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SCOTUS Ends Roe; G7 Leaders Prep for Germany Summit; U.S. House Passes Bipartisan Gun Safety Legislation; Prince Charles: Time to Talk about Slavery; Civilian Volunteers Supply Ukrainian Troops. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired June 25, 2022 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to CNN NEWSROOM, everyone, I am Michael Holmes, appreciate your company.
Coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM.
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HOLMES (voice-over): Protests across the U.S. after the Supreme Court issues its ruling, overturning Roe v. Wade, leaving the decision up to the states on abortion rights. We're getting reaction from around the world.
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HOLMES (voice-over): Ukraine's president vowing to keep defending his country as the G7 summit kicks off with Russia's war in focus.
And a deadly aftershock hits Afghanistan just days after an earthquake devastated the country.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Michael Holmes.
HOLMES: Dozens of demonstrations are expected around the U.S. this weekend. Fallout from Friday's abortion ruling that has galvanized groups on
both sides.
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HOLMES (voice-over): Emotions are extremely high after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark ruling that legalized abortion early 50 years ago, back in 1973.
In California, where abortion remains legal, protesters blocked a busy freeway in Los Angeles to express outrage over the court's decision. At least 70 demonstrations have already been planned from coast to coast this weekend. Advocates fear that the ruling will eventually undermine other civil rights, such as same sex marriage.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want my daughter to have those rights, not just because she lives in the state of California, in the United States of America. I think it is important that we take action.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're growing and you're learning to become your own person.
But how can you become your own person if you can't make a choice for yourself?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Friday's ruling already being felt across the country. Abortion clinics in some 26 states will have to shut down within days. Some already have.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm here today. To be a voice for the unborn. I didn't know it would be announced today.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If I was a baby in a room, I want someone to stand up for my rights.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: A draft of the decision was leaked weeks ago but the ruling itself still came as a shock when it arrived. U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris said the Supreme Court has never before taken such an action.
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KAMALA HARRIS (D), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is the first time in the history of our nation that a constitutional right has been taken from the people of America: it's the right to privacy. Think about it, it's the right for each person to make intimate decisions about heart and home.
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HOLMES: Democrats and women's rights advocates vowed to make abortion rights front and center in the upcoming midterm elections. We have more from CNN's Jessica Schneider.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hell, no, we don't need Roe.
JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Roe v. Wade no longer the law of the land. With the Supreme Court overturning nearly 50 years of precedent, the court eliminating the constitutional right to an abortion and leaving all decisions concerning abortion rights to individual states.
The final 5-4 majority opinion strikingly similar to the draft from justice Samuel Alito that was leaked last month. Roe was egregiously wrong from the start, Alito writes. Its reasoning was exceptionally weak and the decision has had damaging consequences.
In a dissenting opinion, the court's liberal justices lament the current state of the conservative court saying, with sorrow for this court but more for the many millions of American women who have today lost a fundamental constitutional protection, we dissent.
The move made possible by a conservative supermajority, including three of Donald Trump's nominees.
[02:05:00]
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Chief Justice John Roberts diverging somewhat from the majority, voting to uphold Mississippi's 15-week abortion ban but stopping short of overturning Roe v. Wade.
The decision is a turn for two of the justices who voted to overturn Roe after they seemed to indicate at their confirmation hearings they wouldn't.
BRETT KAVANAUGH, SUPREME COURT NOMINEE: It's an important precedent of the court.
NEIL GORSUCH, SUPREME COURT NOMINEE: That's the law of the land. I accept the law of the land, Senator, yes.
SCHNEIDER: Democrats, including President Biden, are outraged.
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is not over.
SCHNEIDER: And urging voters to back candidates who back abortion rights in the midterm elections.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): How about those justices coming before the senators and saying that they respected the precedent of the court?
This cruel ruling is outrageous and heart-wrenching. But make no mistake, it's all on the ballot in November.
SCHNEIDER: Protests are popping up around the country as individual states are set to move rapidly. 26 states are likely to ban abortion completely, including 13 states that have trigger laws on the books, which set abortion bans into motion as soon as Roe is overturned.
Arkansas' governor tweeting, we are able now to protect life.
And South Dakota's governor responding, as of today, all abortions are illegal in South Dakota.
The Supreme Court's decision also could put others precedents at risk, like the right to same-sex marriage and access to contraception. Justice Clarence Thomas explicitly calling for the court to reconsider those other rulings, writing, we have a duty to correct the error established in those precedents.
While Alito promised, nothing in this opinion should be understood to cast doubt on precedents that do not concern abortion. But the liberal justices warning, no one should be confident that this majority is done with its work -- Jessica Schneider, CNN, Washington.
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HOLMES: U.S. Republican lawmakers celebrating the Supreme Court decision in a statement, Mitch McConnell called the ruling, courageous and correct, comparing it to the high court's ruling that segregating schools by race was unconstitutional.
Adding that, with Friday's decision on Roe v. Wade, the court has corrected a terrible legal and moral error.
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REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): Americans celebrate this historic victory. We know it will save the lives of millions of children. It will give families hope. As encouraging as today's decision is, our work is far from done.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Today's ruling is an answer to prayers. A shining beacon of hope for the American people. We are here because of nearly five decades, our strong, pro-life advocates, they never wavered in their commitment for life.
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HOLMES: With the U.S. Senate divided, there's little Democrats can do as far as legislation on this issue. One prominent Democrat expressed her exasperations.
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REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D-WA): This is a catastrophic decision. This decision strips away the freedoms, the liberties and the status of women across this country. In this decision, by saying that a woman is going to be forced to have a pregnancy, forced to carry a fetus to term forced to deal with all the consequences of that, with no autonomous freedom to make her own choice, to decide when, whether, with whom she's going to have a child.
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HOLMES: CNN's Erin Burnett spoke to the president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Alexis McGill Johnson, who explained how the ruling could impact the future of health care for millions. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALEXIS MCGILL JOHNSON, PRESIDENT AND CEO, PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA: Overturning of a constitutional right is going to impact generations, right? It is going to impact millions of people who would otherwise be able to make a decision to get the care they need, continue to kind of imagine their future and think about kind of how the world they want to create when they want to become a parent.
And so, we're talking about are people, many people who are well off and will be able to continue to get access to care and a lot of people forced into pregnancy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Thirteen U.S. states have so-called trigger laws to quickly ban abortions, automatically triggered by the high court's ruling. A federal judge in Alabama has already granted an emergency motion to end an injunction against Alabama's Human Life Protection Act.
Louisiana's attorney general said the statewide ban is already in effect. Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and South Dakota's prohibitions against abortion are also effective immediately. But numerous other states have laws in place that will protect abortion access.
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HOLMES: Democratic strategist Caroline Heldman is a professor of critical theory and social justice at Occidental College in Los Angeles.
Thanks for being with, us Professor. The effect is abortion becomes a state decision.
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HOLMES: The chances of Congress codifying abortion rights are slim to nil.
What are the political alternatives for Democrats?
CAROLINE HELDMAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, Democrats could abolish the filibuster. They do have enough votes in the Senate if they want to codify a national law protecting abortion.
It means that if Republicans take control of the House and Senate, which are expected to do in the midterms, they would turn around and they would pass a national abortion ban.
There's also the possibility that we're not thinking or speaking about too much, the decision to go even further. The court, if it takes a fetal heartbeat bill and considers it could ban abortion in all 50 states. So while they have put the decision on states right now, who knows how long that will hold? There's also the option of court packing for folks who want to preserve abortion rights. And, of course, the president can do some -- he can work at the margins to protect those rights, for example, making the abortion pill more readily available. At this time, Democrats and those who are pro-choice have very limited options.
HOLMES: Yes. There was a CNN poll that said just 17 percent of Americans would be happy if Roe v. Wade was overturned, an extraordinary thing. It's widely supported by Americans.
So what might be the political consequences for Republicans?
For the years many on the Right, particularly the religious, Right would vote purely on abortion issues.
But is it enough of an issue on the middle and the Left to impact actual votes at the ballot box?
HELDMAN: I think so. Just looking at polls, abortion is now tied to the economy, is the number one issue in the election. For 50 years, there has been this large number of voters who were pro-life. That is the single issue that got them to register and go to the polls.
I think we'll see something similar now on the Left, on the prochoice side. I also think it's important to note that Generation Z and young Millennials who typically don't turn out to vote voted in droves in 2020 election. They are overwhelmingly pro-choice.
So I would anticipate that what we thought would happen in the midterms in this big swing toward Republicans is now up in the air. Republicans can't control the political fallout of passing legislation through the courts that is so wildly unpopular with the American public.
HOLMES: Religious groups, of course, are celebrating. But vast numbers of Americans aren't religious or accept the church view on abortion. In some religions abortion is permissible.
How does the notion of separation of church and state, which is in the Constitution, play into this decision?
HELDMAN: Well, as we saw earlier this week, the court was willing to drop that wall between church and state. They overturned the decision and allowed state money to go to religious institutions.
So it does appear that this court is essentially -- many members are voting on their religious beliefs, it's theocracy. I think it's important to clarify, too, that it is evangelicals and Catholics who are antichoice.
But Judaism and Islam are religions that are prominent in the United States. And they actually have provisions for abortion. So it's not all religions that are being covered here. It's specifically Christianity. And the court does seem to be driven by, essentially, you know, theocracy or religious beliefs in their ruling.
HOLMES: Yes, which, frankly, it's not its job.
The chief justice, John Roberts, has gone to great lengths to deny that the court's political, ideological. It was interesting, on, Friday the House majority leader, Hoyer, he said this.
"It is clear that this court wants to legislate. This court wants to make the law. They do not want to follow precedent. They believe their views are the views. It is a political court."
How open is the court to that criticism, that it is plainly political now?
HELDMAN: Well, I think it is undeniable at this point. It's not just the Roe decision. The court is wildly out of step on gun control. We are going to see a number of decisions on environmental protections that do not fit in with the American public.
It's important to keep in mind that checks and balances broke down with getting us to where we are with this court. Not only did we --
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HOLMES: We have lost Professor Heldman, that was Caroline Heldman, joining us there to discuss the Roe v. Wade decision by the Supreme Court. But we got most of the interview in. So that's good.
There has been plenty of reaction from all around the world. The Vatican's Pontifical Academy for Life supports it, not surprisingly.
"It is time to build a society and economy that supports marriages and families and where every woman has the support and resources, she needs to bring her child into this world with love."
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HOLMES: But overall, the reaction has been pretty critical.
Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau calling it, "horrific. My heart goes out to the millions of American women, who are now set to lose their legal right to an abortion."
CNN's Nada Bashir joins me now from London to talk more about this.
World leaders certainly haven't been shy about expressing an opinion on this ruling in the U.S.
NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Michael. This decision by the U.S. Supreme Court has sent shockwaves through the world. We have heard from numerous politicians and leaders across the continent.
We've also seen protests across the continent. You've seen demonstrations in Paris yesterday after the decision was announced.
One placard reading, "From dystopia into a reality."
We saw demonstrations across the U.K., in Scotland, outside of the U.S. embassy here in London, a pretty sizeable protest there. We heard from the Scottish first minister, Nicola Sturgeon. She described it as one of the darkest days for women's rights.
She also warned that this decision, while its immediate impact would be felt in the U.S., it could embolden antiabortion groups across the world and in Europe. That is a key concern. That was the message that we heard from British prime minister Boris Johnson yesterday. Take a listen.
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BORIS JOHNSON, U.K. PRIME MINISTER: This is not our court. It's another jurisdiction. But clearly, it has massive impacts on people's thinking around the world. It's a very important decision.
I have got to tell you, I think it's a big step backwards. I think it's a big step backwards. I've always believed in a woman's right to choose. And I stick to that view. And that is why the U.K. has the laws that it does.
And actually, if you, look we recently took steps to make sure that those laws were enforced throughout the whole of the U.K.
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BASHIR: As you mentioned, this has been a view expressed by numerous world leaders. French president Emmanuel Macron saying access to abortion is a fundamental right for women that must be protected.
We've also heard from rights groups from across the board. Let me read you the statement from the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet.
She said, "This decision strips such autonomy for millions of women in the U.S., in particular those with low incomes and those belonging to racial and ethnic minorities, to the detriment of their fundamental rights."
We've also heard concerns expressed from international health care organizations. Doctors without Borders, which does a lot of work, not in the U.S. but across the board, in those low-income areas, in conflict zones, says that it has seen firsthand the devastating impact of the restrictions on access to safe and legal abortions, that they can.
There are certainly concerns that this can embolden antiabortion groups across the globe. Michael?
HOLMES: Indeed. Thanks for that wrap up. Appreciate it.
Russia is one step closer to controlling all of the Luhansk region in Eastern Ukraine. Now Moscow turning up the pressure on one city, where Ukrainian troops are still making a stand. We'll have that and much more when we come back.
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HOLMES: Russia's slow but steady advances in Eastern Ukraine are paying off, at least in the city of Severodonetsk. Ukrainian troops now pulling out of the city after weeks of grinding street battles.
Western military experts say it's a symbolic win for Moscow but by no means a decisive victory in this war. The fighting now shifting across the river to Lysychansk, the last city in the Luhansk region, still in Ukrainian hands.
Ukraine says Russia is stepping up airstrikes south and southeast of that city with the eventual goal of cutting off its defenders.
Meanwhile, President Zelenskyy made an appeal for support in a video message played at the U.K.'s Glastonbury Music Festival, saying Ukraine is holding the line against Moscow for many others.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: Russia has stolen our peace. But we will not let Russia's war break us. And we will want to stop the war before it ruins people's lives in other countries of Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America. They are all under threat now.
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HOLMES: G7 foreign ministers are pointing a finger at Moscow for making global food shortages worse. That latest condemnation coming in a statement after meeting in Berlin on Friday.
They discussed the looming food crisis partly caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. A United Nations official said that millions could die because Ukraine can't export much of its grain, while 49 million other people worldwide could have trouble putting food on the table.
U.S. secretary of state, Antony Blinken, says that that is mainly Russia's fault.
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ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: The combination that we've seen of COVID, climate and conflict is creating an even greater crisis in food insecurity. The only reason for this now is Russia's aggression against Ukraine and Russia's blockade against grain and other foodstuffs, moving out of Ukraine.
It's worth repeating. The sanctions that we've imposed on Russia, collectively, with many other countries, exempt food.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HOLMES: Food shortages will be high on the priority list when the top G7 leaders meet in Germany on Sunday. They're holding their annual summit in Bavaria. A number of other issues are related to the war in Ukraine one way or another.
For more, I'm joined by Nic Robertson, live from Brussels.
Good to see you, Nic.
What can we expect from this meeting?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes. Rewind a year to when G7 leaders in Germany, France, Italy, the U.K., United States, Japan, Canada, E.U. leaders, as well met face to face on COVID-19 and Build Back Better, nobody expected the year we've had since that.
So challenges are hugely different. One of the things they came out of that summit last year saying was that they essentially, strengthened their unity. That is something that they have done. It's been in the face of Russia's aggression in Ukraine.
But really, there is a recognition now that it overspills, Russia's war overspills and if you listen to the language that we have here from E.U. leaders over the past couple of days about dealing with the outflow, it's not just about the food shortages.
It is about the energy crisis that is coming, as well. The energy supplies that come from Russia being throttled back to European Union countries, to the point that there is a real concern here that they won't be able to build stocks for next winter, that they won't be able to bring in supplies that they would normally need to.
They are needed to work together in a way that they have not done before. This is how the Irish prime minister framed it yesterday.
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MICHEAL MARTIN, IRISH TAOISEACH: Energy, food and migration has been weaponized, terrorizing the people of Ukraine through indiscriminate bombings of civilians, towns and cities. It is creating a humanitarian crisis for the continent of Europe, the likes we haven't seen since World War II.
The same applies to energy. That said, Europe is robust. European Union has demonstrated during COVID-19 that, working collectively together, it can resist and can be resilient.
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ROBERTSON: So I think that is the theme going into the G7 summit, the idea that nations act together. We've seen a lot of that over the past year.
Why is it so important now?
As you say, there is a food crisis looming around the world. There's an energy crisis, fuel crisis going on. It's driving up inflation. There is a potential for a global recession coming. We saw what happened in 2008, two years later, 2010 and 2011, the Arab Spring.
It began because of hunger, food shortages, desperation, frustration in some countries. There is a real sense that as these countries go into the G7, that they need to get on a war footing for protecting their economies, the global economy, security because of the war in Ukraine.
It is entering a new phase. That is the real pressure here. A lot has changed on the international diplomatic table. It moves now to a greater war footing. That's the best way to frame it.
HOLMES: And settling in for the long haul. Good to see you, Nic Robertson there in Brussels.
Actor Mila Kunis is raising millions for her homeland, Ukraine, along with her husband, Ashton Kutcher. The couple set out to raise $30 million. They've now surpassed $36 million.
It will go toward providing housing and other supplies for refugees. Kunis says that "As a mother, anytime you see children in any facet of harm, it is indescribable pain because all you want to do is help a child. That is all. That's literally all I want to do."
Now the U.S. Congress passes the first major gun safety legislation in decades. After the break, we'll examine what the new law will actually achieve. We will be right back.
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HOLMES: Welcome back to viewers all around the world. Thanks for your company. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
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HOLMES: Condemnation and celebration as the U.S. Supreme Court overturns a right that has been on the book for nearly five decades, the right to an abortion.
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HOLMES (voice-over): Thousands across the country took to the streets to protest the overturning of Roe v. Wade. This is happening in Houston, Texas. Dozens of other demonstrations from coast to coast, including in front of the Supreme Court itself in Washington.
Conservatives have been hailing the decision. Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell calling the ruling correct. But an attorney who argued against the restrictions before the Supreme Court, says this decision goes against the core of American liberty.
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JULIE RIKELMAN, SENIOR DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS: The court has said for 100 years that people should be able to make these most basic decisions, that these are decisions of the heart of what liberty means, at the heart of what it means to be free.
That is exactly what the Constitution is for. It is designed to protect those most basic liberties, those most basic rights. So that they're not up for a vote. They're not up for the political process. That is exactly what the court had done for 50 years until today.
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HOLMES: U.S. President Joe Biden has slammed the decision, warning that it puts the health and lives of women in the U.S. at risk. The White House had been preparing for the announcement ever since that draft opinion leaked several weeks ago. Chief White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins with more.
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KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The White House had been bracing themselves for the decision from the Supreme Court, overturning Roe v. Wade, ever since that draft opinion leaked.
So the White House already had Biden's speech written when the final ruling came down. He only made a few changes to it before he came out and declared it a sad, solemn day for the United States.
Other world leaders such as British prime minister Boris Johnson weighed in on the decision. President Biden saying now he does believe that the health and lives of women are at risk.
He talked about the fact, invoking the name of his predecessor when it came to these three new Supreme Court justices who played a major role in the decision to finally overturn Roe v. Wade, something that President Biden noted had been upheld by other Supreme Court justices, even those who had been appointed by Republicans in the past.
The president now says that he's going to look to the Justice Department to defend the rights of women, to travel outside of their state to get an abortion. He also said that they'll work to eliminate barriers to abortion medication for women.
But at the end of the day, he noted that there is only so much he can do when it comes to executive actions and instead, he urged people to vote. Those who believe in prochoice and want to have prochoice lawmakers up on Capitol Hill because restoring that constitutional that the Supreme Court overturned would take an act of Congress.
Right now, Democrats don't have the votes to codified Roe v. Wade into law. The president said that, come November, in the midterm elections, he believes Roe v. Wade is on the ballot -- Kaitlan Collins, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE) HOLMES: The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights called the U.S. Supreme Court decision, quote, "a huge blow to women's human rights and gender equality."
Michelle Bachelet said, quote, "Access to safe, legal and effective abortion is firmly rooted in international human rights law and is at the core of women and girls' autonomy and ability to make their own choices about their bodies and lives free of discrimination, violence and coercion."
It goes on, "This decision strips such autonomy from millions of women in the U.S., in particular, those with low incomes and those belonging to racial and ethnic minorities."
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HOLMES: Joining me now from Tuscaloosa in Alabama is Robin Marty, communications director for the West Alabama Women's Center.
Thanks so much for being with us. First of all, what is going to be the ground level effect for women's reproductive health and rights in those states outlawing abortion now?
ROBIN MARTY, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, WEST ALABAMA WOMEN'S CENTER: So we have already seen what this is going to look like.
Today the moment that the decision came down and we were told that Roe v. Wade was initially overturned, we had to immediately talk to the patients that were in our clinic, who were having appointments, all of them were having appointments for their first days.
In Alabama, you have to have an appointment in a clinic where you will have an ultrasound, counseling, you will receive state mandated abortion materials. And then you have to wait for 48 hours before you can return to the clinic to actually have your pill or your procedure.
We had 21 patients that were in our lobby today, all while the courts let down their decision. And I was forced to call the staff and let them know that they had to let each patient know that there would be no abortion for them, that abortion was now illegal in the state of Alabama.
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MARTY: And that all we could do was try to help them find the nearest clinic that was available that could take them in.
HOLMES: That is extraordinary. No doubt, very distressing for those people in your clinic. You saw this coming. You in fact, wrote a guide for what to do if and when Roe is overturned, and states made abortion illegal.
What is your brief advice for women in states where abortion is now illegal?
MARTY: The best advice that I can give, at this moment, is that the first thing they should do is make sure that they have the type of contraception that they want. Most abortion happens because people have pregnancies that they are not prepared for.
(INAUDIBLE) term and being able to prevent pregnancy is the most important way to reduce abortion. It's far more effective than actually banning abortion because, when you ban abortion, people of means will leave states in order to get abortion.
And people without means will seek out less safe or less legally available ways to terminate pregnancies. Actually, preventing pregnancy is something that these states who are banning abortion could be doing.
But unfortunately, the same states that automatically banning abortion are also states that have refused to expand Medicaid under ObamaCare.
These are states that had the fewest number of reproductive health care clinics. They have rates in Mississippi and Alabama, where 50 percent of all pregnancies are unplanned. So the first thing to do is find out where you can get birth control, find the most reliable birth control and use it.
HOLMES: You meet a lot of women who are in this position of needing an abortion or wanting one. Many women, of course, don't necessarily want an abortion. But I'm thinking of cases like where they might find, quite apart from economic considerations, that their child is going to be severely disabled and want to terminate.
In many states, they're not going to be able to, which raises the question, who was going to look after what will presumably be a boom in unplanned and possibly unwanted children?
MARTY: Oh, that is an excellent question. And honestly, it's one that I have been watching in Texas right now, because Texas has had essentially most abortion made illegal 10 months ago.
So we are now starting to see what happens when those who wanted abortions are not able to have them, are suddenly giving birth. This was an opportunity, in all honesty, for the so-called pro-life movement to implement all sorts of programs in order to help people who are carrying pregnancies determine and who want to raise their children, whether those are children they don't feel economically able to have or they don't have the resources to deal with a special needs child.
All of these programs could have been introduced in Texas over this period of time. And not a single one has. We have been hearing for the last 1.5 months, since the Supreme Court did their leaked memo, that the Right was somehow going to offer all of these supports once we finally had this pro-life nation and they were going to ban abortion.
We've seen in Texas that they can promise that as much as they want. But when push comes to shove, they never offer it.
If there were these programs and they really were going to offer these resources, why, if they believe in life (INAUDIBLE) are they holding off on such things until the point in which abortion is banned?
Those were children that they could have saved beforehand, for all the people who wouldn't have gone ahead and carried their pregnancies to terms if they had just felt that they had been supported in some way.
HOLMES: Yes. Yes. It's an extraordinary decision in a country without universal health care or mandatory maternity leave for starters. Robyn Marty, good luck. Thank you.
MARTY: Of course. Anytime, Michael.
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HOLMES: The first U.S. federal major gun safety bill in decades will soon be signed into law. The U.S. House bucked years of division about guns to adopt the measure on Friday by vote of 234 to 193 against; 14 House Republicans joined Democrats in passing the legislation, including January 6 committee members Liz Cheney from Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois.
CNN's Jeremy Diamond with more from the White House.
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REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): On this vote, the yeas are 234. The nays are 193. The motion is adopted.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After decades of inaction, it was the deadly school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that finally broke the congressional log jam.
SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): If your answer is, as the slaughter increases, as our kids run for their lives, we do nothing --
[02:40:00]
MURPHY: -- what are we doing?
Why are you here?
DIAMOND: Exactly one month after a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at Robb elementary school, tonight Congress sending the first gun safety legislation in nearly 30 years to the president's desk. Fifteen Republicans in the Senate and 14 in the House voting yes, alongside all Democrats.
SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): No parent should ever fear for the safety of their child at school. And no child should be afraid to go to school in fear of their safety. And this legislation responds to that.
MURPHY: This bill is a compromise. It doesn't do everything I want. But what we are doing will save thousands of lives without violating anyone's Second Amendment rights.
DIAMOND: The bill expands background checks for 18 to 21-year-olds, closes the boyfriend loophole by barring those convicted of domestic violence against a non-spouse from owning a gun and authorizes $750 million to incentivize state red flag laws, which allow police to temporarily confiscate guns from those found to be at risk to themselves or others.
The bill also includes billions in funding for school safety and mental health programs and cracks down on unregistered firearms dealers and so-called straw purchasers who buy guns for others. President Biden praised lawmakers for addressing the scourge of gun
violence and said kids in schools and communities will be safer because of it.
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We need to ban assault weapons and high capacity magazines.
DIAMOND: But the bill falls well short of Biden's call to action early this month.
BIDEN: If we can't ban assault weapons, then we should raise the age to purchase them from 18 to 21.
DIAMOND: That proposal and others including background checks and liability protections for gun manufacturers, a bridge too far for Republicans.
With six of the nine deadliest mass shootings since 2019 of those 21 and younger, including those in Buffalo and Uvalde, lawmakers agreed to expand background checks for that age group, giving authorities up to ten days to review juvenile and mental health records.
President Biden is expected to sign that bill into law as soon as it reaches his desk. The president remains largely on the sidelines during these negotiations. That was by design, to give the senators the space to get this agreement.
Ultimately, now, we have our first gun safety legislation 50 years. The last was assault bound, which Biden, as a senator, helped pass -- Jeremy Diamond, CNN, the White House.
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HOLMES: A shooting at a gay night club in Oslo, Norway, has left two people dead and eight others in the hospital. Police say three remain in critical condition. The shooting happened at a place called the London Pub, which describes itself as the largest gay and lesbian venue in Oslo.
A witness says that a man arrived with a bag, picked up a gun and started shooting. The suspect was apprehended nearby. It's not immediately clear what the motive for the attack was.
More misery for parts of Afghanistan after an aftershock rocks an area near Wednesday's powerful quake. We'll have the latest on efforts to get aid to the hardest hit areas.
And for the first time, Britain's Prince Charles acknowledging the impact of slavery on the British Empire. We'll have more on the royal speech in Rwanda.
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HOLMES: An aftershock has killed five people near the Afghanistan- Pakistan border. It happened on Friday, just days after a powerful earthquake killed more than 1,000 people in the Afghan provinces of Paktika and Khost.
While some aid has made its way to the area, far more is needed. Journalist Atika Shubert has more on why it is so hard to get help to the area.
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ATIKA SHUBERT, JOURNALIST: It is quite a large aftershock on Friday, measuring 4.3. That is smaller than the original earthquake of 5.9 but still traumatizing for survivors who are now sleeping out in the open, for their own safety.
And remember, a lot of the homes that survived the initial earthquake were very severely damaged. This caused quite a few to collapse even further. And a small number of people were actually killed in the aftershock.
In the meantime, the U.N. and other aid agencies are slowly able to get to the area. The U.N. says they have been able to provide shelters and food aid to at least 4,000 people of Paktika and Khost provinces.
The World Food Programme says that it has now secured food stocks to feed at least 14,000 people. A big concern is also the spread of disease, particularly cholera, which was already on the rise before the earthquake.
And the World Health Organization says it has dispatched 10 tons of medical supplies. That includes everything from supplies for major surgeries to first aid and hygiene kits. But even though the wheels of aid are in motion, the resources on the ground are still very thin.
And the reason for that is because very few countries, very few international aid agencies are willing to work with the Taliban. Remember, when the Taliban took over control of Afghanistan last year, many aid agencies left the country for their own safety and security.
And now, as a result, there're actually very few aid agencies on the ground that can help coordinate all of this aid. Turkiye, for example, is one of the few countries that actually has an embassy in Kabul. And the Turkish Red Crescent has a team there. They have been able to help several hundred people with the help of the Afghanistan Red Crescent.
But there are only a few of these kinds of teams working in the area. So much more help is still needed -- Atika Shubert, CNN, Istanbul.
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HOLMES: A child once considered the youngest political prisoner in Saudi Arabia was released on Friday as an adult. CNN first highlighted the case of Murtaja Qureiris during an exclusive report back in 2019.
Saudi authorities arrested him when he was 13, three years after he was accused of participating in a bike protest during the Arab Spring in 2011. He was accused of belonging to a terror group, convicted and sent to prison. International pressure mounted and human rights groups condemned his detention after CNN reported on this case.
Britain's Prince Charles says the time has come to acknowledge the enduring impact of slavery. He made the comments during an opening ceremony of gathering of Commonwealth leaders in Rwanda. CNN's correspondent Max Foster has more from the capital of Kigali.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales.
MAX FOSTER, CNN LONDON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Commonwealth, an association of independent states that emerged from the ashes of the British Empire. Prince Charles will succeed his mother, the queen, as its head, time, he says, to confront the past.
CHARLES, PRINCE OF WALES: I want to acknowledge that the roots of our contemporary association run deep into the most painful period of our history. I cannot describe the depths of my personal sorrow at the suffering of so many as I continue to deepen my own understanding of slavery's enduring impact.
FOSTER (voice-over): Delegates from former British colonies like Sierra Leone welcomed the prince's remarks; perhaps a case of better late than never.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sierra Leone has been part of the conversation so the (INAUDIBLE) slavery and to see how we want start the conversation inside (INAUDIBLE). looking forward to that. So we hope that it wins that. It will pay a visit to Sierra Leone and go and see some of the scars that the slavery left inside.
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FOSTER (voice-over): Fifteen countries still have the queen as head of state. Barbados only removed her last year. Prince Charles was there for the handover to a newly appointed president.
PRINCE CHARLES: The commonwealth contains within it countries that have had constitutional relationships with my family, some that continue to do so and increasingly those that have had none.
I want to say clearly, as I have said before, that each member's constitutional arrangement as a republic or a monarchy is purely a matter for each member country to decide.
FOSTER: There is no British Empire anymore but the scars it left behind are still healing. Prince Charles wants to talk about it. And he wants the Commonwealth to be the platform -- Max Foster, CNN, Kigali, Rwanda.
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HOLMES: Call it a special transport, away from Ukraine's front line, some four-legged evacuees getting a ride to safety. That is still to come here on the program.
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HOLMES: Ukrainian troops fighting on the front lines know there is always someone who has their back with groups and civilian volunteers helping deliver crucial supplies. And along the way, they also give a helping hand to some of man's best friends. Ben Wedeman with that story.
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BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Yulia and her friends are loading up their armored van, food, medicine and water for front line villages.
That and protective gear for the troops.
Before the war, Yulia was a model and worked in local government (ph). Now she is a volunteer.
"I didn't consider leaving as an option," she says. "Of course I'm staying in my country to help as much as possible."
During the drive back from the front in May, Yulia was badly injured when her truck crashed under shelling. She spent two restless months in the hospital.
"They were holding me in hospital and I told them, 'I have work to do,'" she recalls. "I was coordinating deliveries on the phone. I had no right to sit on my hands."
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WEDEMAN (voice-over): First up on this, day a military position by the road. All of this has been donated by people in Ukraine. Here, the troops offer a quick appraisal of world leaders.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Boris Johnson.
WEDEMAN: Boris Johnson?
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Joe Biden.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Joe Biden, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Joe Biden.
WEDEMAN: Olaf Scholz?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Scholz...
(Speaking foreign language).
WEDEMAN (voice-over): The next stop, a village perilously close to the fighting.
WEDEMAN: They have to hand out the aid as quickly as possible because they don't want people to get together, because we're just a few kilometers from Russian lines.
WEDEMAN (voice-over): Spirits here still buoyant.
"I stayed because of the animals," Natasha tells me. "I'm responsible for all the abandoned animals on the street, more than 50 cats and around 20 dogs."
At our final stop, they drop off more supplies for the soldiers and feed stray dogs. They had planned to evacuate a family fleeing from behind Russian lines but they did not show up.
The soldiers here say overnight there was heavy shelling, Russian drones often on the prowl overhead.
"My mind tells me I should be afraid," says Yulia, "but we can't leave them behind."
"Them" is a dog and two litters of puppies born in the trenches. One of the mother dogs was killed by Russian artillery; the little, ones orphans. Once loaded, we're off to the city of Zaporizhia.
WEDEMAN: We're out of the danger zone. Once we get to the city, they'll take the mother, who's been injured in the blast, to a vet. They found homes for some of these puppies but not all -- Ben Wedeman, CNN, Zaporizhia, southern Ukraine.
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HOLMES: Thanks for spending part of your day with me. I'm Michael Holmes. Do stick around. My colleague, Ivan Watson, will be back with more news in just a moment.
