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Ukraine Claims Slight Gains In Counteroffensive; Both Sides Rest In Synagogue Shooting Trial; Southern Baptist Convention Votes To Ban Churches With Female Pastors; Summer Wildfire Risks Shift North. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired June 14, 2023 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Ukraine is reporting that its military is facing fierce fighting in its long-awaited counteroffensive against Russian troops. Yet Ukraine says it has clawed back some of its territory from Russia in the Zaporizhzhia region.

Let's get some's perspective now from retired Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt. He's a former assistant secretary state. General, thank you so much for sharing part of your afternoon with us. Let's get started with looking at a map of southern Ukraine. Right now the Ukrainians say that they're making progress close to this area. See if I can get this to function. That would be great. There we go. And over here. Why in these specific areas are they focused right now?

GEN. MARK KIMMITT, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Well, first of all the road networks are much better up here. But candidly, what they're trying to do -- their objective is to try to get here to the sea -- even to Berdiansk or done here towards Melitopol or Mariupol. What they're trying to do is cut this whole area off. This land bridge from the south and the north. Now what happened was down here in Kherson, they flooded this area. This would have been a likely attack route for the Ukrainians. They can't come there now. So, it's unlikely that that's the direction they're trying to take.

SANCHEZ: What do you make of the reports that they're making some progress right now? Does it read as promising?

KIMMITT: No. Nor does it read as non-promising. It's just too early at this point. We've got to look at this as a chess game. What's out there right now are the reconnaissance units, the rooks. What they're trying to do, is they're trying to find weaknesses in the line, softness in the line so that when they find those, they can send the second row, the big pieces, like the king, the queen and send them in to make. But right now what they're just trying to do is find those weak points.

SANCHEZ: So, the context of trying to split up this land bridge is important when you look at what Russia is doing as well. Because they've been targeting Odesa, in this area, a very important port city. As we take a look at some of the damage caused by drone and missile strikes. This has been an area Russia has been targeting since day one. KIMMITT: Sure. What they wanted to do -- if we can bring up a map.

SANCHEZ: Sure.

KIMMITT: It has always been one of their objectives to cut off Ukraine from the sea. And they can do that if they can get all the way to Odesa. The Ukrainians held them at Kherson for months and months. But I think at this time they still eventually want to get to Odesa and make Ukraine a landlocked country.

SANCHEZ: We've been focused on the kinds of weapons that Russia is using here. They're launching these Kalibr cruise missiles, obviously with a sizable range. And they're also using these Shahed drones that are manufactured by Iran. As we look at this promotional video that Iran put out. How well do you think Ukraine's capabilities can defend against this aerial assault and for how long?

KIMMITT: Well, in the case of the Kalibr missile, not very long. They're very much like our tomahawk missiles. In fact, they're modeled after each other. They have inertial guidance, so they don't use GPS. They fly fast and low. And if they can be knocked down that's almost serendipitous.

The Shahed drones are a little bit different. We're now starting to get much better on anti-drone operations there, counter drone operations, particularly with the types of equipment that has been provided by the Germans, the old Ap GAT (ph) guns that can shoot them out of the sky. But they both remain very potent weapons and will be instrumental in slowing down or stopping the Ukrainians in this counterattack.

Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, really appreciate the perspective as always. Thanks very much for your time -- Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Next, it looked like a scene, right, out of an action film. Maybe "Fast and the Furious," maybe "Chips." A car speeding up, flying off that ramp off a tow truck. The driver is now speaking out for the first time about what happened there.

Plus, it is the largest protestant denomination in the country. It's often seen as a bellwether for evangelicals. It's now expelling its biggest congregation. We're going to tell you why.

[15:35:00]

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SANCHEZ: Federal prosecutors have just rested their case in the Pittsburgh mass shooting trial after calling 60 witnesses over nearly three weeks of testimony against suspect Robert Bowers. Among them, extremely emotional testimony today from Andrea Wedner. She's a congregate of the Tree of Life Synagogue who was severely injured in the shooting. And her mother, 97 years old Rose Mallinger was also shot and killed just feet away from her.

[15:40:04] The defense notably today also rested after having called zero witnesses over the course of the trial. Let's take you live to Pittsburgh and CNN's Danny Freeman who's there for us. Danny, walk us through everything that happened today.

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you said it, right. 11 days of testimony so far. 60 witnesses, and now the defense and prosecution rested just around 1:30 this afternoon. In the end, as you said, the defense did not call a single witness. And this case sure has been about 50-year-old Robert Bowers, he's accused of killing 11 worshippers.

But really the bulk of these past two weeks of testimony have really been about the impact of those actions. And nothing really that we've seen has as impactful as seeing Andrea Wedner take the stand today. Now, Andrea Wedner, she was one of the survivors of the synagogue shooting, her mother 97-year-old Rose Mallinger did not survive.

But she described today on the stand that she and her mother hid together, holding each other in a pew in the synagogue trying to avoid detection. They were ultimately both shot. And Andrea testified that she knew that her mom was going to die at that moment. She was terrified but she still stayed with her mother because she was determined not to leave Rose Mallinger alone.

And I want to say that she talked about on the stand, she said a few thoughts ran through her mind at that moment as the shooter was still walking through the hall. And she was still terrified. I'll read you some of that.

She said, she thought, I have a 2-year-old granddaughter. Will I ever be able to watch her grow up? My daughter was about to be married in March of 2019. Would I be alongside my husband to walk her down the aisle? Would I love my arm? Would I lose my hand? Would I be able to work again? Would I live or would I die?

She of course ultimately did survive. Police were able to come in and rescue her. But again, just one example of the intense and emotional testimony we've heard over the past 11 days.

And it's not over yet. Tomorrow morning we're expecting to hear closing arguments from both the prosecution and the defense. Then the case will head to the jury. But again, this is just about guilt at this point. Only after that we will go on to the death penalty phase if Robert Bowers is convicted of these charges. And that could take weeks after that. Back to you.

SANCHEZ: So difficult to listen to that testimony. Danny Freeman live for us in Pittsburgh, thank you -- Brianna.

KEILAR: The Southern Baptist Church which serves 14 million members has affirmed that women are not allowed to lead a congregation. This is the largest protestant denomination in the United States. And it voted to uphold the expulsion of two of its churches today for having female pastors. One of those churches was its biggest congregation. It was also one of the nation's largest churches. You probably heard of it -- Saddleback Church. Maybe you've heard of its pastor, Rick Warren, who wrote the book "The Purpose Driven Life."

Jake Tapper is with us now. He's going to be taking a look at this story as well. This is a big deal, and also one of the congregations that they expelled was a church in Kentucky that had a female pastor for more than three decades.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR, THE LEAD: Yes, and one of the things that pastor Rick Warren, that you mentioned, asked the denomination, the convention, to do is allow autonomy. We don't all interpret scripture the same way. Let us allow the churches to do what they want in terms of whether or not they allow female pastors.

And this is also the same point made by the Rev. Linda Barnes Popham from Fern Creek, a Baptist who told the "Wall Street Journal," quote, we don't all interpret every scripture the same way, but we believe that the bible allows women to serve in ways in which all of you do not agree but we should still be able to partner together.

And this is the debate. And it also comes at a time that we should note, not only the Southern Baptist Convention, but many faiths are experiencing a decline in worshippers. And some people think that the way you fix that is by expanding opportunities for groups that are not -- have not been traditionally represented in the leadership of churches, such as women.

KEILAR: I'm surprised by this as well. I actually grew up about five miles from Saddleback Church. This is not a liberal church.

TAPPER: No, no.

KEILAR: This is a pretty conservative church.

TAPPER: Yes, but within the spectrum of the Southern Baptist Convention, you're comparing the church to all denominations and all faiths and all politics. Within the spectrum of the Southern Baptist Convention it's probably more on the progressive side. And look, this is -- there's freedom of religion in this country and you're allowed to only have male pastors if that's what you want. And these two churches yesterday were ejected. And I should note, the vote wasn't particularly close. It was an overwhelming landslide to eject both of these churches from the congregation.

KEILAR: Why now after so much time?

[15:45:00]

TAPPER: It came to a head. There's been a lot of debate back and forth about why -- whether or not all these other churches should be allowed to do what they're doing. And look, very conservative voices in this country I think are finding new strength these days. And people are speaking out more in their strong conservative beliefs. And I think that's one of the things going on.

KEILAR: Yes, that it's an indicator of something larger that we're seeing happening. Jake, thank you so much. And be sure to catch "THE LEAD" at the top of the hour. We'll be watching for more on that. TAPPER: Thank you so much.

KEILAR: Thank you -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Plenty more ahead on CNN NEWS CENTRAL, including a scary forecast for New England. Why the Northeast is at a higher wildfire risk than California this summer? We'll be right back.

[15:50:00]

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KEILAR: Now to some of the headlines that we are following at this hour.

The Federal Reserve hitting the pause button on raising interest rates after hiking them ten straight times over the past 15 months. But the central bank added that it could add two more hikes later this year. The Dow as you see here dropping nearly or about 300 points, a little over 300 points in the wake of that news.

And the woman at the wheel of this wild wreck here in Georgia. She says that no one expected her to survive. This video is just unbelievable. The car drives straight up the ramp of a tow truck drives, flies right into the air like it's a movie. She spent two weeks in the hospital. She says the crash replays in her head when she goes to sleep. She says there was no warning that the tow truck was stopped and that the truck did not have its emergency lights on.

In this just in. A U.S. Marine, one of two suspects just arrested over the firebombing of a Planned Parenthood clinic in California. According to the Justice Department, the men threw a Molotov cocktail at the entrance of the clinic in Costa Mesa. As a result investigators say the clinic had to close and cancel approximately 30 appointments the morning of the fire. Both men are expected in court later this afternoon -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: California's wet winter and cool spring mean it is predicting a lower-than-normal wildfire risk this summer. That's a relief for West Coasters. But as we look at this map, a new national wildfire outlook shows the wildfire risk isn't disappearing. It's shifting. The hot spots to watch are going to be along the northern edge of the country, and in Alaska, places that we don't normally expect to see an elevated risk of fire. CNN chief climate correspondent Bill Weir joins us now. So, Bill, what's behind this shift?

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: It's drought, Boris. Things are really dry in upper Midwest, in the Northeast, and in parts of Alaska and the Pacific Northwest as well. We saw what tinder dry Canada can do, once a few lightning strikes hits and we saw those smoke storms come down the East Coast just last week here.

But now officials are saying we have to look out for places we don't normally worry about. Minnesota had so many fires, wildfires, they reached out for mutual aid to the neighboring Midwestern states and they said, no, sorry we're too busy fighting our own fires. In Delaware and Rhode Island, they had threats of wildfires. You know,

two right in a row in places that you normally don't think about in these areas right now. And so, it is a shift, too much water in some places, not enough in others, and not enough moisture, not enough snow packs in the winters right now stressing our forests.

SANCHEZ: And, Bill, researchers usually say that where there is forest, there is the risk for wildfire. But there's an insect that's also making things more difficult, right?

WEIR: That's exactly right. There is a spruce bud worm, which is kind of defoliate sort of sap-filled soft wood trees, making them into kindling over time. There is also bark beetles and tent caterpillars. This goes back to the winters. If the winter isn't cold enough to kill off these pests, then the trees have to suffer season after season, getting nibbled on in this way and making them all the more vulnerable. Just one-way things are changing.

You see the same thing happening with maple syrup production. Maple trees need a certain -- needed to be freezing and then thawing on the same day and those days are going away. So the maple range is moving further and further north into Canada. Another sign of our changing planet -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Yes, the delicate balance of mother nature, just thrown off in so many unexpected ways. Bill Weir, thanks so much for the reporting -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Ahead and I sincerely apologize for this next story. If you don't like bugs as much as I do. You don't spend all your spare time collecting them with small children like I do. But cannibalistic crickets are currently invading a Nevada town and we're going to take you there right after this.

[15:55:00]

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KEILAR: There is a cricket crisis in the town of Elko, Nevada. It's really serious stuff. Thousands of Mormon cricket have invaded. They've covered vegetation. Look at these things. They've covered the roads. They covered the sidewalks. They're covering walls. They're covering people. And people there are doing anything they can just to clear them out.

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STEVE BURROWS, NORTHEASTERN NEVADA REGIONAL HOSPITAL: We had people out there with leaf blowers, with brooms. At one point we even had a tractor with a snowplow on it just to try to push the piles of crickets.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And they drop from the ceiling down. Yeah, they're gross.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're super gross. (END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Oh, my gosh. So, during that interview, you see the crickets, they're even dropping on to that woman. And get this, the bugs -- because it gets grosser before it gets not grosser. They eat each other dead or alive. And they're not just creepy. They're actually a hazard because the roads there, they're covered with crickets. I'm serious. They're slick, they're dangerous and the state is using sand and even snowplows to clear them away. The good news though, experts say the crickets are only around for three to six days.

SANCHEZ: In case you were eating a snack or anything, the idea of a road covered in cricket --

KEILAR: That could be a snack.

SANCHEZ: -- guts made slippery -- you're a huge fan of eating bugs. Would you give this a try?

KEILAR: No, I think that was more a dare that I did that cicada thing on.

SANCHEZ: Well, do you eat this then.

[16:00:00]

KEILAR: I may have -- my bug eating days are over. However, I do collect them because I have two small children and they're obsessed. We have a bug vacuum that we collect --

SANCHEZ: A bug vacuum?

KEILAR: Yes, that's what I'll be doing after work.

SANCHEZ: Fascinating --

KEILAR: I'm going home to vacuum up bugs and look at them.

SANCHEZ: We should know, the residents, much like some kids, say that these crickets are gross and they poop everywhere, so --

KEILAR: Terrible. Terrible. "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts now.