Return to Transcripts main page
CNN News Central
Officials: At Least 20 Killed, 46 Injured In Russian Terror Attacks; Biden "Appalled" By Violence At Pro-Palestinian Protest In L.A.; Duluth, MN Ranks #10 On CNN's List Of "Best Towns To Visit". Aired 2:30-3p ET
Aired June 24, 2024 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:34:24]
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: We are closely following new developments out of Russia after officials say militants armed with automatic weapons attacked synagogues and churches. Investigators say the attacks killed at least 20 people, injuring dozens more.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: That violence happened Sunday in two cities in Russia's southernmost region of Dagestan. Officials say these appear to be coordinated attacks.
We have CNN chief international security correspondent, Nick Paton Walsh, tracking the latest for us.
So, Nick, Russian state media the reports that the counterterrorism operation is now over here. We're getting some new information about some of the attackers. What are you learning?
[14:35:00]
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it turns out three of what we think of five or six attackers here were actually related to a local official, the head of the Sergokalinsky region, a part of Dagestan called Magamadamorrow (ph).
Now one was his son, one was his nephew, and one appears to be a slightly distant cousin who was also a local MMA fighter.
Now, it is unclear what affinity this group may have had with the usual suspect you point the finger at from an attack like this, ISIS- K, the offshoot of ISIS, that works in Afghanistan, Central Asia.
And more recently in Russia, responsible for that horrific attack on a shopping mall just three months ago now.
But this was, it seemed, coordinated, targeting Jewish and Christian places of residence, relatively well prepared. Some questions as to exactly how the civilian toll appeared to be so low. About four were of these 20 dead civilians that we know of at this point.
Russians are always very transparent about these matters. And so many of the dead policemen.
But the images are of clashes in Makhachkala and Derbent, the two cities affected by this, clashes in their streets for hours, it seems, as police struggled to get this under control.
And there were two real abiding questions here that many Russians and Dagestanis, too, frankly in a pretty poor and troubled region where Islamic violence has been an issue for decades now.
Firstly, could this have been prevented if most of the Russian military wasn't currently fighting Putin's war of choice in Ukraine?
So many of the soldiers who've died in that war have, in fact, come from Dagestan where we saw protests just a couple of years ago now because people were so angry at so many of their sons being sent to fight this war.
And secondly, what of Islamist extremism in Russia. Putin essentially came to power back in 1999, saying he would kill the Chechen separatists, who he said were responsible for apartment bombings in Moscow.
Well, then we had many, many terrorist atrocities since then. And now still that Islamist extremist threat is in a new generation, a new threat, causing attacks like this that, again, Moscow, it seems is powerless to prevent.
Back to you.
KEILAR: Yes, at least 20 killed. I mean, this is -- these are a series of very terrible attacks that, Nick, we know you're keeping your eye on them.
Thank you.
SANCHEZ: Now to some of the other headlines we're watching this hour.
The reported death toll from this year's Hajj pilgrimage has climbed above 1,300, including at least two U.S. citizens. Saudi authorities blame the oppressive heat for many of the fatalities.
They say that unauthorized tour groups led some of the victims on longer routes that lack adequate relief from the triple-digit temperatures. More than 1.8 million people took part in the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca.
KEILAR: And veteran lifeguard, surfing legend and Hollywood actor in Hawaii has died after an apparent shark attack. Honolulu first responders used a jet ski to bring Tamayo Perry to shore where he was pronounced dead.
Aside from being well-known in the surfing community, the 49-year-old was also an actor. He appeared in films like "Pirates of the Caribbean" and TV shows like "Lost" and "Hawaii Five-0." Honolulu's mayor says Perry's heroic actions as a lifeguard will never be forgotten. SANCHEZ: And NASA is abandoning a planned spacewalk outside the
International Space Station because of a leaky space suit. This marks the second spacewalk in recent days that's abruptly been called off for space suit issues.
It's also the latest in a string of setbacks for the current crew aboard the ISS, which includes those Boeing Starliner astronauts whose return home has been delayed. Now they're not expected to get back until July.
We can't say they're stuck though. That would be inaccurate. It's just that they're delayed.
KEILAR: But would it be?
SANCHEZ: Editorially, they're not technically stuck, I guess, right?
KEILAR: They're going to get back. That's the thing. But I mean, there's one thing to have a few extra days in space, which I think any astronaut would welcome.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
KEILAR: That's what our guests have said. But at a certain point, it's like --
SANCHEZ: Kind of gets crowded up there.
KEILAR: Yes.
SANCHEZ: All right --
(CROSSTALK)
KEILAR: Let's -- let's get back home.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
KEILAR: And let's go when that date is, right?
SANCHEZ: You want that Starliner to work.
KEILAR: Yes. You do.
SANCHEZ: Still to come, President Joe Biden says that he is appalled by the scene outside a Los Angeles synagogue after a pro-Palestinian protest turned violent.
[14:39:18]
Up next, we're going to take a closer look at how the tensions over these protests could impact the race for the White House.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:43:59] KEILAR: President Biden is condemning Sunday's violent street protests between Los Angeles pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel counter demonstrators. Protest organizers say they were targeting a synagogue where an Israel real estate event was taking place.
Biden said he's appalled by what he saw. He said, quote, "Intimidating Jewish congregants is unconscionable, anti-Semitic and un-American."
SANCHEZ: CNN obtained this video appearing to show two men wrestling on the ground as others kick them. The violence prompted L.A.'s mayor to beef up security in houses of worship around the city.
Let's discuss with CNN senior political commentator and former Obama administration official, Van Jones.
Van, great to see you.
I'm curious to get your reaction to these scenes playing out. Not just didn't Los Angeles, but we've seen similar ones across the country.
VAN JONES, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, look, this is unacceptable. As a father who's actually trying to raise my children in Los Angeles, I want to just applaud Mayor Bass, Governor Newsom and President Biden for speaking up about this.
[14:45:00]
Listen, if you don't like what's happening in Gaza, it's your right to protest. That's not a problem. But you protest a policy. You don't protest a people.
When you protest a policy, you go to city hall and you protest. You go to the Israeli consulate, peacefully, you protest. Maybe you go to your elected representative, you protest.
You don't bum-rush a Jewish neighborhood and run up on a synagogue. That's not protesting a policy. That's protesting a people. And that is a cross of any line in America. And it has to be called out.
And you have to also understand the context here. This is a neighborhood that's already been traumatized, not just October 7th, which traumatized all Jewish communities, but that neighborhood in particular.
Last year, in February, not one, but two Jewish men, Orthodox Jewish men, were gunned down, were shot in two back-to-back hate crimes.
So you're dealing with the community that's already traumatized. They're already fearful. And then you go and you do something like this.
I have no problem with people protesting policy. You cannot protest a people. That is not a protest. That's a pogrom and it has to stop.
KEILAR: Let's -- let's talk about the policy. Let's talk about how the Biden administration, how the president is handling the policy, Van. How do you see it? Where does he need to improve on this?
JONES: Well, listen, I think that the president is in a tough position because the base of the party is very concerned about these images that we keep seeing from Gaza.
And he wants to take a strong stand on behalf of human rights for everybody. That's Joe Biden.
At the same time, I think it's a little bit naive for some of the people to think that if Israel would just suddenly just stop doing what it's doing, that rainbows and bunnies and sunshine would break out over the Middle East it would all be -- you know, all be fine.
The hostages have to be returned. People have called for a ceasefire, call for ceasefire on both sides. Hamas is still firing its rockets. They still have hostages kidnapped.
So this is a complex issue. But here's what's not complicated. Politics can be complicated. Geopolitics can be really complicated.
How you treat your neighbors, how you treat people in your community is not complicated. You don't run up -- I haven't seen Jewish people running up on mosques with Israeli flags. If they did that, I'd be denouncing that, too.
There are certain things you don't do. It is a red line. If you want to be a part for protests and they say we're going to go to a Jewish community center, we're going to go to a mosque, we're going to go to a Jewish restaurant, that's not a protest. That's the pogrom. That's an anti-Jewish bigoted act.
If you want to be a part of a protest, let's go to a mosque, let's go and harass the Muslims. That's not a protest.
So we've got to get clear in our country what is a fair protest about policy and you can agree or disagree, and what's going after people, human beings, terrifying moms, grandmas, children, who are trying to be a part of a neighborhood.
The Jewish neighborhoods in L.A. are well-known. Nobody is confused where they are. So if you show up, they're wearing Kafia (ph), you show up there with your face covered, you show up there chanting "river to the sea," that'll be just like a white person running up with the Confederate flag in Harlem.
You're not trying to start a -- a conversation. You're trying to start a fight. Stop doing that. Don't do that. We don't want more violence. We don't want more fear. We don't want more terrified people.
We've got to be able to come together as a country. If either side had an easy answer, it would have been solved.
I'm less concerned about the politicians now. I'm concerned about the people in my community in Los Angeles moving in a direction that is more and more dangerous, more and more scary, more and more destructive. The Jewish community does not need to have people doing those types of
things. It's not helping anybody in Palestine, but it's making America a much less safe place for everybody.
SANCHEZ: It's tough to watch the discourse and the dialogue devolve into what we witnessed in L.A. and other places.
Van Jones, great to get your perspective. Thanks for being with us.
JONES: Well, thank you.
[14:48:57]
SANCHEZ: Stay with CNN. We're back in just moments.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:53:12]
SANCHEZ: It turns out you don't have to leave the country to see rocky canyons, snowy mountains or foggy forests.
KEILAR: Yes. CNN went out in search of America's best towns and we found 10 gems that you might want to add to your travel list.
Today, we begin with number 10, Duluth, Minnesota.
Here's Victor Blackwell.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Duluth, Minnesota, is number 10 on CNN's travel list of Americas best towns to visit.
It's perched on Lake Superior, which contains 10 percent of the world's freshwater. Duluth is all about the lake life. And I had a lot of fun soaking it all up.
(voice-over): Visit Duluth, Minnesota, and it does not take long to feel the majesty of Lake Superior.
CAPT. RILEY LESLIE, "HAPPY HOOKER" FISHING CHARTER: Where you find both good water and good bay fish, even oftentimes find hungry fish.
BLACKWELL (on camera): Are we going to find big hungry fish though?
LESLIE: That's the plan.
Kala, kala, kala kala.
BLACKWELL: That's called fishing.
LESLIE: That's our whole secret.
BLACKWELL (voice-over): Kala is the Finnish word for "fish."
LESLIE: Kala, kala, kala, kala. Breakfast.
The shot right there.
Come on.
LESLIE: We got them.
BLACKWELL: Yes. There we go.
LESLIE: We have a tradition. Oh, you got to bite the head off your very first lake trout you ever catch.
BLACKWELL: Well, the first time that tradition will be broken --
(LAUGHTER)
BLACKWELL: -- will be today.
(LAUGHTER)
BLACKWELL (voice-over): Off the water, the lake is still the star. You can welcome ships into the harbor or relax for the afternoon on the world's longest freshwater sandbar.
HALLEY ELDENSCHINK, HOST, "ATTRACTED TO DULUTH": Getting out onto the water is really important in Park Point, as soon as the weather allows.
BLACKWELL: Even when the weather doesn't allow, there are still people out on the beach.
(on camera): Yes, that's cold.
(voice-over): Looking out from shore, it's remarkable to consider that 10 percent of the world's available freshwater is right here.
[14:55:06]
(on camera): Everybody I've met brags about the water.
EMILY VIKRE, CO-FOUNDER & CEO, VIKRE DISTILLERY: It's so good. Have you just had a glass of water?
BLACKWELL: I have not.
Have a glass of water then.
BLACKWELL (voice-over): Here at Vikre, the lake water is key. All their spirits are distilled with it.
(on camera): Oh, that's good.
VIKRE: Must be something in the water.
(LAUGHTER)
BLACKWELL (voice-over): Across town, I take my fish to the Pickwick --
DUSTIN SPECKS, EXECUTIVE CHEF, PICKWICK RESTAURANT & PUB: I hope you're hungry.
BLACKWELL: -- where the chef has agreed to cook it for me.
SPECKS: Right here, we have a temporal fried-like shell. Right in front of you, the way we like to prepare it. And then we have a blackened lake trout.
BLACKWELL: Mmm. That's good there.
SPECKS: The city kind of speaks for itself. When you let it speak to you, it'll give you what you want.
BLACKWELL (on camera): You can check out more about Duluth on our Web site or by scanning the QR code on your screen right now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: All right, Victor, thank you.
He gets the best assignments.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
KEILAR: And I know he said the water was good, but he was drinking a cocktail.
SANCHEZ: He was not drinking that.
KEILAR: Yes. Just to be clear. Fact check there.
All right --
(CROSSTALK)
KEILAR: That looked awesome.
All right, still to come, Donald Trump staring down another potential gag order. This time, in the classified documents case. Prosecutors set to make their pitch here in court in just minutes. So we'll have a live update ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
