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Zelenskyy: Counteroffensive Delayed By Low Munitions; Interview With Tom Tugendhat, Minister Of State For Security Of The U.K.: Ukraine, China And Middle East; DOJ Plans Legal Action Against Texas Over Floating Barrier; Double Feature Poised To Be Movie Event Of The Summer. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired July 21, 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: New this afternoon, the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy explains why his country's counteroffensive against Russian troops has been slow to make headway. He says the operation started later than expected because Ukraine didn't have enough munitions which come from its allies. His comment was delivered at the aspen security forum, a major foreign policy conference under way right now in Colorado. CNN chief national security correspondent and co-anchor of CNN NEWS CENTRAL Jim Sciutto is there. Jim, what's been the reaction from folks at the Aspen Security Conference?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'll tell you, Boris, a number of world leader here from the U.S., from Europe, its partners around the world. And Ukraine very much a focus of the conversation. Russia, of course, China, as well. I will begin as I'm joined here by the Minister of State for Security from the U.K. -- which has been very focused on Ukraine since the start -- Tom Tugendhat. Begin with the comment from the Ukrainian president, in effect placing some blame on the West for being slow in its delivery of weapons as a reason for the slow pace of the Ukrainian counteroffensive. And I wonder if you believe that's a fair criticism.

TOM TUGENDHAT, MINISTER OF STATE FOR SECURITY OF THE U.K.: Well, the United Kingdom has been absolutely at the forefront of delivery. You'll remember in February of '22 the U.K. was delivering anti-tank weapons that stopped that early Russian advance. Even when many people thought Kyiv was going to fall. And since then we've been absolutely front and center with the delivery of armored vehicles, and now even with the training of pilots. Prime Minister Sunak and Defense Secretary Wallace have been absolutely the front of the queue to get weapons into Kyiv and to help the Ukrainian defense.

SCIUTTO: Can Ukraine turn that around with this counteroffensive? Because President Zelenskyy made the point that that delay allowed Russia to dig in, and we've seen the consequences of that. The minefields, the trenches.

TUGENDHAT: Well, and every day we're seeing Russian -- sorry, we're seeing Ukrainian advances and Russian defeats. And it's quite clear that already this year, in the last period of this offense, we've seen the Ukrainians liberate more territory than the Russians have taken in the past 12 months.

SCIUTTO: I want to talk about Russia itself. Because, of course, there's enormous amount of attention here given the failed coup in recent weeks on the stability of Putin's leadership. What is the UK's view? Has he survived this, or is there still an ongoing challenge?

TUGENDHAT: Look, it's a mafia gang that sits in the Kremlin today. It's not a government in the way that you and I would recognize. And so, you're right, he's survived a coup. How many more?

SCIUTTO: Is his life in danger?

TUGENDHAT: That's a question for his sidekicks and his opera tricks. It's not a question for us.

SCIUTTO: Another focus, of course, of this conference is China. The threat to Europe, an increasingly competitive and sometimes hostile relationship. The U.S. has been talking about this for some time. In more recent years, Europe has come on board, if that's the right expression, in terms of looking at China as a shared interest and a shared challenge. Do you view China as a threat to the U.K. and to Europe?

TUGENDHAT: So, the Prime Minister's been really clear on this. We've just done our integrated review refresh. In there we -- China is a challenge. You know, and it really is. If you look at the way this which we're dealing with transnational pressure in the United Kingdom. So the way in which Chinese diaspora communities being affected by the Chinese state. We're seeing a level of intervention and interference inside the U.K. that's unacceptable. But we're seeing that we need to partner in different areas. And that's a real challenge.

SCIUTTO: One of those areas to partner is in the defense of Taiwan. The U.K. has certainly made its feeling clear if China were to carry out a full-scale invasion, the U.S., the U.S. president has committed the U.S. to a military defense of Taiwan. Do you see war on the horizon for the U.S. and its allies about Taiwan?

TUGENDHAT: That's a choice for China. And I very much hope that it doesn't make the wrong choice. The reality is that the U.K. has always recognized that separate states can recognize their own ways in which they behave. And we've always had a very good relationship not only with the United States in the region, of course, but with other countries like Japan and the Philippines. And work very closely with partners like Indonesia.

SCIUTTO: In recent days we've seen a significant heightening of tensions in the Middle East around Iran. You have the U.S. sending a whole new carrier battle group to the region in response to that. What is the U.K. -- the U.K. of course has been very highly involved in nuclear negotiation and so on. What is the U.K. view of the Iran threat, direct threat to Europe? Is the threat of war real in that region?

TUGENDHAT: We've seen in the United Kingdom in the last year or two, we've seen 15 or so attempts, attempted assassination, attempted attacks on people within the United Kingdom.

[15:35:00]

This is a very real threat and it's one that we've been calling out -- you've seen it, I'm afraid, in New York, in Washington. As you know, the attempted attack on the Saudi ambassador. This is a regime that is really trying to expand violence around the world but has lost legitimacy at home. And it's a regime that is failing very badly.

SCIUTTO: Failing to the point of potential collapse of the leadership there?

TUGENDHAT: Well that's a decision for the Iranian people. It's not a decision for us. But it's quite clear that it's lacking the sustainment that it would get from the people, and you've seen in the protests in the last year.

SCIUTTO: Lasting --

TUGENDHAT: This is not passing. This is enduring.

SCIUTTO: Tom Tugendhat, administrator of state security for the U.K. Thank you so much for joining us.

And, Boris, I can assure you that the discussion here has been very serious about the genuine risk and not just from Russia in Europe, but China and Asia and certainly something we're going to hear more about on our show in coming days and weeks.

SANCHEZ: Absolutely. A lot on the foreign policy front to cover. Jim Sciutto live from the Aspen Security Conference. Thanks for the important conversation -- Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Still ahead, the quest to make history. The U.S. women's soccer team taking on Vietnam tonight as they try to become the first team ever to win a World Cup three-peat.

[15:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back to CNN NEWS CENTRAL. Here are some of the other headlines we've been watching this hour.

A new form of protest may soon join the mass demonstrations against Israel's controversial judicial reform plan. More than 1,000 Israeli Air Force reservists including pilots and drone operators say they will stop volunteering if this bill passes. Keep in mind the first vote is on Monday. The law would strip Israel's Supreme Court of the power to declare that government decisions are unreasonable. It's one of the few checks on that government.

Meantime, the soccer world is buzzing today. The heavy favored U.S. Women's National Team is on a quest to win an unprecedented third- straight World Cup title. They're playing their first game tonight against Vietnam whose coach acknowledges they have a steep hill to climb.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLATKO ANDONOVSKI, USWNT COACH: We know that we have a very tough opponent ahead of us, especially after watching them play against Germany.

MAI DUC CHUNG, COACH, VIETNAM WOMEN'S NATIONAL TEAM (through translator): We are far behind the U.S. team, but the U.S. is a very strong team. It is like a mountain we must climb.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: And it is sweet, delicious justice for a Cadbury egg criminal. A British man whom police dubbed the Easter Bunny just got 18 months in jail for stealing 200,000 of the coveted chocolate cream eggs. That's about $40,000 worth. Authorities say he broke into an industrial unit and hauled off the sugary stash in his truck -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Quite a stomach ache.

All right, happening now, the Justice Department is planning legal action against Texas over its placement of floating barriers on the Rio Grande River. This is in addition to the DOJ's ongoing assessment of the state's alleged mistreatment of migrants after several disturbing reports. And now Democratic lawmakers are asking President Biden to investigate. CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is on this story for us. Priscilla, what are you learning here?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Brianna, this marks an escalation in the feud between President Joe Biden and Texas Governor Greg Abbott on a delicate political issue and that being immigration. So in this letter that we obtained, DOJ sent it to Texas Governor Abbott yesterday. And they said they plan legal action against the use of the floating barriers that you see there. And they say that Texas put these up without authorization.

Now there is humanitarian concern here. In their letter, DOJ ticks off that they have violated federal law, raised humanitarian concerns, presented serious risk to public safety and the environment, and that this may interfere with government activities.

Now this is separate from the ongoing assessment into the mistreatment of migrants. But what it does note is, again, that humanitarian concern. So there is some relationship between these buoys and the concern that it poses and the risk that it poses to migrants. Now the Texas governor has replied to this in a tweet, saying that it is his sovereign authority to defend our border.

But again, this is significant, simply because I have been talking to sources for months, and there was ongoing discussions between the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department about the actions that they were seeing along the Texas-Mexico border and the concerns that was raising internally because of the risk it posed to migrants and to border patrol agents. Now they are taking that step. While it's focused on the floating barriers, there are questions as to whether they move forward with anything on the mistreatment of migrants.

KEILAR: The Texas governor seems to be in a comfortable place though, receiving this criticism that he is receiving. He doesn't seem to mind it.

ALVAREZ: No, and he has seized on the Texas-Mexico border, and the U.S.-Mexico border in general, saying the president hasn't handled it. He has been at the center of a lot of lawsuits going against the immigration policy of this president. So this, by doing this, the Justice Department, it really does escalate this feud. And it will be interesting to see where it goes for here because it is very politically sensitive.

KEILAR: Certainly is. Priscilla Alvarez, great reporting. Thank you so much -- Boris.

Coming up, Barbie and Oppenheimer, two movies that could not be more different. And yet, it's become the summer's hottest double feature. We'll explain the "Barbenheimer" phenomenon when we come back.

[15:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

"Barbenheimer." It is the blockbuster double feature we didn't even know the world needed. But it's taking movie theaters and social media by storm. Two highly anticipated summer movies dropped today. We're talking about "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer." Two very different flicks. Very different, by the way. Audiences are just grabbing up these tickets this weekend to see one of them, both of them. Just as this huge strike is shutting down Hollywood.

SANCHEZ: Yes, let's take you to New York now with CNN's Jason Carroll. And Jason, this is the kind of marketing that Hollywood dreams of. And it's especially coming at a time when Hollywood has kind of slumped at the box office.

[15:50:00]

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. I mean, when you think about what's happened here, this is something that is completely generated by fans. This is fan-driven for sure. And it's not really a competition so much even though as we've been standing out here, we've seen lots of people walking by wearing pink, some people shouting, "Oppenheimer first." But what this is really about to some of the fans is it's about which film they should see first.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL (voice-over): Probably not much of a surprise when one hears something odd has come out of Hollywood. But now there's this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The world will remember this day. CARROLL (voice-over): That's not a clip from a real movie. It's a fan-

driven mashup of two. And it's the answer to anyone out there trying to figure out what to do when two potential blockbuster films open on the same day. "Barbie."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, barbie.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, barbie.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, barbie.

CARROLL (voice-over): And "Oppenheimer."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a matter of life and death.

CARROLL (voice-over): The internet's answer is to see both. "Barbenheimer."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I saw barbie in the morning, I saw Oppenheimer in the afternoon.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How did that go?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If was the right way to do it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think you see Barbie afterwards as well.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, OK, yes, again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A barbie chaser.

CARROLL (voice-over): There are TikToks, tweets and t-shirts, even a Barbenheimer Wikipedia page promoting what has become a viral marketing phenomenon pushing moviegoers to try both.

CARROLL: So I see you've got your Barbie pink on. So the question is, will you see Barbie and Oppenheimer or just one?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, yeah, both. Both. We kind of liked the idea of walking into Oppenheimer with full pink.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So it's the best Barbenheimer experience.

CARROLL (voice-over): Both films are worlds apart.

BARBIE: You guys ever think about dying?

CARROLL (voice-over): On the one hand you have director Greta Gerwig's fantasy comedy about a doll experiencing an existential crisis and has to go to the real world to resolve it. The company behind it, Warner Brothers Discovery, parent company of CNN.

And on the other you have Christopher Nolan's biographical thriller for Universal about a physicist credited for creating, well, you know.

CILLIAN MURPHY, ACTOR, OPPENHEIMER: I mean, I'll be going to see Barbie 100 percent. I can't wait to see it. I think it's just great for the industry and for audiences that we have two amazing films by amazing filmmakers coming out the same day.

MARGOT ROBBIE, ACTOR, BARBIE: It's a perfect double bill. I think actually start your day with Barbie, then go straight into Oppenheimer and then a Barbie chaser.

CARROLL (voice-over): Could a double feature about a plastic doll and the so-called father of the atomic bomb breathe much-needed life back into a movie industry hit hard by streaming, disappointing post- pandemic box office, and now actors and writers on strike?

REBECCA RUBIN, FILM AND MEDIA REPORTER, VARIETY: I think this is the best thing that's happened to movie theaters in a very long time because it's happening really organically.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL (on camera): And a little bit of movie history for you. A little bit of trivia. Back in the day some 15 years ago there was another mashup. Back then it was "The Dark Knight" versus "Mamma Mia." That was more like a competition. And at the end of the day both films ended up doing well, competing against each other in some ways. Worldwide "The Dark Knight" ended up making a billion dollars. "Mamma Mia" I think made more than $600 million.

Again, this time around not so much a competition. Back then they both benefited from repeat viewing and international viewers getting into the seats as well. This go-around it's going to require both the international audiences weighing in and going out to see both of these films and repeat viewing as well. But it's very clear so far both of these films off to a pretty good start. Back to you.

SANCHEZ: And Jason, with folks that you've been speaking to out there is there a preference? I imagine that a lot of folks are eager to see both of these films but perhaps they're leaning in one direction this weekend.

CARROLL: Good question. I would put my money on most people going out to see Barbie first. Simply because it's a shorter film. Oppenheimer, three-hour film. We'll see.

SANCHEZ: Oomph.

KEILAR: Very long.

SANCHEZ: Very big attention span to pay attention to both those two movies back-to-back. I don't know if I have the back.

KEILAR: If you have three hours, spend it with us.

SANCHEZ: Good call. Every afternoon right here on CNN. Jason Carroll live in New York. Thanks so much. We still have much more news to come. Stay tuned.

[15:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: In Fayetteville, North Carolina, home to Fort Liberty, this week's CNN hero was struggling to survive after a brain injury when she saw veterans in need. Meet Stacy Buckner.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STACEY BUCKNER, OFF-ROAD OUTREACH (voice-over): It takes boots on the ground to get back there, find them, and meet their needs. We provide clothing, food. There's a full kitchen in the back. We also do laundry.

BUCKNER: Your pants are almost done spinning, baby.

BUCKNER (voice-over): It's just filling a basic human need.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I like this establishment, this setup you've got.

BUCKNER: This is my brick and mortar.

BUCKNER (voice-over): Even though I'm not a veteran, I do have mental health issues that come with having a traumatic brain injury. So I can relate.

BUCKNER: You've been burning the road up in that walker. I know that much.

BUCKNER (voice-over): Sometimes I really do surprise people with who I am.

[16:00:00]

BUCKNER: I mean, look at me. I look really rough around the edges, right?

BUCKNER: Hey, what's up, brother? And that's for you. What else do you need?

BUCKNER (voice-over): I'm all tatted up and I may throw out a cuss word every now and then. But I'm just Stacy. It's important to show veterans that there are organizations out there that want to really provide support to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: For more on Stacy's incredible story, go to CNNheroes.com.

KEILAR: Love her spirit. And "THE LEAD" with JAKE TAPPER starts right now.