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CNN INTERNATIONAL: January 6th Committee Accuses Donald Trump Of Provoking Attack Against Democracy; U.N. Weighs In Over The Death Sentences Of Three Foreign Fighters In Russian-Held Territory In Ukraine; More Than 200 Soldiers Scour The Amazon For A Missing Journalist; U.S. Launches Major Effort To Disrupt Human Trafficking; Official: U.S. To End COVID Testing Requirement For Air Travelers Entering The Country; Putin Invokes Peter The Great To Justify Action In Ukraine. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired June 10, 2022 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

ELENI GIOKOS, HOST, CNN NEWSROOM: Hello everyone, I'm Eleni Giokos, and you're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Dubai. Tonight, with devastating new evidence, the January 6th Committee accuses Donald Trump of provoking an attack against democracy. We'll have all the fallout from last night's landmark hearing.

Then, the U.N. weighs in over the death sentences of three foreign fighters in Russian-held territory in Ukraine. And later, more than 200 soldiers are now scouring the Amazon for a missing journalist and an indigenous affairs expert. We'll have the latest on that investigation. The details were extensive and dramatic, but the message was clear.

The U.S. House January 6th Committee publicly laying out its case on national television, that President Donald Trump orchestrated a multi- tier conspiracy to stay in office. They say it happened even though multiple aides told him, he had lost the 2020 election.

And they say it culminated in the insurrection on Capitol Hill. A pre- planned riot that he tacitly encouraged, and for hours, refused to stop. CNN's Pamela Brown takes us through the panel's disturbing presentation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Twenty one priority. We just had protests beat(ph) circle, breached the line. We need back up.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Chilling new aerial footage showing the moment protesters breached the Capitol grounds on January 6th.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is just now, offensively a riot!

BROWN: The new video, part of the debut primetime hearing of the select committee investigating the January 6th Capitol attack. REP. BENNIE THOMPSON (D-MS): Donald Trump, the president of the

United States spurred a mob of domestic enemies of the constitution to march down the capitol and subvert American democracy.

BROWN: The focus immediately turned into the role of the former president in those crucial hours when a mob descended on the capitol.

REP. LIZ CHENEY (R-WY): President Trump summoned the mob, assembled the mob and lit the flame of this attack.

BROWN: Committee Vice Chair, Republican Representative Liz Cheney referencing then President Trump's alleged seven-point plan to overturn the 2020 election, which a committee source said included possibly replacing the acting attorney general, and instructing state officials to create false electors.

(CHANTING)

CROWD: Hang Mike Pence! Hang Mike Pence!

CHENEY: Aware of the rioters chants to hang Mike Pence, the president responded with this sentiment, quote, "maybe our supporters have the right idea." Mike Pence quote "deserves it."

BROWN: Testimony also revealed that it was Pence who called Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Mark Milley demanding that the National Guard defend the capitol. Milley had further testified that the president's chief of staff called him to say that they needed to dispel the narrative that the president was not taking action.

MARK MILLEY, CHAIRMAN, U.S. JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: We need to establish the narrative that you know, the president is still in charge, and that things are steady or stable or words to that effect. I immediately interpreted that as politics. Red flag for me personally, no action, but I remember it distinctly.

BROWN: Previously, recorded testimony from former Attorney General Bill Barr disputed the president's claims of election fraud was played.

BILL BARR, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: I made it clear I did not agree with the idea of saying the election was stolen and putting out this stuff, which I told the president was bullshit.

BROWN: That was enough to convince the president's daughter and former adviser, Ivanka Trump.

IVANKA TRUMP, DAUGHTER OF DONALD TRUMP: I respect Attorney General Barr. So I accepted what he was saying.

BROWN: The committee said the president had been told by at least four close aides that he had lost re-election. Testimony played reveals that at least one individual associated with the campaign, even told them he was likely to lose the election.

JASON MILLER, FORMER TRUMP CAMPAIGN ADVISER: At some point, the conversation, Matt Oczkowski who was the lead data person was brought on, and I remember he delivered to the president pretty blunt terms that he was going to lose.

BROWN: The committee placed a huge emphasis on the role of two extremist groups. The Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, both groups were visibly present at the capitol on January 6th and were some of the first to break into the capitol building.

[14:05:00]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am not allowed to say what's going to happen today because everyone's just going to have to watch for themselves. But it's going to happen.

BROWN: Never before-seen security footage from inside Republican Minority leader Kevin McCarthy's office shows the moment everyone fled the scene. A GOP source with direct knowledge says McCarthy's staff were scared that day, and Cheney stated that McCarthy was calling Trump's allies and family members to try to persuade the president to intervene. Now, McCarthy along with several other GOP members of Congress have refused to comply with request to testify before the committee.

ELAINE LURIA, JANUARY 6 SELECT COMMITTEE MEMBER: He's patently embarrassing himself. If you are truly a leader within the house, he would want to get to the truth and the facts, which is where he started, but somewhere he went off the rails on that.

BROWN: The committee also claims that multiple Republican lawmakers, including representative Scott Perry were advocating for pardons in the final weeks of the administration. The committee also heard live testimony from documentarian, Nick Quested and Capitol police officer Caroline Edwards who were both on the ground. Many capitol officers were in attendance watching on as one of their own testified about the extensive injury she sustained as one of the first officers on the scene.

CAROLINE EDWARDS, U.S. CAPITOL POLICE OFFICER: What I saw was just a war scene. I saw friends with blood all over their faces, I was slipping in people's blood.

BROWN: Pamela Brown, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: Well, U.S. President Joe Biden says the events of January 6th are one of the darkest episodes in U.S. history. He spoke just moments ago about the work of the January 6th Committee and its first hearing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's important for the American people to understand what truly happened. And to understand that the same forces that led January 6th remain at work today. It's about our democracy itself. We have to protect our democracy. I know it sounds corny to say it. We're all raised in school, democracy and every generation has to protect It.

I have to admit to you, I never thought that it was going to be this straightforward, a challenge before. The rule of law matters in democracies. And we're seeing how the battle for the soul of America has been far from won. It's important.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: Well, not surprisingly, reaction to the panel's public hearing is mixed depending on one's political persuasion or position. CNN's chief congressional correspondent Manu Raju is on Capitol Hill for us. We just heard from President Joe Biden saying, look we've got to protect democracy. It might sound corny, but it has to be done. But what has been the reaction at the Hill? What can you tell us about what people are saying?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's been mostly along party lines. Remember that the house Republicans decided not to participate in this proceeding. In fact, they had been fighting to against any sort of investigation for some time, opposing an outside commission that would actually not be a part of the U.S. Congress. An outside body, they had opposed the creation of that.

Then when Nancy Pelosi, the house speaker moved to actually create this investigative body within the House of Representatives among her own members, Republicans put forward some members that Nancy Pelosi said no to those members. She did not want those particular members on the committee, then the Republicans said we are not going to participate altogether. So the Republicans have been calling this investigation illegitimate.

They call it a sham. They say it is not focusing on the correct issues. They're not really engaging as much under the substance, the findings, the details of what came out in yesterday's hearing. Now also, this committee is planning a lot more. This was almost the beginning of a number of key hearings, I was -- that will take place through the month of June. They are planning what they're calling, a seven-part series to detail Donald Trump's effort, as they say, coordinated effort, conspiracy in the words of Chairman Bennie Thompson to overturn the elections.

The pressure campaign that led up the January 6th. What happened on January 6th? And Donald Trump's inaction on January 6th. Now, the next hearing will occur on Monday. They're going to be focusing on Donald Trump's claims -- false claims of election fraud, and the run up to January 6th. And then there will be two more hearings next week, in addition to further hearings through the course of the month.

So a lot more details are bound to come out in the weeks ahead here, before the committee puts out its final report sometime this Fall, probably before the November midterm elections. And which point Republicans stand a very good chance, Eleni, of taking back control of the U.S. House. And Republicans are saying that if this investigation is ongoing, they will put an end to it which is leading to a sense of urgency among Democrats to wrap this up in the months ahead. Eleni?

[14:10:00]

GIOKOS: Yes, it's such an important point. Manu Raju, thank you so very much. I think what's quite striking about what you said is that Republicans are not willing to engage with the substance and the findings. And we really appreciate that analysis. It's vital to know that at this point.

I want to now turn to a prominent expert on authoritarian leaders around the world. With Ben-Ghiat -- Ruth Ben-Ghiat rather has shared her knowledge, perspectives with the January 6 Committee, and is the author of "Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present Day". She now joins me from New York, really good to see you Ruth. You know, I have to say that listening to some of the outcomes has been pretty shocking.

We just heard from our correspondent that Republicans and a lot of people at the Hill right now are going according to party lines, and they're not really engaging with some of those findings. What did you make of what we saw overnight? And importantly, on a day where America, which is basically known as, you know, one of the bastions of democracy, was flirting with sliding into authoritarianism?

RUTH BEN-GHIAT, AUTHOR: Yes, so, you know, even if there's been a lot of talk about the fact that "Fox News" wouldn't broadcast the hearings, and so many people who need to hear and see this testimony are not going to. But these hearings have enormous importance regardless, because, the very fact that we're having them is evidence that America is still a democracy. There are many places around the world where such hearings, such testimonies would absolutely not be possible, and investigators like the ones who spoke to me several times would be locked up.

So they're very important, you know, testimony in themselves of the importance of freedom. And I think what we saw was the -- also the importance of the bipartisan effort that a Republican Liz Cheney was very prominent in speaking, and to showing that with the -- that, you know, cameo by Ivanka and William Barr; former attorney general, that there were plenty of people who had been very involved in Trump's rather lawless administration.

Who realized he was going too far and told him so. But you know, Trump acted like many autocrats around the world when they fear they're going down, they will do anything it takes, even a coup attempt to stay in office. Now, the fact it failed is why we have this investigation today.

GIOKOS: Yes. You know, you mentioned "Fox News", and they not airing the hearings. I guess the question here is, how important are the hearings going to be for Americans' perception of Trump? And we say this as we know that he's becoming an increasingly popular candidate for 2024. And there is concern that, that might gain traction if the right information is not given to the people, particularly, his base?

BEN-GHIAT: Yes, one of the lessons of authoritarian history is once these people come into office, it's actually rather hard to get rid of them, even if they are defeated, they stay in the system in a sense. Their personality cult remains. And when Trump was defeated and he had to leave, people said to me, well there goes your theory about personality cult, and I said, no, you just watch, it's going to remain because he has the media on his side.

So, it's very concerning that with all that's happened, that he might be a viable candidate. And indeed, what we're seeing is, you know, what the hearings will show is that this was a process that January 6th was the culmination of a process that started as soon as he lost the election. And it was -- you know, they had various multi-prong attempts like they were trying to get support for martial law and military intervention, for electoral manipulation.

That's why the episode where Trump was, you know, pressuring the Georgia Secretary of State to quote, "find votes". And none of that worked. And so, the rally was this desperate autocratic individual's attempt to stay in office no matter what through violence. And that's what's coming out with these hearings. That everybody was telling him that he was going too far, but just like the autocrats I've studied, he didn't care.

GIOKOS: Yes, and you make such a good point because authoritarian governments basically come into power, mostly because they're actually elected in, and then they start capturing parts of government or as you say, the judiciary --

BEN-GHIAT: Right --

GIOKOS: To get what they want. But how important is it that you saw Cheney and Kissinger speaking? Because that basically shows that there is some kind of buffer that exist. What does that tell you about the strength of U.S. democracy? Joe Biden spoke just a short while ago saying, it might sound corny, but we actually still need to keep our eyes open and protect democracy.

[14:15:00]

BEN-GHIAT: Well, what's happened to the GOP is really tragic. And if you look again with the lens of autocracy, it's become a far-right party. And Cheney and Kissinger have been really sidelined and threatened because what Trump was able to do, which is quite extraordinary since he didn't found the GOP. He came in from outside, and yet he was able to kind of domesticate it and put it under an authoritarian party discipline.

And so any non-loyalist who didn't -- who, you know, went against his wishes -- look at Mike Pence, who he said deserved to hang because he wouldn't do his bidding. So, it's really important that the American people see Liz Cheney and Adam Kissinger there, speaking to know that not all is lost. And that there are still some voices on the Republican side that are for the rule of law and for democracy.

GIOKOS: Ruth Ben-Ghiat, thank you so much for that insight. Good to have you on the show. Now, to growing international outrage over the death sentences of three foreign fighters in Ukraine. A court in the Russian-backed self proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic found two Britons and one Moroccan guilty of being mercenaries. Ukraine says they were part of its armed forces. A key distinction here, as that classifies them as prisoners of war entitled to protections under the Geneva Conventions.

Now, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says he's appalled at what he calls the sham sentencing, while the United Nations had this warning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAVINA SHAMDASANI, SPOKESPERSON, U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS: Since 2015, we have observed that the so-called judiciary and the self proclaimed republics has not complied with essential fair trial guarantees such as public hearings, independents, impartiality of the court and the right not to be compelled to testify.

Such trials against prisoners of war amount to a war crime. In the case of the use of the death penalty, fair trial guarantees are of course all the more important.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: All right, Britain's defense secretary made an unannounced visit to Kyiv, meeting with President Vladimir Zelenskyy. Ben Wallace said the U.K. is ready to provide even more weaponry as the war enters a different phase. Let's get more information now, we've got Salma Abdelaziz live in Kyiv for us. Salma, I want to talk about the reaction to this death penalty, the sentence. The U.N. has said this is a war crime. Tell me about these foreigners and what they face right now, despite the global outcry that we've already seen?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: So these three men were foreign fighters with the Ukrainian military, the United Nations, the U.K., most of the western world agrees that, that makes them prisoners of war. However, that is not how they were treated in the so-called Donetsk People's Republic, the DPR by their courts. So, let's just go through the timeline of this. These three men were fighting in Mariupol, again with the Ukrainian military.

They were captured by Russian-backed separatist or Russian fighters, they were taken again to the Donetsk People's Republic. They were shown, and I know you can see those pictures there in court. There were also several appearances and Russian propaganda. Aslan(ph) in particular, his family raised concern in one of those appearances after his capture, he appeared to have cuts on his face. There are concerns that he was beaten, potentially tortured in custody.

And now they've been handed down this sentence, and Eleni, you're going to hear that siren just behind me here. That's an air raid siren that has become a staple really to hear that here. It's part of daily life, so you will hear that behind me here. But we're going to carry on speaking about these three men, they've been handed these death sentences that the United Nations say could be a war crime.

And that's because again, they were working with the Ukrainian military, members of the Ukrainian military, and therefore, should be treated as prisoners of war under the Geneva Convention. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has also spoken out on this, calling this a sham. Now, Russia for its part, the Russian foreign minister has spoken on this, saying they are mercenaries, that's the accusation. He called the reaction of the U.K. government hysterical.

But again, it's important to remember that this court, where you are seeing these men show up is only recognized by one country, that is Russia. It is not recognized by the international community, it is not recognized by any other nation state. And human rights groups, monitoring groups will tell you, that they have an appalling human rights record. Well, what happens next is that these men have the right to appeal, their lawyers say they will appeal. There is a one month period.

But you also mentioned there, Ben Wallace, of course, the U.K. Defense Minister was on a surprise visit here to Kyiv for two days. You can imagine that was at the top of his agenda, that's obviously an issue of high concern for the U.K.

[14:20:00]

But he was also here of course to voice his support for the Ukrainian military, for President Zelenskyy and his military's fight, particularly, in the Donbas region. Take a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN WALLACE, DEFENSE MNISTER, BRITAIN: I think we can push Russia out of Donbas. I think you can get a regime to a place where it slightly collapses in its military. Military gets exhausted as you know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ: Now, Ben Wallace, Mr. Wallace promised more aid, more support for the Ukrainian military. He said they want to provide operationally effective lethal aid. It's important to remember here, Eleni, that the one thing that President Zelenskyy wants most right now is those long-range weapons that have been promised by the United States and the U.K. We understand that Ukrainian soldiers might be trained in Britain on those weapons.

So, that would have been at the top of the agenda. But yet again here, the U.K. voicing its support, trying to provide these weapons at a time when it looks like Ukraine is really struggling to hold on to that last bit of Severodonetsk, to hold on in the Donbas region. This rhetoric is important, but what's more crucial for them is those weapons, Eleni.

GIOKOS: Yes, Salma, really good to speak to you, and important also to hear those sirens in the background. It gives you a sense of the fear that people constantly live under even in the city of Kyiv. Thank you very much for that insight. Stay safe. And still to come tonight, Russia's president says his actions in Ukraine follow a historic precedent. But that's not how most of the world sees it. And U.S. inflation hasn't halted, it's rising and faster than ever. We will break down the latest numbers just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GIOKOS: Welcome back, I'm Eleni Giokos in Dubai. Now, inflation in America is rising at its fastest pace in over 40 years, and it's hitting consumers where it hurts. Inflation reached 8.6 percent in the year up to May, and that's according to new consumer price data that's released today. It's being driven by record gas prices and increasing food costs. The new numbers are dashing hopes that levels in the country had already peaked.

U.S. stocks have been down on the news, the Dow dropped 800 points a little earlier, and you can see, now, it's still in negative territory.

[14:25:00]

President Joe Biden is vowing to get costs under control. He says bringing down prices is his top economic priority and blames Russia for the soaring expenses. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: Putin's price hike is hitting America hard. Gas prices at the pump, energy and food prices cover half of the monthly price increases since May. Inflation outside of energy and food, what the economists call core inflation, moderated at the last two months. Not enough, but it moderates, it comes down. And we need it to come down much more quickly. My administration going to continue to do everything. We can and will lower the prices for the American people, and the Congress has to act, and they have been of late.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: We've got Rahel Solomon joining us to break down all of this. Rahel, we kind of heard this sort of line of messaging from President Joe Biden over the past few weeks. And this big promise to try and bring down inflation. But he wasn't only talking about Russia. He was also saying that it was the oil companies and freight costs, with the shipping companies as well feeding in to this overly high inflationary scenario.

I guess the numbers always matter. Is there anything you read into this that is giving some glimmer of hope that we might have seen at peak.

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: No, Eleni, and I think as unfortunately as that sounds for all of us, consumers here in the U.S. -- I think if you think about the fact that was behind some of the inflation that we have experienced, of course, we have the war that is still going on, and so it's impacting the commodity market in terms of food prices and in terms of energy prices. That remains significant.

But you also have, you know, supply chain imbalances that we thought maybe has started to work themselves out, but apparently have not necessarily or not enough to really impact inflation. And you also have demands still being very strong. There was a hope that with supply chains starting to ease and demand perhaps starting to cool as prices went up, that we would see some lower inflation where at least, some moderation, but this report, not that. So, let's take a look under the hood and talk about energy, because

that is such a big part of what we saw in today's report, 3.9 percent for the month of May, 3.9 acceleration and energy costs. Eleni, over the last year, 34.6 percent, and this inflation is widespread, it's persistent and it is broad, based the overall cost of living surging for Americans. Take a look, the cost of gas, 48.7 percent higher from a year ago.

Air fares as the higher cost of fuel sort of seeps into the cost of an airline ticket. Airfares up 37.8 percent from a year ago. Food, 10.1 percent. That is the first double-digit increase for the food category, Eleni, since 1981, and shelter, 5.5 percent. And it's really that shelter number, Eleni, that has some economists that I speak to are very concerned about affordability when the cost to put a roof over your head is accelerating at that level, which by the way, is the biggest hike since 1991, and has some very big concerns about affordability for Americans.

GIOKOS: Yes, look, you can choose not to take a flight, but food is important, very concerning. But you know, we have this saying that if America sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold. And the reality is if you see this type of inflation hitting the United States, and you see, you know, monetary policy tightening, that is a harbinger of things to come, specifically in the emerging marketplace. We have this graph up, India, global inflation rates.

We're seeing across the board. So India sitting at 7.8, the U.K. as well 7.8, and Turkey at 73.5. And the vulnerable countries, the reality here is Rahel that are going to be hit the most, specifically on food and fuel. Specifically the importing countries. Is there anything the U.S. right now is thinking about in terms of mitigating that will actually work. They've got very few tools left, they were pumping the market with a lot of money to get themselves out of one crisis, they just don't have the ability to do that in this one.

SOLOMON: Yes, I think it's an interesting, point, Eleni. I think central bankers are finding themselves in very similar predicaments. Here in the U.S. for example, the Federal Reserve just recently started raising rates. I believe the first rate hike was in March, that was about 25 basis points or 2. -- 0.25 percent than we saw last month. It was 50-basis points or .5 percent. So the Federal Reserve has just recently started to raise rates.

So the sort of medicine, Eleni, to try to sort of calm inflation, to try to lower inflation in terms of interest rates, we have only just recently started to take that medicine. So, we know there is also a lag in terms of how quickly we see that reflected in the economy. Economists say about 6 to 9 months. So, we are just sort of at the beginning of this cycle, and we know Powell has said that it will likely cause some pain, we're in for a bumpy Summer, at least.

GIOKOS: All right, Rahel Solomon, thank you so much, good to see you. And still to come tonight, what happened when two world leaders who don't really get along sat down together for the first time. The latest from the Summit of the Americas coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:30:00]

GIOKOS: Welcome back. Now CNN has learned that the Biden administration is launching a major effort to combat human smuggling in the Americas. The U.S. Homeland Security Secretary told CNN the scale and tactics being employed are unprecedented. It comes as more than 20 leaders from across the Western Hemisphere are gathered in Los Angeles for the Summit of the Americas. Among the primary topics on the table migration and the streams of people trying to get into the United States, and that focus on migration is happening against the backdrop of a huge caravan of migrants heading towards the United States.

Around 5,000 people are making the trek north. The group has now divided into two or three caravans, many of the migrants are from Venezuela and there are numerous woman and children in the crowd. CNN's Matt Rivers is at the U.S. Mexico border with a look at what happens when migrants get there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So this is the entrance to one of the busiest migrant shelters along the entire U.S.-Mexico border. This place is called the Agape Mision Mundial shelter. It's in Tijuana, Mexico, and it is jam-packed with people. More than 400 people are staying here at the moment. It certainly is not designed to house that many people. They're all over the place, migrants.

People are, you know, crowding this entire area. This building to your left has two floors. People are staying in both sides there. There's basically kitchens that are set up in various parts, everyone trying to help each other out to really just survive here in Tijuana, Mexico. This kind of a scene, overcrowded migrant shelters, is something that we've been seeing a lot over the past couple of years, but specifically in the last few months. The number of people arriving all across the U.S.-Mexico border from other parts of the world, those numbers have been staggering out as of late.

[14:35:01]

I mean, we can show you down here, you know. This is a permanent fixed facility, and yet these tents were just put up over the past couple of months to accommodate some of the overflow. People have come here from all over the world, everywhere from Haiti to Venezuela, and then to countries in Central America. For example, people have come here from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, even other parts of Mexico.

And I specifically mentioned those four countries because the Biden administration had really hoped that the presidents of those four countries, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico, would all be attending the currently ongoing Summit of the Americas in California right now. And yet the presidents of all four of those countries declined to attend. The Biden administration hope those leaders would show up to try and tackle issues like immigration. Without those presidents there, it gives you some sense of how much

more difficult it will be for the Biden administration, for President Biden and his staff, to comprehensively discuss issues surrounding immigration at this summit, a real challenge for the administration. Matt Rivers, CNN, Tijuana, Mexico.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: Well, the Summit of the Americas is not without controversy. Several leaders have refused to attend because the U.S. did not invite Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela saying the summit is only for nations that are committed to democracy. But one who didn't show up is Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro, a frequent critic of the U.S. president and his first face to face meeting with Joe Biden produced some real surprises.

CNN's Priscilla Alvarez has all the details from Los Angeles. I think -- Priscilla, good to see you. If there was one meeting where I wouldn't have expected Biden to find common ground with the leader, it would have been with Jair Bolsonaro. But huge surprise, and so many kind words coming through from Bolsonaro, what exactly happened during these meetings?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN REPORTER: Well, this certainly had the potential to be one of the most tensed meetings of Biden's week. But as we saw yesterday, they did find some common ground and they stressed the ties between the U.S. and Brazil. Now Bolsonaro had considered boycotting this summit and he also had cast doubt over the election results of the 2020 election here in the United States.

And so there was anticipation that this would be a tense meeting, but the two of them came out stressing their relationship and highlighting environmental and climate efforts. Bolsonaro even saying that he was "amazed by Biden," two of them also talking about deforestation, and democratic renewal.

Now, those have been themes of the Summit of the Americas thus far, climate as well as renewing democracies across the Western Hemisphere. Those are themes that President Joe Biden himself has stressed in his remarks throughout the course of this summit, and he's also talked about migration, as you heard Matt Rivers talk about there earlier. And today, that is the theme of the summit, is trying to find common ground with the countries that are here in attendance to try to stem the flow of migrants from across the Western Hemisphere, which we have seen more of in the last few months.

And just today, we learned about additional commitments from countries like Colombia, Ecuador, in Costa Rica, as well as Canada to start to take in more refugees and provide them pathways to legal status within those countries as well as jobs, which again, Biden has said all of this, all of these themes have the -- could potentially lead to a lot of economic potential in the Western Hemisphere. So, coming out of yesterday with a -- what they both relate to be positive meeting between Brazil and the United States and, again, today more discussion about specifically migration.

GIOKOS: All right. Priscilla Alvarez, really good to see you. Thank you so much.

And now some good news for travelers coming to the U.S., from Sunday, the country is set to drop its requirements for passengers to show a negative COVID test before entry. It comes after months of lobbying from the travel industry, who argued that the mandatory testing was no longer necessary. An official with the Biden administration says the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is making the change based on science and data.

Now, since the conflict started in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin has offered a version of history that states the country is rightfully Russian. Now he's doubling down on that argument. On Thursday, Vladimir Putin compared himself to Peter the Great, the Tsar who -- whose conquest in the 1700's led to the founding of St. Petersburg. Putin says that he, too, is simply "returning land to Russia."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Why did he go there? He went there to take it back and strengthen it. That's what he was doing. Well, it seems it has also fallen to us to take back in strengthen some territories. And if we take these basic values as fundamental to our existence, we will prevail in solving the issues we are facing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: Ukrainian officials have condemned these comments, and advisor to Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying they proved that Russia is following pure imperialist ambitions.

[14:4005]

Let's get the view now from Moscow. Our Fred Pleitgen is there for us. Fred, always good to see you. Look, we've seen Vladimir Putin talking about bygone eras, as well as invoking personas from history with a heavy dose of nostalgia. Give me a sense of what we should be reading into the latest comments.

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And also giving some foreign leaders history lessons in phone calls, and in meetings as well, at least according to the readouts of those meetings. And it certainly seems as though that the Russians really seem to be not redefining, but for the first time really stating what the efforts are of the war in Ukraine, which obviously, the Russians still refer to as a special military operation.

Essentially, when all of this started, the Russians were saying that they had absolutely no intention of occupying Ukraine. But, of course, what we're hearing now from Vladimir Putin is something that does sound very different, where he, as you noted there, invoked Peter the Great so that Peter the Great was simply returning lands that Vladimir Putin seems to believe are intrinsically Russian to Russia and then strengthening those lands. And that his lot, as he put it, was now doing exactly the same thing. And that certainly seems to strongly indicate that Vladimir does

believe that Ukraine, or at least large parts of Ukraine are intrinsically Russian territory that should belong to Russia. And it was quite interesting also in that sound bite where he said that he believes that it's something that the Russians are going to see through until the end. So, certainly doesn't seem to indicate that right now, the Russians, or at least Vladimir Putin, is up for some sort of ceasefire at this point in time, at least not from the remarks that we were seeing there from him.

As you noted, the Ukrainians obviously ripping into those remarks by Vladimir Putin saying that they had said all along that the Russians simply want to take over Ukraine and make it their own, calling it imperialist there, in the form of the advisor to Volodymyr Zelenskyy. But it's also something that really has had an effect and has really, you know, concerned a lot of leaders also in NATO countries.

If you look at some of the other remarks that Vladimir Putin made, especially part of that same remark, some of the ther territories that Peter the Great took that he was talking about, Vladimir Putin was talking about, are in what's today Estonia. And that, of course, is a NATO member. And at the same time, what you have going on here in Moscow is that a member of a party, very close to Vladimir Putin, has put forward a motion inside the Russian parliament to essentially unrecognize Lithuania, saying that he wants to declare the fact that the Soviet Union recognized Lithuania as being an independent state. He wants to declare that illegal and essentially then say that that was something that should never have been done.

So a lot of concern about the remarks of Vladimir Putin, a lot of concern also about some of the things that are being said here in Russian politics as, again, this conflict continues to drag on, Eleni.

GIOKOS: Yes, and really good point. I mean, every time he talks about history, I think a lot of historians are looking at the underlying message. Fred Pleitgen, really good to see you. Thank you so much.

All right. So still to come tonight, a desperate family, a military search, and mounting pressure on the Brazilian president. We'll bring you the latest on the disappearance of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira.

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GIOKOS: Brazilian police have found blood traces in a boat belonging to a suspect in the Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira disappearance. The court has granted a 30-day detention for the suspect in question as the search for the two men intensifies.

The British journalist and Indigenous Affairs Expert disappeared on Sunday and they were working in a remote and potentially dangerous area of the Amazon rainforest known for mining and drug trafficking. Stefano Pozzebon joins us now live to discuss. Stefano, really good to see you. Look, as time passes, you know, hope is not diminishing about finding these men, but the finding of blood, and I know that that's currently you know, being investigated, and in terms of the suspects, where does this -- what does this tell us about where we are with regards to the investigation?

STEFANO POZZEBON, JOURNALIST: It really tells us that, Eleni, we really haven't heard that breakthrough that we're all hoping here to receive in the search for one that is, Eleni, I really want to tell you, is a colleague and a friend for many of us the journalists who cover South America.

The police have questioned this suspect, this detainee. He's so far, the only person detained in relation to the case. He has not been charged officially, but the authorities are not telling us what this detainee, this suspect has been telling them. They have called for a presser later today, a press conference to update the case. But, really, the authorities are just saying that they're doing whatever they can to try to find them.

We know from colleagues and friends who are there on the ground in the Amazon around the city of Tabatinga where Jon -- where Dom and Bruno left on Sunday. Morning, they are there and they're finally saying that helicopters and more personnel is being activated in the search, which perhaps also tells us, Eleni, that the pressure that the international community is putting onto the Bolsonaro government to try and find these journalists and indigenist is working somehow, Eleni.

GIOKOS: Yes, Stefano, I mean, you know, you saying that this journalist is someone that's well known to all of you in the region. And I can only imagine how devastating this news must be. Here's the reality, Jair Bolsonaro has had a couple of comments about this has a lot of pressure on him, as you say, in fact, calls for him to intervene, because this isn't the first time that we've seen experts that visit the region in the Amazon, specifically, that have been targeted by criminal activity there. Give me a sense of what you're hearing in terms of official lines.

POZZEBON: Yes, exactly. We know that the Amazon is not an easy place to be an environmental defender, or an indigenous rights defender, be it in Brazil or be it in any of the countries surrounding Brazil. This case, though, is different because, of course, there is renowned attention from the international community. We have seen photos of Dom and Bruno lighting up monuments all around the world, the Tower of London. I was looking at -- through my feed yesterday, for example, and more than 30 ambassadors have written to Bolsonaro to ask him to step up the search and to make sure that no stone is left unturned in these dramatic and so far tragic news. But this is really shedding a light perhaps, Eleni, into what is the day-to-day reality for environmental leaders in the Amazon forest.

GIOKOS: Yes. And we still remain hopeful for Dom and Bruno. Stefano Pozzebon, thank you so very much.

Now the controversial LIV golf tournament has just snagged another top tier player, the CEO of the Saudi back to announce Bryson DeChambeau, a 10-time winner of the PGA Tour, has officially joined LIV golf. DeChambeau joins Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson in a growing list of big named golfers to sign onto the Breakaway series.

[14:50:05]

On Thursday, the PGA Tour suspended those players and 14 others from participating in its tournaments.

And still to come tonight, new developments in the legal battle over the U.K.'s plan to deport refugees and asylum seekers to another country. That's next.

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GIOKOS: London's High Courts has just denied an injunction seeking to stop the U.K. from deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda and that means the United Kingdom can send its first flight of refugees to the East African nation as soon as next week.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government is hoping it will dissuade people from crossing the English Channel into the U.K. but the plan is coming under massive backlash from human rights experts and is still under judicial review. Nada Bashir has the details.

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NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: Well, the government's decision to deport refugees and asylum seekers from the U.K. to Rwanda has been at the center of debate and controversy since its announcement, and on Friday, it found itself at the center of a High Court legal battle.

With the first flight from the U.K. to Rwanda set to take off next Tuesday, advocacy groups had requested an emergency injunction to stop the deportation from going ahead. However, the High Court on Friday denied the injunction, stating that each case should be considered on an individual basis. That ruling, however, is set to be appealed on Monday.

Human rights organizations and advocacy groups have long criticized the government's policy describing it as unlawful. And here at the Care4calais Distribution Center, we've been speaking to volunteers who work seven days a week to support refugees and migrants living in the camps nearby here in Calais. They've told us that this new policy is inhumane and cruel.

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CLARE MOSLEY, CARE4CALAIS: What's happened is that hope has been taken away from them, because they've been told that the U.K. is going to deport them halfway across the world to another continent. And it's absolutely devastated them. So many of them have told me I would rather die than be sent to Rwanda.

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BASHIR: Now British Home Secretary Priti Patel has said that Rwanda has a long history of welcoming refugees and migrants and has assured critics that the government has carried out a thorough human rights assessment of Rwanda. But the Human Rights Watch has said in a statement that the government has cherry-picked and even ignored facts on the ground in order to bolster its own foregone conclusions. The Home Secretary has also said that this policy has been designed to deter asylum seekers from attempting to make that dangerous crossing across the channel from here in Calais to the U.K.

[14:55:09]

But we've been speaking to asylum seekers living in the camps nearby, and many have told us that they will still attempt to make that crossing to the U.K. for this is simply just another step in a long and dangerous journey they've already undertaken, some for years. Others, however, have said that the future for them is uncertain. They cannot travel to the U.K. because they fear they will be deported to Rwanda, but equally, they are unable to return home because it is simply too unsafe. Nada Bashir, CNN in Calais, France.

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GIOKOS: And finally, we are getting our very first look at the logo for the new Russian fast food restaurant replacing McDonald's in their country. You see the two yellow fries and orange burger? Well, the new name hasn't been announced yet. But 15 locations will open on Sunday around Moscow to coincide with Russia Day. McDonald's left Russia over the war in Ukraine and sold all of its businesses there.

All right. So thanks so very much for watching tonight. I'm Eleni Giokos in Dubai. I hope you have a fantastic weekend. Stay with CNN. QUEST MEANS BUSINESS is up next.

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