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Zelenskyy Speaks At NATO Summit; Long Term Commitments To Ukraine; Rescues In Flood-Ravaged Vermont; Jennifer Morrison Is Interviewed about Vermont's Flooding; North Korea Fires ICBM. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired July 12, 2023 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY, UKRAINE: Thank you very much. Mr. President.

President Biden, Prime Minister Kishida, Chancellor Scholz, Prime Minister Sunak, President Macron, Prime Minister Trudeau, Prime Minister Meloni, President Michel, President (INAUDIBLE), great honor to be here.

The outcome of the NATO summit in Vilnius is very much needed and meaningful success for Ukraine. And I'm grateful to all leaders in NATO conference (ph) for very practical and unprecedented support considering the case of our relation support for Ukraine.

Today there are security guarantees for Ukraine on the way to NATO, an important package of security guarantees. Today we are coordinating with our G-7 countries, the framework for security guarantees that shall be further extended through arrangements with our key partners. Bilateral and multilateral agreements. And Ukrainian delegation is bringing home a significant security victory for the Ukraine, for our country, for our people, for our children. It opens for us absolutely new security opportunities and I thank everyone who made it possible.

Thank you, dear colleagues. Thanks you. Thanks, Lithuania and Jan Stoltenberg.

Thank you very much.

(INAUDIBLE) Ukraine.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This concludes the speaking program. Please remain seated for the family photo.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: So we're going to see the family photo now, which is always one of our favorite parts about any summit. These will be amongst the G-7 leaders and with President Zelenskyy.

But you hear the brief remarks and the strong statement of support coming from the G-7 leaders supporting Ukraine and its path -- eventual path to NATO.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: We're also hearing from them this declaration of long-term commitment. And that's something that Ukraine has worried about, something that NATO has worried about. So, it's interesting to see that said over and over and over again because they don't yet have a very fast path to NATO membership.

Let's bring in lots of our folks to discuss with us. CNN's Arlette Saenz, and Nic Robertson, as well as Kim Dozier, all here with us.

I want to start with you, Arlette.

President Biden made very clear that, look, this joint declaration is all about a long lasting future of security for Ukraine that the U.S. and other NATO allies will be involved in. Tell us about the significance of this, even though they're not getting NATO membership at this particular summit.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, really what President Biden and these leaders are trying to do is put behind some of the tension that arose coming into this summit about the fact that Ukraine would not be offered a concrete timeline into NATO. And, instead, they are trying to show what they can offer Ukraine in the here and now and also long-term down the road. This declaration that was announced today by the president and G-7 leaders will essentially jump start talks between each of the countries to have these bilateral, long-term security commitments. President Biden saying that the support will last long into the future.

And what officials - and you also heard the president there stress -- is that they want to ensure that Ukraine not just has the ability to defend themselves now, but can also deter and defend themselves against other future aggression.

And so much of this is trying to send a message directly to Russia. That is what this entire summit has really been about for President Biden as he's been trying to show the strength and unity of NATO, especially as we've also learned that NATO could soon be expanding. Sweden could join the alliance.

And what the president has repeatedly tried to point to is that the U.S. is one of the strongest backers of Ukraine as far as sending military aid to the country. And now they're going to try to extend these long-term security commitments to them into the future.

And so in just a short while we will also see President Biden and Zelenskyy sit down one-on-one face-to-face for a private meeting. We expect reporters will be allowed into a portion of that. Which will be another show of unity that the president can demonstrate against Russia as Vladimir Putin continues to wage this war against Ukraine and as officials here at the summit have been arguing that the shows of strength, the shows of unity and support for Ukraine and within the alliance show that Putin's war is backfiring against the very thing that he had hoped against.

BOLDUAN: And as we've been watching, as you were talking, Arlette, we were watching live the family photo of the G-7 leaders in the gathering with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy.

Nic, what do you - what does that photo represent? What does this moment represent?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, I think what we've just witnessed is President Zelenskyy being the consummate diplomat for Ukraine.

[09:35:08]

He may not have gotten quite what he wanted, but he took it well.

Look, he - what we got -- the version of Zelenskyy we had yesterday was the warrior (ph) diplomat, coming in, charging, demanding something that these, you know, given a timeline, absurd that we - that he didn't get it, he said. But there he was standing on the stage with the leaders of the G-7 nations and a couple of EU presidents there as well and he called it - he called them all out by name, thanked them all by name. This is him being a diplomat.

And I think the -- the piece of diplomacy that wrapped it up there, and this is what is signaling back home and I think he's signaling that he feels he got as far as he could go. He said, we can bring back home a significant security victory. So, he is telling his people, and he's telling his intelocitors (ph), that he's got as good as he could get. That these security guarantees that will be negotiated, these long-term guarantees and partnerships that will now be -- begin to be negotiated, this is good. This is what he wanted. He didn't get 100 percent of what he wanted, but he's got enough to take home. And he knows he's pushed it as far as he can go this time.

But we've all seen Zelenskyy before. He will keep this up about trying to get NATO membership, making sure it's fast-tracked, thanking everyone for everything that they've done, thanking them for taking out one of the steps to membership, pointing out that they've been doing a lot together already and that helps the situation. That shows that Ukraine is on the right path, posture and position to become a European Union member, as well as a NATO member.

So, yes, this was the diplomat, the real consummate diplomat version of Zelenskyy we just witnessed.

SIDNER: Thanks, Nic Robertson, for that analysis.

Let's go to Kim Dozier. I want to ask you about NATO itself and where it's at right now because back when Donald Trump was president it was no secret that at one point he discussed pulling the U.S. out of NATO and trying to sort of weaken that alliance.

How does what happened in this particular very important summit strengthen NATO? You've got one more country that is now going to be allowed in, and does this put a lot of pressure on Vladimir Putin?

KIM DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, it does bring it up to 32 once Sweden is officially in. Of course Hungary's got a - Hungary's parliament has to ratify that first, as well as Turkey.

But what it does is send a powerful message to Moscow, that combined with these new security guarantees towards Ukraine, that this is a marathon for NATO, not a sprint. That if you thought that you, Vladimir Putin, could wait us out and use the mass of your population, four times the size of Ukraine, to grind them down, we're going to be here the whole time keeping them supplied. And we're also going to be a -- we're going to be doing a -- we're going to keep sanctioning you, we're going to keep putting you under economic duress.

So, the combination is NATO's stronger. Bringing Sweden and Finland in, they both actually have pretty advanced defense industries. That strengthens NATO militarily. So, overall, this is a win-win for NATO and lose-lose for Moscow.

And one last thing, Biden aligning himself in this way with Ukraine will make it really hard if there is a change in U.S. presidents come the next election for any future president to back away from this support.

BOLDUAN: Yes, that's an interesting point.

Kim, thank you so much for being here. We've got more to come.

Nic, Arlette, as always.

We're all standing by because we have another big moment that we will be bringing to you live, which is when President Biden and President Zelenskyy sit down for their one-on-one meeting at the tail end of this NATO summit. Headlines, though, coming out. President Zelenskyy saying that they got very practical and unprecedented support. And President Biden saying and promising that they're going to be there as long as it takes in support of Ukraine.

We've got much more ahead. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:43:47]

BOLDUAN: Rescue teams are deployed across Vermont this morning as people across the state are up against days of historic, catastrophic flooding. And that is how the governor described it just yesterday.

And with more rain in the forecast tomorrow, it's an all-out sprint to get to those in need. Two days of heavy rain have sent water just spilling over riverbanks across the northeast. So many streets washed out and critical infrastructure pushed to the brink. Thousands of homes and businesses have been damaged by the flooding and even boil water orders have been needed to be put in place to protect residents.

CNN's Miguel Marquez is in Montpelier, Vermont, with much more.

Miguel, what are you seeing, what are you hearing there this morning?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is the long, hard slog now. The emergency side of this thing is over. The rivers have pretty much gone back into their banks and they're starting to come down. Even the reservoirs are coming down as well. So, that is the good news. The sun is out. They are expecting more rain but they don't think it will be enough to sort of recharge all the rivers and the reservoirs. So, they think they'll be able to take it.

But this is what they're dealing with now. It is the heartache of everything that they have lost. This is a beloved bookstore, Bearpawn (ph) Books, in Montpelier.

[09:45:03]

They're throwing out everything. This is the water line. So, everything below that they are getting rid of and then trying to dry out the store so the rest of the books above that they can - they can - they can keep and they can sell at some point.

Beyond that, I mean, look at the mud here. The mud is unbelievable everywhere. I'm going to hold on to this because it's very slick. But this is what they're dealing with, this very - this very thick, silty mud that they're doing an amazing job of, of getting rid of right now. They have street washers from Burlington and other areas that are here in the capital that have been going up and down the streets here trying to get rid of all of that mud. You can see down here they are pressure washing the sidewalks to try to get rid of it as well. It's very, very slippery as well here. So, even residents who are walking down here are slipping and sliding as they walk.

They did -- were able to make some emergency rescues overnight. For the most part it's people who have been stuck that they haven't been able to get to, that they're now able to get to and just check on everybody. Incredibly, and thankfully, so far not a single person has died in all of these floods.

Back to you.

BOLDUAN: Which is just remarkable and amazing when you see some of the images that we're seeing from - from yesterday, we're running beside you. It's just -- seeing how washed out downtown was and how threatened those bridges and walkways were that you were standing on yesterday. That's the good news in this. But a very tough go ahead for all across Vermont.

MARQUEZ: That's right.

BOLDUAN: Thanks so much, Miguel.

Sara.

SIDNER: And here's the problem, Kate, the rain is coming back potentially tomorrow.

Joining us now is Jennifer Morrison, commissioner of Vermont's Department of Public Safety.

The rain has finally stopped. We've been seeing these really incredible pictures from the capital there in Montpelier.

Can you tell us what your biggest concern is this morning?

JENNIFER MORRISON, COMMISSIONER, VERMONT DEPT. OF PUBLIC SAFETY: Yes, ma'am, I can. Thank you for having us here.

Yes, Montpelier, and the capital region, have probably seen the worst of it. However, we are actively still rescuing people in the Lamoille County area. Overnight we had 32 people and numerous animals that we rescued with our swift water assets. And that brings our total number of rescues to over 200 across the state during this disaster. And our swift water rescue teams and air assets have also facilitated about 100 evacuations. So, we are still in an absolute crisis in Lamoille County.

That being said, there are parts of the state, the capital region, as you saw, Andover, Londonderry, Ludlow, Weston and surrounding communities that were so brutally hit early in this disaster that are starting to turn the corner to impact assessments.

Our biggest fear, as you asked, is the weather, the impending weather, and if we will reach flood stage again. But I'm just here to say that this disaster is not over in the state of Vermont. We still have many rivers that are in moderate to major flood stage, and we're not out of the woods yet.

SIDNER: You know, when you talk about that, people are trying to start cleaning up now. We've seen some of the streets with mud all across them. And you have this new rain event. How long do you think that cleanup will go?

MORRISON: Oh, well, let me say this, when we experienced so much damage from Hurricane Irene back in 2011, it took 12 plus years to close that event out. We just did the last closeout of that event four months ago.

SIDNER: Oh.

MORRISON: We have easily -- I think the governor referred to it as Irene 4.0, because we anticipate at least quadrupling the amount of damage that we saw in Irene. This is going to be a years if not a decade-long recovery for the state of Vermont.

SIDNER: Wow.

MORRISON: And the irony is that some communities suffered no - you know, no significant damage at all and others have been absolutely catastrophically damaged.

SIDNER: That is incredible. I just want to repeat that. You said it took 12 years after Hurricane Irene hit Vermont.

MORRISON: That's right.

SIDNER: Now this is an even worse amount of flooding that you're seeing now from this storm.

I know that Vermont got the equivalent of, like, two months of rain over just a two-day period, causing those flash floods. Can you give us some sense about the rescues that are happening now? What is going on? Is it that people -- they're going door to door trying to pull people out of houses? Give us some sense of what those look like.

MORRISON: The current rescues that are underway in Lamoille County are related to people who have been cut off and are trapped in their homes with rising water from the Lamoille River. And we do anticipate that this is going to taper off during the course of the day and that the flooding is going to recede. There is no indication that the worst of it is, you know, not going to be behind us.

But, yes, these are swift water rescue assets.

[09:50:02]

The teams that are up there right now are both from Vermont and also a contingent from North Carolina. It is a company - a unit that hales from the Asheville area that works in the mountains in North Carolina frequently. And they relayed to our team leader that this is the worst flooding damage they've ever seen.

SIDNER: I am so sorry the community is going through this. And I hope that the work can continue as this new rain event is on its way.

Thank you so much, Jennifer Morrison, the commissioner of Vermont's Department of Public Safety, for joining us this morning as this disaster continues to haunt the people there.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us, North Korea launching its first intercontinental ballistic missile test in three months. We have more details now on the weapons and the rhetoric that the country's firing off at the U.S. and other nations.

Also ahead, a new restrictive abortion bill approved - abortion ban bill approved in Iowa last night sparking a flood of new protests at the state capital. New details on that.

We'll be back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: North Korea test fired an intercontinental ballistic missile early this morning. Its first in three months. This is days after Pyongyang threatened to shoot down U.S. spy planes that they say were in nearby waters.

And now Japan's chief cabinet secretary is warning that North Korea has the technology to make a nuclear strike on Japan.

CNN's Marc Stewart is live in Tokyo with the very latest.

What are you hearing? There's a lot going on in the region right now with regard with this, Marc. What are you hearing about -- first and foremost about this missile test?

[09:55:02] MARC STEWART, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I would say, Kate, to sum it up this way, there's certainly awareness of what happened, but I wouldn't say that there is alarm because for years we have seen tests like these with frequency, with regularity.

However, this test in particular is noteworthy. First of all, that missile was in the air for about 74 seconds. That is seen as a marginal gain compared to some of the other tests that we have seen this year.

The other distinction is that this test involved an intercontinental ballistic missile, otherwise known as an ICBM. It has the potential to possibly reach U.S. soil. Of course, this is getting a lot of condemnation from South Korea and, of course, from Japan, including the chief cabinet secretary. He made some remarks about what Japan may do, its view toward all of that, just a few hours ago.

Let's take a listen to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HIROKAZU MATSUNO, JAPANESE CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY (through translator): Such ballistic missile launches violate relevant United Nations security council resolutions and are a serous security issue for our citizens. We have launched a strong protest against North Korea through our embassy in Beijing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEWART: Let's put some context to all of it because it's very important. Let's first talk about the timing. This is happening as NATO holds meetings in Lithuania. What's grabbing the headlines there? Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, not North Korea. This is a way for North Korea to try to make itself relevant as broader, global discussions are taking place, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yes. Always important context.

It's good to see you, Marc. Thank you.

Sara.

SIDNER: Moments from now, FBI Director Christopher Wray is set to testify before the House, facing some of his harshest critics over Republican claims that federal law enforcement agencies are being weaponized against conservatives.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)