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President Biden Holds Critical Talks With South Korea's President; Tornado In Northern Michigan Kills Two, Injures More Than 40; U.S. Military Flight Carrying Baby Formula To Depart Germany Tomorrow; Interview With Volodymyr Omelyan, Former Ukrainian Minister Of Infrastructure; GOP Lawmaker Defends Giving Tour Of Capitol On Eve Of Riot; Giuliani Meets With January 6 Committee; Oklahoma Passes Bill Banning Almost All Abortions. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired May 21, 2022 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:00:19]
ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there. I'm Alex Marquardt, in on this Saturday for Fredricka Whitfield. Thank you so much for joining me.
We are going to start this hour with the latest developments from a critical overseas trip for U.S. President Joe Biden. The president is in the South Korean capital, Seoul, intending to revitalize and strengthen alliances in the region as China, North Korea and the war in Ukraine loom largely in the background.
Today the president and his South Korean counterpart signal their desire to restart joint military drills in response to North Korea's growing nuclear threat. Biden also left the door open to meeting with the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-un.
The president took part in a wreath laying ceremony to pay his respects to fallen Korean soldiers who died fighting alongside U.S. forces in the Korean War.
CNN White House correspondent Jeremy Diamond is in Seoul with the president. Jeremy, this announcement about joint military exercises, this is yet another example of President Biden reversing what President Donald Trump had done.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, no doubt about it, Alex. What we're seeing from President Biden on this trip to Seoul is a return to more traditional foreign policy in this region and an attempt to deepen and tighten the cooperation between the U.S. and its allies in the region, South Korea and Japan, where the president heads next.
This move announced in a joint statement between President Biden and the South Korean president Yoon indicates that they are going to enter discussions to potentially expand these joint military exercises.
That is a steep reversal from what we saw under President Trump who downsized those exercises, believed that they were too costly, too provocative in the region. We know, of course, that President Trump met twice with the North Korean leader yielding ultimately no progress towards denuclearization.
And so what President Biden is doing here is really reversing that approach in a number of ways not only with the joint military exercises, but he's also pursuing -- he's also given up this idea of an everything for everything grand bargain towards denuclearization. Instead pursuing small scale track diplomacy to try and get incremental progress.
President Biden was asked whether or not he would meet with the North Korean leader. Here's his answer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: With regard to whether I'd meet with the leader of North Korea it'd be dependent on whether he was sincere and whether he was serious.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DIAMOND: And as you can see there President Biden indicating that he would only do so under those conditions. Those were not conditions that President Trump abided by, of course.
And we know senior administration officials who I've spoken to on this, they don't have any sense that Kim Jong-un is sincere or serious about any kind of diplomacy. In fact, the U.S., despite its efforts to try and engage and reach out to the North Koreans, have not had a single meeting with the North Koreans -- a policy working level meeting with the North Koreans to discuss diplomacy.
Part of that, of course, is because of the coronavirus situation in North Korea under deep lockdown. But really the North Koreans have engaged less. They have carried out more tests in the last several months and, of course, there is still this looming possibility of a missile test while President Biden is in the region, Alex.
MARQUARDT: Yes, big fears about that.
Jeremy, also, President Biden still very focused on what's going on in Ukraine. He signed a significant bill while he was out there. Tell us about that.
DIAMOND: Yes, that's right. That $40 billion Ukraine aid bill which was passed in the Senate just days ago by an overwhelming bipartisan majority, just 11 Republicans voting against this aid.
President Biden signing that bill while here in South Korea. This bill actually had to be flown over from Washington over to here. I was told by a National Security Council official that it was flown over by a government official who was flying on a commercial plane who was already scheduled to fly from Washington over here to Seoul.
And so President Biden signing that, providing billions of dollars in additional military assistance, assistance for the Ukrainian government to keep its funding going and also global disaster assistance as well as funds to replenish U.S. stocks, U.S. military stocks that have been depleted by sending over weapons to Ukraine, Alex.
MARQUARDT: All right. That bill physically flown to Seoul. Jeremy Diamond in the South Korean capital before they head on to Tokyo, Japan. Jeremy, thank you very much.
[11:04:49]
MARQUARDT: Joining me now is Gordon Chang. He's a columnist for "Newsweek" and has written several books on North Korea and China.
Gordon, thanks so much for being with us today. Let's pick up on what Jeremy started with there. Your reaction, please, to this news that the U.S. and South Korea are open to kick starting -- restarting these joint military exercises that were halted under President Trump. That surely will not come as welcome news to North Korea.
GORDON CHANG, COLUMNIST "NEWSWEEK": Yes, and it's a very good move for us because those exercises should never have been downsized in the first place. Whatever one thinks about diplomacy with North Korea, downsizing the exercises signaled to Pyeongyang that the United States was going to make concessions without getting something in return from the North Koreans at the same time. So I think that it's good.
In order to have deterrence, the South Korean and U.S. militaries have got to exercise regularly. Because remember in the American side of this about one-third of the officers and enlisted people, they transfer out of North Korea every year. So that means that you don't have that continuity of relationships between the South and the United States. They need to be renewed with these exercises.
MARQUARDT: What did you make, Gordon, of what President Biden said there about meeting with Kim Jong-un? He said it would depend on whether Kim was sincere and serious. What scenario do you see in which President Biden would meet with Kim?
CHANG: I think that that's really unlikely right now. I think the North Koreans would have to say that they were prepared to give up their most destructive weapons and actually to have some signs that they would do so more than just the words.
You know, sincerity on the part of the North Koreans -- the North Koreans are always very sincere. They tell us what they want. They want to keep their weapons and they want the U.S. off the peninsula. So it's not a question of sincerity so much, it's just that their objectives are diametrically opposed to ours. And President Biden understands that.
MARQUARDT: And of course, so much of this year, we've been focused on the war in Ukraine and at the same time we've seen all these missile tests from North Korea, more than a dozen of them essentially saying, hey, don't forget about us.
How concerned are you about the possibility of a missile or even a nuclear test from North Korea during this visit by President Biden to Seoul?
CHANG: You know, I think that that's part of China's plan to sort of divert the conversation away from China toward North Korea. It might not happen actually during this visit. It could happen after Biden has left Japan.
And one of the reasons why the North Koreans might wait is because in Tokyo the president is scheduled to meet with three other leaders of the quad, and you don't want to have a provocative act when the United States can actually talk directly with countries in the region about doing something.
So I'm not sure that it will occur during this visit, but it could very well. You know, the North Koreans, nobody can predict what they want to do and what they will do.
MARQUARDT: You just noted that the president's on his way to Tokyo after this. What do you think he's going to be focused on there? What does he need to be addressing in terms of issues with the Japanese leadership?
CHANG: Well, it's with the Japanese leadership and also with the two other members of the quad, Australia and India. I think the most important thing that the president needs to do is he's proposing this Indo-Pacific economic framework. He needs to be able to show specifics. The Chinese look at this and they say, you know, there's a lot of words from the U.S. But they don't really back them up.
And trade is important. The United States won't enter into a major trade agreement with the region anytime soon. So I think the president needs a lot of specifics on that.
One of the good things from this present trip to Seoul was that he showed China that he wasn't afraid of them by actually mentioning Taiwan in his joint statement with the South Korean president. That defies the dire warnings from China about mentioning Taiwan during the trip. The president in Tokyo needs to talk about Taiwan as well.
MARQUARDT: Yes. A major trip for President Biden, shoring up those alliances with South Korea and Japan as well as others.
Gordon Chang, as always, thank you so much for your time and your expertise today.
CHANG: Thank you, Alex.
M5; All right, well coming up extreme weather gripping all parts of the United States. A powerful tornado leaving behind catastrophic damage in the Midwest, while in the northeast more than 30 million people are now enduring a heat wave that is expected to break dozens of records.
We'll have the latest forecast. That's next.
Plus parents are quickly becoming desperate as the baby formula shortage only worsens. This weekend the first flight of formula from Europe is expected to arrive here in the United States as part of the administration's effort to bring much needed relief. We'll have more on that coming up.
Stay with us.
[11:09:51]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MARQUARDT: A state of emergency is being declared after a deadly tornado hit the northern Michigan town of Gaylord. The twister left a trail of destruction. You can see it right there -- flipping cars, piling up RVs, and knocking down buildings. Two people were killed, more than 40 were injured.
Allison Chinchar joins us from the CNN Weather Center. Allison, You've got that town recovering from a tornado. Dozens of other places are expected to break heat records this weekend, and then we're hearing about a late spring snowstorm out west.
ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You've got three seasons basically all in one day. You've got winter snow in Colorado, spring severe thunderstorms across several areas of the U.S. And then yes you're talking about summer heat.
So let's begin with what's taken place the last 24 hours. Over 60 total severe weather reports have come in over a wide variety of areas -- the MidAtlantic, the northeast, the Midwest, even the Great Lakes region and that includes that tornado report from the state of Michigan.
[11:14:54]
CHINCHAR: Now that same system is going to continue to move off to the east. So you have the potential for severe storms across a 2,000-mile stretch from Maine all the way back into Texas. All of those areas have the potential for damaging winds, large hail that could be golf ball-sized or larger and even some isolated tornados.
Now, you already have some showers and thunderstorms ongoing at this moment but a lot of the strongest thunderstorms are really going to take shape this afternoon and continuing to the evening hours as that line of thunderstorms continues to make its way off to the east. And even a pop up showers and thunderstorm across the southeast as well.
Out ahead of that system, you've got a lot of intense heat which has helped fueling a lot of those thunderstorms. But you have over 60 locations from Texas all the way up to New Hampshire that could end up breaking records not only today, but some locations could break records two days in a row.
You have heat advisories out from northern Delaware stretching all the way up into to New Hampshire. This includes Boston, New York and Philadelphia. D.C. and New York -- or and Philadelphia have the potential to break or tie their records today. New York, it's going to be close but likely just a degree or two shy. Same thing with Boston but again still getting very close. The thing about this heatwave is it's very short-lived. Give it until Monday or Tuesday and that heat goes away.
Take New York, for example, 91 for the high on Sunday. Back down to 65 on Tuesday, which would actually be below normal. Same thing for Boston, same thing for Philadelphia seeing those temperatures go from about 15 to 20 degrees above normal to 10 degrees below normal.
And speaking of cold air, the calendar says late May but Mother Nature just clearly did not get that memo when it comes to Colorado. Look at the snow showers still making their way through the areas of southern Colorado and the eastern portion of Colorado as we speak.
This is on top of all the snow that's already been dumped in the last 12 to 24 hours. Several locations picking up at least a foot of snow, Alex, not only in Colorado but also portions of Wyoming as well.
But it's the rebound that's going to take place. People in the northeast are going to see a cool down, quite the opposite out west. Take a look at Denver going from a high of only 46 today to the 80s by the end of the week.
MARQUARDT: Almost 100 degrees here on the East Coast and it's not even June.
Allison Chinchar, thank you very much.
President Joe Biden is taking action to deal with the severe baby shortage formula that is impacting parents nationwide. This morning, he signed a new bill into law that is intending to expand access to those families who are in need.
Additional steps that have been announced by the White House include a crackdown on any price gouging as well as an increase in the supply of formula imports.
And on that subject the U.S. military is now involved. The first military flight carrying baby formula from Europe is scheduled to leave tomorrow. It's called Operation: Fly Formula, and it will be transporting 132 pallets of baby formula from Europe to the United States.
Now, CNN's senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is live from Ramstein Air Base in Germany. That's where that baby formula is coming from.
Elizabeth, we can see it right there behind you, and this really shows what a crisis this is, that the U.S. has not only to bring in emergency shipments from overseas but is also using the U.S. military to do it.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Alex. You know, in the past the U.S. basically hasn't imported baby formula. We export baby formula. That's because we were able to make enough. But that has just not been the case with supply issues as well as the shutdown of this major Abbott Nutrition plant.
And now the United States needs help from other countries. So you see all these pallets behind me. This is 1.5 million bottles of infant formula. They're 8-ounce bottles, 1.5 million of them.
So let's take a look at one of the labels you can see here. It says Nestle. That's a Swiss company, that's where this is coming from. Alfamino -- that's a hypoallergenic formula and that's because a lot of the issues in the U.S. as we've been talking about on our air for some time have been for children who have allergies and can't drink just any formula. So they're shipping 1.5 million bottles of this.
And I'll tell you, Alex, it's been a bit bittersweet to be here. The sweet part is talking to the service members. They are genuinely excited about this. They're saying, wow, we do all sorts of shipping everywhere but to ship baby formula back to our home to save babies in our home in the United States -- they're excited about this.
The bitter part is why did it come to this? Why does the U.S. need this kind of help, Alex?
MARQUARDT: Just extraordinary, Elizabeth. Remarkable to see that. Certainly, a welcome sight for so many parents across this country. But as you know, this crisis is far from over.
Elizabeth Cohen at Ramstein Air Base in Germany --
COHEN: Right.
MARQUARDT: -- thank you very much.
[11:19:53]
MARQUARDT: Now to Ukraine where the Russians are claiming that they've destroyed a huge stash of European and American weapons that are heading into the hands of Ukrainian forces. That happened, they say, west of the Capitol Kyiv.
And then in South Korea today President Biden signed a multibillion- dollar package to help Ukrainians stay in their fight against the Russians. We'll have those details straight ahead.
Stay with us.
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[11:24:46]
MARQUARDT: There are new developments in Russia's war on Ukraine. Today President Joe Biden signed into law a $40 billion aid package for Ukraine. That package provides $11 billion in new weapons, $9 billion to replenish weapon stockpiles as well as humanitarian aid.
But that funding comes as Russian officials claim that they have destroyed a large cache of U.S. and European weapons with cruise missiles. That was a strike they say on the west of Kyiv. Russia has also said that it hit a fuel depot in the southern port city of Odessa, which they've been targeting for some time now.
Also today, Finland's state-owned energy firm announced that Russia has stopped natural gas exports to Finland. That comes just days after Finland and Sweden announced that they plan to join NATO.
Joining us now is the former Ukrainian minister of infrastructure, Volodymyr Omelyan. Volodymyr, thank you so much for joining us today. I know how difficult it is. You are in the southern part of Ukraine. If you could first tell us what the situation is where you are and in the surrounding region.
VOLODYMYR OMELYAN, FORMER UKRAINIAN MINISTER OF INFRASTRUCTURE: Hello, Alex. The pleasure is mine and I'm very grateful to you and all the United States standing with Ukraine. It's very important for us to know and (INAUDIBLE).
We're still under severe bombing and missile attacks in the south of Ukraine. But I would say that we even try to counter-offense operations and they're pretty successful.
Definitely it's not the end of the world but together with the west, with the United States, the European Union and NATO member states, we'll be able to succeed and to put Russia back to democracy and hearing the voice of the democratic states.
MARQUARDT: Volodymyr, we've been so focused on what's been happening in Mariupol, which had all but been taken by Russia until recently. They're now claiming that they have liberated, in their words, the Mariupol steel plant. How much of a blow is that to the morale of Ukrainian forces, or were you simply expecting that?
OMELYAN: You know, defenders of Mariupol are heroes to us. They did much more than can one even expect from them. It was a heroic battle against numerous Russian armies. And they spent -- stood still for a month.
And definitely we are sad today with news coming from Mariupol. But we do understand that it's war. Sometimes you lose, but you have to win. There is no other option for Ukraine than to win and there's no other option for the democratic world than to win because otherwise we have Russia and China ruling the world and it's not acceptable for Ukraine at least.
MARQUARDT: Volodymyr, the perception was that this war would come to a standstill at some point and President Putin would have a large part of eastern Ukraine.
But now Russia is on their back foot. Ukrainian forces are pushing forward. How confident are you that Ukrainian forces will be able to retake all of those areas that Russian forces took control of particularly in eastern and southern Ukraine?
OMELYAN: For you it maybe the first world war you're not losing your soldiers in battlefields. Ukrainians are shedding blood for the whole democratic world right now because it's war in Europe.
The goal of Russia was not to capture eastern Ukraine or part of eastern Ukraine. The goal of Russia was to capture whole Europe and then dictate to the United States their own view on history and future. We broke that together and we're very grateful to the United States and to Mr. Biden personally especially with new aid coming.
Yes, I know that maybe some U.S. taxpayers are not very happy with that. But it's much better than to have missile strikes on your house roof or damages of your infrastructure as we face right now in Ukraine.
But there is no doubt for us that we will win because all Putin's plans have failed, and his progress in Ukraine has failed and he didn't progress in Ukraine at all. He's now still fighting for one village or a couple of villages progressing 1 kilometer per day. It's not (INAUDIBLE). They expected much different situation we didn't make it happen.
MARQUARDT: Do you believe that there's any chance for negotiations in the near-term to end this conflict, or are you only thinking of things now in military terms because the prospect of talks is just unimaginable?
OMELYAN: We've talked to Russia for decades and it resulted in war. And we don't believe that any diplomacy could play a significant role talking to Moscow.
[11:29:56]
OMELYAN: We can try, but we should understand that only military means could stop Putin and could make Russia turn back their forces and we also should realize that the work doesn't end on the borders of Ukraine. We should do something with the Kremlin and to do everything possible and impossible to stop them from further invasions because they do it on a regular basis. Just check the history of 20th century of (INAUDIBLE).
MARQUARDT: Volodymyr Omelyan, we have to leave it there. Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us. I know how difficult --
OMELYAN: Thank you.
MARQUARDT: -- your situation is right now, how much is going on there. We wish you all the best and we hope to speak with you again. Thank you.
OMELYAN: Don't worry.
MARQUARDT: All right. Well, Russia's strikes across Ukraine are offering a grim reminder of the human toll of Russia's brutal invasion in Ukraine. For one Ukrainian man that includes the loss of his wife and his newborn daughter.
CNN's Sara Sidner has their story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The moment a Russian missile slammed into an apartment building on Easter weekend in Odessa. Yuriy Glodan's family was inside waiting for him to return from the grocery store.
"On the way home that's when I heard an explosion. I felt immediately something bad had happened. I tried to call my wife. She did not answer."
When he got there, chaos. Police and EMS had arrived. He and a bystander ran in to try and find his family.
"We began to clear away the rubble. And this is how alongside EMS staff we were able to find the bodies of my family. All murdered."
First, they found his mother-in-law's Ludmilla's (ph) body, then his wife's body. But his 3 month old daughter was missing. They were being told to leave for fear of a building collapse.
"I was constantly shouting," he says. "There's still a child up there. Did you find the child or not?"
Eventually they found her, her little body lifeless. He returned to find her blood soaked baby stroller the next day.
"It's hard to live with this. My family was my whole life. I lived for their sake. When my baby came along I understood the meaning of life," he says.
19-year-old Alexi can't believe he's still alive. He was in the same apartment complex. The explosion sent swathe of scorching hot concrete and shrapnel into his body.
"I realized that a rocket had hit my place and I started to burn," he says. 'I thought another minute and I would definitely turn into ash. I felt everything."
20 percent of his body was burned -- his hands, arms and back. Jagged pieces of shrapnel had to be removed from his leg as well. He cannot do simple things for himself at the moment, but he is thankful for simply being alive.
"It's a miracle for everyone, for me as well," he says. Before the blast he was preparing to take to the seas and work on a commercial supplies ship. Now he's just practicing walking again.
His neighbor once surrounded by family now walks alone.
"We used to walk in the park when my wife was pregnant."
Every place he now goes in Odessa, a reminder of what a Russian missile took from him. His wife, child and mother-in-law now dead and buried. With each deadly strike a new and terrible story is born in Ukraine.
Sara Sidner, CNN -- Odessa. (END VIDEOTAPE)
MARQUARDT: A new and terrible story. Our thanks to Sara Sidner for that report in southern Ukraine.
And we have a quick programming note. Former U.S. Marine Trevor Reed is going to be joining Jake Tapper. After 985 days in Russian imprisonment, he's ready to talk about what happened and how that ordeal came to an end.
It's called, "FINALLY HOME: THE TREVOR REED INTERVIEW". That begins tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m. Eastern time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Have you been able to fully grasp that you're free?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A CNN exclusive.
TAPPER: You went to a party in August 2019.
TREVOR REED, IMPRISONED IN RUSSIA: And the next morning I woke up in a police station.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Former U.S. Marine Trevor Reed talks with Jake Tapper about his 985 days in Russian hands.
REED: They have absolutely no value of human life.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How it came to an end.
REED: They were never going to break me. Maybe I would have died but they never would have broken me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "FINALLY HOME, THE TREVOR REED INTERVIEW" tomorrow at 8:00.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARQUARDT: An absolute must-watch.
It was Rudy Giuliani's turn to appear before the special congressional committee looking into the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol. He spoke and he spoke a lot.
We'll have a full report coming up.
[11:34:55]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MARQUARDT: In the investigation into the January 6th insurrection, Republican Congressman Barry Loudermilk is defending a Capitol tour that he gave one day before the attack on the Capitol.
Congressional investigators have asked Loudermilk to tell them about that tour and who was on it.
The Georgia congressman was one of the 139 house Republicans who voted to overturn the election on January 6.
[11:39:56]
MARQUARDT: CNN's Annie Grayer joins me live. Annie, thanks so much for being with me. So how is Congressman Loudermilk defending this tour that he gave the day before January 6?
ANNIE GRAYER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alex, Congressman Loudermilk denies that he did anything wrong with the tour that he gave on January 5th, the day before the Capitol attack.
He claims he was meeting with families from his own district including with children and that he wasn't even in the Capitol building itself. He was in the House office buildings that surround it.
He released a video statement yesterday adding more to explain. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. BARRY LOUDERMILK (R-GA): I took a family with young children and their guests who were visiting Washington to lunch in a cafeteria in one of the House office buildings. So what was so awful about this family that caused the committee to make false accusations about them? Well, some were actually wearing red baseball caps.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRAYER: Now, it's important to know, Alex, why the committee is looking into this in the first place.
Shortly after the attack last year Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat, claimed that she saw some of her Republican colleagues giving what she called reconnaissance tours around the Capitol in the days leading up to the attack with rioters who eventually stormed the Capitol.
Now that's a claim that's been out there that hasn't been proven but it shows why the committee wants to speak with Congressman Loudermilk saying that they have evidence that they want to go over with him.
Now, it's important to know the committee wants to have this conversation less than a month away from when they're supposed to have their first public hearing, which is on June 9th.
MARQUARDT: Yes, those hearings likely to be very dramatic.
And Annie, there was a new court filing from the former Trump attorney John Eastman about former President Trump's plans to overturn the 2020 election. What did that say?
GRAYER: Well, Alex, these new court documents show that Donald Trump communicated directly with right-wing lawyer, John Eastman, about plans to overturn the 2020 presidential election. These new documents even include handwritten notes between Trump and Eastman.
Now, while we don't know what those notes specifically say it's part of an ongoing court case between the January 6th committee and John Eastman because the committee really wants to get possession of the documents and e-mails from Eastman because they view Eastman as central to their investigation into how -- how the election was overturned.
Now, you might remember -- excuse me -- how people fought to overturn the election. Now, you might remember John Eastman as the lawyer who a federal judge said was more likely than not part of a crime with Donald Trump in their plans to try and overturn the election.
There's been no charge there, but this is an ongoing case over documents that the committee believes is necessary for its investigation.
MARQUARDT: All right. Annie Grayer, part of our all-star team covering the fallout of the January 6th insurrection and its the investigation.
Annie, thanks so much for joining me today.
Now, Rudy Giuliani met with the members of the House committee investigating the insurrection for more than nine hours yesterday. Giuliani was a lifetime confidant of former President Donald Trump and, of course, a major figure in efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
CNN's Ryan Nobles has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RYAN NOBLES, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani may be one of the most important players in the investigation into what led to the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6th.
And on Friday he met for the first time with the committee, and it was a lengthy interview. We're told more than nine hours he was deposed by investigators for the committee.
Now, this came after Giuliani had a back and forth between the committee and they had a deposition scheduled to happen. And he backed out at the last minute because he wanted to record the deposition and then release the information on his own.
The committee wasn't interested in that. They backed off and then had more negotiations that led to this deposition that took place on Friday. Now, Giuliani is an important player for a number of reasons, the most principal one being that he was at the center of this effort to undermine the 2020 election results.
Serving as the president's personal attorney, he worked would a team of lawyers from all over the country to try and undermine election results in several swing states. He also was behind some of the plots that involved trying to get the former Vice President Mike Pence to prevent the certification of the election results, issuing a fake set of electors that senators could perhaps vote on, as well as a number of other attempts at the state level to try and convince legislature to toss out election results.
And it's important because the committee truly believes that that activity and the time between the election in November and what happened on January 6th are definitively linked, that you don't have one without the other and Giuliani was working on these efforts to undermine the election results right up until January 6th.
[11:45:02]
NOBLES: Now, Giuliani has taken a different route than some other associates of the former president who are very close to them including Steve Bannon and Mark Meadows who have both defied the committee's request to appear before them. And they're now facing a criminal contempt of Congress charge.
So the question is what does the committee do with this information that Giuliani provided to them? Of course, they do a series of high stakes public hearings that will take place in the month of June, and we'll have to see if what Giuliani told them this week will be any part of that report.
Ryan Nobles, CNN -- Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARQUARDT: All right. Our thanks to Ryan Nobles for that.
And one of the most restrictive abortion bills in the country awaits the Oklahoma governor's signature. And if he signs it, that law would allow private citizens to sue providers who knowingly offer women an abortion. We'll have that full story next.
Stay with us.
[11:45:55]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MARQUARDT: Now this week lawmakers in Oklahoma passed a bill that would ban almost all abortions from the moment of fertilization. It would also give private citizens the right to sue anyone who helps a woman get an abortion.
Now the Oklahoma governor hasn't signed the bill into law just yet but he is expected to and when he does, it will become the country's strictest abortion ban that is on the books.
CNN's Lucy Kafanov reports on this latest move in Oklahoma to undermine Roe versus Wade.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GOVERNOR KEVIN STITT (R-OK): We believe life begins at conception and we're going to protect life in Oklahoma.
LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Republican Governor Kevin Stitt not mincing his words, making good of his promise to make Oklahoma the most anti-abortion state in the country. Oklahoma lawmakers passing a bill on Thursday that would ban abortions at fertilization making it one of the most far-reaching abortion prohibitions adding to a growing number of Republican leaning states advancing strict measures in anticipation of the Supreme Court overturning Roe versus Wade.
STATE REP. WENDI STEARMAN (R): This bill does not preclude any other programs seeking to help women and children in difficult times. What this bill does is protect life.
KAFANOV: The bill sparked immediate pushback from state Democrats.
STATE REP. CYNDI MUNSON (D): People will die. Women will die because they cannot access a procedure that they need to save their own life and it will be on our conscience.
KAFANOV: Vice President Kamala Harris calling it the latest in a series of blatant attacks on women by extremist legislators, while on Thursday, offering a grim preview of a post-Roe America.
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It represents a threat, not just to women but to all Americans. At its core, this is about our future as a nation. About whether we live in a country where the government can interfere in personal decisions.
KAFANOV: Oklahoma's bill would ban abortions at any stage of pregnancy. Unless it was a result of rape, sexual assault or incest, but only if those crimes have been reported to law enforcement.
While there are exceptions for medical emergencies, it effectively prohibits almost all abortions in the state. It relies on private citizens for enforcement. Allowing them to sue any individual who knowingly engages in conduct that aids or abets the performance or inducement of an abortion including paying for or reimbursing the cost of an abortion through insurance or other wise.
RABIA MUQADDAM, CENTER FOR REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS: This law was designed to encourage people to bring frivolous and harassing lawsuits. It is basically all access pass to the courthouse to bring a lawsuit against somebody who something that you think may be taking place.
KAFANOV: The bill now heads to Governor Stitt's desk who's promised to sign any legislation that limits abortion. Just last month he signed a bill modelled after a Texas legislation that prohibits abortions as early as six weeks, before many women even know their pregnant. The measure does allow for exceptions in medical emergencies.
STITT: Other states could do things differently but we're going to stand for life in the state of Oklahoma.
KAFANOV: Here in rural Oklahoma women, are already severely limited in terms of access to abortions. There are just four clinics in the entire state that offer these services, two of them have stopped providing abortions.
Once governor signs this near total ban into law, it goes into effect immediately and that is when the other two clinics will cease providing abortions, leaving women with no options in the state.
Lucy Kafanov, CNN -- Boise City, Oklahoma.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARQUARDT: Our thanks to Lucy Kafanov for that report.
Now a large and extremely dangerous tornado has ripped a small town in northern Michigan apart. The pictures of the aftermath are awful, as we so often say, like a scene right out of a movie. We'll have full details and a live report coming up.
Now first, this quick programming note. Stanley Tucci has set out again to explore how Italian immigration has transformed the food scene in his adopted hometown of London in a brand-new episode, "STANLEY TUCCI: SEARCHING FOR ITALY".
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STANLEY TUCCI, ACTOR: Is Felicity here? Felicity.
Sadly, our meal for two is being interrupted by my wife.
We're going to make this again. Quickly for her.
Oh, hi. You're back. How was the dentist? Let me see. Oh, it looks good.
We just made this and ate it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You didn't make for me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're making that fresh. It's fresh.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, yum.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fantastico.
TUCCI: A little zest?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You are zesting me. You are very zesty.
TUCI: I've been told that for years.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.
[11:55:00]
TUCCI: Isn't that incredible?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is amazing. I'm trying to get a more manageable bite but it just keeps coming. TUCCI: And just like that another Londoner converted by the gospel
according to Genaro (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Would you like to move in? We can form a bubble.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARQUARDT: And right at lunchtime. How can you not get hungry watching that.
Now the new episode airs tomorrow at 9:00 p.m. Eastern time right here on CNN.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
