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Former Meadows Aide to Testify at Last-Minute Hearing; 46 Migrants Found Dead in a Tractor Trailer in Texas; At Least 3 Killed, 50 Injured When Amtrak Train Hit Dump Truck; At Least 18 Killed in Russian Strike on Ukrainian Mall; Zelensky Pleads for Modern Missile Defense Systems; How Some States are Implementing Abortion Bans; Tourist Denied Abortion in Malta Seeks Care in Spain. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired June 28, 2022 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:00]
ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a very warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and right around the world. I'm Isa Soares in London and just ahead right here on CNN NEWSROOM --
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We know that more or less 40 people plus have died and many people taken to the hospital.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As far as the other people inside who were found alive, that is 16 people including four pediatric patients.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We hope that those responsible for putting these people in such humane conditions are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The committee is saying it will present what they are calling recently obtained evidence.
RYAN NOBLES, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: January 6 Select Committee is ready to hear publicly from a very important member of the Trump White House. The fact that the committee has rushed to add a hearing that was not previously scheduled shows that Hutchinson may have new information to reveal.
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ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Isa Soares.
SOARES: Welcome to the show everyone. It is Tuesday, June 28, 4:00 a.m. in Washington where we're just hours away from a surprise hearing held by the House committee investigating the January 6 Capitol riots. The key witness Cassidy Hutchinson who brought about the last minute hearing is the former aide to this man, Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. Hutchinson's testimony is expected to be significant due to her close proximity to Trump's inner circle. Our Ryan Nobles has all the details for you. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
RYAN NOBLES, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The January 6 Select Committee is ready to hear publicly from a very important member of the Trump White House who has the potential to reveal a lot of information that we have not heard up until this point. Cassidy Hutchinson, former aid to the former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows has agreed to testify in a public setting and will do so in a hearing set to take place Tuesday afternoon on Capitol Hill.
Now Hutchinson is somebody that we've already heard from, part of her taped closed door depositions have been played as part of the January 6 Select Committee hearings, but the fact that she is willing to testify publicly and the fact that the committee has rushed to add a hearing that was not previously scheduled shows that Hutchinson may have new information to reveal that could be an important part of this investigation.
You will remember that last week the committee said that they were ready to take a break that they'd had taken in a lot of new information, that they wanted to process that information and they weren't planning on anymore hearings until the middle of July. Well, that all changed on Monday afternoon where they announced that they had plans to hear from another witness and reveal new information. Now the committee did not reveal Hutchinson's name in part because there were security concerns related to her appearance. And in fact, the committee has had plans to change the hearing room to a certain degree on Tuesday to make sure that she remains safe. However, the information was revealed, originally reported by Punch Bowl News and then confirmed by CNN. Cassidy Hutchinson will appear before the January 6 Select Committee on Tuesday.
Ryan Nobles, CNN, Washington.
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SOARES: Former U.S. President Donald Trump's election attorney John Eastman says the FBI seized his phone last week. In new court filings, Eastman claims he was approached by investigators searched and forced to unlock his phone. Eastman is the latest person whose communications have become part of the Justice Department's extensive investigations into the January 6 attack on the Capitol.
And of course, be sure to tune into CNN's coverage as well as analysis of the hearing happening later today. You can watch it starting at 1:00 p.m. if you are in Washington and New York and that is 6:00 p.m. if you are here in London.
Now, authorities in southern Texas say 46 suspected migrants have been found dead in the back of a semi-truck in San Antonio. 16 others some of them children were found alive at the scene and taken to hospitals for treatment. San Antonio's fire chief described their conditions.
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CHARLES HOOD, SAN ANTONIO FIRE CHIEF: They were suffering from heat stroke, heat exhaustion. No signs of water in the vehicle. It was a refrigerated tractor trailer, but there was no visible working AC unit on that rig.
[04:05:03]
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SOARES: Well, San Antonio's police chief says officers were alerted to the scene Monday evening when someone heard a cry for help coming from the trailer. The U.S. National Weather Service says temperatures outside were hotter than 37 degrees Celsius, around 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Here is what the city's mayor had to say.
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RON NIRENBERG, SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS MAYOR: So, the plight of migrants seeking refuge is always a humanitarian crisis but tonight we are dealing with a horrific human tragedy. So, I would urge you all to think compassionately and pray for the deceased, the ailing, the families. And we hope that those responsible for putting these people in such humane conditions are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Truly horrific. Well, there have been more than 14,000 searches and rescues along the U.S. border with Mexico just since October. The "Washington Post" Texas correspondent says it's the biggest migration tragedy of its kind in the area.
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ARELIS HERNANDEZ, THE WASHINGTON POST SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS (via phone): This is something that we see quite a bit. The number of people who are in this trailer that had died or who expired as a result of what happened is pretty unusual for San Antonio, for Texas. This is the biggest tragedy we've seen of this kind here. But the smuggling itself is pretty common to this particular corridor that runs from the border north to San Antonio and other cities.
To open the doors of the trailer and you see bodies stacked on top of one another, you know, you touch them and they are hot to the touch. They had to check for signs of life for all these different kinds of people, you know, separate them out, and they're going to take DNA and try to identify and repatriate these individuals. It's the last thing that, you know, firefighters or emergency personnel would expect and as a result some of them are being routed to sort of behavioral health resources to try and cope with that.
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SOARES: And do stay with CNN for the very latest on this story as new details of course become available. Sure to stay on top of the story of course.
Meanwhile federal investigators will arrive on scene this morning in a deadly trail derailment in rural Missouri, at least three were killed and 50 injured. CNN's Alexandra Field has the story for you.
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ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The deadly crash happening in a rural part of Missouri and claiming three lives right in the middle of farm country. It's cornfields as far as the eye can see.
And then the Amtrak train, seven of the eight cars flipped on their side, the train derailing after a collision at a crossing with a dump truck. The driver of that dump truck killed as well as two other people on the train. There were more than 200 people on board. Dozens of them injured when the train derailed. At least 18 people sent to hospitals. The other passengers taken to a nearby high school.
The train had been traveling from Los Angeles to Chicago, investigators say they still don't know what caused the crash. But it happened at what is called and uncontrolled crossing. That's a crossing without those flashing warning lights. It also doesn't have the electric arms that you might be used to seeing at many train crossings. However, this type of crossing is common in the area. The NTSB points out that there is a stop sign here as well.
A team of National Transportation Safety Board investigators now deployed to Missouri. In the morning they will be starting their investigation on the ground looking at all elements that could have contributed to the crash. We know already that they'll be interested in the speed data from the route, other data recorded by the train and any video that Amtrak can turnover.
In Mendon, Missouri, Alexander Field, CNN.
SOARES: Thanks Alexandra.
Well, U.S. President Biden is set to meet with the leaders of Germany, France, Italy and the U.K. as soon as this hour actually -- really is this hour. Those talks happening on the sidelines of the annual G7 summit which wraps up later this morning. From there leaders head to Spain for a meeting of NATO allies. Russia's war on Ukraine dominating both agendas. In Germany the G7 outlined new ways to step up pressure on Moscow, including plans for a price cap on Russian oil and sanctions on Russia's defense sector.
Meanwhile, at least 18 people are dead and 36 missing after a Russian missile strike on the shopping mall in central Ukraine. You're looking at the images there. Dozens of other people are wounded and authorities say the death toll will likely rise as a result. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called it one of the worst -- one of the most daring terrorist attacks in European history. Ukraine is calling for a meeting of the U.N. Security Council to discuss Russia's recent string of deadly airstrikes on civilians.
Let's get more on this story. CNN is covering the story from every angle. Our Salma Abdelaziz is standing by in Kyiv with the very latest.
[04:10:00] But first I want to go to CNN's Fred Pleitgen live in Germany for us this hour. And Fred, as we have just outlined, you know, G7 have agreed to ban Russian gold, cap Russian oil. But any promises so far to provide Ukraine with what President Zelenskyy wants and says he needs? That's heavier weapons and air defense systems.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think that the G7 countries, Isa, are saying they're continuously going to reassess that and they are going to continue to provide Ukraine with weapons that they believe are important to the Ukrainians. Now of course, we heard that Volodymyr Zelenskyy address the G7 leaders and of course, wanted more heavy weapons. And Ukrainians are saying that they need a lot more heavy weapons if they want to hold up the Russians there in the east of the country. And certainly, at this point in time they feel that they haven't gotten enough.
But I think one of the things that is happening is that you are seeing certain countries within the G7 at least step up to a certain extent. The Germans of course for a very long time were criticized for not giving any heavy weapons to Ukraine saying that they would, but those deliveries were taking a long time. They've moved heavy howitzers to the Ukrainians that are already being used by the Ukrainian military on the front lines in the east of the country. The Germans have also pledged three multiple launch artillery rocket systems.
The United States also says it's going to continue do that. Of course, there are already several HIMARS, multiple launch artillery rocket systems -- high mobile ones -- that are already being used by the Ukrainians and the U.S. is already saying that they are willing to give four more of those. And that on top of that -- and of course this is something that is a very important discussion right now as we saw what's happening there -- or what happened there, in Kremenchuk, with that missile striking a mall and obviously killing scores of people and wounding many others -- is missile defense systems. And there it appears as though the U.S. wants to purchase a high end missile defense system to make sure that the Ukrainians can at least in parts of their country stop some of those missiles from hitting those targets.
Of course, it's not only been that strike on that mall but many other places as well that the Russians have been striking. And it is something that has had an impact here on the G7 as well, with the G7 leaders condemning those missile strikes calling them an abomination -- Isa.
SOARES: And stay with us, Fred. Let me go to Salma. And Salma, as Fred was saying, you know, Ukraine clearly facing yet another brutal attack on a civilian infrastructure with that attack on the shopping mall in Kremenchuk. Do you get a sense, Salma, from your time reporting on the ground there, that Russia's strategy is changing or is it becoming more audacious in its attacks?
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: I wouldn't say it is changing. I would say maybe it is ramping up. We have seen across the last several days just this barrage of missiles hitting multiple parts of Ukraine. And you have to remember here, Russia is attacking Ukraine from three different sides. From Belarus, from Russian territory, from Crimea, by air, by land, by sea. There is this sense across the country that President Putin can strike anywhere at any time. And you Fred there mentioning, of course, those air defense systems that are needed. That is exactly why these neighborhoods --
(CROSSTALK)
SOARES: Salma, let me just interrupt you for two seconds. Sorry, pardon me. I just want to bring our viewers these live images we are getting from Germany of President Biden there sitting alongside Boris Johnson, as well as Olaf Scholz, the German Chancellor, the Italian and French leaders all around the table for this last meeting of course at the G7 meeting. The last meeting before going ahead of course to Spain for that NATO meeting. If we have Salma -- Salma, apologies for interrupting. You are telling me it is not a change of strategy but they have been ramping up their attacks in the recent weeks.
ABDELAZIZ: Absolutely. And as you see those leaders sitting there, that is the major concern is that Ukraine doesn't have the ability to sustain this fight the way that Russia does. They're running out of weapons and particularly those Soviet air ammunitions, those are no longer being made. And this country is using them up en masse on those front lines.
There's a race against time here with the military aid, with these new weapons being provided because they need to get to the battlefield quickly and they need to train Ukrainian soldiers on the them. That means there's a lag time of weeks from when you hear that there's a new weapons system provided by an Ukrainian ally and when it actually shows up on the battle ground. That means during that time, Ukraine is on the back foot. They are losing territory inch by inch.
Russia is using its superior military might, at times having ten times the artillery power of Ukraine's to continue to make those major gains particularly in the east, particularly in the Donbas region. You have to remember also the troop losses here. Ukrainian troops 100 to 200 of them dying every day on the battleground. Some of them the most experienced in the military.
[04:15:00]
And President Putin here everybody -- Western intelligence officials, everybody in Ukraine believes it's playing the long game. He's waiting it out. He's waiting for the cracks and the fissures within the allied system, within the West. He's waiting for Ukraine to run out of guns, to run out of steam and that's already happening when you look at a place like Severodonetsk where Ukrainian forces say they are going to have to pull out. So really the sense that Russia is gaining the momentum on the ground and that they are capable of hitting residents all across this country -- Isa.
SOARES: Salma Abdelaziz for us in Kyiv and Fred Pleitgen in Germany, thank you very much indeed. And still to come right here on the show, the U.S. Vice President
reacts to the Supreme Court's Roe reversal in an exclusive CNN interview.
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KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The court actually took a constitutional right that has been recognized for half a century and took it from the women of America. That's shocking.
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SOARES: U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris says she was shocked by the Supreme Court ruling reversing Roe v. Wade but also admitted that she never believed two of Donald Trump's Supreme Court picks would preserve the abortion law.
[04:20:00]
She spoke about that with CNN's Dana Bash in an exclusive interview.
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HARRIS: It was clear to me when I was sitting in that chair as a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee that they were not -- that they were very likely to do what they just did. That was my perspective, that was my opinion and that is why I voted like I did.
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Big picture, do you worry about two Americas now because of the patchwork of different states having different laws now that Roe v. Wade is no longer law of the land?
HARRIS: I don't believe that we have two Americas. I believe that when you look at an issue for example like abortion in Roe, the majority of Americans support the right of a woman to make decisions about her body.
When you look at something like the issue of the need for reasonable gun safety laws, the majority of people including in one of the numbers I've seen, majority of gun owners agree that we should have reasonable gun safety laws. So, I don't buy into the idea that we have two Americas. What does concern me is that the rhetoric that you see among certain elected officials is actually not representative of where the people actually are. And we need to listen to where the people actually are.
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SOARES: Well, Harris would not say whether the administration would support eliminating the filibuster to pass federal legislation codifying of course Roe versus Wade.
The Supreme Court decision to reverse Roe is having ripple effects right across the country. CVS and Rite Aid pharmacies are now limiting purchases of emergency contraception to three pills per customer. Rite Aid says demand for the pills is already on the rise. CVS says it has plenty of supply but wants to make sure that there's enough on hand for anyone who needs it.
And abortion rights groups have filed court actions at least seven U.S. states to block or delay the enforcement of abortion bans. The California legislature passed a bill adding women's reproductive rights to the state's constitution. The amendment will be put to California voters during next November's election.
In Utah, a judge granted a 14 day restraining order blocking the state's trigger ban from going into effect. Abortion services in the state continue for now. And in South Carolina, federal judge lifted a hold on the state's six week abortion ban, that's just one of the several states with some type of abortion restrictions in place or about to be implemented -- as you can see there on your screen. CNN's Tom Foreman looks at how the laws are going to be implemented or even challenged.
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TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: These are the states that have fully implemented outright bans or extreme limits on abortions already. South Carolina, Alabama, Kentucky, Ohio, Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Texas. Texas is a strange convergence of some restrictions that are already in place, some more pending and some left over in their law books from long ago.
But right after that, the map gets really muddled. For example, there are numerous states where there are waiting periods before bans or new restrictions are put into place and there are states that are facing legal challenges which are holding up implementation. Louisiana for example, wanted to automatically implement its ban, but abortion rights activists said that would be unconstitutional under state law. So, that now faces a full hearing in court and is temporarily blocked in the meantime.
There's also a temporary restraining order blocking Utah's trigger law, Mississippi, Georgia, Idaho, all facing court action. In Michigan there's court action too, but that's because the governor wants the state Supreme Court to review a 1931 law banning abortion that is threatening to kick in again. She wants it reviewed precisely because she wants to protect abortion rights there.
West Virginia has a very old ban too and some lawmakers also want that reviewed but that is because they want it updated to be effective. Then come states which could very well bring in more severe anti- abortion measures in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling. Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Montana.
And finally, we have some wild cards, states where new bans may show up depending on what happens politically. Kansas, Pennsylvania and don't forget about what is happening in Wisconsin. There an old rule is on the books but the governor says he will give clemency to any physician prosecuted under that law. There are many exceptions to almost every example here, but that's a general sense of the chaos in the wake of Roe being struck down and where we stand at the moment.
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SOARES: Tom Foreman there.
[04:25:00]
Well, there's been reaction pouring in from around the world following the Supreme Court ruling including from women who are sharing their own experiences. And it's also shined the light of course, on abortion laws in other countries including Malta. The only nation in the European Union that bans abortions in all circumstances.
My next guest learned that fact really firsthand. Andrea Prudente was in Malta on vacation when she learned her pregnancy was no longer viable. She joins me live from Majorca, along with her partner, Jay Weeldreyer. Andrea and Jay, thank you very much for taking the time to speak to us here this morning. I really can't imagine what you both are going through and for myself and the team first off let me tell you our sincerest condolences. Andrea, if you could tell our viewers what happened during your holiday in Malta. Because I believe that you were there for a baby moon, correct?
ANDREA PRUDENTE, AMERICAN TOURISTS DENIED ABORTION IN MALTA: Yes. Yes, we came there to celebrate being pregnant. We wanted this baby. We were thrilled. And about a week into our stay in Malta, at about 15 weeks of pregnancy, I had profuse bleeding. That was kind of the beginning of things going really sideways. And then two days later my water broke and we discovered that the placenta had come partly detached from the uterus and I had zero amniotic fluid. The sack that the baby was in had emptied out.
And so, the doctor in Malta was unambiguous from the get-go that the baby could not survive. Babies aren't viable until some 23 weeks of pregnancy. I was only at 15 and the fluid in the amniotic sack is necessary for the baby to continue developing. So, although there was still a fetal heartbeat, the pregnancy was lost. And that was a devastating blow for us. That was kind of -- but that was just the beginning of what evolved in to a real nightmare for us.
SOARES: And so, they told you that zero chance of the baby, the fetus, surviving but they still refused to terminate the pregnancy. Did they give you, Andrea, any -- and what were your options really at that moment?
PRUDENTE: They simply said because of the total ban on abortion in Malta, so long as there was a fetal heartbeat, they would not intervene on the pregnancy. The only thing that they would do was to give me antibiotics and monitor me closely for infection. Because once the membrane ruptures, there is a direct vector for infection. And so, my risk of serious infection, potentially fatal infection and hemorrhage, were high from the moment that the sack ruptured and continued to increase the more time that went on that the baby was still in me and I was exposed in that way. But they just -- they were like if there is a heartbeat, we won't intervene. SOARES: And Jay, as you heard this, you know, your partner there
clearly as she outlined -- Andrea just outline, her life also in great danger, how did you process all this information, what were you thinking at that moment?
JAY WEELDREYER, ANDREA'S PARTNER: I didn't realize her life was in danger when they first told us that the membrane ruptured. It actually took three or four days of having been in the hospital, checked in at Malta, when we began to discover that other women in similar situations had died and been exposed to great risk and then we ended up getting contacted by a really wonderful doctor from Malta who helped us and she explained the situation. And when I found it out, I was shocked.
You know, I believed doctors would be placing and prioritizing her well-being and I kept on -- it really didn't occur to me that it would be considered an abortion to tell you the truth. It felt like it was a pregnancy that had been lost and now all of a sudden, we had doctors that were refusing to protect her. It's kind of like, imagine like a car accident where the people show up on the scene and they refuse to save one of the passengers because the other passenger who isn't going to survive still has a heartbeat. I couldn't understand it then and I still can't understand it now.
SOARES: Well, many people I'm sure will struggle to understand to be completely honest with you. I know that you traveled to Spain of course where you are now, Majorca. What kind of care did you get when you got there?
PRUDENTE: Night and day difference. I mean, from the moment we left the hospital in Malta, we had -- our insurance company arranged a team. I went via ambulance. There was a doctor and nurse with me the whole time in the aircraft. Flying was extremely risky. Mainly for hemorrhage happening ... it was a really smooth transition.
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