think when you get to the point with allegations this serious, it is very hard to get out there and say, oh, nothing happened. He is saying nothing happened and that is his right. But I think that it's hard for people to hear the allegations when you have to go over each of these allegations that is putting it in people's minds, that that's putting doubts in voters minds, just hearing about them.

So I think he's in a very difficult situation. But Trump has not called on him to drop out. And so right now he is holding on and he is really testing the bounds of like what can a politician survive in this day and age?

BERMAN: Well, that's a that's a really great way of putting it in. And Ron, I was talking to S.E. Cupp last night and she was raising the question, you know, how much does character, broadly speaking, matter anymore in elections when you have both parties at different times seem to stretch the boundaries there?

Democrats, they held on to Graham Platner for a long time. Ultimately, they did push him from the race. But there was a point where it seemed like he might be willing to be the nominee.

So is it as much of a problem as it might have been, you know, 20, 30 years ago?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, look, obviously, Donald Trump's election has shown that people are willing to accept controversies and personal actions that would have been unacceptable in the past. But the boundary is not infinite. I mean, I think part of the reason Republicans are not putting more pressure on him is the Trump example.

I mean, you know, Donald Trump responded to Brett Kavanaugh in his confirmation hearings by saying this is a dangerous time for men who are facing accusations. And obviously, you have the whole E. Jean Carroll situation, which makes it awkward for Republicans to lean too hard on the congressman here. But, you know, the bottom line is, I think that, you know, we are in an era where the country is so closely divided that every House seat matters.

And I think that really will result in just more pressure on him in the coming days. John, the last three Congresses, the majority party, neither side has had a majority of more than 10 seats. That's never happened before in American history.

We've never had three consecutive majorities in the House of 10 seats or less. And it just, you know, the same way that we've been talking about Democratic primaries, including some today, I mean, every seat matters in this world. And I think the pressure on him is just going to grow.

BERMAN: So Michigan primary tonight. You can watch the covers live right here on CNN. And Ayesha, tomorrow, when everyone wakes up, what do you think the lessons that the Democratic establishment, what lessons do you think they will have learned throughout this process?

RASCOE: Well, listen, you know, I don't have a crystal ball on what's going to happen, but obviously if El-Sayed wins, it's going to look at, I mean, it's going to do some soul searching, right? Because the establishment candidates are -- if the establishment candidate does not win, that is going to lead to some soul searching of like, what is our identity? What is the identity of the Democratic Party?

And if the base continues to elect people who are further to the left than what the establishment Democratic Party has been, I think that raises into -- really raises some questions about the direction of the party. I think it is very reminiscent of the Tea Party from back in the day. Like, I think that there is an insurgent movement within the Democratic party.

And the question is, who's going to come out on top?

BERMAN: And one more question, Ron, is if El-Sayed does win and if there is this movement toward progressives, who's the national progressive to take that banner maybe after November into a presidential race?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, that's an easy one. I mean, if AOC, if AOC runs, she would be the logical inheritor of all this energy. You know, so far as we've talked about, I mean, there has not been a decisive winner in the left center battle in the primaries.

There have been more battles than we've seen, I think, at any point in either of our adult lifetimes. But, you know, the center has won races, Iowa Senate, California governor, and the left has won races. What's happening is the left is finishing very strong here.

If Abdul El-Sayed wins, perhaps wins decisively, you have another chance for a left challenger to split the middle between two centrist alternatives win a swing seat in Michigan 7.

[08:50:00]

Wisconsin governor next week likely to be a left candidate. But I would submit to you that this is only kind of the first round of this, because ultimately, I think the lesson of what this means for the party will not be fully set until we see whether these candidates can win in November. If they lose these seats, particularly this Michigan Senate seat, which is kind of indispensable for a Democratic Senate majority, the loss of the El-Sayed race will look very different to someone like AOC, I think, than if he goes forward and wins. Even his allies understand, as one put it to me, this is all chips in the middle of the table moment if he's the nominee.

They have to prove what they've been asserting for years, that an economic populist can win these swing states.

BERMAN: Ron Brownstein, Ayesha Rascoe, thank you. Great to see you this morning -- Sara.

SIDNER: Great conversation, John. Thank you.

An FBI agent is accused of stealing nearly $1 million in cryptocurrency. And in court records, investigators reveal why he did it, they say, in his own words. That story and more ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: We have new video in showing what Ukrainian officials say amounts to another war crime committed by Russia. A warning before we show you the video is disturbing. And the man you will see here did survive but did suffer several injuries.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(VIDEO OF BOMB HITTING A STREET VENDOR)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Yes, this is in Khorasan in the southern part of the country. Ukrainian officials say that the man is a street vendor, showed no signs of being a combatant, but you saw what happened to him with that drone there. Again, he survived, suffered a concussion and blast trauma.

This attack comes as it appears Ukraine's war strategy is shifting, along with hitting military sites and oil refineries in Russia, in the past two weeks, according to a CNN analysis, there have been 16 long range strikes on facilities linked to an online shopping company called Wild Berries. It's Russia's equivalent, if you will, of Amazon.

[08:55:00]

Joining me now for more on this, CNN contributor and former CNN Moscow bureau chief Jill Dougherty. It's good to see you, Jill. Ukraine says that Wild Berries, this company that it was selling military equipment and sanctioned drone components. What do you think of this move by Ukraine?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, it's effective for the Ukrainians, you'd have to say that. I mean, hitting all of those hubs for this, you know, kind of Russian version of Amazon is really important because this is a huge company. And what the Ukrainians are saying is that civilians who have relatives in the fight or people who are in the fight in the Russian army are actually going online and ordering things that are components -- you could say military components.

I mean, helmets, jackets, you know, flak jackets, electronic components. And this is why the Ukrainians have decided to hit them.

And of course, it creates a lot of havoc because this is part of the supply chain, not only militarily, you could say, but certainly civilians. So it's really hurting them. And I think, you know, just a shock factor of having these outlets and transit hubs being hit is really a factor psychologically in Russia right now.

BOLDUAN: Yes, that's a good point. And also hitting at Russia's, you know, continued expanding war economy, too. And then there's also what can only be described as more confusion over President Trump's promises when it comes to Ukraine.

Earlier this month, Trump had announced, and everyone took note, that the U.S. was going to allow Ukraine to build its own Patriot missile systems, that the U.S. would share the tech so they could make that make these critically important defensive weapons. And now the president has says is not what he agreed to. The quote to reporters was, "It's a it's a hard thing to give away that kind of technology."

And he also said, because there is a risk that, quote unquote, those people you give the technology, they could someday turn on you. I mean, you can imagine the frustration of Ukraine's leadership on this. But Russia hears that and thinks what?

DOUGHERTY: Well, yes, it's easy to say what the Ukrainians think. But, you know, those people, who exactly does that refer to? But I think the Russians are happy because if the Ukrainians do not get Patriots, then they have a huge problem in defending against what the Russians are using more and more and producing more of, which is these missiles.

You know, the Ukrainians are very good right now. They can essentially knock down about 90 percent of the drones incoming. But when it comes to missiles, those are huge and they need much more robust protection.

And that means Patriot anti-missile defense. And if you don't get Patriots, then there is a real problem. Now, the Ukrainians, knowing that this is kind of back and forth with the President of the United States, they're beginning to develop -- in fact, they say that they have in development a version of that type of missile protection, anti-missile protection. But it will take a while.

All of this, I think, Kate, the main thing, all of this is going to take a long time. So even if they were able to, let's say, get a prototype by the end of the year, you know, the bombing is happening right now. And as you can see, even from that drone footage, it is increasingly going after civilian targets.

BOLDUAN: Yes. Terrifying that video. Jill, it's good to see you. Thank you so much -- John.

BERMAN: All right, this morning, the FAA is investigating after a small plane made an emergency landing on a Florida highway. A truck driver's dashcam was recording the plane, which was on a training flight, came within feet of highway signs and passing vehicles.

Authorities say the pilot and a flight student were on board and no one was hurt. CNN aviation correspondent Pete Muntean is with us now for the latest on this. I mean, heck of a landing here, Pete, I guess.

But there are some questions.

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Some questions, of course, you know, this is a huge area, Pensacola, for flight training. It all looks normal, according to the open source tracking for a training flight. But it appears these issues began at about 2,000 feet, still about five miles from the airport.

A Piper Warrior like this can only glide about two miles forward for every 1,000 feet up. And that's in perfect conditions. So, the math wasn't really mathing here.

A farmer's field might be preferable for something like this. But this was over neighborhoods, shopping centers. So, landing on the highway, probably the best call.

Here is the risk, though, when landing on a road. You often can't see things from the air that you would on the ground. Wire stretched on or across a road, huge concern.

Those could be nearly impossible to see. Of course, ducking under that sign structure, probably the best miss of the day.

[09:00:00]