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Ukraine Steps Up Use of U.S. Rocket System; Brittney Griner's Wife Describes Challenges of Russian Detention; Uvalde Victims' Families Demand Answers; Japan's Record Heat Wave; January 6 Hearings. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired July 02, 2022 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Michael Holmes. Appreciate your company.
Coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM, Ukraine getting what its president calls a much-needed boost after the latest Russian attacks. New military aid from the U.S., including a precision missile system.
Plus, new calls for the U.S. to do more, as basketball star Brittney Griner goes on trial on drug possession charges.
And the story of two brothers looking for a better life in America, a dream that came to a tragic end, with dozens of others in the back of a sweltering tractor-trailer.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Michael Holmes.
HOLMES: And we begin in Ukraine, where a U.S.-supplied advanced weapon is reportedly starting to gain some traction on the battlefield. A senior U.S. Defense official says Ukraine has used the HIMARS multiple rocket launchers to take out Russian command posts and other targets.
At least four of those are in use in Ukraine, four more on their way.
Meanwhile, President Zelenskyy accusing Russia of terrorism following Friday's missile strikes on a residential area near Odessa. At least 21 people were killed, 40 others wounded.
This as the U.S. announces a new batch of military aid for Ukraine, including those anti-aircraft missile systems. Mr. Zelenskyy saying the equipment will give Ukraine a much-needed boost.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I'm especially grateful to the United States of America and personally to Biden for the new support package for Ukraine announced today, which includes very powerful systems, an anti-aircraft missile system that will significantly strengthen our air defense.
We have worked hard for this supply. In total, this package is worth $820 million U.S. and, in addition to NASAMS, also includes artillery, ammunition and radars.
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HOLMES: Meanwhile, U.S. officials say Russia may face more attacks from behind the front lines. They say three recent assassination attempts against pro-Russian officials in Kherson, including one that was successful, suggests a growing resistance movement in the south in Russian occupied areas.
U.S. officials believe acts like that could eventually lead to a bigger counterinsurgency movement.
But back on the front lines, Russia pressing ahead with its grinding offensive in the east. The city of Slovyansk is within striking distance of Russian heavy weapons. Its mayor already urging residents to evacuate. As Phil Black reports, Ukrainian defenders are outgunned as they push back against Russian forces.
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PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These Ukrainian fighters know it won't be long now. The Russians are getting closer, firing heavy ammunition into this dense forest everyday.
Volodymyr shows us where much bigger rounds have fallen close to their camp. Incoming fire booms steadily nearby as Mykhailo proudly shows us the advanced antitank weapons provided by Western allies. They were hugely effective earlier in the war but they're not the weapons Ukraine needs most for this fight in the east.
"You can hear it," Mykhailo says, "every one of our heavy shots, they make 10 or 20. It's because we lack artillery."
Outgunned by the Russians, outnumbered, too.
"Of course, they're coming," Maksym says, "and there are many more of them than us."
The fight is positioned in this forest a short distance from Russian lines. Are all volunteers who signed up when the war started. For weeks, they've been waiting, ready to carry out one job: to attack any Russian convoys trying their luck on a nearby road.
If, when the Russians decide to move through and take this territory, it is unlikely these soldiers will ever see them. Not up close, they will just feel more of the same: --
[02:05:00] BLACK: -- heavy weapons, artillery, the rocket fire, the big heavy weapons Russia was using to drive Ukrainian forces back steadily, slowly, across this region.
Russia's big weapons don't just fall in the forest. Slovyansk, a key city in the Donbas, now within easy range. Here, Russia artillery destroyed a local business. Six people outside a supermarket were injured when cluster bombs dropped around them.
Bomblets also scattered around this apartment complex, killing a man and a pet, terrifying many more people.
Valentina says the explosions blew debris over her bed. Every night, she tries to block out the noise of war with a pillow.
In Bakhmut, southeast of Slovyansk, explosions even greater in number and power, tearing apart people's homes as they huddle beneath them in basements.
The Russian advance in Bakhmut is only a short drive from this road. Almost every home still has someone living in it, almost every home has felt Russian firepower. But the people here are still reluctant to leave.
Marina feels she has nowhere to go but the strain of staying is unbearable.
She says, "We don't have gas, we don't have power, we don't have water, but we only want the shooting to stop."
In the Donbas, Russia's unmatched artillery is an unstoppable force, with loose aim and no concern of civilian suffering. It is steadily overpowering Ukraine's defenses -- Phil Black, CNN, the Donbas, Ukraine.
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HOLMES: American basketball star Brittney Griner appeared in a courtroom outside Moscow on Friday on drug charges that could result in a sentence of up to 10 years in a Russian prison.
Officials with the U.S. embassy in Moscow attended the proceedings. And at least one was able to speak with Griner directly. Senior international correspondent Frederik Pleitgen with the story.
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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Brittney Griner handcuffed as she was led into the courtroom. Cameras were not allowed inside the trial where the WNBA star was read the charges of allegedly trying to smuggle drugs into Russia.
Her lawyer saying Griner is in strong spirits.
ALEXANDER BOYKOV, BRITTNEY GRINER'S LAWYER: She's a bit worried. But she is a tough lady. I think she will manage. PLEITGEN: What do you think are the chances she can get out?
That you can get an acquittal?
BOYKOV: I would not comment.
PLEITGEN: Brittney Griner was detained at a Moscow airport on February 17th. Prosecutors today claiming she was carrying two vaping cartridges with a total of about 0.7 grams of cannabis oil inside them, a crime in Russia they can carry a sentence of up to ten years in a prison colony.
The U.S. considers Brittney Griner as being wrongfully detained. The charge d'affaires of the U.S. embassy was inside the courtroom and called on Russia to release Brittney Griner immediately.
ELIZABETH ROOD, CHARGE D'AFFAIRES, U.S. EMBASSY MOSCOW: Wrongful detention is unacceptable wherever it occurs. The United States government, at the very highest levels, is working very hard to bring Ms. Griner, as well as all wrongfully detained U.S. citizens safely home.
PLEITGEN: Brittney Griner's trial starts as tensions between the U.S. and Russia have reached the boiling point, not just over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The U.S. is also calling for the immediate release of former Marine Paul Whelan, who was sentenced to 16 years in Russian prison for alleged espionage.
The U.S. called his conviction politically motivated. The Kremlin rejects that and today also said Britney Griner's trial was not political.
DMITRY PESKOV, PUTIN SPOKESPERSON: You know, I cannot comment on the action of the Russian court. We don't have the right to do that and never do. I can only deal with the facts and the facts say that a prominent athlete was detained in possession of prohibited substances that contain drugs.
PLEITGEN: After about 2.5 hours, Brittney Griner's trial was adjourned for another week and she was led away handcuffed again, as her lawyers and U.S. authorities fight to bring the basketball star home as soon as possible -- Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.
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HOLMES: Now Griner's wife, Cherelle, says she has not been able to speak directly to Brittney during this time. But they have been able to exchange letters. In an exclusive conversation with CNN's Abby Phillip, she talked about some of the physical challenges the athlete is experiencing in Russian detention.
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CHERELLE GRINER, BRITTNEY'S WIFE: BG is having to travel over five years round trip when she goes to court in a very, very, very tiny cage. [02:10:00]
GRINER: With her knees bent, feet up to the ground because it's not big enough for her to fit in. So she is experiencing a lot the days before she walks into court.
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HOLMES: And you can see more of Abby Phillip's exclusive interview with Cherelle Griner on "INSIDE POLITICS" Sunday, 8 am Eastern or 12 pm GMT.
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HOLMES: Joining me from Washington, D.C., is Jill Dougherty, an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and a CNN contributor, also former CNN Moscow bureau chief.
Good to see you again, Jill.
Let's start with how big of a bargaining chip is she for Vladimir Putin and what might he want in exchange for her?
Of course, the arms dealer Viktor Bout; his name keeps coming up.
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, she's a significant person. She is a major sports figure. She's, you know, in the public eye. Interestingly, you know, she was going to Russia to play, which is what happens with some female athletes in basketball in the United States.
But she's really kind of -- you know, she's a significant person. And as to what would happen, yes. I mean, the prime person that you would immediately think that the Russians would want to trade her for would be Viktor Bout.
Back in 2002, I interviewed Viktor Bout in the Moscow bureau. And at that point he was a wanted man. And still to this day he is one of the biggest, you know, convicted arms dealers in the world. At that point he was providing weapons to Latin America, Africa, the Middle East.
And he actually came to the bureau.
And interestingly, I went back to look at that script and he said, "I'm a businessman."
And in the Russian media today he was described as a Russian businessman.
HOLMES: Yes. Certainly, they'd like him back. Maybe that's where this will end up.
In the U.S. the thing is a cannabis offense like hers, I think it was 0.7 grams of cannabis, would be relatively minor.
What would you expect her trial to look like in terms of, dare I say, fairness, her ability to mount a defense?
DOUGHERTY: You know, I think in Russia, the way it is right now, obviously most people who end up in court are convicted. But that said, I think what they would try to do is make it look very legal.
So it depends on what the definition in Russian law is for this offense; albeit, in the United States, that would be very minor. In Russia it could be more important. But I think, you know, when you look at the amount, this is not a drug dealer. This is not a big amount of drugs.
If she -- if it is hers indeed, as you said, it's very little. But again, as I watch the coverage and I watch how the Kremlin is depicting this, I would say they have kind of a hands-off approach, saying, you know, justice must be served. This is not political.
But at the same time, they're parading Brittney Griner through the hallway, you know, with guards, armed guards, dogs, you know, every time. So I think they're getting some publicity out of this. There's no question.
HOLMES: Not many cases go through the Russian courts that people get acquitted. There's criticism that the Biden administration isn't doing enough.
What can it do realistically if Putin wants to keep not just Brittney Griner but other Americans, too?
DOUGHERTY: You know, Michael, I think it is very, very difficult. Relations now -- I mean, every week, we've said relations are terrible. But I will tell you, I really think they are the worst that I think I've ever seen them, even in the Soviet days, right now.
So the political atmosphere is really toxic. And whether the Biden administration could even do a deal at this point is questionable. It really depends on what Vladimir Putin wants and the objective.
How important would it be, let's say, if the idea is to trade her, how important is it to get Viktor Bout?
And in many ways, it is important. The Russians have been trying to get in there for years. And one of the reasons is because there were allegations that he was associated with Russian intelligence. And I think that's one -- that is one of the reasons, obviously, that he's really important for them.
HOLMES: When you stand back and look at Russia today, as you do basically for a living, not just this trial but the war in Ukraine, also the economic damage that is being caused domestically -- and that is growing virtually weekly -- how Putin is behaving generally.
When you look at all of that, do you think Putin continues to have the full support of those around him?
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HOLMES: How secure do you think his position is?
DOUGHERTY: You know, if you are other talking about the public, there has been a little -- I just, in fact, looked at a poll -- I know polls are very difficult to do at any time in Russia, especially now.
But there is a slight uptick since the beginning of the war to now, a 6 percent uptick in the very small number of people who are opposed to the war.
That said, it's very difficult to even express that view. But I think the most important thing to point out right now is in the big cities, like Moscow and St. Petersburg.
The Russian government is trying to make it seem as if war, what war?
There's no conflict.
There's less and less indication on the streets that there actually is a conflict in Ukraine. And I think that is part of governmental strategy. They don't want people to be at this point obsessing about something that could be very negative -- sanctions and also the Russian soldiers, who are coming back, you know, in coffins. So you can see that happening in Moscow right now.
HOLMES: Yes. And some pretty poor economic numbers coming out in the last couple of weeks as well. So sanctions biting. Jill Dougherty, as always, great to have you on and your experience and expertise on this.
DOUGHERTY: Thanks, Michael.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Now a string of earthquakes struck southern Iran on Saturday. The country's semi-official Fars news agency says at least five people have been killed, 44 others injured.
Iran's Red Crescent socie3ty says emergency teams are conducting rescue operations. According to authorities, 12 villages sustained damage. And many homes in one particular village were destroyed.
Coming up here on the program, from the president on down, Democrats pushing to protect abortion rights after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Why the November election could be the ultimate battleground.
And two brothers killed in the Texas migrant tragedy. Their dream: to start a new life in the U.S. We'll be right back.
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(MUSIC PLAYING) HOLMES: New York lawmakers are wasting no time in their efforts to
protect women's reproductive rights. They passed an amendment on Friday to add protection for abortion and contraception rights in the state's constitution.
It's the first of several such measures before it goes to voters next year. Now all of this coming as the governor, Kathy Hochul, took part in a Democratic governors' meeting with President Biden to discuss abortion rights. CNN's Jeremy Diamond with more on that.
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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Biden on Friday sitting down virtually with nine Democratic governors, all of whom are working to reinforce and strengthen abortion rights protections in their states in the wake of that monumental decision by the Supreme Court to overturn Roe versus Wade.
The president reiterating his administration's commitment to ensuring that women have access to medication abortion, including by mail, and also talking about protecting women's rights to travel from states, where abortion is now outlawed, to states where they can indeed access those abortion services.
But two of those governors, Governor Kathy Hochul of New York and Governor Lujan Grisham of New Mexico, both urging President Biden to go further and do more, allowing abortion services to be accessible to women on federal lands, including federal properties like Veterans Administration buildings or Indian health services' medical facilities.
That's something, though, that the White House has effectively ruled out already. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre saying earlier this week that, while it's an interesting idea they looked into, ultimately, they believe it could prove dangerous, including because of the possibility that some of those doctors could be prosecuted under state law.
So ultimately President Biden reiterating what his administration has already been trying to do and also punting, ultimately, to November. The president making very clear that this is now a political issue, the number one political issue perhaps for Democrats, in terms of a rallying, galvanizing cry that they have, heading into these November midterms.
The president reiterated his support for a filibuster carveout that would allow abortion and privacy rights to be enshrined in federal law with just 50 Democratic senators. The problem is that right now two of those Democratic senators oppose such a filibuster carve-out.
And so the president saying he needs two more Democratic senators to be elected in November in order to move forward.
But that is ultimately where the battleground now lays, is in those November midterm elections, as the president also warned that he believes, if Republicans take control of the House and the Senate, that they will try and pass something very different: a ban on abortion nationwide -- Jeremy Diamond, CNN, the White House.
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HOLMES: Family members of those killed in the Uvalde, Texas, elementary school shooting are demanding answers.
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VELMA LISA DURAN, IRMA GARCIA'S SISTER: These kids were obliterated. My sister was obliterated. It was a closed casket. I couldn't hug her. I couldn't touch her. I couldn't say my last goodbyes.
HOLMES (voice-over): Details on what officials say about the police investigation and why the families say it's just not good enough. That's when we come back.
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HOLMES: It has now been more than a month since the elementary school massacre in Uvalde, Texas, and family members of the victims say they're still being kept in the dark about the botched police response. CNN's Rosa Flores reports on their push for answers.
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DURAN: These kids were obliterated. My sister was obliterated. It was a closed casket. I couldn't hug her. I couldn't touch her. I couldn't say my last goodbyes.
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Raw emotions turned to heated exchanges at the Uvalde city council meeting Thursday, after Mayor Don McLaughlin told the room filled with family members of the 19 children and two adults killed at Robb Elementary that there was no new information, he could share on the investigation into the failed police response.
DURAN: Why is it that children are calling 9-1-1 and you can't tell where these calls are coming from, that y'all didn't get it?
My sister had no -- there's nothing saving her. There was a lot of children that could've been saved.
You keep protecting Pete Arredondo. The school board failed because the minute this happened, they should have fired him.
MAYOR DON MCLAUGHLIN, UVALDE, TEXAS: Ma'am, let me tell you something. I feel your pain. We all do.
DURAN: No, you don't, sir. You don't.
FLORES: The mayor said, he, too, is frustrated, with a lack of transparency in the investigation and read this letter from the Uvalde district attorney, "Any release of records to that incident at this time would interfere with the ongoing investigation."
MCLAUGHLIN: Which means, if we release it, she can take us, each and every one of us, to the grand jury and indict each and every one of us. Boy, I've had one heated argument with a district attorney and basically got told I can go fly a kite.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, she doesn't have a heart.
MCLAUGHLIN: No, she doesn't.
FLORES: CNN has reached out to the Uvalde D.A. about the story but so far hasn't heard back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Over and over --
FLORES: Visibly absent from the meeting, recently elected city council member Pete Arredondo.
The head of the Texas Department of Public Safety has identified Arredondo, who is also the school district police chief, as the incident commander.
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FLORES (voice-over): And laid the blame on him for the failed police response to the deadly attack.
The school district placed Arredondo on administrative leave. Arredondo told "The Texas Tribune" he didn't consider himself the incident commander.
Thursday was the second council meeting Arredondo missed. According to the city charter, if he misses one more, he could be removed.
MCLAUGHLIN: If he misses a third, I don't think there's anybody up here that will tell you we won't take the action that we need to take.
FLORES: But that's no consolation for the families who want Arredondo ousted.
ANGEL GARZA, AMERIE JO'S FATHER: We want you all to look at this, as a mayor --
MCLAUGHLIN: I'm not -- I'm trying.
GARZA: -- as a city council member. Look at it as a dad, as a parent.
Don't do what you can do as a mayor, go beyond that. I know there is a limit on what you can do. Go beyond that.
What if it was your kid? You are -- you can't say nothing.
MCLAUGHLIN: OK, you're right.
GARZA: No, you can't. You understand that. So do your part for us. If you can't say something, do something.
FLORES: If Arredondo misses the next city council meeting, which is scheduled for July 12th, he could be voted out by a majority of his city council peers. I reached out to Arredondo's attorney and have not heard back -- Rosa Flores, CNN, San Antonio.
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HOLMES: We are learning one of the men charged in that tragic human smuggling incident in Texas was already under investigation by the Department of Homeland Security. That's according to a criminal complaint filed on Wednesday.
Officials say he was communicating with this suspect about the smuggling, the driver of the semi-truck transporting the migrants. The driver allegedly unaware the air conditioning in the truck had stopped working, resulting in the deaths of 53 migrants.
Officials are calling this the deadliest human smuggling incident in U.S. history. If charged, both men could face the death penalty.
For many of those brave enough to make the dangerous trip across the border, it is a chance at a better life. CNN's Rafael Romo has the story of two brothers, killed in that tragedy, who shared the same dream of reaching the U.S.
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RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SR. LATIN AFFAIRS EDITOR: The two brothers shared a dream: they would travel together by land through Central America and Mexico, hoping to reach the United States in less than two months.
"We planned it all as a family so that they could have a better life," their mother says.
"We wanted them to make their dreams come true."
Twenty-three-year-old Alejandro Miguel Andino Caballero and his 18- year-old brother, Fernando Jose Redondo Caballero, were among the 53 migrants found dead in sweltering conditions inside a tractor-trailer this week in San Antonio, Texas.
A Homeland Security investigations agent says this is the deadliest human smuggling incident in U.S. history.
REP. SYLVIA GARCIA (D-TX): It's just horrific that any human being would treat another human being like this. It's just horrific. And the sooner that we can get the investigation top to bottom, to give us more detail, the better off we are. ROMO (voice-over): The brothers were not traveling alone; 24-year-old
Margie Tamara Paz, wife of the older brother, was also found dead in the tractor-trailer; 28-year-old Adela Ramirez was also among the four Honduran nationals who died there.
A friend of hers in her native Cuyamel, Honduras, says she wanted to travel to the United States to be reunited with her family.
"I'm going to leave," she told me, "because the whole family wants to be together, my mother and my two sisters."
Most of the migrants found trapped in the tractor-trailer came from Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico.
ROMO: The Bexar County medical examiner's office, which is processing the bodies of the deceased, has asked for patience. In a statement, it said that a large number of victims and the expectation that most or possibly all are citizens of foreign countries will likely lead to a prolonged process.
ROMO (voice-over): Among the 16 survivors is the grandson of Bonicificia Sanchez, who lives in a rural area in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca. Asked why her grandson risked his life to get to the United States, "Because we are poor," she said.
"There are no jobs here to make a living. The need is great," an answer that explains why so many continue to seek a dream that, this week, ended in tragedy for dozens of migrants -- Rafael Romo, CNN.
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HOLMES: Still to come here on the program, people in Japan asked to ration air conditioning, even as record-breaking temperatures continue to soar. We'll look at how people are coping.
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HOLMES: Welcome back.
Parts of Japan are struggling with its worst heat wave on record, with temperatures hitting around 40 degrees Celsius for the seventh day in a row. The government is asking people to use less electricity, even rationing air conditioning amid growing power shortages. CNN's Blake Essig with the details.
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BLAKE ESSIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Thousands of visitors flocked to this water park in the Tokyo suburbs. A little splash in the pool to cool off from the summer heat. Japan has been battling a sweltering heat wave for more than a week. The capital just experienced its hottest June since recordkeeping began.
NAO KIGAWA, TOKYO RESIDENT (through translator): It got hot suddenly. And it's really tough. I usually keep the air conditioner below 28 degrees Celsius. It's so hot that I don't even want to walk around outside. I feel really terrible.
ESSIG (voice-over): People are doing whatever they can to stay cool. Some carry around a personal fan while others enjoy a bit of ice cream. Offices in Tokyo even went dark for hours to try to conserve electricity, as the grid strains under the demand for mass air conditioning.
Plus an earthquake forced some nuclear power plants to suspend operations back in March, which pushed Japan's power supply to its limits. This as temperatures in the capital hit more than 100 degrees Fahrenheit or around 38 degrees Celsius in recent days.
SHINJI KIGAWA, TOKYO RESIDENT (through translator): If there's a sudden power outage, we are going to have problems in our daily life. If it gets hotter than this, I think it will not just be a warning but a serious alert that the power outage may happen for real.
ESSIG (voice-over): Extreme conditions aren't just affecting humans. Animals at Tokyo zoo are also feeling the heat.
NAOYA OHASHI, ZOO STAFF MEMBER (through translator): We have a veterinarian doing checkups when needed. In some cases we are letting the animals walk freely from their enclosures to the exhibition area, so they can stay in cooler zones.
[02:40:00]
OHASHI (through translator): Also, we are taking some animals to a back room, where there is good ventilation.
ESSIG (voice-over): Japan's heat wave is just one of many happening around the world. And scientists warn of more extreme weather due to climate change. Temperatures in Japan are expected to ease by Monday as a tropical storm enters the region. But these cooler temperatures will still be above average -- Blake Essig, CNN, Hong Kong.
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HOLMES: A distressed whale is swimming freely now after being rescued by a small crew from the Norwegian Coast Guard. A local ferry operator alerted the agency, which sent a boat to help the struggling animal.
The agency posting this video on its Twitter feed, showing a crew member cutting through a rope and buoy that had trapped the whale.
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HOLMES (voice-over): You see there, the whale thanking rescuers with a surprise shower there, flapping its tail, sending water spraying into the boat. Some good news there. But that thing shouldn't have been in the water to begin with. (END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Terrible.
All right. Up next for our international viewers, "MARKETPLACE MIDDLE EAST." For viewers in North America, CNN NEWSROOM continues with me after the break.
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HOLMES: It has been four days since the January 6th committee presented one of the most vivid and damaging testimonies yet of President Trump's behavior on the day of the Capitol riot.
And now we are learning that star witness Cassidy Hutchinson was contacted at least twice prior to Tuesday's appearance in an apparent attempt to sway her testimony. That may be why the committee rushed to get the former White House aide before the public and under oath.
It's worth noting former Trump adviser Steve Bannon heads to trial in about two weeks for defying a subpoena from the select committee. Bannon's defense argued all mention and images of the riot should be excluded from his trial.
On Friday, the Justice Department told the judge it would not go into those events in depth. For more on the continuing fallout of Tuesday's bombshell testimony, here's CNN's Ryan Nobles.
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RYAN NOBLES, CNN CONGRESIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Witness intimidation has been a serious focus of the January 6th Select Committee.
CNN has learned that both instances, the committee presented as examples of possible witness intimidation during their hearing on Tuesday were directed at their witness Cassidy Hutchinson.
REP. LIZ CHENEY (R-WY): He knows you're loyal and you're going to do the right thing when you go in for your deposition. I think most Americans know that attempting to influence witnesses to testify untruthfully presents very serious concerns.
NOBLES: Sources say the committee believes that pressure was applied on the behest of former chief of staff Mark Meadows, a claim Meadows spokesperson Ben Williamson rejects.
No one from the Meadows camp, himself or otherwise, ever sought to intimidate or shape her conversations with the committee, Williamson said in a statement to CNN. The accusations of intimidation come at the same time "The New York Times reports that organizations close to Donald Trump have been paying for the legal fees of witnesses before the committee. It's a practice that is not uncommon or illegal.
But according to the committee's former senior investigator, it does raise potential problems.
JOHN WOOD, FORMER JANUARY 6 SELECT COMMITTEE INVESTIGATOR: It does run the risk that they'll be less cooperative than they would be if they had attorneys who that were being paid by the clients, in other words, the witness themselves.
NOBLES: The committee is also working with Secret Service to schedule another round of depositions for two agents who worked in the Trump administration, at the center of a district dispute over the former president's conduct inside the presidential SUV on January 6.
CNN learning that the accounts of an angry demanding to go to the Capitol over Secret Service objections started circulating among agents in the months after January 6.
CNN has learned that agent Tony Ornato, who was also Trump's deputy chief of staff, has met with the committee on two previous occasions. Some committee members say his versions of events that day were murky.
REP. STEPHANIE MURPHY (D-FL): Mr. Ornato did not have as clear a memory from this period of time as I would say Ms. Hutchinson did.
NOBLES: Meanwhile, the work of the committee was front and center last night in Wyoming.
HARRIET HAGEMAN (R), WYOMING CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: The "2,000 Mules" movie is something that I think we have great concern about.
NOBLES: Vice Chair Liz Cheney's opponent, Harriet Hageman, promoting conspiracy theories about the election results, while Cheney accused Hageman of doing Trump's bidding.
REP. LIZ CHENEY (R-WY): She knows it wasn't stolen. I think that she can't say that it wasn't stolen because she's completely beholden to Donald Trump. And if he says it wasn't stolen, he will not support her.
NOBLES: The committee is scheduling depositions of the two Secret Service agents over the controversy of what happened in the presidential SUV on January 6th. They said they would be willing to come back in and testify about their recollection of the events on January 6th.
[02:50:00]
NOBLES: And there's another key figure the committee is trying to come to an agreement on as it relates to testimony and that's Pat Cipollone, the former White House counsel. Cipollone signaled that he would sit for a transcribed deposition. The committee is looking for much more -- Ryan Nobles, CNN, Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Now witness intimidation is, of course, a serious criminal offense. And the Justice Department might yet take action. Earlier, CNN's Sara Sidner spoke with Doug Heye, the former communications director at the Republican National Committee. He was asked if Republicans no longer care about impropriety. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOUG HEYE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Politically it may not be a problem. They look to have a big political year certainly in the House of Representatives, potentially in the Senate.
But obviously the Republican Party has morphed over the past few years and part of that by and large said we can't elect this guy. Overwhelmingly, every person who was running for president in 2016 said this guy is terrible until they stopped doing that.
And as that happened, the Republican Party changed. And it's one thing I take issue with, what Elissa (ph) said about Mark Meadows, is this is exactly the Mark Meadows that I met in 2013 and dealt with in 2014.
This is the Mark Meadows that everyone who worked in House leadership knew. If you read John Boehner's book, he has very personal stories about Mark Meadows, where he won't say it's Mark Meadows but it's very clearly Mark Meadows. This shouldn't surprise anybody that this is where a lot of this is being pointed to now.
SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Do you think, from the Mark Meadows that you know, that he would be capable of doing something like --
(CROSSTALK)
HEYE: Without question.
SIDNER: -- trying to intimidate a witness?
HEYE: Without question. He is somebody who John Boehner, in his book, talks about a story of an unnamed member of Congress, that everyone knows is Mark Meadows, that literally got on his knees in the Speaker's office and said, "I beg you to forgive me."
That's Mark Meadows.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Peak travel season has arrived in the U.S. with the 4th of July holiday weekend. Airlines and passengers bracing for chaos and, as CNN's Pete Muntean reports, the blame game well underway.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Millions of passengers are descending on airports along summer storms putting short-staffed airlines to their biggest test in years. The TSA screened 2.44 million passengers at U.S. airports on Thursday, just shy of a new pandemic era record.
DAVID PEKOSKE, TSA ADMINISTRATOR: It feels much more like 2019 then the prior two years.
MUNTEAN: Though with more problems for passengers, 3.5 percent of all flights this year have been canceled. A 42 percent increase over 2019.
ANGEL ORSINI, PASSENGER: Prepared to go there earliest time as possible.
MUNTEAN: Airlines say they're facing a range of challenges at the carrier and federal government level.
Just this week, airlines pointed to air traffic control delays caused by staffing issues at a key facility in Florida.
So who is really to blame when it comes to these massive cancellations?
PETE BUTTIGIEG, U.S. SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION: The bottom line is airlines that are selling these tickets need to have the crews and staff to backup those skills.
MUNTEAN: In an email to customers, Delta Air Lines CEO is apologizing for cancellations, saying, quote, the environment we're navigating today is unlike anything we've ever faced. Thursday, off-duty Delta pilots organized picket lines at major hubs saying they are overworked.
CAPTAIN JASON AMBROSI, CHAIR, AIR LINE PILOTS ASSOCIATION: We've been flying record amounts of overtime in the recovery to help get our passengers safely to their destinations. MUNTEAN: And its 24/7 command center in Virginia, the FAA says it is
monitoring potential weather delays in cities across the country from forecasted thunderstorms, wind and low clouds.
LAKISHA PRICE, AIR TRAFFIC MANAGER, FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION: No one wants to be delayed but sometimes that happens. We are always working together intricately to make sure that we mitigate that as much as possible.
MUNTEAN: Delta Air Lines is practically encouraging its passengers to avoid the travel mess this weekend. It just instituted a system-wide travel waiver allowing all of its passengers to re-book their flights completely free of charge now for July 4th. There are also reports that passengers on an overbooked Delta flight from Grand Rapids were offered $10,000 to give up their seat.
The delays and cancellations are piling up right now. The FAA has instituted ground stops and seven airports up and down the East Coast from D.C., all the way to New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(WEATHER REPORT)
[02:55:00]
HOLMES: Now for years, Venice has attracted massive crowds of tourists. Now it says it's found a way to keep the numbers down. Beginning in January, the city plans to introduce an entrance fee. It's been in the works for while but was paused because of COVID-19.
Ticket prices will vary from three to 10 euros each day. But some will be exempt, such as residents and students.
I'll have more news in a moment.
