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Protests Erupt in Israel; Cathedral Damaged in Odessa; Ukraine Takes Credit for Drone Attacks; Seven Candidates Meet Debate Criteria; Deadline to Remove Texas Border Barrier. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired July 24, 2023 - 09:00   ET

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

[08:59:55]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Texas officials have hours left to remove a floating border barrier or face federal legal action.

[09:00:02]

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: Ukrainian defense officials take credit for a drone attack on Moscow after Russia releases a weekend of relentless violence in Odessa. CNN is on the scene.

BERMAN: New video this morning shows the moments an unarmed black man was attacked by a police dog. That despite surrendering.

Kate and Sara are off today. I'm John Berman, with Rahel Solomon. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SOLOMON: But first, breaking news just into CNN. Protests erupting in Israel right now. This is after the parliament just passed part of a controversial new bill that dramatically reshapes the power of the courts. We have already seen large crowds of people on the streets. Opponents of the plan call it a coup. They say it threatens to turn Israel into a dictatorship.

Let's get right out to CNN's Hadas Gold. She is in Jerusalem.

So, Hadas, walk us through what this bill does and also what comes next.

HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Hey, guys. Sorry you can't see me. There are so many protesters here that it's affecting our live signal.

So, what just happened -- what has happened just now is that this legislation passed 64-0. What that means is all the opposition lawmakers left parliament in protest when this bill came up to vote.

Now, what this means technically is the bill that passed says that the supreme court now cannot stop government actions that it deems unreasonable. So, these protesters, they believe that that is the beginning of the end of an independent judiciary. They believe that this will give the government unfettered power to do what it wishes without the very needed check on the government because the supreme court here is essentially the only check on the government. There were attempts at negotiation last minute, sort of back and forth

between ministers in the Israeli parliament, but those seemed to have failed and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushing forward. They were seen celebrating on the floor.

I'm just outside of the supreme court actually where they have set up big screens where people were watching the proceeding from the floor and they were shouting things like "shame" at the screen and booing when certain members came out, especially Benjamin Netanyahu and the others. Right now they're shouting things like "democracy."

And one thing that they're saying here is that they will not be backing down. They say that they will continue taking to the streets. They don't plan to go home anytime soon. Now this legislation will most likely face a very quick, legal challenge. Now, that could mean the supreme court itself will issue an injunction to stop the legislation from actually turning into law, turning into action. And ironically, of course, that will be a fight in front of the supreme court. The exact institution that this legislation is targeting.

SOLOMON: Hadas, if I can, can you explain to me what you're seeing on the ground because some of the images we're looking at between police and protesters looks like the interactions are becoming quite physical. What are you seeing from the ground out there?

GOLD: Yes, so the protesters have been trying to get as close as they can to the parliament while the action was happening. The police have set up, though, fences and barbed wire to keep them out. They were also using mounted police as well as water cannons, although it is almost 95 degrees here so I think the water cannons might have actually been a bit of a relief for some of the protesters.

Police have said that they've arrested more than 19 people. But we did see some (INAUDIBLE) laying down on top of each other as dead weight to make the police officers work to physically carry them out. But we do not think that any of them managed to get close to the Israeli parliament. The police said that all members of parliament were able to reach the floor and were able to vote and were able to enter without any problem.

Right now I can tell you that the streets all around the campus of the parliament, supreme court, the foreign ministry, are completely packed with people. I would say thousands of Israeli flags, people just chanting things like, shame, democracy. You can tell that they're disappointed in a way. But at the same time you can also tell they don't plan to back down.

Now, on the other side, of course, is those who are celebrating that this has passed. They have said that this is what they voted for when they voted this government into power. They say that the supreme court has become too powerful, too elitist. They don't listen to the voice of the people, to the democratically-elected people. So, that's why the coalition is celebrating.

And this is something that Benjamin Netanyahu has faced a lot of pressure from his coalition partners, from his right wing coalition partners to push through because, keep in mind, without those partners Benjamin Netanyahu is not prime minister.

SOLOMON: Hadas Gold, thanks so much. We know you have been following this from the very beginning as protests from continued in Israel for I want to say six months now. We will continue to follow this story as it continues to develop.

John.

BERMAN: All right, thanks so much, Rahel.

So, new overnight, Ukraine is taking credit for drone strikes in Moscow, all the way up here, and also in Crimea. Russia says it shot down at least two drones that hit a pair of buildings in Moscow. We have video of one of those buildings. You can see the pictures here of the bombed out, or at least exploded out, windows inside Moscow.

[09:05:07]

In Crimea, a drone strike damaged a Russian ammunition depot. These attacks come after the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed retaliation for a weekend of relentless strikes by Russian forces. The shelling damaged an historic cathedral. I can show you where that happened. It happened in Odessa. Of course, on the Black Sea coast down here.

CNN's Alex Marquardt is there this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: President Zelenskyy had said that Russia would feel the retaliation for all the strikes that we've seen here in Odessa. And now Ukraine's defense intelligence director claiming responsibility for that overnight drone strike in Moscow which did do less damage -- far less damage than we've seen here in Odessa for the past few days.

We are in the Transfiguration Cathedral. Church officials have asked us to put these helmets on because of all the work that's going on, all the debris that is falling from the roof.

I want to show you this corner of the church. This is where there is the most destruction. This is where we are told that the missile or rocket came plunging through the roof, going down at least two stories. That daylight, that sun coming through the roof and really brightening up this otherwise dark cathedral.

Over here is the alter. You can see up there, those pillars, now off to the side. That alter just leaning over and really only staying upright because it's leaning up against the wall.

And then farther up is the beautiful dome of this cathedral. All of its windows have been blown out. Below that the frescos have also been knocked down. We've seen large sections of the roof also coming down as these workers seek to clear it. They say that will take several weeks, but it could be months or years before this -- this cathedral is fully repaired. The naive goes all the way back there. And in the corner there was a

fire. We're told that a shock wave started an electrical fire.

Now, this church was destroyed in 1936 when Stalin was in power. It was rebuilt when Ukraine got independence. And now, of course, in a significant state of disrepair.

It is attacks like these on civilian infrastructure, on buildings that, frankly, have nothing to do with this conflict that now has President Zelenskyy calling for more air defense support from western allies for what he calls a full-fledged air shield for Ukraine.

Alex Marquardt, CNN, Odessa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: All right, our thanks to Alex Marquardt for that.

Joining me now is retired Army Major Mike Lyons.

Obviously, Alex down here. You saw the destruction inside Odessa, including in that cathedral. And, Major, we are talking about what Ukraine has now claimed responsibility for, drone attacks in Moscow, and also Crimea. And we do have video of the damage from the drone strike in Moscow.

Why is it that you think that Ukraine is claiming credit for this? Because for months and months and months there would be attacks like this. Ukraine would try to maintain plausible deniability. This time they're saying, no, we did this.

MAJ. MIKE LYONS, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Yes, I think a couple things. I think, first of all, six weeks into the counteroffensive they have to show some kind of progress. And at this point it shows that they can. It shows that they can take a drone, get it through Russian air defense systems and get it into Moscow. So, I think that's the primary reason there.

The second one, though, is for Crimea in particular. They have to threaten Crimea. They have to go after those ammunition dumps. They have to make that the place where that if they can say that they could actually take Crimea, then the Russians then come to the negotiation table.

BERMAN: The Crimea part I understand. I do understand the strategic value of that. But when you look at the pictures and compare the drone strikes on this building, yes, windows are out, but compare that to what we were seeing from Alex Marquardt in the cathedral -

LYONS: Yes.

BERMAN: And then the damage in Odessa to the grain, you know, grain port.

LYONS: Yes.

BERMAN: This is night and day.

LYONS: Yes.

BERMAN: I mean what the Russians are doing to the Ukrainians is nothing - nothing compared - because what the Ukrainians are doing in the in Moscow is like a scratch, a pinch (ph).

LYONS: Yes. And what they've done in Odessa is all about trying to cut off the food supply there. It's about, again, what they can do from the Russia's perspective.

They had left Odessa alone for the past few months. They had been focused more on the tactical side. This is Russia amping up, amping up the stakes with regard to what they can do.

BERMAN: Now, one other new development that happened overnight, and we can sort of see where it took place on the map here, down here on the Ukrainian border with Romania is the Danube. The Russians hit a river port on the Ukrainian side of that border.

LYONS: Yes.

BERMAN: But that's not far from Romania, which is a NATO country.

LYONS: Right.

BERMAN: So the Russians are now attacking somewhere that's literally within eyesight of a NATO nation.

LYONS: And here's why, because that's where the Ukrainian government has over land taken that grain that they have to ship from their revenue -- they need that revenue perspective, and they've used the Danube, they've used - enter Romania to do that. So, it's Russia sending a signal that they're going to go after. Now, potentially we could talk about NATO ships coming into the Black Sea. Turkey would have to give permission to do that. But right now they've using the Danube River in order to use -- to have the grain go over land. And it's more expensive and it takes a lot longer.

[09:10:02]

BERMAN: So, again, if you look at the map here, I can clear out where I circled there, in yellow, and it's very faint, you can hardly see it. And the reason for that is there's not much land.

LYONS: Yes.

BERMAN: But these little gains in yellow here and then in here, these are the areas where the Ukrainians have taken back territory in the counteroffensive.

LYONS: Yes.

BERMAN: Which has been slow.

LYONS: Yes. Six weeks in, right now, I wouldn't say it's a failure, but there's, again, three reasons. Number one, they have not synchronized the combat arms and they've not been able to bring all things together of the equipment they have It's a very difficult mission to do that for a really - a non-NATO country. Just because we've given them the tools to do that doesn't mean that they can actually do it. The second thing is, these trenches that exist here in the defensive lines, they're way more significant than the Ukraine military had planned on. They don't have the equipment to take those out as well.

And then the last thing comes down to air superiority. Russia still has tremendous close air support. That's what's happening right now.

BERMAN: So these helicopters -

LYONS: Yes.

BERMAN: That we have a picture of now, are Russian helicopters.

LYONS: Right.

BERMAN: I keep hearing from people on the ground in Ukraine, including people associated with the Ukrainian troops say they've got no defense against these Russian helicopters.

LYONS: Right. None.

BERMAN: These Russian helicopters can stay far enough behind the lines so they're not threatened at all, but they can shoot. You can see the weaponry they have. And they can hit whatever they want on the Ukrainian side.

LYONS: Yes, the stingers that they have on the Ukraine side can't get to them and they have tremendous mobility. So anytime the Ukraine military can organize some synchronized fight and bring artillery and bring maneuver together. These show up on the battlefield and they are difference makers. Similar to what we do with our Apaches and our helicopters.

BERMAN: So, if everyone knows the situation now, which is relatively static, how can Ukraine achieve a breakthrough?

LYONS: Well, they're going to have to continue to try to probe and try to find weaknesses in these systems here and use the artillery that we've given with the cluster munitions. And there's a little bit of a hope here. The hope is that the Russian morale will decrease and there's the hope that some of those units will surrender. I -- that's not necessarily a great plan, but it just tells me that this is going - this war of attrition and this grinder-type operation is going to go on for months.

BERMAN: All right, retired Army Major Mike Lyons, thanks so much for helping us understand the situation on the ground - the changing situation. Appreciate it.

Rahel. SOLOMON: All right, John, coming up for us, with one month until the first Republican presidential debate, new candidates are meeting the hurdle to make the stage, but others might be falling short.

Also, search dogs and ground-penetrating radars are seen at the home of the alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer. Why investigators are looking at the backyard.

Also, Twitter's iconic blue bird logo has been x-ed out. It is no more. We'll explain, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:16:45]

SOLOMON: Welcome back. And on our radar this hour, in New York, authorities searching the home of the Gilgo Beach murder suspect have brought in a police dog and ground-penetrating radar. They're also digging in suspect Rex Heuermann's backyard with a backhoe. The search is expected to take a few more days. Heuermann is in jail. He is charged with murdering three women whose remains were found on Long Island's Gilgo Beach in 2010. He is also the prime suspect in the death of a fourth woman.

Alabama Governor Kay Ivey has approved a new congressional map with just one majority black district. That's despite a court order. The state's Republican-controlled legislature passed the map earlier Friday. Democrats blasting Republicans for ignoring a directive from a three-judge panel to create two majority black districts or, quote, something close to it. The map now goes before a federal court for approval. The hearing is set for mid-August.

And the iconic, iconic blue bird of Twitter has apparently flown the coop. Elon Musk is rebranding the logo with the letter x. You just saw it there. This morning Musk also tweeted that x.com now points to twitter.com. The renaming could be seen as something of a brand overall. In recent months, Twitter has faced major losses in ad revenue. There is also pressure from the launch of Threads by Meta.

I'm going to miss the thing. Not necessarily Elon Musk, but I'm going to miss the bird.

John.

BERMAN: Now, overhaul is one word to use what Elon Musk has done to Twitter so far.

SOLOMON: Yes.

BERMAN: One word that describes it, overhaul.

So, new this morning, seven Republican presidential candidates have met the polling requirements to take the debate stage in August. Former President Trump still the clear frontrunner. It is not clear, of course, if he will actually show up, agree to participate in the debate. The candidates must also meet fundraising requirements. They also were supposed to sign a loyalty pledge promising to support the eventual nominee if they want to take part in the debate.

CNN's Eva McKend joins us now.

Eva, who does it look like is making that stage?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning to you, John.

It looks like, as for now, but still other requirements as well, but in terms of the polling requirements we have former Vice President Mike Pence, Ambassador Haley, Senator Scott, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, as well as Trump, DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy.

And this comes on the heels of a new Fox News poll giving insights into where voters are in Iowa, in New Hampshire and South Carolina. They all have reached 1 percent or higher in two or more qualifying national polls and two qualifying state polls from separate states. So, because they have reached this threshold, they may be able to qualify for this critical debate.

So, we don't know if the former president is going to participate. But this has been sort of a rallying cry for all of these candidates because, John, you have to remember that so many of these candidates are still introducing themselves to much of the country. So, it has been a big push. And we've seen some of these candidates take on really innovative strategies to do all that they can to get on that debate stage next month in Milwaukee.

BERMAN: Of course, some of the candidates don't really have to introduce themselves to the country, like Mike Pence. And while he has met the fundraising - sorry, he's met the polling threshold. The former vice president, as far as we know, hasn't met the fundraising threshold yet. He says he will, but we don't know for a fact that he has made it just yet.

[09:20:01]

He said words out loud to Dana Bash over the weekend. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE PENCE (R), FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The president's words were reckless that day. I had no right to overturn the election. But while his words were reckless, I -- based on what I know, I'm not yet convinced that they were criminal.

Criminal charges have everything to do with intent. What - what the president's state of mind was. And I - I don't honestly know what his intention was that day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So, you could hear, Eva, the former vice president trying to thread a needle there when it comes to Donald Trump's actions on January 6th.

MCKEND: That's right, John, and he's not the only one. We have seen all of these candidates really engage in this delicate dance.

And another thing that they have to contend with is so much of the oxygen. Trump is taking up so much of the oxygen. So, while Pence might want to run more squarely on his evangelical faith and talk about a host of other issues, he is routinely asked about the former president, about January 6th. And it sort of is limiting for some of these candidates who want to speak about other issues. They are bogged down in trying to walk this tightrope in having to constantly answer for the daily revelations regarding the former president, John.

BERMAN: Yes, and, again, then there's Ron DeSantis and his campaign is telling donors there's going to be a big retooling of his campaign. That's pretty big news for where we are in the primary right now. We'll get to that in a little bit.

Eva McKend, great to have you. Thank you so much.

Rahel.

SOLOMON: All right, John, millions of Americans struggling to stay cool in an unrelenting heat wave. More than 5,000 heat records have either been broken or tied over the past 30 days. Ahead, we'll go live to the West Coast where just touching the pavement, just touching the pavement is sending people to the hospital with burns.

And disturbing video emerging of a police dog being released on an unarmed black man while he was surrendering with his hands up.

We'll be back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:26:24]

BERMAN: Officials in Texas have just hours left to remove a floating border barrier or face federal legal action. The Justice Department set a deadline for Texas Governor Greg Abbott that expires at 2:00 p.m. Eastern. The battle is over a 1,000 foot barrier that stretches across the Rio Grande River near Eagle Pass. Texas leaders say they put it in place to deter illegal crossings and the governor argues that Texas has the sovereign authority to defend the border. But federal officials say it raises humanitarian concerns and presents serious risks to public safety and the environment.

CNN's Rosa Flores is in Eagle Pass.

First, though, Priscilla Alvarez at the White House.

Priscilla, walk us through what happens next here.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, officials, John, have been growing increasingly concerned about the actions taken along the Texas/Mexico border. And the feud between President Biden and Texas Governor Greg Abbott really escalated late last week when the Justice Department sent this letter to Texas telling them essentially remove the barriers or we're going to take you to court.

Now, what the Justice Department is saying here is that Texas did not have the authorization to put these floating barriers down. They cite a clause in the law to that effect, but they also note that it has raised humanitarian concerns and safety for migrants as well as for agents.

Now, they, again, have until 2:00 p.m. to respond, them being Texas, as to whether or not they're going to remove the barriers. But if not, DOJ is very ready to take them to court.

And in a White House statement to CNN, a spokesman said the following, Governor Abbott's dangerous and unlawful actions are undermining our effective border enforcement plan and making it hard for CBP to do their jobs of securing the border. They go on to say, the governor's actions are cruel and putting both migrants and border agents in danger.

And, John, I should note, I've been talking to agents on the ground, as well as here in Washington, and it has indeed made the job more difficult for those border patrol agents. They have not been able to access certain parts of the river as well as the border when they're trying to apprehend migrants. And because of that, they have been sending more regular reports here to D.C. about what they're observing and where they're facing challenges, when historically they've actually worked quite well with Texas troopers.

John.

BERMAN: All right, Priscilla Alvarez, at the White House.

Let's go to Rosa Flores, who is standing in Eagle Pass now looking out on that river.

Rosa, give us a sense of what you're seeing.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, John, to Priscilla's point about border patrol telling her in D.C. and on the ground that they are having issues with having access to the river, let me show you exactly what Priscilla is talking about here because we can see it.

Now, this gate where I'm standing, you can see that it's barricaded by both concertina wire, metal stakes and also a pile of dirt. And if you look here to my right you'll see this leads towards the river. And there are several layers of concertina wire. The concertina wire that's right by the water, just take a look at that really closely because right now the water levels on the Rio Grande are very low and this is what critics have been talking about when it comes to what we've heard as, quote, death traps for migrants. When that water level rises, that concertina wire at the bottom of the banks of the river here, that's completely under water. Beyond that you see the buoys that are in question here. The U.S. State Department saying that Texas didn't consult with the federal government. They didn't obtain permits before deploying them. Mexico now thinks and is concerned that some of these buoys could be on Mexican territory.

[09:30:00]

But I want to come back because I want to show you exactly what Priscilla was talking about when it comes to access to this property.