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U.S.-China Tensions; Highway Collapse; Severe Weather; Hackers Expose Personal Data Of Millions Of Americans; Pete Davidson Charged With Reckless Driving After Crashing Into House Back In March; CNN Uncovers Evidence That Russian Wagner Mercenary Group Complicit In Sudan Atrocities. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired June 17, 2023 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[18:00:47]
JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington. Good evening.
We start this hour with the escalating tensions between Washington and Beijing as secretary of State, Antony Blinken arrives in China in just a few hours from now for his high-stakes visit.
President Biden says he hopes to meet again with Chinese leader, Xi Jinping. The relationship between the US and China has become increasingly strained after recent incidents. Last month, the US accused a Chinese jet of conducting an unnecessarily aggressive maneuver while intercepting an American spy plane over the South China Sea. And of course back in February, we all remember when the US shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon off of the coast of South Carolina after it had floated across the country, but President Biden says he believes these tensions can be ironed out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm hoping that over the next several months, I'll be meeting with Xi again and talking about legitimate differences we have, but also all those areas we can get along.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Blinken says he hopes to reestablish lines of communication with China this weekend. The Biden administration says they are confident Beijing shares their view on the importance of that goal, but as CNN's Oren Liebermann reports, it doesn't mean it will be easy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A high- stakes visit with low expectations. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken heads to China trying to reopen crucial lines of communication with Beijing.
ANTONY BLINKEN, US SECRETARY OF STATE: Intense competition requires sustained diplomacy to ensure that competition does not veer into confrontation or conflict, and again, that is what the world expects of both the United States and China.
LIEBERMANN (voice over): Blinken's trip was canceled once before after the US shot down a Chinese spy balloon that flew over sensitive us sites in February.
Since then, relations have declined. The series of dangerous encounters between two of the most powerful militaries on Earth ratcheting up the tensions.
In late May, a Chinese fighter jet sliced in front of a US reconnaissance aircraft in international airspace over the South China Sea according to the US, forcing the larger, heavier US plane to fly through the wake turbulence of the Chinese jet.
Days later in the Taiwan Strait, a Chinese navy ship cut 150 yards in front of a US destroyer in what the US called an unsafe and unprofessional maneuver. China said the US was there for provocation.
Earlier Defense secretary, Lloyd Austin shared a handshake with his Chinese counterpart in Singapore even as Beijing rejected a formal meeting. Austin emphasized Friday that he is ready for dialogue.
LLOYD AUSTIN, US SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: A door is open and my phone is -- my phone line is open, and so they can pick up the phone and call at any time.
LIEBERMANN (voice over): A senior White House official said dialogue is how mature strong militaries interact and the stakes are just too high to avoid these critical lines of communication.
But at the highest levels of the military, Austin hasn't met with his Chinese counterpart in a year. Blinken is now trying to thaw those frosty relations, as Beijing maintains a deep distrust about Washington's intentions for the region for China.
WANG WENBIN, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON (through translator): The US needs to respect China's core concerns, stop interfering in China's internal affairs and stop undermining China's sovereignty, security, and development interests in the name of competition.
LIEBERMANN (voice over): The State Department said it is not expecting a breakthrough from this visit, just a realistic approach to manage the competition of world powers in a responsible way.
BLINKEN: If we want to make sure as we do, that the competition that we have with China doesn't veer into conflict, the place to start is with communicating.
LIEBERMANN (on camera): One month ago, Defense secretary, Lloyd Austin told lawmakers that the US is working on a weapons drawdown package for Taiwan. That would be a quick way of shipping them additional weapons in the same way the US has used to ship much of its weapons to Ukraine, but it seems at least that that's on hold. There has been no update on how soon that might come and that may be because the US doesn't want to put that out there and then risk something so sensitive as Taiwan disrupting the attempt to reopen diplomatic channels and military channels with Beijing.
Oren Liebermann CNN, in The Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[18:05:11]
ACOSTA: And joining us now, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, Jamie Metzl. He served on the National Security Council under President Clinton.
Jamie, should we see this as a good sign that Blinken is finally going to China?
JAMIE METZL, SENIOR FELLOW, ATLANTIC COUNCIL: It's a good sign that the United States and China have communications with each other. Even in the darkest days of the Cold War, we had connectivity with the Soviet Union, and we need to have connectivity with the Chinese, and it is unfortunate that China is behaving as if just having open lines of communication is some kind of major concession on their side.
So we can't act like supplicants in any way. We can't be manipulated, but we have to do everything possible to stay in open communication with our Chinese counterparts.
ACOSTA: Right. And some Republicans are criticizing the Biden administration's approach to China. Congresswoman Elise Stefanik saying: "Instead of condemning China's blatantly aggressive behavior, Secretary Blinken announced he will legitimize the continued subversion of our sovereignty with an official visit." I mean, that's her take on this.
You know, Jamie, you and I both know, I mean, I covered both Obama and Trump making trips to China. There wasn't much controversy surrounding those presidents going there. Obviously, times have changed a little bit, things are more tense.
But is this more of a high-stakes trip for Blinken and the Biden administration at this time?
METZL: Certainly, it's a very high-stakes trip and we should encourage speaking, and what we should look at is, what are the things that are being said.
So Secretary Blinken should be delivering very tough messages to the Chinese. Chinese engaging in all kinds of really unacceptable behaviors in the South China Sea, and frankly, around the world -- Xinjiang, Tibet, COVID-19 origins -- the list goes on and on. I know the Chinese have complaints about us. So having open lines of communication doesn't mean that we are compromising and we just need to make sure that the things that we say are clear, and that we continue to build alliances to make clear to the Chinese that we aren't just fighting for America's interests.
There is a world that has a system and that system needs to be protected. And so far, China is very aggressively working to undermine that kind of international order that in many ways, benefits everybody.
ACOSTA: And Chinese surveillance in the United States has obviously been in the news. The spy balloon, there was a story that came out about China, potentially using Cuba to spy on the US as a base of operations. Does China need to be confronted on this? And what if anything, can the Biden administration accomplish really other than simply saying, please stop doing this?
METZL: Well, with the spy balloon, that was a very clear violation of US sovereignty. If the United States had floated a spy balloon like that over China, they would have shot it down immediately.
The Cuba issue is a little tougher. Certainly, we don't like China having a listening post in Cuba, just like they don't like that we have listening posts in Taiwan and that we are outside of Chinese territory, that we are spying on them and that's what countries do.
So that's probably why the Biden administration hasn't escalated the Cuba story as much as they did and others did with the spy balloon story.
ACOSTA: And you really like to see Antony Blinken go after China a little bit on COVID on their role, how they handled the COVID pandemic. What would you like to see come out of that?
METZL: Well, there are two points. One is, there still is an open question about how this terrible pandemic began. I have believed and have long believed that by far, the most likely origin hypothesis is a research related incident in China, the so called lab leak.
On top of that, whatever the origin of the initial spillover, there can be no doubt that China's criminal coverup involving destroying samples hiding records, imprisoning journalists, preventing international investigations, establishing a gag order preventing Chinese scientists from saying or writing anything about the pandemic origins, all of those things have made it impossible to investigate what went wrong and understanding the origins of COVID are essential for building a safer future.
So we just need to be totally honest. We need to be transparent, and we need to demand full accountability around the COVID-19 origins issue.
ACOSTA: Yes, it would certainly be good to get to the bottom of how COVID got started. We still don't have those answers.
And let me ask you this, finally, very quickly, should President Biden meet with Xi Jinping in the near future or does that depend a little bit on the outcome of this Blinken trip?
[18:10:09]
METZL: I mean, I think it's a good idea for President Biden and Xi Jinping to meet. It is very likely Xi Jinping is going to be coming to the United States for the APEC meetings later in this year and it would just be frankly, weird if the two of them didn't meet. So again, I believe that communicating, especially for two big powers
like the United States and China is essential, and then we need to focus on what are the messages that are being delivered? And what are the messages being delivered by the United States? And what are the messages being delivered by our allies, partners and friends around the world? Because in our interconnected world, none of us live on an island and we are going to have to find a way to live with the Chinese, but we need to be honest about many of the really unacceptable things the Chinese government is doing, but we need to keep lines of communication open so things don't get worse.
ACOSTA: All right, Jamie Metzl, thanks very much for your time. We appreciate it.
In other news, Pennsylvania's governor says the damaged section of I- 95 in Philadelphia will be reopened much sooner than expected. Get this, officials there are saying, in two weeks or less, this is a live look at a 24/7 live feed of the around the clock construction efforts that are underway right now.
This afternoon, President Biden took an aerial tour of the damaged highway, alongside the governor and CNN's Polo Sandoval joins us now.
Polo, I think people in Philadelphia would be thrilled if that interstate can get reopened sooner than expected. I mean, it must be just such a nightmare right now for those commuters. I feel bad for them.
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A traffic nightmare, Jim. In fact, I was in Atlanta about six years ago as authorities there were scrambling to repair a portion of Interstate 85 that had collapsed there. And incredibly now, they did that in about 44 days, and I mention that because that project could potentially provide a roadmap for authorities that are working right now, as you can see here, scrambling to repair a portion of Interstate 95 that collapsed about a week ago.
And today Governor Josh Shapiro in Pennsylvania as he appeared alongside President Biden at a campaign event, seizing the opportunity to update us on when we could see traffic restored at least partially on this segment, he said in the next two weeks. Again, that coming from Pennsylvania's governor.
He also praised union workers who were on hand for that campaign event. Listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. JOSH SHAPIRO (D-PA): There is something special happening in our community, people coming together. Now, don't get me wrong, I know that motorists are hurting and business owners are hurting, but right now, this community is coming together and lifting up those workers and making sure that they know we are supporting them.
(END VIDEO CLIP) SANDOVAL: Hard believe it was just last week that that tanker truck
was involved in a deadly accident under that portion of the interstate causing just a fiery mess, and then of course damaging that.
The demolition portion of the project, that wrapped up on Thursday, Jim, and it's that emergency declaration that was put in place on Monday that has really allowed them to sort of go around that red tape, tap into federal funds and get this fixed as fast as possible.
Some 160,000 vehicles use that segment every day as they make their way through Pennsylvania, mainly through Philadelphia.
ACOSTA: Yes, a lot of people going up and down the East Coast through that corridor.
All right, Polo Sandoval, thank you very much.
Coming up, CNN finds evidence that Russia's Wagner mercenary group is involved in a conflict that is causing the suffering of millions of people in Sudan. The exclusive investigation is ahead.
But first, stories of survival. Residents in a Texas community devastated by a tornado describe what they went through as they pick up what's left of their homes.
And Trooping the Color: A look at celebrations in the UK to mark the first official birthday parade for King Charles. We'll have that as well, coming up.
You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:18:13]
ACOSTA: An official declaration of disaster in Perryton, Texas on Thursday, an EF3 tornado ripped through the town with winds of 140 miles an hour. At least three people including a child were killed. Dozens more were injured.
Today, Texas governor, Greg Abbott came to see the devastation for himself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R-TX): I've seen more tornadoes than I can count. I have never seen the level of decimation to a town as I've seen today.
What the people in this area have gone through over the past couple of days is nothing short of horrific.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: CNN's Isabel Rosales was at that press conference and learned that the Perryton siren warning system failed before the deadly tornado hit -- Isabel. ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey Jim. I spoke with several
people over the past few days and not one of them heard a siren. Now, we know that the reason for that is that the siren system lost electricity, so no siren went out.
Those that I did speak with that didn't know that they were in danger, it is because they had weather applications on their phone and that's how they found out.
Let me now show you what's happening here on the ground. This is really clean up mode. Volunteers, neighbors out here with heavy machinery flattening up homes and businesses that have no prayer of being rebuilt, they need to get this all out of here in order to rebuild.
We know from the fire chief as many as 200 homes were destroyed from this tornado on the ground for 11 minutes, crossing a length of over six miles.
Now I spoke with Alexa Lugo, just 11 years old who rode out the storm, this tornado in her mobile home. She remembers praying to God to keep her family safe. She was okay, her family was okay, but in one of the nearby mobile homes, 11-year-old Matthew Ramirez, the youngest victim from this tornado was not.
[18:20:08]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALEXA LUGO, PERRYTON, TEXAS RESIDENT: He's very funny. He was very funny. We would always joke around and he would always be playing with his friends playing soccer. He loves soccer.
Yes, and I just remember like we'd be in class, like sometimes he would come in class, and he would just be laughing for no reason and he would make his friends laugh -- I mean, he was funny.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROSALES: And some new information we also heard and saw from Governor Greg Abbott is that he officially signed the declaration of a disaster, also adding five more impacted counties.
We also heard from the hospital system here, Ochiltree General Hospital that they treated 160 people for tornado-related injuries in a hospital that only had 25 beds. So really, a remarkable effort by the medical staff there -- Jim.
ACOSTA: Isabel Rosales reporting from Perryton, Texas. Thank you very much for that.
Now to a developing story out of Baltimore, where officials say at least 17 people were injured when a bus crashed into two cars. Police say the MTA bus ended up smashing into a building. The fire department there says none of the injuries are life threatening, the crash and its cause are both under investigation. King Charles revived a Royal tradition for his first official birthday
celebration as monarch. He rode through the military parade on horseback, something the Queen had not done for decades before her death.
The ceremony is Trooping the Color. The formal celebrations held every June to mark the British sovereign's birth, even though Charles was actually born in November.
CNN's Anna Stewart has more on the pomp and pageantry and the crowd- pleasing appearance by the youngest members -- yes, the youngest members, there they are right there -- of the Royal family.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: One of the perks of being a British monarch is having a second official birthday and one marked with a parade like no other.
This was King Charles' first Trooping the Color.
He left Buckingham Palace for the procession on horseback, a sight not seen for nearly 40 years and wearing the regimental uniform of the Welsh Guards. The regiment whose color or regimental flag was being trooped this year.
Cheers from the crowds who gathered on the Mall also for the Royals that followed, close behind Prince William now the Prince of Wales also in Welsh Guard uniform as he is the Regiment's Colonel now, a position he inherited from his father.
He was joined by Princess Anne and the Duke of Edinburgh in their respective Regimental uniforms. And then behind, in a carriage, Queen Camilla, the Princess of Wales with the ultimate crowd pleasing trio of Princes George and Louie and Princess Charlotte.
Unlike the coronation, this military ceremony focuses on the household division of the British Army, the five Regiments of the Foot Guards take turn to troop their color each year, with the two Household Cavalry Regiments performing the King's Escort.
The national anthem played as the King received his final salute, marking the end of the ceremony, and the return of His Majesty to Buckingham Palace.
Gun sounded across London before the King and other members of the Royal family made it out onto Buckingham Palace's iconic balcony to watch a fly pass. Seventy aircrafts took part to the delight of many, particularly Prince Louis, who's expressions were as expected.
It all culminated with a fly pass from the Red Arrows, plumes of red white and blue smoke, a British flag emblazoned across the sky to mark King Charles's official birthday.
Anna Stewart, CNN, from outside Buckingham Palace in London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: All right, those kids are always stealing the show.
All right, coming up, the data of millions of Americans exposed in a global hack, the cyberattack also impacting federal and state agencies, what we're learning about who might be behind it. That's coming up. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:28:15]
ACOSTA: A cybersecurity crisis is unfolding here in the US. Government officials are investigating a sprawling cyberattack that exposed millions of Americans' personal information. The hack also compromised several federal agencies, including the Department of Energy.
CNN's Sean Lyngaas has more on how this happened and who is behind it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEAN LYNGAAS, CNN CYBERSECURITY REPORTER: US government agencies and corporations around the world continue to respond to a ransomware attack that alleged Russian cyber criminals carried out starting in May, but this weekend, the investigation continues after CNN broke the news on Thursday that multiple US federal agencies were impacted by this breach.
It appears to be a very opportunistic, financially motivated incident in which the hackers are trying to gain access to as many organizations as possible to then extort them for money.
The hackers have been known to demand tens of millions of dollars, but we are not aware of any demands at this point for money from federal agencies. Instead, they are focusing on corporate victims who might be willing to pay.
The investigation is very much ongoing and CNN and will be across the story as it continues.
I'm Sean Lyngaas in Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: Sean, thanks very much for that.
Right now, US officials and corporate executives across the country are continuing to hunt for signs of stolen data. They want to get ahead of any potential attempts by hackers to extort victims, and here to discuss this further is Glenn Gerstel. He's a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He's the former general counsel for the NSA.
Glenn, how worried should Americans be about this? And you and I were talking about this a little bit during the break. Why have we not been able to tackle this problem as a country in a better way and I don't mean this as a dig on the NSA folks.
[18:30:32]
But it just seems like we just can't get a handle on this thing.
GLENN GERSTELL, SENIOR ADVISER, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: Well, the first part is we should definitely be worried about it. It sounds like the - we don't have all the details yet. This is still evolving. But it sounds like a Russian cyber criminal gang has been able to breach a number of big corporations, computer systems around the world, everything from apparently British Airways in the U.K. to several states here, Oregon and Louisiana, apparently to federal government agencies, possibly exposing their data to these cyber criminals.
Cyber criminals have said, we're going to publish this data on the dark web, Social Security numbers, driver's license, birth dates, all sorts of commercial information, unless you pay us something. They haven't done that yet. They've claimed - they've said they have a deadline of Wednesday, June 21st.
So none of this data has yet been public, but we know they had potential access to it. So that's exactly why we should be worried. But as you said, this is - this problem is going to get worse before it gets better.
ACOSTA: Yes. And I mean, if you're sitting at home wondering, okay, have I been affected? I guess we don't know the information to that yet, because these guys haven't put it up on the dark web yet. Once they do, then I suppose folks in your field will be able to go in there and ascertain just who has been affected and how big of a problem this is.
GERSTELL: Right.
ACOSTA: Essentially what it is, we're kind of flying blind right now.
GERSTELL: At the moment, yes. So although as a sort of - to get a step ahead of it, a couple of the states, Louisiana in particular has already sent out a notice to people who have driver's licenses in that state saying you might want to check your credit reports, you might want to go to the IRS and get a pin number so that no one could break into your tax account, you might just want to be more careful about your - who's using your credit cards.
So there's already some sort of steps to get ahead of this. But again, we don't know exactly yet what the real damage of this is. It's clear that there's been a hack and --
ACOSTA: Yeah.
GERSTELL: -- these bad guys have been able to get into lots of computer systems. But what the actual result is not yet clear.
ACOSTA: And I mean, you used to work over at the NSA, we got smart guys in this country who know how to go after this sort of thing. Do we have enough of them? Is the NSA adequately funded enough to be able to target these kinds of outfits in places like Russia and so on? What is it that we need to do better to stop these guys?
GERSTELL: There's a lot of things we need to do better. First of all, on the NSA side, which focuses on the foreign end of it, the NSA is all over looking for these kinds of bad guys in Russia and elsewhere, that's one piece of it.
Domestically, the FBI along with the Department of Homeland Security, these cybersecurity and infrastructure security agency, a unit of DHS, they're on top of this, they issued an advisory about telling companies how to patch to prevent this.
There's a lot of steps we can take. The administration has a proposal, proposed new strategy out, issue several months ago that would impose more liability on software manufacturers to sort of shift the liability for the end user, you and me who are responsible for our own cybersecurity, to the companies who produce these buggy, vulnerable software apps, and also, ultimately, more regulation.
So there's more we can do, but it's going to be - take a lot of time, a lot of money before we get ahead of the bad guys.
ACOSTA: All right. It's a very important topic. Hats off to all the folks who work on it on this end here in the U.S. We got to get a handle on it, because it just drives people nuts to find out when this sort of happens.
GERSTELL: Absolutely.
ACOSTA: Yes. Glenn Gerstell, thank you very much for your time.
GERSTELL: Thank you.
ACOSTA: We appreciate it.
The US Open is underway right now amid controversy in the world of golf. We're live in Los Angeles with that. Plus, actor and comedian Pete Davidson charged with reckless driving. Officials say the incident is connected to a serious crash that happened earlier this year. What we're learning about that, that's next. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:37:44]
ACOSTA: Comedian and former SNL star Pete Davidson has been charged with reckless driving after police say he crashed his car into a fire hydrant and home in Beverly Hills.
CNN Entertainment Reporter, Chloe Melas, joins me now. Chloe, this crash happened back in March. What do we know about it? What's going on here?
CHLOE MELAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: Well, first, I want to read you what the Los Angeles District Attorney's office is saying, Jim. They're saying that they believe that Mr. Davidson engaged in reckless driving, which ultimately resulted in his involvement in a serious collision into a home. Luckily, no one was seriously injured as a result of this collision. And we know that reckless driving can have devastating consequences.
And they went on to talk about how 2022, in Los Angeles, that traffic fatalities reached at the highest levels that they ever have in Los Angeles in 20 years. Now, back to what happened, so like you said, in March, Pete Davidson was driving in his car around 11 pm Pacific Time when he crashed into a fire hydrant and a residential home.
When this occurred, police immediately arrived onto the scene. He was arrested and, obviously, now being charged with reckless driving. So it's very serious. We've reached out to Pete Davidson for comment. We haven't heard anything back.
But you got to drive safe and celebrities, they get in trouble too. And this is a perfect example of just how dangerous things can be. And again, we don't know the circumstances, Jim, as to what happened and was he on his phone. We don't know anything about if whether or not there were substances involved. Nothing like that has been released.
ACOSTA: We're glad he's okay. Glad nobody else was seriously injured.
Another entertainment news, there's about to be another Kardashian in the world, is that right, Kourtney? I don't keep up with these things, you'll have to - everybody at home will have to forgive me. It might not surprise you that I don't keep up on these things.
But Kourtney Kardashian just surprised her husband Travis Barker with some big news at his concert last night. Fill us in. I have a feeling this will be on a reality show somewhere.
MELAS: Yes, you're going to get to watch it on Hulu most likely on keeping up with the Kardashians.
[18:40:01]
So Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker, the drummer from Blink-182, they got married recently and they have been very public about sharing the fact that they had been trying for a baby. They had gone through a round of IVF. And Kourtney had come out and said that this was taking a toll on her body and her mental health and that she was just going to leave it to the hands of God.
So last night, much to the surprise of her fans and his fans, she's standing out there in the audience in Los Angeles, and she's holding up a sign that says Travis I'm pregnant.
ACOSTA: Oh, wow.
MELAS: He makes his way down into the crowd, embraces her. Of course, cameras are capturing this. It's all over social. But what's really fun is that fans were quick to point out that Kourtney holding that sign was no mistake, it was intentional in the sense that it is a similar scene from his hit music video, "All the Small Things."
And in that music video, if you guys go back and watch at one point, Travis Barker is walking and there's a woman in the crowd and she's holding up a sign that says Travis I'm pregnant. So I - fans were totally into that like fun little connection there.
But they haven't commented on whether or not they went through IVF. But obviously it's very, very happy news. They actually each have three children respectfully from their own previous relationships, so it's quite the brood of children and --
ACOSTA: It's a big family.
MELAS: -- (inaudible) seem really, really happy together.
ACOSTA: Those Kardashians, they're a big family. But you have Blink- 182, that is very cool the way they paid homage to that music video. I don't remember the music video, but that song, obviously, I mean, I won't put anybody through any agony out there, but I can almost sing it by heart. Great, great song.
MELAS: Well, first of all, I would like to say, when I found out that we were doing the story, any chance to talk about the Kardashians on CNN with you, Jim, I mean, come on, that is fun. And actually Blink- 182, it was the first concert that I ever went to when I was a teenager.
ACOSTA: Wow.
MELAS: So I've been Blink-182 fan for, like, 20 years now. So yes, it's really, really great. And obviously anybody that follows this couple, they know that the most important thing is that they have been trying for a baby for over a year and it has been really difficult. So this is a nice silver lining to everything that they've been through.
ACOSTA: Yes, absolutely. Congrats to them.
All right. Chloe Melas, great to see as always, thanks for the Blink- 182 reference. It's going to get me through the end of the show, I appreciate it. Take care.
MELAS: We'll see it later, I'm sure.
ACOSTA: There you go. I'll have it blasting in the car on the way home.
Round three of the U.S. Open golf tournament is underway in Los Angeles. The final golfers are just now teeing off, including surprise leader, Rickie Fowler. This is the first major since the PGA Tour and the Saudi-backed LIV Golf announced a highly controversial partnership.
CNN's Patrick Snell joins us now from Los Angeles.
Patrick. I mean, what a - I mean, I think I diminished this or minimize the controversy and not saying, wow, this announcement just took the golf world by storm. People are still not quite over this. Catch us up on the day's action and whether or not has any of this filtered into the tournament? I suppose not, but it is - it's been quite a week in the world of golf.
PATRICK SNELL, CNN SPORT ANCHOR & CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, you're quite right. Yes, I think so many people still taking stock of a - what has been a tumultuous last few days, last 10 days really for the sport of golf. Who had player reaction certainly in the build up to it. Spanish golfer, for example, Jon Ron saying he felt a certain sense of betrayal. Rory McIlroy, another very high profile player, we'll get to him in just a moment. He was front and center, of course.
Over a year ago, all things pro U.S. PGA Tour, one of the fiercest critics of the LIV Golf circuit, but that was before news of the commercial entity announcement, more on what McIlroy had to say just that little bit later. But I do want to get to Rickie Fowler, one of the field good stories, Jim, at this year's U.S. Open.
He's seeking a first career major and what a story it would be if he could get the job done. Now he was once ranked fourth in the world. Then a year ago his career ranking, just plummeting to 185. But he's in a good place right now and he's just teed off just a short while ago, playing with his fellow American Wyndham Clark.
And I asked him after his round on Friday, to reflect on a really difficult last couple of years for him both on and off the course. Take a listen to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WYNDHAM CLARK, 10 UNDER PAR AFTER TWO ROUNDS: I sure hope everyone can relate to struggles, because everyone deals with them. No one's perfect. I think you'd be lying if you haven't been through a tough time, especially if you play golf. I'm looking forward to the weekend. It's been a while since I've felt this good in a tournament, let alone a major. So I'm - it's going to be a challenge but I'm definitely looking forward to it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[18:45:02]
SNELL: And Jim, I was out on the course on Friday and the energy and the buzz surrounding all things Rickie Fowler, a joy to behold, people are absolutely rooting for him. They want to see him go on after all he's been through and get that elusive first career major.
Now I mentioned Rory McIlroy earlier. He is another one who is desperate to try and get his hands on a major title. It's been nine long years. He's won four already. But he'd love to get to number five. It's been a nine year drought. He's looking to be very much in the mood here once again at the U.S. Open. Back to you.
ACOSTA: All right. Patrick Snell, we'll be watching. Thanks so much. Appreciate it and we'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:50:08]
ACOSTA: Now, a CNN exclusive investigation, Sudanese rights organization say atrocities are being committed in Darfur. And CNN has uncovered evidence that Russia's Wagner mercenary group is complicit continuing to support Sudan's rapid support force - paramilitary group known as the RSF throughout the months of fighting, despite calls by the U.S. and others for - support to cease.
About 2 million people in Sudan have been displaced since mid-April as the country's humanitarian crisis grows more dire. The RSF denies links to Wagner or any involvement in mass rape. But CNN verified incidents of rape perpetrated by the RSF including, one captured on video in the face of those repeated denials. We feel it's important to broadcast part of that video and we warn you that it is graphic and disturbing.
CNN's Nima Elbagir has this exclusive report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The fighting on the streets of Sudan is relentless. Cease-fire after a cease-fire has not helped. Forces previously accused of genocide returning to a well-worn playbook: terrorize, expel, and ethnically cleanse.
The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, RSF, are currently engaged in a fight for dominance with Sudan's army. But years before that rivalry spilled blood in Sudan's streets, they were implicated in atrocities in Darfur. Now once again Darfur to the west of the country is stopped by the specter of genocide.
The damage brought by these forces so extensive you can see it from satellite images. This is El Geneina, West Darfur. Hundreds killed, whole districts raised to the ground. And it's not only El Geneina that is burning. This is Andur (ph) and this Kutum (ph).
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through text translation): This is our livelihood. The market is destroyed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ELBAGIR (voice over): On the ground it looks like this. These scenes sadly familiar in Darfur. Twenty years ago, the region descended into genocide. The same RSF leadership in place as their men were killed, occupied and raped. Now, once again women's bodies are part of the field of war.
We must warn you, what you're about to see is shocking.
This video filmed at great personal risk will show a girl believed to be just 15 years old being raped. The RSF have threatened rape survivors and denied their testimonies, so we feel it necessary to broadcast a small portion of this horrific assault.
You see here a man in light colored fatigues matching those worn by the RSF. It's too awful to show in full, but when the phone pans, you see what he's guarding, a man wearing light colored fatigues forcing himself on to the prone girl.
CNN verified and geolocated the area where this happened. We're not revealing the exact location in Khartoum to protect our sources and the young girl. This is not an isolated incident.
We received and reviewed dozens of cases where women say they were raped by RSF soldiers. Identifying them by their light-colored fatigues and the insignia on their right soldiers. So who is complicit in this pain?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
YEVGENY PRIGOZHIN, WAGNER GROUP FOUNDER: (Speaking in a foreign language).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ELBAGIR: The RSF's key ally, the notorious Russian mercenary group, Wagner, has been sustaining their fight and providing the impetus to slaughter innocent people by supplying arms. We're going to show you how.
This is an Ilyushin 76 cargo plane operated by Wagner sitting at a Libyan airbase. A previous CNN investigation exposed how this Russian cargo plane was providing the RSF with deadly arms from a Russian naval base in Latakia, Syria, via Wagner-controlled bases in Libya.
This passage starts just days before the war begins in Sudan, Libya, Syria, and back. And it picks up pace. What's interesting here is the new focus on the city where it goes next. Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic. After our exposure of the Libya route, a route directly from the Central African Republican into Darfur became crucial for the RSF.
[18:54:59]
Eyewitnesses at key transit points and intelligence active in the region told CNN, arms and supplies from this Ilyushin transported over land using the truck captured here and others like it.
First to a Wagner base in Birao and then into South Darfur to an RSF base in Um Dafuq. Wagner putting their thumb on the scales here to secure access to Sudan's resources through Darfur. Creating chaos and terror, helping tip the balance of power in their war in the Ukraine whatever the cost.
Nima Elbagir, CNN, Juba, South Sudan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: And we'll be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
