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Colombians Vote For President Amid Struggling Economy; FIFA Selects 16 Hosts Cities In U.S., Canada, And Mexico; Western Europe Seeing Dangerous Hotter-Than-Average Temps; European Leaders Offer Support to Ukraine; Russia's War in Ukraine Continues; January 6 Committee Holds Third Public Hearing. Aired 2-2:45a ET

Aired June 17, 2022 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:00]

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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Live from CNN world headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to all of you watching us all around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber.

Ahead on "CNN Newsroom," European leaders offered their support to Ukraine as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appeals for more heavy weapons.

Pouring gasoline on the fire. The testimony from Donald Trump's former deputy press secretary as the January 6 Committee reveals how close rioters came to the vice president.

And record heat in France and beyond. Extreme temperatures appear to be here to stay.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Kim Brunhuber.

BRUNHUBER: As Russia's war in Ukraine rages, there is a growing push to make Ukraine a candidate for the European Union. The European Commission is expected to publish its opinion in about four hours from now. Now, to be clear, this is just a recommendation on candidacy. It would likely take years for Ukraine to become an actual member.

But during a visit to Kyiv, the leaders of Italy, Germany, France, and Romania said they fully support fast-tracking Ukraine's candidacy. The German chancellor said Ukraine belongs to the European family.

Meanwhile, nearly four months into the war, we are learning just how badly Russia overestimated its capacity to take Kyiv.

CNN's Matthew Chance spoke exclusively with the Ukrainian defense minister, who says the Kremlin expected the capital to fall only 12 hours after the invasion. He says military orders were recovered from the body of a Russian officer killed there confirming his commander expected a quick and easy victory.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OLEKSIY REZNIKOV, UKRAINIAN DEFENSE MINISTER: He had to be in government quarter after 12 hours from the invasion, from the starting of the invasion.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Center of Kyiv?

REZNIKOV: Center of Kyiv. He had to control government buildings, office of president, parliament.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Let's bring in CNN's Salma Abdelaziz, who is following all this live from the Ukrainian capital. And Salma, it sounds as though President Zelenskyy, from his perspective, he basically got what he wanted diplomatically. From a military point of view, maybe not so much.

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: Well, this was a visit that was more about mending fences than anything else. I think it is clear that there are divisions, cracks in the system that are appearing in European Community, and President Zelenskyy has been critical in particular of the leaders of Germany and France.

So, with the arrival of these leaders from Europe -- from Germany, France and Italy, rather, there is a message there, we want to welcome you into the European Community. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIS (voice-over): Three European leaders traveling by train to Kyiv to carry a message of solidarity at a time of war.

On the platform, French President Emmanuel Macron was quick to state their purpose.

EMMANUEL MACRON, PRESIDENT OF FRANCE (through translator): A message of European unity to Ukrainian men and women, support and talk about the future in the coming weeks. We know it will be very difficult. I want to be in support and at their side.

ABDELAZIS (voice-over): But Ukraine's deputy prime minister struck a more muted tone.

IRYNA VERESHCHUK, UKRAINIAN DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER: I'm not sure that there will be a bright announcement following the meeting. But this -- regardless, how it will be end, they would be a historical -- historical meeting.

ABDELAZIS (voice-over): Because in the eyes of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, European leaders have been a lot of talk but not much action.

Macron made a splash when he said Moscow should be given an offramp to the conflict that does not humiliate President Putin. Zelenskyy rebuked the comments, calling it a weak position.

And Germany's chancellor was criticized over his refusal to ban imports of Russian oil and gas, instead promising a phase out by the end of the year.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (through translator): We need Chancellor Scholz to give a certainty that they will support Ukraine. He and his government must choose not to do a balancing act between Ukraine and the Russian federation.

ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): Set on healing divisions, the trip began with a tour of the devastated suburb of Irpin, a site of alleged Russian atrocity.

MACRON (through translator): This is what we wanted to do, by coming here as for to see for ourselves and to be able to have this exchange with President Zelenskyy and to talk about the future.

ABDELAZIS (voice-over): Afterwards, a meeting was held with President Zelenskyy. At the top of their agenda, more military aid. Germany, which critics say was slow to provide material support, promised long- range artillery, air defense systems, and antiaircraft tanks to bolster Kyiv's fight for the east.

OLAF SCHOLZ, GERMAN CHANCELLOR (through translator): We also support Ukraine by supplying weapons, and we will continue to do so for as long as Ukraine needs our support. We are currently training the Ukrainian military in state-of-the-art weapons.

[02:05:00]

ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): All voiced support for Ukraine's bid to join the European Union.

MARIO DRAGHI, ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER (through translator): The Ukrainian people defend every day the values of democracy and freedom that are the basis of the European project, of our project. We cannot delay this process.

ABDELAZIS (voice-over): A historic visit meant to mend fences in the face of growing Russian aggression.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABDELAZIS: Now, this was a very brief surprise visit, Kim, and as you heard there, all of those leaders pledging to support Ukraine's bid for the European Union, pledging to give military aid to support their fighters on the frontline, promising to stand by Ukraine even in the long haul. But President Zelenskyy, I think, is going to want to see more than words here.

Western intelligence says that President Putin is playing a long game, that this conflict could drag out, that Ukrainian forces could need much more support in the future.

And again, as you saw there, President Zelenskyy has been critical of some of these European leaders for trying to play a balancing act, essentially trying to make sure that their economies and their countries continue to get the Russian support they need, at the same time making sure they back Ukraine.

President Zelenskyy, absolutely, does not have time for that. He is going to want to make sure that these countries continue their stranglehold, if not tighten that noose around the Kremlin. He is going to want to make sure that they understand, and he has repeated this many times, that this is a fight not just for Ukraine but for Europe at large.

And in terms of that bid for the European Union, as you mentioned, that could take decades, potentially. So, it is a largely symbolic gesture there, but again, a hope that it begins to heal divisions in the European Community. Kim?

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, absolutely. Thanks so much, Salma Abdelazis. Appreciate it.

U.S. officials say they are aware of reports that a third American military volunteer may have gone missing in Ukraine. A family friend says he is a retired U.S. Marine who has not been heard from since late April. That is when his unit came under fire near Kherson.

Meanwhile, this image appeared on social media Thursday showing the two other Americans in the back of a Russian military truck. Their families were concerned that they were captured last week, but the State Department can't confirm that and CNN can't independently verify when the image was taken.

Ukraine says evacuation is no longer an option for more than 500 civilians stranded at a chemical plant in Severodonetsk. A regional leader says the Azov plant is taking so much fire from Russian forces that anyone who walks out would have a 99% chance of being killed. The civilians include more than three dozen children.

Earlier this week, Moscow offered an evacuation corridor, but only to the Russian-controlled territory. Ukraine says it is skeptical of any Russian promises. Still, a pro-Russian militia in the region is putting the blame on Ukraine.

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IVAN FILIPONENKO, PRO-RUSSIAN LUHANSK PEOPLE'S MILITIA (through translator): From the moment the truth on the green corridor was supposed to happen, the enemy started artillery shelling and shelled the areas where civilians were gathering. This way, the enemy, unilaterally, once again undermined the initiative, which was aimed at saving the lives of several hundred people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: All right. We are joined now by Sally Llewellyn, regional security director for International SOS, an organization that has been working with humanitarian groups since the beginning of the conflict. Thanks so much for being here with us. So, as we just heard there, with hundreds of civilians sheltering at that plant in Severodonetsk, we saw how difficult and deadly a similar situation was at the Azovstal plant in Mariupol. What are the challenges of getting those people out?

SALLY LLEWELLYN, REGIONAL SECURITY DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL SOS: Well, Kim, at International SOS, our mission is to support organizations to complete their missions in these complex scenarios, and we focus on the life safety of individuals who are being part of these kinds of humanitarian assistance missions. So, this has been a real pivotal focus for us, as you said over there, in recent months and we've been supporting humanitarian organizations on the ground.

For this particular scenario in Severodonetsk, it is a very, very challenging mission for an organization to try and get in to provide food, water, medical supply to people or to conduct an evacuation.

As we heard in that last clip, the humanitarian corridor situation has been really challenging, and one of the issues with this is there is not an overarching framework for negotiations between both sides. So, that is the first step to ensuring that a humanitarian corridor could be open.

Then there needs to be a huge amount of coordination on the ground between both sides and between the evacuees themselves. That requires a lot of communication and a great deal of trust.

[02:09:55]

LLEWELLYN: I think one of the key things missing in this conflict at this point and this very, very tense times is that level of trust between both sides and it is heavily politicized. And unfortunately, in the middle of that is this group of civilians waiting to be evacuated or supported in location.

BRUNHUBER: That is exactly right. The lack of trust, definitely, a big problem there and we saw that again and again in Mariupol when Russia was promising these humanitarian corridors that never materialized.

More broadly, I mean, often, civilians are warned to leave an area but they feel it is safer to stay. You know, I talked to one woman recently who tried to leave but their car was attacked. She and her husband ended up seriously injured. It must be so hard to make that decision, whether to stay or to go. Either decision could be fatal, especially when there is so little accurate information.

LLEWELLYN: You're completely correct, Kim. I mean, throughout this conflict and other locations around the world, we support organizations helping to evacuate their employees from the ground. And that has been one of the most challenging decisions to make. We advise on the rest of the people staying in location and we advise on risks of movement and then help to coordinate movement when the time is right.

Those missions are very, very complicated from conducting risk assessment around the environment and on the route that we would expect to take someone. We do a lot of analysis and work in the lead up to these missions. We have a go and no go triggers that we monitor.

But at the end of the day, it is a human being that -- we appear at their home and encourage them to depart. It is such a difficult decision for them to make in their own location and people often feel they want to stay. They often feel that they are safer in a place that they know rather than these really complicated movements across the country.

Fortunately, we've been able to complete a number of successful missions, so that gives us some level of confidence, an organization's confidence that we can work collaboratively to achieve these outcomes. They are hugely challenging and, of course, risky all the way up until the point that you are able to get someone into a safe haven, and for large part, that has been into Poland or other surrounding countries.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, you're talking about getting people out, but now we are seeing many companies and organizations going back to Ukraine, to cities maybe farther from the frontlines like Lviv, and now Kyiv especially.

But even then, it is not as though the dangers are just gone. One example, the Ukrainian authorities report destroying more than some 26,000 explosive hazards in the greater Kyiv region. It is not as if the danger has disappeared. How do you try and mitigate those?

LLEWELLYN: You're completely correct there, Kim. So, throughout the conflict, we've seen the humanitarian community moving into Ukraine. Right from the early phase, they were very active on the ground. And that type of organization is very robust in their respond. They understand conflict and post-conflict zones and have good mitigations in place.

Now, some months on, we are starting to see other organizations come in, particularly in the agricultural, pharmaceutical sector where they do need to get their operations back up and running again in order to make the harvest season, for example. Those organizations are perhaps less familiar with these types of environments and they hit on quite a critical risk that we are seeing, particularly in Kyiv (INAUDIBLE) ordinance.

the other risk, of course, is that at any point, there could continue to be missile attacks or artillery fire into Kyiv, and missile attacks perhaps in the western part of the country. In the west, of course, they have been focused mostly on their supply elements coming in or strategic infrastructure, but there is still that underlying risk.

So, we work with organizations to provide advice around what to expect in the environment, and then individuals to understand where their shelter and place options are, what to do if they hear an air raid siren. So, really getting them to understand the environment. A lot of people are not necessarily well prepared (INAUDIBLE) returning to Ukraine.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, it is such an important that is being done to help the country get back on its feet. It is still so dangerous for the people who are going back in there, who have chosen to stay. Their courage should really be commended here. I really appreciate your perspective on this, Sally Llewellyn. Thank you so much.

LLEWELLYN: Thank you.

BRUNHUBER: A senior ISIS leader and bombmaker has been captured in Northern Syria. U.S.-led coalition forces tracked down and seized Hani Ahmed al-Kurdi during a raid in Aleppo on Thursday. Authorities say he is responsible for coordinating terrorist activities across the region, including teaching others how to make explosive devices.

[02:15:02]

BRUNHUBER: Well, then-U.S. Vice President Mike Pence came perilously close to an angry mob calling for him to be hanged during the Capitol riot. Just ahead, chilling details from Thursday's hearings show how lawless rioters were incited to deadly violence by a single tweet from Donald Trump. Stay with us.

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REP. PETE AGUILAR (D-CA): Vice President Pence did the right thing that day.

REP. LIZ CHENEY (R-WY): Vice President Mike Pence understood that his oath of office was more important than his loyalty to Donald Trump.

REP. BENNIE THOMPSON (D-MS): We are fortunate for Mr. Pence's courage on January 6th.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Members of the January 6th Select Committee there singling out former Vice President Mike Pence for defying Donald Trump's demands to illegally block the certification of the 2020 election.

At Thursday's hearing, the panel presented evidence that Pence's life was in danger that day, but he refused to buckle. For the latest on Thursday's stunning revelations, here is CNN's Manu Raju.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNKNOWN: Mike Pence has betrayed the United States of America!

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The pressure campaign was relentless. Donald Trump for months trying to get Mike Pence to do something no vice president has ever done: Reject the will of the electorate and install him as president for a second term, right up to this heated phone call on the morning of January 6th, just before Pence was presiding over a joint session of Congress to certify Joe Biden's victory.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): He called him a wimp.

IVANKA TRUMP, DAUGHTER OF DONALD TRUMP, FORMER WHITE HOUSE ADVISOR: It was a different tone that I heard him take with the vice president before.

UNKNOWN: Do you remember what she said? Her father called him.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): The P-word.

RAJU (voice-over): Trump even revising his January 6th speech at a rally of his supporters to take aim at the vice president.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Mike Pence is going to have to come through for us. And if he doesn't, that will be a sad day for our country.

RAJU (voice-over): The rioters echoing the president's remarks.

UNKNOWN: I'm telling you, if Pence came, we're going to drag (bleep) through the streets.

RAJU (voice-over): Even after rioters breached the Capitol that afternoon, Trump still attacked Pence on Twitter, just as the mob was 40 feet away from the vice president.

REP. PETE AGUILAR (D-CA): The vice president's life was in danger.

RAJU (voice-over): Trump had been told repeatedly that Pence had no authority to take such an unconstitutional action.

UNKNOWN: Was with it your impression that the vice president had directly conveyed his position on these issues to the president, not just to the world through a dear colleague letter but directly to President Trump?

MARC SHORT, FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF TO VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE: Many times.

UNKNOWN: And he had been consistent in conveying his position to the president?

SHORT: Very consistent.

RAJU (voice-over): The committee focusing today on the role of Trump attorney, John Eastman, who pushed the theory that the vice president could overturn Joe Biden's victory.

JOHN EASTMAN, ATTORNEY: All we are demanding of Vice President Pence is this afternoon at 1:00, he let the legislators of the state look into this so we get to the bottom of it.

[02:20:03]

RAJU (voice-over): Privately, White House officials were alarmed and pushed back on Eastman.

UNKNOWN: They thought he was crazy.

ERIC HERSCHMANN, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE LAWYER: I said, are you out of your effing mind? you're going to cause riots in the streets.

RAJU (voice-over): Even Fox News personality Sean Hannity sending these text messages to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, saying, on January 5th, I'm very worried about the next 48 hours.

But as he was pedaling the theory, Eastman knew it was bogus, writing in October 2020 that nowhere does it suggest that the president of the Senate gets to make the determination on his own.

Pence's former counsel recalling tense deliberations in the White House, including this demand from Eastman on January 5th.

GREG JACOB, FORMER COUNSEL TO VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE: What most surprised me about that meeting was that when Mr. Eastman came in, he said, I'm here to request that you reject the electors. He came in and expressly requested that.

RAJU (voice-over): And as Trump and Pence were privately sparring about the vice president's role, the White House issued a statement, saying, he and the vice president were in total agreement that Pence had the power to act.

JACOB: We are shocked and disappointed because whoever had written and put that statement out, it was categorically untrue.

RAJU (voice-over): The message came from Trump.

UNKNOWN: He dictated -- he dictated most of it.

RAJU (voice-over): As for Eastman, he had this request for Trump, he said through Rudy Giuliani.

AGUILAR: Dr. Eastman's email stated -- quote -- "I've decided that I should be on the pardon list, if that is still in the works."

RAJU (on camera): Now, Eastman refused to cooperate with January 6 investigators, even taking the Fifth Amendment, but there is still some interest in his interactions, namely between him and Ginni Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. She is a conservative activist. She had pushed to overturn the election. She had interacted with Eastman via email.

Thompson telling me earlier in the day on Thursday that the committee has sent a letter to Thomas asking her to testify before the committee. She herself had told the conservative news outlet earlier in the day that she is willing to clear up any misconceptions that the committee may have about her interactions. So, that is something perhaps that could happen in the days ahead.

Manu Raju, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: All right, let's get more on this from CNN's senior political analyst Ron Brownstein in Los Angeles. Ron, good to see you. So, lots to choose from here, but for you, what was the most significant revelation?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: The most significant revelation, I think, was clearly that Donald Trump was told that his efforts were illegal and proceeded anyway. The lawyer for the vice president, Mr. Short, testified that at a meeting in the White House, John Eastman admitted that his scheme was illegal, that it violated the Electoral Count Act, that it will probably lose at the Supreme Court 9-0, and yet Donald Trump continued to pressure the vice president to pursue that scheme.

And so, this reinforces the evidence from the first two hearings of Bill Barr and others telling him that he lost the election and him proceeding down this path anyway. Both of them, I think, are critical from a criminal and legal point of view for the former president establishing his state of mind, that he knew what he was doing was not only wrong but illegal, and he continued to do it anyway.

It seems like a very important threshold when it comes to the Justice Department consideration of whether to charge him with the various crimes that are out there.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, but even though this is potentially criminal, I mean, you've seen the reaction from Republican politicians, dismissive shrugs essentially. Will this have any impact on politics, do you think, given that some Republicans running for office right now are using their participation in January 6th as a badge of honor?

BROWNSTEIN: Right, there are various components to that. As you point out, there is no question that an astonishing number of Republicans who are promoting Trump's lies that the election was stolen from him, are winning nominations for office in 2022.

"The Washington Post" calculated over 100 separate Republicans who are espousing Trump's discredited claims of fraud have won nominations, and this includes Republicans who are running for control of the machinery of the election in almost all of the states that will decide the 2024 presidency and the battle for the White House. Just this week, an election denier was nominated by Republicans for secretary of state in Nevada which would be a contested state in 2024.

You know, I think the answer, the answer in terms of the immediate political impact, I think, is twofold.

[02:24:55]

BROWNSTEIN: In the midterm, it is not clear that this will have a huge impact. I mean, voters obviously concerned about the here and now and midterms really do turn to be -- tends to be snapshots on voters' feeling about the country at this moment. Inflation obviously looming very large, although I think that the January 6th hearings (INAUDIBLE).

The bigger issue, I think, is 2024. And whether this will affect at the margin the number of American voters who are willing to trust Trump with the power of the presidency, it is not going to collapse his support, but certainly I think this could have some downward pressure on the edges of the coalition. And if he gets indicted, much less convicted, obviously, is a whole other story.

BRUNHUBER: So that is the political outcome perhaps but, you know, the higher purpose of this, people say, you know, just to prevent this type of thing from happening yet again. But as you say, the fact that so many secretaries of state running for office seem to be willing to subvert democracy, despite what we are seeing from the January 6 Committee, I mean, right now in New Mexico, we have that county commission officer refusing to certify election results.

So, no matter what happens here with the hearings, that doesn't seem to be stopping people from going down that path. Will that only happen if there are prosecutions?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, you know, there's no question that the overall threat to the integrity of American elections is much greater now than it was even in the period immediately after the 2020 results when Donald Trump was hatching this plan, that essentially, belief in this broad lie is the ante for many Republican politicians, and critically, those who understand it to be both malicious and subversive and dangerous are not choosing to speak out in support of the January 6 Committee.

I mean, I wrote this week on cnn.com, if you look at the period from when Richard Mixon was reelected in 1972 until when he resigned in August '74, his approval rating among Republican voters dropped 40 points, from 90% to 50%.

Part of that was there was no Fox News and others trying to act as a source of rebuttal of the information coming in, revelations coming out about him, but also because there were many Republicans at each stage of the process who supported the January inquiry and sent signals to their voters that what was being uncovered was important.

We are not seeing that. Mitch McConnell, who excoriated Trump for his behavior after January 6th although voted to not acquit him on impeachment, he said he is not watching the hearings. And that is kind of the model here. Republican voters are not getting any message that they need to take this seriously.

And as long as that is the case, Trump's hold on the Republican Party will remain undiminished or certainly not overthrown. As long as that is the case, as long as Trump (INAUDIBLE) Republican Party, the threat to American democracy will continue to grow.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah. We will have to leave it on that unfortunate note. Ron Brownstein, thank you so much for your perspective as always. Appreciate it.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.

BRUNHUBER: All right, still ahead, it was a tough day on Wall Street with markets rattled by fears of a recession. We will have a look at the plunging lumbers coming up.

Plus, inflation is high in the minds of voters in Columbia as they choose a candidate that they believe will improve the direction of the economy. We will have a preview of that coming up. Stay with us.

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[02:30:00]

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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: And welcome back to all of you watching us all around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. Global Markets have taken a tumble over fears of a recession after the U.S. Federal Reserve announced its largest interest rate hike in decades in an attempt to get inflation under control. Stocks plunged on Wall Street as you can see Thursday with the Dow dropping more than 740 points and it fell below the 30,000 benchmarks it's lower -- lowest level in a year.

Meanwhile, Asian markets finished mixed yesterday. Right now, the Hang Seng Index is up while the Nikkei and Seoul Kospi are trending downward. Now, those numbers come as the Hong Kong monetary authority joined other central banks in increasing their interest rates on Thursday.

All right, and one of the biggest drivers of the Asian market numbers is fears of inflation, as you can see, hopefully, here as we will pop it up, the U.S. economy isn't the only economy feeling the pain. Both Turkey and Brazil are in double-digit inflation rates right now. And some analysts are saying that the war in Ukraine is definitely a factor over the surging prices of basic necessities like energy and food.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CATHERINE RAMPELL, CNN ECONOMICS AND POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Part of the reason why inflation has gone up so much in recent months, particularly in Europe has to do with the war in Ukraine and the related disruption to energy markets. That has taken a lot of supply offline, particularly Russian energy that European countries depend on. That's driven up energy prices as a result, and increased the overall cost of living in these countries by raising interest rates.

That will tamp down demand somewhat, meaning it's more expensive to borrow. It's more expensive to spend money effectively. The cost of borrowing is higher, and that should presumably bring down demand a little bit including possibly for energy. But so long as we continue to have these major disruptions in commodities, markets, energy, and food particularly, we may continue to see elevated prices going forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Economic woes are on the minds of Colombians ahead of Sunday's highly anticipated presidential runoff election, voters will choose between two men with very different visions of how to overhaul the economy. But as Stefano Pozzebon reports, for many Colombians relief can't come soon enough.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN REPORTER (voiceover): Niober Siagama and his extended family, living in two rooms in a cheap hotel in Bogota. At night time, 12 people squeezing two bunk beds. And on the floor, sleeping wherever there is some space. It wasn't always like this. Last year, this group of indigenous people lived in a house in another part of town. But in January, rent became too pricey. They had to leave. Now, they must pay for their rooms every night to have a roof over their heads. And money is very tight. Everything got more expensive, says Siagama who told us he sometimes skips his meal to let his two children eat a little more.

NIOBER SIAGAMA, FATHER OF TWO: Speaking in a foreign language.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know I can make it. I have faith in myself and I know with my work I can get through this. But sometimes the system plays against you.

POZZEBON: Their situation is not unique. Millions of Colombians are increasingly struggling to make ends meet and food insecurity is on the rise. According to the World Food Programme, Columbia's food prices have increased the most across Latin America since the start of the year, in part as a consequence of the war in Ukraine.

YURITH SUAREZ, BUTCHER: Speaking in a foreign language.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'd say it started about five or six months ago that prices have really gone up.

POZZEBON: It sounds like a paradox after 10 years of solid economic growth. But three out of five Colombians responding to a late April poll said young people will be worse off than their parents. The things are set to change.

POZZEBON (on camera): After decades of the same economic recipe Colombians have voted for change.

[02:35:03]

POZZEBON: To these (INAUDIBLE) have progressed to the second round of the presidential election on Sunday, each with his own plan to fix the country's economy. But even within change throughout different trends, in which one of the two will come up on top.

POZZEBON: Left-wing candidate Gustavo Petro, he said his third attempt to win the presidency laying out his proposal in an interview with CNN. He sets his eyes on household income.

GUSTAVO PETRO, COLOMBIA PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Speaking in a foreign language.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is a gap between how much the salaries grew little and how much food prices grew a lot. And that has caused rising levels of hunger. And that's where you have the crisis. POZZEBON: Petro plans a radical rethinking of Colombia's economy, doing away with exporting fossil fuels in focusing on food production supported by public spending. That will include renegotiating a free trade agreement with the United States.

His opponent, Rodolfo Hernandez, instead is in favor of free enterprise, and lower taxes on basic goods to help everyday Colombians. Running on a campaign against corruption, he pledges to lead a government of austerity.

RODOLFO HERNANDEZ, COLOMBIA PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Speaking in a foreign language.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to rule by example. Let's start there, taking away all the privileges of the politicians that have no justification and are no good to the common people.

POZZEBON: The two candidates are neck and neck and Siagama is still undecided. He hopes, however, that whoever prevails will be able to open a new chapter for Colombia. What we have now is unbearable. He says. Stefano Pozzebon, CNN, Bogota.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Parts of Europe are experiencing a dangerous heatwave and it could soon get worse. We to go to the CNN weather center for the latest after the break stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: The host cities for the 2026 World Cup had been chosen the tournament will be co-hosted by three countries for the first time including 11 cities in the U.S., three in Mexico, and two in Canada. The football's governing body, FIFA, has yet to decide which ones will host group play and which ones will see the elimination round. CNN's Paula Newton has more from Ottawa, but let's first go to Matt Rivers with the latest from Mexico City.

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MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, big news here in Mexico a country that we, of course, know is already obsessed with soccer with the announcement of which Mexican cities will be joining their counterpart cities in both the United States and Canada when the World Cup is played in 2026. Of the announcement that three of Mexico's better-known cities including Monterrey, Guadalajara, and here in Mexico City will be hosting some games during the World Cup. This is not Mexico's first go-around hosting the World Cup in fact, it's its third time acting as host, the first, coming in 1970, the next time coming in 1986, and of course, Mexican culture is very known for hosting guests.

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RIVERS: So given that experience and the Mexican culture, maybe the Canadian and Americans can come down here to ask the Mexicans for some friendly advice. Matt Rivers, CNN, Mexico City.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Paula Newton in Ottawa where two Canadian cities got the good news. Vancouver and Toronto will be host cities for the FIFA 2026 World Cup. Now, Edmonton, Alberta shut out that Western city saying they would have been fantastic hosts but congratulating the other cities nonetheless.

And I have to say the enthusiasm for the game is so strong here in Canada. Canada has now qualified for the first time in nearly four decades for the World Cup this year. And you have to remember just the qualifying games in this country were sold out in even sub-zero temperatures. There's so much enthusiasm for the game. And this means that those cities, Toronto and Vancouver, will get stadium improvements which a lot of players in this country and spectators have been looking for. (END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Parts of Western Europe are coping with a dangerous heatwave. Officials say a town in southern France reported a temperature of 40 degrees Celsius or 104 Fahrenheit on Thursday. No place in mainland France has ever reached that temperature so early in the year. And forecasts indicate that Paris could see the hottest June day yet this weekend. And Spain is also experiencing hotter than normal temperatures and the heat could peak in the coming days. Now it's the most extreme heatwave Spain has seen in more than four decades. CNN Meteorologist Karen Maginnis joins us now, so, Karen, bad and going to get worse, right?

KAREN MAGINNIS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. Over the weekend, places across Spain and into France are still going to be looking at these upper 30s to around 40 degrees Celsius or 100 to 104 degrees. And it isn't just that it's hot, but that it's come so early. Climatologically speaking, we typically see these heat waves develop during the month of July. 2019, hundreds died in France because of the extreme heat. And now we have it earlier in the summer season. And we're seeing some of the wind come up off of the Sahara, we've got this ridge of high pressure, it's not budging.

Typically, we see dips in the jet stream, or we see a weather system that moves across the region and just kind of blows all of this out. Well, that's just not happening right now. And so we'll keep the hot weather in the forecast going into the next several days and then we'll start to see a little bit of a cooling-off take place.

But nonetheless, across the United Kingdom, this is where we will expect temperatures in the 30s. But this isn't going to be lasting very long. It looks like Friday is going to be the last day and then we'll start to see these temperatures more reasonable mostly in the 20s. 34 degrees coming up for Paris and then that high pressure starts to move a little bit, so all across Italy and into the eastern Adriatic, this is where we're expecting the heat to maintain itself going in towards the weekend.

All right, what about the weather situation across the United Kingdom and into Spain are those temperatures as images still remain hot across the Iberian Peninsula. But across the United Kingdom, thankfully, those temperatures are going to drop another maybe five to as much as 10 degrees so that's a good news. But take a look at Paris. We've got those 30s or approaching 40 degrees, and then those temperatures more normal as we head into the work week and you'll start to develop some showers. So I'm sure that people there are definitely looking forward to that. Kim, back to you.

BRUNHUBER: All right, thanks so much, Karen Maginnis. Appreciate it. I'm Kim Brunhuber. Thanks so much for joining me. WORLD SPORT is next.

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