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Awaiting Rulings from the Supreme Court; Man Donates a Half Million Dollars to Volunteer Fire Department; Ukraine Launches Drone Attack in Russia; Jens Stoltenberg is Interviewed about NATO, Russia, China and Gaza; FAA Investigating Low Altitude Incident with Southwest; Simon An is Interviewed about helping to Save a Woman from Being Assaulted. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired June 21, 2024 - 08:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:33:02]

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, the FBI has joined the investigation into the causes of deadly wildfires in New Mexico. New images show what's left after two wildfires burned up 23,000 acres of land, forcing 8,000 residents to evacuate and killed at least two people. FBI special agents will assist local, state, federal, and tribal partners in the investigation, and the Biden administration has approved an expedited major disaster declaration to help impacted communities.

Also, two Disney employees who moves cross-country for a now shuttered project are suing. In 2021, former Disney CEO Bob Chapek moved 2,000 jobs from California to Florida. But two years later, when Bob Iger took over, the company canceled the billion-dollar office complex in Florida as it sparred with Governor Ron DeSantis. The two employees who brought the suit say Disney misrepresented the project and heavily implied anyone who didn't move would lose their jobs. Disney hasn't replied to our request for comment.

North Korea, through a statement in state-run media, responded to recent balloon launches by South Korean activists. The statement criticized activists for disregarding warnings and warned of trouble and response without specifying what exactly that could mean. Now the activist group, Fighters for a Free North Korea sent 20 balloons loaded with thousands of anti-North Korean leaflets. This launch follows a previous one two weeks ago that led North Korea to retaliate by sending over 1,000 balloons filled with trash into South Korea.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, this morning, as we await critical rulings by the Supreme Court on Trump immunity, guns, and emergency abortions, we are also waiting to see if Justice Alito will be in court today. He was notably absent from the bench yesterday. He has been under some criticism following reports that politically affiliated flags were spotted outside his Virginia home in January 2022 and outside his vacation home last summer.

CNN's senior Supreme Court analyst Joan Biskupic is joining us now. [08:35:04]

Do - does the court know where was - Alito was yesterday and does the public know?

JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN SENIOR SUPREME COURT ANALYST: The public doesn't know, but I'm sure people inside the court know but they weren't telling us yesterday. And ever since that controversy over the flags, he has come back to the bench. I mean it's not like -

SIDNER: OK.

BISKUPIC: That we believe that's connected. It could be anything. But it is unusual, Sara, that on a day, Thursday, when the justices are not just taking the bench, but they also were meeting in a private session, that he wouldn't be there. And it could be anything. So, today, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern, I'll be watching to make sure that all nine are on the bench. But then also, Sara, that, you know, who else might be in special guest seats, what - who shows up for this, you know, one of our last days of the session. And, most importantly, what the justices hand down.

As you know, we have, you know, about 18 major cases left to be decided for this term. We're in probably the last - one of the last four days of the session, extending into next week and possibly into July 1st. And, you know, we've got cases that could affect the upcoming presidential election. One involves whether former President Donald Trump would be subject to criminal prosecution for election subversion from the last election in 2020. That's one of the cases that we're waiting for.

We're also waiting to see what the justices say about whether several of the January 6th rioters who attacked the Capitol back in 2021 would be subject to charge that could mean up to 20 years in prison, corruptly obstructing an official proceeding. And Donald - one of Donald Trump's four charges by special counsel Jack Smith, on behalf of the Justice Department, also involves obstruction of an official proceeding. So, the contours of that law will be decided by the justices.

And then, of course, we're waiting for a major abortion case that the White House is sort of bracing to see what the justices say. There's a federal law that requires emergency room treatment across the country for any needy person, including a woman who might be suffering complications from a - from a pregnancy. And the question is, does that law eclipse state laws that ban abortion? Could a woman get that kind of health care? That's another one, Sara, that we're waiting for.

SIDNER: And you noted for us that it would be unusual for all of these big cases not to be decided now and go into July. But that is where we may be. We will wait and see, right, Joan?

BISKUPIC: That's right because here - here's the thing, Sara, and you understand deadlines as well as just about anyone because of being in the news business. They, for decades, they have wanted to get out by the end of June. And for decades they have gotten out of - by the end of June. There have been rare exceptions.

But this year, because of where the 4th of July holiday falls, later in the week, the following week, they might go over to July 1st. And again, because those Trump cases are so difficult for them, they could come as early as today, but they could come as late as July 1st or, horrors, maybe even July 2nd, which would be really bucking the tradition of the Supreme Court, Sara.

SIDNER: Absolutely.

Joan Biskupic, thank you so much for all your great reporting.

BISKUPIC: Sure.

SIDNER: Omar.

JIMENEZ: Thank you, Sara.

Well, listen to this, when the chief of a small town volunteer fire department in Missouri noticed its resources were drying up, he wasn't sure where to turn. That was until an unlikely hero stepped in to help.

CNN's Whitney Wild explains how one man went "Beyond the Call."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITNEY WILD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In tiny Calhoun, Missouri, there are fewer than 500 people, a handful of intersections, and for a period of time there was just one firefighter, Calhoun Volunteer Fire Department Chief Mark Hardin.

MARK HARDIN, VOLUNTEER FIRE CHIEF: When I walked in there was something wrong with all the trucks.

WILD (voice over): Harden eventually bought used engines and added around 30 volunteers. But as the number of calls grew, the department's bank accounts shrank. By March it was almost empty.

HARDIN: We were down to our last $169 in the bank account.

WILD (voice over): That was until 91-year-old Sam Sloan opened up an opportunity.

SAM SLOAN, DONATED $500,000 TO FIRE DEPARTMENT: I felt a lot of relief because I had been plan - planning on this for several years.

HARDIN: How are you, Sam?

SLOAN: I'm doing OK.

HARDIN: He called me and he just asked me if I would take him to breakfast. So, I went and picked him up the next day. About four, four-and-a-half hours later, I dropped him off - back off at home.

So then he called me the next week and he asked me to go to breakfast again. The third week he calls again. This time he asked me to come to his house. He handed me the check for half a million dollars.

WILD: What did you think when you saw all the zeros?

HARDEN: He's like, will you be able to use that? I'm like, uh-huh.

SLOAN: I've had a heart valve put in and two stents put in.

[08:40:02]

I could almost feel my heart pumping when I get - give that money away.

WILD (voice over): Sloan knows the power of help in hard times. He's a dustbowl baby whose mother died when he was only four.

SLOAN: I'm enough of a believer that I think she was watching. And maybe my dad too.

WILD: What do you think they thought?

SLOAN: They thought, well, we got started raising him right.

WILD (voice over): Sloan's $500,000 donation is now paying for sorely needed new equipment and fire engines, including "the Sam."

HARDIN: That's the truck you bought.

SLOAN: Oh, it looks new. That means I get to drive it.

WILD (voice over): Hardin is quick to point out Sloan's generosity will stretch well beyond Calhoun.

HARDIN: It can mean the difference between life and death. It's not just - I don't want to say just for the fire department though. It's for the whole community.

SLOAN: It's a good feeling. I got to help somebody.

WILD (voice over): Around here he's helped just about everybody.

Whitney Wild, CNN, Calhoun, Missouri.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JIMENEZ: Incredible story. Thank you, Whitney.

Straight ahead, Washington is signaling fresh support for Kyiv to strike deeper inside Russian territory. Details coming up.

And a Texas family being hailed as heroes after stepping in to stop an attempted sexual assault. They join us, next.

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[08:45:59] JIMENEZ: All right, a major development overnight. Ukraine launched a mass drone attack on Russia's southern Krasnodar region. At least one person was reported dead. And this comes as the U.S. has signaled a willingness to expand existing policy to allow for Ukrainian attacks into Russia.

CNN's Natasha Bertrand joins me now.

Natasha, what more are we learning about this?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so this marks a pretty significant expansion of the policy change that the Biden administration had made earlier this month allowing Ukraine to use U.S. made weapons to strike into Russian territory.

Now initially that policy was understood to just really be limited to the Kharkiv region where Russia was just across the border firing into Ukraine in that region. And Ukraine essentially had its hands tied behind its back, could not use U.S. weapons to strike Russia back right across that border. The U.S. lifted that policy, but said that it was really restricted to the - just that one area.

Well, now we are learning that National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has said publicly that this policy actually expands to anywhere along the Ukraine-Russia border where you - where Russia is firing into Ukraine and trying to take Ukrainian territory. According to U.S. officials, where Ukraine sees that Russia is using its territory to launch those attacks, then Ukraine can fire back. But still, it is really just limited to the border.

The U.S. has made very clear that they don't want to see Ukraine using those long range ATACMS missiles to fire deep into Russian territory because that would mark a pretty significant escalation. And so while we have seen Ukraine use other kinds of weapons, not U.S. provided to strike deep into Russia, the U.S. is still saying, look, you cannot use the weapons that we give you to hit that far into the country.

But still, this is very significant because it essentially means that where Russia is launching attacks from right over the border, Ukraine now can use those U.S. weapons to hit back.

JIMENEZ: And for some, I mean, it could be a momentum shifter in this war, at least for Ukraine. At least that's what they hope that ends up being these capabilities.

Natasha Bertrand, really appreciate it.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, thank you, Omar.

I'm joined now by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

I want to thank you, sir, for coming on this morning with all that is going on in the world. And I know you've been visiting with different partners. I do want to ask you about China and Russia right now. They are, of

course, nuclear powers. You told "The Telegraph" a few days ago essentially that NATO should be clear about its nuclear capabilities and even take some of its nukes out of storage. Why?

JENS STOLTENBERG, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: Well, NATO has a nuclear deterrent. And that has been part of our deterrence against an aggression for decades. So, that's nothing new.

What is happening now is that we are modernizing this nuclear deterrent, partly by replacing some old F-6 aircraft and replacing them with fifth-generation F-35s. And also the U.S. is modernizing the weapons they have deployed to - to Europe. So, these are - this is a combination of U.S. weapons deployed in Europe and - and European allies providing the planes.

So, this is the NATO nucleus deterrent. And - and this is modernized to ensure that there's no misunderstanding about NATO's resolve to prevent war, to preserve peace by having a credible deterrence.

SIDNER: Is this something that NATO countries are considering, considering what is happening there in Ukraine with Russia's war there?

STOLTENBERG: Well, this has been an effort which has been going on for some long time. So this is formatted - not nothing new. And we have been transparent on this all the way. So, of course, the purpose of having credible deterrence is not to provoke a conflict, but is to prevent the conflict as NATO has done for 75 years.

[08:50:03]

Also during the coldest and most difficult period, the Cold War, we were able to prevent any armed attack against NATO ally. And that's because we have a credible deterrence, sending a message to Moscow and any other potential adversary that an attack on one ally will trigger the response from the whole alliance. And by doing that in a credible way, we are preserving peace and preventing war.

SIDNER: I want to ask you about something that Antony Blinken said, the secretary of state, in the last 48 hours, saying that China is basically propping up Russia's war against Ukraine by providing critical elements, critical components that's helping Russia make things like munitions, missiles, armored vehicles, tanks.

What do you think should be done about that, and should China face some punishment from NATO allies?

STOLTENBERG: China, and President Xi, wants to, in a way, build up the (INAUDIBLE) impression that they are taking a back seat in the conflict in Ukraine. That's not correct because China is the main provider of support to Russia, enabling them to build all the weapons and conduct a war of aggression against Ukraine.

And 90 percent, for instance, of the microprocessors (ph) that Russia imported last year, they came from China. And China is really propping up the Russian war economy, enabling them to build the missiles, the bombs, they're using against Ukraine.

So, therefore, China cannot have it both ways. They cannot continue to have normal trade relationship with European NATO allies and at the same time fueling the most serious conflict we have seen in Europe since the end of the Second World War.

And at some stage I - I strongly believe that NATO allies should consider some kind of economic sanctions or - or some restrictions unless China doesn't change their support to Russia.

SIDNER: I want to turn now to the Middle East, where the war rages on between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Hezbollah Leader Hassan Nasrallah has said less than 24 hours ago that - that he would attack the European nation of Cyprus if Israel invades Lebanon. That Hezbollah would attack Cyprus if Israel invades Lebanon.

How serious of a threat do you think this is?

STOLTENBERG: I think it's important to realize that war in Gaza and the tensions we now see increasing throughout the Middle East is serious and - and we have to take any threat of escalation seriously. That's also why we need to be very clear when it comes to the de- stabilizing behavior of Hezbollah, supported by Iran and - and - and any escalation will fuel more conflict and more destruction. And that's the reason why I welcome the efforts by Secretary Blinken, by the United States, President Biden, to find a way to cease the hostilities, to - to agree a ceasefire and to reduce tensions in the Middle East.

SIDNER: How would NATO response to that if that indeed happened and Cyprus was under attack by Hezbollah?

STOLTENBERG: Cyprus is not a NATO ally. And I don't think it's right to speculate. But, first of all, I think it's important to prevent that from happening and to convey a very clear message to Hezbollah and also to all the Iran-backed groups in the region that escalation is dangerous and should not happen.

Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate your time this morning with all that is going on in the world.

Omar.

JIMENEZ: All right, thank you, Sara.

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating a Southwest Airlines flight that got a little too close to the ground before eventually landing on Wednesday. About nine miles out from Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City, the plane descended to just 525 feet above the ground. That's just half the height of the Empire State Building. Now, it wound up landing safely, but that close call has the FAA asking questions, which means CNN's Pete Muntean joins us now.

All right, Pete, you and I have talked many times about close calls, too many times probably, with airlines like these. What do we know about the latest details here?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, the air traffic controllers and a collision warning system that they have in front of them really saved the day here. But even still, this is really alarming, especially since this is - this is the second incident in as many months involving a Southwest flight getting too low to the ground. This latest case happened just after midnight on Wednesday morning. The Southwest flight was coming into land at Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City. Apparently lined up to land on the runway pointed to the southeast.

[08:55:01]

Still about nine miles from the airport when pilots apparently got the plane down too low. The data from Flight Radar 24 says as low as 525 feet above ground level. We're talking about the height of the Washington Monument. Not very high. That's very low for the distance from the airport. The FAA says a system called the Minimum Safe Altitude Warning System, or MSAWS, an alarm sounded in the tower property the controller to issue Southwest 4069 a low altitude alert.

Here is the audio from LiveATC (ph).

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONTROLLER: Southwest 4069 low altitude alert. You good out there?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: The pilots then climbed backed up, maneuvered for a safe landing. Nobody hurt except maybe the egos of the pilots. The FAA says it's investigating.

Southwest is also doing its own internal investigation. And here's what the airline says in a statement. "Southwest is following its robust safety management system and is in contact with the FAA to understand and address any irregularities with the aircraft's approach to the airport. Nothing is more important to Southwest than the safety of our customers and employees."

The question here is how this could happen. Did the pilots improperly configure their instruments, like in the Korean Air crash Flight 801 that hit the side of a mountain or were they simply fatigued after a long day. Remember, this flight was coming in after midnight. Pilots I've talked to say they've been especially worked hard lately, Omar.

JIMENEZ: Yes. And I guess that leads me to my next question here. Is - is this a pilot error issue or is this a plane issue that we should be looking at here? It sounds like their warnings worked the way they should have.

MUNTEAN: No doubt that the attention will go straight to the pilots. And that will be the big question for investigators. Of course, they will want to interview them. They'll also want to listen to the cockpit voice recorder. But remember that ultimately automatically deletes after only a few hours. There was a push to make that longer, the data stored for 25 hours instead of only a couple hours. And so if that evaporates into thin air, that leaves investigators at a big disadvantage here.

The good news here is the layers of safety worked and that low altitude alerting system in use by air traffic control really stopped the accident chain (ph) that was really barreling toward disaster, Omar.

JIMENEZ: Thank you, Pete. Always great at putting this into perspective for us.

And if - for you guys at home, if you didn't see in perspective, this is the amount that we're talking about right here. You see the Empire State Building. That is how close this aircraft got to the ground before, again, they were able to make a safe landing.

And Pete Mateen laying out the details for us. Really appreciate it.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, thank you, Omar.

When a Houston area family of highly trained Tae Kwon Do athletes heard a scream, they jumped into action, stopping a man who the Harris County Sheriff says was trying to sexually assault a woman. And that family held the suspect down until police arrived. Simon An, along with his father, siblings and grandfather all came to the rescue. He joins me now.

Thank you so much for talking with us.

Can you explain to me exactly what happened, what you heard, and then what you did, you and your family did, when you heard this noise next door?

I don't think we have his audio at this point in time. I'm going to wait to see if we might get it. Let me know, you guys, if - if - ah, now I think I hear Simon.

Simon, I think we can now hear you. I apologize for that technical difficulty. Again, just -

SIMON AN, HOUSTON-AREA TAE KWON DO ATHLETE: I'm sorry.

SIDNER: No worries. Describe what it is that you and your family did and how it all happened.

AN: So, around 3:50 to 4:00, that's when we came off our lunch break and we were just parking up to our Tae Kwon Do building. And that's why my dad saw something in the Cricket (ph) building that he just - he just saw two people hugging and he thought nothing of it. And so when he was exiting his car, he heard a loud screen. I didn't hear it personally because I was in the far back of the car. But then he was like, OK, maybe it was more of, you know, horse play.

So, then he was going up to our Tae Kown Do building to open it and so that's when all of us heard a second scream. And it was loud. Very loud. I would describe it as a horror scream. It was very high- pitched. So from there my dad kind of lead all of us towards that Cricket (ph) building. And when he opened the entrance door, he heard another screen. And from there he just ran into the employees' room in the back.

SIDNER: What did you all see? What did your dad describe and as you and your grandfather, everyone's going in together, what did you - what did you witness?

AN: When my dad went into that employees' room and opened it, he just saw a man on top of the woman with his hand over her mouth.

[09:00:04]

SIDNER: OK. And he intervenes at that point.

Tell me about the intervention. Was it - did you use some of the Tae