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Coalition Calls for Vote on Wednesday to Form New Government in Israel; President Biden to Meet Vladimir Putin in Geneva; Jill Biden, Anthony Fauci Promote Vaccines at Harlem Church; Blinken: China Hasn't Told Us Enough About Covid-19; Peru's Presidential Election too Close to Call; U.S. Fighting Droughts, Wildfires and Floods; India's Capital Easing Some Covid-19 Restrictions. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired June 07, 2021 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, welcome to all of our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Robyn Curnow live from CNN center here in Atlanta. So just ahead on the show.

Pressure builds by the day on Benjamin Netanyahu, but Israel's Prime Minister is fighting to the bitter end to keep his grip on power.

And President Biden prepares for his first G7 summit. On his agenda, confronting Vladimir Putin about cyberattacks from Russia.

And the Duke and Duchess of Sussex welcome baby number two. We're live in London with the royal reaction.

Israel's longest serving Prime Minister is on the verge of losing his job, but not without a fight. The coalition seeking to oust Benjamin Netanyahu has asked the speaker of the Knesset to schedule a vote for this Wednesday to form a new government. The man who would become the next Prime Minister tough is warning Mr. Netanyahu to not leave a, quote, scorched earth behind him. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NAFTALI BENNETT, YAMINA PARTY LEADER (through translator): I call from here on Mr. Netanyahu, let go. Release the country to move on. People are allowed to vote for the establishment of a government even if it is not you who is heading it, a government that is 10 degrees to the right than the current one, by the way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Benjamin Netanyahu is looking to drag out this process hoping to find defectors to derail the coalition. And it seems to be following Donald Trump's playbook to cast doubt on the whole process.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We are witnessing the greatest election fraud in the history of the country, in my opinion, in the history of any democracy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Elliott Gotkine joins me now live from Jerusalem with more on all of this rhetoric, certainly potentially a historic few days ahead. But do you think Mr. Netanyahu still has a chance to change the trajectory of this coalition.

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: Robyn, until the vote has been held and until it is successful. And the coalition is holding firm right now, so they would appear to have the votes to win the vote of confidence to form the next government. So long as that hasn't been finalized in terms of the process, Benjamin Netanyahu's still of course has a chance to try to pick off waivers, people, members of the right-wing parties, especially Naftali Bennett's Yamina party and get inside New Hope party, to try to persuade them in his view to see the error of his ways.

But as you say, some of the language has been quite incendiary. Indeed we have that kind of read to beware on Saturday night, the view of head of the Shin Bet, the domestic security agency, issuing a warning to kind of tone down the rhetoric, saying that this discourse may be interpreted among certain groups and individuals as one that allows violence and illegal activity and can even lead to harm to individuals.

And in some quarters there are concerns that some of the language we've been seeing has been echoing in part some of the language we saw in the run up to the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin some 25 years ago. And surely not helping matters, one of Netanyahu's own lawmakers from the Likud Party, May Golan, went on Israeli television and described Netanyahu and Gideon Sa'ar akin to terrorists and suicide bombers, so far from toning down the rhetoric. Some of Netanyahu's allies have been ramping it up.

CURNOW: Elliott Gotkine, thank you very much for that live report there in Jerusalem.

Well earlier a spoke to a Reuven Hazan professor of political science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and I asked how Israelis feel about this possible change in government and what they think of Prime Minister Netanyahu's cries of fraud. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REUVEN HAZAN, PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM: Netanyahu has led the country for a dozen years and with every term in office he has polarized the country even more. So the fact that there's a coalition and in Israel we have pure proportional representation which means the majority of the parliament really represents the majority of the population. The fact that there's a coalition that wants to replace him after a dozen years and for him this is illegitimate, this is fraud.

[04:05:00] This is the worst thing that has happened to democracies in the histories of the world, according to him, shows that for Netanyahu, not only is anybody who doesn't agree with him and opposes him a deserter and a trader and we all know what should be done to that category. But also he doesn't understand that democracy also means transition of power, and we are all waiting with bated breath to see if this vote actually passes next Monday. And if so will he really pull a Donald Trump and not even show up in order to transfer power to the next Prime Minister.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: And President Joe Biden will host NATO's secretary general Jens Stoltenberg at the White House in the coming hours. This meeting comes ahead of Mr. Biden's first trip overseas as the U.S. president. He'll be attending the G7 Summit in the U.K. this week and meeting with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Queen Elizabeth II. Mr. Biden will then travel to Brussels to participate in the NATO Summit. And he will also meet with the Turkish President followed by meeting with Russia President Vladimir Putin in Geneva.

Now the White House says President Biden will address the increase threats of cyberattacks with the Russian leader. Earlier I asked the University of Essex professor Natasha Lindstaedt, what else he's likely to be discussing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NATASHA LINDSTAEDT, PROFESSOR OF GOVERNMENT, UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX: There's a lot of tension going into this meeting already, and the Russians are obviously tense because the U.S. has employed sanctions. And they said, if you employ more sanctions we're not going to use dollar dominated contracts anymore -- oil contracts anymore.

So the key here is to try to establish some type of relationship because the relationship is really at its worse. It can't really get much worse than it is already. And there have been some comments from Russian diplomats saying that there are miscommunication issues. That there's actually some common ground here, and I think the key will be to establish a relationship but also to figure out what is the common ground and what can they move ahead with to build trust between the two countries.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: Meanwhile the U.S. energy secretary warns America's power grid is vulnerable to cyberattacks and that enemies are capable of shutting it down. Jennifer Granholm's warning comes amid a rise in ransomware attacks in recent weeks. And speaking to Jake Tapper, she stressed that private companies really to work with the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNIFER GRANHOLM, U.S. SECRETARY OF ENERGY: I think that there are very maligned actors who are trying even as we speak. There are thousands of attacks on all aspects of the energy sector and the private sector generally. I mean, the meat plant, for example. It's happening all the time. We have all got to up our game with respect our cyber defenses. The president is doing that, his executive order. And just to quickly say, you know, on the pipelines -- because the pipelines were a concern obviously -- the TSA which actually regulates the pipelines has now required that pipelines to report cyber incidents to the federal government so that we at least have the intel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Well Granholm is urging companies not actually to pay ransom to cyberattacks, saying it merely embolden the attackers.

And U.S. Senator Joe Manchin is defending his decision to vote against a sweeping votes rights bill. The majority of his fellow Democrats support the bill and it would counteract Republican efforts to curb voter access at the ballot box. While he said to Fox News on Sunday about his position. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOE MANCHIN (D-WV): I think it's the wrong piece of legislation to bring our country together and unite our country. Now I'm not supporting that because I think it would divide us further. If we continue to divide it and separate us more, it's not going to be united and it's not going to be the country that we love and know and it's going to be hard because it will be back and forth no matter who's in power.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Now, his opposition to changing filibuster rules is also a major setback for President Biden's agenda. Those rules allow Republicans to hold out many of the bills the administration supports.

And an Alabama Congressman now officially faces as lawsuit from a California colleague looking to hold him partially responsible for the January 6th insurrection. Republican Representative Mo Brooks claims Democrat Eric Swalwell's team committed a crime by sneaking into his house and serving the complaint to his wife. Swalwell's attorneys denied the accusation and if Brooks thinks he wasn't properly served, he says he can contest it in court.

And the U.S. surpassed a milestone over the weekend in its effort to vaccinate Americans against the coronavirus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports more than 300 million vaccine doses have been administered. Over 63 percent of adults are now at least partially vaccinated.

[04:10:00]

The Biden administration wants 70 percent receiving at least one dose by the fourth of July, but the vaccination rate has slowed. Polo Sandoval reports now on the push by first lady and the country's top infectious disease expert to reach that goal -- Polo.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Over the weekend, first lady, Jill Biden, and the nation's top infectious disease expert stopping by an iconic Harlem church, promoting that message of the importance of getting vaccinated, hoping to increase those vaccination numbers. Both the first lady and Dr. Anthony Fauci made some time to stop here at the Abyssinian Baptist Church and speaking not only with church officials but also those who have been administering the vaccine as well. To see firsthand the efforts that are ongoing in communities of color. They recognize that churches are not only the oldest but also the most trusted institutions in black and brown communities, so they stopped by to really share that message.

JILL BIDEN, U.S. FIRST LADY: The people in this community trust this church and trust the people in the church, and that's how we're going to do it through the faith community to reach out to their congregation, their flocks, and say come forward and be healthy.

SANDOVAL: Both the first lady and Dr. Fauci did also spent some time speaking with some of the people who were getting their shots on Sunday, not only thanking them for doing so, but asking them to spread the word. Polo Sandoval, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: And the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is calling for greater transparency from China on the origin of the coronavirus in an interview with Axios. Blinken was asked about speculation that the virus may have been a result of a lab accident in Wuhan. He said Beijing needs to be open and accountable something that just hasn't happened so far.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: What the government didn't do in early days and still hasn't done is given us the transparency. We need the international community access for inspectors and experts, the sharing of information in real time. That has to happen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So to get those answers to do a proper investigation, we're going to need the U.S. committee the access to the labs. Will you demand that? Will you put teeth on it? Will you even go so far as sanctions on China if they keep inspectors out?

BLINKEN: I think the international community is clear that we have to have -- the international community has to have access. It has to have information. It's profoundly in China's interest do this as well. Because look, it suffered, too, in the outbreak of this pandemic. It presumably has an interest as well, especially if it purports to be a responsible international actor to do everything it can to provide all the information it is to make sure we can hopefully prevent this from happening again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: Well the Chinese government denies the virus was created in any of their facilities and suggested it may have been made in the U.S.

You're watching CNN. Still to come, extreme drought across the western U.S. has once said calling on a higher power that is an answer to their prayers in a forecast.

[04:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CURNOW: U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris's first diplomatic trip got off to a pretty bumpy start on Sunday. Her plane had to turn around shortly after departure because of a technical issue, but she boarded another and arrived safely in Guatemala. Harris is in Central America to discuss ways to reduce the flow of migrants from the region. She has a day full of meetings with community leaders, entrepreneurs and of course Guatemala's president. Later she heads to Mexico.

Meanwhile the ruling coalition there is expected to lose its supermajority in the lower house of Congress. That's according to preliminary results from Mexico's largest ever midterm elections. While President Obrador would retain control, the last of the supermajority would certainly prevent him from passing major reforms without the help of opposition parties. Final election results are expected next week.

And we're also waiting on the outcome of a very high stakes election in Peru. Security was tight as voters lined up on Sunday to cast their ballots for the next president. Right now officials say the election is just too close to call. Stefano Pozzebon has the latest from Bogota, Colombia -- Stefano.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEFANO POZZEBON, JOURNALIST: The first official results from Peru's presidential election gave an early small lead to the right-wing candidate, Keiko Fujimori, but the election remains too close to call in the early hours on Monday. Speaking in Lima earlier on Monday morning, the head of the Peruvian electoral authority, Pedro Corvetto, said that these are results only reflected votes that were cast in the police station that closest to the counting centers, that means urban votes from the cities of Peru. And that a fair share of the vote from the rural provinces, the Amazonian region in polling stations abroad have yet to be counted. Yet with less than 50 percent of the vote counted so far, Fujimori was awarded a lead over her rival left wing candidate Pedro Castillo of less than 5 percent points. And that's why the election is really tightly contested.

These early results are in line with the expectations that gave a stronger support for Fujimori in the urban areas such as the capital of Peru, Lima, instead to Castillo, who is a high school teacher who never held public office, a fairer share of support in the rural areas of Peru, more impoverished regions in the Andean highland. And it's not the first time that such a tight contested race takes place in the presidential elections. Just in 2016 Fujimori lost to eventual former president, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, with just 49.9 percent of the vote against 50.1 percent of the vote for Kuczynski. For CNN, this is Stefano Pozzebon, Bogota.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[04:20:00]

CURNOW: Police in California have arrested two suspects accused in a road rage shooting that left a 6-year-old boy dead, Aiden Anthony Leos was gunned down on May 21. He was sitting in a booster seat while his mom drove him to kindergarten. Police say the shooting stemmed from a perceived unsafe lane change. The suspect has been identified as Marcus Anthony Eriz and Wynne Lee. It's not clear yet if they have lawyers.

And the western U.S. is in the midst of what are calling an extreme drought. It's just so bad Utah's governor has asked people to pray for rain. Meanwhile more than 12 million people along the southern Gulf Coast are under flash flood watches. I want to go to Karen Maginnis. Karen joins me now with more on all of this. Hi, what can you tell us?

KAREN MAGINNIS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hey and Robyn, yes, it's going to be a significant rain event along the Gulf Coast region, but this eventually transitions more across the we have a big event. It's going to be significant Ark-La-Tex region into the Tennessee Valley, Ohio River Valley. Already some areas across Texas and Louisiana have accumulated some six inches of rain fall in some areas some isolated heavier now. It's also expected is we look into the next several days.

Now across the west, yes, extreme fire danger here over the next few months. They're saying that these summer months that are coming up could be some of the worst that we've seen. So a very high fire danger and a critical fire danger over the next couple of days.

All right, we're looking for a threat of some severe thunderstorms mainly across the northern tier states. A frontal system is just kind of lagging across this region. Ahead of the front this flow has seen record-setting temperatures, temperatures about 20 degrees warmer than they should be for this time of the year. That also applies to Northeast in new England. Even Burlington, Vermont, saw a temperature of 95 degrees on Sunday afternoon.

All right. Thunderstorms expected to cross the Ark-La-Tex region, going into Tuesday it transitions more toward the that central Mississippi River Valley, and then we'll start to see some of the rain just kind of making its way more toward the mid-Atlantic which may be good because that will stop the temperatures that we have seen soaring over the past few days. They can see it going into the next five days where you see this orange shaded area. You could see between 4 and 6 inches of rainfall, but maybe 2 and 4 inches would be some of the most common amounts we could see.

We could see more than 130 cities at record-setting temperatures going in toward Wednesday. So several days of searing heat. And speaking of that, we're looking at wind gusts of 45 miles an hour across the Great Basin. But most of the west there you can see just in dangerous fire conditions. Robyn, back to you. CURNOW: Thank you, Karen Maginnis there, I really appreciate it.

So still to come on CNN, a family tragedy in India. A young woman forced to care for her six siblings after they lose both parents to COVID. We have that story next.

[04:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CURNOW: Welcome back. I'm Robyn Curnow live from Atlanta.

So India's capital, New Delhi is easing some Covid restrictions as cases dropped there. Now the government is allowing shops and malls to reopen with limited hours, and Metro trains are operating now at 50 percent capacity. And there is also another sign -- if you want to take a look at this. India just reported its lowest number of new COVID cases in 61 days.

Well Vedika Sud joins is now live from New Delhi. So there is light at the end of the tunnel. There's certainly some good news in terms of the infection rate, but the aftermath, what's been left behind is still devastating and life changing, isn't it?

VEDIKA SUD, CNN REPORTER: Absolutely, especially for children, Robyn, because children have been affected by this second wave of COVID-19 that is still going on in India. It's being spoken about by medical experts and state governments have been talking about being prepared this time over third wave by ramping up oxygen supplies. As you remember, especially in Delhi, the human tragedy of Delhi there was a huge, huge problem with oxygen supply during the peak of the second wave.

The silver lining like you mentioned of 100,000+ cases that have been reported today, as compared to what we saw in the first week of May where the cases were over 400,000. But the worry is with the children, and my team and I did visit a family of seven siblings. They lost their parents to COVID-19. First they lost their mother in the month of April and then their father ten days later, and the unfortunate bit is that a 23-year-old girl, Devika, is now the head of that family. She only earns about $70 a month, and that's what she has to sustain her family. Here's her story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUD (voice-over): She lights the soy lamp in memory of her parents every morning. Just 23, Devika is now the head of the family and caregiver to her six siblings. These children, the youngest only 4- years-old, lost their mother and then their father to the brutal second wave of COVID-19 in India.

DEVIKA, ORPHAN (through translator): My 14- and 9-year-old sisters know about our parents. I haven't told the three younger ones. All they believe is that they're unwell and recovering in the village.

SUD (voice-over): In the last week of April, when the crisis hit the capital, Delhi, hard, India was reporting over 350,000 daily cases of COVID-19 and a severe shortage of hospital beds and oxygen.

Devika's 39-year-old mother was suffering from high fever. Her oxygen levels had dropped. After being turned away from many hospitals, Devika admitted her to a medical facility in the city of Kurukshetra, about 170 kilometers way, where she took her last breath.

DEVIKA (through translator): All she wanted was to get better. She wanted to fulfill her responsibilities as a mother. She wanted to be saved.

SUD (voice-over): Ten days later, her father, also infected by the virus, and heartbroken, couldn't be saved. An emotional Devika says her parents loved each other very much.

DEVIKA (through translator): My father doted on Mummy. They're together now.

SUD: You're very brave.

DEVIKA: Thanks.

SUD (voice-over): It's hard to console this young woman, who's barely out of her teens. She hasn't had much time to grieve. Devika's test prep classes, she brings in about $70 a month.