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Former White House Counsel Cipollone Testifies For Nearly Eight Hours; Killing Of Japan's Former Prime Minister Shocks The World; Grieving Community In Highland Park Comes Together To Honor Victims; Robert Reich, Former Labor Secretary, Discusses Jobs Report, Inflation, Proposed Windfall Tax, Musk Trying To Get Out Of Twitter Deal; Russian Shelling Of Kharkiv Leaves Elder Ukrainians & Postal Workers Vulnerable. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired July 09, 2022 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:38]

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN HOST: Good afternoon. You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Phil Mattingly in Washington in for Jim Acosta.

The January 6th Committee grilling its most important witness yet behind closed doors for nearly eight hours. Multiple sources are saying Friday's testimony from former Trump White House council Pat Cipollone is, quote, "very important and extremely helpful," and some of it could be revealed as soon as Tuesday at the next public hearing.

Now Cipollone's perspective could be a game-changer in the quest to learn more about former President Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Sworn testimony from previous hearings puts him at the center of multiple pivotal events including in the Oval Office on January 3rd, shooting down Trump's plan to replace the acting attorney general with an election-denying DOJ lawyer.

Cipollone repeatedly warned about the legal pitfalls of Trump going to the Capitol with his supporters. On January 6th, two sources say he was with Trump, watching the riot unfold on television. The next day tried in vain to get Trump to call for the prosecution of the rioters.

Want to bring in CNN's Marshall Cohen.

Marshall, obviously critical testimony on Capitol Hill. What more are we learning about what happened in those eight hours behind closed doors?

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Eight hours. First of all, it's almost miraculous that this even happened, right, Phil. A year and a half has gone on since January 6th. The committee interviewed a thousand witnesses. But they couldn't get Cipollone. Now they did. And they got him on tape, on video, and hopefully in the coming days we'll finally start to see some of that.

The sources that spoke with our colleagues here indicated that it was fruitful, that it was helpful, that Cipollone moved the ball forward on a key piece of this puzzle, the dereliction of duty by Donald Trump which the committee has been obsessed with because they say it's a grave threat to our democracy, our way of government.

Let me play for you a clip from Zoe Lofgren. She's one of the members of the committee, a Democrat from California. She gave our colleague Wolf Blitzer a bit of a read out of this closed door deposition.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ZOE LOFGREN (D-CA): I will say Mr. Cipollone did appear voluntarily and answer a whole variety of questions. He did not contradict the testimony of other witnesses and I think we did learn a few things, which we will be rolling out in hearings to come.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: And that could come as soon as Tuesday, that's the next hearing from this committee. It's going to focus, most likely, on the far- right extremist groups that were all over this insurrection, but it will give the committee a chance to play some of those clips from Cipollone.

MATTINGLY: We've seen them do that multiple times in past committee hearings.

Marshall Cohen, hydrate, eat your Wheaties, it's going to be a busy, busy week for you ahead. Thanks so much, my friend. I appreciate it.

COHEN: Thank you.

MATTINGLY: I want to discuss this further with someone who had an inside view of the Trump administration. Former White House lawyer Jim Schultz.

Jim, thanks so much for taking the time. Just to kind of start off the top, we know and we learned especially from Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony that the former president wanted to go to the Capitol on January 6th. Pat Cipollone was with the former president that day and the committee wanted to hear what he thought about that idea. Walk through why this seems to be such a critical angle for the committee at this point.

JAMES SCHULTZ, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE LAWYER: Look, of course, that's a very critical angle for the committee. Pat Cipollone was in the room blocking and tackling at the right times, and the country should be happy that Pat Cipollone was on the job when he did it. He's a good lawyer, he's a careful lawyer, he -- I'm sure gave his clients good advice. And we will learn whether the -- you know, we will learn how much of that, the client at the time took, and how much they didn't take.

MATTINGLY: You know, there's one source that CNN spoke to tells us that Cipollone's testimony, quote, "further underscores President Trump's supreme dereliction of duty." We've heard that phrase several times over the course of this investigation, usually referring to Trump's actions during the Capitol attack. How damaging could Cipollone's testimony be if he were actually to provide more detail and more color about that time frame? SCHULTZ: Look, I think what you're going to see out of Cipollone's

testimony is less about new information and probably corroborating information from other interviews that have already taken place.

[15:05:06]

So I don't think there's probably a bombshell there, but I think what will happen is -- she said that he didn't contradict any of the prior testimony which means he likely corroborated or confirmed it.

MATTINGLY: And so that's actually one of the interest things. You know, I think what was so jarring about Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony was the proximity. Right? We've known a lot of these issues, maybe not with the color or with the detail, but as you peel back the onion, somebody in the room saying very specifically what happened was game changing to some degree in that hearing in that moment.

There's nobody closer in the room than Pat Cipollone. And I guess my question is, is that what the committee is going for here, is they're continuing to kind of build to some degree as they make the case?

SCHULTZ: They want to know the mindset of Donald Trump, and they want to know the advice that Donald Trump was given and whether or not Donald Trump followed that advice. And that's going to be -- that's going to be key information from the Cipollone testimony.

MATTINGLY: One of the things that I've been very curious about, I think this was one of the reasons that Pat Cipollone was a little reticent to come in over the course of the last several months is the idea of executive privilege.

You obviously worked in the counsel's office. On the former president's social platform, Trump argues that his White House counsel testifying to Congress sets a dangerous precedent. I'm intrigued here because the White House counsel represents the office, not the individual. What's your read on issues of privilege with this testimony in particular?

SCHULTZ: So there's executive privilege and then there's attorney- client privilege. And the executive privilege lies with the executive office right now. Joe Biden sits in that executive office. He has waived those privileges and therefore executive privileges kind of out the window at this point in time as it relates to testimony given before the January 6th Committee.

There are important institutional issues relating to attorney-client privilege that are very, very important and that's why it was so key that they negotiated his testimony, if you will, behind closed doors, on videotape and transcribed because you have to protect the institution for future White Houses and future White House counsels so that a president and his lawyer can have candid discussions about policy issues, legal issues that affect the country, and you're not going to end up before a committee. You saw the same thing with the McGahn testimony and Harriet Meyers before him.

MATTINGLY: Was what your sense? Was that the primary reason in the reluctance for Pat Cipollone to come back in? I mean, he'd been in already voluntarily. Was it about the institution or was it about being perhaps being a Republican lawyer in this town, in this very polarized moment, didn't necessarily want to be center stage given the kind of heat and light surrounding the committee?

SCHULTZ: Pat Cipollone is a lawyer's lawyer. He's a smart guy. He's a very careful lawyer like I said earlier. I think it was more -- I know it was more about the institutional concerns than it was about him personally. When you take those jobs you go in to protect the institution. And that's really the job. And it wasn't his job to be personal counsel for Donald Trump, and that's clear. And that's why he was in there testifying last week.

MATTINGLY: You've said multiple times, including over the course of the last few minutes, Pat Cipollone is a credible witness. Everything we've heard from other individuals almost paint him to be at least the best -- the citizen in best standing in the White House over that period of time, to some degree the only person that was trying to stop many of these things. The idea of credibility, former Trump officials under oath, revealing how dangerous this whole scheme actually was.

Yet Republicans in Congress, Trump's supporters, are still brushing it aside, still trying to discredit, still ignoring it to some degree. What will it take for them to take this seriously and I think the scale of what transpired seriously?

SCHULTZ: Look, I think you've already seen the public opinion start to shift a little bit from Donald Trump to, let's say, in New Hampshire, you know, we have the governor in Florida Ron DeSantis doing better than Donald Trump in that state. I think as public opinion starts to shift, you know, politics usually starts to shift as well.

MATTINGLY: One thing before I let you go. There's kind of a burst of news related to Steve Bannon yesterday. Later this month he'll go on trial on contempt of Congress for charges refusing to cooperate with the January 6th Committee. His claims he's shielded by executive privilege. We've learned Trump is now considering waiving executive privilege for Bannon, potentially clearing the path for him to testify to the Committee.

What do you make of this move? What do you make of the timing of it? And is it even relevant at all whether or not Trump does this?

SCHULTZ: I don't know how relevant it is. It's relevant to Steve's case because Steve is making that argument in court. And that's why it's relevant to Steve's case. Whether or not it's a winning argument remains to be seen. I mean, courts have already knocked down some of that in prior hearings.

[15:10:03]

But I do think that's why it's relevant. It's relevant for Steve's case and for whatever reason, maybe Steve wants to come forward, maybe he wants to talk about what he saw, what he knew, and wants to come forward and testify. I don't really know why he's coming forward now. We know that he has

an impending trial on his contempt hearing. That could have something to do with it as well. And maybe he's going to come to some agreement with the Justice Department. I think that's all -- it's still a little early yet to see what the reasoning is behind it.

MATTINGLY: Yes. We'll have to wait and see. The privilege claim always seemed a little suspicious. He wasn't in the White House, but certainly plenty to play out there.

SCHULTZ: Right.

MATTINGLY: Jim Schultz, appreciate your expertise as always, my friend. Thanks for coming in.

SCHULTZ: Thanks.

MATTINGLY: All right. Coming up the assassination of Japan's former prime minister shocked the world, it shocked Japan. What we are learning about the suspect and his homemade gun.

You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:15:02]

MATTINGLY: New details today in the shocking assassination of Japan's former prime minister Shinzo Abe. Police are releasing more details about that handmade gun allegedly used by the suspect to shoot and murder Abe during a campaign speech on Friday. Japan's national police say they be reviewing the security arrangements that were put in place ahead of Abe's speech to find out exactly what went wrong.

CNN's Paula Hancock is in Tokyo. And Paula, what more do we know 24 hours later about this shooting?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Phil, let's start off with the suspect and the gun that he used. This is what we're learning from a number of police press conferences. They say that he did use a handmade gun. It was effectively two iron pipes stuck together with black tape. They say it was about 40 centimeters long, 20 centimeters wide, and when they searched his apartment on Friday afternoon, they found multiple handmade weapons and handmade guns.

They say some had three or even six barrels. They believe that the guns that they saw, they believe all of those materials he purchased online. They also believe that he chose the most powerful of the weapons in order to carry out this attack.

Now the suspect himself did not run away after the attack. He was arrested. He admitted the shooting. And according to NHK, investigators say that he has admitted that he has a hatred for a certain groups which he believes that Shinzo Abe was affiliated with. Now this is the closest we have got at this point as to some kind of motive for this attack. We understand there are 90 investigators working on this case at this point.

Now when it comes to the security detail itself, to the police response, we heard from the Nara police chief that he says he feels responsibility. He takes responsibility for the security failure, saying that he can't deny that there were problems with the security detail itself. There is an investigation ongoing as to exactly what went wrong -- Phil.

MATTINGLY: And Paula, there's really no precedent for this, the assassination of a major political leader in the last 90 years really in Japan. What are we learning right now about the funeral arrangements for the former prime minister?

HANCOCKS: So what we're expecting at this point, we've heard from Abe's office that there will be a wake on Monday and then there will be a memorial service on Tuesday. NHK saying that it will be led by Shinzo Abe's widow Akie, and as we understand it at this point, it will be mostly for family and also for close friends of Shinzo Abe.

Now earlier -- I should say Sunday morning local time now, on Saturday evening we were outside the house where many people were coming to pay their respects -- Phil.

MATTINGLY: Paula Hancock for us in Tokyo, thanks so much.

Shinzo Abe was Japan's longest serving prime minister and while some of his policies particularly domestically may have been controversial, there's no question he played a pivotal role in shaping Japan as it is today.

Akihisa Shiozaki is a member to Japan's parliament and served as a senior adviser to the prime minister. He joins me now from Tokyo.

First and foremost my condolences. Yesterday was such a stunning day. I guess I would start there. 24 hours later has this started to sink in, what's your reaction to what happened yesterday?

AKIHISA SHIOZAKI, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER TO JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER SHINZO ABE: Thank you. I think the nation is still in shock. Continues to mourn the loss of Japan's probably most influential and popular politician.

Today is election day for the Upper House. But I think the nation is united that we cannot let this kind of violence obstruct our democracy and that we need to be united to overcome this challenge.

MATTINGLY: Yes. I mean, it's certainly shown out by opposition party leaders, many of whom clashed with Prime Minister Abe when he was in office, making it very clear over the course of the last 24 hours this is a moment for unity or a time to pay respect.

One of the things, it was very interesting, obviously I'm in Washington, tend to view things from a domestic perspective. I was talking to friends last night about the prime minister's time in office. I covered President Obama, I covered President Trump. And it was almost stunning, as you walked through the eight years and his second run in the prime minister's office, just the scale of change, dynamic change that he brought both economically, certainly on the foreign policy side of things.

Change that is very much a through line to policies that are being pursued today by the party in power. What stands out about him from your time working together?

SHIOZAKI: I think we need to remember that before Abe Shinzo took office for the second time we had a series of administrations that changed every year.

[15:20:06]

And so the long continuation of his administration allowed the nation, really, to pivot into a -- where we stand today. I think one of his large legacies is bringing back the Japanese economy. When he took office in 2012, the Nikkei stock exchange was below 9,000 yen. It tripled in eight years showing how effective his economic policies were domestically.

MATTINGLY: You know, one of the things President Biden spoke several times about the prime minister and his relationship with him yesterday over the course of the day, and he said something that really struck me when he said that while the stability of the U.S.-Japanese relationship is as solid as it's ever been and will continue to be so, the one concern that he had is that a firearm death, which is very rare in Japan, will have a, quote, "profound effect" on the Japanese psyche.

What's your sense of the -- kind of the reaction right now in the country?

SHIOZAKI: I think there's definitely a tremendous shock. We are not used to seeing this kind of gun violence in Japan. There will definitely be stricter monitoring over these kind of weapons, stricter security measures around politicians. But in terms of diplomat policy, Japan's approach towards international policy, I think Prime Minister Kishida who served more than four years as the foreign minister under the Abe administration is well positioned to carry on Abe's will to bring Japan to take a more active role in international policy. And deepening the Japan-U.S. alliance was a key political objective of Abe's vision.

MATTINGLY: Yes, I mean, it's so striking. Even the lexicon, you know, free and open Indo-Pacific has always been coopted by the U.S. The Quad was something that he was extraordinarily powerful in bringing together. So much of the U.S. policy in the Indo-Pacific region right now was driven at least in part by what Prime Minister Abe did. Certainly an alliance that's not going anywhere any time soon.

Akihisa Shiozaki, I know this is a very difficult moment in time for you and for your country. And thanks so much for taking the time with us.

SHIOZAKI: Thank you. MATTINGLY: All right. Coming up next, we are learning more about the

Highland Park shooter and how he was able to access guns, even though the police had already confiscated weapons from him before.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:27:12]

MATTINGLY: A CNN investigation reveals police made frequent visits to the Highland Park shooter's home in recent years over domestic disputes. During one visit, police in 2019 confiscated more than a dozen knives after the then 18-year-old threaten to, quote, "kill everyone."

Just three years later the shooter's father signed his son's application for a firearms owner identification card. That enabled his son to get a permit to purchase multiple guns before he turned 21 last year.

Now as new details emerge about the mass shooting at the July 4th parade that left seven dead, dozens injured, the Highland Park community is trying to begin the very long process of healing. Residents will gather today for a rally to honor the attack's victims.

More now from CNN's Camila Bernal.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As a way to heal, Steve Tilken visits this makeshift memorial, takes pictures, and talks.

STEVE TILKEN, HIGHLAND PARK SHOOTING WITNESS: I just want to confront this demon of carnage, if you want to call it that. And for me to do it, I have to come here.

BERNAL: He's lived in Highland Park for 26 years and on July 4th went to the parade with his wife and grandchildren.

TILKEN: We were 50 feet from the shooter, and the easiest targets possible. And why we weren't shot I can't figure out.

BERNAL: He heard the shots and ran. Then saw the injuries and one of the dead. Here he is on surveillance video.

TILKEN: I just couldn't wrap my head around what had just happened, and I kept trying to figure it out and I guess I'm still trying to figure out what makes somebody this evil.

BERNAL: It's the question this entire community is trying to answer.

ALY PEDOWITZ, HIGHLAND PARK BUSINESS OWNER: For the first two days I would say, am I still sleeping? Is this a nightmare? Like wake me up, because it cannot feel real. And you go through these waves where you're like numb for a little bit, and you're just -- and then you get angry, and then you feel guilty, and then overwhelming sadness, and then you go back to feeling numb, and like this isn't what happened.

BERNAL: Aly Pedowitz co-owned seven businesses in the middle of the crime scene. All her stores are closed.

PEDOWITZ: Before this all happened, our street was meant to be a place that provided a safe and fun-loving space for families, for kids.

BERNAL: Healing for her, she says, will come and she is allowed to reopen.

PEDOWITZ: We will be able to reclaim it as this place where we can all be together and be happy and heal together and just support one another.

[15:30:00]

BERNAL: And little by little, in a business, in a neighborhood, and in a makeshift memorial, members of this community showing their strength.

STEVE TILKEN, HIGHLAND PARK SHOOTING WITNESS: I will heal. I will absolutely heal.

BERNAL: Camila Bernal, CNN, Highland Park, Illinois.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY: A long, arduous and painful road ahead.

One of those injured in the July 4th parade shooting is 8-year-old Cooper Roberts. He was shot and remains hospitalized, paralyzed from the waist down.

His family says he's a big fan of the Milwaukee Brewers. And the team took a moment to pay tribute to him.

The Brewers hung a jersey in their dugout with his last name on it ahead of their game against the Pittsburgh Pirates last night.

And they shared a photo of the jersey with this message, "Today Cooper is in the dugout with us. We're cheering you on, Cooper."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRAIG COUNSELL, MILWAUKEE BREWERS MANAGER: We're happy he's a Brewers fan. We want to let his family know we're thinking of them.

You can image the strength to go through something like that, is unimaginable. We're doing such a small thing but, hopefully, it can maybe make one part of the day for him a little bit better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: Friends of Cooper's family have set up a GoFundMe page to help with medical expenses and treatment he will need.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:35:27]

MATTINGLY: Now despite fears of a potential recession, the U.S. economy added 372,000 jobs last month. That's about more than 100,000 jobs more than economists were forecasting.

Wages also rose but not enough to outpace the historic inflation consumers are seeing on store shelves every day.

Joining us now is former labor secretary and professor of public policy at U.C.-Berkley, Robert Reich. He's also the author of "The System, Who Rigged It, How We Fix It."

Professor Reich, thanks for joining me.

This is a report that shows a robust labor market. Doesn't seem to indicate if you're going by the rule or something along those lines that a recession is imminent. But it did cause many people to say the Fed is going to have to raise by 75 basis points.

You have been deeply opposed to interest rate increases being the sole way to address what's going on in the economy right now. What's your response to that?

ROBERT REICH, PROFESSOR OF PUBLIC POLICY, U.C.-BERKLEY & FORMER U.S. LABOR SECRETARY: Well, here's the good news. The good news is the jobs are being created at a very good rate. We're almost back to where we were in February of 2020, in terms of job numbers.

It's not enough to break out the champagne but it's still very, very good news.

The bad news and the worrying sign here is that the economy is actually slowing in terms of overall output. Consumer confidence is down.

And wages, if you consider that wages have purchasing power attached to them, and we still have a lot of inflation, wages are actually dropping as well.

Purchasing power is dropping. So there are a lot of signs of some problems ahead.

The Fed is likely, given the good jobs report, to feel free to raise interest rates once again. And that's going to cost -- make the cost of borrowing much, much higher.

And that, in turn, is going to slow the economy even more. That's the big danger ahead. That the Fed inadvertently causes a recession.

MATTINGLY: So what's your sense, look, when President Biden and the Biden administration lay out their plan to address inflation that's still running hot at a 40-year high, letting the Fed do what the Fed needs to do is number one every single time.

What should the administration be focusing on instead of just Jerome Powell and the Federal Reserve Board?

REICH: First of all, we have to understand that inflation is a worldwide phenomenon. It's not just in the United States. It is basically the entire world coming out of a pandemic. And supply routes and supply problems are endemic all around the world.

I'm not saying do nothing. But what we can do here is focus on those industries where you have the greatest kind of profit push prices. That is, where you have profits that are so out of line -- and we have a lot of industries like that. Big oil is like that. Big oil is raking it in.

There ought to be an attempt to have a windfall profits tax. You look at the last five years, you say, if there are extra profits above what we've had the last five years in this industry, we're going to tax them away.

So the industry doesn't have any incentive to continue to use a kind of price gouging of consumers. And that's what's going on.

You see it also in food. You know, Tyson Food, a lot of big food processers are charging a great deal of money. They're making money hand over fist. They should not be imposing that cost on consumers right now.

MATTINGLY: Can I ask you, on the windfall tax idea, there's a proposal on Capitol Hill, there are a number of Democrats on Capitol Hill that are for it. The administration said they're looking at it. They haven't committed one way or the other.

But the issue right now, it seems to be, correct me if I'm wrong here, particularly on the refinery side when it comes to oil or to gas prices, the lack or major drop off in capital investment over the course of the last several years is a huge issue right now.

Wouldn't a windfall tax set that back further or disincentivize them to invest money?

REICH: If you look at the data, what you see is that the price of crude oil actually is dropping. In fact, the crude oil prices have dropped.

But at the pump they haven't dropped very much. In fact, around the country they're still at record price levels. And that means, essentially, the oil companies are raking it in.

This is a form of profiteering, a form of price gouging. There's not enough competition in the market.

[15:40:03]

The other thing the administration needs to do is enforce anti-trust laws. Bust up the monopolies that are cropping up around the country.

My point is that there are things that should and can be done right now other than relying solely on the Federal Reserve Board to raise interest rates and potentially push the economy into a recession.

MATTINGLY: On the issue of market concentration, I don't want to wander down the interparty war going on about the debate about concentration of inflation.

But I am interested -- you -- there's a tweet you had a couple weeks ago -- I'm paraphrasing, I don't have it in front of me -- where you said, at this moment, you mentioned windfall tax, DOJ needs to launch an anti-trust lawsuit, and I believe there was a third point you were looking for as well.

The president can't order the Justice Department to file a lawsuit. The president has sent a letter to the FTC and asked them to investigate these types of issues. The FTC is not led by somebody who's a dove when it comes to anti-trust issues.

Why do you think the administration's agencies either at the Justice Department of FTC haven't done more on this issue for an administration that did talk a big game when it came to anti-trust?

REICH: There are two aspects to anti-trust. One is the actual prosecution of an anti-trust case. That takes some time.

The other is the rhetorical aspect of anti-trust. That is, saying to companies, if you don't mend your ways, if you still exercise your monopoly power and raise prices, we are going to focus public attention on you. We're also going to have an anti-trust case against you.

That rhetorical aspect is very, very important. Companies pay a great deal for their brand name. They burnish their brand image. They also don't want anti-trust to be used against them.

And there hasn't been that much of that kind of rhetoric from the administration. I think the administration needs to be much tougher with these companies.

The other thing that I had suggested and I think is still very important is to stop what are called stock buybacks.

Which are artificial ways of raising stock prices that used to be considered by the Securities and Exchange Commission to be stock manipulation before the Reagan administration.

We ought to go back to that. There's no reason that all of this excess profit ought to going into buying back shares of stock so that basically shareholders can get the benefit.

MATTINGLY: Yes. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

The administration has been so interesting in the sense that the president will sometimes take that rhetorical stance you're talking about and other times kind of move away from it.

They haven't necessarily seemed to coalesce behind a single pathway on that front.

Before I let you go, though, I want to ask your thoughts with Elon Musk and Twitter. He's now trying to get out of his $44 billion deal to buy the social media platform.

You previously warned that Musk buying Twitter was, quote, "dangerous," and could up end democracy. I believe when you saw the news earlier you tweeted, "Finally, some good news."

Does it surprise you he's backing out now given what we've seen the last several weeks?

REICH: It's not very surprising because Elon Musk really -- he's very impetuous. Let's put it that way. That's kind of a nice way of putting it. He says things and does things without a great deal, it seems, of thought.

And Twitter was -- his purchase of Twitter was like it. He wants to get out of it now.

Look, I, in terms of my values and my fears about Elon Musk running a major sort of media center, which is Twitter, I'm relieved that if he gets out of that, I would like him to sort of not take over Twitter.

But the law is the law. And under the law, as I understand it, Elon Musk does have an obligation to Twitter. And Twitter has an obligation to its own shareholders to hold Elon Musk to the letter of the law and to his contractual obligation.

MATTINGLY: Yes. A lot of lawyers are about to make a lot of money and probably already have.

Robert Reich --

REICH: Yes. That happens. Lawyers are the ones who are left smiling when the dust settles.

MATTINGLY: Always seems to be the case.

Robert Reich, I appreciate your time, sir. Thanks as always.

REICH: Thanks very much.

MATTINGLY: A reminder to check out Robert's book, "The System, Who Rigged It, How We Fix It."

[15:44:26]

Now coming up next, stunning images out of Sri Lanka where protesters have set the prime minister's house on fire. We'll bring you very latest, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) MATTINGLY: We have news developing right now. The private home of Sri Lanka's prime minister has gone up in flames after protesters breached the home and set it on fire. You can see it there. The prime minister was not inside.

Sri Lanka's president was also not in his official residence when an estimated 100,000 protesters surrounded it earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SHOUTING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: Those demonstrators stormed the residence after breaking through security corridors. Some took a dip in the pool while others went inside rooms at the home and hung banners from balconies.

This unrest comes as Sri Lanka suffers its worst financial crisis in recent history. Sri Lanka's president has said he'll step down next week and the prime minister said he is willing to resign.

[15:50:07]

Now to Ukraine where Ukrainian forces remain on the defensive in the city of Kharkiv as Russian troops increase their attacks on that area.

Several people were injured today after Russians launched a missile attack on a residential neighborhood. People there are being asked to stay inside.

But for the city's most vulnerable, surviving means leaving their homes to get their pensions. And postal workers are risking their lives just to make those deliveries.

CNN's Alex Marquardt is there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): In downtown Kharkiv, this team of postal workers is gearing up for a trip to the front lines, a village that, until recently, was occupied by Russians.

Their mission is critical. They have cars full of cash to deliver to Ukrainian pensioners who rely on the meager funds to survive.

They drive past fields littered with mines to Vilkhivka where the older residents have already gathered in the small post office pockmarked by shrapnel.

MARYNA GULEVSKA, UKRAINIAN POSTAL SERVICE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

MARQUARDT: "Only the most vulnerable people stayed here," says the head of today's operation.

"During the Russian offensive it was impossible to evacuate these people. We come here because no one else will help them."

MARQUARDT: Bills are counted out. And one by one, they collect around $100 at the counter, their pension for an entire month.

Seventy-eight-year-old Stepania Leskiv has come from nearby. We walked back with her, passed a school that was destroyed.

Stepania's home also lies in ruin, hit in late March. She bursts into tears at the sight of it. And says the shelling happened right in front of her.

STEPANIA LESKIV, KHARKIV RESIDENT: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

MARQUARDT: "The house started burning. I fell down. I managed to crawl out to the road, In 20 -- 30 minutes, everything was burned down."

She is staying with a neighbor but worries what will happen when winter comes. She is a widow whose son died from the Chernobyl disaster.

LESKIV: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

MARQUARDT: "I wish it was over for me," she says. When the bombing starts, I don't know where to hide.

LESKIV: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

MARQUARDT: Russian forces occupying much of this region have been pushed back by Ukrainian troops. Fear is growing they will try to come back soon.

These Ukrainian soldiers claim they are ready.

UNIDENTIFIED UKRAINIAN SOLDIER: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

MARQUARDT: "They might be stronger than us in numbers and in weapons, we know that," this soldier says. "But we are much more motivated. We will be fighting until her last bullet, so they don't take our land."

(on camera): These Ukrainian forces have positioned this rocket launcher here among the trees to try to hide it on the edge of this field.

This is called an Uragan. It's an old Soviet-era Ukrainian rocket launcher. It is much more basic, with far less range than the handful of American rocket launchers that have just been given to the Ukrainian military.

But this is what these troops have. And they tell us that their commanders today have given them the coordinates of a Russian position inside Ukraine to fire on.

And in a couple moments, they will drive this truck with its rockets a short distance away and target that Russian position.

(voice-over): The launcher rumbles into the middle of the field and fires four rockets in quick succession.

(GUNFIRE)

MARQUARDT: Black smoke trailing into the sky. We move out, in case there is a response. But the soldiers' day is just getting started.

[15:53:28]

Alex Marquardt, CNN, Kharkiv, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[15:58:06]

BOBBY WILSON, CNN HERO: We have turned five acres of land right here in the heart of the city into a green oasis that really impacts the quality of life of people that lives around here and visit with us.

Most of the people in this neighborhood don't have access to fruits and vegetables that they can readily get.

My main goal is to make sure that marginalized and underserved communities have access to locally grown food that's free of chemicals.

We are more than just a farm. We are about justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion.

We are changing the dynamics of the way people think about food, the way people use food. This work is changing people's lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: You can see the full, great story of how Bobby Wilson is feeding families from his green oasis and also helping black farmers at CNNheroes.com.

And tomorrow, join CNN as we explore the diverse land, marine and wildlife of Patagonia's desert coast.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

UNIDENTIFIED CNN HOST (voice-over): Poppy (ph) now lives nearby with his wife, Louda (ph). During breeding season, they regularly monitor the penguins.

[15:59:38]

(on camera): When you would work with them and you visit them very frequently, you get to know them better. And one of the favorite penguins in this colony is called Clarita.

(voice-over): She is one of the original few that we restarted the colony.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED CNN HOST: Yes. Yes

[15:59:59]

We know that she's about 16 years old. She was able to raise 14 chicks. And the last two chicks are hatching right now.