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Three Dead in Mass Shooting in Denmark; Bodycam Video Released of a Black Man Killed by Police in Akron, Ohio; Russia Captures Lysychansk; President Xi Jinping in COVID Scare in Hong Kong; U.S. Monitoring Cases of Monkeypox; Ukraine Withdraws From Key Eastern City Of Lysychansk; Ukraine: At Least Six Killed Amid Heavy Shelling In Sloviansk; Reuters: Turkey Detains Russian Ship Carrying Grain. Aired 2-2:45a ET

Aired July 04, 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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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN HOST: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. You are watching "CNN Newsroom" and I am Rosemary Church.

Just ahead, police look for a motive in a deadly shooting at a Copenhagen mall. We will bring you the latest on the investigation there.

An Ohio community demands justice after the release of police body cam video showing the shooting of a black man.

Ukraine loses a key city as it prepares to ask donors to help start recovery. We are live in Kyiv.

Good to have you with us. We begin this hour with a rare mass shooting in Denmark. At least three people are dead and several injured after a gunman opened fire Sunday in a busy shopping mall in Copenhagen

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We are told a man in his 40s and two younger people were killed. Three of those injured are in critical condition. Witnesses described a chaotic scene.

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CASSANDRA STOIZ, WITNESS (through translation): We were five meters from an exit. We ran to it and we were told to go to the roof. We stayed on the roof maybe 15 minutes. The police arrived. People kept running. I don't know if they were running after him. It was panic. It was not very clear.

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CHURCH: The suspected gunman is due to face a judge on Monday. CNN's Nada Bashir is in London with more details on this.

NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: Well, the investigation is still very much ongoing and we are still learning more information about this incident hour by hour. At this stage, police have confirmed that one individual has been arrested. A 22-year-old Danish man was identified.

And police have said that there was no indication that other shooters were involved, but they haven't been able to formally rule out the possibility of further suspects just yet.

But of course, they have confirmed that tragic news that there are several fatalities reported, and at least three people have been hospitalized so far. But police have yet to provide any further details on their current condition.

That said, the hospital where these three individuals were taken has said that extra staff were called in to deal with the emergency situation. The incident, of course, took place during a busy Sunday afternoon at Copenhagen's Field's mall, a popular shopping center in the city. And area that is very close to one of the city's largest concert venues where pop star Harry Styles had been due to perform.

For now, police said they are maintaining a heavy presence at the scene as their investigation continues. But the key question remains, what was the motive behind this incident? That is still unclear although police officials have said that they cannot rule out the possibility that this may have been terror-related.

However, I have to stress that the motive is still very much unclear and the investigation remains ongoing. Nada Bashir, CNN, London.

CHURCH: The city of Akron, Ohio is on edge after police released disturbing body cam video showing the fatal police shooting of a 25- year-old black man. Akron's police chief says Jayland Walker suffered at least 60 gunshot wounds citing a medical examiner's report.

The release of this information comes nearly a week after officers tried to stop Walker from an alleged traffic violation. CNN's Polo Sandoval is following this case and the investigation into the officer's actions.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Authorities here in Akron, Ohio vowing to proceed with this investigation with transparency and with scrutiny as well as they continue to look into the police shooting of Jayland Walker. Over the weekend, authorities in the city of Akron released about 18 minutes' worth of video, each minute basically offering a different perspective, showing those responding officers, about eight total, before they opened fire shooting and killing Walker.

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Investigators also over the weekend saying or at least sharing more about that possible perceived threat that provoked the lethal response from officers, including a single gunshot that came from inside of the car while police were chasing the vehicle that was being driven by Walker. And, it was shortly after that pursuit turned from a vehicle chase to a foot chase that you can see in the video.

Clearly, those eight officers opened fire with a barrage of bullets. The police chief saying on Sunday that those officers will have to account for each one of the shots that they fired.

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STEPHEN MYLETT, AKRON POLICE DEPARTMENT: They need to be able to articulate what specific threats they were facing. And that goes for every round that goes down the barrel of their gun. And they need to be held to account.

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SANDOVAL: The investigation is now in the hands of state authorities here. Both the Walker family and APD maintain that Walker himself was unarmed at the time of the actual police shooting. So, in the meantime, investigators continue to press on with the case as the people here in Akron continue to call for accountability and for justice.

As for the eight officers, involved they continue on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation. Polo Sandoval, CNN, Akron, Ohio.

CHURCH: We turn now to Ukraine where Russian forces have claimed control of a critical city in the east. On Sunday, Ukraine's military said that it was forced to withdraw from Lysychansk, a key target in Russia's push to take control of the Donbas.

The loss likely means Russian forces now effectively control the entire Luhansk region and can shift their focus to advancing in neighboring Donetsk. And already cities there are coming under increased attack in Sloviansk.

Ukrainian officials say at least six people were killed and 15 wounded amid some of the heaviest shelling in recent days. In his nightly address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia has built up massive firepower in the Donbas. Still, he vowed Ukraine's military will retake the territory they have lost.

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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (through translation): If the command of our army withdraws people from certain points of the front where the enemy has the greatest fire superiority and particular the supplies to Lysychansk. It means only one thing. We will return. Thanks to our tactics, thanks to the increase in the supply of modern weapons.

Ukraine does not give anything up. We are gradually moving forward in the Kharkiv region, in the Kherson region, and at sea, Zmiinyi is a good example of this. There will be a day when we will say the same about Donbas.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CHURCH: And for more on this, we want to bring in CNN's Scott McLean. He joins us live from Kyiv. Good to see you, Scott. So, it appears Russia now controls the Luhansk region in the east. But Ukraine vows to regroup and fight back while calling for more heavy weapons from the west. So, what is the latest on all of this?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Rosemary. Look, this is mission accomplished for the Russians. At least that's much how they would very much like to see it. Partially, accomplished, I should say. Of course, they still have far more goals in Ukraine that they would like to accomplish. But taking the entire Luhansk region is certainly one of them.

The leader of the breakaway LPR region said that this day is one that's going to go down in history. Now, the Ukrainian army chief in that region says that the Ukrainians actually still do have a very small toehold in the region, in the village of Bilohorivka and one other small village near the boundary.

But effectively, the Russians control virtually everything else. So, by and large they have taken the region of Luhansk. Now, the Ukrainians in their decision to withdraw said that they wanted to preserve the lives of their troops and there's one good reason for that. And that is because they say that they were simply outgunned, they we outmanned both in the skies and on land.

As you mentioned, President Zelenskyy says they are planning to go back and retake that land, of course, but they're not going to do it until they have the heavy weapons to actually match the Russians. Case in point, my colleague, Phil Black, was on the frontlines a couple of days ago and he met with some of the soldiers who are hiding out in the forest as the Russians pushed in. And they said that for every one heavy shot were firing, the Russians are firing 10 or 20 of them.

Now, the good news here, if there is any, is that the local residents who stayed behind, well, they don't have to shelter in their basements anymore because of course it was far too late to evacuate. But what I found very interesting is that CNN actually spoke to the local military chief in that area, as I mentioned, who said that he believes that many of the people who decided to stay, they refused to evacuate.

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And he thinks that's because they were collaborating with the Russians, helping them to adjust their fire, telling the Russians the exact Ukrainian positions, which obviously sped up the process of taking that territory.

He figures the Russians will move on to the Donetsk region. And then once they have, assuming, that they take both Luhansk and Donetsk, they will declare that they are joining Russia so that when the Ukrainians do try to take back their own land, the Russians will say, well, you're attacking Russian territory.

There were already plenty of signs that the Russians have already moved on to Donetsk. You mentioned the shelling in Sloviansk. There was also missile strikes in Kramatorsk, as well, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Alright. Scott McLean, many thanks for that live report. And even as Ukraine suffers a setback on the battlefield, the country is already looking ahead towards its post war recovery. In the hours ahead, officials from around the world will gather in Switzerland to hash out plans for rebuilding Ukraine once the fighting ends.

We've also learned that the U.K. plans to unveil a major aid package during that conference. It includes more than $1.5 billion in loans and other funding. Joining me now from Kyiv to discuss, Kira Rudik is a member of Ukraine's parliament. Thank you so much for being with us.

KIRA RUDIK, UKRAINIAN MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT: Hello. Thank you so much for having me.

CHURCH: So, Russia is gaining significant ground in the east and in response, Ukraine continues to request more weapons from the west. But now President Zelenskyy will be requesting a different form of assistance at today's Lugano Recovery Conference. It might seem premature, of course, in the midst of this ongoing war and continued Russian attacks. But, what does President Zelenskyy need to be asking for at this recovery conference?

RUDIK: Well, first of, all we need to ask for the infrastructure rebuild. It needs to happen, not after the war ends, not after the victory. It needs to happen right now. Because in so many areas of Ukraine, the infrastructure is destroyed and it affects lives of Ukrainian citizens.

And it's not that you can say, okay, let's put it aside and go back to that after the war ends because we are facing very, very complicated autumn and winter, and we need people to have their homes heated. We need people to be able to be transported. We need them to have water supplies, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, and that President Zelenskyy will be asking for.

We need finances to be able to adjust our government to work. And this is where I am personally involved in terms of the digitalization. So, one of the things that we are facing in the country is many different logistical issues like we have many people who don't have documents. We have many children who lost their parents. We have many people who are applying for their humanitarian support without being registered anywhere because they don't have homes anymore.

For that, we are asking support to continue the process of digitalization to make sure that we are able to adjust our processes to the needs of Ukrainian people. Third thing that he will be asking for is, of course, the support of Ukrainian agricultural sector. You see right now that Ukraine used to be one of the third supplies of the world of grains, oil, tomatoes, and corn.

Right now, when our ports are blocked, we need to figure out different logistical ways of delivering the results for our agricultural sector to people. And for that, we also need finances and it needs to happen right now, not after the war ends. CHURCH: And I do certainly understand that you need that money now,

you need that support now, but when it comes to infrastructure particularly, the problem with that, of course, is that the ongoing war. Russia possibly attacking anything that is rebuilt. So, how do you convince nations that it's worthwhile at this juncture to invest money in infrastructure?

RUDIK: We first are convincing nations to provide us with air for protection that we need. Since day one, we have been asking nations to close our sky. It did not happen. However, we are asking and we are provided with certain weapons that will allow us to protect our skies and make sure that certain territories of Ukraine are safe.

With that, we will be able to ask for rebuilt of the infrastructure because these processes need to go in parallel. You are absolutely right.

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It's very questionable to ask people for the money for the rebuild if this rebuilt can be destroyed any minute by Russian rockets. But honestly, everything in Ukraine can be destroyed any minute with Russian rockets. And this is why we are asking both for money for the rebuilt, but also for the weapons to protect us.

For the Air Force protection systems, to make sure that they are at places in my country that are safe. That not only that we can rebuild there, but also for the people that they can come back there, that they can say, okay, this is a safe place for us and our children to stay at.

Ad this is critically important. And today's conference, as well, is pointing this out, saying look, we need to rebuild. We need your support. You already invested so much in us. So, let us protect what you have already invested at.

CHURCH: And just very quickly. Ukraine has had problems with corruption. What is being done right now to address that issue?

RUDIK: This is an ongoing process that we are pushing towards, very, very intensively. This has also been on the list of requirements from the Euro Commission on the candidacy status. So, the corruption issue is not unique for Ukraine, but we are fighting to make sure that we do not lose the trust of people who are giving us money.

And that we are as transparent as possible. This is actually a fantastic chance for my country to kill the snake of corruption that definitely exists and make sure that we move forward in a better, more transparent way.

CHURCH: Kira Rudik, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it.

RUDIK: Thank you and glory to Ukraine.

CHURCH: We have learned that China's President Xi Jinping had a potential brush with COVID during his recent trip to Hong Kong. And this comes as two counties in China face a lockdown amid a surge in cases. We will have details and a live report from Taipei.

And what hard lessons learned from this pandemic can teach us in the fight against monkeypox? I will speak with a doctor from John Hopkins to find out. Do stay with us.

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CHURCH: Welcome back everyone. A Hong Kong lawmaker photographed near Chinese President Xi Jinping has tested positive for COVID-19. President Xi visited the city last week during the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong's handover from Britain to China.

It was his first trip outside the mainland since the start of the pandemic. He joined lawmakers for photos commemorating the event. The person who tested positive says his test was negative on Thursday when the photos were taken.

CNN senior international correspondent, Will Ripley, joins me now live from Taipei. Good to see you, Will. So, what more are you learning about this COVID scare for China's President Xi Jinping?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it shouldn't be entirely unexpected for the people who are handling President Xi Jinping and enforcing this closed loop type operation. And Hong Kong spent weeks trying to prepare for it to make sure that nobody near him got COVID.

But just days ahead of President Xi's visit, two Hong Kong lawmakers tested positive for COVID. And then, as you mentioned, on the Thursday photo session to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong from British rule to Chinese rule, you had Hong Kong lawmakers, Steven Ho (inaudible) who, you know, tested negative that day.

Had been driving back and forth to work in a private vehicle. Had spent the night before in a quarantine hotel and was undergoing daily COVID testing. All of the stringent requirements for the closed loop, it just allows you to get next to, or close to, Xi Jinping, wearing a mask mind you.

And then -- and yet, on the following day, this lawmaker came back with a mild positive result. He skipped events on Friday and then on Saturday was a full boom positive. And the photos from that event show that he was just one row behind President Xi.

Rosemary, zero COVID according to the vast majority of scientists, is entirely impractical. It's not sustainable. It's not realistic. And it causes a great deal of hardship for people who have to endure it including lockdowns for a small number of cases and, you know, people not even being able to carry out basic everyday tasks like going to the hospital to get medication for their parents. There was a viral video showing a woman clashing with police. She

ended up getting charged and was physically roughed up. All for the sake of President Xi's demand that his country has, you know, a really unsustainable, critics say, goal, of zero COVID.

Yes, they have one and a half billion people. They had less than 500 cases just yesterday, but yes, that's not good enough. They want to get down to zero. And with omicron, frankly, what experts say, Rosemary, needs to happen, is that people need to be vaccinated particularly high risk elderly people. And that's where China continues to fall short.

CHURCH: Yes. And of course, you mentioned lockdowns. There are more planned aren't there?

RIPLEY: Oh, yes. You have a county in eastern China that has less than 300 cases. Most of them are asymptomatic. They are now in full lockdown. You know, just like you have seen in Wuhan at the beginning of the pandemic. In fact, it's the same general area where the pandemic is believed to have begun.

You have a city with less than 50 cases, most of them asymptomatic, and they are closing public venues that are under ground, including shops and supermarkets, dine-in services at restaurants suspended. Government telling people that they should work from home, if at all possible, for a few dozen cases, in a city of well over 1 million people.

You know, and again, we are talking about fewer than 500 cases, 488 mostly asymptomatic cases in a country of one and a half billion people. And yet, there are still millions of people living in lockdown and other restrictions, Rosemary.

It's truly baffling. But President Xi is personally issuing these orders. And because he commands near absolute power, this is what's happening and that's what's -- this is how these people lives are being affected.

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CHURCH: Yes. And those lockdowns are a nightmare scenario for people there in China. Will Ripley, joining us live from Taipei, bringing us up to date on. Appreciate it.

Well, U.S. health officials are growing more concerned with the ever growing number monkeypox cases. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least 460 probable or confirmed cases have been reported across 32 states. The Biden administration also announced the delivery of more vaccines as part of the nationwide strategy for preventing the disease.

The CDC reports there have been more than 5,700 cases of monkeypox worldwide. And earlier, I spoke with Dr. Amesh Adalja about the global spread of monkeypox and I asked him what lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic might prove useful as health officials deal with rising cases. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMESH ADALJA, SENIOR SCHOLAR, JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY CENTER FOR HEALTH SECURITY: The best lesson to take from COVID-19 is that you need to be proactive with an infectious disease emergency. To start to anticipate what is going to be the needs for public health agencies.

And I fear that that lesson hasn't quite been learned because we are behind the eight ball when it comes to monkeypox. That we are not as productive as we need to be to contain this as quickly as possible.

CHURCH: So, what more needs to be done at this juncture and where do things stand right now in terms of monkeypox vaccine production and distribution?

ADALJA: Well, you have to remember that when -- the monkeypox vaccine is not something that is designed for monkeypox. It was designed for smallpox, which means it was something that was to be used during a biological weapons attack for smallpox. So, the vaccine that we're currently using is one of the second generation vaccines and there's not much of it around because it was a secondary vaccine designed for smallpox.

So, what we have is maybe about 1 million or 2 million doses on hand for the world. And they are largely concentrated towards the United States. And I think what we have to figure out is what the optimal policy would be.

Is this to vaccinate high risk people and exposures, or do we actually take care of the problematic source and start vaccinating in the endemic countries in Africa so that we don't have monkeypox exportations occurring and we control the problem at its root.

And I think that is something many of us have argued for some time. That if you're going to deal with monkeypox, it needs to be dealt with in Africa first.

CHURCH: And you can see the rest of our conversation next hour right here on CNN. And still to come, why Turkish authorities have reportedly detained a Russian cargo ship carrying thousands of tons of grain. We'll have that on the other side of the break. Stay with us.

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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Welcome back, everyone. Well, Russia has claimed control over a critical city in eastern Ukraine. On Sunday, Ukraine confirmed its troops had withdrawn from Lysychansk, the country's last major stronghold in the Luhansk region. The loss likely means Russian troops now control the entire region, which will allow them to shift their focus to neighboring Donetsk and efforts to seize control of the wider Donbas.

We are already seeing some cities in Donetsk come under fire. On Sunday, Ukrainian officials said at least six people were killed and 15 wounded in Slovyansk amid some of the heaviest shelling in recent days. Those scenes of devastation playing out as officials from around the world gather in Switzerland to hash out plans to rebuild Ukraine once the fighting stops. But the task before them is of course daunting.

Reconstruction is expected to cost hundreds of billions of dollars and could run into the trillions. Meanwhile, Reuters is reporting the Turkish authorities have detained a Russian cargo ship carrying what Ukraine says is stolen grain. Ukraine has accused Russia of stealing grain and territories its forces have seized. So for more we want to bring in CNN's Clare Sebastian. She joins us live from London.

Good morning to you, Clare. So what more are you learning about this Russian cargo ship allegedly carrying stolen Ukrainian grain and now detained by Turkey? What happens next?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. This is -- this is an interesting one, Rosemary. This information coming to Reuters via the Ukrainian ambassador to Turkey. Apparently the ship -- a Russian Flagship named Zhibek Zholy has been detained according to the ambassador by Turkish customs authority there. The Ukrainian foreign ministry has told Reuters that the ship left the port of Berdyansk in Ukraine and was carrying about 4-1/2 tons of what Ukraine says is stolen grain.

As to what happens next, you can see the port of Karasu on the Turkish Black Sea Coast is where it's believed to be now. Reuters reporters have seen it about a kilometer offshore. You can also see it on maritime traffic live sort of shipping maps. What happens next according to the Ukrainian ambassador to Turkey, there will be a meeting today, Monday of investigators to decide what to do next.

Ukraine wants the grain, of course, to be confiscated. But what this underscores, of course, is that one of clearly the most far reaching consequences of this war is what's happening to Ukraine's grain. We know that much of it is still stuck in the country and cannot be exported, leaving, you know, many African-Middle Eastern countries very vulnerable to food and security. And we have reported previously, allegations of stealing smuggling this grain by Russia and attempting to export it for its own gain.

Russia, of course, has denied this, the G7 is trying to tackle it, the U.N. is trying to tackle it. And this also underscores the complicated position that Turkey finds itself and it has been trying to broker talks between sides on ending the blockade of the Black Sea. But of course it also finds itself in the middle of all this, given its geographical location and its potential as a destination for what is now believed to be grain stolen by Russia, Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right. We will of course continue to follow this story. Clare Sebastian bringing us up to date. Many thanks.

Well, Israel and the Palestinian authority don't trust each other to be impartial as they investigate the death of journalist Shireen Abu Aqla. Now the U.S. government is getting involved. We'll take a look at that. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Well, the U.S. is now directly involved with the investigation into the death of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Aqla. The Al Jazeera reporter was covering an Israeli military raid in the West Bank in May when she was killed by gunfire. The U.S. government had been urging the Palestinians for weeks to turn over the bullet that killed her. CNN's Hadas Gold has the latest now from Jerusalem.

HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Nearly two months after Al Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Aqla was killed, we may be getting closer to an answer as to who fired the fatal shot. Over the weekend, the Palestinian authority handed the bullet that killed Abu Aqla over to the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem. Although the Palestinian authority attorney general said they had been given many guarantees by the Americans that the bullet would not be given to the Israelis.

A spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces said they were going to work with the Americans to conduct a forensic investigation. The Palestinian Authority has denied requests to hold a joint investigation with the Israelis saying they can't trust the Israelis. The IDF said the bullet is in the hands of a senior American general who will be present throughout the entire duration of the investigation.

The IDF spokesperson said that the results should be released soon. And that if the investigation showed that an Israeli soldier killed Abu Aqla, they will "take responsibility and will be apologetic." Spokespeople for the Palestinian Authority did not respond to request for comments about the IDF involvement in the bullet's examination. Several investigations by news organizations including CNN as well as by the United Nations Human Rights Office have found that it is most likely that Abu Aqla was killed by Israeli fire and not by gunfire from Palestinian militants as then Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett initially suggested.

The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem has thus far declined to comment. Hadas Gold, CNN, Jerusalem.

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CHURCH: At least six people are dead following an avalanche of ice in northeastern Italy according to CNN affiliate Sky TG 24.

The avalanche occurred on the Marmolada Glacier, the highest mountain in the Italian Dolomites. Alpine Rescue Services say a large section of the glacier broke away and came crashing down on a path to the summit. The area is experiencing record heat for this time of year. At least eight other hikers have been injured and a dozen more have been reported missing. Rescue efforts are continuing.

And thank you so much for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. For our international viewers World Sport is up next. For everyone here in the United States. I'll be back with more news after a short break.

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