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U.S. House Committee Set to Hold Second Hearing; Russia Pushes to Take Full Control of Severodonetsk; Million Under Heat Alerts, Record Temperatures Expected; Video of Women Being Attacked Sparks Outrage in China; North Korea Fired Multiple Rocket Launcher Shots; U.S. Senators Announce Bipartisan Deal on Gun Safety. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired June 13, 2022 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a very warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and right around the world. I'm Isa Soares in London. And just right ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it continues to be an absolute shocking event in American history that there was an attempted political coup. Organized by the president of the United States. He had to have known he was spreading a big lie. And he continues to spread it to this very day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a lot of work still to do, to take this framework agreement, and reduced to legislative language. We shouldn't take a victory lap yet.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Russia now has its own version of McDonald's. It comes under a different name here. It's called Vkusno & Tochka.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Food and politics have nothing in common, like a come on man, keep things separate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Isa Soares.

SOARES: Welcome to the show everyone, it is Monday June 13th, just after 4 a.m. on Capitol Hill. Where more bombshell testimony could be on tap today. The January 6 Committee set to reconvene before the TV cameras, just hours from now in fact. Over the weekend, two members of the panel offered a preview of what the public can expect today. Have a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ELAINE LUNA (D-VA): Should have been abundantly clear that there was no evidence that showed the election was stolen and he ignored that. And so, the hearing that we're going to have on Monday is really focusing on a deep dive in that. Getting into the information of what were all of those things that showed he knew this was a lie but he continue to act on that.

REP. ADAM KINZINGER (R-IL): I think if anyone truly believed, after, you know, what you see, after what the Attorney General says for instance. After what every piece of information comes in. If you truly believe the election was stolen then. If the president truly believed, it for instance. He's not mentally capable to be president. I think he didn't believe it, I think the people around him didn't believe it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Well, it is worth noting, that this is the only second of an expected total of six hearings. Congressman Adam Schiff offered this broad preview of the future hearings.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): I think you have heard a good sampling of what you're going to see in the hearings to come. The evidence is very powerful that Donald Trump began telling this big lie even before the election. That he was saying that any ballots count after election day we're going to be inherently suspect. That lie continued after the election and ultimately, led to this mob assembling and attacking the Capitol.

Most important, is that we are weaving together how each line of effort to overturn the election led to another, led to another. And then ultimately culminated in that violent attack on January 6th.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Well, the focus of today's hearing will be on how the president continue to push lies about the election. Even after he knew he had lost. Here is a preview for Marshall Cohen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN REPORTER: The second public hearing from the January 6th Select Committee is shaping up to be a blockbuster event. The witness list includes Donald Trump's 2020 campaign manager Bill Stepien. That was a bit of a surprise. He's appearing under subpoena and we'll find out soon how helpful he is going to be. It's notable that he's even showing up.

The panel will also hear from B.J. Pak. He was the U.S. attorney in Atlanta who was pressured by the Trump White House to backup Trump's false claims about massive voter fraud in Georgia. He refused to do that and he resigned. He'll now share his story publicly for the very first time.

There's also going to be testimony from Republican election lawyer, Ben Ginsberg. He's a heavyweight in GOP legal circles and he was involved in the Bush/Gore recount back in 2000. He disavowed Trump's election lies in 2020, and so did Al Schmidt, another Republican who will be testifying at the hearing. He was at Philadelphia city commissioner, helped to oversee the election there in 2020 and debunked Trump's false claims that the vote counting was rigged to help the Democrats.

Finally, the committee will hear testimony from Chris Stirewalt. He was a Fox News staffer, part of the network's decision team that projects winners and losers of elections. That team made waves on election night 2020 when they called Arizona for, then candidate, Joe Biden.

[04:05:00]

That was a massive blow to Trump's attempt to falsely claim victory and infuriated the Trump campaign, even though that it did end up being correct. He has since said that Trump tried to steal the 2020 election. That's going to be a very interesting witness.

So, here's the big picture. The big picture for this hearing is that the committee, they say it's all about exposing Trump's election lies, which he weaponized to try to overturn the results and stop the transition of power. The committee says that Trump did all of this, even though his advisers told him over and over that he lost the election fair and square.

Marshall Cohen, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: Well, more than 20 million people tuned in to watch the first primetime hearing last week. And to put it into context, that is more than the number of people who watch the Academy Awards earlier this year. Here's what one legal expert had to say about it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JESSICA LEVINSON, PROFESSOR, LOYOLA LAW SCHOOL: The fact that people are engaged, that they're watching, and hopefully with an open mind, I think is very important. I think the conventional wisdom is, oh, people are dug in, and for the people who think January 6th is a big deal, they'll watch but nobody else. And maybe that actually is the case.

But I do think it's important, regardless of your political affiliation, regardless of your partisan views, just to hear what members of Congress have to say about what led up to the insurrection in the Capitol. And of course, this is not a court of law, but whether or not there is any evidence that could give rise to federal criminal charges against the former president, or anyone else.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: Our many thanks to professor Jessica Levinson from Loyola Law School and host of the Passing Judgment podcast.

Well, after today, the select committee is planning two more hearings this week -- as you can see there. To lay out their case that Trump was to blame for the Capitol riots. There are two other hearings the following week, ending with a primetime hearing scheduled for Thursday, June 23rd. Now, to Ukraine where Russian forces are a bit closer than ever to

taking total control of a critical city in the east of the country. The grinding battle force Severodonetsk, it's central to Russia's efforts to seize control of the widen Donbas region -- as you see there on your map.

Ukraine says Russian now controls most of the city and plans to cut it off completely in the coming days. Fighting has raged there for weeks, as we've been reporting, with Russian forces unleashing the full might of their artillery to pummel the city into submission. In his nightly address, Ukraine's president said Russia is trying to send even more troops into the Donbas. He says, for them the men are a little more than cannon fodder -- have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The Russian army is trying to deploy reserved forces in Donbas, but what reserves can they have now? It seems that they will try to throw into battle, poorly trained conscripts and those who were gathered by covert mobilization.

Russian generals see that their people simply as the canyon fodder they need to gain an advantage in numbers, in manpower, in military equipment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Well, meanwhile Amnesty International is accusing Russia a war crimes in Ukraine's second largest city. In the report released today, Amnesty says it found evidence Russian forces who used cluster bombs in Kharkiv, bombs that detonate in midair, scattering dozens of additional mini-bombs over a large area.

Amnesty says it also documented dozens of indiscriminate strikes that killed as well as injured, hundreds of civilians, which it said constitutes more crimes.

Well, a former British Army soldier has been killed while fighting for Ukraine. Jordan Gatley's family said he died while fighting in Severodonetsk. Adding that he went to Ukraine to help after the war broke out. An adviser to Ukraine's president paid tribute to Gatley in a tweet, calling, him quote, a true hero.

For more on all of, this is bring in CNN's Salma Abdelaziz, who joins me live from Kyiv. And Salma as we've been, as you've been reporting now in the last few weeks, not only are Ukrainian forces outmanned and outgunned in Severodonetsk, but they're also nearly encircled. Paint us a picture of what you're hearing on the ground there -- Salma?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: Absolutely, so let's zoom in on that flash point city of Severodonetsk, that all-important goal for President Putin's army. Right, now we understand that Russian troops are working to encircle that city. Three bridges that connected to Lysychansk, the sister city. Two of those three bridges have already been destroyed. The third one is being heavily shelled. The excess road, the main highway leading to that city is under constant bombardment.

As you can imagine that makes it extremely difficult to pull civilians out of that city. There's an estimated 10,000 people by Ukrainian officials last count still inside. There was a critical factory, a chemical plant where a few hundred were sheltering. We understand that plant was caught on fire due to shelling yesterday.

[04:10:00]

That fire has now been contained. But it shows just how dangerous it is for those civilians who are pinned down.

And, once Severodonetsk is encircled, you're already seeing neighboring towns, neighboring villages, where people are fleeing in anticipation up this Russian advance. There was the Ukrainian commander-in-chief, yesterday was updating U.S. officials and said Russian firepower is ten times that of Ukrainian forces.

And you can't just forget that it's not just about Severodonetsk now, you have this huge frontline, almost a 2,500 kilometer frontline, half of it is active. Ukrainian officials saying, there is more shelling in the north and in areas like Sumy and Kharkiv. So, they're having to respond to that as well. So, really stretched out resources here. It's really difficult to imagine, Isa, that Ukrainian forces could hold that city, could hold Severodonetsk much longer. And that would take of course Moscow forces, one step closer to trying to solidify the Donbas, take those gains and eventually, they're speaking about annexation -- Isa.

SOARES: Which was their grand plan all along. On Severodonetsk, Salma, have the majority of civilians been evacuated? Because of these bridges, I'm guessing, once they -- excuse me -- that you mentioned being bombed, has that impacted, Salma, to all the evacuation?

ABDELAZIZ: Absolutely, it's impacted the evacuation hugely. Ukrainian officials last count was about 10,000 civilians trapped inside. There was multiple attempts, or there have been multiple attempts, and continued attempts by Ukrainian forces to evacuate the civilians. But as you can imagine, the main road leading out of Severodonetsk, that maid access road, that highway, heavily shelled. They say it's a 90 percent chance if you take that road that you are going to be struck with some form of artillery. This meter by meter artillery advance, they say is using an extraordinary amount of firepower. These civilians are pinned down, underground, in basements. It's nearly impossible to extract them -- Isa.

SOARES: Salma Abdelaziz live for us in Kyiv. Thanks very much, Salma, good to see you.

Well, a violent attack against women caught on video prompted a public outcry in China. Now, some are saying it's a bigger issue throughout the country. We'll have the latest for you from Beijing.

And tens of millions of Americans are sweltering under a dangerous heat wave. Pedram tells what you can expect. PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: In summer, more than a week away

but incredible summer-like heat in stores for millions of Americans. Will touch on this triple digit category temperatures, all that and more coming up in a few minutes.

[04:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOARES: Now a wildfire in Southern California is prompting mandatory evacuation orders. The Sheep Fire started on Saturday evening in the Angeles National Forest. The parks website describes it as one of the driest most fire prone areas in the United States. The fire is now around 775 acres or almost 314 hectares And only 5 percent contained.

In neighboring Arizona, meanwhile, almost 700 households around Flagstaff are also under evacuation orders Due to a fire that started on Sunday morning. At least 150 fire personnel are battling what is being called the Pipeline Fire. It has grown to about 4,500 acres, more than 1,800 hectares according to the latest official update. Will stay on top of that story of course for you.

Well, the wildfires are being aggravated by a dangerous heat wave spreading across several states, millions are under heat alerts from California to Tennessee. And many could see temperatures in the triple digits in the coming days. CNN meteorologist Pedram Javaheri has more. Good mornings, Pedram.

JAVAHERI: Isa, big-time heat for a lot of people across the central United States. And we're talking about July to August like warmth in place there. And it's not just hot, it's very sticky. It's very humid here in parts of at least a dozen states potentially going to see record temperatures and really dangerous threshold here for these temperatures. Getting up close to 110 degrees. These are actual observations of temps in the shade that set records on Sunday afternoon. And a lot more this in store here across some of these areas.

San Antonio, we saw a high temperature of 105 degrees, tie a record from the 1940s. Salt Lake City, 102-degree observation, best of the record that's been standing since 1918. And you'll notice, even Houston's record, that one we have a similar temperature this time last year. Busting that record on Sunday afternoon.

You'll notice, big-time heat also a story, and also fire weather concerns of course, a story around the four corners region of the United States. But at least some good news here moving forward. Because the long-range forecast model is going in from say 6 to 10 days out. Show us finally a potential here for maybe some decent rainfall across portions of New Mexico and Arizona. So, we'll watch for that carefully over the next several days.

But the big story has to be the incredible run of record temperatures. Where as many as 150 plus records possible through the latter half, or middle half of this week here. With some of these numbers running, 10, 15, even 20 degrees above seasonal values. Minneapolis, you should have a comfortable 79 this time of year. But we're aiming for 99 on Tuesday before cooler air comes back in on Wednesday afternoon.

But you'll just kind of see, how expansive of a coverage it is here, for warmth. Very little in the way of cooler air. So, you know, even though summer is officially ten days away, Isa. Certainly feels like it across a large area of the United States.

SOARES: Indeed, thank you very much, Pedram.

Now a viral video showing a man brutally attacking a woman is fueling new discussions on women safety in China. Nine people were arrested following a fight that broke out at a barbecue restaurant with at least four women injured. And we must warn you, viewers, the video of the incident is very disturbing and a difficult to watch. But it has triggered nationwide outrage in China. And it's important, of course, for us to show you this.

CNN Beijing bureau chief, Steven Jiang, joins me with more. And Steven, this is very hard to watch. But tell us, what happened here? And why it has sparked so many emotions in the country?

STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: Isa, that's right, as difficult as it is to watch. It's important to illustrate and explain why this has stirred such strong reactions and emotions across China.

[04:20:02]

In this surveillance video from last Friday. You can see this man in green walking past a group of women eating at this restaurant. And then making unwanted advances to the women in white. And after she rebuffed him more than once. Not only he did not give up, he actually started hitting her in the face. That's when this woman and her friends tried to get him away by trying to hit him with what appeared to be beer bottles.

That's also when the man and his cohorts escalated their violence against these women by punching and kicking them in a restaurant and even throwing a chair at them. And then the man actually dragged the woman in white out of the restaurant and continue to pummel and kicker her and throwing her and her friend to the ground littered with broken beer bottle glasses. And that's why two women suffered serious injuries, and remain hospitalized, and the two other sustained minor injuries.

Now as you mentioned, all nine suspects have been arrested. But this horrific incident obviously not only enraged the whole nation, but also stirred renewed debates about harassment and violence against women. Topics increasingly becoming taboo in this country because of the government's crackdown on many such conversations. And especially on feminist activists. Many of them being portrayed as subversive forces instigated by anti-China elements from overseas.

That's why, even after this incident, we have seen authorities seem to try to steer the conversation, the focus away from gender based violence to something more akin to an isolated incident involving local gangsters. Now that is also why social media platforms here, some of them have already announced a blocking and censorship of posts and accounts that they deemed to be, quote, unquote, stirring gender- based confrontations.

But despite these efforts, Isa, I have to say, this issue of women's rights and safety very much back in the front and center of a national discourse, with many highlighting systemic problems faced by women in this still very much patriarchal society. And also, Isa, just to show you how sensitive this issue is. As I am talking to you, the sensors here have blocked CNN signal in China -- Isa.

SOARES: Important perspective, and it does beg the question doesn't it, time for another conversation. What authorities really have to lose by defending women against these brutal attacks. Steven Jiang, thank you very much, appreciate it. Live for us in Beijing there.

Well, South Korea says North Korea fired multiple rocket launcher shots early on Sunday morning. The South Korean joint chiefs of staff didn't give many other details. Multiple rocket launchers usually fire shorter range munitions and are not like long-range ballistic missiles. This comes as Seoul announces a dramatic boost to its defenses.

CNN's Paula Hancocks joins me from Seoul with the latest. And Paula, I remember you and I speaking a few weeks back, when you had that exclusive interview with the new South Korean president. And he hinted during that interview that that you had with him, at a possible different strategy, vis-a-vis North Korea. Does this change that?

Well, what Yoon has said, Isa, is that he wants to have a firmer and sterner response to missile launches from North Korea. Now obviously, what happened on Sunday morning from North Korea, wasn't as concerning to those in the region as a ballistic missile. But it just shows that North Korea is in the midst of this intense testing cycle. And this intense weapons cycle as well -- weapons testing.

And Kim Jong-un himself has made it very clear, that what he wants to do, is improve certain capabilities. He's given a wish list at the beginning of last year of what he wants to perfect over the next five years. And he is systematically, it appears, working his way through that list.

So, what we have heard from the South Korean side, we heard from the Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup, just yesterday, on Sunday at the Shangri-La dialogue in Singapore. And he said the country will boost its defense capabilities dramatically to counter the North Korean threat. Also pointing out, that although their missile launches are advancing Pyongyang in quality and quantity.

And that's one thing that really has officials here and of course in Washington, in Tokyo concerned. The fact that given the sheer number of missile launches we've seen from North Korea this year. A number of them were failures, but even a failure can teach them something and they can move forward in their capabilities from that.

So, we're hearing also from the defense minister, that he said, that if North Korea makes significant progress in denuclearization, then South Korea would be prepared to make a bold plan to help improve the economy. But clearly, Kim Jong-un showing no indication of wanting any kind of engagement with the South, Isa.

SOARES: Paula Hancocks for us this hour in Seoul, thanks very much Paula.

And coming up right here on CNN NEWSROOM. U.S. Senators reach a bipartisan agreement on gun safety legislation.

[04:25:00]

But one Senator says, there's still a lot more work to be done. The details just ahead.

And we will find out if people at the scene of one horrific mass shooting think that bipartisan deal will lead to meaningful gun reform. That is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOARES: Welcome back everyone. It's been called an important step in the right direction. A Bipartisan group of U.S. Senators say they have reached an agreement, in principle, on gun safety legislation. That news coming only three weeks after a gunman opened fire inside an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas killing 19 children and two teachers. CNN's Daniela Diaz has more now from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANIELLA DIAZ, CNN CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: The bipartisan group of Senators that has been working on some sort of framework on gun safety reform, in the wake of the Uvalde shooting, announced on Sunday, that they've reached a framework. They've reached a deal. Now, they do not have the legislative text of bill language yet. That is incredibly important. It's just an agreement on principle.

It will have measures that support state crisis intervention orders, investment in child and family mental health services, protections for victims of domestic violence, funding for school based mental health and supportive services. Funding for school safety resources and telehealth investments and also important that notable and enhanced review process for buyers under the age of 21. And there is also going to be a measure that includes penalties for straw purchasing.

I want to emphasize too, that there are ten Republicans who signed off on the announcement for this framework. And remember, because of that 50/50 split in the Senate, 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans, if every single Democratic Senator supports this, there still needs ...

[04:30:00]