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Sri Lanka President Flees Country Amid Political, Economic Crisis; Biden En Route To Israel For High-Stakes Middle East Visit; Uvalde School Shooting Video Showing Police Response Leaked; Ties Between Trump Allies And Extremist Groups To Be Focus Of Jan. 6 Panel Hearing. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired July 13, 2022 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Lynda Kinkade. Thanks for joining us. Ahead on CNN Newsroom, forced to flee, Sri Lanka's embattled president slipped out of the country just hours before he was supposed to resign.
Plus, leaked video of a deadly school shooting in Texas raising new questions about the police response to the tragedy.
And another day of bombshell testimony as the January 6 Committee digs into links between right wing extremists and Donald Trump.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from CNN Center. This is CNN Newsroom with Lynda Kinkade.
KINKADE: Well with his country's economy collapsing and his grip on power all began, Sri Lanka's president has fled just hours before he was due to formally resigned today. The country's Air Force confirming that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his wife flew to the Maldives on a military plane.
Before leaving, the President had agreed to resign after months of protests over the country's financial crisis. Sri Lanka's Parliament plans to elect a new president next week.
CNN senior international correspondent Will Ripley is following the developments from Taipei and joins us now. Good to have you with us, Will. It just incredible developments in his story, the President now fleeing the country still yet to officially resign.
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there's no word yet of what that's actually going to mean for the efforts of the parliament in Sri Lanka. They're supposed to reconvene on Friday, and they're supposed to elect a new president next Wednesday.
Is that going to be able to happen if the President is not physically in the country and has essentially now fled, making him a president in exile, and there could be worse places to be in exile than the Maldives. The tropical, you know, beautiful resorts of villas, you know, in sparkling clear water as people in Sri Lanka can't get food and can't get fuel and can't get medicine, because of the financial decisions in large part that were made by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and previously his brother, the longtime president since 2005.
Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was also the Prime Minister once he was kind of forced out of office back in 2015. The Rajapaska dynasty, this family that has controls for Lanka and made a series of bad deals, particularly with China, that left Sri Lanka in debt to the tune of more than $50 billion, so much debt. That combined with COVID and combined with the most recently, the war between Russia and Ukraine, Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine kind of drying up their foreign reserves. They cannot get the basics into the country. They can't get things that people need to live and survive and people are outraged.
By the way, they were peacefully protesting for months leading up to this. It wasn't until they stormed the President's house over the weekend, with so much anger pent up and of course, kind of venting, and letting off some of that steam and all these videos that we've seen of them in the pool and playing the piano or going out the gym, you know, creating a barbecue pit to cook food. I mean, it looks like they're having a great time.
But this is the result of a lot of hardship and suffering for regular Sri Lankan people, while their president was living in that palatial house and is now, you know, got special privileges to be able to fly to the Maldives. Initially the Maldives didn't even want to take him. He tried to get on two different commercial flights on Monday, CNN has learned, but he got stuck up at the airport because the immigration officers wouldn't process his passport and the passports of his families without them physically being present. They were sitting in the airport lounge, mind you, but they didn't want to be out among the regular people because of the anger of this out there, Lynda.
And now the question is it with him gone, what how does that complicate the process of Sri Lanka's Parliament's selecting a new leader? And then will that new leader be able to even do anything at this stage to help to turn around this horrible situation that Sri Lanka is in and start to improve conditions for the people? Will that new president be legitimate and credible in the eyes of both the people and the members of parliament that have to select them? And could this potentially mean if they can't find some person who's able to do all of this? Could there be more violence? Could there be more protests? Could this unrest really continue?
I mean, Sri Lanka was gripped with civil war for so many years, they had just started to stabilize in recent years and yet now here they are locked back again in a very potentially problematic and destructive situation for the whole country.
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KINKADE: Yes, my heart really goes out to the people of Sri Lanka. I was there a few years ago. It's such a beautiful country, beautiful people. But certainly in the midst of his political chaos, they are dealing with such a severe economic crisis. Talk to us about what are the international help the country is getting right now where the talks are with the International Monetary Fund.
RIPLEY: Well, they've really it's grind to a halt, because obviously, in order to, you know, come up with some sort of a bailout deal, you need to have a plan to be able to pay, you know, to pay your creditors back eventually. And Sri Lanka is in such dire financial straits at the moment, it's very difficult to see where they're going to get that money from.
You know, the President Rajapaksa, you know, in 2019, you know, was behind this sweeping tax cut that basically cut out a third of Sri Lanka's revenue. And while that was a popular move in 2019, on the heels of the Easter bombings, were, you know, that kind of fired up again, ethnic tensions inside the country, and then the Rajapaksas they gave, this tax break to everybody cutting their tax revenue by a third.
And then on top of that, you have these white elephant projects that are still unfinished. These massive infrastructure and development projects that are almost like vanity projects, a lot of them in the President's home province, that are either unfinished or sitting idle and empty.
And you know, when you have these kinds of things sitting around and a lot of that debt to China, which by the way isn't, you know, raising its hand to say it's going to swoop in and help either. They're kind of putting out very, very neutral statement saying they hope Sri Lanka can work, you know, to find a solution.
Well, where's that solution going to come from? Who's going to loan money to this country? It's already so deeply in the hole. And where is where is the out ramp here for Sri Lanka and for its people? And frankly, there's no easy answer to that, Lynda, that is the big, big question right now.
KINKADE: Yes, no easy answer that they certainly need a lot of help right now. Will Ripley first in Taipei, we will stay on this story. Thanks very much.
U.S. President Joe Biden is on his way to Israel for the first time to the Middle East. As soon as he became he was president, and he does plan to visit a Holocaust Memorial. He's going to get a briefing on the Iron Dome missile defense system and he'll meet with the new Israeli prime minister, Yair Lapid.
The President is scheduled to spend two days in Israel and then on Friday, he will meet with the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank.
After that, Mr. Biden travels to Saudi Arabia of what is the most controversial leg of this trip. As a candidate for president he pledged to make Saudi Arabia a pariah for its involvement in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
I want to go now to Jerusalem journalist Elliott Gotkine joins us now live. Good to have you with us, Elliott. So certainly a lot on the agenda in the coming days. Take us through the first leg of this trip in Jerusalem.
ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: Lynda, Israel pulling out all the stops for the arrival of U.S. President Joe Biden, his first visit as you say as president, although his 10th visit, overall, he'll be met at the airport to Ben Gurion Airport, half of which has been commandeered for this visit by Prime Minister Yair Lapid and President Isaac Hertzog.
And then after that, as you say, he will be getting a demonstration of Israel's missile defense capabilities with Defense Minister Benny Gantz, not just Iron Dome, but also the new recently announced to iron beam a kind of laser missile defense system, which the idea is it will be able to protect not just Israel, but also its new allies in the region, such as Morocco, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and also the Saudis.
Now, of course, Israel hasn't normalized relations with the Saudis. And we don't expect this trip to result in that although we are expecting small baby incremental steps in terms of deepening the relationship or strengthening the relationship between Israel's -- Israel and the Saudis.
For example, we're expecting that all direct flights from Israel will be able to fly over Saudi airspace. Right now the only flight that's previously gone direct between the countries has been former President Trump going from Saudi to Israel and will be President Biden going from Israel to Saudi Arabia, but direct flights also from Israel to the Saudi Arabia for Israel's Muslim minority to attend the Hajj pilgrimage that's also expected to come out over the next -- over during the course of Biden's visit to the region.
Of course, security very much a focus especially, vis-a-vi, Iran, Israel's position remains that this is a bad deal that in the words of senior Israeli officials, time has run out on the so called JCPOA. They don't want President Biden to fulfill his campaign pledge to rejoin that agreement and they're very happy that the U.S. asked when the Iranians demanded that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards be taken off the U.S. terrorist blacklist something that the Iranians wanted, and Israel very much did not want to see happen.
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The two, though do are not exactly on the same page. As far as Iran goes, Israel still maintains that it reserves the right to use whatever tools are at its disposal in order to deal with the Iranian nuclear threat, something perhaps that is a little further than the U.S. would go. But certainly Israel will be reiterating its stance that the U.S. should not rejoin the JCPOA.
And then, of course, there's the Palestinians, as you say, President Biden due to visit Muhammad Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority on Friday, and there have been some developments in the run up to this visit. We had the first call in five years between an Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Muhammad Abbas, they had a phone conversation, Defense Minister Benny Gantz paid another visit to Muhammad Abbas.
And we also saw just on the eve of the visit, just yesterday, an announcement that there will be some red building permits for housing in the west bank issued, that the status of thousands of Palestinians will be normalized, will be a new crossing from the West Bank in to Israel and will work permits for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
We're also expecting the U.S. to announce $100 million to go towards a hospital in the West Bank, to enable Palestinians to receive treatment that they otherwise wouldn't be able to receive in the West Bank as well.
And I think what you're seeing here is, I suppose, the practical realization that there isn't a peace process. There aren't going to be any great steps towards any peace process, and that the best that the U.S. can do is try to help improve the economic lot of the Palestinians, as a Biden administration official put it had we launched a peace process, there would have been nobody at the table
So, perhaps some improvements in the economic order the Palestinians, but no moves towards any kind of resumption of the peace process, not least because we've got Prime Minister Yair Lapid who's only been in office a couple of weeks, and there's another election here in Israel to come in November.
So, a packed trip for U.S. President Biden, the focus on Iran, on Saudi Arabia relations, and also on the Palestinians as well, Lynda.
KINKADE: Plenty, plenty to keep you busy over the coming days, no doubt. Well, we will speak again very soon. Elliott Gotkine in Jerusalem. Thanks so much.
Many in the Middle East expected President Biden to make wholesale changes after Donald Trump's near total embrace of Israel. So far, there's been little sign of high level diplomatic engagement. CNN's Hadas gold spoke with Israelis and Palestinians about what they expect from this visit.
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HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Cranes and heavy machinery have been at work in Ramat Shlomo in East Jerusalem for almost 30 years. For most of the international community, these Israeli homes extend on occupied Palestinian land, and are thus considered illegal, a designation Israel contests. In 2010, more than 1,000 new homes were approved for construction here. Right as Joe Biden was making his first visit as vice president, it was seen as a slap in the face.
JOE BIDEN, THEN-U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: Yesterday, the decision by the Israeli government to advance planning for new housing units in East Jerusalem undermines that very trust. The trust that we need right now, in order to begin as well as produce have profitable negotiations.
GOLD: But whether the White House liked it or not, the plans move forward. Hanna Toledano lives on one of the new streets announced 12 years ago, which was named for her grandfather.
HANNA TOLEDANO, RAMAT SHLOMO RESIDENT: It's my road. I am I Hannah Toledano.
GOLD (on camera): So you feel like this land is yours?
TOLEDANO: Pardon?
GOLD: This land is yours, which what you think?
TOLEDANO: I believe this land is ours, not mine. Ours, it belongs to the Jews.
GOLD (voice-over): There is no doubting strength of feeling about the land here and the different claims on it once the United States look to lead peace efforts here and influence policy, but its impact has been limited.
(on camera): Despite consistent American pressure on the Israelis to slow down or stop settlement construction as part of Confidence Building Measures with the Palestinians. The facts on the ground here in Ramat Shlomo show that the building and the expansion continues.
(voice-over): In fact, increasingly, there is a feeling that even if the U.S. and President Biden wanted to get involved, few here would be paying much attention.
TOLEDANO: He's just not the personality for it. He might have the knowledge or he might have other ideas or whatever. He doesn't have the personality.
YISRAEL RABINOVICH, RAMAT SHLOMO RESIDENT: We don't say today -- to them to build in their country. Nobody can say us to build in our country.
GOLD: A few dozen kilometers away lies the Palestinian city of Bethlehem in the West Bank. Here, the President will find it hard to avoid stark reminders of the conflict.
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(on camera): One issue that will likely be staring President Biden right in the face the killing of Shereen Abu Aqleh. This giant mural of the Al Jazeera journalist is right on the road you take as you enter Bethlehem.
(voice-over): For many here, the U.S. response to the death of the Palestinian-American reporter shot dead while covering an Israeli military operation has been inadequate, the latest and a growing list of disappointments in the Biden administration.
MARWAHN AFARHAJA, TOUR GUIDE: I hope I will have some change. But to be honest with you, I don't have hope to receive and the good thing from his visit in Palestine (ph) or anywhere in the Middle East. GOLD: Even so, this is the Holy Land and woodcarver Samir Lolas hopes Biden's planned visit to the Church of the Nativity might provide the spiritual spark needed for the devoutly Catholic president.
SAMIR LOLAS, WOOD CARVER (through translator): He is visiting Jesus birthplace and we remind him that even Jesus says love never falls. That's what we want. Peace which will bring love to us and all of us.
GOLD: A rare flicker of optimism on an issue most here believed the White House would prefer to put aside. Hadas Gold, CNN, Bethlehem.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
KINKADE: Chilling surveillance video from inside a Texas elementary school as a mass shooting unfolded. It's now been made public for the first time. The Austin American Statesman newspaper published edited portions of that video that reveal what police in Uvalde did, or rather did not do during that may massacre that killed 19 students and two teachers. CNN's Rosa Flores has the story. We need to warn you. Some of this footage is disturbing.
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ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An edited version of surveillance video one of two videos released Tuesday by the Austin American Statesman shows that at 11:32 on May 24, the first shots were fired outside Robb Elementary School and audio of a teacher calling 911.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The kids are running. Oh my God. Get down. Get in your rooms. Get in your rooms.
FLORES: Then at 11:33, school surveillance video shows the gunman entering an empty hallway unhindered walking casually with his gun hanging down. He slows down, peeks around a corner, a boy sees him as he starts shooting and the boy runs.
According to the Statesman, the gunman fired his weapon an AR-15 inside two classrooms for two and a half minutes stopping and starting multiple times.
The Statesman saying they edited out the most disturbing sounds including screams. The surveillance video shows seven police officers arriving armed, some with rifles. They entered the hallway, weapons drawn at 11: 36 just three minutes after the gunman arrived while shots are being fired.
In total, the material revealing just over two of the more than 70 minutes police were in the hallway before killing the gunman. Some rushing towards the classrooms. Other officers hanging back.
Within one minute, shots are heard, 16 rounds in total and police can be seen retreating running back down the hallway to take cover.
Then at 11:52, 90 minutes after the gunman enters the school, the timestamp on the video shows more officers arriving heavily armed, some with ballistic shields. Still, they wait.
At 12:04 the video jumps 31 minutes after the gunman enters the school and law enforcement is still waiting. At least 19 officers are now in the hallway according to the official timeline.
At 12:21, 45 minutes after police arrived, the gunman fires another four shots and police start to move down the hallway again remaining outside the classrooms.
At 12:31, one officer uses the hand sanitizer dispenser in the school. At 12:43 and 12:47, more 911 calls to send police and the caller says children are aware the police are outside the door.
Then at 12:50, 74 minutes after police first arrived, officers breached the classroom door and kill the gunman. At this point, the video shows officers in the hallway pushing to go in.
The Texas DPS director expressed his disappointment the video was released before the victim's families were given access to it, releasing a statement saying those most affected should have been among the first to see it.
The Statesman defending their decision to publish the material saying quote, we have to bear witness to history and transparency and unrelenting reporting is a way to bring change.
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As for the families of the 19 students and two teachers who were massacred at Robb Elementary, some say the videos early release just adds to their pain.
JAVIER CAZARES, FATHER OF UVALDE SCHOOL SHOOTING VICTIM: You got to leaked. They got shown all over the world. And we are pissed. These families didn't deserve it. I don't deserve it. That's a slap to our baby's faces. And we're tired this, you know, we can't trust anybody anymore.
FLORES: Rosa Flores, CNN, San Antonio.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
KINKADE: Still ahead on the program. Dramatic new revelations new Tuesday's January 6 committee hearing, including an accusation that President Trump himself attempted to contact a witness. We'll have a report from Washington.
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KINKADE: Welcome back, the race to replace Boris Johnson as British Prime Minister is now down to eight candidates. Conservative lawmakers will cast their first ballots in the leadership contest in the day ahead. Successive voters will whittle the field down to the final two. And then the new leader is expected to be announced on September 5.
But the opposition Labour Party wants Johnson out as soon as possible. They're planning a confidence vote in the hours ahead. Downing Street spokesperson says it can go forward if it removes references to Prime Minister Boris Johnson and mentions only the British government.
New bombshells from the January 6 Committee hearing it has focused on ties between the Trump team and far-right militia groups. Also reveal details about a White House meeting where tempers and egos clashed among competing advisors to the President. Ryan Nobles filed this story from Washington and viewers should be aware some of the testimony contains profane language.
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RYAN NOBLES, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The January 6 Select Committee use their seventh public hearing to build a case that Donald Trump had a plan to call his supporters to Washington to march on the Capitol and stand in the way of certifying the 2020 election. One witness Stephen Ayres, who has since pleaded guilty to entering the Capitol illegally said he answered Trump's call.
STEPEHEN AYRES, BREACHED CAPITOL ON JANUARY 6TH: We didn't actually plan to go down there. You know, we went basically to see the stop the steal rally and that was it.
REP. STEPHANIE MURPHY (D-FL): So why did you decide to march to the Capitol?
AYRES: Well, basically, you know, the President got everybody riled up, or what everybody had on down. So we basically were just following what he said.
NOBLES: The Committee unveiling never before seen depositions and communications among Trump insiders, showing that the former president ignored the advice of his own advisers and instead leaned on the counsel of election deniers, like Sidney Powell, Michael Flynn and Rudy Giuliani.
RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER TRUMP ATTORNEY: I'm going to categorically describe it as you guys are not tough enough. Or maybe put it another way, you're a bunch of pussies. Excuse the expression, but that's almost certainly the word with you.
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NOBLES: The committee arguing Trump knew he lost the election, but was driven to overturn the results anyway.
REP. LIZ CHENEY (R-WY): President Trump is a 76-year-old man. He is not an impressionable child, just like everyone else in our country, he is responsible for his own actions and his own choices.
NOBLES: A drive that led to a raucous meeting at the White House in the middle of December, when Trump wanted to name attorney Sidney Powell, a special counsel in order to seize voting machines.
SIDNEY POWELL, FMR. FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: The President said, OK, you know, I'm the name winner of that and I'm giving her security clearance.
NOBLES: Former White House Counsel Pat Cipollone testifying that he was displeased to see people like Powell and Flynn in the Oval Office and told Trump naming Powell special counsel was a grave mistake.
PAT CIPOLLONE, FMR. TRUMP WHITE HOUSE COUNSEL: To have the federal government cease voting machines, it's a terrible idea for the country. That's not how we do things in the United States. There's no legal authority to do that.
I don't think any of these people were providing the President with good advice. And so I didn't understand how they had gotten in.
NOBLES: Cipollone also describing his frustration dealing with people, who couldn't produce any evidence of widespread voter fraud.
CIPOLLONE: I disregard I would say a general disregard for the importance of actually backing up, say with facts.
NOBLES: Afterward, Trump shifting gears but not backing down from his pursuit of pushing election lies, tweeting the next day, an invitation to his supporters to descend on Washington. On January 6.
MURPHY: Be there will be wild, the president wrote.
NOBLES: The committee also presenting a draft tweet obtained from the National Archives showing Trump plans before January 6, to tell his supporters please arrive early, massive crowds expected. Marched to the Capitol after. This, despite members of Trump's cabinet and inner circle, testifying that they told Trump he lost the election. And he should concede to Biden after the Electoral College met in mid- December.
EUGENE SCALIA, FORMER U.S. LABOR SECRETARY: I conveyed to him that I thought that it was time for him to acknowledge that President Biden had prevailed in the election.
CIPOLLONE: If your question is that I believe he should concede the election at one time, yes I did.
NOBLES (on camera): Next up for the committee, a hearing next week that they say will focus on what they describe as Donald Trump's dereliction of duty, those 187 minutes while the Capitol was under siege, and they say they'll show he did not do enough to prevent the violence from getting worse.
And the committee ended their hearing on Tuesday by making note of a potential witness getting a phone call out of the blue from the former President Donald Trump. They say that witness decline the call and instead informed their attorney of it. The attorney then reached out to the committee. The committee says that they've now passed that information along to the Department of Justice, in case it is a potential instance of witness intimidation. Ryan Nobles, CNN on Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEO TAPE) KINKADE: Jessica Levinson is a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles and the host of the Passing Judgment podcast. She joins us now live good to have you with us.
JESSICA LEVINSON, PROFESSOR OF LAW, LOYOLA LAW SCHOOL: Good to be here.
KINKADE: So, Donald Trump lost the election in 2020. And as we've since heard in testimony, summon supporters to do anything possible to overturn the results. What stood out to you what stood out to you today?
LEVINSON: I think what stood out to me was, again, this evidence that the committee keeps bringing forward that is so consistent, which is one, President Trump was told over and over again by his advisers. There's no evidence of widespread election fraud, if you claim that the election was stolen, that is a lie, that he acted anyway to as a result of that, that he kept saying the election was stolen, we have to fight we have to get back this election. They're going to take it from us.
Three, that he then spoke really directly, explicitly and implicitly to these fringe right wing groups like the Proud Boys, like the Oath Keepers. And he said to them, Go to the Capitol, that he knew that some of them were armed and that he said they're not trying to hurt me understanding that they were in fact, potentially going to be violent against other people, that he directly then sent them to the Capitol saying we have to take back this country.
And then finally, that he did nothing, and we're going to hear more about that next week, that he did nothing for those long hours where our capital was under threat.
KINKADE: Jessica, we also heard from a former member of the paramilitary group known as the Oath Keepers, who testified that the group wanted an armed revolution and that he thought it could have sparked a new civil war. Let's just play a little bit of that sound.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JASON VON TATENHOVE, FORMER OATH KEEPER MEMBER: I think we need to quit mincing words and just talk about truths and what it was going to be was an armed revolution. I mean people died that day.
Law enforcement officers died that day. There was a gallows set up in front of the Capitol. This could have been the spark that started a new civil war and no one would have won there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Certainly an extraordinary testimony. How much weight does a testimony like that carry?
LEVINSON: Well, this is not a court of law, so of course, it comes down to opinion and emotion and impact and I think that does carry a lot of weight.
Actually it's something that he said right before and again right after that that I also thought had great impact which was that people stopped when the president said go home, stop. And the people would have stopped if he had said something earlier.
Andi think it is important as, you know you played that video that he said we were on the brink and this was a group that wasn't a ragtag group of tourists that just organically coalesced. This was an organization that kind of looks like a paramilitary organization and they were there for a very specific purpose and they felt that they were directed there by the former president of the United States.
KINKADE: And there was another rioter who gave a similar testimony who pleaded guilty to entering the Capitol and explained how he was only there because Trump urged his supporters to go to the Capitol.
Stephen Ayres testified that if Trump had called on supporters to leave soon then the situation would not have gotten as bad.
What does this say about Trump's role in all of this when we hear testimony from his supporters.
LEVINSON: I think that he had a very direct one. And all of the hearings in my mind have been about drawing lines between the president and actions that were taken or actions that he failed to take.
What I think Stephen Ayres is saying here is the president had control. He had control in terms of sending this group, this angry mob that turned violent very predictably into the Capitol and he had control in terms of the idea that he could have brought them back.
And so this is both obviously political very important but it's legally important as well because we are looking at whether or not the president's actions could amount to a federal criminal charge.
And I think a lot of what we heard today, again this idea that the president sent them and the president could have told them back and that he should be responsible for the foreseeable consequences of the his actions. These are things that the attorney general is going to look at.
KINKADE: Yes. Certainly a lot of evidence building right now. Jessica Levinson in Los Angeles, thanks so much for your time.
LEVINSON: Thank you.
KINKADE: Well still to come, the pandemic is far from over, according to the World Health Organization. We'll speak with an expert about the current state of the coronavirus and why it's continuing to spread.
[01:33:09
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KINKADE: Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kinkade. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
Ukraine is claiming a victory in the south even as Russian forces continue hammering the country's east. On Tuesday the Ukrainian military announced that it had destroyed a Russian ammunition depot in the occupied part of Kherson.
But it comes as more Russian attacks are being reported in the Kharkiv, Mykolaiv and the Donbas Region.
Here now is CNN's Alex Marquardt's report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: There has been renewed aggression by Russian forces against Kharkiv on Tuesday with Russian forces, according to the Ukrainian military trying to mount a new smaller offensive from the north of the city, about 12 miles or 20 kilometers away.
They were pushed back, the Ukrainian military says, but there was a flurry of rocket strikes earlier on Tuesday on at least two districts in the city. One of those districts saw a large fire break out and at least four people were wounded, according to local officials.
And then in the south where Ukrainian forces have been focusing much of their energy, there has been repeated attacks on the Kherson region which is occupied by Russian forces.
Overnight from Monday into Tuesday, there was a massive strike by Ukrainian forces on what Ukraine says was a Russian ammunitions depot. All that is left is a massive crater.
Now Russia-backed officials in Kherson denied that any ammunition was there but they do acknowledged that it was an incredibly big strike leaving damage as much two kilometers away. There were dozens of people wounded, they say, a well as seven dead.
The Russians are accusing Ukraine of using the recently arrived High Mars system. Those are those more advanced, more precise, longer-range American rocket systems. And while the Ukrainians do not acknowledge that High Mars was used in this attack or any others in the past few days, we have heard from President Zelenskyy who said this in part.
"The occupiers" -- meaning the Russians -- "have already felt very well what modern artillery is and will not have a safe rear (ph) anywhere on our land."
So much of the focus by the Ukrainian forces has been on that southern front where Kherson, the city is controlled by Russian forces. And Mykolaiv which is still under Ukrainian control has been coming under increasing attack by Russian troops.
The Russians do appear to be prioritizing whatever gains they can make in the eastern part of the country after solidifying their gains in the Luhansk province. They are trying to do the same by increasing their attacks next door in Donetsk. And over the weekend, we saw a horrible attack on an apartment building. And in the past three days, the death toll from that strike has only grown as rescue workers have dug through the rubble, pulling out bodies from that destruction. They have also thankfully managed to save at least 9 people.
Alex Marquardt, CNN -- in Kharkiv.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: The World Health Organization warns the COVID pandemic is nowhere near over. The comments came from the group's director general on Tuesday in what was an emergency committee meeting. The members agree that COVID-19 still meets the requirement of a worldwide health emergency.
Several reasons were given for that decision including the continue growth rate of coronavirus cases in much of the world, in countries (INAUDIBLE) to implement tools to reduce its transmission.
The WHO chief says more needs to be done.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, DIRECTOR-GENERAL, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: The waves of the virus demonstrate again that the COVID- 19 is nowhere near over. As the virus pushed at us, we must push back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Well, for more, I'm joined by Dr. Jorge Rodriguez, a board- certified internal medicine specialist and a viral researcher. Good to have you with us.
DR. JORGE RODRIGUEZ, A BOARD-CERTIFIED INTERNAL MEDICINE SPECIALIST: Thank you, Lynda. Thank you for having me.
[01:39:46]
KINKADE: So Doctor, we're allowed to believe that the COVID crisis is behind us. Very few countries now enforcing lockdowns and social distancing and mask wearing. And for many of us in many places, there is this sense of pre-COVID normality.
But the WHO is saying not so fast. Still world wide emergency. Just explain why.
DR. RODRIGUEZ: Well, because it is still a world wide emergency. I think if you ask anyone nowadays, they're probably having more friends, more people that they know with COVID-19 than ever.
Let me start off by saying that the original COVID strain infected on the average, everybody that got infected, infected three other people.
With every mutation the virus has become more infectious. It is now infecting one person that gets infected will infect 18. That's higher than the measles which is the most infectious virus of all.
Why is this still happening? I think because we're tired. You know, I've been singing the same old song and other doctors for two years. People are tired -- we want normalcy. You know, and listen I'm going to quote something really weird today.
Stephen King, the novelist, wrote in a tweet today, "America, the war against COVID is over and COVID has won." And I'm afraid that he is right.
We have just kind of said listen, I'm tired of this. Let's try to live normally and there has to be a happy medium where we realize that there is still a danger out there and we have to live our lives as best as possible, but cautiously.
KINKADE: The infection rate are going up but still when you look at the hospitalization rate, the death rate, nowhere near as what it was in the worst of the pandemic.
DR. RODRIGUEZ: That's correct.
KINKADE: Talk to us about this sub variant known as BA-5. You mentioned the infection rate compared to previous areas. What else do we know about it because it is spreading in the U.S. and parts of Europe.
DR. RODRIGUEZ: And it's spreading faster than any other variant. And here in Los Angeles, another city. If you look alt the curbs of hospitalization, they're going up exponentially, yes.
They're not as where they were maybe in the winter but if things continue, they are going to be there. There's evidence, for example, in the Houston waste water because not everybody is going now anymore to doctors to report that they're positive. So the infectivity rate is probably a lot higher than we're seeing.
But what I'm saying is and I don't think people have gotten this. The virus only mutates when it infects somebody. It cannot mutate and replicate in the air.
So the more people get infected, even if it's a mild pace, they're going to be mutated within that person. And one of those mutations is going to be stronger than the other one, that any of other ones and that's the one that's going to survive.
And until we can control the world wide infectivity rate, this pandemic is still going to be, you know, amongst us. No matter what we thing. No matter how scared we want to be.
KINKADE: Doctor, vaccination rates around the world continue to go up. The CDC wants eligible adults to get another boost as soon as they can.
Obviously like regular COVID-19 vaccines seem to be the new norm, I'm wondering how resistance this latest COVID variant is to the vaccine and whether we will mean more variant-specific vaccine going forward. DR. RODRIGUEZ: Yes. This new variant is resistant to the vaccines to some degree. So you can still get infected but what the vaccines still is it definitely even against these variants prevent you from getting severely ill or dying. Those rates are still way down for people that have gotten infected and boosted.
So again, people that think oh listen I'm just going to get a mild case of it, perhaps that's right. But A, you're spreading more variants or you're creating more variants. And secondly we don't know what multiple infections are going to cause in the long run.
So you should still get vaccinated, you should still get boosted if available.
KINKADE: Great advice. Dr. Jorge Rodriguez, in Los Angeles, thank you.
DR. RODRIGUEZ: Thank you.
KINKADE: Residents in Shanghai are in the middle of a mandatory mass testing campaign due to consistently rising COVID cases.
It's part of China's zero COVID policy which is renewing fears of another mass lockdown after the city only recently exited months of restrictions.
CNN's Selina Wang joins me now from Beijing.
So Selina, people in Shanghai lining up in the sweltering heat for compulsory COVID testing.
SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And Lynda, people in Shanghai, they are getting this very ominous feeling of deja vu because it's only been a matter of weeks since Shanghai declared victory over COVID 19 and now again there are fears that Shanghai could be going back into a citywide lockdown.
Cases have jumped from single digit about a week ago to now more than 50 a day. Those numbers sound very low by international standards but we are talking zero COVID China here. And that counts as a major escalation.
[01:44:59]
WANG: And of special concern to officials in China is that in Shanghai and in several others cities across China, they have discovered that more contagious COVID sub-variant.
So in response we are seeing Shanghai undergo mass testing, according to local media reports. Several neighborhood communities have urged residence to stockpile medicine and other essentials and food.
And this brings back very painful memories for these Shanghai residents that underwent this two month brutal lockdown where so many were struggling to get enough food, access to daily essentials and so many countless heartbreaking stories of people who are turned away from urgent essential medical needs. And while officials right now, they are denying any rumors of a city wide lockdown. Well, many residents in Shanghai, they have lost trust in their local authorities. Because remember, back in March, authorities had similarly denied any rumors of a lockdown. And when they did finally the lockdown, the official said that's the lockdown would only last for a number days.
So still people are reeling from the fear that their nightmare could be starting all over again. And this zero COVID policy in China, it's not just being tested in Shanghai but we are seeing flare ups across the country, more cities now being under some sort of lockdown with Lanzo (ph) city and Gangzhou (ph) province as well as several cities in Hanan province now under full lockdown.
Now while there is a high-vaccination overall in China, the concern is that the vaccination rate is still lagging behind when it comes to more vulnerable elderly population. China also has not ruled out an mRNA vaccine which studies show are more effective than the inactivated vaccine used in China.
And the threat of a lockdown, of course, is always there now matter where you are in this country. And even when there is no lockdown, life is just sort of COVID normal.
Here in Beijing, I've got to get a COVID test once every three days. I've got to scan my health QR code to enter any public place, Lynda.
KINKADE: That's incredible. All right. Selina Wang for us in Beijing. Thanks so much.
Still ahead, Japan bidding a final farewell to a beloved former prime minister. The country comes to grips with the aftermath of his shocking assassination.
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KINKADE: Welcome back.
Twitter is now suing billionaire Elon Musk to force him to complete a deal to buy the social media company. The lawsuit was filed after Musk said he wanted to pull the plug on his $44 billion acquisition claiming Twitter had withheld data he requested to evaluate the members fake accounts on the platform.
[01:49:50]
KINKADE: Twitter's legal team argues that Musk is violating their purchase agreement. The deal is now likely to head to court to determine if Twitter can force Musk to close the deal. Or make him cover the $1 billion breakout fee to walk away.
The search for answers in Japan following the assassination of the country's longest-serving prime minister, the Japanese police were back at the site of Shinzo Abe's murder conducting a large scale search for any new evidence.
Police won't say exactly what they were looking for so they're using a metal detector to assist in the search.
The former leader was fatally shot last week during a campaign rally. According to Japanese media, the suspect targeted Abe, (INAUDIBLE) a grudge against a religious group that he thought Abe's grandfather allowed to expand decades ago.
Crowds lined the streets of Tokyo on Tuesday to pay their final respects for the former prime minister.
CNN's Kyung Lah shows us Japan's Day of Mourning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At the temple where former prime minister Shinzo Abe's body lay, a city in mourning began to arrive.
Across all ages, clutching flowers, they gathered to say farewell.
Why is the street so filled with people.
CHIE LETTIER, FUNERAL MOURNER: I think our nation is just very sad. Also it just rarely happened so we still cannot believe what happened.
LAH: The funeral for Abe was a private event inside. Outside, a public gathering to grieve the loss of a political titan.
Well wishers waited through the two-hour funeral lining the street as Abe's body left the temple. For 30 minutes as the black hearse made its way through downtown Tokyo, one of the world's busiest cities came to a halt.
Stopping before Japan's most powerful governmental offices, the nation's lawmakers paid their respects.
The hearse entered the funeral home and the crowd bid a final goodbye to Japan's longest serving prime minister. And in part some sense of security, a country that has almost no cases of gun violence, now deals with the aftermath of a very public crime.
(INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not always like that. It's very sad, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This shouldn't have happened.
LAH: Kyung Lah, CNN -- Tokyo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: It's about to get even hotter in much of west Europe. A blistering heatwave has led to some of the highest alerts possible. In the last year road closes, travel delays and wild fires. The big (INAUDIBLE) in a live report next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KINKADE: Welcome back. Stunning new images taken by NASA'S (INAUDIBLE) James Webb's space telescope by giving the most detailed look yet of the early universe.
[01:54:52]
KINKADE: Take a look at this. You are looking at the edge of a star, forming regions 7,000 light years away. COVID clip invisible to us until Webb Telescope captured them.
And this, a dying star shedding gas and (INAUDIBLE) with distant galaxies behind it. Scientists hope Webb's discoveries will shed light on how the universe evolved, if there's life out there and how earth compares to other planetary systems.
Much of western Europe is bracing for another round of blistering dangerous heat. After the second warmest June on record. Extreme heat alert, the highest level possible are in effect in Eastern Spain and Portugal. And there are fears the high temperatures could worsen wildfires now burning.
Already sweltering (INAUDIBLE) and whales could get even hotter later this week. This as they're already issuing help alert. They worry the high temperatures could melt the road surfaces and cause rail and air traffic delays.
I want to bring in meteorologist Gene Norman. Just how hot is it going to get.
GENE NORMAN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Lynda it's going to be even hotter in some places and is already has been. We're looking at these really scorching temperatures, 43 in Meredith (ph) yesterday and even as far as London, they got close the temperatures in the low 30s. Again some 10 degrees, almost 10 degrees warmer than it should be for this time of year.
And those heat alerts continue and they're pretty much go through the end of this week for a good part of the Iberian peninsula. Most to Portugal and western Spain. Hot temperatures, one more time. In fact take a look at these readings.
We're looking at 42 in Madrid by Thursday, 45 today and Thursday in Sevilla, so really, really hot. Parachutes into the afternoon as well.
But there is something interesting going on in the weather map, we do have high pressure keeping everybody hot. But notice this spot. It's moving through the U.K. and that will at least give a brief reprieve to parts of London for the next couple of day but it won't last very long.
Watch as the heat builds back as we head toward the end of the week and into the weekend and that's where those heat alerts are starting to come in.
Again, the issued it yesterday in anticipation for this coming weekend. On Sunday, highs will approach 40 and it will extend into Monday, a level 3 heat alert. Paris too, getting hot, getting close to 40 degrees by Monday and Tuesday.
So the heat is on for sure. And Lynda no relief in sight. Maybe Portugal gets a bit of a break as we head into the weekend.
KINKADE: It's going to be a hot weekend in a hot spot for next week.
Gene Norman, thanks so much.
And thanks so much for joining us for this version of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Lynda Kinkade.
The news continues with my colleague, Rosemary Church, right after this.
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