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Xi Jinping in City to Mark 25 Years Since Transfer to China; Biden Joins NATO Leaders or Final Day of Summit; Ketanji Brown Jackson to be Sworn in a Supreme Court Justice; Truck Driver Arrested in Deaths of 53 Migrants in Texas; Singer R. Kelly Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired June 30, 2022 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:30:00]
BLAKE ESSIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A number of official events to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the handover. And although Hong Kong police say there will be a designated area for people to gather, the assistant police commissioner recently said that they won't tolerate any acts of violence or public disorder. And so, it's unlikely that we're going to see any pro-democracy protests while President Xi Jinping is here in town -- Max.
MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Blake.
Steven, it's very important, isn't it, that this is seen to go off smoothly. We saw the cameras, he very much sees this as part of his legacy. And these images going down in Chinese history.
STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: That's right, Max. As you mentioned, his first trip outside of mainland in almost 900 days. The choice of Hong Kong obviously not surprising but also a very symbolic for all the reasons Blake and Ivan just laid out. But also remember, you know, this -- a lot of these negative changes, a lot of these things that people are warning, the loss of liberties and freedoms, are viewed very differently here in Beijing. They are considered positive changes and long overdue. That's why you hear state media increasingly hail about the so-called second return of Hong Kong.
In their narrative in 1977, China regained sovereignty over Hong Kong but not the power to govern because of the pesky oppositions, if you will, and quote/unquote all the hostile and subversive forces. But now all those forces have been wiped out, finally Hong Kong is a truly Chinese territory back on track to a path of a prosperity and stability. And only made possible because of Xi Jinping's iron fist. And that's why this is something that Xi Jinping very much needed.
And as we know in the fall, he is often certain to assume a precedent- breaking third term as China's top leader. And the legitimacy and his reputation of his reign is always very much based on this ideology that he wants to reassert the ruling Communist Party's absolute control over every corner of China and over every aspect of society. And that has now very much extended to Hong Kong and that is of course in their mind a very good thing. That's why you will be seeing all the huge celebrations in 48 hours and at least from the perspective of Beijing and Xi Jinping. No doubt, this is very much warranted -- Max.
FOSTER: OK, Steven in Beijing, Blake and Ivan both in Hong Kong, thank you very much. It will be a momentous day and we'll follow it throughout the coming hours.
Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, a deeply divided an contentious Supreme Court is just hours away from adding a new liberal justice to the bench. The change will be historic.
[04:35:00]
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FOSTER: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster. If you are just joining us, let me bring you up-to-date with the top stories this hour. The House Select Committee investigating the January 6 Capitol riots has subpoenaed former Trump White House counsel Pat Cipollone. A source tells CNN that Cipollone might agree to a limited interview but will avoid some topics citing executive privilege.
And NATO members are meeting in Madrid for the final day of diplomacy. U.S. President Joe Biden says he's expanding America's troop presence across several NATO countries in response to Russia's war on Ukraine. U.S. President Biden has just arrived for the final day of the NATO summit. He's scheduled to hold a news conference in about four hours from now.
On Wednesday NATO officially invited Finland and Sweden to join directly undercutting Vladimir Putin's goal of keeping the Alliance in check. The Russian President says that he's not bothered by the expansion but would still respond to any threats from those territories. CNN's Natasha Bertrand and Kevin Liptak are live this hour in Madrid covering the NATO summit. Kevin, what can we expect from President Biden, all eyes on that press conference later?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, I think that the president will use that buzz word of these two summits over the last week, which was unity, really trying to reinforce that NATO has adopted this new posture toward Russia. In their mission statement yesterday, they identified Russia as the single biggest threat to allied security. They've also made the Alliance larger with the addition of Sweden and Finland and made it more muscular with the reinforced force posture along the eastern flank.
President Biden announcing he's sending planes to the United Kingdom, ships to Spain and establishing that permanent Army headquarters in Poland.
So, there's really a sense of renewed purpose for NATO as leaders return to their home countries, but questions really remain about how they'll keep their publics committed to this purpose of defending Ukraine, upholding Ukraine's sovereignty as the war grinds on and as momentum on the ground now appears to be favoring Russia as it continues to make small gains in the east.
And yesterday the top American intelligence official Avril Haines, she's the director of national intelligence, really painted quite a grim portrait of the situation on the ground in Ukraine. She said that that American intelligence assessment is that it will last a long time. And that Putin believes that he can go on for quite a long time as he thinks that the West's resolve to continue the fight will wane. So, these leaders do have a lot of questions as they had back home.
One of them is, what is the next phase of this war going to look like. And there are some differences among the leaders here in Madrid about how to go about ending this conflict. Some would like to see more decisive victory on the battlefield. But some are nudging the other leaders towards a more negotiated settlement, trying to restart these talks with Russia to try to bring an end to this conflict that is causing economic pain at home, that is causing these leaders political headaches. And so, a lot was accomplished here in Madrid. Certainly, but there are a lot of questions as the summit concludes -- Max.
FOSTER: Thanks, Kevin. Natasha, obviously a huge future investment in that eastern flank as Kevin was describing their. But not enough according to some members, the Baltic States for example, they want much more. They feel, you know, this might put them in a position to respond to Russian threats but only initially.
NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's right. And Baltic states of course they want a permanent U.S. presence in those countries. Something that they have not gotten to date. But the reality here is that the United States contribution to this force posture are pretty significant overall.
[04:40:00]
And of course, these Baltic countries are a member of NATO and the NATO alliance has reiterated repeatedly that should anything occur on NATO territory, then the full Alliance will react.
However, the Baltic countries don't necessarily feel completely reassured by that. They feel that they are under direct threat by the Russian president who has threatened them in the past. And of course, many of them share a border with Russia. So, they are concerned that if there is no permanent U.S. presence in those territories, then that might give Russia a kind of green light to try to move into that territories.
Of course, many NATO officials here that we speak to, do not believe that Russia would ever go as far as to attack NATO territories. What they are more concerned about is the possibility that for example, something accidental occurs given how close Russia in the past has gotten to NATO territory for example Poland. There is a concern that maybe a stray missile could land into NATO territory. Russia could accidentally enter NATO air space and that there could be some kind of miscalculation that spirals out of control.
So that is why the NATO posture here has really been enhanced up to 300,000 forces are now on high alert across all of the territories. There are of course additional reinforcements being sent to the United States. All the allies really agree here that being prepared is the most important aspect of this. Because Russia at this point is so unpredictable. Now Russian President Vladimir Putin, it was feared here that that he might be very provoked, of course, by the reality that Sweden and Finland are going to be joining the NATO Alliance. He actually brushed that off last night and he said that he really is not that concerned by Sweden and Finland joining.
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VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We don't have problems with Sweden and Finland like we do with Ukraine. We don't have territorial differences. There is nothing that could bother us about Sweden and Finland joining NATO. If Finland and Sweden wish to, they can join. That's up to them.
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BERTRAND: Now in the past the Russian president said that a red line would be if NATO infrastructure was permanent base was placed in Sweden and Finland. That is something that he does not want to see NATO troops essentially in those countries. It remains to be seen whether NATO is actually going to put those bases in those countries.
FOSTER: OK, Natasha in Madrid, thank you very much indeed.
Now still ahead, the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on abortion has triggered new laws banning the procedure in a number of states. But some are fighting back to protect doctors and patients.
[04:45:16]
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FOSTER: American history will be made in the coming hours when Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson becomes the first African-American woman to become a U.S. Supreme Court justice. Her swearing in is set for 12:00 Washington time, this after retiring liberal Justice Steven Breyer announced he's stepping down, effective at noon. After Jackson is sworn in, Breyer will then administer the judicial oath before a small gathering of Jackson's family. She joins the high court after one of the most tumultuous terms in recent memory with the overturning of Roe v. Wade amongst in the most recent rulings.
Delaware's governor says it's a great day for women in his state. Meanwhile, John Carney has signed a bill expanding access to abortion care and protecting abortion providers in their patients.
Meanwhile, district attorneys in some states with restrictive laws are vowing not to prosecute abortion cases. But Arizona's Attorney General wants the state to honor a 1901 law that bans most abortions. A court injunction has kept it from being enforced for decades.
Now more details are emerging about how police found dozens of deceased migrants in southern Texas. San Antonio's police chief tells CNN, that responding to the scene and finding the bodies was beyond tragic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) WILLIAM MCMANUS, SAN ANTONIO POLICE CHIEF: The floor of the trailer, it was just completely covered in bodies. Completely covered in bodies. There were at least ten plus bodies outside the trailer. Because when we arrived, many of us arrived, we were trying to find people who were still alive, so we had to move bodies out of the trailer on to the ground.
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FOSTER: Meanwhile, Texas is adding more truck check points throughout the state and creating two strike teams to defects and deal with unlawful border crossings. CNN's Omar Jimenez has the latest developments in the case.
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OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Justice Department has announced federal charges against four people tied to this incident, among them the driver who was arrested on criminal charges related to human smuggling resulting in death.
Now Federal authorities say they looked at surveillance video of this truck coming through an immigration checkpoint and matched what they saw of the driver there to the person that they found on scene hiding in the brush after having run when authorities first got to the scene. Again, according to the Department of Justice.
Another man was charged after having allegedly communicated with the driver regarding this smuggling. And then two other men were charged with illegal possession of a weapon by someone who is illegally in the United States. They were found after authorities traced the license plate of this truck to addresses in the nearby Texas area. Of the dozens found dead, the Justice Department says 22 of them were Mexican nationals, seven of them from Guatemala, two from Honduras, and 17 of them they were able to determine were at least non-U.S. citizens as part of what has been a long and at times a difficult identification process coordinating across multiple countries.
All of it, of course, is part of what the Department of Homeland Security has described as the deadliest human smuggling incident in U.S. history.
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FOSTER: Our Omar Jimenez there.
Now still to come, from R&B idol to inmate, singer R. Kelly here's his sentence on multiple charges including sex trafficking. How he handled the news after the break.
[04:50:00]
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Three, two, one, zero. Ignition. And liftoff.
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FOSTER: It was a successful launch in Florida on Wednesday as SpaceX set a broadcast television satellites into orbit. Telecommunications company SES out of Luxembourg owns the satellite and says that it will help deliver TV and radio to millions of American homes. This was the 27th launch of the year for SpaceX.
Now, once an R&B music superstar, disgraced singer R. Kelly has been sentenced to 30 years in prison. His accusers are praising the judge's sentence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOVANTE CUNNINGHAM, R. KELLY ACCUSER: I started this journey 30 years ago. I was 14 years old when I encountered Robert Sylvester Kelly. There wasn't a day in my life up until this moment that I actually believed that the judicial system would come through for black and brown girls. 30 years did he do this and 30 years is what he got.
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FOSTER: Last year the singer was convicted of multiple charges including federal racketeering, sexual exploitation of a child, violating sexual trafficking laws and more. CNN's Jean Casarez breaks down what happened at the sentencing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: R. Kelly was emotionless in that courtroom right before the judge announced the sentence. Survivors actually held hands at that moment before it was announced. The judge said that what R. Kelly had gone through during his childhood, she had taken that into consideration. But she said that it is not an excuse for what he did. She sentenced him then to 30 years. And she said this is about violence, cruelty and control.
Now, R. Kelly could have addressed the court, but he didn't. And his attorney said because we have other litigations in federal court, he's not going to be saying anything.
[04:55:00]
And the judge said finally, you left in your wake a trail of broken lives.
Now, victims gave victim impact statement, seven all together. One of them said I was victimized 23 years ago and as these years went on, I kept saying why is nothing being done. And then she turned to R. Kelly and said now you will know what it is like to not have your freedom.
The defense says that they will be appealing this verdict and as far as where R. Kelly goes from here, it is all up to the Bureau of Prisons. But there is another federal prosecution involving many things, including child pornography set for August in the Chicago area. So, Bureau of Prisons may send him to a prison in that vicinity.
Jean Casarez, CNN, New York.
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FOSTER: Buckingham palace will not release results of an investigation into the handling of bully claims made against Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex. The palace hired an independent legal firm to look into the allegations that she mistreated staff during her time as a working royal, or the handling of it. A senior royal source says the findings are not being released to protect the identities of those who cooperated but that there would be policy changes as a result. Both Prince Harry and Meghan have denied the claims.
Fast food chain Taco Bell is betting big on its new test menu by introducing new items served with the massive Cheez-It cracker in limited locations. You might not be able to tell by looking at your screen, but the cheese crackers in the signature Crunch Wrap Supreme here are 16 times bigger than normal Cheez-Its. It's not Taco Bell's first snack food collaboration. The previous partnership with Doritos to help create new shells proved a big success in the U.S.
Thanks for joining us here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster in London. "EARLY START" with Christine Romans and Laura Jarrett is next right here on CNN.
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