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U.S., U.K., and Germany Promise Advance Weapons to Ukraine; Hundreds Still Missing in War-Torn Villages Near Kyiv; At Least Four People Killed, Along with Gunman in Tulsa; Queen Elizabeth: A Look Back At 70 Years on The Throne; Jury: Movie Stars Johnny Depp and Amber Heard Defamed Each Other. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired June 02, 2022 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[01:00:25]
NICK WATT, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. Live from Los Angeles, I'm Nick Watt. And you're watching CNN Newsroom.
Just ahead, it is the 233rd mass shooting in America this year alone. Details on another tragedy, this time inside the hospital. New weapons from the west for troops in Ukraine why the missiles in question could be a game changer. And we're just hours away from the kickoff of Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee, details on the historic event.
Vladimir Putin's army is gaining ground and one of its prime targets in the Luhansk Region. Local authorities say Russian forces now occupy about 80% of Severodonetsk. Capturing the city has been one of Moscow's principal goals as its military moves across eastern Ukraine. Officials report as many as 15,000 people remain in Severodonetsk, most buildings now destroyed, essential supplies like food and water running out.
Bombed out military vehicles litter the streets of surrounding villages and the promise of advanced new weapon systems from the U.S., the U.K. and Germany may be too late. The Kremlin says Western countries arming Ukraine are adding fuel to the fire.
Meanwhile, Ukraine blames Russia for a missile strike on a railway in the western part of the country near the border with Slovakia. It's the second time that target has been hit since the invasion began.
NATO's Secretary General tells CNN, Western countries are only helping Ukraine to defend itself and he doesn't think Russia will retaliate against the alliance for providing advanced weapons.
Jens Stoltenberg will meet with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House in the coming hours. The NATO leader discussed the war in Ukraine with the U.S. Secretary of State on Wednesday. Antony Blinken says he wants a diplomatic solution to the conflict. But Western allies need to make sure Russia feels as much pressure as possible to end its aggression.
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ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We can't predict how this is going to play out. When this is going to play out. As best we can assess right now, we are still looking at many months of conflict, again, that could be over tomorrow. Russia chose to end the aggression. We don't see any signs of that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: William Taylor is a former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine and currently Vice President for Russia and Europe at the U.S. Institute of Peace. He joins us now from Virginia. Ambassador, let's start with what benefits will these new missile systems that the U.S. is sending to Ukraine? What benefits will they bring to Ukraine?
WILLIAM TAYLOR, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE: So they will give the Ukrainian military the capability to strike the Russian military in particular their artillery, the Russian artillery at distances that will allow the Ukrainians to stand off from this, from the Russians. That is right now, the Ukrainians have to get fairly close to the Russian military in order to put them in range of their -- of the Ukrainian artillery. So what is new weapons do -- what these new weapons will do will give the Ukrainians more range.
WATT: OK, and I mean, to take out Russian artillery batteries and perhaps avoid what we saw in Mariupol?
TAYLOR: Yes, so I've got friends on the ground in the Ukrainian military and they describe to me regularly the devastation frankly, Nick, of the Russian military. The Russian barrages, it's not just the artillery. It is -- it's airstrikes. It is cruise missiles, it's ballistic missiles. So the Russians are just bombarding their bludgeoning the Ukrainians and this new weapon, longer range weapon will give the Ukrainian's the ability to fire back from a greater distance.
[01:05:00]
WATT: And in terms of the kind of bigger picture here I mean Dmitry Peskov, Putin's Press Secretary has said, we believe the U.S. is purposefully and diligently adding fuel to the fire. I mean, in a sense they are, is that just bluster from Peskov? Or does this risk- escalating the kind of diplomatic battle?
TAYLOR: It's more bluster from Peskov. And we've heard this over and over. We know who is fueling this fire. We know where the fire comes from. It comes from the Russians, the Russians invaded Ukraine on the 24th of February. Let's be very clear, and Peskov knows this. And what's happening, of course, is Ukraine is defending itself, defending itself from an unprovoked unjustified attack. So it's the defense that Ukraine is putting up and NATO is trying to help Ukraine with that defense.
WATT: And, but at what point do we kind of, does the aid and the help that the U.S. and other Western countries are giving to Ukraine? At what point does that tip this over into essentially a kind of proxy war? Or I mean, have we maybe tipped over that point already?
TAYLOR: Nick, I don't think we are. I think a proxy war suggests that, that the Americans and the Russians are fighting this war, no. The Ukrainians are defending their land. Defenders are defending their territory, they're defending their freedom, their independence, they want to be independent, sovereign nation, and the Russians are trying to take that away from them. So that's the battle. That's the war. There's no proxy business in here. What we're seeing is the Russians attacking relentlessly in particular in Donbass right now, and the Ukrainians trying to defend themselves, trying to push back, trying to push the Russians out of their country, and the United States and the rest of NATO is trying to help Ukraine with that, that's not a proxy war. That's Ukrainians and the Russians.
WATT: And do you think that the aid that is currently being given by, I mean, we've just heard the U.S., Germany, the U.K. are all going to be, you know, sending more radar, anti-aircraft, these missile systems. Is this going to be enough? Or are the Ukrainians -- I mean, Ukrainians want more, are they going to get more?
TAYLOR: Ukrainians are going to get more, as we've seen, the U.S. Congress just overwhelmingly agreed to another $44 billion worth and this new batch of 700 million that the President and Secretary Blinken just announced today that's part of that for that 40 billion. And so there's more to come. There's a lot more to come and it needs to come and you ask the right question. Is this enough? We won't know the answer to that until the Ukrainians are able to prevail. If they do prevail, then it will have been enough. If they don't, it won't.
WATT: Ambassador Taylor, thank you very much for your time.
TAYLOR: Thank you very much, Nick.
WATT: The grim toll of Russia's aggression in Ukraine is being documented one grave at a time, police have confirmed more than 1300 dead so far in villages near Kyiv. Most were found in the town of Bucha. Russian forces left the area weeks ago but hundreds of people are still missing across the region. CNN's Matthew Chance traveled to one small village where the Russians had been. What he found there may be disturbing to some viewers.
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MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In the liberated villages north of the Ukrainian capital, the streets are lined with the scars of war. And it's not just buildings destroyed. We met Sergey (ph), a villager whose home was overrun by Russian troops, who then shot him, he says and left him for dead.
CHANCE (on camera): So it went there, and then it went out the back?
CHANCE (voice-over): He shows me the gut wrenching bullet wounds, but his emotional scars run even deeper. Sometimes I have nightmares and can't sleep at night. And I pray they won't ever come back he tells me through tears of pain and anger. I'll never forgive Russians for what they did, he says.
And they did much worse. Just steps from Sergey's door, police forensic teams are unearthing yet another crime scene. Weeks after Russian troops were pushed from this area, locals are still finding the bodies of their neighbors. We were shown three makeshift graves on this street alone.
(On camera): What do you think when you see this, what goes through your mind when you see these bodies being dug from these shallow graves at the side of the road?
[01:10:00]
YEVHEN YENIN, UKRAINIAN DEPUTY INTERIOR MINISTER: So we see that Russian troops have already gone for more than one month but they still find the evidence of their presence.
CHANCE: Astonishing, isn't it? That even a month after they've gone, more than a month, still finding bodies?
YENIN: As it has --
CHANCE (voice-over): Ukrainian officials tell me more than 320 civilians are still missing in this region alone, but one by one, they're being found.
YENIN: So a lot of people are missing. We cannot imagine the eyes of mothers whose children will lost. It cannot imagine eyes of relatives whose beloved have been captured or have been killed on the front line.
CHANCE: It is an awful, grim business, digging up the bodies of the 1000s of people scattered across this entire country, in shallow graves that have yet to be identified. This was Vitaly (ph), just 43- years-old, and the neighbors tell me he didn't present a threat to the Russians. He wasn't a soldier. In fact, he was vulnerable. He didn't have a job. He drank too much his family had left him but he was hungry. And he was trying to get some food from a Russian vehicle that was parked just here when they caught him and shot him dead.
Just one of the many alleged crimes, many tragedies and the Ukrainian nightmare that's yet to end. Matthew chance, CNN in Kachaly, Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WATT: Just eight days after the deadly rampage at a Texas elementary school, there's been a mass shooting on the campus of a hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Police say the shooter killed four people on Wednesday and wounded several others before killing himself. Authorities have identified the gunman but are not yet releasing his name. We're also getting word of a bomb threat that's somehow tied to the shooting. CNN's Gary Tuchman reports from Tulsa.
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GARY TUCHMAN, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There is still a robust police presence here at the St. Francis Hospital campus in Tulsa, Oklahoma. After the latest mass shooting in the United States. A man walked into one of the doctor's office buildings right behind me, it's called the Natalie Building, their orthopedics and oncologist to work inside there and shot and killed four people. On the second floor, police are telling us this was not a random shooting that he targeted that particular office on the second floor. They're not telling us specifically though, what he targeted.
We're also being told something very critical here that within three minutes after they got the report, the police say they were inside the building. Super important because we know what happened in Texas inside that school, the delay in getting inside the school, here when the police walked in the building, they're saying they heard the gunshots. Then the gunshots stop, they opened the door, they saw a person lying there dead. Then they saw the gunman with a pistol and a rifle line dead. It's very possible if they didn't get in there as soon as they did, he would have kept shooting.
Either way, there's a lot of investigating still to do. This man's name has not been released. He is in his 30s. One of the reasons they're not releasing the name is because earlier in the day, there was a bomb threat in a nearby home or business. Police are saying they are related this bomb threat and this man who went inside the hospital, they're still investigating that. Either way. It's very important for us not to get desensitized to this.
Once again, a mass shooting in the United States. Four people who came in here either to get medical treatment, escort somebody to get medical treatment or people who worked here are dead. This is Gary Tuchman, CNN in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
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WATT: And we're not done covering this and the recent massacre at a Texas Elementary School. We'll discuss the politics of American shootings later in the show.
Still to come, the defamation case between actors and former couple Johnny Depp and Amber Heard wraps up after nearly two months. We'll look back at the trial and break down the outcome. Plus, the United Kingdom is gearing up for Queen Elizabeth Platinum Jubilee and even the horses are rehearsing to make sure all goes as planned. More on the big event, next.
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WATT: Royal celebration fit for a queen who's been a queen for 70 years. And just a few hours, the United Kingdom will kick off four days of festivities honoring Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee. Thursday's main event will be her birthday parade, known as Trooping the Color. The annual ceremony returns after a two year hiatus due to COVID-19. After the parade, her majesty and working members of the royal family will appear on the balcony of Buckingham Palace to watch a flypast by the Royal Air Force. And this specially commissioned portrait of Britain's longest reigning monarch was released on Wednesday to mark the beginning of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations. The Queen's seven decades of service to the British Crown has been filled with both triumphs and hardships. CNN's Max Foster takes a look back at her majesty's time on the throne.
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MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: After the death of her father, King George VI, 25-year-old Elizabeth known as Lilibeth to friends assumed the throne, crowned at Westminster Abbey on June the second 1953. This was the first time the public was able to witness this sacrosanct event. Elizabeth allowed live television cameras in to capture the ceremony, in a powerful signal that hers was a new, open and relevant monarchy.
QUEEN ELIZABETH: I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and to the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.
QUEEN MARGRETHE II, DENMARK: That was on the example, which I very much felt that when I grew older, that was what it was about. You dedicate your life to your country.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was with her marriage to the Duke of Edinburgh, that perhaps we first realized the personality of our queen to be.
FOSTER: On November the 20th 1947, Princess Elizabeth had word her childhood sweetheart, but tall and dashing Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark. The following year, their marriage bought Elizabeth's Prince Charles.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir Winston and lady Churchill came to receive her majesty and the duke --
FOSTER: Her first prime minister was Winston Churchill. And during her rule, she's met every acting U.S. president far one meeting she always prioritized. Stiff Upper lipped in public, there's little footage to show the sense of humor, this wife, mother and grandmother is reputed to show behind closed doors. On occasion, there has been little to laugh about, however.
QUEEN ELIZABETH: It just turned out to be an endless or rebellious.
FOSTER: During the 1990s, three of her four children would divorce Charles most famously and then that crash.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Getting word that the French government has informed all of us that Princess Diana has died.
FOSTER: The royal families restrained response collided with a British public convulsing and heartache. Elizabeth earned she's never merely a mother or grandmother rather a queen to her people no matter what.
[01:20:08] Over more than a decade, public faith in the Royals gradually rebuilt. The Queen was visibly thrilled by the show of support for the wedding between her grandson, William and partner Kate in 2011. The family soon welcomed several additions, including Prince George, future heir to the throne, born in 2013.
In 2021, at the age of 99, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, passed away. Senior Royals attended the funeral scale back due to coronavirus. Elizabeth was forced to stand alone as she watched his coffin lower into the royal vault at Windsor Castle. Fitting fair farewell to her husband of 73 years, the man she described as her strength and stay. For more than half a century, Elizabeth had led an empire before overseeing its managed decline.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Royal terrace stopped first at this soon to be independent colony before touring the dominions in the West End.
FOSTER: Known as the Commonwealth and association of now independent countries, 15 of which have kept the Queen as a symbolic head of state. After 70 momentous years, Her Majesty celebrates her Platinum Jubilee, the longest serving British monarch in history. Max Foster, CNN, London.
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WATT: Now, an interesting gift from the French President to Queen Elizabeth II, Emmanuel Macron gave the Queen this seven year old prized horse in celebration of her Platinum Jubilee. It was accepted by the British Royals, master of the horse inside Windsor Castle on Wednesday. According to the statement from the French Embassy in London, the horse was part of Mr. Macron's escort on the Champs- Elysees during the VE Day commemorations earlier this month.
CNN is coverage of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee begins in just a few hours with Max Foster outside Buckingham Palace. You can watch the celebrations 9 a.m. in London, that's four in the afternoon in Hong Kong.
Now the Johnny Depp versus Amber Heard court battle one of the biggest most watched celebrity trials in American history is over. Depp had sued his ex-wife for depth for defamation. She countersued and, in the end, a jury found that the movie stars had actually labeled each other. Both actors will have to pay damages but Depp emerged with the bigger cash award and arguably the bigger victory. CNN's Jean Casarez has the story.
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JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A jury ruling in favor of Johnny Depp in his defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard, finding her libel on all three counts.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you find that Mr. Depp has proven all the elements of defamation? Answer, yes.
CASAREZ: The jury also ruling in favor of Heard on just one claim of her countersuit.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you find that Ms. Heard has proven all the elements of defamation? Answer, yes.
CASAREZ: This decision coming after six weeks of dramatic testimony with the former couple facing off.
AMBER HEARD, ACTOR: Nothing I did meet him stop hitting me, nothing.
JOHNNY DEPP, ACTOR: I have never in my life committed sexual battery, physical abuse.
CASAREZ: At the center of the trial abuse allegations heard made in a 2018 Washington post op-ed. Though she never named Depp in the article, he sued his ex-wife for defamation, claiming in the $50 million suit that his career suffered as a result, heard countersue Depp for $100 million. The former couple met in 2009 while filming the movie, Rum Diary.
DEPP: He wrote that when he was 25 years old.
CASAREZ: Both testified their relationship became violent and abusive over time, including two incidents which took place in Australia where the actor was filming the Fifth Pirates of the Caribbean movie.
DEPP: I'm so sorry, we're still talking.
CASAREZ: Leading her to file a temporary restraining order against Depp in 2016.
DEPP: She threw the large bottle and it made contact and shattered everywhere and then I looked down and realized that the tip of my finger had been severed.
HEARD: I felt this pressure, I felt this pressure (inaudible).
[01:25:05]
CASAREZ: The testimony was not all he said, she said with recordings of fights and photos of alleged injuries introduced as evidence.
HEARD: By this point in our relationship, we're both saying awful things to each other, screaming at each other.
CASAREZ: On the stand, Depp denied abusing Heard.
DEPP: But never did I, myself reached the point of striking Ms. Heard in any way nor have I ever struck any woman in my life.
CASAREZ: Witnesses for both Depp and Heard gave sometimes emotional testimony about what they saw. And the former couples counselor testified about their relationship.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They engaged in what I saw as mutual abuse.
CASAREZ: Depp was not in court to hear the verdict. Instead, he was seen performing in London Monday night. Jean Casarez, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WATT: And earlier I spoke with David Glass, he's a certified family law specialist. We talked about the trial, he says, given the burden of proving defamation, many were surprised at the jury's findings. Here's part of our conversation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID GLASS, CERTIFIED FAMILY LAW SPECIALIST: I'm not so sure it was what we call a fair verdict. That was certainly a surprising verdict. In that they found both of the parties had defend each other, but that Mr. Depp's damages were significantly higher than Ms. Heard's. Most of us were predicting that this would be a wash that neither party would walk away with anything, because of the difficulty in trying to prove a defamation case.
WATT: I mean, one thing I don't understand, there are many things I don't understand about this trial. But one thing I don't understand is that Johnny Depp a few years ago sued a London tabloid that called him quote, "a wife beater" and he lost because the judge said that I think 12 of the 14 incidences the judge said did happen. So how can a British judge and an American jury have such opposing views of the toxicity and what went on in this relationship?
GLASS: The difference here is just the difference in the judicial systems. In the U.K., it's a judge who sits, listens to the evidence rules on it, and then has to turn it all over in his or her mind to determine what he or she thought happened. Our system of justice here in the United States goes with a jury of your peers. These are average everyday people, polled from the local population, and it is left to them collectively and unanimously to decide what they think happened. And here, the jury apparently did not believe anything that Amber Heard had to say, and instead sided with Mr. Depp saying that they thought that he was the one who was abused.
WATT: A spokesperson for Amber Heard says she will appeal the ruling.
Still to come, seeking answers in Uvalde. CNN presses the school district police chief who led that flawed response to the school shooting, hear what he did, and didn't say ahead. And at a law that is actually keeping guns out of the wrong hands and has bipartisan support. Stay with us.
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WATT: The latest now on the mass shooting at a hospital complex in Tulsa, Oklahoma that killed at least four people. Police say the attack was not random and that the gunman was seeking a target on the second floor of the building from the St. France Hospital Campus.
Police say it only took them three minutes to get inside the building, and it is worth noting that quick response may have saved lives. Police say the shooter was in his 30s but have not released his name. They have been trying to notify the victims' families.
According to the nonprofit Gun Violence Archive, this Tulsa rampage is at least the 233rd mass shooting in the U.S. Since the start of this year.
It comes just eight days after the massacre inside an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. 19 students and two shot there. In the wake of that tragedy the state governor now calling for immediate school safety reviews to ensure schools across Texas are following the appropriate procedures.
This as grief-stricken families say their final goodbyes to their loved ones. Three visitations and two funerals were held on Wednesday.
Meantime, more details are emerging from the day of the massacre. The mayor of Uvalde describes how a negotiator was trying frantically to reach the gunman by phone during the attack. Still, more questions than answers remain over the police response to the shooting.
CNN's Shimon Prokupecz caught up with the school district police chief who led that response and has largely stayed out of the public eye ever since.
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SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I just want your reaction --
(CROSSTALK)
PROKUPECZ: -- that you are responsible for the decision to go into that room.
PETE ARRADONDO, SCHOOL DISTRICT POLICE CHIEF: Right. We're going to do --
PROKUPECZ: How do you explain yourself to the parents.
ARRADONDO: We're going to be respectful to the family.
PROKUPECZ: I understand that but you have an opportunity to --
ARRADONDO: Sure. And we are going to --
PROKUPECZ: -- explain yourself to the parents.
ARRADONDO: - and just so you know we're going to -- we're going to do that eventually, obviously.
PROKUPECZ: When?
ARRADONDO: Whenever it is, is done when the families quit grieving, and then we will do that obviously.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: CNN's Ed Lavandera has more from Uvalde. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Tonight the Uvalde community is demanding answers and accountability in the wake of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary.
Albert Martinez is related to three of the victims. His biggest frustration right now is finding answers.
ALBERT MARTINEZ, UVALDE, TEXAS RESIDENT: The biggest hurt that I have right now is that we are not getting the right answers right now. According to what we are hearing, you know, people are saying this, and then people are saying that, I just wish they will come out with a right answer saying this is what happened exactly.
LAVANDERA: At the center of it why the incident commander on site at Robb Elementary kept officers waiting outside the classrooms instead of going in. The Uvalde school district police chief Pete Arradondo-- is facing harsh criticism for that decision.
Authorities are now clarifying another key detail of how the gunman got inside the school. Texas Department of Public Safety investigators say the door that the killer used to get inside the school was closed, but the door did not lock. This contradicts an earlier claim by police that a teacher had left the door propped open.
This active shooter audio obtained by CNN affiliate KSAT -- went out to parents while parents were already on site, treating it as barricaded subject situation.
A source familiar with the situation said two students inside were calling 9-1-1 begging for help.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is an active shooter at Robb Elementary. Law enforcement is on site. Your cooperation is needed at this time by not visiting the campus.
LAVANDERA: This as the community buries a teacher who died protecting her students and also one of the young students killed.
The memorial of flowers continues to grow, so is the resentment for Arradondo who was sworn in as a city council member yesterday in a private ceremony after being elected last month.
[01:34:58]
ARRADONDO: To me, nothing is complicated, everything has a solution.
LAVANDERA: Back in April, Arradondo stressed the importance of communication at a candidate forum hosted by a local college.
ARRADONDO: Communication obviously is key. I think through communication everything can be resolved, whatever the issues may be.
LAVANDERA: Texas Governor Greg Abbott has requested the creation of special legislative committees to look into school safety, mental health, social media, police training, firearm safety and more.
Republican state Senator Kel Seliger is calling on the governor to do more and says gun legislation needs to be on the table.
KEL SELIGER (R), TEXAS STATE SENATOR: This is not a partisan or Republican issue, Ed. Those children in Uvalde, they weren't Republicans or Democrats. They were children. And they depend upon people like the legislature to do those things that make schools safe. And we have not done so.
LAVANDERA: Senator Seliger says he is open to legislation that would raise the minimum age to purchase an assault style weapon. But you do not hear calls like that coming from the vast majority of Republicans here in the state.
Ed Lavandera, CNN -- Uvalde, Texas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WATT: One top Republican in Washington says he is encouraging members of his party to find a, quote, "way forward" on gun control legislation that is consistent with the Second Amendment. Those comments coming from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell as he addressed the recent mass shootings in the U.S. But there has been skepticism that lawmakers will be able to find common ground on the issue, even U.S. President Joe Biden weighed in cautiously on the possibility of any new gun control legislation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you confident Congress will take action on
gun legislation, sir?
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I served in Congress for 36 years, I'm never confident, totally.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: Now there are some gun laws in the U.S. that are working in some states, including Florida where one gun control measure is actually backed by both sides of the political divide.
CNN's Leyla Santiago explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you are to have no firearms or ammunition in your possession --
LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is what it looks like when a red flag law is at work.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you raise your right hand please.
SANTIAGO: In this Florida courtroom, we watched as a judge ordered individuals to turn over their guns. The judge ordered this man to give up his weapons. The man told us it was because he sent a photo of himself with a gun pointed at his chin to a loved one on the anniversary of his son's death. He agreed to surrender his gun.
GRADY JUDD, POLK COUNTY FLORIDA SHERIFF: Listen, I'm a strong Second Amendment guy. I'm a conservative. I believe the risk protection orders work.
SANTIAGO: Those risk protection orders, or RPOs that the Polk County sheriff Grady Judd is talking about are at the center of Florida's red flag law. It allows a judge to temporarily takeaway firearms and ammunition from anyone deemed a threat by law enforcement, usually for a year. They can't buy guns either.
JUDD: It is simply a cooling-off period until you have some mental health counseling.
SANTIAGO: Florida is one of 19 states that have passed a law like this. One of just a few red states with such legislation.
JARED MOSKOWITZ, FLORIDA DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: We left nothing on the table to make sure that we prevented what happened here at Douglas from happening in the state of Florida again.
SANTIAGO: Former state representative Jared Moskowitz graduated from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
In 2018, after a gunman killed 17 students and faculty there, lawmakers passed legislation that not only established its red flag law. It also raised the age requirement to buy a gun from 18 to 21, added a three-day waiting period, a guardian program which allows trained school staff to carry guns, and set aside $400 million for among other things, mental health and school security.
Gun reform with bipartisan support passed by a Republican legislature signed into law by a Republican governor in a matter of weeks.
MOSKOWITZ: Not one Republican who voted for that bill in Florida has paid a political price for protecting kids and doing the right thing.
JUDD: We all have to work together to say this person has got a problem, and if we don't address it, they have a large propensity to be an active assailant at some point in time.
SANTIAGO: Data obtained by CNN showed that more than 8,000 orders have been granted across the state. But the NRA has sued the state of Florida over the gun reform legislation and gun advocates are voicing concerns.
REP. DAN CRENSHAW (R-TX): If they're such a threat that they are threatening somebody with a weapon already, well then they've already broken the law, so why do you need this other law?
[01:39:50]
JUDD: Let me tell Representative Crenshaw if that were so, then Florida which is dominated by conservatives, the Republicans, they wouldn't have passed RPOs. SANTIAGO: And as the country once again grapples with finding
solutions to end horrific school shootings, in Florida Republicans and Democrats say this --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have any other weapons --
SANTIAGO: -- is working.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know we are more divided now than we were just four years ago.
MOSKOWITZ: I mean we can't just give up. This was predictable and preventable.
JUDD: Nothing is more important than protecting our children. Nothing.
SANTIAGO: And we talked to a lot of Democrats and Republicans here in Florida, all of them said the wish that politics could be taken out of the conversation.
Now let's talk about the research, there is research that shows that red flag laws could make a difference. Take Connecticut for example. They've had a red flag law for 23 years since 1999.
And an analysis there showed that for every 10 to 20 guns removed by risk protection orders, one suicide avoided.
Leyla Santiago, CNN -- Polk County, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WATT: Ron Brownstein is CNN's senior political analyst and the senior editor for "The Atlantic he joins me now from here in Los Angeles.
Ron, Canada, the U.S. -- sorry not the U.S., that's my point -- Canada, the U.K., Australia, New Zealand, they all had mass shootings and managed pretty quickly to pass meaningful gun legislation. Why can we not do that here in the U.S.?
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, because we have a system in which the majority no longer can consistently rule in the U.S. We have an ongoing crisis of minority rule and -- gun control, illustrates it as clearly as any other issue.
You know it's pretty clear, if you look at public opinion, it is true that Americans don't think gun control is the sole answer to mass shootings. They see it as a complex problem that requires a lot of different solutions including mental health, including security -- but they clearly see gun control as part of the equation, and there is majority support in the U.S. for universal background checks, for banning assault weapons, for banning high-capacity magazines and for other steps. And not only is there broad public support, there's support among Democrats who on guns and don't, Independents who own content don't, and even majority support among Republicans who don't own guns. But one group that opposes all of these ideas are Republican gun owners. And they have a veto over policy in the Republican Party, there are very few Republican elected officials anymore who will support any meaningful gun control.
And because of that veto in the Republican Party, they also have a veto over national policy through the filibuster in the senate that allows a minority to block, you know, legislation that is supported by even a majority in the Senate.
Those other countries you mentioned, parliamentary systems where the majority rules, a big difference from our kind divided structure here in the U.S.
WATT: Yes. I mean, you were talking about public opinion, I mean I found a Pew poll from last year, 60 percent of Americans support a ban on assault weapons and high capacity magazines, 70 percent support those red flag laws that we just heard Leyla talking about, 80 percent support universal background checks.
Explain to our viewers who might not understand what you mean by this minority rule. I assume you're talking in part about the fact that, you know, a small rural state low population will have two senators, as does California which has 40 million people.
Is that where you are going with that?
BROWNSTEIN: Right. I think that is the key here. There are other factors I will mention in a minute, but that is certainly key. Look as I mentioned. On all those that you just mentioned, not only do a majority of Democrats support that position and a majority of Independents.
A majority of Republicans who don't own guns agree with ideas like banning high-capacity magazines and universal background checks. But the Republican Party since the 1990s has evolved in a way where it has become more and more dependent on the most culturally conservative voters in the U.S., and that is in effect given the National Rifle Association and gun owners a veto over Republican-elected officials' positions on guns, even as the NRA has become institutionally weaker than it used to be.
And the veto within the Republican Party in effect controls national policy because of this challenge of minority rule. In the U.S. every state gets two senators no matter how much population they have. And in fact, if you look at the 20 states that have the highest gun ownership per capita, ok, they send 32 Republican senators to Washington.
If you look at the 20 states that have the smallest level of gun ownership per capita, they also -- they send 32 Democratic senators to Washington.
[01:44:52]
BROWNSTEIN: The difference is the 20 states with the smallest amount of gun ownership have 192 million people in them. The 20 states with the most gun ownership have only 70 million people with them.
Because of our structure, they have equal weight in the Senate, and that smaller group is able to use the filibuster with support from other Republicans in essence block an agenda that every other major group in society other than Republican gun owners would support.
WATT: And, Ron, I mean in this age of, you know, increased political polarization, are you any more optimistic than President Biden that maybe this time will be different? That something we'll now change?
BROWNSTEIN: You know, look, you are getting different signals out of these groups that are negotiating. It is possible that they can reach agreement on something, you know, they are talking about a broad package that might include some improvement to the background check system, that might include some inducements for states to enact their own red flag laws.
So it is possible they could reach agreement. Whether they get ten votes in the Senate from Republicans to overcome a filibuster is another question? And even if they did, I think it is pretty clear that anything that they could agree on would be at the edge of the problem.
These core ideas of reducing access to assault weapons and high capacity magazines, and so forth, that is really off the table. It's not even in the discussion. The House is going to, I think pass legislation very soon raising in the national minimum age for buying assault weapons to 21. That is something that we can discuss in the Senate.
By the way, this is all significant, it has not always been this way. When Bill Clinton was president and they passed the assault weapon ban, 38 Republicans in the House voted for it. Nine in the Senate voted for it. 54 Republicans in the house voted for the Brady bill establishing background check system.
We've evolved though over past quarter to a position where there are essentially no Republicans, you know, minimal and probably none in the Senate who will cross the NRA on these big questions.
And that just leads us to a position of paralysis when it is combined with the filibuster that allows a minority to block senate action.
WATT: Ron Brownstein, thanks very much for joining us.
BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me.
WATT: We will be right back on CNN NEWSROOM.
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[01:49:44]
WATT: It is no mystery that booming industries can damage an ecosystem. But what happens when the work dries up and the companies leave. One team in Portugal is helping the land heal in an effort to draw back animals that haven't called the area home in quite some time.
CNN's Isa Soares reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here in the valley of the Coa River in northeastern Portugal stretches acres of agricultural land that have fallen into disuse.
For centuries, this area was used for farming and mining, but the economic downturn in recent decades prompted many thousands of people to leave.
Today, a small group of rewilders is claiming the land back.
PEDRO PRATA, REWILDING PORTUGAL: The aim is to allow nature to recover, wildlife to come back but also for people and nature to benefit alike. This means that the whole landscape is more connected and more abundant in wildlife.
SOARES: Pedro Prata works for Rewilding Portugal, guarding the region from wildfires, animal poisoning, and poachers and securing new areas of protection.
PRATA: Me and my team we're constantly present in this landscape. We live in the landscape. We are all the time here.
SOARES: The Coa Valley provides a migratory corridor for rare species, by rewilding these targeted areas Prata hopes to encourage the return of some of Portugal's chief predators such as lynxes and wolves.
PRATA: Top predator acts as a guardian with the processes using the landscape.
SOARES: But for the top of the food chain to flourish, it needs to be supported by the rest of the ecosystem. So the team is focusing first on the reintroduction of (INAUDIBLE) and wild horses.
PRATA: They are the ones who manage the growth of the vegetation, but also they spread seeds and they take the nutrients back into the soil with their dung. And so they are the real engineers of the vegetation.
SOARES: Progress will be slow. Predator numbers cannot increase until herbivores grow.
PRATA: Footprints, it is better, yes.
SOARES: Once the system is up and running, it is hoped that lynx will follow in the footsteps of the wolves. Or indeed these badgers being tracked by the team.
But predators bring risks, local human populations need reassurance.
PRATA: I think in the national context here in Portugal, rewilding is a new concept. The biggest obstacles we are facing nowadays actually is cultural. Our aim here is that people understand there is ways to coexist with the wolves.
SOARES: Promoting wild herbivores prevents the likelihood of domestic animals being lost as prey. Prata and his team hope that by promoting species biodiversity in Portugal, they are ensuring the longevity for environment, wildlife, and community alike.
PRATA: We live in a fantastic world full of fantastic species and creatures that has the same right to live here and to exist into the future as much as we do.
I think my main message is just let nature be. And just let nature rewild.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WATT: Be sure to let the wealth know what you are doing to answer the call, post on social media using the hashtag Call To Earth.
We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:54:58]
WATT: Against the backdrop of war, a rare moment of pure joy for Ukrainians. Their men's national football team won their world cup playoff semifinal against Scotland on Wednesday.
Ukraine's emotional and as a Scotsman I can say this, well deserved victory in this make or break match means they are now just one step away form securing a spot in the Qatar World Cup later this year.
CNN's Alex Thomas reports from Glasgow.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEX THOMAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This isn't a fairytale story, but could turn into one. Ukraine's footballers moving to within one win of what would be an almost miraculous place at Qatar 2022, considering the war taking place in their home country.
This was a unique atmosphere for an international football match with so much goodwill from one set of supporters towards an opposing team. Scottish fans mixing with the couple of thousand of Ukraine supporters here in Glasgow before the game, singing and cheering together, understanding the unique set of circumstances around this game.
Ukraine playing much better football once the action got underway on the pitch, scoring either side of halftime and pretty much putting the result beyond doubt at that point.
No wonder the players rushed over to their set of supporters at the final whistle of 3-1 victory over Scotland secured, and now a world cup playoff final against Wales in Cardiff on Sunday to come.
Ukraine's coach admitting afterwards that he left all his emotion on the pitch. That this was a victory for the people of Ukraine to try and put a smile on their faces. They've been ordered to focus on the football, and that is what they are trying to do to the best of their ability.
Still one hurdle for them to come against Wales who like Scotland, will battle hard to reach the world cup in their place. The Welsh haven't been there since 1958.
Ukraine trying to reach the world cup finals for only the second time in their history as an independent nation since the breakup of the former Soviet Union.
Certainly, many (INAUDIBLE) will continue to cheer the Ukrainians on as they continue that bid.
Alex Thomas, CNN -- Glasgow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WATT: Thanks for watching. I'm Nick Watt.
I'll be back with more CNN NEWSROOM right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WATT: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world.
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