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Leaders from Key Latin American Nations Snub Biden-Led Summit; U.N.: 2,000-Plus Migrant Caravan Traveling from Mexico to U.S.; Ukraine Pushes to Reclaim Land In South As Russia Bombs East; Moderna: Updated Booster Shot More Effective Against Omicron; FDA Could Authorize Fourth Brand of COVID-19 Vaccine for U.S. Aired 1:30-2p ET
Aired June 08, 2022 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:31:05]
ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: As President Biden heads to Los Angeles to open the Summit of the Americas, we are learning more of what he is planning to say on day one.
But the leaders of four key nations won't be there to hear it. The leaders of Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador are boycotting this summit to protest President Biden's decision to exclude the autocratic leaders of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.
CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is in Los Angeles where the summit is taking place.
And with that as the backdrop, all that drama as the backdrop leading into this summit, what is the plan for today, Priscilla?
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN REPORTER: Well, President Biden will arrive here to host the ninth Summit of the Americas and try to reassert U.S. leadership in the western hemisphere.
And today he will deliver remarks. And in those remarks, he is expected to outline a few economic framework, known as The America's Partnership. And that framework will bolster economies, make supply chains more resilient as well as facilitate sustainable trade.
Of course, this comes short of a trade agreement as some countries are seeking. And it comes, Ana, as you mentioned, the shifting dynamics of the western hemisphere.
And we have seen that play out before the president arrives with the absence of the Mexican leader, Lopez Obrador, as well as the leaders of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. And those are key partners in the region, especially on migration.
And their delegations will not be here, though officials have been stressing that their delegations will, and foreign ministers of those countries are attending. They are saying, despite the leaders not being here, they intend to be
involved in all of what the administration is paving here at the summit.
But their absence, Ana, is notable as President Biden arrives and tries to pave a way forward for the western hemisphere.
CABRERA: Priscilla, what are officials telling you about this apparent caravan making its way to the U.S. border? Will that impact the summit?
ALVAREZ: Well, just over 2,000 migrants left Mexico earlier this week. And these caravans, Ana, we should note, have become, in a way, a form of protest for immigration policies.
This is a caravan that is moving north to the U.S. border. It is unclear how many will arrive at the U.S. border.
But there's no denying that part of this summit is to talk about migration in the western hemisphere. And in this case, in this caravan, there are what officials say are many Venezuelans.
That is something we have seen over the course of the month, that there have been a lot of Venezuelans on the move and making their way to the U.S.-Mexico border.
So all of that is expected to come up, Ana, as officials say they are in active conversations with Mexico about this particular caravan.
CABRERA: OK, Pricilla Alvarez, we appreciate your reporting there, giving us a preview of the Summit of the Americas.
We see that empty room behind her but all those seats will soon be filled. We will continue our reporting about what is announced at this summit and the other major news made.
An armed man was arrested near Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's home overnight. A court spokesperson says the man threatened the justice.
Threats against the court have spiked since the draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade was leaked.
And Homeland Security officials are warning of the major uptick of threats made on social media against the justices and the court building itself. So they've set up additional security there.
We also have an update today on the search for a Texas woman suspected of killing an elite cyclist last month in Austin, Texas.
U.S. Marshals say they now know Kaitlin Armstrong, this woman, was dropped off at Newark Liberty International Airport on May 18th, just one day after a warrant was issued for her arrest.
But after that, the trail goes cold. Investigators say there's no record of her leaving on an outbound flight. Armstrong is accused of killing 25-year-old Anna Moriah Wilson.
There's a $5,000 reward for information leading to her arrest.
[13:35:04]
On the frontlines and in the trenches, Ukrainian forces refusing to give up the east.
CNN was there to see it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They're going to fire on Russian forces a short distance away. It's a secret location.
We can only stay for one round, we're told. After that, there's going to be return fire and we better get out of here. But this is what we've been brought --
(GUNFIRE)
CHANCE: -- to see. Goodness, me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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[13:40:19]
CABRERA: Fears of a global food crisis are mounting as talks between Russia and Turkey ended without a resolution to allow crucial grain exports to leave Ukraine's ports.
Meanwhile, a Ukrainian official says 600 people are being held in torture chambers in the Russia-occupied Kherson region. CNN has not been able to independently verify those claims.
Now to the east, Ukrainian forces are considering pulling back in Severodonetsk but insist they will not give up on that city. And in the south, Ukraine is doing its best to reclaim territory.
CNN's Matthew Chance got access to the frontlines there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHANCE (voice-over): This is where the Ukrainian military tells us they're seizing back their lands. But on the battered southern front with Russia, the stalemate of trench warfare seems to be setting in.
The commanders privately admit that advances by either side here are small.
UNIDENTIFIED UKRAINIAN PLATOON COMMANDER: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
CHANCE: The Russians seem to be running out of ammunition and they're not as strong as they were, the platoon commander of this forward trench told me.
But we need more weapons, too, he adds, if we're to push ahead.
(on camera): I speak to Anton here and he is saying it's very loud at night.
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
UNIDENTIFIED UKRAINIAN SOLDIER: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
CHANCE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
UNIDENTIFIED UKRAINIAN SOLDIER: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
CHANCE: Right. So in the morning, he's saying, it's not so noisy. It's a bit quieter.
So it's interesting, because this is the place where the Ukrainian governments say there's a big counteroffensive that's been under way for some time and they're taking back territory. But we've not seen a great deal of evidence of that on the ground.
It seems, you know, both sides dug in here heavily, have fought themselves to a standstill, neither side strong enough to win this war, but not weak enough to lose it either.
(EXPLOSION)
CHANCE: How's that going? Is it -- are you sure? You can hear the outgoing artillery shells streaming across our position here.
(voice-over): Ukrainian military escorts take us to what they say is a recently liberated zone where at least 30 Russians holed up inside this kindergarten were killed.
As Moscow focuses its forces on Donbass in the east, Ukrainian officials say conquered areas in the south, like this, are being left exposed.
UNIDENTIFIED UKRAINIAN SOLDIER: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
CHANCE (on camera): All right. Well, they brought to this very forward location where, as you can see here, there are still artillery exchanges taking place.
And this is the remnants of a battle from a couple of weeks ago, they say, where this Russian position was taken by Ukrainian forces at great cost, both to the Ukrainians and, obviously, to the Russians as well.
All of this debris on the ground is, we're told, Russian equipment. And obviously, this is the remnants of a Russian-armored vehicle of some kind, which has been, like so many we've seen, totally destroyed in this bitter conflict.
The Russians thought that they were going to win easily, didn't they? LT. COL. "DANTE," UKRAINIAN ARMED FORCES: Yes.
CHANCE: But that's not what's happening?
DANTE: Of course, in Russian, thought that a few days finished for Ukraine. In a few days.
CHANCE: We can hear it still going on there.
DANTE: Yes, it's shell, and we can hear the flight of shell.
CHANCE: Yes, months later.
DANE: Russian government planned to have victory in a few days. I think we must be ready for a lot more.
CHANCE (voice-over): A long artillery war with heavy weapons like this Ukrainian battle tank positioned in tree lines towards an unseen enemy.
These firing points quickly become vulnerable and the troops here need to be mobile.
(on camera): OK. We're being brought to this frontline position where they're going to fire on Russian forces a short distance away. It's a secret location.
We can only stay for one round, we're told. After that, there's going to be return fire and we better get out of here. But this is what we've been brought --
(GUNFIRE)
CHANCE: -- to see. Goodness, me.
OK. Guys, what now? Another one. I thought we had to go after one.
DANE: One more again.
[13:45:00]
CHANCE: One more again.
(voice-over): Seconds later, another bone-shaking round hurdles toward Russian positions.
(GUNFIRE)
CHANCE (on camera): OK. We're going to go now, come on.
(voice-over): And we quickly leave Ukraine's grinding frontlines behind.
UNIDENTIFIED UKRAINIAN SOLDIER: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
CHANCE: Mathew Chance, CNN, in southern Ukraine. (END VIDEOTAPE)
CABRERA: Our thanks to Matthew and his entire team there for that eye- opening report.
Back here at home, are we in for a summer surge of COVID infections? New research is suggesting just that. But Moderna is offering some hope in this fight. Stay with us.
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[13:50:07]
CABRERA: Brace yourself for another surge of COVID infections. New research suggests Omicron subvariants will be to blame.
The good news, Moderna says new trial data shows its updated booster shot is more effective against Omicron.
I want to bring in CNN's Elizabeth Cohen.
Elizabeth, what else do we know about this new booster? And when will it be available to Americans?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Ana, so this is potentially quite exciting. We're basically working off the same vaccines that were invented in 2020 when we had a completely different variant.
So let's talk about Moderna's booster. It's bivalent, meaning it has the original as well as this new Omicron-centered booster. It generated stronger antibody response than just the original booster without that Omicron, you know, subvariant put in there.
And it could be available by late summer.
Now, a couple of things to remember about Omicron and these new variants. While they're out there and they're growing very quickly, they seem to be giving the same kind of mild or relatively mild illness that the original Omicron did. So that's definitely good news.
And I know some people -- I know this is what I thought when I heard this. I thought, great, so they came up with an Omicron booster, by the time it comes out in late summer, Omicron's could be a thing of the past and we've got some whole new Greek letter to contend with.
Still, what's important to say is that any kind of COVID booster is better than nothing. People who have the original vaccine are still way better protected against Omicron than they are compared to people who got no vaccine at all. So any vaccination is a good thing.
Hopefully, Omicron will stick around and this booster will be effective against it -- Ana?
CABRERA: We're also learning that the FDA could actually authorize a fourth COVID-19 vaccine option that's based on different technology. What can you tell us about this?
COHEN: That's right, Ana. It's called Novavax. We've talked about it on and off really since 2020.
As you said, completely different technology than Moderna or Pfizer. Those are mRNA vaccines. And that's exciting. It's good to have as many different tools in the tool shed as you can possibly have.
There were some side effects, but they were mild to moderate, and they passed within a few days.
There was a committee of FDA advisers that gave it the thumbs up. Now, Ana, you and I know this group of FDA advisers can be pretty contentious with one sometimes. That wasn't the case. There wasn't a single no vote.
It could mean it could be authorized, fully authorized sometime very, very soon. Novavax is already authorized in the U.K. and also in Europe and Canada. So this is a vaccine that's been out there for some time -- Ana?
CABRERA: OK. Keep us posted.
Elizabeth Cohen, thank you.
And just into CNN, COVID testing requirements for international travelers will soon be re-evaluated. This is according to the White House COVID response coordinator, Dr. Ashish Jha. But he stresses this decision really ultimately lies with the CDC if they are going to make changes.
But it comes as CNN learns that 42 mayors have now sent a series of letters to the White House urging the administration to drop testing requirements for those vaccinated international travelers.
One letter says the testing rule, quote, "makes little sense considering that nearly all other sectors of the U.S. economy are operating without a testing requirement."
Major U.S. airlines have also called for the requirement to be dropped.
And now to an update on a story CNN's been following out of Germany. A teacher was killed and now we know at least 14 school children were injured, some of them seriously, after a driver plowed into a crowd in berlin.
We are told bystanders detained the driver after he crashed into a store window after plowing through that crowd. He's also in the hospital.
Police identified him as a 29-year-old German-Armenian. Authorities are still trying to determine if he had a medical emergency of some sort or if he deliberately drove into that crowd.
That does it for us today. Thank you so much for being here with us. I appreciate you spending part of your afternoon. And we're going to stay on top of all those developing stories.
You can always find me on Twitter, @Ana Cabrera, with new information on a number of different stories.
[13:54:20]
The news continues right after a quick break with Alisyn and Victor.
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[14:00:06]
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Hello. I'm Victor Blackwell. Welcome to CNN NEWSROOM.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: And I'm Alisyn Camerota.
