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Shinzo Abe Honored At Funeral In Tokyo Temple As Japan Mourns; At Least 6 Killed In Kherson Explosions, Russian State Media Reports; UK PM Johnson's Replacement To Be Announced On Sept 5, Conservative Party; Sri Lanka's Parliament To Elect New President On July 20; A Sharp Rise In Inflation Forces Egyptians To Cut Expenses; Tuesday's Focus: Extremist Group Ties to Trump Associates; European Heatwave. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired July 12, 2022 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:00:31]
LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone, I'm Lynda Kinkade. Thanks for joining us. Ahead on CNN Newsroom, saying goodbye to Shinzo Abe, the funeral is being held for Japan's longest serving Prime Minister days after his shocking assassination.
Explosions robbed Russian occupied territory in southern Ukraine, just as Ukraine's military ones is preparing to take back land in the region.
And Sri Lanka's government goes on damage controls protesters vowing to occupy the presidential palace until their leaders officially quit.
The funeral for Japan's former prime minister is happening right now in Tokyo. This is the scene outside the temple where mourners are honoring and remembering Shinzo Abe just days after his assassination.
The funeral is a private event and is expected to end later this hour. When that happens a hearse carrying Abe's body will travel from the temple to a funeral hall for cremation.
But first, the procession will pass by Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democratic Party headquarters as well as several government buildings.
Abe was gunned down at a campaign event in Nara, Japan on Friday. Japan is still reeling over this tragedy. There's a huge outpouring of grief with many people laying flowers leaving notes and condolences. Gun violence in Japan is almost unheard of.
Police say Tetsuya Yamagami admitted to carrying out the killing. The alleged assassin who's 41 years old is awaiting formal charges and is scheduled to appear in court in a week. NHK reported a short while ago that Yamagami told investigators that he had made up his mind to kill the former Prime Minister one year ago and that he considered using explosives, but chose a gun instead because Abe was his only intended target. CNN's Blake Essig joins us live at the Japanese parliament. Will Ripley brings us regional reaction from Taipei, and Steven Jiang is live in Beijing. Thanks so much for joining us.
I want to go first, to Blake Essig. And Blake, give us a sense of the mood in Japan today. A country where a gun violence is almost unheard of seeing their longest serving Prime Minister being laid to rest today after being done down.
BLAKE ESSIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lynda, you know, people here in Japan have been shocked and saddened since news this assassination took place on Friday, late morning around 11:30 am. And today, you know, Japan is saying goodbye and laying to rest its longest serving Prime Minister, a very sad day, a man who first served in parliament in 1993 would go on to become both a popular and polarizing figure here.
In terms of legacy, internationally, Abe's going to be remembered as a strong figure who was deeply admired as a skilled global statesman domestically, he'll be remembered for boosting defense spending and pushing through the most dramatic shift in Japanese military policy. In 70 years, he's a man who is most certainly responsible for the Japan that exists today.
Right now the funeral service for Shinzo Abe is underway at Zojo-ji Temple here in Tokyo similar to last night's closed door vigil. The funeral services also limited to only close friends and family.
And as you mentioned, Lynda, once the service ends here in about 30 minutes, Abe's body is expected to travel in procession to the Prime Minister's Office, Daikan-te (ph), Diet (ph) and LDP headquarters before heading to the funeral hall where his body will be cremated.
Despite the proceedings being closed off to the public, people have been visiting the public side of the temple where the funeral is being held to lay flowers and express their condolences at a small memorial that's been set up that started yesterday.
A similar scene has been playing out in Nara for days at the location where the former prime minister was gunned down while giving a campaign speech. The public is also able to pay their respects in Abe's hometown of Yamaguchi, where people are able to lay flowers and burn incense outside of obvious local office.
Again, Lynda, a sad day here in Japan and even the weather seems to be reflecting the mood here gray skies and a little bit of rain as the country lays to rest its longest serving Prime Minister. Lynda.
[01:05:08]
KINKADE: Blake Essig in Tokyo, thanks to you. I want to go to Will Ripley in Taipei and Will, plenty of leaders in the region of paying tribute to Shinzo Abe, including former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who described him as one of the most important Japanese leaders in the last 50 years.
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And of course, the Prime Minister of Australia would have spent a lot of time with Shinzo Abe, with this Quad relationship that includes Japan, Australia, the United States and also India. And as the Indian Prime Minister Modi was calling Shinzo Abe in an op-ed over the weekend a true visionary and a close friend, someone that he stayed very close with even after Abe stepped down as prime minister at the beginning of the COVID pandemic and 2020.
Prime Minister Abe when he was in office was very clear about what Japan's role in this region was and the importance of one, a very close alliance with the United States but also a close alliance with other like-minded democracies and countries around the region. And that included India, of course, because it was Abe who was one of the -- one of those who pushed for the changing of the language that's used to describe this part of the world.
For years it was Asia Pacific with China, mainland China right in the center. And now it's more commonly known as Indo-Pacific including India and Southeast Asia. That was a prime minister Abe knowing that there needs to be more in terms of effort to shift the focus away from China as the center of this region as it becomes increasingly assertive.
Here in Taiwan, they certainly would appreciate it that, that sentiment from Abe along with sentiment that Japan would come to Taiwan's defense if this self-governing democracy were to ever be attacked by China. And Prime Minister Abe in interviews after stepping down urged the United States to end strategic ambiguity and not leave it an open question of whether the U.S. would also potentially put boots on the ground if China were to attack Taiwan.
So here in Taiwan, of course, the President signed when considered Abe a true friend of this island, a true champion for this self-governing democracy of some 25 million people. He wasn't quite as popular in South Korea, where Japan's wartime atrocities are still very raw on people's minds.
And so South Korean relations, South Korean-Japan relations somewhat deteriorated because of Abe's nationalist views, and his thoughts that Japan should no longer be defined purely by what happened during World War II, but the 70 plus years of pacifism, and he thought that Japan should move away from pacifism and start to have a more active role for its self-defense force in the region and around the world.
That was something that he saw partially come to fruition, although he never did achieve his goal of rewriting Japan's constitution.
Lynd, another goal that he had that was unfulfilled was a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, something that he had hoped would happen during the Korean detente when Kim and Trump were meeting, but that never did take place. So that is one more list of things that were unfinished business for the late Prime Minister who had so many big dreams and visions for Japan and its role in the world.
KINKADE: Will Ripley for us in Taipei thanks very much. And Steven Jiang in Beijing, to you, in China of course Shinzo Abe was a very controversial figure. Take us through the reaction there. STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: Well, the reaction here initially was also a very controversial Lyna in China's heavily censored cyberspace. After the news came, we actually saw users were freed -- were freely posting messages of batons and cheer, some even reportedly posting images of celebrations of Mr. Abe's assassination in restaurants and other public venues, and the official reaction initially also very muted and vague, with a foreign ministry spokesman declining to comment on the outpouring of negative reactions to Mr. Abe's death, as well.
But of course, eventually, a day later on Saturday, Chinese President Xi Jinping did send his messages of condolences to both the current Japanese Prime Minister Kishida and Mr. Abe's family and noting Mr. Abe's quote unquote, positive contribution to the improvement of bilateral ties.
Now of course, despite Mr. Abe's hawkish views on China, he did try to maintain regular high level exchanges between the two sides. He met President Xi multiple times during his tenure last in 2019. And Mr. Xi was supposed to go to Japan for a state visit in 2020, of course, that was derailed by the pandemic.
Now, Japanese Prime Minister's almost by default are controversial and often despised figures here because of the two countries wartime history. From the Chinese perspective, the Japanese side has never atone enough for their wartime atrocities and Mr. Abe really was no exception. And Beijing of course has set this symbiotic red line for prominent Japanese politicians that is the Yasukuni Shrine in the center of Tokyo that honors Japan's war dead including some convicted war criminals but Mr. Abe despite strong warnings from Beijing didn't pay a visit to the shrine back in 2013 and that really caused a tension to rise significantly between the two sides.
[01:10:05]
And also during this tenure, remember, things got really heated up over the seven key source of friction between the two sides. That is their territorial dispute over this group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea Senkaku in Japanese and Gaoyou in Chinese and we've seen over the years really increasingly frequent and intense clashes between the two sides over this group of island.
And as Will mentioned that Mr. Abe's most enduring legacy, of course, was probably his role as an architect of this Indo-Pacific concept, a free and open Indo-Pacific as he called, really viewed when dismay hearing Beijing because they see this as another strategy by the U.S. and its key allies and partners in the region to encircle China, to contain China's rightful rise on the global stage.
And of course, Mr. Abe after he stepped down from the premiership in 2020, also became increasingly vocal and critical of China, especially when it comes to the defense of Taiwan security and democracy.
So I think for all those reasons, despite Mr. Abe being a very well respected visionary in many parts of the world, he was very much a controversial figure and receiving very controversial reactions in this country, Lynda?
KINKADE: All right, Steven Jiang for us in Beijing. Thanks very much. Will Ripley in Taipei and Blake Essig in Tokyo, thank you all.
I want to go to Ukraine now where troops are stepping up counter attacks and rationale territory in the South.
Video posted to social media shows a series of explosions rocking Russian occupied town in Kherson on Monday night. Russian state media is reporting at least six people were killed. It appears to be the single largest attack so far behind Russian lines.
Ukrainian official says the strikes were aimed at an ammunition depot. And it comes as Ukraine says its massing a million strong fighting force to recapture Russian held lands in the south, particularly the coastal areas that are crucial to Ukraine's economy.
To the Northeast, Russian forces is stepping up strikes in Ukraine second largest city of Kharkiv, with the death toll from Monday's attacks on civilian areas has now risen to six, with more than 30 people wounded.
But those attacks haven't stopped a group of pharmacists from undertaking a dangerous mission to get life-saving medicine to the frontline. CNN's Alex Marquardt reports from Kharkiv.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): In a boarded up pharmacy and Kharkiv, we follow Yuliya Klemyuk (ph) down into the basement. They never use this space before the war. Now it holds shelf after shelf of vital donated medicine while also serving another purpose.
(on camera): As we've been down here we can hear some heavy shelling from up above that's not very common at this time of the day and in mid-morning. Thankfully, we're already down in the basement so we're where we need to be.
(voice-over): That shelling killed at least six city residents, Yuliya (ph) and her team are unfazed. Preparing to head out on a monthly visit to multiple frontline villages, which desperately need hard to get medicine, medical supplies and basics like baby formula.
The pharmacy comes to the village, she says. Pharmacies are either destroyed or there are no pharmacists and people need medicine.
The lead vehicle in the convoy is an ambulance. When it arrives in the first village, it sirens ring out to tell everyone they're here. Soon a line has formed in the rain, old retirees, young parents with their kids. Anyone who's left here seems to come out, including a village doctor.
We really need medication. We don't have a local pharmacy. We have nowhere to buy anything, she says. Insulin, heart and blood pressure drugs are at the top of her list, along with sedatives and antidepressants. Animals are a priority too, another car is full of dog food for beloved pets like Bykal (ph), whose owner Igor (ph) says Bykal (ph) is shell shocked from all the explosions.
This village had been occupied by Russian forces and caught between the warring sides, the scars of the fighting very visible, as is the Russian retreat.
(on camera): When the Russians occupied this village, a man who lives here says that they would tuck their tanks and their armored vehicles between houses and cover them up to try to hide them. But then the Ukrainians reached took this village and you can see they blew up and destroyed this armored vehicle.
(voice-over): After about an hour, the team packs up and moves on to a poor rural village just 25 kilometers or 16 miles from the closest Russian position.
[01:15:03]
Here the residents gather around even faster. The profound need for aid is clear. While we're there, a team from World Central Kitchen arrives to hand out meals. Another eager line forms. Many of the Ukrainians we met were forced to live in the basements of their own homes while Russians occupied them, Yuliya (ph) tells us. They're helpless held hostage by this situation, she says. We help because they cannot provide for themselves. Alex Marquardt, CNN in Kharkiv.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
KINKADE: Returning now to the political upheaval in the UK, Britain's Conservative Party is planning to announce the replacement for Prime Minister Boris Johnson on September 5. He said Thursday he will step down when that new party leader is chosen. The influential group of MPs called the 1922 Committee is in charge of setting the rules and the timetable for the Tory leadership contest.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRAHAM BRADY, CHAIRMAN OF 1922 COMMITTEE: What we try to do is find a balance where we're making sure the parliamentary stages are concluded reasonably rapidly before the summer recess. But we do believe we can have that proper discussion within the party. Obviously, we know parliamentary candidates already. We do need to make sure there's a decent period of time before the results is announced on the fifth of September.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: 11 candidates are in the running so far with many of them promising to lower taxes and clean up the scandals that plagued Johnson's administration.
Sri Lanka's top leaders have agreed to resign but the struggle for basic necessities goes on for the millions of people there. Speak with an expert about what's next as the country navigates the political and economic turmoil. Plus, Egyptians is seeing this spending power erode fast. Look at what's behind the sharp rise in inflation. You're watching CNN Newsroom.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KINKADE: Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kinkade. You're watching CNN Newsroom. Protesters occupying the homes of Sri Lanka's President and Prime Minister refused to leave until the two men are out of office. And that may happen soon as the country's parliament is set to elect their replacement next week.
Nominations for the top posts will be presented to lawmakers in the coming days. These dramatic moves came after the President and Prime Minister agreed to resign Wednesday under mounting pressure. Sri Lankans have been pushed to their breaking point over a crippling economy.
On Saturday, tens of thousands of protesters stormed the leaders residences and the streets of Colombo.
The resignation of both leaders marks a major win for the demonstrators but the future of the country is uncertain, and Sri Lankans struggle to buy basic goods, fuel and medicine. ITN's Peter Smith explains how the growing economic -- the growing economic challenges ahead.
[01:20:06]
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
PETER SMITH, ITN NEWS (voice-over): In Sri Lanka, the queue for petrol no longer lasts for hours. The weight is now measured in days. This is what it looks like when the country runs out of fuel and money. And this is what happens when the people run out of patience.
(on camera): How long have you been waiting for petrol?
THUWAN RAMZAY, PROTESTER: Four or five days.
SMITH: Five days?
RAMZAY: Yes.
SMITH (voice-over): Protesters have stormed the gates of the presidential palace. And from what we saw today, they have now taken over.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because people are united.
SMITH (on camera): This President is not coming back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He will never come. If he come here, our people will kick out him.
SMITH (voice-over): The writing is now on the wall for the Sri Lankan regime. The black flag of the protesters no flies here. The new occupants experience the luxury of a presidential bed and there have been cues to take a dip in the President's pool.
(on camera): The fact we along with these people can walk through this palace at our leisure tells us power in Sri Lanka no longer lies in the hands of the president. But it's not yet in the hands of the people. Because the military still surrounds this place. Heavily armed guards are overseeing this delicate revolution.
(voice-over): Police have already fired tear gas on protesters. The guns haven't gone away. But people here tell me they are simply no longer scared.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm dying from my country. I'm proud for that thing.
SMITH (on camera): So the fear has gone away for you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sure, definitely. And that's why I'm not here.
SMITH: Sheer desperation has driven this. With no gas for stoves, people in Sri Lanka know by wood to cook in the streets. Community kitchens feed those without fuel or food. Disala Rodrigo has been camped outside this palace since April. Now she's inside the President's old gym.
DASILA RODRIGO, PROTESTER: We don't have a gasoline to cook, even if we have induction electric cookers, we don't have electricity. There is a power cut going on every day. So that's the main reason why I'm here.
SMITH (on camera): Is this the end?
RODRIGO: No, this is not. We are waiting until the league official. Unless they leave we are going to stay here and continue.
SMITH (voice-over): Sri Lanka's president is now in hiding and his brief that he'll resign on Wednesday. The people say they'll believe it when they see it. Until then, they stay put and hold on to hope.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
KINKADE: That was ITN's Peter Smith there. With more on this, I want to bring in Padma Rao. She's a former bureau chief for the Der Spiegel, the German news magazine. She's also the author of the book "Sri Lanka: The New country," which includes accounts of her time covering the country's civil war. Thanks so much for joining us.
PADMA RAO, AUTHOR, "SRI LANKA: THE NEW COUNTRY": Nice to be here, Lyna.
KINKADE: So, talk to us about the political chaos right now in Sri Lanka. We saw those incredible scenes of protesters over running the residences of the President and Prime Minister, highly unusual scenes.
RAO: Yes, absolutely. And you know, they've even been cooking in the President's kitchen and they've had wrestling matches on all the Presidential palaces beds. And unfortunately, there's an unsavory element to this, Lynda, and that is the vandalism that one is also seeing, you know, there's much of this property it is public property after all, and they've been mirrors and closets have been smashed. And, you know, they've been all kinds of unsavory things happening.
And also they set the Prime Minister's personal residence on fire just two days ago, and there was a lot of destruction there as well, antiquarian books and furniture was destroyed.
But having said that, at the moment to get back to the political scene, what next was Sri Lanka? You know, Colombo is just full of rumors and suspicions. The President, Mr. Rajapaksa has handed in a resignation letter to the speaker. It's dated the 13th of July. And he's been at an unknown location under the protection of the armed forces all these days, perhaps, you know, some are saying perhaps even just on a naval ship anchored somewhere.
He's apparently tried to leave the country as indeed his brother has to was a finance minister. But they've been stopped by Sri Lankan immigration authorities, or at least the brother was so they both have to stay within Sri Lanka -- remaining in Sri Lanka for now, because people really want to see them brought to the book, and you know that they're not allowed to leave the country that easily.
Having said that, once the speaker announces the president's resignation, which is likely to happen today or tomorrow, the President is expected to make another goal of leaving the country he is a citizen of the United States. He is a professor, sorry, he is a citizen of the United States so he's likely to go to the United States.
[01:25:00]
But then, you know, protests are going to happen there as well as they have been happening outside his son's house in the U.S., in California. So he's not going to get off that easily.
So what's going to happen next? Technically, according to the Sri Lankan constitution, the Prime Minister is to act as president till the parliament holds the secret vote to elect a new president. And that vote is going to happen on the 20th of July. So there's, you know, why to go.
But in the meantime, there's all the usual political wrangling, Lynda, you know, there is an opposition leader who also wants to be president. The current prime minister will lay down his office as he promised and, you know, be the acting president, but I think that's another office he'd like to stay on in for a while. So he's going to run for that secret vote as well.
And there is all this, you know, cloak and dagger stuff going on in Parliament behind the scenes. And meanwhile, the people are just waiting, you know, they don't seem protesters don't seem in a mood to accept anything at all that involves known politicians, you know, that is the problem. KINKADE: Yes.
RAO: Because --
KINKADE: I mean, it doesn't matter if there's elected as the new president, July 20, right, these are not easy issues that are going to be solved anytime soon. But in terms of the options as to who could become president, July 20, next week, the opposition leader said he's ready to run, what are the options are there?
RAO: Well, the other option is, as I said, the current prime minister, who is actually a sort of an outgoing Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, people don't want to be there, because he only became prime minister because the president, you know, the guy who's -- the gentleman who's in hiding right now, because he named him Prime Minister.
So people see a kind of connivance between, you know, the Rajapaksas and the current prime minister, so they don't want the current prime minister to stay on beyond tomorrow. But he is unlikely to go anywhere.
Because having said that, Lynda, the main thing that the need of the hour at the moment is for experienced politicians, because that's what the International Monetary Fund needs. It needs to deal with experienced politicians who, you know, to carry negotiations forward and to ease the economic crisis, because the really the biggest issue with Sri Lanka right now, as your report just showed you is the economic crisis and the hardships being faced by people on the streets.
Now, I'm not sure the opposition leader, Mr. Sajith Premadasa, he is a fantastic speaker. He can really work to Brussels (ph). And you know, he's very good at all that. But the one thing that he does not have, which Mr. Vikram Singh, the Prime Minister does is political experience and experience, you know, in public administration of any kind.
So, I'm afraid, as I said, you know, Sri Lanka's people's -- people are out on the streets. They've been out on the streets since months. And if you get -- they get a president pledge on July, who does not deliver immediately, I mean, I know their expectations are irrational. Nobody's going to be able to deliver immediately. But that's what the people expect.
And if that doesn't happen, then Mr. Premadasa might find himself booted out well before the elections are actually due in 2024, before the elections that are due in 2024. So it's a catch 22 situation for anyone who comes into power.
But having said that, you know, I tend to go with the view that it's better to have someone with political experience and political depth. And most of all, someone who's known to the international community, who has dealt with the international community, because that's where all the lender countries are and they're watching what's happening in Sri Lanka right now. KINKADE: And certainly some economic experience given what's at stake here. Padma Rao, thank you so much. Appreciate your time.
RAO: Thank you, Lyna.
KINKADE: Well, in Egypt, a sharp rise in inflation is forcing many people to cut expenses. Some analysts blame Egypt's rising debt and Russia's ongoing war on Ukraine for rattling its economy. CNN's Eleni Giokos reports.
(BEGIN VIDE TAPE)
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hanna's fridge is getting emptier every month, to street fruit and vegetable seller lives on daily wages. Soaring inflation forces him to cut back on everything, the last cut, food.
HANNA AYYAD, STREET VENDOR (through translator): Ever since they floated the pound and the dollar price increased, fruit prices increased. It's become unaffordable for people to eat fruit. Some people used to buy five or 10 kilograms of fruit. Now they can buy one or two kilograms at most.
GIOKOS: It now takes him up to four days to sell what would normally go in one. Egyptian households of all income levels are seeing their spending power erode fast as inflation bites. The Egyptian pound is plunging, inflation soaring to 14.7 percent from 5 percent last year.
[01:30:00]
Now, in an attempt to protect depleting foreign exchange reserves and to protect the currency, restrictions on imports resulting in rising prices and shortages of all sorts of product.
HAYA AREF, ARCHITECT: I feel like we're in a survival mode. And it's getting a bit scary. Everything that was affordable has become less and less affordable.
GIOKOS: Egypt is collateral damage in Russia's invasion of Ukraine relying on 80 percent of its wheat from these two countries. Compounding the lack of supply, a doubling of global grain prices since February.
17 million Egyptians rely on subsidized bread, that's 70 percent of the population. The government is working on ramping up local grain production.
MOSTAFA MADBOULY, EGYPTIAN PRIME MINISTER, We should all know the gravity of the crisis is not just in Egypt but all around the world.
GIOKOS: Egypt's debt has shot to unsustainable levels. Like other emerging markets, Egypt lost billions of dollars this year as investors chased safer assets.
Gulf countries ingested billions in loans and investments to pop up the economy. The government offered shares in seven of its main ports and other safe assets in a bid to attract gulf investors.
SALMA HUSSEIN, ECONOMIC ANALYST: It's like creating news monsters. We're in a very hard times. The government needs a lot of foreign exchange revenues in order to be able to finance debt service.
I'm afraid of a collapse of the Egyptian economy. I'm worried of a collapse of more people under the poverty line.
GIOKOS: Anticipating social unrest, the government has initiated national dialogues with the opposition. It's change of tack from years of a brutal crackdown on the slightest hint of dissent.
Hanna relies on the government subsidy program for basic food and cash handouts.
HANNA AYAD, STREET VENDOR: We can do without eating meat, buying it once a month. We may buy chicken two or three times a month, not like before. We used to buy these once or twice a week. Now we can't because my income is low.
GIOKOS: Fearing that these sacrifices are just the start of what could be a protracted crisis.
Eleni Giokos, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR: Still to come, as Japan mourns Shinzo Abe, we're learning more about the motivations of his alleged killer. The latest on the investigation after a short break.
[01:32:45]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KINKADE: Hello, I'm Lynda Kinkade. Welcome to CNN NEWSROOM.
On of the (INAUDIBLE) top story. The funeral service of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is wrapping up in Tokyo. And while the funeral and Monday's wake both private events, hundreds of people have gathered in other locations to lay flowers at memorials.
Abe's body will soon be transferred to a local funeral home for cremation, passing by important landmarks to Abe's career along the way.
I want to go back to Tokyo where CNN's Blake Essig is standing by. And Blake, today a very private funeral with family and friends, colleagues hosted by his wife, his widow.
And now as that starts to wrap up, I understand the hearse will head to the funeral home where his body will be cremated.
BLAKE ESSIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Lynda. I mean we're expecting that the funeral and any moment now and as soon as that happens the procession will begin. Following the funeral, as you mentioned, Abe's body expected to travel
in procession to the prime minister's office, (INAUDIBLE) Diet where I am right now and the LDP headquarters before heading to the funeral home where he's going to be cremated.
Just to kind of paint a picture of what it looks like out here outside the parliament. You have dozens, dozens of TV cameras. There are what looks like school children who are touring the parliament. You know, they're now lining the street as well. And you have people that look like they (INAUDIBLE). People that were out who have come outside to say goodbye one last time to the prime minister, former prime minister as he makes his way to that funeral home.
He's visiting those specific locations because in Japanese culture, sometimes the body will be driven by places where the deceased was heavily associated to bid farewell.
And for days, Lynda, we've seen an outpouring of support from around the world and obviously here in Japan. In Tokyo, people have been visiting the public side of the temple where that funeral is just wrapping up right now to lay flowers, express their condolences at a small memorial that's been set up.
The same has been happening outside Abe's home here in Tokyo as well as the fact that it's been happening at the location in Nara where he was assassinated as well as in his hometown of Yamaguchi.
All to honor a man who really shaped the country, Japan, that exists today. People we talk, whether they supported his policies or not, were coming out to pay their respects throughout the past several days.
Every single person we talk to, shocked, saddened and horrified that such a violent act could be carried out against one of the most powerful people in Japan in broad daylight. This is very much a country in mourning right now, Lynda.
KINKADE: Yes. And no doubt Blake. And of course, I want to understand his -- his legacy in the region. The U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken changed his travel plans to go to Tokyo to pay tribute and one of many political leaders paying tribute.
And I'm just hearing Blake, we are now seeing the hearse, carrying the coffin of Japan's longest-serving prime minister, Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated four days ago, shot twice in the chest in Nara, Japan.
That hearse now traveling to a funeral home where it's said that the body of Shinzo Abe will be cremated, Blake.
ESSIG: Yes, you know, Lynda watching it live right along with you. You see the rows and rows of people lining the streets, holding cellphones to get a video of this hearse as it goes by and it really paint the picture, just how important of a figure Shinzo Abe was here in Japan.
For Shinzo Abe, a life in politics essentially was in his blood. It was almost as if he didn't have a choice. His grandfather and great uncle served as prime minister. His father was a former secretary- general of Japan's ruling party, and according to experts that we talked to, he would have also served as prime minister but died of heart failure before his time. And his brother is the current minister of defense.
[01:39:49]
ESSIG: So from a very young age, there was clearly an expectation that Shinzo Abe would enter politics too and eventually he would become Japan's longest-serving minister, first elected in 2006. Prime minister -- excuse me, first elected in 2006. And then again in 2012 before stepping down in 2020 for health reasons.
And it is important to remember that the former prime minister wielded an incredible amount of power for more than a decade and there's no question that he'll be remember for being a skilled statesman, a politician who had a unique skill to forge a close relationships with other foreign leaders, as well as the leaders who had a clear vision for where he wanted Japan's foreign policy to go and pursued it relentless.
One clear example of that as you were mentioned moments ago with Secretary of State Antony Blinken coming to visit is the strengthening of ties between the United States and Japan under Abe's leadership.
While the respect and admiration for Abe continues to pour in following his sudden and really shocking death. Experts say that the deep divisions about his leadership have not disappeared and when we talked to experts about Abe's legacy and what that legacy is going to look like decades from now, it's likely that what he didn't do during his time in power and possibly these missed opportunities, you know, could in all likelihood shape what his legacy ends up looking like.
And experts say one of those opportunities might be what he didn't do on climate change. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOBIAS HARRIS, AUTHOR: Abe himself missed I think a substantial opportunity to make Japan a real leader when it came to combating climate change. And just given the way the world looks in a couple of decades, that might just be how most political leaders from this era are judged.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ESSIG: Lynda while the world will continue to deal with the impact of the climate crisis for a long time to come, here in Japan, the country is still searching for an economic growth model after Abenomics, Abe's three arrowed approach focused on monetary easing, flexible spending and monetary reforms failed to deliver, he's also, you know, failed to address the problem with the demographic challenges fueled by really an aging and shrinking population.
But again, these are all issues that Abe's successor is going to have to deal with but in the end, it really is hard to argue all that Abe for this country.
KINKADE: Absolutely. Blake Essig for us in Tokyo. Good to have you with us. Thanks very much.
Well joining me now is the Seijiro Takeshita, a professor of management and information at the University of Shizuoka. Good to have you with us.
So we were just speaking there obviously about Shinzo Abe's legacy. He is a man that was described as a man of vision. The former prime minister of Australia Kevin Rudd described him as one of the most important Japanese leaders in the past 50 years.
Talk to us about your take on his legacy, his success and where he had some missteps.
SEIJIRO TAKESHITA, PROFESSOR OF MANAGEMENT AND INFORMATION, UNIVERSITY OF SHIZUOKA: Well, I say the biggest -- I would say his contribution was the infamous Abenomics. I mean still the second and third trajectory of the arrows are to be seen but the first arrow did get us out of the slump in the Japanese economy particular Japanese exports.
So that was a pretty good system. And also it was a jab in the arms (ph) to wake people up as well.
On foreign policies, he was very eloquent. He sustained very big ties to the United States with both Mr. Obama and Mr. Trump. Also sustained relationships with India and you know neighboring nations while putting a very clear positioning of Japan to fight with an alliance with the free world against the aggression that we're seeing from China.
And internally, very importantly, we've checked with a lot of people in his house (ph) is that he brought back the power to the politicians. Japan is run very much by bureaucrats but he was the one who really brought back the power to the politicians during this time.
So he made quite a lot of contribution which really is a founding base of what we are today. But at the same time yes, there are things, you know, that weren't completed. For example the (INAUDIBLE), utilization of women is still, you know, less than halfway done.
And also you are also mentioned earlier, your reporter is talking about, you know, the lack of, you know, contribution on the environment side.
Well unfortunately, I do agree that, you know, the (INAUDIBLE) should have put a lot more but this is one area where the debt is corporate (ph), still very much behind including the corporate social responsibility. Were very much behind the curb but we're getting there.
[01:44:49]
TAKESHITA: And there's also an energy problem with the curve (ph) mitigated. We will be seeing the crisis unfortunately on that matter. And this is another very big problem that Japan will face in coming years.
KINKADE: And Professor, Shinzo Abe was just 52 when he first became prime minister, the youngest in post-war Japan. His first term though didn't last very long, about a year. Quite a contrast to his second run in the top job which may of course, have continued longer ride had it not been for a chronic health condition.
TAKESHITA: Yes. And you're absolutely right I think. He would have and could have and if health permitted he should have, you know, continued. The big problem that we have right now is that he has built the biggest faction in the LDP. The conservative side of LDP were his followers, were following him. He was basically followed by the conservative LDP members which were able -- which were able to well, mitigate and also, you know, coordinate with the liberals like, you know, our current prime minister.
So things are going the right direction and now, you know, after the upper house election is over this Sunday, we have three years of no election meaning that this is a perfect timing to conduct structural reform. But structural reform can be only conducted if we have a consensus within the leading party.
So what's really worrying here for me is that will his faction continue to solidify even, you know, Mr. Abe's death. This is a very big question going forward with (INAUDIBLE).
KINKADE: Seijiro Takeshita, our thanks to you. appreciate our time.
TAKESHITA: Thank you.
KINKADE: Still ahead, the next January 6 committee hearing is set for Tuesday with a focus on right wing extremist groups. We'll have a preview from Washington.
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KINKADE: Welcome back.
The seventh hearing of the U.S. House Select Committee investigating the Capitol insurrection is set for Tuesday. The focus will be on right wing extremist group and their ties to associates of former president Donald Trump.
And at least two witnesses are expected to testify.
Here's a preview from CNN congressional correspondent, Ryan Nobles.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RYAN NOBLES, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: CNN has learned the January 6 committee is planning to zero in on a key link, the extremist group's ties to Trump associates Roger Stone and Michael Flynn.
The hearing comes as another key trump ally, Steve Bannon is changing his tune. Telling the committee he would be willing to testify but only in a live public setting.
It's a move prosecutors believe is a stunt to try and wiggle out from his criminal contempt charges. But a federal judge on Monday, declined his request to postpone his trial for next week.
REP. ZOE LOFGREN (D-CA): I expect that we will be hearing from him and there are many questions that we have for him.
[01:49:52]
NOBLES: The committee has already revealed a bevy of new information. Among the biggest headlines, that Trump and his allies were made fully aware that there was no evidence the election was stolen
BILL STEPHEN, TRUMP 2020 CAMPAIGN MANAGER: I didn't think what was happening was necessarily honest or professional.
NOBLES: Trump knew he lost the election but kept telling his supporters he own, without evidence to back it up.
But the campaign to subvert the will of the voters extended all the way to states where Trump personally pressured officials to help his effort.
RUSTY BOWERS, ARIZONA SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: You're asking me to do something against my oath and I will not break my oath.
NOBLES: The committee also revealing that Trump knew his supporters were armed and planning to be violent but he directed them to the Capitol anyway.
CASSIDY HUTCHINSON, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE AIDE: I overheard the president say something to the effect or you know, I don't I think that they have weapons. They're not here to hurt me. Take the effing mags away.
Let my people in that can march to the Capitol from here. Let the people in and take the effing mags away.
NOBLES: The committee also uncovering details about toms effort to prevent Congress's certification of the election. How he ignored his advisers that there was not fraud and instead tried to install an attorney general who would do his bidding.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was called toward the end saying what you're proposing is nothing less than the United States Justice Department meddling in the outcome of the presidential election.
NOBLES: That man, Jeffrey Clark is now under scrutiny as far of a federal investigation into the attempt to overturn the election.
And finally, as an angry mob called for the assassination of his vice president --
CROWD: Hang Mike Pence. NOBLES: -- witnesses say Trump did not seem to be bothered. His
response to the violence leading several cabinet officials to quit. And others quietly considering a plan to invoke the 25th amendment.
HUTCHINSON: There's a large concern of the 25th amendment potentially being invoked and there were concerns about what would happen in the Senate. If it was a difference in both --
NOBLES: And among the people that we could hear from on Tuesday, Pat Cipollone, the former White House Council who was deposed by the committee last Friday.
For COVID (ph), the committee asks Cipollone a number of questions about a key meeting that took place in the White House in December. Select committee aides said today that they believe that that meeting was a pivotal moment that set the stage for the violence that took place on January 6.
Ryan Nobles, CNN -- on Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: You can watch our special coverage of the latest January 6 hearing starting Tuesday at noon Eastern time. That's 5:00 p.m. in London.
Still to come on CNN NEWSROOM, round 2 for parts of Europe once again baking under record temperatures, the second extreme heat wave of the summer. Details when we come back.
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KINKADE: You're looking at live pictures from Tokyo where the prime minister is awaiting the hearse of former prime minister Shinzo Abe.
The funeral service has now ended, hosted by his widow and the hearse is now on its way to the funeral home where the body of Shinzo Abe will be cremated.
He'll pass by the parliament as well as the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters and the prime minister's office. Hundreds of people are lining the street to pay their respects.
[01:54:54]
KINKADE: Eventually they said, the hearse will arrive at the funeral hall for cremation and it followed that private funeral which just last (ph) only family and close dignitaries were in attendance. The mourners have been paying their respects the last few days, leaving flowers, notes and sharing their deep grief over the assassination.
Well, it's been blistering hot in parts of Europe and for some countries, the heat wave could last through much of the week.
Wild fires have been burning in parts of Portugal. Official say 10 districts are at maximum fire risk for the next few days. Temperatures are expected to top 40 degrees Celsius in some places. E.U. Commission is sending its fire fighting air fleet to help.
And Spain is also experiencing record high temperatures with its second heatwave of the season. (INAUDIBLE) already issued a rare and their extreme heat warnings for much of England and Wales this coming weekend. High temperatures in London were around 33 degrees Celsius on Monday.
I want to go to Gene Norman, pretty hot for London, Gene.
GENE NORMAN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Exactly right. And it's going to really get hotter as we hit toward the end of the week and the weekend.
But let's take a look at some high temperatures that were reaching sections of Spain, Portugal and Southern France. Again over 40 degrees, not helping the fire situation. And no real end in sight in the short term. In fact, the heat alert for the Iberian Peninsula has been extended on to the end of the week.
At least for tomorrow, hot conditions are expected. That risk of dehydration again primarily along the border between Portugal and Spain. But a good part of interior Spain will be hot as well. All due to high pressure which is parked over eastern Europe and not giving anybody a break.
There are some showers and thunderstorms far away in the eastern -- I'm sorry, the western part is keeping hot. The eastern part is keeping cool.
Watch what happens because the heat will start to rise up. There will be a brief bit of a break across the northern areas in the middle of the week but as we head toward the end of the week and the weekend, that heat is going to build. Look at these temperatures, 42 in Madrid by Thursday, 46 in Sevilla.
And as far as the U.K., they've already issued a heat alert for Sunday and it's only Tuesday. So Lynda, they're really getting ready because this heat is going to ramp up.
We'll be in the low 30s for today but then a bit of a break and then look at this. 33 by Sunday, 35 by Monday. So blistering hot. Best thing we could say is that this isn't going to affect the big gold tournament.
KINKADE: And no doubt we'll see plenty in London, (INAUDIBLE) lying in a park, breaking out some of this unusual weather.
Gene Norman, thanks so much.
And thanks so much for watching CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm Lynda Kinkade. The news continues with my colleague, Rosemary Church right after this.
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