Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

SCOTUS Ends Roe; Zelenskyy Addresses Glastonbury Music Festival; G7 Leaders Prep For Germany Summit; Oslo Gay Bar Shooting Kills Two, Hospitalizes Eight; January 6 Investigations. Aired 4-5a ET

Aired June 25, 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]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

IVAN WATSON, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Ivan Watson.

Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON (voice-over): -- protests across the U.S. after the U.S. Supreme Court rules there is no constitutional right to abortion. CNN has reporters fanned out from coast-to-coast.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON (voice-over): Plus, we're live in London with a look at how other world leaders are responding to the landmark decision.

And we'll look ahead to a summit in Germany, where Ukraine is top on the agenda. We'll take you live to Kyiv, Brussels and Munich.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

WATSON: All right, now a bombshell decision by the U.S. Supreme Court is rocking the American political landscape this weekend, ending nearly a half century of constitutional protection for abortion.

That 50-year-old right was abruptly erased on Friday in a 5-4 ruling, striking down the landmark Roe v. Wade of 1973. It immediately triggered an outpouring of large and angry protests across the country, with many more expected.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We refuse to go back.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This decision is an outrage.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This decision is absolutely terrifying. But more than anything, it just makes me angry. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We, the people who it is going to affect, need to come to the streets to remind that six people do not dictate our lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: Roe v. Wade has been challenged and upheld before. But this time they ruled that abortion is not a right protected by the Constitution. They effectively left it up to individual states on whether to allow the procedures.

Many Republican-led state legislatures anticipated this day. At least 13 states have trigger laws and a dozen other states are expected to enact abortion bans now that Roe is gone.

But it was Donald Trump's appointment of three conservative justices that made the difference. More from Jessica Schneider.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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. 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), HOUSE SPEAKER: 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.

[04:05:00]

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.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATSON: At least 70 protests and demonstrations on both sides of this issue are already expected in the coming days.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON (voice-over): Late Friday, police in Phoenix, Arizona, ended up using tear gas to disperse this noisy crowd. CNN was on the scene. We have Donie O'Sullivan, who spoke with Don Lemon before those protests ended. But we begin with Nick Valencia in Atlanta.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A major turnout on the streets of downtown Atlanta, where two demonstrations merged. Among them was a health care provider, who brought her 11-year-old daughter.

Why?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her health care is just as important as anybody else's and what happens today will affect her future.

VALENCIA: Why is it so important for to you have your voice heard?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So I can choose my health care in the future.

VALENCIA: Right now abortion is still legal in the state of Georgia. But the legal ramifications for Friday's decision could have ramifications in the state. In 2019 Governor Brian Kemp passed the so- called heartbeat bill outlawing abortion around six weeks.

Now as I mentioned, it's still legal here to have abortions in the state. But Friday's ruling, the fear among the crowd here, is that it could soon outlaw that for women -- Nick Valencia, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What a day it has been here in Washington, D.C.. It's about almost 13 hours since that historic decision, news of that broke in the U.S. and all around the world.

We've seen thousands of demonstrators pass through this area outside the Supreme Court today. You know, when we were here first earlier this morning, there were groups from both sides of this debate. And anti-abortion activists were here celebrating as we reached into the evening.

It was pretty much exclusively hundreds, possibly thousands of pro- abortion, pro-abortion choice activists were here. The crowd really has dwindled out now. Speakers just finished talking. But they say come back tomorrow. They want people back here tomorrow.

What we did see out here today, Don, was a huge security presence all across Washington, D.C. I will say it was very, very different from the security presence we saw in Washington, D.C., on the morning of January 6.

There were police all over the city. Some demonstrators also this evening marched from SCOTUS here through Washington and came back. So we are likely to see more demonstrations in the coming days, people encouraged to come back tomorrow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATSON: 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." Joining me now is Amanda Klasing, associate director of the women's rights division of Human Rights Watch. She joins me now from Washington, D.C.

Good to see you.

First of all, can I ask about your organization, Human Rights Watch?

What position are you taking on this Supreme Court ruling?

AMANDA KLASING, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, WOMEN'S RIGHTS DIVISION, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: Thanks for asking. So Human Rights Watch is an international independent human rights organization. We operate in countries around the world.

[04:10:00]

KLASING: We have a strong program focused on the United States. Human Rights Watch for over 20 years has advocated for access to abortion as a human rights issue that's consistent with what U.N. treaty bodies have said as well.

We actually submitted, along with Amnesty International and the Global Justice Center, an amicus brief. In this case in September and we are surprised by the ruling but deeply disappointed and see it as a step back in both human rights and women's rights generally.

We're concerned this is going to lead to a true human rights tragedy in the United States.

WATSON: Can you give us some perspective here with this ruling and the impact that it's going to have across the U.S.?

Where will that put America, the U.S., in relation with other Western democracies, when it comes to reproductive rights and the right to abortion?

KLASING: That's a great question. So just to give you an overview, the federal right to access abortion was grounded on Roe v. Wade, which was ruled in 1973. So the federal right was what was torn down today.

That means that states are able to guarantee access to abortions still, under the laws that exist. But we do know that there are nine states that have already, as of this evening, triggered laws to severely curtail access to abortion or ban it completely.

And there are a number of others, up to 26 states, that will severely curtail abortion in the coming days and weeks. That means 24 states will continue to have access. What this is, is will put those 26 states severely out of step with the global trends toward decriminalization.

And you mentioned Western democracies but we have a number of countries around the world looking at human rights and recognizing that it's important to de-criminalize abortion. South Korea, Thailand, Kenya loosened its abortion restrictions and

Mexico just decriminalized abortion in its federal system in September. So a number of countries are making the move to de- criminalize abortion on the basis of human rights.

WATSON: That leads me to my next question.

This move in the U.S., could it have an impact, some kind of spillover effect in other countries?

Could it impact people on either side of the abortions right debate?

KLASING: It's a concern, of course. There's always a risk of an enabling environment for other countries, to see what the U.S. is doing and follow suit. I think that that is less likely in the sense that we know, based on global data, what happens when you restrict access to abortion.

It doesn't decrease abortion; it decreases safe and legal abortion. And so what we have is countries around the world, looking at their rates of maternal death and morbidity, and understanding that in order to address the health of their population, they have to move toward decriminalization.

And I'm afraid that we're going to start to see very disturbing cases arise in the United States. And, hopefully, others will look and see it's not something they want to follow.

WATSON: Amanda Klasing from Human Rights Watch, thank you very much.

KLASING: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATSON: And the Supreme Court ruling has already led to at least one confrontation. A pickup truck drove through a group of protesters in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The video shows someone falling to the ground as the truck drove through protesters.

A person was injured and taken to the hospital. Authorities are investigating the incident.

More on the historic decision when we come back, the international shockwaves being felt after the overturning of Roe v. Wade. We'll go live to London and we'll examine what the White House can do now to counter the court's decision. We'll be right back. Stay with CNN.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:15:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

WATSON: Welcome back to the broadcast. Legally, the Supreme Court decision affects the U.S. only. But

reaction from abroad is coming in.

Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau writes, "My heart goes out to the millions of American women who are now set to lose their legal right to an abortion. I can't imagine the fear and anger you are feeling right now."

The Spanish prime minister tweeted in Spanish, "We can't take for granted any rights. Social gains are always at risk of being overturned. And their defense must be our daily work."

But the Vatican supports the ruling. "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."

Nada Bashir joins us now live from London.

This is an American domestic political issue but it is attracting strong reaction from around the world.

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. This is seen broadly across the globe and indeed here in the European continent as a fundamental right. This has triggered quite a response from European leaders. It really has sent shockwaves on an international scale.

In Europe, most European Union nations do permit abortion on request.

[04:20:00]

BASHIR: So there is a significant contrast now with the United States. We see European leaders criticizing the move openly. As you mentioned, the French president Emmanuel Macron describing this and the access to abortion as a fundamental right for all women which must be protected.

We even saw demonstrations on the streets of Paris yesterday, one placard describing this as a shocking incident, the decision from the Supreme Court. We heard from Nicola Sturgeon, who described it as one of the darkest days for women's rights.

And she warned this could embolden antiabortion activists and groups across the world. And we also saw protesters outside the U.S. embassy. U.K. prime minister Boris Johnson has described this as a major setback.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASHIR: We heard criticism from the United Nations. Human Rights Watch has said that the U.S. is violating its international human rights obligation. There are concerns by international health organizations, Doctors without Borders, who said they have seen firsthand the devastating impact the restriction to abortion can have.

WATSON: Fascinating that you have the British prime minister, a conservative politician, whose views on abortion rights are completely at odds with much of the U.S. conservative political movement. Thanks very much for your report, Nada Bashir, live in London.

Thanks to the leak of a draft opinion, the Supreme Court's decision was not unexpected. Coming up next, what the White House plans to do to counter the ruling.

And abortion rights groups are working on their own strategies to counter the Supreme Court's decision. We'll a talk with an advocate and legal expert. Stay with us.

In the 21st century, forced motherhood --

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:25:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

WATSON: Welcome back to our viewers around the world and in the United States. I'm Ivan Watson and this is CNN NEWSROOM.

The United States has just joined the ranks of Nicaragua, El Salvador and Poland as the only countries in the world to roll back abortion rights over the past almost 30 years according to the Center for Reproductive Rights.

And it comes as outrage over the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade boils over across the country. Thousands of people took to the streets from coast-to-coast after Friday's ruling. More protests are expected over the weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON (voice-over): The impacts of the decision, they're already being felt. Abortion clinics in some 26 states will have to shut down within days. Some of them have already.

And in Oklahoma, the state's attorney general said law enforcement is now activated to act against any efforts to aid, abet or solicit abortions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: U.S. President Joe Biden slammed the Supreme Court's 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 a draft opinion leaked several weeks ago. Chief White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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 pro choice and want to have pro choice 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)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WATSON: Joining me now is Brenda Feigen, a lawyer, feminist and former vice president of the National Organization for Women. She also ran the ACLU's Women's Rights Project with Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She's the author of "Not One of the Boys: Living Life as a Feminist."

Good to see you. First and foremost, you're an outspoken feminist.

What is your immediate reaction when you heard about the Supreme Court ruling?

BRENDA FEIGEN, LAWYER, FEMINIST AND FORMER VICE PRESIDENT NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR WOMEN: Absolute rage and just sadness for women who are going to be deprived of a fundamental health care that many of them need.

And I am just, having read these opinions, I'm just stunned at how badly it has turned out. And I'm happy to answer any questions.

[04:30:00]

FEIGEN: I just feel like we've got two issues. One is there's effectively no more right to abortion. Decide if you will, if 15 weeks is the limit or what's going to happen in other states.

But the other major decision is stare decisis, which they say does not apply to this case or many other cases. It just doesn't matter that Roe and Casey were decided 50 and 30 years ago. Here we are, without those rights.

WATSON: Now in the immediate short term, what options do women, girls have right now, if they wanted to consider an abortion in the U.S.?

FEIGEN: Well, I mean, the obvious, the obvious option for some women is to go to a state that does allow abortion. This decision basically says it's up to the states. The states can say we want to you have the right to abortion or we don't or we're going to limit it to 15 weeks or six weeks or whatever weeks.

Other states like California and New York allow women to get an abortion within reasonable periods. And that's the way it ought to be and always was.

And suddenly, it's gone. And, you know, I feel that it's a shock, even though we were expecting something like that, it was a shock, because I hoped, I frankly, seriously hoped that Chief Justice Roberts would take the position that, 24 weeks, he was going to disagree anyway, 24 weeks was too much, maybe 15 weeks is enough but he isn't going to say that Roe and Casey are overturned.

And that's essentially what happened. We really have now a wild scene, where states can do whatever they want. And there is a serious threat at the federal level of a national law, a federal law going into effect that would prevent states from allowing women to get abortions at any period.

And that's a very real possibility, because this court is not, it's not clear that this court thinks that would be a bad thing. In fact, it's fairly clear it thinks it would be a good thing.

I would say one other thing if I may and that is that justice Thomas, of all people, decided to say in his decision that it's perfectly OK for the court in the future to think about whether we should have birth control, contraception, whether there should be a right to same- sex marriage. And, frankly, what he left out was a right to interracial marriage. If he really thinks that those are all due process rights that are too mushy for the court to handle, they really are saying we don't believe in substantive process anymore.

WATSON: The Supreme Court has smashed a previous precedent here. While you're expressing shock and anger, proponents against abortion are celebrating victory.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Roe put judges in charge of abortion policy, imposing laws legislated by unelected judges that left Americans with no voice. Now the American people will be able to decide the issue of abortion through their elected officials.

This is what democracy looks like, elected leaders accountable to the people they represent, polls and pass laws that people support. The Constitution gives the people this job and the people are ready to protect life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: If I might add, this decision comes when there is a Democrat- elected president and the Senate and House are both Democratic- elected majorities.

What is your reaction to that statement you just heard?

FEIGEN: I think it's absolutely untrue. First of all, we have a representative government but we also have a filibuster in the Senate, which means we can't get any kind of legislation through.

And I completely disagree that we have the power now to undo this decision or to get women around the country to have the right to abortion. They don't. People in Mississippi can't get an abortion after 15 weeks now.

People in Texas, who knows what that five- or six-week law is about. It's a crazy situation, with women now having to travel around the country to find a place. And if worse comes to worse and there is a federal statute, they'll have to go to Canada, assuming Canada stays the same way.

I think it shows the lack of power that women, the way we are being treated now, was the way women in 1868, who had no right to vote, did not have equal rights, could not be lawyers.

[04:35:00]

FEIGEN: A case in 1872 held in the Supreme Court that women did not have a right to be a lawyer like I am.

And I feel like it's just cavalier of these people.

What business is it of theirs what I do with my, inside my uterus? How can you -- or take all the young women who are having had children and may want to or may not. It's extremely hard. One of the things I realized when I was pregnant was how difficult it is to be pregnant and what a very, very big decision it is.

WATSON: Brenda Feigen, thank you very much for sharing your views.

FEIGEN: Thank you for having me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATSON: Coming up in the program, Ukrainian troops are giving up the fight in Sievierodonetsk. But new reports say Russian attacks still haven't stopped. That's ahead.

And the January 6 committee isn't alone in investigating wrongdoing by the Trump administration. We'll look into states' own probes into election meddling.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

WATSON: Welcome back to the program. I'm Ivan Watson.

Russia's slow but steady advances in Eastern Ukraine are paying off in the city of Sievierodonetsk. Ukrainian troops are now pulling out of the city after weeks of grinding street battles.

As they prepare to withdraw, Ukraine says Russia is keeping up its attacks on a chemical plant there, where both civilians and soldiers have been sheltering. Now fighting across the river to Lysychansk.

Ukraine says Russia has carried out a new airstrike and is trying to cut off a key highway out of the city. Meanwhile, President Zelenskyy made an appeal for support in a video message played at the U.K. Glastonbury Music Festival, saying Ukraine is holding the line for many others.

[04:40:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: The pandemic has put on hold lives of millions of people around the world but has not broke. We in Ukraine would also like to live the life as we used to and enjoy freedom and this wonderful summer.

But we can't do that because the most terrible has happened. 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: Ukraine will be high on the priority list when G7 leaders begin their summit in Germany. They will start talks at a mountain resort in Bavaria. But protesters are going there, too.

These police vehicles were burned down in Munich, which investigators believe could have been done in protest of the summit. We are covering the conflict from every angle. We have Salma Abdelaziz in Kyiv, Nic Robertson in Brussels and Fred Pleitgen in Munich.

Let's go to the Ukrainian capital.

Good to see you.

Can you bring us up to date on the state of the conflict, particularly in the east of the country?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. As these G7 leaders meet, Ukraine is absolutely on the back foot. It is losing territory to the brute force of Russia's military.

All of that, of course, in the city of Sievierodonetsk. Russia has pounded them into submission, using artillery attacks, multiple launch systems, airstrikes being used as well. It's important to note here, there's thousands of civilians, over 7,000 civilians, estimated still to be trapped in Sievierodonetsk.

They're running out of food and water and they are now pulling out, withdrawing from that city. They say it's a strategic pullback. But the reality is they've been outmanned and outgunned. Russia's military might and superiority is unmatched.

Where are they pulling back to?

To Lysychansk, where Ukrainian forces are breaking under the power of Russia's artillery. It looked as though that city will fall as well. These are the last strongholds in the Luhansk region.

The goal of Putin to take full control of the Donbas to connect Russian territory down to Crimea. As you know, Ukraine's allies, Western leaders, have been pouring help and support in the form of military aid since the start of this conflict.

But it's clearly not working. It's not enough. And this is going to be a long fight. As they sit down, these G7 leaders, they are going to have to figure out how they'd better help Ukraine and how they do that in the long term.

One last thing I'm going to point out. The weapons coming from Europe are so important. Russia claiming that it's taking them out one by one. Even these precious weapons don't seem to be lasting long on the battlefield.

WATSON: We'll turn now to Nic Robertson live in Brussels.

The G7 leaders have shown remarkable unity in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

But now that their economies are coming under pressure from inflation, rising energy prices, is that unity likely to continue?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: It seems to be the best course of action. And if they can manage it, they've managed it so far under extreme pressure. And now the pressures at home as the war and the war effects.

Russia, remember, and I think this is what's on the mind of the G7 leaders and it was certainly on the mind of European leaders, Russia isn't just fighting this war in Ukraine. The European Union, the United States and others are all putting sanctions on Russia.

Russia is fighting back at these countries and many parts of the rest of the world, directly. And it is throttling back gas supplies. It is creating food insecurity by not allowing Ukraine to export its wheat around the world.

All of that amounts to rising fuel prices, rising costs of commodities, to inflation and potentially a global recession. Russia is fighting a war by another means.

[04:45:00]

ROBERTSON: And that's what faces the G7 leaders. And that, if they can manage the unity, is the way to get onto what is essentially going to be a sort of war footing, themselves in their own countries, with this narrative. And I think it was explained very clearly by the Irish prime minister yesterday. This is how he framed it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: So the G7 will be speaking about helping Ukraine manage their economy, helping them build and rebuild the country and run the government, as a Marshall Plan as Olaf Scholz has framed it, for Ukraine.

But the reality is, for these leaders, they've got domestic pressure, very real domestic pressures at home, because of the overspill effects of the war.

But they need to maintain the military support that we've been hearing about from Salma and the economic support as well. That will also be a very big part. But make no mistake here. The picture emerging in Brussels and at the G7 and NATO meetings, that the nations that stand against Russia are really stepping up onto a war footing.

WATSON: Thanks, Nic.

I want to turn to Fred Pleitgen who's in Germany where the G7 summit will begin on Sunday.

Do you have any update on these torched German police cars?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The police believe that the torched police cars could be by people protesting the G7. There were protest actions going on before the summit was to take place.

And right here is where the main demonstration is going to be today, people critical of the G7, who are not saying they don't want the G7 to go ahead but that the G7 nations need to become more equal around the world and make the world a more equal place.

They are already setting up their stage. The demos about to start or set to start in about an hour and 10 minutes. But there are people setting up. And there are several things they are saying.

The interesting thing about these protest actions, these demonstrations, the war in Ukraine is also something that is really at the center of people's attentions. And what the people are essentially saying is, yes, of course, they believe this is Russian aggression.

But they also say the war in Ukraine has shown that the world is a far too unequal place. It shows that the developed nations, the G7 nations and others, are far too dependent on fossil fuels. And something needs to change and change very quickly.

And the food crisis, with a lot of grain being stuck in Ukrainian ports, that has also shown that the world's agriculture is far too unequal as well. They say that the G7 really needs to get on its feet and do something very quickly.

They believe in the past years, really in the past decades, if you will, there's been way too much talk and way too little action. And the world has become a far more unequal place. And they are demanding action from those conducting the G7.

Of course the Germans and President Biden, who's set to arrive here later today, they're going to take to the streets. You're going to have tens of thousands of people marching through the Bavarian capital of Munich, the biggest city that's a little bit closer to the G7, whose summits are now in some remote places to try to stop the disruption.

WATSON: Nic Robertson, Salma Abdelaziz, Fred Pleitgen, all of you guys working hard this weekend, thank you very much.

And Nic Robertson also has more in-depth analysis of the summit and the challenges leaders face, from Russia to an increasingly assertive China, from a global food crunch to spiking oil prices. You'll find that online at cnn.com.

Now to disturbing news from Norway. Police there have charged a man with murder, attempted murder and terrorism, in connection with a shooting at a gay night club in Oslo. The suspect is a Norwegian citizen originally from Iran.

[04:50:00]

WATSON: The attack left two people dead and sent eight others to the hospital. Police say three remain in critical condition. Oslo's pride parade planned for today has been canceled following the shooting. People have been gathering they club to leave flowers.

Coming up, the U.S. Congress passes the first major gun safety legislation in decades. We'll examine what the new measure also achieve. Stay with CNN.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

WATSON: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM.

Several states across the U.S. are investigating efforts by associates of former president Trump to overturn the election. In Georgia, CNN is learning that the Fulton County district attorney is scrutinizing Rudy Giuliani's meetings for fraud --

[04:55:00]

WATSON: -- and fake slates of electors in several swing states that Trump lost.

In Washington, D.C., Ali Alexander, a leader of the Stop the Steal group, testified before a federal grand jury on Friday. CNN's Erin Burnett asked a former federal prosecutor just how damaging Alexander's testimony could prove to be.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: If there's anything we've learned over the last several weeks of watching hearings about January, it didn't start that morning. And there was a sustained effort, starting months before, to plan those events.

Ali Alexander can help fill in the gaps as to coordination between different groups planning these rallies and, perhaps, maybe, coordination with people in the former president's orbit.

If you look at the kinds of charges that are coming out of this hearing, it's not just breaking the walls of the Capitol building; it's, you know, seditious conspiracy and conspiracy to obstruct congressional proceedings. And so, these are long-running crimes that he can help fill in. (END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: In Congress, the U.S. House passed a historic bipartisan gun reform bill, the first major federal gun safety legislation in decades; 14 Republicans joined Democrats in favor of the measure.

The Senate had already passed a bill also with bipartisan support. It now goes to President Biden, who's expected to sign it into law in hours. It includes millions of dollars for mental health, school safety and crisis intervention programs and incentives for states to include a background check system on gun sales to juveniles.

Now that wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Ivan Watson. I'll be back in just a moment with more news.