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Biden to Meet Soon with Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid; Biden to Meet Palestinian Leader in Bethlehem on Friday; Trump Phone Call to Unnamed Witness Raises Alarms; President Rajapaksa on Flight to Singapore from Maldives; U.S. Inflation Surges, Hits 40-Year Hight in June; Europe Swelters Under Blistering Heat Wave; Chinese Cities Hit Record Temperatures Amid Heat Wave. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired July 14, 2022 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:00]
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a warm welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. I'm Becky Anderson joining you live from Jetta in Saudi Arabia where we are following President Biden's trip to the Middle East.
CHRISTINA MACFARLAND, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Christina Macfarlane in for Max Foster here in London following our other top stories. And just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. LIZ CHENEY (R-WY): President Trump tried to call a witness in our investigation.
RYAN NOBLES, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We're told that this individual could corroborate parts of Hutchinson's testimony.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is both a historic visit and a deeply personal one.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're both going to be committing to never allowing Iran to ever get nuclear weapons.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Inflation hit another 40 year high, soaring to 9.1 percent.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I get paid tomorrow and already my whole paycheck is spoken for.
MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Europe is once again facing a dangerous heatwave.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These heatwaves are not just packing overnight bag, they're staying for quite some time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: It's Thursday, July 14th 11:00 a.m. here in Jetta and in Israel where U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to meet this hour with the Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid. U.S. officials say Mr. Biden will stress the state to state relationship with Israel and not focus on the importance of any one person deal. The leaders are also expected to sign a statement vowing to never let Iran obtain a nuclear weapon.
Well, the more controversial leg of Mr. Biden's trip comes Saturday when he will meet here with Saudi leaders in Jetta. The U.S. president had promised to make the kingdom is pariah for its role in the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Before he left Washington, Mr. Biden spoke with Israel's channel 12 about his objectives.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The trip is about stability in the Middle East. It's overwhelming in the interests of the United States of America to have more stability in the Middle East. The more Israel is integrated into the region as an equal and accepted, the more likely there is going to be a means by which they can eventually come to accommodation with the Palestinians down the road.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, let's get you live to Jerusalem and to journalist Elliott Gotkine. We just heard from the U.S. president there. Is it clear from the White House at this point, exactly what it is that President Biden hopes to take away from this trip?
ELLIOT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: Becky, I think expectations have not really been overdone when it comes to this trip. It is an opportunity as President Biden has said, is to obviously meet are allies, show the U.S.'s support for Israel's security. To that end we saw him receiving a briefing on Israel's missile defense systems, both Iron Dome and the new laser missile defense system, Iron Beam, yesterday.
It's an opportunity to help try and along the Abraham Accords, to help further Israel's integration into the region. Of course, we don't accept any normalization with Saudi Arabia anytime soon. President Biden himself said it would take a very long time. But we are expecting things such as flights from Israel will be able to fly over Saudi air space as a result of this trip. And also, Muslims flying from Israel will be able to charter flights directly to the kingdom to attend the Hajj pilgrimage.
Again, we don't expect any great achievement in terms of the Moribund Israeli/Palestinian peace process. That will come up in conversations. There are expected to be announcements regarding additional funding for Palestinian hospitals in east Jerusalem for example.
But President Biden himself seems to have accepted the reality on the ground and as one administration official put it, that if they had tried to, you know, restart the peace process, there would have been no one to sit at the table.
[04:05:03] Of course, Iran very much at the center of the discussions here, both in terms of Israel's security and also its relation to Israel being integrated further into the Middle East. And in that wide ranging interview that President Biden gave to Israel channel 12 news before arriving in the country, of course, the subject of Iran also came up.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know, most of Israelis are opposed to return to the Iran deal and American partners in the region seem skeptical. May I ask you, many Israelis wonder why you are determined to return to the deal.
BIDEN: Because the only worse thing than the Iran that exists now is an Iran with nuclear weapons. And if we can return to the deal and hold them tight. I think there was a gigantic mistake for the last president to get out of the deal. They're closer to a nuclear weapon now than they were before.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In the past you said that you would do anything, and you say it again, that you'll ensure Iran would not acquire nuclear weapons. Does that also mean, sir, that you use force against Iran, is that what that means if needed?
BIDEN: If that was the last resort, yes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GOTKINE: Now, I'm not sure if we've ever heard President Biden speak in such strident terms before, but it certainly would suggest that he would perhaps, the gap between the U.S. and Israel vis-a-vis Iran and its nuclear program is narrowing.
ANDERSON: What's the position with regard to the Palestinians? I mean, the president will be meeting with Mahmoud Abbas, the head of the P.A., but given that there is no clear indication that the Israeli/Palestinian issue is on the table for Joe Biden, he said that, how do the Palestinians feel about this trip?
GOTKINE: Look, I think that people generally accept the reality that there isn't much prospect of the peace being revived right now. The Biden administration has reiterated time and again its support for a two state solution and indeed, one of the subjects that he and Prime Minister Yair Lapid is set to discuss today is trying to keep alive the prospect of that two state solution.
And indeed, in that interview as well, President Biden talked about how by helping integrate Israel further into the region, as a result building on those Abraham Accords, that at some point down the road that could help in accommodating -- leading to some kind of solution, some kind of two state solution between Israel and the Palestinians.
But I don't think that anyone is under any illusions of what is going to be possible as a result of this trip. Not least, Becky, of course, because we've got a new Prime Minister in Israel. We've got new elections -- more elections coming up in November, and it's very hard to even hold out the hope of further discussions let alone successful discussions if you don't even know who is going to be sitting at the table or what views they're going to hold.
ANDERSON: Elliott Gotkine is in Jerusalem for the first part of this Middle East trip by the U.S. president. Elliott, thank you.
Well, Mr. Biden will meet with the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas as I said in Bethlehem on Friday, but almost no one as we've been reporting is expecting any major breakthroughs. This report by CNN's Hadas Gold.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Five years ago, on his last visit to the White House, the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas made a rare venture into English.
MAHMOUD ABBAS, PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY: Now, Mr. President, for you we have hope.
GOLD (voice-over): Several months later, that hope proved to have been terribly misplaced.
DONALD TRUMP, THEN-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It is time to officially recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
GOLD (voice-over): Under Donald Trump, U.S. policy tilted heavily towards Israel. The Palestinian political office in Washington was closed. The American consulate in Jerusalem, which symbolized U.S./Palestinian relations, also closed, and almost all economic aid to the Palestinians was switched off.
So, when Joe Biden won the election, there was great relief among many in the Palestinian community. But that relief has little to show in terms of action. The Biden administration highlights renewed financing. About half a billion dollars, mostly on schools, hospitals, and other humanitarian aid projects. Further $100 million is set to be announced on this trip including some money for Palestinian hospitals in East Jerusalem.
But politically, the White House seems unwilling to pressure Israel over continued expansion of West Bank settlements and weak in the face of Israel's resistance over plans to reopen the consulate in Jerusalem.
Hussein Sheikh is one of Abbas' closest aides.
HUSSEIN SHEIKH, SECRETARY-GENERAL, PLO EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE (through translator): The U.S. administration has been talking with us about these issues for more than a year, but nothing has been achieved. Even so, we continue to hope this visit will produce serious outcomes that it provides hope and a political horizon.
[04:10:03]
GOLD (voice-over): Biden's visit to the West Bank will take him not to Ramallah, the headquarters of the Palestinian Authority, but to Bethlehem, just a few miles south of Jerusalem, where the president will find it hard to avoid stark reminders of the conflict.
GOLD: One issue that will likely be staring President Biden right in the face, the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh. This giant mural of the Al Jazeera journalist is right on the road you take as you enter Bethlehem.
GOLD (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 and indicative, they believe, of the U.S.'s unwillingness to force Israel to get serious about peace and bringing an end to occupation.
LINA ABU AKLEH, NIECE OF SHIREEN ABU AKLEH: Putting an end to this injustice, putting an end to this impunity is important because it sheds light, it continues to shed light on the greater picture of what Palestinians continue to endure on a daily basis.
GOLD (voice-over): From the Palestinian perspective, the overwhelming feeling around the president's visit is one of pessimism.
Hadas Gold, CNN, Bethlehem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: And we're still waiting on that bilateral meeting between President Biden and the Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid. We will of course bring that to you as soon as it happens.
I'm Becky Anderson in Jetta, in Saudi Arabia, the second leg of Mr. Biden's trip once he is done with Jerusalem and the West Bank. We are here. More from us in the hours to come. For the time being let's throw it back to Christina in London -- Christina.
MACFARLAND: Thanks so much, Becky. Now as the January 6 committee prepares for its next hearing, we have new information first on CNN about another potential instance of witness intimidation. This time however the alleged incident wasn't directed at any former Trump officials or advisers, but rather a member of the White House support staff. CNN's Ryan Nobles explains why this has raised all sorts of red flags for the committee.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RYAN NOBLES, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is a significant development in the January 6 investigation. And it goes back to Tuesday's hearing. That's when Vice Chair Liz Cheney revealed that the committee had been in contact with a witness who said that they had gotten a phone call out of the blue from former President Donald Trump. They declined that call and instead referred that information to their attorney and then the attorney took the information to the Department of Justice.
Cheney said it made the committee nervous and said that they would not tolerate any form of witness intimidation and handed the information over the to the Department of Justice. It did raise some questions though because a phone call unto itself did not seem that that would rise to the level of intimidation particularly when the witness did not answer the phone. But what we have learned is the timing of the phone call, who it was directed to and what that witness knows is what has raised concerns for the committee.
We're told it was a member of the White House support staff, not a member of the political staff or a member of the Trump administration but someone who worked physically at the White House and had the ability to corroborate at least a portion of Cassidy Hutchinson's explosive testimony. But this person had very limited interaction with the former president. And so, when they got a call out of the blue just a few days after Hutchinson's testimony, that made this person concerned, the reason they went to an attorney and why the attorney then went to the January 6 Select Committee.
Now it's unclear what the Department of Justice is going to do with this information. We do know that this particular witness has had some level of communication with the committee, they've not been deposed and the committee does not expect that they will end up having this person sit for a deposition or appear in a public hearing. But committee chairman Bennie Thompson told me today that he does expect we'll learn more about this call and why it had the committee so concerned in the days and weeks ahead.
Ryan Nobles, CNN, on Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLAND: Well, the committee has not yet officially announced the date of its next hearing, but it is expected to be held next week. Committee members tell CNN it will focus on Trump's actions during the 187 minutes the U.S. Capitol came under siege from his supporters.
And we're learning that the Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is now headed to Singapore after initially fleeing to the Maldives. He had pledged to step down but has yet to officially submit his resignation. This after chaotic scenes in the capital yesterday.
Protestors stormed the Prime Minister's office Wednesday furious that the president had fled the country and named the Prime Minister as his interim replacement. Kyung Lah is following the developments for us from Tokyo. And, Kyung, as I just been saying, the promised resignation of the president has not yet happened.
[04:15:00]
So, despite the relative calm today, it remains a very volatile situation. Tell us what's been happening there today.
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, on the ground there's a lot of apprehension, Christina, because they just don't know what is going to be happening next after really a chaotic and nutty day on the ground in the capital of Sri Lanka. What we are just learning in the last hour or so is that the president
continues to be on the move. After fleeing his country and not turning in his resignation, he went to the Maldives and we're now learning that he is heading to Singapore. Where he goes next, is that his final destination, we just don't know. We simply don't know what the next page is. And we don't know what this sort of news is going to do as far as the relative calm that they are seeing on the ground today.
Yesterday was simply -- and over the weekend too, you could see that there was a lot of rage of the people trying to figure out what they could do to try to take control of a government and try really to really essentially overthrow a government that they feel is failing them. They are facing outrageous inflation, 40 percent inflation. They are not able to find fuel, medicine, enough food to feed their families. There are many reports that people are skipping meals in order to just survive day by day. And they blame squarely, not just the global woes of inflation and the war in Ukraine, but the mismanagement of the country by this president.
When he fled, the Prime Minister, someone who they view as an arm of an illegitimate president, took over. So, what happens next? Well, the protestors on the ground through their lawyers have said that they are going to leave two of the three buildings that they had occupied, they are going to remain in the president's office. So, Christina, breaking every hour, we are seeing more and more developments on the ground in Sri Lanka.
MACFARLAND: Yes, let's hope that happens. Kyung Lah there live from Tokyo, thank you very much for the latest there from Sri Lanka
And now in the U.S., Americans are seeing rapidly rising prices as inflation surges to a new 40 year high. According to new economic data, consumer prices rose 9.1 percent last month compared to a year before. That's a higher reading than May and much higher figures than many economists had forecasted. The bigger driver is the jump in gasoline prices. The U.S. Vice President had this reaction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There is no question that we still have work do, but it is important to note that these numbers do not fully reflect the recent drop in gas prices. Average national gas prices have fallen every day for nearly 30 days. President Joe Biden and I are always fighting to make sure that working families can get ahead and stay ahead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLAND: But over the past year costs for basic necessities have soared. Gasoline prices saw the biggest jump nearly 60 percent. Food prices are up 10 percent while shelter costs are more than 5.5 percent higher. Americans say they are feeling the squeeze from the rising cost of living.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't feel like I have any confidence on when the prices are going to go down. So, it's been a little frustrating.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm used to spending like $50 a week in gas. I'm spending like over like $120, $130 a week in gas.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are using our savings.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you nervous about the future?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, of course.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm not making ends meet. I'm not making it. I'm spending my savings. I get paid tomorrow and already my whole pay check is spoken for. And it's the first time in my life I've had to apply for food stamps because I don't know how we're going to continue eating groceries.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLAND: Now Bank of America is predicting a downturn could be coming soon. It says the U.S. economy is slowing faster than expected because of high inflation and a mild recession is likely later this year. Some are now wondering whether the Federal Reserve may look to take more aggressive action.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CECILIA ROUSE, WHITE HOUSE ECONOMIC ADVISOR: Well, the Fed is an independent agency and I really do not want to speak to what they will or will not do. They need to have the space to read the data and make the professional judgment that they will be making. What this suggests, many people were asking, are we in the inflation. What this suggests is at least on the employment side and labor market, we still have a very healthy economy. And you know, the president understands that in order to bring down inflation, the Fed is going to -- you know, needs to cool the economy to some extent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLAND: Well, the U.S. stock market also reacting to the latest inflation figure with all three major indexes closing down slightly on Wednesday. And we're now just hours away from a new trading day on Wall Street. Here is a look at where the U.S. stock futures stand at this hour. The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all showing down in the red.
[04:20:00]
Now, heatwaves, flooding, wildfires. Extreme weather events pounding people across the globe. Next, how the climate crisis is affecting three continents at the same time.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACFARLAND: Officials say more than 40 people are unaccounted for. The flash flooding inundated this part of Virginia. No fatalities have been confirmed so far. Heavy storms hit Virginia Tuesday night dumping up to 6 inches of rain in a matter of hours. The water came so fast that some residents were caught off guard.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And it was just horrendous. The sky just opened up and there it was. Water kept coming up, up, up. And then I thought it was receding and all of a sudden it made another big surge and came back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of our neighbor's driveways completely collapsed and fell down the mountain down the creek. The roads if you walk up there, they're completely destroyed. Some of them snapped, some slid across other roads.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLAND: Well, storms also pounded parts of West Virginia and Tennessee. In Virginia, a shelter has been set up for people who fled their homes because of the flooding.
But fire is the problem on the opposite side of the country.
[04:25:00]
The so-called Washburn fire has burned more than 4,200 acres in California Yosemite National Park. The blaze is how 23 percent contained, according to the National Emergency Fire Center and it is burning for more than a week now forcing residents in one town to evacuate and threaten some of the park's historic sequoia trees.
A similar picture in Europe with dozens of wildfires burning in Portugal, Spain and France. In Portugal alone, more than 120 people have been injured and more than 600 had to flee from fires. Officials say more than 30 homes have been lost so far and it's happening amid a brutal heatwave. Temperatures climbed to 113 degrees Fahrenheit in parts of Portugal and Spain Wednesday.
The heatwave has brought record high temperatures to dozens of cities in China. On Wednesday Shanghai matched its highest temperature ever recorded. Nearly 41 degrees Celsius, that's more than 105 degrees Fahrenheit. For more on this I'm joined by meteorologist Tom Sater. But first let's go to CNN Beijing bureau chief Steven Jiang. And Steven, we know it's not unusual to see heatwaves in China, but frankly, nothing quite like this.
STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: That's right, Christina. And it's a double whammy that this wave is taking place amid a resurgence of COVID cases especially involving the highly transmissible Omicron subvariant BA.5, in many parts of the country including in Shanghai.
And because of China's zero COVID policy, that automatically translates into new lockdowns and mass testing. So just imagine having to line up in the streets for hours in the scorching sun to get tested. That's why we've already seen images of COVID workers in full hazmat suits resorting to touching, hugging, sitting or even lying on huge blocks of ice to cool themselves down. And what's extraordinary about this heatwave, is of course is also how
widespread and long lasting it has been. Lasting almost a month in China and affecting 900 million Chinese across the country. On Wednesday 84 cities across this vast country actually issued their highest level red alert meaning temperature in their jurisdictions would exceed 40 degrees Celsius, that's 104 degrees Fahrenheit in the coming 24 hours.
Shanghai actually just issued its latest red alert for Thursday. In a place -- in a humid place like Shanghai the feels like temperature actually sometimes could be ten degrees higher than what's being reported by the weather service. So, Christina, speaking as someone with a 5-year-old daughter, I think right now we could all use some of the Elsa magic from the "Frozen" movies -- Christina.
MACFARLAND: Yes, I really feel for you with a 5-year-old daughter in that heat. Let's turn to Tom Sater. Tom, just explain to us what is happening here, why are we seeing so many -- so much high temperature in many different regions simultaneously?
TOM SATER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I mean, is it -- we've seen this, it's almost every season, doesn't matter if it's northern hemisphere or the southern hemisphere, the last several years we're not only breaking daily records, we're breaking monthly records, all-time records.
The entire northern hemisphere is sweltering right now. The benchmark heatwave in Europe 2003, it was horrendous, tens of thousands lost their lives. Some estimates over 6,000 or 7,000 lives. And now that is a little different what we'll see now. Yes, some of these temperatures will be higher than 2003, but it was the duration, the consistent days, consecutive days.
Doesn't look like much. Notice that little spin off the coast of Portugal? It's an area of low pressure, a counterclockwise spin is going to bring up this -- tons of heat, this continental air mass that's going to surge across the Iberian Peninsula of through France, up toward Britain. Could Britain see 40 degrees? It's possible. It's unlikely I believe, but it's going to come pretty close to that. And we're going to see this heat continue to be with us for some time.
So, we have our level three amber alerts, you can see it here. This was originally just for Sunday. But the temperatures are going to be higher Monday/Tuesday so they've extended it. Highest temperatures ever for a few countries year here -- 102 -- of course Fahrenheit readings here -- in the United Kingdom, 115 France, 117 Portugal and Spain.
But the years are what we have to point out here, 2019, 2019, just last year, 2021 and 2003. So, obviously it's a fingerprint of climate change. These numbers are well above average when you look at parts of Spain, again Portugal with the fires of course, there is no end in sight here. But once it moves up toward the United Kingdom, then it's going to slide in toward parts of France, central areas and to the west, London. These models want to get us about 97. That is close enough. Some even want to push it up an extra degree or two. Paris, you're higher than that. This is deadly. It's not like it was in 2003, but unfortunately, we
may lose some lives here. 73 fires, 669 people have been evacuated. We've had a good 121 that have been injured from this, they're doing everything they can. The worst fire I think will -- threat will be today, it's a little better as we get into areas over the weekend. But even in the U.S., we have fires burning.
[04:30:00]
