Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
SCOTUS Ends Roe; Ukrainian Troops Pull Out Of Sievierodonetsk. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired June 25, 2022 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
IVAN WATSON, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers from 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 Supreme Court rules there is no constitutional right to abortion.
As outrage boils over in Washington, will Democrats use this ruling to their advantage?
Plus, multiple states instantly ban abortions after the Supreme Court's decision. We'll look at which states will follow suit in the coming days with trigger laws.
And a preview of the G7 summit in Germany this weekend, where Ukraine will top the agenda.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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 right was abruptly erased on Friday in a 5-4 ruling, striking down the landmark Roe v. Wade decision of 1973. It immediately triggered an outpouring of large and angry protests across the country, with many more expected.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
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 onto the streets that demand that six people do not dictate our lives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: It's important to note that Roe v. Wade has been challenged and upheld by the high court before. But this time conservative justices were in the majority. By ruling that abortion is not a right protected by the U.S. Constitution, they effectively left it up to individual states on whether to allow the procedures.
Many Republican-led state legislatures anticipated this day would come. At least 13 of those states have trigger laws to officially outlaw abortion within days of the Supreme Court's decision. A dozen other states are also expected to enact abortion bans now that Roe is gone.
Abortion opponents have been building toward this moment for decades. But it was Donald Trump's appointment of three conservative justices to the high court that finally made it a reality. Democrats and women's rights advocates are vowing to make abortion rights a key issue in the upcoming midterm elections. Manu Raju has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Casting aside 50 years of settled law, the Supreme Court ended a woman's constitutional right to an abortion. And in the process, broiled the nation's political landscape.
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA): I am spitting mad over this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Roe versus Wade belongs on the ash heap of history with Dred Scott and Plessy.
RAJU (voice-over): Justice Samuel Alito writing for the conservative majority in a fight for opinion called Roe v Wade "egregiously wrong and deeply damaging."
The three liberal justices dissenting warning the ruling will lead to "the curtailment of women's rights and of their status as free and equal citizens." On Capitol Hill, the reaction was swift.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), HOUSE SPEAKER: Disgraceful, disgraceful judgment.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is absolutely a major issue on the ballot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Largest governmental overreach in the history of our lifetime.
RAJU (voice-over): House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy told CNN he supports codifying a 15-week abortion ban at the national level. The Supreme Court upheld Mississippi's 15-week ban and its ruling overturning Roe with the support of Chief Justice John Roberts, who oppose overturning Roe entirely.
REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA), MINORITY LEADER: The right to life has been vindicated. The voiceless will finally have a voice.
RAJU (voice-over): Congressional Democrats left with little recourse given they lack 60 votes in the Senate to overcome a GOP filibuster.
REP. RUBEN GALLEGO (D-AZ): The senator from my state, the senator from West Virginia, senators from everywhere, if you say that you're for women then do not use an old law that was not even, again, in the country's United States to stop protection for them.
[05:05:00]
RAJU (voice-over): But two Democratic senators stand in the way of changing the filibuster rules fearing future GOP majority would enact an even more conservative agenda. At the White House, President Biden called for electing more Democrats to Congress.
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This fall Roe is on the ballot. Personal freedoms are on the ballot. The right to privacy, liberty equality, they're all on a ballot.
RAJU (voice-over): While Democrats hope the issue motivates voters in November, many Republicans believe the midterms will turn on the economy.
REP. BILL HUIZENGA (R-MI): Most people are pretty entrenched with what they believe on this particular issue and what ought to happen.
RAJU (voice-over): But the fight ultimately maybe on the state level, 26 states likely to ban abortion completely, including 13 that set abortion bans into motion as soon as Roe is overturned. The emotion palpable in the streets.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This decision is an outrage.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is one important victory. It's not the end but we are dancing on the grave of Roe versus Wade.
RAJU: Reaction from two key senators who played a decisive role in ensuring that Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed to the Supreme Court, Susan Collins and Joe Manchin, both of whom said what Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch said to them in private meetings and in their testimony was inconsistent with how they ruled in the abortion case.
Collins saying plainly this decision is inconsistent with what justices said in their testimony and meetings with me and say they both insisted they would uphold long standing legal precedent -- Manu Raju, CNN, Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WATSON: At least 70 protests and demonstrations on both sides of this divisive issue are already expected in coming days.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON (voice-over): Late Friday, police in Phoenix, Arizona, ending up using tear gas to disperse this noisy crowd of demonstrators at the state capital. CNN correspondents were on the scene as protests erupted. We have Donie O'Sullivan in Washington. But we begin with Camila Bernal in Los Angeles.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAMILA BERNAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are currently the middle of the highway. This is the 110 Highway. This is where the highway splits. This protest stopped traffic right in the center of downtown Los Angeles.
They have been protesting for about an hour or so. And it is a large group. Of course you know that L.A. traffic is already bad enough and so this is kind of making it a lot worse and sending out this message that this crowd is supporting abortion rights and especially here in the state of California.
A lot of these people here say they're thankful to live in the state of California because this is a state that protects a woman's right to an abortion. But they are protesting and saying that they are concerned about women in other states. They want more to be done outside of California.
They say they're not going to give up, that their work here is ongoing. I also spoke to someone who is on the other side of this issue, who is celebrating this decision but who told me, look, now in California we have even more work to do because they don't want women from other states coming to California to get an abortion.
They call it an abortion vacation. And they say they don't want their tax to go toward that. So you have, of course, both sides of the issue. The people here supporting a woman's right to an abortion, stopping traffic. And, of course, you see the signs, they are chanting. They're doing anything they can to call attention to this protest.
(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: After a draft opinion of the decision leaked several weeks ago, the White House began preparing for the court's announcement. President Joe Biden has been conferring with advisers on options to mitigate some of the ruling's effects.
On Friday, Mr. Biden slammed the decision, warning that it endangers the well being of women in the U.S.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's a sad day for the court and for the country. Now with Roe gone, let's be very clear, the health and life of women in this nation are now at risk.
It was three justices named by one president, Donald Trump, who were at the core of today's decision to upend the scales of justice and eliminate a fundamental right for women in this country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pointed out that most of the justices who signed on to the decision vowed in their Senate confirmation hearings to respect previous court precedents.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
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?
That they respected the right of privacy and the Constitution of the United States?
Did you hear that?
Were they not telling the truth then?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: And outraged Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren told CNN the Supreme Court is out of step with public opinion.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA): I am spitting mad over this. We have six extremist justices on the United States Supreme Court who have decided that their moral and religious views should be imposed on the rest of America. This is not what America wants.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers are celebrating the Supreme Court's decision. In a statement, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell called the ruling courageous and correct.
He compared it to the high court's ruling that segregating schools by race was unconstitutional, saying, with Friday's decision in Roe, the court has corrected a terrible legal and moral error. Republicans in the U.S. House also praised the court's decision.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA), MINORITY LEADER: 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: And the Arkansas attorney general got emotional while certifying a law banning abortions in the state.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LESLIE RUTLEDGE, ARKANSAS ATTORNEY GENERAL: I can't wait for other women across Arkansas to have that same joy of seeing their child's face that maybe they would not have seen had it not been for today's decision.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: Now for more analysis on this, I'm going to turn to Thomas Gift, the director of the Center on U.S. Politics at University College London. And he joins us from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Thank you. This is a huge win for Republicans, who have worked for decades on this. Meanwhile, Democrats, they control the White House, the Senate, the House of Representatives and yet appeared powerless to stop this precedent-shattering Supreme Court decision.
What are your predictions on the impact that this could have on the U.S. political landscape?
THOMAS GIFT, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON: Well, Ivan, great to be with you. Thanks so much for having me.
Abortion is clearly going to galvanize the bases of both parties. I think the likeliest scenario is, increased mobilization among progressives and conservatives actually cancels out.
If you are trying to predict where could have some impact on the electoral math, you can't just focus on the national picture. You have to look state by state. Concentrate on the 13 states with the so- called trigger laws and the other handful of states with pre-Roe bans on abortion. In those states, abortion is likely to be outlawed and generally
prosecutable. So it's where the debate will be salient immediately. Most of those states, as you'd expect, lean Republican but there are some states where Democrats have been viable.
So depending on how successful the parties are strategically in crafting the message over the next several months in turning out the vote, we could see abortion affecting those specific races for governor, for Congress.
That said, I do think it's only going to matter on the margins. Other issues are going to be more significant.
[05:15:00]
WATSON: Well, that's right because we did hear President Biden say that the right to privacy, liberty, equality, they are all on the ballot.
Do the Democrats have a long way to go to actually making those key issues for voters on the ballot in November?
GIFT: Well, the conservative bloc really did send conflicting messages with their decision. Justice Thomas said he thinks SCOTUS should rethink all the court's substantive due process cases. That's a big claim.
At the same time, Justice Alito stated in very express terms that the interpretation in Dobbs applies to abortion and abortion only. And SCOTUS wasn't telegraphing that other precedents, especially pertinent to the 14th Amendment, are legally precarious.
That said, I think Democrats to an extent have their hands tied here. This is a decision that's been made by the Supreme Court. They can talk about kind of changing the composition of Congress. But that's a long run game.
I don't think Democrats want to get pulled into what I perceive as no- win debates over court packing, killing the filibuster and the rest of the progressive wish list. I think that that can kind of lead to a place where actually Democrats don't gain from this politically. But it's a tricky situation for Biden, for sure.
WATSON: Yes. I mean, we heard President Biden earlier blame Donald Trump and the justices he appointed.
Does the executive, does the U.S. President, have any powers now moving forward?
He says he wants to protect women.
GIFT: Well, at this point, not really. I mean, a lot of this is just going to be relegated to the states. And what we're going to have is very protected and intense legal battles at that level.
The executive has the power of the bully pulpit. He can rally the base and try to galvanize an overall message for the party. But he is really limited to that extent. And I think Democrats going forward do have to be very careful about how they proceed because Americans' views on the abortion issue are very nuanced, particularly when you get into specific cases, specific circumstances and so on.
And so I think Biden is certainly correct that most Americans don't support overturning Roe and that this could be a political winner for Democrats at the ballot box. I do think there are also some risks involved that they need to be mindful of.
WATSON: Thomas, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance against Defamation had this to say about the opinion that justice Clarence Thomas wrote, saying, quote, "We definitely will not go back to the pre-Lawrence days of being criminalized just because we are LGBTQ.
"But that's exactly what Thomas is threatening to do to the country, even as support for marriage equality is at an all-time high of 71 percent and more Americans are coming out as LGBTQ with each generation.
"Between this threat and today's reversal of abortion rights, we can no longer trust that the Supreme Court is operating in the interests of the majority of Americans."
So they're referring to Clarence Thomas' opinion, where he's talking about breaking other precedents, such as same sex marriage.
What are your predictions?
Is that a possibility in the years ahead?
GIFT: Well, Ivan, I understand there are very real concerns prompting on Dobbs. Same sex marriage is one, contraception is the other and a general right to privacy to a large extent Democrats perceive at being at stake.
Personally I think that potential is overstated and the main reason, Ivan, there's just not the same level of political contestation over some of these other issues today as there is with abortion.
If the court did revisit some of those other cases, it would be putting its institutional legitimacy at risk that Justice Kavanaugh wouldn't be open to. But certainly many Democrats are mindful of this.
In the dissenting opinion, the three liberal justices really suggested that this is something that could be at stake in the future. We'll have to see how this plays out.
WATSON: Right. And abortion rights advocates are arguing that this decision has put the credibility of the Supreme Court at risk. Thomas Gift, thank you very much for your analysis. It's very important.
GIFT: Thanks.
WATSON: Now more on the historic decision when we come back. The international shock waves that are being felt after the overturning of Roe v. Wade. We'll go live to London.
Plus, we'll take a look at so-called trigger laws and how states can use them to ban or limit access to abortion. Stay with CNN.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
WATSON: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM.
Legally the Supreme Court decision affects the U.S. only. But reaction from abroad is coming in.
Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau on Twitter calls it horrific. He 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."
Pedro Sanchez, 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. Women must be able to freely decide about their lives."
But the Vatican's pontiff academy for life, it supports the ruling. It says, it's time to, quote, 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.
CNN's Nada Bashir joins us live from London.
Good to see you, Nada.
[05:25:00]
WATSON: Remarkable that this U.S. Supreme Court decision is triggering such emotional responses from heads of state around the world.
NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Ivan. It's not too often you see European leaders, international leaders, speaking out so boldly and strongly against U.S. domestic policy.
But the issue of abortion rights is an issue that transcends those U.S. borders. By and large, here in Europe, it's accepted as a fundamental human right. If we take a look at the map, the vast majority of European Union nations allow a woman to get an abortion on request.
That places the United States at a sharp contrast to its European Union allies. We heard from French president Emmanuel Macron yesterday, tweeting that access to abortions is a fundamental right that must be protected for all women.
As you mentioned there, we heard from Pedro Sanchez, the Spanish prime minister, the Scottish minister Nicola Sturgeon describing this as one of the darkest days for women's rights. She is also warning that this could embolden other anti-abortion activists to pursue such measures as we have seen in the United States.
We also heard from the British prime minister. He spoke yesterday on the evening, where we saw protests outside the U.S. embassy here in London.
The prime minister has described this as a major step backwards but also suggesting this could, too, give a message, send a message to those hoping to seek to pursue a similar measure across the world. Take a listen.
(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: Look, Ivan, the U.N. has criticized this decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. Human Rights Watch even said the United States is now violating its international human rights obligations.
WATSON: Nada Bashir live in London with the international reaction. Thanks very much.
Now that Roe v. Wade is officially overturned in the U.S., some states are pushing through their own restrictive legislation. Coming up, we'll take a look at the so-called trigger laws and how they work.
And companies across the country stepping in to ensure their employees have access to reproductive medical care. We'll be right back with more.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:30:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
WATSON: Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Ivan Watson. 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 three decades.
That's according to the Center for Reproductive Rights and it comes as the outrage over the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade boils over across much of the country.
Thousands of people took to the streets from coast to coast after Friday's ruling. More protests are expected over the weekend. The demonstrations were overwhelmingly loud but peaceful.
But in Arizona, police say protesters pounded on the glass doors of the state senate building and vandalized a monument that led law enforcement to deploy tear gas to break up the crowds at the state capital.
At least 13 states have so-called trigger laws meant to automatically outlaw abortion after the Supreme Court's decision. CNN's Alexandra Field explains, some states wasted no time.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After nearly 50 years, the change came in some states in mere minutes or a matter of just hours.
JOHN O'CONNOR, OKLAHOMA ATTORNEY GENERAL: As of this morning, abortions performed in Oklahoma or solicited in Oklahoma are illegal.
FIELD (voice-over): At least nine states effectively banning abortion on the very day of the Supreme Court's seismic decision. Kentucky, Louisiana, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Missouri, Arkansas, Alabama, Wisconsin and Ohio are places where abortion is now illegal.
LESLIE RUTLEDGE, ARKANSAS ATTORNEY GENERAL: I am proud to announce as chief legal officer for the state of Arkansas that the United States Supreme Court has in fact overruled Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood versus Casey, thereby restoring the state of Arkansas the authority to prohibit abortions.
FIELD (voice-over): Planned Parenthood in Little Rock City cancelled as many as 100 appointments for patients seeking abortions in the hours after the news broke. The court's decision celebrated as a triumph by Missouri's Republican state leaders.
ERIC SCHMITT, MISSOURI ATTORNEY GENERAL: I am humbled to be a part of this and the first attorney general in the country to effectively end abortion.
FIELD (voice-over): While a Democratic congresswoman from St. Louis brought to tears. The state's last remaining abortion clinic can't perform abortions anymore.
YAMELSIE RODRIGUEZ, PRESIDENT AND CEO, PLANNED PARENTHOOD ST. LOUIS: We notified the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services that we are ceasing abortion services in the state of Missouri.
The day we have been warning about for years has arrived. Today and all of the days that led to the overturning of Roe should be stained in our history for which we must learn and do better.
FIELD (voice-over): The swift action coming because six of the nine states banning abortion immediately had so-called trigger laws on the books, even before the court's decision came down, laws that could be implemented quickly to end access to abortion.
In some states, that's even in cases of rape or incest and even when the life of the mother is at risk. Trigger laws in seven more states will bring more near or total bans on abortion in the coming weeks.
DR. COLLEEN MCNICHOLAS, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, PLANNED PARENTHOOD ST. LOUIS: Today is truly the worst time of my entire career. I am angry.
[05:35:00]
MCNICHOLAS: I am angry for every patient who has no other choice but to flee their home state for abortion care.
FIELD (voice-over): The list of states where you can't get abortion is expected to grow. A federal judge in Alabama granting emergency order allowing the state to implement its abortion ban immediately.
An Ohio judge now also allowing the state to implement its abortion ban. While Indiana's governor is calling for return of General Assembly to pass a new anti-abortion law -- in St. Louis, Missouri, Alexandra Field, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WATSON: Some companies are vowing to stand by employees impacted by the U.S. Supreme Court's abortion ruling. Experts say the decision will cause, quote, "immediate economic pain" to people in the 26 states most likely to ban abortions.
And where people already earn less and have limited access to healthcare. Several companies have promised to cover travel expenses for abortion access, including Microsoft, Levi's, Yelp, Netflix and the Walt Disney Company. CNN's Rahel Solomon has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: American companies small and large, from retail to tech, reacting Friday to the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe versus Wade.
Levi Strauss saying in a statement, "We stand strongly against any actions that hinder the health and well being of our employees, which means opposing any steps to restrict access to the full range of reproductive health care, including abortion."
Starbucks in a letter to employees posted to its website, saying it will always ensure workers have access to quality health care but also that we all need to process this in our own way.
Yelp, the tech company known for its crowdsourcing of reviews, calling the decision a denial of human rights. And Netflix saying through a spokesperson that it will offer a
lifetime allowance of up to $10,000 for full-time U.S. employees and their dependents to cover travel expenses related to health care services, including abortion procedures.
The Supreme Court decision placing corporate America yet again in the crosshairs of controversial and at times sensitive social issues, balancing a company's own corporate values and those of a diverse workforce and consumer base.
Branding strategist Peter Shankman telling me, "Whether or not you want to do the right thing, you're not always able to. Companies are treading very lightly and very carefully when it comes to saying anything about any of this" -- Rahel Solomon, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WATSON: Coming up, Ukrainian troops are giving up the fight in the city of Sievierodonetsk. But Russian attacks still haven't stopped. That's ahead. Stay with CNN.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:40:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
WATSON: In Ukraine, Russia's slow but steady advances in the east are paying off in Sievierodonetsk. Ukrainian troops are pulling out after weeks of grinding street battles. And as they prepare to withdraw, Ukraine says Russia is keeping up its attacks at a chemical plant there, where both soldiers and civilians have been taking shelter.
The fighting now is shifting over to Lysychansk, the last city in the Luhansk region that is still in Ukrainian hands. Ukraine says Russia has carried out a new airstrike there and is trying to cut off a key highway out of the city.
And down south, Ukraine is reporting a new missile strike in the city of Mykolaiv. Its mayor says no one was killed in Friday's attack, which hit a gas station, but it comes on the heels of multiple back- to-back missile strikes over the past two days.
Ukraine will be high on the priority list when G7 leaders begin their summit in Germany. They'll be arriving there in the coming hours before they start their talks at a mountain resort in Bavaria Sunday.
But as political leaders make their way to Germany, so do anti-G7 protesters. These vehicles were burned down in Munich which investigators believe could have been done in protest of the summit.
We have CNN correspondents covering the topic from every angle across the globe. Let's go to Salma Abdelaziz.
Can you tell me more about the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from this eastern city?
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Ivan, a devastating blow to Ukrainian troops that have clearly succumbed to Russian military might in Sievierodonetsk. There Russian troops have been pounding that city, pounding Ukrainian defensive positions for about two months.
It's important to note just how much more powerful the Russian military is. They have 10 times the artillery force of Ukraine's. They were also using multiple launch rocket systems. The ground forces were backed by airstrikes.
Most of that city now destroyed, devastated in that war, in that conflict. And now Ukrainian troops saying they have to withdraw. They have to pull out. They can't hold the line any longer.
And this city matters, Ivan. It was one of the last strongholds in the Luhansk region, part of the wider Donbas region and one of President Putin's major goals here is to claim that territory, allow him to form land bridge, to allow him to grab more territory that he claims is Russian and not Ukrainian.
So brute force here, land grab that you're seeing in Sievierodonetsk. And those Ukrainian troops are pulling back to the sister city of Lysychansk, where again Ukrainian forces are outmanned, outgunned. It doesn't look like they can hold that city much longer, leaving President Putin one step closer to the wider goal of taking the Donbas.
Also there's civilians caught in the middle of this, of course. Over 7,000 of them in Sievierodonetsk. No clear way to pull them out. The main roads and bridges all destroyed or inaccessible. So fears and concerns for them.
Moscow is also claiming they have been able to encircle 2,000 Ukrainian troops. So potentially you could have a mass prisoner of war situation there if that claim is true.
And, yes, as these G7 leaders meet, they have to recognize that the Ukrainian military simply cannot stand up to Russia's military might. And it's not just in the Donbas. You mentioned those missile strikes in the south in Mykolaiv in recent days.
More attacks, more assaults in the north in Kharkiv and south toward the coast and there's fears Russians might be trying to open up more front lines, when Ukraine is so battle weary and weak. So a lot that G7 leaders have to discuss.
[05:45:00]
ABDELAZIZ: This help, this aid, the military support that's been given is not enough. Ukrainian forces on the back foot. And President Putin making that inch by inch victory, taking more and more territory. Ivan.
WATSON: Salma, stand by. I'm going to turn to Nic Robertson live in Brussels right now. You just heard Salma's report.
At this G7 meeting, do you know whether the leaders have anything fresh to offer to help Ukraine or any new weapons in their sanctions arsenal to try to deter Russia?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, there certainly will be the commitment to put forward more money to support Ukraine in terms of rebuilding, in terms of running the country.
And there certainly will be a talk about a long-term strategy for making sure their military capacity and capability against Russia is upgraded.
I think more on the military side, to come out of the NATO leaders summit that comes right after the G7, where they'll talking about trying to get Ukraine up to par with NATO forces so that they would be interoperable with NATO forces.
They could use the same equipment, they would be trained to the same level and could inflict a military punch in the same way that any other NATO nation could. That's really for the NATO summit.
But at the G7, Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, will say that they're going to launch what's expected to be a sort of Marshall Plan, that supported Germany out of World War II, a big financial help for Ukraine.
But the broader reality here is these leaders have to face and recognize the pressures they're under at home because Russia isn't just fighting this war in Ukraine. It is fighting it economically. It is fighting it through food. That is having an impact.
That was one of the big topics of discussion here with European Union leaders. One of them, the Irish prime minister, talked to me about how Russia is fighting this war and what they need to do.
(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 that actively working together, collectively working together, that would be writ large at the G7. That's the strength of the G7, to work in unity and to pull in other countries around the world behind them. But it is really getting to the point for world leaders, not reacting
now as they were before earlier in the year to rushing weapons to Ukraine to hold the Russian forces back but recognizing that Russia is fighting on many broad fronts.
It will be trying to use as pressure points to get concessions around the negotiating table whenever the conflict reaches that point, pressure on these G7 nations and pressure through their populations, by these food shortages, by spiking oil prices, by growing inflation, by the possibility of a global recession.
The fight is very -- really coming to these leaders. And they need to find a response.
WATSON: Thanks, Nic.
Speaking of pressure on populations, I'm going to turn now to Fred Pleitgen, live in Germany, near to where the G7 summit will be held, where protesters -- you can see them gathering behind Fred.
I'm curious, Fred, do they have a position on the war in Ukraine, these demonstrators?
Or are they gathering there for very different reasons?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think it's a mix of many reasons. But of course, the war in Ukraine is certainly something that is front and center at this protest as well, because it's basically the backdrop for everything that these people are protesting against and also protesting for.
Essentially what they're saying is they understand the war in Ukraine is wrong as the Russian aggression but that a lot is exacerbated by a lot of inequalities in the world.
These folks from the World Wildlife Fund, also part of this protest, one of their flags says "Get out of coal, oil and gas."
So essentially one of the messages that the protesters here is they believe one of the reasons why the fallout from the war is so bad for so many people around the world is because so many of the world's economies and specifically the largest economies are so dependent on fossil fuels.
They say the G7 really needs to make headway to stop that very, very quickly.
[05:50:00]
PLEITGEN: They believe there's been a lot of talk in the past. They say that has to end. Now, of course, there are some more radical voices here as well. You look at the folks gathering right now, the large poster that, in German, says, "Imperialism starts here. Let's attack it."
So you do have some folks who are generally against the idea of the G7 nations, essentially they believe making decisions for countries that aren't part of the G7. They say that's something that needs to end as well.
But if you look at it on the whole, I do think that the folks that are protesting here, that are here today, most are not per se against the G7 summit. They believe the G7 summit needs to do more, especially for people in developing nations.
Of course, Ivan, one of the things that plays a big role here, something we have been talking on our air over the past couple of weeks really, is the world food crisis. That's, of course, exacerbated by the fact that so much grain, for instance, and also things like vegetable oils can't get out of Ukraine because of Russian blockades and because of the war.
And quite frankly they believe in general the world's agriculture needs to become more equal and more sustainable as well. That's a message that protesters like the ones you see have been sending for years and that's become so much more prescient now.
WATSON: Fred Pleitgen, on the scene there, Nic Robertson and Salma Abdelaziz, all of you working hard this weekend, thank you very, very much for that live update.
We will be right back. Stay with CNN.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:55:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
WATSON: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM.
A U.S. House committee is investigating the Capitol riot on June (sic) 6th. But several states across the U.S. are also investigating efforts by associates of former president Donald Trump to overturn the election.
In Georgia, CNN has learned that the Fulton County district attorney is scrutinizing Rudy Giuliani's meetings with state lawmakers, where he pushed baseless claims of election fraud.
In Arizona, Kelly Ward, Republican party chair, and her husband were both subpoenaed as part of the Justice Department's probe into fake slates of electors in several swing states that Trump lost.
And in Washington, D.C., Ali Alexander, a leader of the Stop the Steal group, testified before a federal grand jury on Friday.
The U.S. House passed a historic bipartisan gun reform bill Friday, the first major federal gun safety legislation in decades; 14 House Republicans joined Democrats in favor of the measure. The Senate had already passed the bill also with bipartisan support. It now goes to President Biden, who is expected to sign it into law in the coming hours.
It includes millions of dollars for mental health, school safety and crisis intervention programs along with incentives for states to include a background check system on gun sales to juveniles.
For viewers in North America, we'll have much more on both of those stories coming up on "NEW DAY." That wraps up this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Ivan Watson. For everyone else, "Mission: Ahead" is next.
