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Boris Johnson Faces Confidence Vote; Putin Sends Threat; U.S. Gas Prices Hit Staggering High; Mexican President Won't Attend Summit of the Americas. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired June 06, 2022 - 09:30   ET

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

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[09:32:27]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: In just a few hours, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson could be out of a job. He will face a no-confidence vote, as it's known, triggered by his own conservative party. This after months of being dragged down by the so-called party-gate scandal in which he and his staff broke Covid lockdown rules by, among other things, having parties.

CNN's Nada Bashir, she is live from Downing Street this morning.

Nada, I wonder how seriously Number 10, the prime minister, taking this vote. I mean is it possible there are enough votes there to force him out?

NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: Well, look, Jim, this is perhaps the most serious challenge to the prime minister's leadership we've seen over recent weeks and months. The prime minister, of course, faced that metropolitan police investigation and then the cabinet office report, that Sue Gray report, which detailed the damning evidence of parties and social gatherings that took place during the lockdown here at Downing Street and other government buildings.

And, of course, the prime minister has faced repeated calls for his resignation. Now, of course, that vote of confidence has been triggered. It is a very serious matter for the prime minister. That vote of confidence would have already required 54 letters from conservative MPs to trigger the vote in the first place. Now that key number we're looking for, 180 plus one. That is more than half of the conservative MPs, that would be required to vote against the prime minister to bring him down, to bring an end to his premiership.

Now, if the prime minister is able to secure that support, he could be immune from this sort of challenge again for another 12 months. That would typically be the case. However, we heard from Graham Brady this morning, the chair of the 1922 Committee, he said that that rule could technically be changed. But that is the key we're looking for now.

That vote will take place this evening. The votes will be counted immediately afterwards. But the details around when and how we might hear the announcement of those votes is still to be confirmed. We've already seen senior members of the conservative party, including

the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, we've seen the foreign secretary, Liz Truss, and deputy prime minister, Dominic Raab, all publicly expressing their support for the prime minister. We've also heard a statement from Downing Street. The prime minister saying that he wants to take this as a chance to bring an end to months of speculation and to allow the government to draw a line to move past the scandal. That is the message we've been hearing from the prime minister repeatedly over the last few weeks and months over the party-gate scandal.

But we've also heard discontent amongst his own conservative MPs and we've heard from the leader of the opposition Labour Party warning that this could suddenly be the beginning of the end for the prime minister.

[09:35:04]

Take a listen.

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KEIR STARMER, U.K. LABOUR PARTY LEADER: I think history tells us that this is the beginning of the end. If you look at the previous examples of no-confidence votes, even when conservative prime ministers survive those - and he might survive it tonight -- the damage is already done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASHIR: And that is the key focus here now, Jim. Even if the prime minister is able to survive this leadership challenge, how long will he be able to maintain the support of his conservative MPs?

Jim.

SCIUTTO: I'm sure they're feverishly counting votes behind the scenes right now.

Nada Bashir at Number 10, thanks so much.

For the first time in weeks, Russian forces launched missiles at the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. Russia says the air strikes destroyed tanks given to Ukraine by the U.S. and its western allies. That's Russia's claims. But the missiles hit a factory used to prepare trains used for grain transport.

Now Russian President Vladimir Putin is warning that Russia will escalate attacks if the U.S. gives Ukraine, as its promised, longer range rocket systems.

Joining me now, Air Force Colonel -- retired Air Force Colonel, CNN's senior military analyst, Cedric Leighton.

Good to have you back, sir.

So, this is not the first time Russia's threatened escalation for the U.S. and the west supplying weapons to Ukraine. They threatened a whole host of things, even hinted at a nuclear strike.

Should Ukraine or the west take this latest threat seriously?

COL. CERIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: I think we should, Jim. I think it's very important for us to take it seriously but not to be scared of it. And what that means is, be prepared for it, understand what it might entail, but also be resolute in our efforts to counter what the Russians are doing. You know, the Russians are trying to have it many different ways. You know, it's beyond a both ways kind of solution because what the Russians want to do is they want to throw the west off balance, they want to divide NATO, they want to make sure that the Ukrainians can't get the weapons that they need in order to defend themselves. And anything that they could do to stop that flow of weapons is in their interest.

SCIUTTO: OK, let's talk about Russia's attempts here. Again, they claim to be striking supply lines that are getting these key western weapons to Ukrainian forces.

Do we know if they're having any success?

LEIGHTON: As far as the Russians are concerned, they are certainly trying to interdict the supply lines between the west and the Ukrainian forces on the front lines. But what we're seeing right now is that the Russians are actually having to contend with weapons from the west. The Ukrainians are getting the weapons. The weapons are being employed by the Ukrainians and they're being employed very effectively. That includes the howitzers. That includes some of the drones that they -- go beyond the Turkish drone, the TP2 (ph) (INAUDIBLE) that got -- was so famous at the beginning of this war.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

LEIGHTON: And so the Ukrainians are definitely holding their own with many of the weapon systems that they're getting. Of course, they want more. They certainly still want fighter jets. But that is something that they're not getting at this particular point. But that could change depending on how successful the Ukrainians are in fending off the Russians, especially in the east.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

About the east. When I speak to U.S. or European officials, they describe just a - just a brutal, hellish battlefront there with casualties off the charts. We know this for some time, for Russian forces, but for Ukrainian forces. I mean 60 to 100 a day, many hundreds wounded.

I mean, that is a pace of losses that no military really can sustain for a long time. I'm curious, what is our best sense at this point about the state of the battle in the east? Is Russia making progress there?

LEIGHTON: So, the progress is at best uneven, Jim. It's really interesting. You know, the fact that President Zelenskyy is at the front lines, you know, has done the things that he is doing in terms of rallying the troops there, that's indicative of at least a Ukrainian sense that they can hold their own. It's also indicative that they may be achieving some degree of success.

So, in terms of losses, the Ukrainian losses are definitely not sustainable over the long term. They are going to have to find ways in order to use weapons that are, in essence, force multipliers so that they can not only stem the losses, but can also overcome the losses. That's going to be a significant challenge for the Ukrainians. It's definitely a significant challenge for the Russians. But it's even more so (INAUDIBLE) for the Ukrainians.

SCIUTTO: Yes, Russia's bet seems to be that they can survive that kind of pace longer than Ukraine. We'll continue to watch it.

Colonel Cedric Leighton, thanks so much.

LEIGHTON: You bet, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Well, a potential new threat from North Korea this morning. The International Atomic Energy Agency believes the country is preparing for a nuclear test. The watchdog says one of North Korea's passages in a known nuclear testing site underground has now reopened.

[09:40:00]

If North Korea goes forward, it would be the country's first nuclear test since 2017.

This comes after North Korea fired eight short-range ballistic missiles from multiple sites on Sunday. The U.S. fired back. The U.S. and South Korea show of force saw both nations launching a collection of their own surface-to-air missiles. There they are.

Still ahead, gas prices surging nearly 25 cents in just a week right as Americans are gearing up to travel for the summer. We're going to have a forecast of what comes next coming up.

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SCIUTTO: Another big high in gas prices. AAA says the national average is now up to $4.87 a gallon. So close to $5. That's up nearly 25 cents just from a week ago, 60 cents over the last month.

CNN's Matt Egan joins us with more.

Matt, you've been following this closely. You speak to a lot of folks. Do they see this trend line only going up? Do they see relief coming? What do you hear?

MATT EGAN, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: Well, Jim, unfortunately, probably no relief is coming. And, listen, people are not happy about it. At this gas station in Manhattan, gas is now selling for $6 a gallon. I just talked to an EMT who told me that is used to cost him $40 to fill up his tank when he goes to work. Now it's $60. And he said he's frustrated but there's really not much he can do about it because everyone's got to get to work. The national average now at $4.87 a gallon, another record high. There are now ten states averaging $5 or more with the latest being Michigan and Indiana, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Jersey. They're all just pennies away. And, unfortunately, Jim, this may get worse before it gets better. Veteran oil analyst Andy Lipow, he's telling me he thinks that within the next ten days the national average is going to go up to $5.05 a gallon.

SCIUTTO: We've seen, Matt, a lot of efforts by this administration, release from the petroleum reserve, these discussions with Saudi Arabia about them boosting production, which they will do. Given the size, though, of the global energy market here and the fact that this is happening really globally right now, what do analysts believe the impact will be from those steps?

EGAN: Well, unfortunately, supply just continues to fail to keep up to demand. Right now energy demand is really strong. People are driving more, they're taking road trips, they're going on vacations, so they're flying more. All of that is adding to demand.

Supply, though, it's not keeping up. The U.S. is producing less oil than it did before Covid. OPEC also producing less. They're ramping up production. But the market is signaling that it's too little, too late.

One other point here, Jim, we should note that, on an inflation adjusted basis, gas prices are not yet at record highs. They'd have to go to $5.38 a gallon to take out the June 2008 inflation-adjusted record.

But, Jim, I've got to tell you, I think that's very little consolation to people here who are just feeling sticker shock right now.

SCIUTTO: Yes, no question.

Matt Egan in New York, thanks so much.

Still ahead, the president of Mexico is turning down President Biden's invitation to the Summit of the Americas. We're going to have the latest from the White House, coming up.

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[09:52:19]

SCIUTTO: This just in to CNN, the president of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, said this morning he will not attend this week's Summit of the Americas here in the U.S., in Los Angeles. He said he will not go because not all the countries of the Americas were invited.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond joins us now from the White House.

Jeremy, a bit of a rebuff to President Biden. Why?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it certainly is. And, listen, this was expected but it's still a disappointment for the White House, which had been trying to secure Mexico's attendance at the Summit of the Americas. The Mexican president will not be attending, as you said, saying that because not all American countries are invited. And he said that he believes the change in policy that has been -- it's a change in policy that has been in place for centuries.

This is mainly over the non-invitation by the United States, which is hosting the Summit of the Americas this year in Los Angeles, of three key countries, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela. All countries with authoritarian, non-democratically elected governments that the United States has said it would not invite to the summit. Cuba was invited to the last two summits, but those, of course, were not hosted by the United States. Mexico was just one of several countries that was suggesting that they might boycott this summit if some of those other countries were not invited.

And, listen, while the United States certainly it seemed likely that Mexico would not be attending the summit, just as recently as last week, the National Security Council's Juan Gonzalez, who is the official responsible for the region, said the president of the United States very personally wants the president of Mexico there.

Instead, the Mexican president will be sending his foreign minister to attend this. So certainly a snub by Mexico as a result of all of this. And not where the United States and where the Biden administration wants the summit's attention to be focused. Not on a diplomatic snafu but instead on the initiatives that they have for increased regional cooperation, big issues like trade, migration, climate change, among others, to be discussed at this summit.

Nonetheless, President Biden will head to Los Angeles on Wednesday to attend this summit. It will be high profile but now not with the Mexican president in attendance.

Jim.

SCIUTTO: Jeremy Diamond, from the White House, thanks for that update.

Still ahead, next hour, we are live on Capitol Hill as lawmakers return from a holiday break to a weekend filled with more shootings. At least ten mass shootings by CNN's definition. They left at least 15 people dead across the country. Where the push towards bipartisan gun legislation stands. Will something work? We'll have an update coming up.

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[09:59:16]

SCIUTTO: A good Monday morning to you. I'm Jim Sciutto.

This week, survivors of the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo, New York, they will be on Capitol Hill to testify, to plead for action in person on gun violence. That's going to include a fourth grader Miah Cerrillo, who survived the shooting at Robb Elementary School. You may remember, she played dead. She had to rub the blood of one of her classmates on her to act like one of the victims. Last hour I spoke to one of the members of that committee that called her to testify about why a child is being called there and why he believes her voice is so important.

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REP. RAJA KRISHNAMOORTHI (D-IL): I think that her telling her story will be very powerful and, again, it will hopefully change hearts and minds on this subject.

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