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Republican Turmoil on Capitol Hill?; Republican Senator Blocking Military Promotions; Biden Heads to NATO Summit; Climate Change and Floods. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired July 10, 2023 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:02]

DANA BASH, CNN HOST: Moments ago, Defense Chief Lloyd Austin waded directly into that political fight, one that's leaving the Marines without a Senate-confirmed leader.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LLOYD AUSTIN, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: We have a sacred duty to do right by those who volunteer to wear the cloth of our nation. I am also confident that the United States Senate will meet its responsibilities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Thanks so much for watching.

"CNN NEWS CENTRAL" starts now.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Out in the open. Russia's top general appears in public for the first time since a mutiny last month reportedly aimed at bringing him down, while the Kremlin now says that Vladimir Putin met with the mercenary leader accused of spearheading that revolt.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: A once-in-1,000-year flood. Multiple states under flood threat now in the Northeast, drivers abandoning their cars to swim to safety. The rain is still coming down. We're going to look at how climate change is making bad floods even worse,

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SANCHEZ: We start with President Biden back on the world stage.

Last hour, Air Force One touched down in Lithuania for what is expected to be a jam-packed NATO summit, and expansion is going to be a big point of debate. Right now, Sweden wants in, but that is creating a new rift. And President Zelenskyy may be there too to personally make the case for Ukraine to join the alliance.

But Biden told CNN this weekend that will not happen until the war with Russia is over. Meantime, on the Russian side, today, a stunning reveal from the Kremlin. Moscow says that, just days after that failed Wagner revolt, Vladimir Putin met with the leader of that mutiny face to face, and now a top Russian general off the radar since that brief insurrection, has come forward publicly seen on video for the first time.

Let's start with CNN's Fred Pleitgen, who is live for us in Berlin.

And, Fred, this meeting seems completely out of character for Vladimir Putin.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely seems completely out of character, especially since Vladimir Putin, on the day that that mutiny happened, put out a video message calling that treason.

The Kremlin itself said that Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner private military company who was behind that mutiny, directed that mutiny, that he would have to go essentially into exile to Belarus. Now, of course, a couple of days ago, the leader of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, he told CNN, that Prigozhin is actually still in St. Petersburg, so still in Russia.

And now we're getting this word that there was this meeting only five days after the mutiny took place. It was quite interesting. So the notes that we're hearing from that meeting, some of the things that the Kremlin is actually now acknowledging about that meeting, they say that Vladimir Putin met with Yevgeny Prigozhin and 35 other commanders.

Now, it's unclear whether those commanders were all from the Wagner private military company, or whether there were commanders from the actual Russian army there as well. Of course, you talked about the fact that Russia has top general, Valery Gerasimov, the Russians now putting out a video for the first time of him in public.

Could be Vladimir Putin trying to smooth things over. But, Boris, one of the things that really stood out to us, because we have been talking so much about what happens next with Yevgeny Prigozhin, with Wagner, it seems he was completely down and out.

Apparently, one of the things that Vladimir Putin said in that meeting is, he talked to the commanders, including Prigozhin, about possible future deployments. Now, of course, that could mean that maybe there could be a comeback for the Wagner private military company on the battlefields in Ukraine, where, of course, they were extremely dangerous, especially when we look back at the fighting in Eastern Ukraine in Bakhmut.

But, again, absolutely unclear whether or not you Yevgeny Prigozhin is going to have any sort of role in that, if he's going to retain any sort of control over Wagner or his larger empire that, of course, has media holdings in it as well.

But, certainly, one of the things that we can say is that, after Vladimir Putin called all those -- treason, he hosted Yevgeny Prigozhin inside the Kremlin only a couple of days later. It could also be a reflection, Boris, of just how important these Wagner fighters are to the Russian military, because one of the things that we have been seeing, especially in the east of Ukraine, the Russians have been moving backwards since those Wagner fighters have been off the battlefield, Boris.

SANCHEZ: That is a significant point.

And, Fred, part of the agreement that ultimately ended the revolt, reportedly, had Yevgeny Prigozhin going to Belarus and staying there. But it's recently been reported that he is in Russia.

[13:05:00]

So, given the news of this meeting, what should we make regarding his whereabouts?

PLEITGEN: Well, first of all, it seems as though the Kremlin is trying to sort of come to terms with as this is going on.

It seems as though even they aren't clear as to many of the actual details about all this. But you're absolutely right. Right as that mutiny was still taking place, as it was ending, the Kremlin said he would go to Belarus. Then we heard that he was actually in St. Petersburg in Russia. So, right now, really unclear where the future lies.

We know that the Belarusians have set up a camp that potentially could host Wagner fighters. But we also know, Boris, that right now that camp is empty.

SANCHEZ: Fred Pleitgen, thank you so much for the update -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: Let's go now to the site of the NATO summit.

CNN's Natasha Bertrand is in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Natasha, President Biden seemed to say out loud what many European officials have been saying for some time privately, and that is that now is not the time for Ukraine to join NATO. What has been the reaction there to those comments?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Well, Jim, Ukraine, in some sense, understands that.

President Zelenskyy has said that he understands that Ukraine is not going to be a full-fledged member of NATO while the war with Russia is ongoing. But what he wants to see is some kind of clear signal by the NATO alliance that Ukraine does have a path to membership.

And why is that important? Well, to send a signal, of course, to Russian President Vladimir Putin that NATO has Ukraine's back and that, one day, there will be a time when Ukraine is part of the alliance and has that Article 5 guarantee that, if Russia attacks, if any other nation attacks them, then they will have the full backing of NATO to support them. Now, this, of course, is somewhat of a debated issue here regarding

how fast Ukraine can actually become a member of NATO, when it can become a member, the president obviously taking a harder view, saying that he does not believe that Ukraine can be a member until the war is actually over.

And he said that, of course, this is important, because, if they were to join NATO, then the U.S. and other allies would be committed to defending them in the face of this war against Russia.

But there are questions here about whether the alliance can come together on a kind of a fast-tracked membership for Ukraine once the war does end, once it becomes more feasible for them to become this full-fledged member. Will they have to go through the same process as all of the other allies?

Or can they skip a few steps, so that they can become a member sooner? But, ultimately, what Ukraine is really looking for here are those security guarantees? So, short of NATO membership, what can the NATO alliance give Ukraine, offer them that can reassure them that, in the long term, given the threat that they face from Russia and likely will continue to face, even if there is some kind of cease-fire or some kind of peace, what can the NATO alliance do to help Ukraine feel like it will be protected in the longer term, Jim?

SCIUTTO: It was, of course, a year ago when NATO agreed to accept not just Finland into the alliance, but also Sweden, and Turkey not exactly making Sweden's entry easy, and now attaching that to Turkey's own accession to the E.U.?

What is the status? Is that is that an open discussion? I know that Jake Sullivan has been speaking both the Turkish and Swedish counterparts there.

BERTRAND: National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, he did have a call with his Swedish and Turkish counterparts earlier today.

But, look, this demand by Erdogan has really thrown a wrench into what was already a very complicated process. Obviously, Turkey had been denying Sweden's entry into NATO, making a whole host of demands. This new demand to be a member of the E.U., before Sweden can actually join NATO. That is a new one.

And that is something that U.S. officials are probably not going to be very happy about. They have been pushing Turkey to allow for Sweden's accession. And they had hoped, Jim, that this would have been completed by the time the summit starts tomorrow. Clearly, that is not likely to happen, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Yes, another demand added to the mix.

Natasha Bertrand in Lithuania, thanks so much -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Let's break down all of this with CNN military analyst, retired Major General James "Spider" Marks.

General, always a pleasure to see you.

So, President Biden says that Ukraine is not going to be joining NATO until the war is over. Does that not give an incentive to the Kremlin to keep this war going, then?

BRIG. GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, it does.

I mean, the Kremlin is dealing with a number of challenges, right? They just had a coup. It didn't last very long. They have got a leader in Putin who clearly is weakened. That doesn't necessarily mean he's at risk.

But the challenges are quite significant for Russia. But the issue for NATO is, can they afford at this point to embrace Ukraine, which then would immediately invoke Article 5, which means all of NATO would then be involved in the war against Russia?

So, clearly, there is some incentive on Russia's part to keep up the pressure. But I think, very wisely, NATO should not embrace Ukraine at this point. Also, Ukraine doesn't have the ability to stand on its own two feet economically and in terms of rebuilding its infrastructure.

[13:10:01]

That would be an amazing drain on all of the other NATO members.

SANCHEZ: So, General, on the idea of finding an end to this conflict, how do you think European powers should approach this?

Because there's sort of a debate as to whether they should expand and strengthen NATO, or whether they should perhaps offer Putin an off- ramp at this time, where, as you noted, the Kremlin is at a weak point?

MARKS: Well, I think the way we have seen NATO over the course of the last year-and-a-half is quite phenomenal and I don't think very surprising.

They have been galvanized. They're gripping hands. They're standing together. And I think, from the perspective of what we're seeing, that's a very strong tactical incentive on the part of NATO, because, when Russia invaded, I mean, the rest of NATO partners went, oh, my goodness, let's not give the incentive for Russia, if they're successful, to then cross the border into Poland or push farther to the west.

But with the addition of Sweden at this point, this is a real strategic challenge. Putin is weakened, as I have indicated. We don't know that he's really at risk at this point. But he's clearly weakened on the heels of this meeting with Prigozhin. I mean, he's increasingly weakened.

Loyalty is the most important thing to him, yet he walked away from a holding Prigozhin accountable for his disloyal actions.

SANCHEZ: Right.

MARKS: But NATO at this point needs to be very careful about how they then put some additional pressure on Putin. He's down at this point. Do you want to step on his neck, strategically, or is he going to lash back out?

And I think a final thought is, look, as much as we dislike Putin, he hasn't -- he has chosen not to deliver nukes. If he's going to be pushed aside, if he's going to be replaced, do we have a similar guarantee with his successor?

SANCHEZ: And, General, on the point you just made about the fact that Putin is meeting with Yevgeny Prigozhin after this failed coup, when, as you put it, loyalty is the most important thing to him, I mean, how significant is that?

He badly needs Wagner mercenaries on the front lines, does he not?

MARKS: Oh, he does.

Wagner has indicated that it is willing to do some heavy lifting, where the other Russian conventional forces have not been able to get those tasks accomplished. So, clearly, he needs this paramilitary group. He just has a significant challenge with its leadership. Look, he got the soldiers, the members of that paramilitary group -- I misspoke. They are not soldiers. They're mercenaries. He's gotten them to pledge their loyalty to Putin and the motherland.

But the leadership have not ostensibly done that yet. So he's still got a challenge.

SANCHEZ: General James "Spider" Marks, always appreciate your analysis. Thanks.

MARKS: Thank you, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Of course -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: Right now, parts of multiple states are under flood watches across the Northeast.

The National Weather Service is warning of life-threatening flash floods, even landslides. In West Point, New York, a once-in-a-1,000- year rainfall there. Officials recorded more than 7.5 inches of rain in just six hours. Some trapped drivers were forced to swim out of their cars, as floods very quickly overtook the roadway students.

CNN's Polo Sandoval is live in West Point.

Polo, I think, often, it's hard for people to understand what this looks like from afar. Tell us what it looks like close up.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, now it's all about the cleanup, right, Jim?

Sadly, we did confirm yesterday that one death in a neighboring county in Orange, one of the executives -- county executive they're saying that it was a young woman who was actually trying to evacuate her home, in the process, losing her footing in those raging floodwaters and is swept away, her fiance forced to watch helplessly, her body later recovered.

She's the one fatality that's been confirmed by authorities. Authorities here in the region say that they don't expect any more rescues, though they certainly are still continuing with the cleanup.

Let's give you a picture of what it looks like here in Rockland County. You see this water that's flowing a few yards away from us. That's usually a babbling brook. It's still flowing at a fairly steady pace. Where I'm standing was completely underwater yesterday, carrying in debris, right now, obviously some logs and such.

I have actually an opportunity to speak to the folks who live in this house. They have walked us through, through what it looked like before. This used to be their driveway. That's now sunken in. And to give you an idea of just the sheer power of this water, look at these massive tree Trump's that I could never be able to move.

The bark was actually stripped off here. And now Cindy (ph), who lives here, she told me she's going to have to clear all this out. Richard, her neighbor, an 80-year-old who's lived here for 55 years, even gone through hurricanes, he said this is the worst that it's been.

But he's also grateful to be alive. He actually had to be reluctantly rescued. He didn't want to leave his home, but, during the height of the storm, some emergency personnel using a raft to actually remove him from his home. He's back today to begin the very long cleanup process, just like many, many people in the region -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: Goodness, the folks like that lucky their home wasn't damaged, given the force of those waters.

Polo Sandoval in West Point, New York, thanks so much.

[13:15:01]

So let's bring in now CNN meteorologist Jennifer Gray.

Jen, you have been looking at the map there. And, again, I feel like, every other day, we're talking about major weather events in various parts of the country. But tell us how long we expect the rain here to stick around.

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, the rain across New England is going to last until tomorrow morning. So there's still a huge potential for a major flash flooding event to unfold.

We saw those pictures that happened late yesterday. And then we could see very similar situations today. It all depends on where the heaviest bands set up. This is a photo from Ontario County, and you can see cars not making it through the water, as they shouldn't be able to. You should never drive in high water. We have even kayakers in the middle of the road there. So, things are still looking pretty bad, especially across places like Vermont and even Eastern New York, where we have that flash flood threat. This is an excessive rainfall risk, a level four out of four, which is high. This is very rare for the Weather Prediction Center to issue one.

And so we have this in effect today. Across Vermont, you can see that flash flood warning still in effect. We have flash flood watches that extend from New York to Maine. And this is what's going on. We have a very slow-moving cold front pretty much sitting stationary over the area.

And so you're just seeing huge amounts of rain dumped over the same areas for hours on end. And that's where we're seeing those really high rainfall totals. The other problem with this region, it's incredibly saturated. We have had a lot of rain over the last two weeks. So, any additional rainfall is not going to absorb into the soil, Jim.

It's going to really just cause those rivers to rise even quicker and all of that run-off to go into the roadways.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

That is a big rain system, I got to say. How much of the map from Boston all the way across to the top of New York state? Remarkable.

Jennifer Gray, we know you're going to stay on top of it -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: A United States Marine is now in custody after a missing 14- year-old girl was found in the barracks at Camp Pendleton. We have a live report on that ahead.

Plus, a new warning from North Korea. Why Pyongyang says it may shoot down U.S. spy planes operating in the region.

And this is supposed to get rid of fine lines and wrinkles, but now health officials in New Mexico are saying that a so-called vampire facial potentially gave someone HIV.

Those details and much more -- when CNN NEWS CENTRAL returns.

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[13:21:30]

SCIUTTO: Today, Washington give a nice send-off to the nation's top Marine, General David Berger officially retiring this morning, marking the end of a more-than-40-year career of military service.

But the commandant's departure also means that, for the first time in more than a century, the Marine Corps will not have a congressionally confirmed replacement to lead them. Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville continues to block promotions for top military brass, dozens of them. Since February, he has refused or approve hundreds of high-ranking advancements over a Pentagon abortion policy. CNN's Oren Liebermann, he is at the Pentagon.

And, Oren, this is a challenging time for all branches of the military, modernization, ongoing challenges and threats in Ukraine and Europe,Russia's military buildup, strengthening of NATO, as well as threats in Asia to Taiwan.

When you speak to Pentagon officials, what do they say this particular hole means for them, as well as all the others?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: It's a major problem, as the Pentagon and the service branches try to figure out how to function without having confirmed senior officers. They have to work in an acting in performing-the-duties-of capacity, which simply isn't how the military functions, especially not at its highest levels, as it tries to deal with all the challenges you just listed there.

In this one case, we're looking at the top officer of the Marine Corps, General David Berger, retiring after more than 40 years in the service, and his replacement, Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps General Eric Smith, has been nominated.

But now, because of this hold from Senator Tommy Tuberville, will have to do both jobs, the commandant's role in an acting capacity and his current job, a position that the Marine Corps hasn't been in, in more than a century, since the early 1900s. And that's how critical this is for the Marine Corps and the wider military to function.

There are more than 200 holds -- or 200 nominations, rather, on hold because of what is essentially a one-man Tuberville blockade of all of these appointments.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, speaking at General Berger's retirement, had this to say about how important it is to move forward with these confirmations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LLOYD AUSTIN, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Smooth and timely transitions of confirmed leadership are central to the defense of the United States and to the full strength of the most powerful fighting force in history.

And stable and orderly leadership transitions are also vital to maintaining our unmatched network of allies and partners. And they're crucial for our military readiness.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIEBERMANN: Tuberville's hold is over his protest of the Department of Defense's reproductive health policies.

Now, Austin in that speech expressed some optimism that there would be progress here, that the Senate would confirm these nominations, which normally happens in a very quick process called unanimous consent, except, right now, it's very difficult to see a way out. Tuberville is not going anywhere or budging on his one-man block of all these nominations. And Majority Leader Senator Chuck Schumer has made it clear he doesn't want to do these one by one, because he doesn't want to normalize the hold itself, and to do this one by one could take weeks, if not months.

So there is a process here. And that process is dragging out. It is worth pointing out -- and I will read a quick quote here from Congressman Jake Auchincloss, a Democrat from Massachusetts. He points out that this is exactly what China wants with their narrative of Western dysfunction.

He says: "It's one guy who is single-handedly handing a public relations gift to Xi Jinping. It's especially unfortunate because we have actually had a lot of success recently on our military posture in the Indo-Pacific. And we're stubbing our toe because of Tommy Tuberville" -- Jim.

[13:25:10]

SCIUTTO: Oren, is there -- I assume there's outreach from the Pentagon to Tuberville's office.

Is there any substantive negotiation going on that fuels Defense Secretary Austin's expressed hope they can make progress on this?

LIEBERMANN: There has been some level of outreach between legislative affairs here and the Senate Armed Services Committee, as well as with General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, to try to make some progress there.

But, Jim, no progress that we have seen on this block.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

Oren Liebermann at the Pentagon, hundreds of those posts still open. Thanks so much -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: There are some critical deadlines looming, as lawmakers are returning to Capitol Hill today from the July 4 break.

And the biggest one is how to fund the government by October 1, or risk a government shutdown. Right now, there's a big divide, and it's not just between Republicans and Democrats, but also within the GOP.

Let's take you now live to Capitol Hill with CNN chief congressional correspondent Manu Raju.

So, Manu, set the scene for us on the divisions over government funding.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Boris even though October 1 is still a few months away, it really is not in terms of the legislative calendar.

That's because, after this two-week July 4 recess, Congress is now returning this week, and then they take August off. They return in September, and there won't be much time to get a deal. And, already, we're seeing major divisions between the House and the Senate and among Republicans themselves, this after Kevin McCarthy, the speaker of the House, agreed to go to -- agreed to spending cuts lower than the previously agreed upon level for overall federal spending.

That agreed-upon-level was included in the debt limit agreement to avoid the first ever default that occurred later. The agreement was reached earlier this summer. But because of a revolt, concerns by far right members that the spending levels that were authorized in that agreement, McCarthy ultimately backtracked, agreed to much deeper spending cuts, deeper than what Senate Democrats and the White House and what many Senate Republicans can live with.

Republicans in the Senate are concerned that, if they were to go to the levels that McCarthy and House Republicans are going to, that could hurt defense programs. Democrats are concerned it could hurt domestic programs. But, at the moment, Speaker McCarthy and his House Republican allies are holding the line, demanding that they will go to much deeper spending cuts here, so all leading to concerns here that this collision course could occur in the fall, could lead to another government shutdown fight.

So it's uncertain at the moment, Boris, how this could get resolved.

SANCHEZ: And, Manu, this week, Congress is also dealing with some serious issues. Walk us through the agenda.

RAJU: Yes, there are a number of high-profile hearings, one of which will occur as soon as tomorrow that will -- a public hearing between -- over the very controversial merger between LIV Golf and -- the Saudi-backed golf league, as well as the PGA Tour.

The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations is digging into that merger, major concerns on Capitol Hill about how that has played out. But, also, the first ever classified briefing will occur tomorrow in the Senate over artificial intelligence and how exactly Congress can grapple with the emerging concerns about A.I.

This classified briefing will be led by national security officials and Pentagon officials, as well as the -- Avril Haines, who is the director of national intelligence, all as Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader, is trying to put together legislation to deal with A.I. The question is, can they get an agreement? Can they get it through Congress?

All other huge questions that Congress will confront this year and next -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Yes, a very busy few weeks ahead before the August recess.

Manu Raju, thank you so much -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: Coming up: rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Kim Jong-un's government threatens to shoot down any American spy planes that enter North Korean airspace. Details on what triggered this new warning.

And, later, a Marine is in custody after a missing 14-year-old girl was found in the barracks at Camp Pendleton. What we know about this case -- coming up.

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