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British Prime Minister Clings To Power Amid Resignations And Calls To Quit; Ukraine U.S. Rocket System Is Now Most Important Weapon; July 4th Parade Shooting Gunman Facing Seven Murder Charges, Held Without Bond; Texas School Shooting Report Details Missed Opportunities To Stop Gunman. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired July 07, 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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[00:00:53]
LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello everyone, I'm Lynda Kinkade.
Ahead on CNN NEWSROOM. Refusing to resign, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson tries to hold on to power despite a growing party rebellion.
Plus, a powerful gift from the United States that Ukraine hopes will reverse Russia's war momentum.
And the man accused of the July 4th massacre in the U.S. tells authorities he almost carried out a second deadly attack.
ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN Newsroom with Lynda Kinkade.
KINKADE: Defiant and determined British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is vowing to stay in power and fight on even as calls for him to step down grow louder, and the list of resignations grows longer.
Discontent over his leadership intensified over the last week is yet another scandal engulfed his government. And that led to bombshell resignations from two key cabinet members on Tuesday, the finance minister and the health secretary.
Since then, dozens of other lawmakers are following suit and stepping down. One of the latest the Secretary of State for Wales Simon Hart.
But Wednesday night, Mr. Johnson took matters into his own hands firing ally and senior Cabinet Minister Michael Gove. Sources say Gove urged the Prime Minister earlier in the day to accept that his time was up.
We've also learned a delegation of cabinet members went to Downing Street to ask Mr. Johnson to resign. It comes after he was battered by questions during an appearance before a parliamentary committee.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: The last thing this country needs -- the last thing -- I'm not going step down the last thing this country needs, frankly, is election. What this on the contrary, I think the risk is -- the risk is that people continue to focus on this type of thing and I think that is -- what we need to do is to get on with --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Well, even the U.K. Attorney General is saying that the time has come for the Prime Minister to step down.
CNN's Bianca Nobilo has more from London.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNSON: I abhor bullying and abuse of power anywhere, in Parliament, in this party or in any other party.
BIANCA NOBILO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Boris Johnson seemingly unsinkable premiership once again on the rocks but this time it is different.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Treading the tightrope between loyalty and integrity has become impossible in recent months.
NOBILO: Trust in Johnson's word almost completely eroded, say more than two dozen members of parliament resigning from government within 24 hours, including two of his most prominent cabinet ministers.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid, saying I can no longer in good conscience continue serving in this government. Chancellor Rishi Sunak reasons the public rightly expect government to be conducted properly, competently and seriously.
Boris Johnson in his office now being held to account over the handling of allegations of sexual misconduct by a member of government after a former top civil servant broke ground to accuse them of lying about not knowing of a previous official complaint of alleged sexual misconduct before promoting the Member of Parliament involved. Johnson has since admitted he did know about the allegations.
KEIR STARMER, LABOUR PARTY LEADER: For a week, he's had them defending his decision to promote a sexual predator. Every day the lines he's forced them to take have been untrue.
And now, he wants them to go out and say that he simply forgot.
JOHNSON: I greatly regret that he continued in office.
NOBILO: Just last month, the prime minister was booed in public before narrowly surviving a confidence vote by members of his own party following the latest scandal party gate.
[00:05:03] NOBILO: Now, a source close to one of his most loyal supporters. Home Secretary Priti Patel tells CNN that she's told the prime minister the view of the party is that he has to go, as more letters voicing no confidence in the prime minister are going in and members of parliament suggest changes to the rules of the conservative backbench 1922 committee, so another vote can be held before some parliamentary recess.
The question for many now appears to be not a matter of if, but how soon his premiership will end.
Bianca Nobilo, CNN, London.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Joining me now is Dominic Thomas, CNN, European Affairs commentator and professor at UCLA. Good to have you with us.
DOMINIC THOMAS, CNN EUROPEAN AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: Yes, here we go again, Lynda.
KINKADE: Yes, here we go again. It is getting worse. 45 resignations from the government in the last 24 hours or so. The government is hemorrhaging. And Boris Johnson seems to be hanging on by a thread.
THOMAS: It's an incredible situation. I mean, I guess I just cannot help but be reminded of the election in the United States where you had a president. In other words, former President Trump that refused to recognize the outcome of an election.
And here you have another elected leader of a so-called democratic country who is not certainly and following precedent and refusing to walk away, when it is absolutely clear that he's lost the confidence of the people. Well over 70 percent are now saying in polls across the board that they believe he should step away.
And he certainly lost the competence of lawmakers. When it comes to his immediate entourage and cabinet. Yes, big names have stepped down. They've told him it's time to go but they themselves in many cases have not resigned. And so, you see him here hanging on through the weekend. And we'll see where we end up Monday with this Lynda.
KINKADE: Exactly. And Dominic, one of those telling the prime minister to resign was of course the senior minister Michael Gove. Johnson responded by sacking him. What should we read into that?
THOMAS: Well, I mean this once again, he is surrounded by this group of people who in many ways you could say this entourage have enabled him, they have defended him and throughout, they're talking today about, you know, values and ethics. But it's been well known to many people that this administration under him has not been un-functional. They have not been involved in lawmaking and legislating. They've been involved in defending the prime minister repeatedly over a two plus year period.
And so, him coming up against Gove, who's a respected member, a reasonable member of that -- of that cabinet, but with a long standing history of tension and conflict with Boris Johnson over Brexit, over his various campaigns, and so on and so forth.
But essentially saying, you're either with me, or you're against me here. And if you're not willing to back me and defend me in this, then it's time to step away, and you are replaceable.
And thus far, he has been able to fill these high ranking positions, but then the situation has disintegrated and deteriorated over the day, so that you now have a whole range of members of this supporting group from junior ministers, and so on and so forth that are now stepping away, and I think it's becoming untenable for him to remain in power.
KINKADE: And it seems likely Dominic that there will be another confidence vote. When do you think that could happen if it does? And how do you see it playing out?
THOMAS: Well, this whole situation, the fact that we're on a, you know, a third conservative party prime minister, the fact that they had this majority, which means that they don't have to go back to the British people, that this is an internal issue just points to the sort of the level of dysfunctionality within that party.
And yet, it translated into this incredible majority, because I think voters was so tired of the whole process of Brexit.
So, this 1922 committee, it's just essentially a committee of high ranking conservative party members meeting on Monday, there's some reforms that have to take place in there, because they're changing the leadership structure and they recently voted on him. And in theory, the prime minister could have stayed in office for another year, because he survived that last confidence vote.
But that likelihood they will change the regulations and they will be able to have a vote, and at that particular juncture, it will be impossible for him to stay on.
There is one caveat. What's interesting, though, is that Boris Johnson has essentially, in many ways, been playing this out in the public square, and threatening MPs with the possibility of a general election.
And the last thing that conservative party wants to do is to go to the polls at this moment when they know that Boris Johnson wouldn't do well. And when they haven't had a chance to replace him. They'd rather wait it out for a two year period and go into the 2024 general election. But he's been playing with that.
There are various mechanisms that might make that possible. I think it's very unlikely, but he's certainly appealing to their fears, and essentially arguing that for the time being, give him another chance, let him recover. And let's do this in a different kind of -- following a different kind of timetable. I don't think they're going to follow him though, Lynda.
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KINKADE: Yes. He is hoping that that more time will help his case. And we are hearing that there are tax cuts that are expected to be announced next week. Will that help? Is the prime minister hoping that will be a welcome distraction?
THOMAS: I mean, it's another question of distraction, right? It's like going off to Ukraine dealing with foreign policy.
I think at this stage, things really, really went down the slippery slope in one direction today. And I think it would be really quite remarkable if he was to -- if he was to recover from this. And I think that the damage to the -- to the conservative party at this particular stage where they have an opportunity in a timely way to oust him, to pursue a leadership challenge on their term, to hold on to their majority and to rebuild in their camps as they head into a general election down the road would seem like the most obvious way forward.
But as we've seen in the past, it's not over till it's over when it comes to Boris Johnson, but I don't think that any kind of appeal with policies and so on is going to change anything at this particular juncture.
KINKADE: Yes, I mean, he's certainly has survived many scandals in the past. I suspect we will be speaking again in about 24 hours. Dominic Thomas, thanks so much.
THOMAS: Thank you, Lynda.
KINKADE: Ukraine claims it is inflicting enormous losses on Russian troops in eastern Ukraine, but it's not enough to stop the Russian advance.
Ukrainian officials believe the Russian's next objective is the city of Sloviansk. It's one of the few remaining Ukrainian strongholds in the Donbas region.
With much of Russia's firepower now aimed at Sloviansk in nearby towns, Ukrainian civilians still in the area of being urged to get out if they can.
The Russian airstrikes are not limited to the Donbas. Ukraine's president says a teachers' college in Kharkiv was destroyed on Wednesday by a Russian missile, and Ukrainian troops are wasting no time putting into action long range rocket systems recently provided by the United States.
But keeping these prized weapons hidden from the Russians means they can't stay in one place for very long.
CNN's Phil Black visited one such mobile unit near the frontlines.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A secret location, a precious weapon, the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System for HIMARS, a powerful gift from the United States to Ukraine.
So far, they've only received four of these launches. But the scorch marks on the earth show they've been busy. Their commander Alexander says the HIMARS is now Ukraine's most important weapon.
He says it's more precise, deadly. And the Russians should fear it.
The operators say its accuracy and range about 44 miles allows them to hit important sites deep inside Russian controlled territory.
Mostly command post weapons and ammunition storage. Efficiently, Ukraine confirms a few of the HIMARS strikes, but the evidence is out there. The crew says after each launch, they mine Russian new sites in social media to see the impact of their work.
Alexander says 20 minutes after our job is done. All the information is public.
There was no comment from Ukraine over the cause of this huge explosion at a weapons depot close to the Russian border. The local pro-Russian forces were in no doubt, only Ukraine's new HIMARS could have done this.
The system's job is to take out high value Russian targets but the Ukrainians know this is now a high priority target for the Russians. A lot of care has been taken to ensure it stays safe, protected from Russian eyes and weapons.
Somewhere in the woods and fields nearby, air defense systems and a special ground operation are guarding this site. And they're all moving constantly, never staying longer than a day in one location.
In another site, the HIMARS's ability to influence this war, Ukrainian leaders can't stop saying thank you. No other donated weapon has inspired so much public gratitude from the president, the defense minister and the military.
This commander wants to thank the American people and President Biden for providing a weapon that is helping Ukraine stay in the fight.
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BLACK: But he and every other soldier here knows Russia still has the momentum in this war. And that's why their message to their allies is unchanged.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Well, the U.S. is expected to send four more of those units to Ukraine in the near future.
In early Wednesday, Russia's military claims they've destroyed two of them in the Donetsk region. Ukraine denies their claim accusing the Russians of spreading propaganda.
Still to come, the suspect in the Illinois parade shooting made his first court appearance.
Just ahead, we'll tell you what prosecutors say he admitted and why the attack could have been much worse.
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KINKADE: Welcome back, the gunman in the Fourth of July parade shooting is being held without bond in an Illinois jail. But getting a look at some of the evidence prosecutors have against him and why they say the shooting spree could have been much worse.
CNN's Ed Lavandera reports.
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ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Appearing in court for the first time since the July 4th massacre, prosecutors say shooting suspect Robert Crimo III admitted to opening fire on parade goers celebrating Independence Day in Highland Park, Illinois.
Authorities say 330 round magazines and 83 spent shell casings were recovered and that Crimo was considering another shooting in Madison, a 2-1/2 hour drive away.
CHRISTOPHER COVELLI, DEPUTY CHIEF, LAKE COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: He did see a celebration that was occurring in Madison and he seriously contemplated using the firearm he had in his vehicle to commit another shooting in Madison.
LAVANDERA: A judge ruled he will be held without bond.
The state's attorney is charging the 21-year-old with seven counts of first degree murder. The FBI is also considering federal charges.
ERIC RINEHART, LAKE COUNTY STATE'S ATTORNEY: These are just the first of many charges that will be filed against Mr. Crimo. I want to emphasize that there will be more charges. We anticipate dozens of more charges centering around each of the victims.
LAVANDERA: New surveillance video captured the commotion after the gunfire started. Some parade spectators were scrambling into a nearby outdoor apparel store a few stumbling upon entry than ducking for cover.
Crimo's past contact with law enforcement is now under scrutiny. Police say they were contacted in April of 2019 after Crimo tried to kill himself. The matter was treated as a mental health matter and no police action was taken.
Five months later, a family member contacted police reporting that Crimo had a collection of knives and said he was going to "kill everyone". Police responded and removed 16 knives, a dagger and a sword from his home. No one from his family, however, filed a complaint. Later that day, the knives were returned to Crimo's father who claimed they were his.
[00:20:06]
LAVANDERA: Despite all of this, Crimo was still granted a firearm card by Illinois State Police with his father sponsoring the application for the card. The agency says Crimo passed four background checks between June of 2020 and September of 2021.
NANCY ROTERING, MAYOR OF HIGHLAND PARK, ILLINOIS: I'm looking forward to an explanation of what happened. We in Highland Park, our police department did the right thing, filed the necessary reports and I am waiting for that explanation I expected in the next few days.
LAVANDERA: As the community mourns, more witnesses are coming forward sharing their harrowing experience.
BRYANT SIVESS, PARADE ATTENDEE, HELPED VICTIMS: The whole time, I was just trying to figure out what's going on. You know, what do I need to do?
LAVANDERA: Bryant Sivess attended the parade with his wife and four kids. He says his oldest son was briefly missing after the shooting stopped, but says he still managed to help victims while searching for his child. He eventually found his son in a nearby jewelry store.
SIVESS: I came and got him and just asked where he have been, we were scared to death. You know, we didn't -- we didn't know if he had been shot. That's why we couldn't find him and we didn't know if he was just hiding somewhere, we didn't know.
LAVANDERA (on camera): Authority say they don't know why the alleged gunman didn't carry out the second attack in Madison, Wisconsin, but that the early indication is that the shooter did not prepare or research that enough.
As far as the overall motivation for this attack on the Highland Park Fourth of July parade, investigators say that they are hesitant to speculate because right now the motive isn't necessarily clear.
Ed Lavandera, CNN Highland Park, Illinois.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: A new report on the police response to the elementary school massacre in Uvalde, Texas missed details, a series of missed opportunities and mistakes. Chief among them, the report says a police officer had an opportunity to take out the gunmen before he entered the school but he didn't. The shooter went on to kill 19 students and two teachers.
CNN's Rosa Flores has more.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): These new stunning details is by a review by law enforcement training experts that looked at video at witness accounts at documents and determined that there were at least two instances in which police officers could have stopped the gunman before the gunman entered the school.
Now, the first instance is very early on, right after the gunman crashed near the school. According to this review, it states that this law enforcement officer who was armed with a rifle had a chance to take a shot at the gunman. And the report says the following "The officer armed with a rifle asked his supervisor for permission to shoot the suspect. However, the supervisor either did not hear or responded too late. The officer turned to get confirmation from his supervisor. And when he turned back to address the suspect, he had entered the West hallway unabated."
Now, the other instance according to this report, is there was a school resource officer that was in the parking lot. He was driving his cruiser in the parking lot and the gunman was still outside the school.
But this report says that this police officer was driving too fast and didn't see the gunman, the gunman then entered the school.
One of the other interesting details pointed out in this report is that once the officers did go in and we know from this outline, and also the one presented by Texas DPS that there were 11 officers in the first three minutes of this shooter entering the school.
According to this report, the officers lost momentum when they didn't return fire and instead retreated after that engagement with the shooter.
Now, one other thing that I should mention about this is the incident command. According to this report, there was an issue with incident command.
Now, Texas DPS has previously identified School Police Chief Pete Arredondo as the incident commander. This report does not say that. In fact, this report says that there was an issue with the lack of incident command and I'm going to quote here, it says: "It does not appear that effective incident command was established during this event. The lack of effective command likely impaired both the stop and killing and stop the dying parts of the response."
Key there, stop the dying. One of the final things that I want to mention about this report is that it explicitly says that people could have been saved if received more rapid medical care.
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FLORES: Difficult pill to swallow there, considering that the families of the victims here are yet again receiving different set of facts about this terrible massacre. Back to you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Thanks to Rosa Flores for that report.
Still to come, a growing revolt and a top ally fired and yet, the British Prime Minister is refusing to step down. His government is hemorrhaging support in the coming hours could be crucial.
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KINKADE: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, I'm Lynda Kinkade, thanks for being with us.
The British Prime Minister insists that key is not going anywhere. But how much longer can he hold on?
Boris Johnson's beleaguered government has suffered dozens of defections. His top Tory ministers, past and present try to convince him to step down.
He survives scandal after scandal but is now facing the most intense efforts yet to force him from office. Among those urging him to go is Ally and senior Cabinet Minister Michael Gove on the far right, whom the Prime Minister then sacked. That's after two bombshell cabinet resignations on Tuesday. And to that, the departure of Simon Hart as Secretary of State for Wales on Wednesday.
During a bruising round of prime minister questions on Wednesday, Mr. Johnson dismissed questions about whether an election was imminent.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNSON: You're asking about something that is not going to happen. History teaches us that the best way to avoid pointless political disturbance is to allow the government has a mandate to get on and deliver its mandate. That is what we're going to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Well, it's already been a momentous week for the British prime minister and the coming hours could be critical as he clings to power.
Let's take a look back at how the growing mutiny evolved beginning with the breaking news on Tuesday.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We start with breaking news, in the last hour, the U.K. prime minister has suffered not one, but two devastating blows. Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak and Health Secretary Sajid Javid posted on Twitter within moments of each other, saying they could no longer work for government mired in scandal.
SAJID JAVID, FORMER BRITISH HEALTH SECRETARY: We have the Sue Gray report, a new Downing Street Team. I continued to give the benefit of the doubt.
And now this week again, we have reason to question the truth and integrity of what we've all been told.
And at some point, we have to conclude that enough is enough. I believe that point is now. [00:30:13]
MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They weren't the only ones to step down. U.K. assistant general Alex Chalk said he was resigning with great sadness, but he can't defend the indefensible.
Several junior ranking government officials also quit. And the Conservative Party vice chair announced live on television that he, too, planned to leave his post.
BIM AFOLAMI, BRITISH CONSERVATIVE PARTY VICE CHAIR: I just don't think the prime minister any longer has not just my support, but he doesn't have, I think, the support of the party or, indeed, the country anymore. And I think for that reason, he should step down.
FOSTER: His office is moving quickly to fill those vacant posts. Nadhim Zahawi, previously, the secretary of state for education, has been appointed chancellor.
And Downing Street chief of staff Steve Barclay is the new health secretary.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think this prime minister has integrity?
NADHIM ZAHAWI, BRITISH CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER: I do. I think he --
KAY BURLEY, SKY NEWS: That's all we need to know.
BARCLAY: Because he's determined to deliver for this country.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The only thing he's delivering is chaos. Anyone quitting now after a defending all that hasn't got a shred of integrity. Mister speaker, isn't this the first recorded case of the sinking ship fleeing the rats.
IAN BLACKFORD, WESTMINSTER LEADER, SCOTTISH NATIONAL PARTY: Whether he ignores it or not, he's never (ph) next prime minister. He will leave behind two deeply damaging legacies. I hope the dishonesty of his leadership follows him out of the Downing Street door.
BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Frankly, Mr. Speaker, the job of the prime minister in difficult circumstances, when he's been handed a colossal (ph) mandate, is to keep going. And that's what I'm going to do.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Boris Johnson's parliamentary private secretary is echoing his remarks there, saying the prime minister is going to fight on.
CNN's Isa Soares spoke with James Duddridge, who says Mr. Johnson believes he could survive another confidence vote.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JAMES DUDDRIDGE, BRITISH CONSERVATIVE M.P.: He's fighting on, because he believes he can win. He understands that there's going to be a 2022 election for new members. He understands that they could change the rules.
The -- you know, the people that are for change in rules being elected, that is not a given, that they will get through the rule changes. That is not a given. And that they don't need a majority of people having no confidence in him. And that is not a given.
And bear in mind, this isn't going to take place this evening, this fight. It is going to take place when they see the prime minister's decisions, his new fresh cabinet, his ministerial appointments, the economic plan that will (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and Nadhim Zahawi himself. I'm sure there are other changes that he will make, because he's been listening to people today. He hasn't got everything right and will make changes accordingly.
ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: If he doesn't win a confidence vote, he will resign, I suspect?
DUDDRIDGE: I'm not even thinking about that. My job is to make sure that he wins that vote.
SOARES: What we have been hearing from the letters of resignation from Sajid Javid, as well, today is that -- that the prime minister has lost the trust of the people; he lacks integrity. Is the prime minister -- you said the prime minister is listening. Is he listening to what these members of his own party are saying, these 42 people who have stepped down, who were worried about the route that -- the way the prime minister wants to take his party.
Is he listening to what is being said, to what Sajid Javid said today about a question of integrity.
DUDDRIDGE: Yes. And I know he spoke to Sajid at great length in his office at 5:30 yesterday. I've not got a list. Some of the cabinet work being in other parts of the country today. So he's not spoken to every single cabinet minister face to face, as far as I know. But you know, I would guess he'd spoken to the vast majority of the cabinet, perhaps even those who were in London today.
SOARES: And to those who may say he's living an alternative universe. He's actually not really aware of what has happened. The walls really closing in on him. What do you say to that?
DUDDRIDGE: He knows exactly what's going on, because people like me tell him, and the cabinet told him.
SOARES: Do you think he'll have -- I know you think he's not going to -- he's going to win this. But if he doesn't, how wounded would he be, in terms of -- it's not going to be a very dignified exit, if he does lose come Monday, Tuesday, whatever.
DUDDRIDGE: He's planning on success.
SOARES: Very confident. You're sounding very confident, very self- assured.
DUDDRIDGE: I am -- I am just passing on the confidence that the prime minister has. You know, he is up for the fight.
SOARES: He's up for the fight.
DUDDRIDGE: He's coming out of meetings saying, We can do this. Come on. We can do this. We've got the numbers. We're going to make the changes, and we're going to get this done.
SOARES: But do you have the numbers? Do you have the numbers? We're seeing this tally going up considerably throughout the day. How can you have the numbers if you've -- you lost 42, already?
[00:35:03]
DUDDRIDGE: Well, the numbers for what? Those are numbers for --
(CROSSTALK)
SOARES: I'm talking about the support. You've lost the support. You think, come a confidence vote, that you will have that? You are confident, starting (ph) now, that the prime minister can survive this vote?
DUDDRIDGE: I think if the -- if the vote came in this evening, it would be testy. The vote isn't coming this evening. They will see the prime minister having listened. They will see the prime minister having changed. They will see a new economic strategy, and they'll seek tax cuts. And they'll have a new set of ministers. On that basis, yes, he could win.
SOARES: Prime minister listening and changing. What will change from now until Monday, if there is a confidence vote? What kind of prime minister are we going to see in that amount of time?
DUDDRIDGE: He spent a lot of time listening. The only thing he's told me is about the -- the economic changes, the tax cuts, the deregulation and driving through some of the Brexit issues.
SOARES: And he believes that the apology that he has made in the last 48 hours, you think that's sufficient?
DUDDRIDGE: And he's going to continue this dialogue with the public and the -- the members of Parliament. He feels he has a stronger mandate than the one in Westminster. We has a mandate of 40 million people that voted for him in the last general election.
And that's not just a mandate; that is a responsibility, when we're at war with Ukraine, when we've got this really tough cost of living problem. Now is not the time to have a war within the party. Now, is the time for strong leadership and someone who says, Look, I'm staying. We have a job to be done.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: And that was James Duddridge, the parliamentary private secretary to Boris Johnson, speaking with our Isa Soares.
The White House says the president and the vice president spoke on the phone with the wife of Brittney Griner and reassured her that the U.S. is working to secure the basketball star's release.
She's been detained in Russia on drug charges since February.
Mr. Biden is also sending a letter to Griner in response to the one she sent him. Griner's wife spoke at a rally earlier.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHERELLE GRINER, BRITTNEY GRINER'S WIFE: I'm frustrated that 140 days have passed since my wife has been able to speak to me, to our family and to our friends. I'm frustrated that my wife is not going to get justice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: The families of other Americans detained abroad are not satisfied either. That includes the sister of Paul Whelan, who's held in Russia on espionage charges. He's been detained for three years. She's asking why Whelan and his family did not get a letter or a phone call from Mr. Biden, as Griner did.
Well, the Chinese city goes under partial lockdown after the country's first cases of an Omicron subvariant are found. But will its residents comply after coming out of lockdown earlier this year? We'll have a live report.
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KINKADE: Welcome back. In China, the city of Xi'an is under partial lockdown after new cases of a highly-transmissible Omicron's COVID subvariant were detected. Some public venues were closed for at least a week, while the city conducts mass testing.
CNN's Selina Wang joins me now, live from Beijing with more on this.
And Selina, another lockdown, and China's president saying that the zero-COVID policy is working and that it's worth it.
SELINA WANG, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Lynda, well, actually the fact that you have these new outbreaks, you're seeing that reaction. And the fact that new cases of this COVID subvariant have been found just underscores the zero COVID is here to stay.
Now, Xi'an is home to some 13 million people. That city announced sweeping restrictions lasting seven days that will partially lockdown the city. So this includes large venues like bars, gyms, libraries, museums closing down. Schools were asked to start summer holidays early. Restaurants, large gatherings, dining at restaurants are banned, as well. So this really brings back painful memories for the residents of
Xi'an, because from December to January, this city had been under a harsh lockdown. And it sparked shock and anger across China because of so many complaints about food shortages and just heartbreaking stories of critical patients being denied medical care.
And you've got another city, as well, that just exited a brutal lockdown, Shanghai. And growing paranoia there, as well, because new cases were found. And so now that city is undergoing mass testing.
Meanwhile, here in Beijing, the city has announced the country's first ever vaccine mandate. So starting next week, people here are going to have to show proof of a COVID test in order to enter any public venue.
Now, we already have to show a recent COVID test in order to enter a public venue. We've got to scan in our health codes. So now this is an additional layer.
Now, while China has a high vaccination rate overall, the concern here is that the rate of vaccination plus a booster for the elderly population here is still lagging behind.
And what's alarming for officials in China right now is that we're talking about this new Omicron subvariant. Highly transmissible, it's quickly overtaking in the U.S. and Europe.
Well, here in China, the homegrown vaccines, studies show are not as effective against the Omicron variants as the mRNA vaccines. China still has not approved any foreign mRNA vaccines. And while China is currently trying to develop their own mRNA vaccines, well, experts fear that by the time it's ready, it may actually even be too late because of how quickly these variants are mutating -- Lynda.
KINKADE: All right. Selina Wang, staying across (ph) it all for us from Beijing. Thanks very much.
Well, the most famous bull-running festival in the world has literally returned with a bang.
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KINKADE: The city of Pamplona, Spain, kicked off its annual fiesta Wednesday, the first since the COVID pandemic began. Its signature event, the running of the bulls, gets underway in less than two hours.
And that's when revelers will try to out-run a group of bulls charging through the city's narrow streets. The bull run will be held daily until the end of the eight-day festival.
Animal rights groups have been campaigning to have those events banned.
Thanks so much for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Lynda Kinkade. WORLD SPORT starts after a short break. And I'll be back with much more news at the top of the hour.
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