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Authorities Say No Survivors Buried In Ukraine's Mall Rubble; Turkey Drops Objections To Finland And Sweden Joining NATO; Cassidy Hutchinson: Donald Trump And Aides Knew Of Potential For Violence; Jeffrey Epstein Confidante Sentenced To 20 Years In Prison; 51 Migrants Dead After Police Find Abandoned Semi-Truck. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired June 29, 2022 - 00:00   ET

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

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[00:00:44]

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello everyone, I'm John Vause. Ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM.

Moment of impact, dramatic images of a Russian missile strike on a Ukrainian shopping mall.

From neutral to NATO, a deal with Turkey clears the way for Finland and Sweden to join the alliance.

And he knew there armed, he knew they were a threat, he did nothing to stop them. The damning firsthand account about Donald Trump's actions on January 6th, from a former White House aid.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with John Vause.

VAUSE: We begin this hour with dramatic video and new details about the deadly Russian strike on a mall in Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says these images show the moment a crowded shopping mall was hit with an anti-ship Soviet era missile. The explosion and fire which swept through the building killed at least 18 civilians.

CNN though cannot independently verify the missiles target. Drone footage shows devastation caused by the missile strike Monday afternoon, which President Zelenskyy has described as a deliberate attack on civilians and proof Russia is a terrorist state and should be permanently banned from the U.N. Security Council.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Unfortunately, as of now, the United Nations does not have a legal definition of the term terrorist state agreed by all U.N. members.

But this war that Russia is waging against Ukraine demonstrates not only the meaning of this concept, but all the urgent necessity to enshrine it legally at the level of the United Nations and punish any terrorist state. (END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: What was a desperate search for survivors under the debris and rubble of the shopping mall is now a slow and grim task of accounting for the dead. More now from CNN's Phil Black.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Pulling apart what remains of Kremenchuk's shopping mall is an effort to account for the dead. Officials say there are no survivors beneath the rubble but it's likely there are more bodies.

Mykola and Ludmilla (PH) made it out somehow. Their bodies battered, their minds traumatized by those moments after the missile hit.

I saw lots of wounded people, burned people. Some were covered in blood, Mykola says. One girl fell down and we helped pull her along. She kept falling and losing consciousness.

That's not possible according to Russia's military. Its version, a precision strike destroyed weapons and ammunition stored nearby in a road maintenance plan.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stuck to that story. As a result of the ammunition detonating, an empty shopping center standing next to it caught fire, he says.

This video geolocated by CNN proves the lie. The people in this park has seen reacting to the explosion at the shopping center. They run desperately trying to get further away or find cover. This man picks up a child and runs to a tree.

Moments later, a second blast near the maintenance plant. This is the same explosion captured from different angles on the park's security cameras. Its force knocks people to the ground and blows debris across a wide area.

Ukrainian officials say that second missile destroyed no weapons or ammunition because none was stored at the plant. But the strikes on Kremenchuk have driven Russia's reputation further beyond redemption.

BORIS JOHNSON, U.K. PRIME MINISTER: Utter barbarism.

BLACK (voice-over): After countless atrocities through four months of war, Russia has again proven its capacity for destroying innocent lives and disgusting much of the world.

Phil Black, CNN, Kramatorsk, Ukraine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: One reason Vladimir Putin says he ordered the invasion of Ukraine was to prevent an ongoing expansion of the NATO alliance. Four months later, NATO is now set for an historic expansion. On Tuesday, in a blow to the Russian president, Turkey dropped its

objections to both Finland and Sweden's NATO bids, clearing the way for membership.

[00:05:04]

VAUSE: Their inclusion with more than double Russia's line border with NATO, Finland and Sweden set aside decades of neutrality and formally apply for NATO membership last month because of security concerns sparked by Russia's war with Ukraine. Turkey initially objected accusing both Nordic countries of harboring terrorist groups.

But after weeks of talks, the breakthrough finally came during a meeting at the NATO summit in Madrid.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENS STOLTENBERG, SECRETARY GENERAL, NATO: As NATO allies, Finland and Sweden commit to fully support Turkey against threats to its national security. This includes further amending the domestic legislation, cracking down on PKK activities and entering into an agreement with Turkey on extradition.

In light of the progress we are made together, Turkey has agreed to support Finland and Sweden joining NATO.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: For more now, let's go to CNN's Kevin Liptak live in Madrid this hour. Very early live show morning to you, Kevin, so thank you for that.

So, along with two new members, NATO is looking to promote a major overhaul as well with a huge increase in force readiness, specifically aimed at the threat from Russia.

So, what are we looking at here overall?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER (on camera): Yes, leaders are really expecting this summit to be very consequential. And heading into it, U.S. and European officials were in fact somewhat pessimistic that these disputes with Turkey over the accession of Finland and Sweden would be resolved by the time of the summit.

But yesterday, here in Madrid, the leaders of those countries, along with the Turkish president, and the NATO Secretary General met for hours to hash out these differences. President Biden was involved. He did speak to the Turkish president yesterday morning.

And what U.S. officials tell us is that he told President Erdogan that if this could be resolved by the time this summit starts, it would be possible for the two of them to meet formally bilaterally on the margins of that summit.

So, that did seem to work. And they came out yesterday with this announcement. And of course, as you said, this really shows that Putin's efforts

work toward NATO or are backfiring somewhat. He entered this conflict in Ukraine worried about the eastward expansion of NATO.

Now, NATO has two new members poised to join the alliance at this week's summit. Two leaders are really entering the start of these talks today with wind at their back and they are expecting to really bolster the defense forces along the eastern flank in a way that we haven't seen really since the Cold War.

And President Biden began that yesterday, he announced that the U.S. would send two additional destroyers to the Rota Naval Station here in Spain. He is expected to lay out a number of other announcements today. U.S. officials saying it's by land, sea, and air, all of those forces are meant to show the strength of NATO, as this war in Ukraine really grinds on as the momentum seems to be on Russia's side at this point.

Leaders gathering here in Madrid really do want to find a way to turn that momentum around. So, those announcements all coming today, all part of this really what officials say is quite a historic summit between the accession of those two countries, those longtime neutral countries and the addition of these additional forces.

One U.S. officials said yesterday that this could be the most consequential NATO summit of this century, John.

VAUSE: And you will be there. Eight minutes past six in the morning, thank you for that, Kevin. We appreciate your time.

CNN's Global Affairs Analyst and International Affairs Fellow at the Council of Foreign Relations. Kimberly Dozier is with us now.

Kimberly, it's been a while it's good to have you with us.

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST (on camera): Good to be here.

VAUSE: OK, so I want you to listen to the NATO Secretary General on how the impasse with Turkey was resolved allowing Finland and Sweden to move forward with their bid to join the alliance. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STOLTENBERG: Today we met, we discussed, we find a good solution. And that's the way we solve problems of NATO.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Piece of cake really. But here's the thing, did these two countries in particular Sweden make too many concessions to Turkey? There's some criticism that Turkey's president essentially use the urgency of the threat from Russia as a potential veto, as blackmail. He was holding the alliance hostage.

DOZIER: I actually did just visit Finland and Sweden on the way to Kyiv. And I heard from diplomats in both countries and military officials, etcetera, who said look, we know what's happening here.

Erdogan has his where he wants us. Really what he wants is to use this for leverage with the United States. He wants the U.S. to lift sanctions that were imposed when Turkey purchased the S-400 Russian missile defense program.

Turkey, a NATO member, and it was a part of the F-35 stealth jet program. The U.S. and others kicked Turkey out because of that, impose these sanctions, because the U.S. argues that having the S-400 in the same operational area as NATO equipment means that Russia can learn and use its S-400 technology to leech NATO intelligence.

[00:10:19]

DOZIER: I realized that's a long explanation. But basically, Erdogan was hoping to get some of those measures some relief for that. I think that phone call with President Biden was really crucial for the president to be able to say, look, I can perhaps visit, you can visit here.

But a lot of those sanctions were imposed by Congress. They're to do with laws -- within NATO laws, within our country, regulations within NATO, I can't help you on that.

Therefore, these concessions by Sweden and Finland are a face saving measure for Turkey to say, OK, I got something out of this. Erdogan can tell his domestic audience, this is a win.

But this goes back to the Swedish and Finnish courts as to extradition stuff, etcetera. It's a way to also put this behind closed doors and kick it -- kick the can down the road and get these two nations at NATO right now.

VAUSE: So, Sweden (INAUDIBLE) by Erdogan in a way.

At this point, why don't allow Ukraine to join NATO? What's Putin going to do? Invade the country?

DOZIER: I have had several NATO officials, they won't say it publicly, but they say it privately. They said we can't have any country join that is partly occupied. Goes for Georgia, like it goes for Ukraine.

If you've got some Russian troops on your soil, the moment you join NATO officially, you can trigger Article Five as the U.S. did against Al-Qaeda after 9/11.

And all of a sudden, NATO would be in a full scale war with Russia. So, that's not going to happen. E.U. membership, that's an easier reach. NATO, they're still hesitant to push Putin in a corner and trigger a nuclear response.

VAUSE: Ukraine released just Tuesday from what appeared to be the moment a Russian missile hit that shopping mall in Kremenchuk. It looks like a Kh-22 supersonic anti-ship cruise missile. These are Cold War era missiles dating back to the 1960s, designed to take out large warships as well as aircraft carriers. This is just another reason why Ukraine's president appealed to the

U.N. to declare Moscow a state sponsor of terrorism. Here he is, listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENSKYY (through translator): It is imperative to deprive the Russian delegation of the opportunity to manipulate the U.N., it is imperative to make it impossible for Russia to stay in the U.N. Security Council until its terrorism continues.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: But with Russia, one of the five permanent members of the Security Council with this veto power, is there any way it can be held to account? Is there a mechanism for expelling a member of the Security Council? And if there is, would there be support in the U.N. anyway, sort of punitive action?

DOZIER: You know, my understanding of the U.N. founding documents is there is no way to kick out a founding member, to kick them off the Security Council and Russia also has enough other members in its corner, China, for instance, that would stop something like that from happening.

So, what you have is a case of -- this is a marathon. And that's what I was hearing from Ukrainian officials. They said, look, some of the things we think the Russians are hitting, some of the electricity plants, things like that, that is to leave us unable to govern to leave this country, unsustainable for people living in it.

They're also possibly using dated maps. I heard that from several Ukrainian national security officials. So, the Russians don't always know exactly what they're hitting.

But the fact of the matter is, they don't care. They're doing this from their perspective with impunity. Russia got a huge actual boost from oil sales, as a bunch of European countries among others, snapped up oil in cut rate deals as this war commenced in over the past couple of months.

That's why when you go back to one of the agreements that came out of the G7 meeting that just happened to put a cap on Russian oil purchases, that is going to be key to making Russia actually feel some sort of economic pain. There doesn't seem to be much other options to change their behavior.

VAUSE: U.N. certainly isn't an option. And yes, like you say, Russia will earn more money from energy exports this year than they did last year, which seems to be bizarre and very odd.

Kimberly, as always, thank you so much. We appreciate you being with us.

DOZIER: Cheers. Thank you VAUSE: Well, throwing his lunch plate and all at a White House wall, attacking a Secret Service agent lunging for the steering wheel of the presidential limo. Just some of the dramatic testimony from a Trump insider describing an unhinged Donald Trump in the days leading up to the storming of U.S. Capitol by his supporters.

[00:15:07]

VAUSE: The Congressional committee investigating the January 6th attack called a surprise public hearing Tuesday to hear from Cassidy Hutchinson, a former White House aide who told lawmakers that Trump and his inner circle were well aware of the potential for violence on that day.

CNN's Pamela Brown has more now reporting in from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CASSIDY HUTCHINSON, FORMER AIDE TO WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF MARK MEADOWS: As an American, I was disgusted.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Bombshell testimony from surprise witness Cassidy Hutchinson, a former top aide to White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows.

HUTCHINSON: That evening was the first moment that I remember feeling scared, and nervous for what could happen on January 6th.

BROWN: Hutchinson telling the committee White House officials knew something big was brewing for January 6th. Testifying that four days prior, Trump's former attorney Rudy Giuliani told her Trump himself planned to go to the Capitol on the 6th.

HUTCHINSON: We're going to the Capitol. It's going to be great. The president is going to be there. He's going to look powerful.

BROWN: And when she approached Meadows for more details, she says Meadows gave an ominous response.

HUTCHINSON: He didn't look up from his phone and said something to the effect of, there's a lot going on, Cass, but I don't know, things might get real, real bad on January 6th.

BROWN: After, things did get real bad at the Capitol. According to Hutchinson, lead White House counsel Pat Cipollone pleaded with Meadows to get Trump to do something to stop it, saying --

HUTCHINSON: Mark, something needs to be done or people are going to die. The blood is going to be on your effing hands. This is getting out of control.

BROWN: And even when the rioters began to chant --

CROWD: Hang Mike Pence! Hang Mike Pence! Hang Mike Pence!

BROWN: Meadows told Cipollone, Trump believed Pence deserves it. HUTCHINSON: Mark had responded something to the effect of, you heard him, Pat. He thinks Mike deserves it. He doesn't think they're doing anything wrong.

BROWN: Hutchinson said, on January 7th, Meadows encouraged Trump to condemn the rioters to salvage his legacy.

HUTCHINSON: There's already talks about invoking the 25th Amendment. You need this as cover.

BROWN: And Hutchinson describes seeing Trump express rage various times over stories regarding his 2020 election loss. One such time after his former attorney general told The Associated Press he had not seen widespread fraud that would change the election.

HUTCHINSON: There was ketchup dripping down the wall and there's a shattered porcelain plate on the floor. The valet had articulated that the president was extremely angry at the attorney general's A.P. interview and had thrown his lunch against the wall.

BROWN: A former Trump loyalist, Hutchinson testified that watching the violence and destruction unfold on January 6th was devastating.

HUTCHINSON: It was unpatriotic. It was un-American. We were watching the Capitol building get defaced over a lie. It's something that I still struggle to work through the emotions of that.

BROWN (on camera): Another revelation coming out from Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony is today that Mark Meadows, her former boss, and Trump's former attorney Rudy Giuliani sought presidential pardons relating to January 6th.

Now, we do want to note the Secret Service released a statement in the wake of the allegations that the former president lunged at the wheel in the presidential motorcade because he wanted to go to the Capitol.

Now, in response to that, the Secret Service says that it has been cooperating with the select committee since its inception in spring 2021 and will continue to do so including by responding on the record to the committee regarding the new allegations surfaced in today's testimony.

Pamela Brown, CNN Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Renato Mariotti is a former federal prosecutor and host of the podcast On Topic. He is with us this hour from Chicago. Welcome to the program. Good to see you.

RENATO MARIOTTI, FORMER U.S. FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Thank you. Same here.

VAUSE: OK. So, at one point, Hutchison testified that because many Trump supporters were actually armed, there'll be kept at a distance from where the then president was planning to deliver speech, metal detectors or mags had been set up by the Secret Service to detect these weapons. And then this is what she heard next, listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HUTCHINSON: I was in the vicinity of a conversation where I overheard the president say something to the effect of, you know, I don't effing care that they have weapons. They're not here to hurt me. Take the effing mags away. Let my people in. They can march to the Capitol from here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: There seems to be a lot here, which contradicts what Trump defenders have been saying all along that the former president never knew the protesters were armed. He only wanted a peaceful rally, a whole bunch of stuff like that.

So, legally, how crucial is that part of her testimony?

MARIOTTI: I think that was the most important piece of her testimony. And it's really -- frankly, one of the most important pieces of testimony or evidence we have heard in the entire Trump presidency or its aftermath regarding legal liability for President Trump.

[00:20:05]

MARIOTTI: This is I think that piece of testimony that might lead to an incitement charged against the former president because the United States Constitution has a First Amendment and that the First Amendment of the United States Constitution greatly protects political speech in the United States. And only a speech that would incite imminent lawless action would be potentially criminal in the United States.

Here, this really suggests that the former President knew that these people were armed, you know, the suggestion that they aren't there to kill him, but presumably they're there to kill somebody or hurt somebody else is I think apparent and I think would be something that the Justice Department would have to take a close look at charging.

VAUSE: There was also a testimony that after he delivered that speech, Trump desperately wanting to go to the Capitol with his supporters, with the insurgents, but he was prevented by the Secret Service and then this fall, it's a long soundbite, but it's worth listening to. Here we go.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HUTCHINSON: The president says something to the effect of, I'm the f'ing president, take me up to the Capitol now. To which Bobby responded, sir, we have to go back to the West Wing.

The president reached up towards the front of the vehicle to grab at the steering wheel. Mr. Engel grabbed his arm, said, sir, you need to take your hand off the steering wheel. We're going back to the West Wing. We're not going to the Capitol. Mr. Trump then used his free hand to lunge towards Bobby Engel. And when Mr. Ornato had recounted the story to me, he had a motion towards his clavicles. (END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Apart from attacking a Secret Service agent, has this testimony played on possible charges of obstructing the electoral account, which the president could also be facing.

MARIOTTI: Well, it go towards his intent. You know, up until now, the image that has been portrayed of the former president is that he was essentially sitting in the White House, you know, eating popcorn and watching the television as people were attacking the Capitol.

You know, if he's just watching idly by, even if he's cheering those people on, that's not enough for liability. But really what this suggests -- this evidence suggests is that he actually wanted to be there in the Capitol, he wanted to be hands on, he encouraged what they were doing. He wanted to be a part of it.

That goes to his intent for the steps that he took earlier on. So, I do think that as investigators are looking at potential obstruction of an official proceeding charge, they would use this as evidence of his intent.

It wouldn't be the enough to bring the charge on its own, but it will be a significant evidence.

VAUSE: The last bombshell of the day came from the Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney, and a quote from an unnamed witness who had appeared before the committee. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. LIZ CHENEY (R-WY): Well, what they said to me is, as long as I continue to be a team player, they know I'm on the right team. I'm doing the right thing. I'm protecting who I need to protect.

You know, I'll continue to stay in good graces in Trump world. And they have reminded me a couple of times that Trump does read transcripts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Cheney did not mention who was intimidated and who was doing the intimidation. But witness tampering? I don't know that's a fairly serious crime, isn't it?

MARIOTTI: It is, and certainly this is something that potentially could amount to that. I think it would depend on who the person was and what the evidence would be of what their intent was.

Obviously, on its face, it sure sounds like they're trying to improperly influence your testimony. I am -- it could very well be a fairly low level person. I don't know.

And the question is going to be what the Justice Department can prove regarding that person's intent, but definitely worth taking a look at for sure. VAUSE: Very quickly, overall, did the needle move towards charging the president after this testimony or it's about the same place where it was before?

MARIOTTI: Unquestionably towards a charge. I think it was unlikely before today.

VAUSE: Renato, thank you so much for being with us. Renato Mariotti, we appreciate that. Thank you.

MARIOTTI: Thank you.

VAUSE: A lot more to come here on CNN, including details with a two decade prison sentence given to Jeffrey Epstein's former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell.

Also ahead, the death toll rises as police try to find out who's responsible for the deaths of dozens of migrants who were found in a sweltering semi-truck in Texas.

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[00:26:35]

VAUSE: Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime covenant of disgraced financier and pedophile Jeffrey Epstein was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison in Tuesday. The 60-year-old had been convicted last year on five counts including sex trafficking of a minor.

The judge said victims disturbing testimony as well as Maxwell's failure to accept responsibility or show any remorse resulted in a longer than usual sentence.

Maxwell was a former girlfriend of Epstein who died in prison while awaiting trial on Federal sex trafficking charges. One victim welcome the sentence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNIE FARMER, ACCUSER OF JEFFREY EPSTEIN: I just hope that this sentence can be another sign that voices are coming together and saying no more.

If you commit these crimes, you will be punished. If you facilitate these crimes, you will be punished. If you are a bystander that looks the other way, you will not be allowed to continue to hold a position of power.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Maxwell has also been given five years of supervised release and a $750,000 fine, which according to her lawyers, she is unable to pay.

New details on the deaths of 51 migrants found sweltering conditions in a tractor trailer in southern Texas. The owner of a trucking company says the semi discovered by police had falsified I.D. information from one of his company's vehicles.

Meantime, two Mexican nationals were authorities say we're in the U.S. illegally have been arrested on firearm charges in this case, though they've not been directly linked to the migrants death.

CNN's Rosa Flores has more now on the latest developments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RON NIRENBERG, MAYOR OF SAN ANTONIO: This is probably the worst tragedy in term of migration that I know in recent history.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tonight, at least 51 migrants are dead and three individuals are in custody after police found the victims crammed inside a sweltering tractor trailer.

NIRENBERG: What they found was nothing short of horrific.

FLORES: Authorities say Monday evening, a person nearby heard a cry for help in an undeveloped area outside of San Antonio. And upon opening the doors of the tractor trailer, discovered the graphic scene.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can I also get one more here? I have too many bodies here. We got another body just north of the trailer.

Be on the on the lookout -- Hispanic male running southbound from the railroad tracks.

FLORES: Police say they saw no sign the victims had water and that there was no air-conditioning as temperatures reached 100 degrees.

48 people died at the scene, three others at hospitals. Federal officials say another 16 people, 12 adults and four children were transported to local hospitals.

CHARLES HOOD, SAN ANTONIO FIRE CHIEF: The patients that we saw were hot to the touch. They were suffering from heatstroke, heat exhaustion.

FLORES: The migrants were from Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras, officials say. Of those transported, hospital officials say, some remain in critical condition.

HOOD: We're not supposed to open a truck and see stacks of bodies in there.

FLORES: Democratic Representative Henry Cuellar of Texas says the truck went through a check point north of Laredo, Texas, Monday, about 150 miles southwest of San Antonio. It's unclear if the migrants entered the truck before or after the check point.

Federal officials say since October, more than 14,000 searches and rescues have taken place along the U.S. southern border. That's up from nearly 13,000 in 2021. The mayor of San Antonio now calling on Congress to take action. NIRENBERG: Clearly, Congress' inability to reform our immigration system is causing or is manifesting in a lot of ways that are simply tragic.

Rosa Flores, CNN, San Antonio.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[00:30:04]

VAUSE: So more details on drones being made by Turkey, which are a key part of its foreign policy, now in focus as leaders meet at the NATO summit. Details on that when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: In the coming hours, U.S. President Joe Biden is set to meet with his Turkish counterpart on the sidelines of the NATO summit, just one day after Turkey agreed to support Finland in NATO's [SIC] NATO membership bids.

But there's expected to be renewed focus, though, on Turkey's homemade drones at the NATO summit. It's one of Turkey's most effective diplomatic tools.

CNN's Nina dos Santos explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN EUROPE EDITOR (voice-over): The Bayraktar TB2, Turkey's most effective drone and one of its president's most assertive foreign policy tools.

With NATO members meeting in Spain, Turkey's leader, Recep Tayyip Erdogan is lobbying hard to lift embargoes on Ankara's weaponry. Just as he held out against Sweden and Finland joining the bloc until obtaining security guarantees at the 11th hour.

Finland had previously hinted that it would potentially buy Turkish drones, if admitted to the alliance, while the U.K. may be the next to acquire them, according to Turkey's industry minister.

It's moves like these that have revamped the image of Turkish drones, once subject to embargoes, due to their use in contentious conflicts, including in Africa.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The image of drones in general has changed over time. There really have been these waves of moments where drones were seen as being negative and -- and evil.

And now in Ukraine, they're seen as a really important system to be used by -- by Ukraine against the -- the Russian invasion.

DOS SANTOS (voice-over): Turkish drones have become such a cult military item that they've inspired this pop song, filmed on the battlefield in Ukraine. (MUSIC)

DOS SANTOS (voice-over): The Turkish economy may be stuck in the doldrums, but sales of drones have soared since the war in Ukraine started, meaning a boon for the drone's maker, Baykar, co-owned by Erdogan's son-in-law, which last year posted record profits.

But will Turkey's drone diplomacy, as it's being called, work?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One of the reasons why Turkey has started its drone program was, indeed, that it couldn't buy armed drones and other drones from, especially, the United States, because the United States didn't want to export them.

And then, on the back of it, it realized, I can also export these systems to countries that may also not get American or Israeli or, indeed, now Chinese systems.

[00:35:09]

DOS SANTOS (voice-over): With the second largest army in NATO, Turkey is an unlikely country to be focusing so heavily on unmanned combat. But, with drones like these for sale, one of Turkey's priorities at NATO is putting more of them on the market.

Nina dos Santos, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Ukraine's first lady has told CNN of the difficulties of enduring almost five long months of war.

Olena Zelenskyy [SIC] spoke to Christiane Amanpour in an international television exclusive. She says many Ukrainians thought the war would be a sprint, but now they realize it's likely to be a marathon. She talked about it's affected her family, as well as families across the country.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: How do you, specifically, feel about yours and your family's safety?

OLENA ZELENSKA, FIRST LADY OF UKRAINE (through translator): Fortunately, those two months where I didn't see my husband at all, that's in the past. I can see him sometimes and for a short time, and not very often. But I can physically feel him next to me.

This isn't normal. It's not a normal relationship when children cannot see their father and have to talk to him on the phone. So our relationship is on pause, just as it is for many -- all the Ukrainians.

I would say that half of our population are apart and are not together. And we, just like every family, are waiting to be reunited to be together again to spend evenings, to have dinner together, to talk to the children about their things and not only their -- their children's things but my daughter, for example, as a young adult now.

But we're hanging in. We are, like this image, we're holding on just like that cupboard in Borodyanka, when the occupiers bombed a building and bombed all the buildings there.

And we saw this photo, one of the buildings, and there was a wall remaining. And there was a wardrobe or a cupboard there that stood undamaged.

So we're holding on. We're telling each other, how are you. I'm like that cupboard in Borodyanka. So I'm trying to hold on, just like that cupboard.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: First Lady Zelenska says she coped by finding joy in simple things.

You can hear more of her conversation with Christiane Amanpour next hour, right here on CNN.

In the meantime, we'll take a short break. When we come back, nearly 25 years since Hong Kong's handover to China. A former journalist who questioned the move then speaks to CNN about the city's freedoms today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:40:08]

VAUSE: Security in Hong Kong is being ramped up ahead of a visit by President Xi Jinping on Friday, marking 25 years since the handover to China.

At the time, Beijing promised Hong Kong would retain its freedoms. Now, though, many wonder how much autonomy really is left.

CNN's Kristie Lu stout has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Final British relations --

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After Margaret Thatcher reached a deal with the Chinese on the return of Hong Kong, a local reporter took the Iron Lady to task.

EMILY LAU, FORMER JOURNALIST: You signed an agreement with China promising to deliver over 5 million people into the hands of a communist dictatorship.

STOUT (on camera): Thatcher claimed mostly everyone in Hong Kong was happy with the deal and told Emily Lau --

MARGARET THATCHER, FORMER BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: You may be a solitary exception. STOUT: So what do you think of that answer today in 2022?

LAU: Many of the journalists who subsequently stood up, they asked similar questions. So even in that room, I wasn't the solitary exception.

STOUT: July 1, 2022, marks exactly halfway through 50 years of the "one country, two systems" autonomy Beijing promised to Hong Kong at the 1997 handover. It aims to preserve the city's freedoms of expression and assembly, as well as its institutions, including an independent judiciary.

STOUT (voice-over): But in the wake of the 2019 protests, pressure on the city's freedoms intensified, thanks to a new national security law.

Supporters say the law ended the chaos of 2019 and restored order, but it did more than that. Scenes of mass protests like this are no more. At least 186 people have been arrested under the law, including a 90- year-old Catholic cardinal.

The opposition is virtually wiped out, with many of the city's pro- democracy figures in jail or exile.

Politically-charged artworks like the Pillar of Shame Tiananmen memorial have been removed. Dozens of civil society groups, including the city's largest independent trade union, have disbanded.

And national security investigations have led to the shuttering of news outlets like "The Apple Daily."

When asked about charges of diminished freedoms, a Hong Kong government spokesperson told CNN, "Many freedoms and rights are not absolute and can be restricted for reasons including production of national security and public safety."

So as former security chief John Lee prepares to leave the city from July 1, what is left of Hong Kong's promised autonomy?

JOHN BURNS, EMERITUS PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG: We have autonomy in religion, in education, in media, including the social media, in the Internet, in how we manage our civil service. The second system is still here. It is functioning. It's under stress.

LAU: We want Hong Kong to be free.

STOUT (voice-over): Lowe has always been a skeptic of "one country, two systems." As a reporter, a lawmaker and former chair of the Democratic Party.

LAU: I will not say that "one country, two systems" is completely finished. The fact that I can stand here in the Democratic Party office to talk to you shows there's some freedom. And there are some differences, but they are getting less and less.

STOUT (voice-over): Lao says she is staying in the city to support her friends and colleagues in prison, abiding by her mantra --

LAU: Be bold, be wise, and be careful.

STOUT (voice-over): Kristy Lu Stout, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause. Please stay with us. WORLD SPORT starts after the break. See you back here, hopefully, top of the hour.

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VAUSE: Hello, everyone. Live from CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. I'm John Vause. Ahead this hour on CNN NEWSROOM, from neutral to NATO. A deal with Turkey clears the way for Finland and Sweden to join the alliance.

Also ahead --

CASSIDY HUTCHINSON, FORMER WHITE HOUSE AIDE TO TRUMP WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF MARK MEADOWS: The president said something to the effect of, I'm the "F"-ing president. Take me up to the Capitol now.

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