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Jan. 6 Committee Subpoenas Secret Service Over Erased Texts; Atlanta Area D.A. Tells Georgia GOP Chair He Could Be Indicted In Election Probe; Indiana A.G. Investigating Abortion Performed On 10- Year-Old Rape Victim; Russian Missile Strikes Bombard Mykolaiv, Ukraine; Death Toll After Russian Cruise Missile Attack in Vinnytsia Rises To 24; Interview With Kira Kudik, Ukrainian Parliament Member; East Coast Officials Warn Beachgoers To Be Extra Cautious About Sharks. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired July 16, 2022 - 17:00   ET

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

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gangs of young male Southern Sealions are making the most of the last warm days. They may look lazy on land, but under the waves there's a party going on.

These sea lions can hold their breath for up to 20 minutes and swim at 20 miles per hour, helpful talents for catching fish and impressing your buddies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN NOBLES, CNN HOST: "PATAGONIA, LIFE ON THE EDGE OF THE WORLD" airs tomorrow night at 9:00 right here on CNN.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Ryan Nobles in Washington. Jim Acosta is off today.

And we're less than a week away from the January 6th committee's last planned hearing and new developments are coming fast and furious. On Friday, the former CEO of Overstock testified behind closed doors for nearly eight hours. He was part of that chaotic December 18th White House meeting in which outside advisers urged then President Trump to seize voting machines.

But those weren't the only outside advisers pushing extreme measures. New today, the "New York Times" reports that a little known conservative lawyer talked to Trump about declaring something akin to martial law after the election.

And also today, the Secret Service responds after the Select Committee issues a subpoena for a bunch of text messages that were erased by the agency. Let's start there with CNN's senior crime and justice reporter Katelyn Polantz. And Katelyn, this hunt for the missing text message comes a day after

the select committee issued a subpoena to say that they want all this information that was perhaps erased by the agency.

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: That's right, Ryan.

So this story is really fast moving and we are learning today from the Secret Service they may be turning over what they have so that the house select committee can get to the bottom of what happened here. So just 72 hours ago, that's when Capitol Hill learned about this issue that the Department of Homeland security inspector general, a watchdog that was conducting its own look at January 6th inside that agency including the Secret Service was unable to get some text messages from Secret Service phones on January 5th and 6th, 2021 because they were lost as part of a data migration. The Secret Service said there was nothing malicious about that.

And even the text that the IG there at DHS really wanted, that those were not going to be lost. But there was a lot of confusion around this and the House Select Committee got a briefing yesterday on this from the inspector general about what that investigator knew what happened.

And they came out of that briefing and decided to issue a subpoena to see what they could get, if they could recover these text messages and if there were any after action reports that could explain a little bit more.

So Representative Zoe Lofgren yesterday talked about this a little bit. Here's what she said.

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REP. ZOE LOFGREN (D-CA): The Secret Service was aware this was one of the signature events of our country and that there would be a need to preserve all of the evidence because of that and also there's an obligation for federal agencies to retain records.

So this is troubling, but they've said they've got the texts and the committee intends to get them all ASAP.

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POLANTZ: So the Secret Service is an entity right now the House Select Committee cares a great deal about. There's agents witnessing things on January 5th, January 6th right around the president, things the House Select Committee has brought forward in testimony really crucial, but they're saying that they are cooperating extensively.

In the statement this morning, they said they've already provided hours of testimony from agents and over 790,000 unredacted emails, radio transmissions, operational and planning records, and then they say we plan to continue that cooperation by responding swiftly to the committee's subpoena. So we're going to watch for that.

NOBLES: Yes. I'm sure the committee is anxious to see how they respond to that.

Katelyn, we're also learning of a Christmas phone call between Trump and a conservative lawyer after the election. What can you tell us about that?

POLANTZ: That's right. So this is a new memo that the "New York Times" unearthed and was able to publish today for the first time, and it fills in some of those days between the election and January 6th, basically telling us a new name of who was in the president's ear giving him advice.

[17:04:53]

POLANTZ: And this lawyer, his name is William Olson (ph). He and Trump spoke on the phone on Christmas day. He says that in this memo. And then he writes the memo telling Trump that the lawyers around the president are not serving him well, and Trump needs to do more to harness his power as president to basically take the election for himself.

This lawyer, William Olson in this memo, he insults the Justice Department and the White House counsel's office. He says that they are shameful, dismissive of the president personally.

And then he says to Trump, here is what must be done. You should replace the White House counsel. You should order the Justice Department to file a lawsuit. If the leaders there don't want to do that, get rid of them. And then we can work on what else you can do when you have different people in place using the powers of the presidency.

That's where he says that line, the media will call this martial law, but that is fake news. And of course, Trump does follow some of these directions and just a few days later is talking about getting rid of the attorney general and putting a new person in place to do just these things William Olson was talking about.

NOBLES: It's interesting that he jumps to the idea that the media may call it martial law before the media even had a chance to look at it and analyze it. It's a little bit telling, I would say.

Katelyn Polantz, thank you for your reporting as always. We appreciate it.

All right. Let's talk more about this, we'll bring in Secret Service supervisory special agent Charles Marino and CNN legal analyst Elie Honig.

So Charles, let me start with you. Whether or not these texts are recovered, this has become quite a mess for the Secret Service. Does that explanation track in your mind?

CHARLES MARINO, SECRET SERVICE SUPERVISORY SPECIAL AGENT: Well, I mean, let's acknowledge that the optics of this whole thing stinks, right? It stinks not only for the Secret Service but also for its parent agency DHS and for the inspector general. I mean, my understanding is that this data migration was known throughout the department for quite some time, and that this was never raised as an issue or flagged by anybody. You know, of course, the important point here is can the messages be recovered ultimately, but the Secret Service from my understanding is they've been cooperating with the January 6th Committee and the inspector general from the very beginning on this.

They've been sending agents to the Hill numerous times. Again, you alluded to earlier over close to 800,000 unredacted emails and other documents. So why these messages at this time?

And I think the subpoena makes logical sense from an investigative standpoint from the committee. But now let's give the Secret Service time to give their side of the story here.

NOBLES: Yes. And Elie, I do think it's one thing to say we've handed over thousands and thousands of documents if, you know, most of those thousands and thousands of documents aren't that interesting and you don't hand over the documents that are the most pertinent, right?

I mean, the idea that it's this trove of documents from the 5th and the 6th that are an issue is what probably has the committee most concerned, right?

ELIE HONIG, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, Ryan. I don't find the numerosity all that compelling given that the key dates are missing. Who cares, they can give millions of documents from other days that no one cares about, if the 5th and 6th are missing that's what matters.

And I think there are serious questions that the Secret Service has to answer here. For example, how on earth did they do a data migration, upgrading the devices without backing up the data, without saving the data?

And let me say this, Secret Service knows it has to do this. They do this all the time. They save the data because everyone knows Secret Service from their duty of protecting the president, but lesser known, the Secret Service also routinely does criminal investigations.

When I was a federal prosecutor I did all sorts of fraud cases with really talented Secret Service agents. And in a criminal case, you absolutely have to save all those communications, often you have to turn them over to the defense. If you fail to do that, a judge may dismiss your case.

So Secret Service knows it has this obligation. They have the means and mechanisms to save that data, yet somehow for these two dates, that data was not saved at all.

NOBLES: So Charles, you were critical of a number of aspects of this, including the inspector general. And the inspector general for the homeland -- for Homeland Security is saying that Secret Service is still being uncooperative.

You know, what's the issue here? Why can't they get on the same page? I know it is the job of the IG to essentially be a watchdog of the agency, so that on a level -- creates a level of conflict, but why can't they get on the same page here to get the information that everyone knows needs to be handed over?

MARINO: Yes, those are good points, and I think we're hearing from the IG's visit to the Hill yesterday based on reports that, you know, he had spoken to the secretary of Homeland Security about this very issue on a couple of occasions with no resolution. And this is what the Secret Service is going to have to answer to.

To Elie's point, which are fair points, they're going to have to discuss why these messages weren't backed up, what the mitigation was in place to make sure that they didn't lose any data.

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MARINO: They are cyber experts. They know how to do this. And again to make sure that we get these messages that the committee wants is important. So this -- bring the department together, somebody's got to give the committee answers.

I don't think any of the parties that we discussed right now, especially the Secret Service have the luxury of calling the shots anymore. They need to be responsive to what's being asked and provide the information.

NOBLES: Yes. So Elie, let's now turn to this report that the former president was advised by a conservative lawyer who pushed him to enact something resembling martial law. Those were his words, not ours.

This, of course, another example of Trump enlisting outsiders after the bulk of his official advisers debunked his theories and told him the reality of the 2020 laws.

Aside from the fact that a lawyer like this that nobody seemed to know even had access to the president during this crucial time. You know, what does this tell us about what Trump was thinking about at this time and how dangerously close we came to a constitutional crisis or more?

HONIG: Well, Ryan, we're getting such a clear picture of Donald Trump's mind-set at this time. It wasn't even just that he was bringing in outsiders. His rule of thumb, his only operational rule seemed to be if you tell me what I want to hear, I'll bring you in. And if you don't, I will shut you out.

Think about who was who in these final frantic days before January 6th. He was listening to Michael Flynn, not a lawyer, but an adviser with some very dangerous ideas. Sidney Powell, a lawyer with some ridiculous ideas. This new lawyer Olson who we're learning about, Rudy Giuliani. Who's he shutting out who's trying to tamp down these wild abuses (ph), more level headed institutional lawyers like Pat Cipollone like Eric Herschmann, like Jeffrey Rosen. So you can see the battle lines here. The rule for Donald Trump was you tell me what I want to hear, you indulge my fantasy, I'll let you in. You bring reality in, you're shut out. NOBLES: So Charles, the January 6th Committee laid out how Trump

really wanted to go to the Capitol on January 6th. That eventually led to him blowing up at his Secret Service. There was even, of course, testimony that he lunged at an agent.

What's your reaction to that account and just the posture that the president had and the position he put his Secret Service detail in on that day?

MARINO: Well, again, I don't think it's uncommon in the sense that the Secret Service may want to go in a direction based on protective intelligence other than what the president wants to do. This would not be the first example of that. We saw it with President Bush 43 on 9/11 when he wanted to return to the White House later in the day, and the Secret Service objected to that and ultimately we went back. Those were the president's wishes.

In this case, that did not happen. The Secret Service made the ultimate decision and took him back. So was there some unhappiness? Likely so. I don't know. I wasn't in the limo.

But as far as what took place in that limo, you know, there's people that have already been up to the Hill to testify on that behind closed doors.

And I think based on Miss Hutchinson's recent testimony, I think, again, the Secret Service should be called back up on the hill and asked about this incident, which did not previously come up.

That is the next logical investigative step, and I think as we're seeing it here in the previous text message issue that we were discussing, it should follow the same suit in this issue.

It gives the committee -- it gives the committee the transparency and the legitimacy that it's been seeking since it started.

NOBLES: All right, Charles Marino, Elie Honig, great conversation as always. Gentlemen, thank you so much for being here. We appreciate it.

And a quick programming note, join Drew Griffin for a new investigation into Steve Bannon and his master plan to reshape the U.S. government and the Republican Party. The "CNN SPECIAL REPORT: STEVE BANNON, DIVIDED WE FALL" begins tomorrow night at 8:00.

And coming up, the investigation into former President Trump's and his allies efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia appears to be escalating. The chair of the state's Republican Party has been warned that he could be indicted. Those details are next.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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NOBLES: A warning to the chair of the Republican Party in Georgia, and it's coming from the Atlanta area district attorney investigating former president Donald Trump and his allies' efforts to overturn the 2020 election in that state.

CNNs political correspondent Sara Murray has more.

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SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: The investigation into Donald Trump and his allies' efforts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia appears to be escalating. We are learning that David Shaeffer, who is the chairman of the Georgia Republican Party received what is known as a target letter.

This is essentially a letter saying you are now considered a target in this investigation. You could perhaps face an indictment.

Now, this is interesting because it's the first target letter we are learning of in this case, so the first time that she has warned someone that we know of that they may face an indictment.

It's also interesting because Shaeffer had been cooperating with prosecutors. He was under the impression he was a witness in this investigation. He is someone who served as a pro-Trump elector, a fake elector. He worked with the Trump campaign to sort of organize this fake slate of electors.

People around him had said he was talking publicly about it at the time. It was only in case Donald Trump somehow won one of his court challenges. But it's very clear from this letter that he could face some legal exposure.

What's not clear is if he is actually going to be indicted or if this is somehow a warning because the district attorney wants something else from him, but we can see clearly she is chugging ahead with her investigation down in Georgia.

Back to you.

NOBLES: All right. Sara, thank you.

Let's talk now with Bob Barr, a former Republican congressman from Georgia who served as the house manager during the impeachment treatment trial of then President Clinton. He's also a former U.S. attorney for Georgia's northern district. Safe to say he has the credentials to talk about this particular issue on a number of levels.

Former congressman, thank you so much for joining us.

Let's talk now first about this letter that was sent from the Fulton County D.A. Fani Willis to David Shaeffer who's the chairman of Georgia's Republican Party. It's called a target letter.

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NOBLES: But sources tell CNN that Shaeffer was previously told that he was a witness, not a target in the probe. So explain the difference and what this letter could mean for Shaeffer.

BOB BARR, FORMER REPUBLICAN GEORGIA CONGRESSMAN: There's a major difference. Now you know, in federal law I served as you mentioned in your intro as the U.S. Attorney here for the northern district of Georgia. A target letter is the last step before a formal action may be taken against somebody that a grand jury is interested in.

Sending somebody a witness letter is very different. And I think the district attorney here could have some problems if she is, in fact, indicating to an individual that they should cooperate because they are or may be a witness, and then shifts that to a target. She had better have some pretty good reasons for doing that in the way that she did as opposed to trying to lull a witness into a sense of confidence in being forth coming and then slamming the door on them.

You know, not saying it's improper, but she has to have a pretty good case in order to do that.

NOBLES: Well, let's talk a little bit about Shaeffer's possible exposure. He acted as a pro-Trump elector in Georgia. He also helped to organize that slate of fake electors for the state, something he told the January 6th committee came at the direction of the Trump campaign after the president lost Georgia.

I mean, what type of legal exposure could he have and could there be some sort of an effort to perhaps get him to flip on someone higher up the food chain?

BARR: Well, of course there's always that possibility, prosecutors always like to try and identify individuals who can be pressured to move up the food chain as you indicated. I don't think we're at that stage yet.

I'm really not quite sure what the goal of the district attorney is as opposed to perhaps a federal investigation, which probably would make more sense.

I'm not sure what charges Fulton County would bring. I've heard or seen analyses that indicate, well, because the writings were false or the writings were misleading or something. They could be putting together some sort of legal case, you know, sort of cobbling together a whole list of what might be non-related offenses with the goal of subverting the election.

But here again, to me, this would be more of a federal issue if there's evidence there, not so much state because I think they're going to have a difficult time fitting (ph) what we know so far into a state indictment.

NOBLES: That's interesting because there have been a lot of people that have pinned the district attorney's efforts as perhaps the best chance that Donald Trump gets indicted. But you know, when you actually look at the law available to prosecutors, you point out maybe that isn't the case.

I want you to take off your prosecutor's hat and put your politician's hat back on now. And let's turn now to the man who thwarted Donald Trump's re-election hopes in 2020, President Biden.

And you just wrote a column for Town Hall in which you write in part, quote, "Polls illustrating the depths of American public's dissatisfaction with President Joe Biden are likely to have devastating short and long-term consequences for his party's electoral successes this year and beyond. That is unless the GOP as it has been known in the past to do loses its focus."

What do you mean by losing their focus? What could your fellow Republicans possibly do to mess this up, I guess?

BARR: Well, a number of things. One, their focus ought to be pure and simply and entirely November of 2022. That should be the one thing that the Republican Party nationally and in the various states looks to for a win.

If, in fact, the party takes its focus off the 2022 elections and starts looking backward to 2020 or forward to 2024 and worrying about who might be the nominee three years from now, they stand a real chance that the democrats are going to be able to somehow rebuild their crumbling support and deny a significant win for the Republicans this November.

It is essential that the Republicans stay focused on this year. But my concern as a Republican is that they may fall prey to pressures to look forward to 2024 or continue this focus on two years ago.

(CROSSTALK)

NOBLES: And of course, the leader of all of that is Donald Trump, right? Because he can't seem to quit 2020, and he's already thinking about 2024. How much of a problem would it cause Republicans if he decides to announce that he'd like to run for president again in 2024 before the midterms in November?

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BARR: I think it would create absolute chaos within the Republican Party and of course, provide innumerable opportunities that are not found now there for Democrats to take advantage of.

Whether Mr. Trump wants to run or decides to run in 2024 that, in my opinion, should not be an issue this year. If he wants to run, let him say so in 2023, but doing it now would I think completely drive the Republican Party into areas that would be utterly chaotic.

It would bring in both the 2020 election nonsense, if you will, and be disrupted because it would take the focus off the issues that should give the Republicans victories this year.

NOBLES: We'll have to see what Donald Trump cares more about, himself or the Republican Party. We may get that answer sooner rather than later.

Former Congressman Bob Barr -- excellent conversation, sir. A lot of expertise you shared with us today, and we certainly appreciate it. Coming up a 10-year-old rape victim was forced to travel to another

state to get an abortion because of restrictions where she lives. The doctor who performed the procedure is now the target of an investigation and is fighting back.

That story is next.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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NOBLES: In Indiana a doctor is being investigated for helping a 10- year-old rape victim from Ohio get an abortion. The child was raped in early May and had to travel to get an abortion as Ohio law bans abortions at around six weeks.

CNN's Polo Sandoval is following the story. He joins me now.

Polo, of course, this a case that has garnered international attention with many politicians weighing in. Why is the doctor being investigated and what is she saying?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So that doctor, Dr. Caitlin Bernard, out of Indianapolis, she's the Ob/Gyn who has come forward and identified herself as the doctor who assisted that 10-year-old in terms of terminating her pregnancy.

But now Dr. Bernard basically finding herself the target of an investigation that was started by the state's Republican attorney general into the potential violation of some laws here, mainly the failure to report an abortion.

In fact, you'll recall it was just a few days ago when the attorney general in Indiana announced on FOX News that he was looking into the possibility that Dr. Bernard violated the state law that requires for an abortion done on anybody under the age of 16 to be reported with the state's health department within three days.

Well, it doesn't take much, only a quick records search and public records search that reveals some of those documents with the Department of health in the state of Indiana.

And it does, in fact, show that Dr. Bernard did report that abortion only two days after it was -- after it was carried out.

We reached back out to the attorney general's office. They basically say at this point they're still gathering evidence as part of their investigation and still their legal review remains open.

But when you hear from Dr. Bernard's attorney, basically, saying that said review isn't even necessary, if you look at these records, she maintains that her clients did follow the right protocols and procedures in order to care for her patient.

And ultimately, as early as yesterday, sent a letter, a cease-and- desist letter, over to the attorney general calling on him to, quote, stop the alleged -- or at least stop making false and misleading statements about alleged misconduct by Dr. Bernard.

In fact, that's why yesterday, on Erin Burnett, she actually called this a smear campaign.

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KATHLEEN DELANEY, ATTORNEY FOR DR. WHO PROVIDED ABORTION SERVICES TO 10-YEAR-OLD RAPE VICTIM: Even the barest minimum of homework on his part would have found that that report had been timely done.

So we want him to stop the smear, and then we want him to stop this dangerous rhetoric that he's using where he is whipping people up into frenzy at a very unsettled time in our nation's history. And we want to make sure that our client stays safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: In light of this letter being sent over to the attorney general, we have actually reached out to the A.G. We are still waiting to hear back -- Ryan?

NOBLES: Polo Sandoval, thank you very much. We appreciate that.

Coming up, Ukraine's president urging the international community to designate Russia a terrorist state.

That's after a missile attack that killed 24 people. A member of Ukraine's parliament joins me next on what she thinks could be a turning point in this war.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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NOBLES: Just in, the Ukrainian military says their troops are advancing in the southern region of Kherson, an area that was largely captured by Russian forces early in Russia's invasion.

Meanwhile, the death toll has risen to 24 after missiles destroyed parts of Vinnytsia, a town in central Ukraine. Surveillance cameras captured the moments the missiles hit. Three children are among the dead. The youngest is just 4 years old.

CNN's Ivan Watson has more from Mykolaiv, which also came under attack.

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IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is the National University of Shipbuilding. It's one of two university that was hit by Russian missiles this week.

Normally, about 1,800 students would study here. But it's summer and there's a war. Sor fortunately, there's no civilian casualties, not deaths reported.

But look at the scale of the blast. It blew out windows and damaged buildings across the street and in the surrounding area as well.

Mykolaiv, this southern city, has been pummeled day after day by Russian projectiles. We visited an elementary school that was destroyed this week and a hospital that's been hit. A hotel as well.

The air raid sirens go off every day.

(EXPLOSION)

WATSON: I spoke to a resident who has sent his wife and son away to neighboring Poland for safety. And he says, every night, he sleeps in the basement for fear that one of these deadly missiles could crash through his ceiling.

This is a crater left by one of the rockets that was fired in that salvo against this university campus on Friday morning. I just want to give you a sense of the power of these weapons that the Russian military is firing against Ukrainian cities.

In just the last couple of days, there were missile strikes on a eastern city, on the southern port city of Odessa. And on Wednesday, a devastating strike on the central city of Vinnytsia, where at least two dozen people were killed, including children, and many more wounded.

WATSON (voice over): A war against one of the biggest bread baskets in the world, Ukraine's fertile farmland now a battleground. Military drone footage exclusively obtained by CNN shows Russian artillery pounding wheat fields, burning the summer harvests charcoal black.

[17:40:04]

In the case of this university campus, I see no clear evidence of any Ukrainian military presence here, which leads me to question, what is the strategy, what is the goal of the Russian military when it fires these deadly weapons at Ukrainian cities?

Is it, as the Ukrainian government argues, a former of psychological warfare, terrorism, designed to try to break the will of the Ukrainian people?

If it is, every time, I talk to a Ukrainian after one of these attacks, they say that they only hate Moscow more than ever.

Ivan Watson, CNN, Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBLES: OK, let's talk now with Kira Rudik, a member of the Ukrainian parliament.

Kira, welcome to the United States. I know you've been here for several days.

You tweeted that you're here to ask for three things, weapons, money, and sanctions against Russia. So far, do you think your trip has been successful?

KIRA RUDIK, UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT MEMBER: Hello. Thank you so much for having me.

Yes, we see the progress on all three directions. First, and the most important is getting more weapons to Ukraine because you have seen that we are using the weapons that were given to us very effectively. We are able to push Russian forces back at certain areas of the east of the country.

Second is money, and the issue that we are seeing is we need more and more money, and I strongly believe that U.S. taxpayers should not be paying for Putin's crimes.

Right now, there's more than $300 billion of assets and money from Russian banks that are in the United States. So why don't we make Putin pay for his crimes instead of U.S. taxpayers?

This is why we're working together with U.S. congressmen and women on their formula how to seize those assets and use them to support my country.

The third point is the sanctions and what you have seen right now is absolutely 100 percent an act of terrorism. This is why I do strongly believe that Russia needs to be acknowledged as a state's point of terrorism as a terrorist state and treat it accordingly, same as North Korea, same as Iran.

And for that we need a specific bill that has been already voted in the committee and needs to be taken out to the House and Senate and supported there.

We need to call the white and black is black, we need to make sure that good and evil are definitely acknowledged. And Russia is absolute evil, is a country terrorist that is killing civilian and innocent people in my country every single day.

There's not a place in Ukraine where people feel safe. There's not a person in Ukraine that could say I wake up today and I definitely know that I will not be hit by a rocket and that my family is safe right now, and this is absolutely terrifying.

This is what needs to stop right now, and this is why we are working so hard to make sure that we win this war.

NOBLES: So let's talk about the state of the war. We're about one week away from marking five months since the invasion started.

Now, given everything that you've seen and experienced, how do you stay hopeful that this will one day come to an end, and do you see an end in sight in the near future?

RUDIK: There are a couple of things that give me hope. The first one is the advance that Ukrainian forces are making with this new high-end missile systems that you our allies provided to us.

I cannot begin to tell you how much hope it gives to our soldiers seeing that we do have the support of the West, of the Western democracies of progressive countries and knowing that this support will continue.

Second what gives me hope is the result of resolve of Ukrainian people. When you are talking to people on the street, they say that they hate Russians, that they are scared, but none of them want to give up.

And I have not seen or heard anybody saying, oh, yes, we should stop fighting because we don't have another mother land. We have lost so many innocent people already. And we will be fighting to push them back.

We know that it is possible. And we see the results of our strikes on the east and south of the country.

And third thing what gives me hope is that step by step different countries start to realize that it's extremely expensive to support Ukraine. And it will be easier and cheaper to help us win this war and put a stop to it.

[17:45:08]

And this is why I do believe that we will continue getting the support and this is why I do believe that we can win this war.

NOBLES: OK, Kira Rudik, she's a member of the Ukrainian parliament.

Obviously, your country, your family, your friends, your neighbors going through so much.

Kira, thank you so much and please, please stay safe.

Still ahead, going to the beach. You should know that shark attacks are on the rise in certain parts of the country. We'll tell you where. And you're going to hear from wildlife expert, Jeff Corwin. about what you need to know next.

We're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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[17:50:06]

NOBLES: Starting today, Americans have a new lifeline to get help in a crisis. A new suicide prevention highline is now available. The new number is 988.

It is simplified from the previous 10-digit number. If you call, you will be directed to a local call center to talk to someone who can help.

The nonprofit that operates a hotline plans to launch a pilot program specifically for the LGBTQ community. Again, if you need help, don't hesitate. Call 988. And you can stay anonymous.

In New York, officials in Long Island this weekend urging people to stay -- the people that are at the beach, I should say, that are at the beach to stay out of the water. And if they do go in, be careful.

And there's a pretty good reason why. At least four people have been bitten by sharks just this month. This happened in Suffolk County, Fire Island, Ocean Beach and other places off Long Island. No one's died yet and beach officials would like to keep it that way.

Jeff Corwin joins me now. He's a wildlife biologist and conservationist who hosts "Ocean Trek with Jeff Corwin," which is streaming now.

Jeff, It's easy to make jokes about "Jaws" here, Long Island, summer vacation, we'll need a bigger boat, all that stuff. But this is actually pretty serious. People should be taking these warnings pretty seriously, right?

JEFF CORWIN, WILDLIFE BIOLOGIST, CONSERVATIONIST: I think, Ryan, it really comes down to common sense. You have a better chance of winning the lottery and being struck by lightning than you do of being attacked by a shark.

With that said, in certain parts of the country. especially along the eastern seaboard, New England where I live, Cape Cod, New York, California, we are seeing an increase in shark populations.

So, of course, when you have the increase of population the odds increase that you can have some sort of conflict, but it is still incredibly rare.

NOBLES: So what kind of sharks are we talking about here that are behind these recent biting incidents? Are they big great whites that we see in the horror movies?

And you mentioned this but maybe explain why the population has gone up so much that there's more human encounters with them right now?

CORWIN: Sure. And of course, it's like the ultimate premium real estate, right? Beachfront, coastal real estate is important to us and it's important to wildlife like sharks.

The three species that tend to be on the radar screen when it comes to having issues, white sharks or great white sharks, bull sharks and tiger sharks.

The truth is, though, the great whites. which populations now are building up, especially where I live, and the populations are growing because their prey is increasing.

Great white sharks are marine mammal eaters and thankfully not primate eaters like ourselves. They're focusing on sea lions on the West coast or here, gray seals and harbor seals.

Both gray seals and harbor seal populations have exploded. Because they're going up, cycling up with them are the predators that consume them including great white sharks.

In the south, we tend to have more of an issue with bull sharks. Bull sharks are not a species you want to mess with.

And the thing that's tricky about bull sharks is not only can they make their way up to places as far north as New Jersey or southern New York. They also can go in fresh water.

But again, the good news it's incredibly rare, but increased prey, healthier ecosystems, Ryan, it means more sharks.

We know that you certainly don't want to be on the wrong side of a shark. But we also know that our environment, especially on marine ecosystems, are much better and healthier with sharks there.

NOBLES: I'm going to focus on the positive. A, it's like getting struck by lightning or winning the lottery. B, I have to use common sense.

And, C, overall, the ecosystem is a lot better. And that's ultimately good news. And that will help me not think about the term "test bite," which frankly sounds terrifying.

Jeff Corwin, thank you so much.

CORWIN: Ryan, if this comforts you, the next time you're swimming in the beautiful waters -- the beautiful ocean waters in the east coast, just take comfort to know that, when you're in the water, you're probably never more than 100 feet away from a shark.

NOBLES: Oh, boy.

And a quick programming note. A brand-new episode of "UNITED SHADES OF AMERICA" with W. Kamau Bell airs tomorrow night on CNN.

And here is a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

W. KAMAU BELL, CNN HOST, "UNITED SHADES OF AMERICA": Often, America tells the story of Appalachia without the black folks.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right. Right.

BELL: You know? Can we piece that apart for people watching? What is it to be black from Appalachia?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If I am in a place where there are black people in mountains it's home. It feels like home.

UM: It's the land that makes you an Appalachian.

[17:54:59]

And free and like our relationship like those hills, like, I can probably name every one of those hills out there. I know just about this place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBLES: Be sure to catch an all-new episode of the terrific show "united shades of America" with W. Kamau Bell. It airs tomorrow night at 10:00 Eastern right here on CNN.

That does it for me. Thank you so much for watching. Reporting from Washington, I'm Ryan Nobles. I'll be back here tomorrow night at 5:00 p.m. Eastern.

My friend, Laura Coates, takes over the CNN NEWSROOM live after a quick break.

Have a good night.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)