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Severe Weather, Extreme Heat Affects Americans' Plans for the 4th of July Celebrations; Tensions Continue in the West Bank, Israeli Forces Carry Out a Counterterrorism Operation in Jenin; Grandmother of the Killed Teenager Pleas for Peace and Calm; DeSantis Drops New Video on Trump's LGBTQ View; Writers' Strike Now Felt in Essential Businesses; Cuba Restores and Re-lits Pre-Revolutionary Neon Signs For the First Time in Decades. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired July 03, 2023 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. You are watching "CNN Newsroom," and I am Rosemary Church.

Just ahead, severe weather and high temperatures could get in the way of many Americans' plans on this holiday weekend. The extreme weather tens of millions here face.

Israeli military forces carry out an operation in the West Bank. Wwe will go live to Tel Aviv with details.

And there is an uneasy calm in France after several nights of protests over the police killing of a 17-year-old boy. Now, his grandmother has a message for the demonstrators.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from CNN Center this is "CNN Newsroom" with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: And we begin here in the United States where severe weather threatens to overshadow the Independence Day holiday. More than 30 million Americans are under heat warnings. Forecasters say that close to 30 daily high temperatures could be tied or broken this week.

Meantime, millions more face severe storm threats from Mississippi to Massachusetts. Extreme rainfall, hail, and even tornadoes are possibilities as the storms churn across the country. This video out of Chicago shows flooding throughout the city on Sunday after record rainfall. The Chicago River crested at almost three and a half feet before falling.

Well, tragically, gun violence is once again overshadowing another holiday weekend here in the United States. Police in Baltimore are investigating a mass shooting that erupted Saturday night at a block party. At least two people were killed, 28 others wounded. Most of the victims were teenagers, some as young as 13. Religious leaders gathered on Sunday in the Brooklyn Holmes neighborhood to pray for the victims and those affected by the violence.

According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been at least 338 reported mass shootings in the U.S. so far this year. And that it is defined as four or more people injured or killed, not including the shooter. The group counts more than 21,000 gun violence deaths this year, which also includes suicides and more than 18,000 people injured.

Well, tensions are flaring once again in the West Bank as Israel stages what it is calling a counterterrorism operation in Jenin and its adjacent refugee camp, unverified video appears to show explosions and witnesses have reported ongoing gunfire.

The Palestinian Health Ministry says at least four people have been killed and 27 others injured. The Israeli defense forces says it was striking terrorist infrastructure, including a camp command center, it said militants were using as a base. And this comes less than two weeks after an IDF raid into Jenin turned into a deadly firefight.

We want to go to CNN's Elliott Gotkine who joins us live from Tel Aviv. So Elliott, what is the latest on all of this?

ELLIOT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: Rosemary, this is an operation that began about nine hours ago and it is still ongoing. It began with a UAV or drone strike on this command and control center that we refer to, that Israel says belong to the Jenin brigade, which is a militant group affiliated with Islamic jihad.

They said that this building also operated as an observation post and also as a refuge for militants carrying out attacks outside of Jenin against Israelis who then go back into the camp, into the refugee camp and seek shelter in this building.

And Israel is saying that one of the reasons that it has launched this wide scale operation, this incursion, that is involving about a battalion's worth of troops, which is about 500 troops in Israel, is to, in their words, remove the safe haven mentality that the Jenin refugee camp has for militant groups.

It says that, from Israel's perspective, that Jenin has been a base for some 50 shooting attacks against Israelis last year that resulted in the deaths of 25 Israelis and says that 90 militants went back into the camp to seek refuge after carrying out those attacks.

Now, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health there has been at least 25 Palestinians who have been injured in this attack.

[03:05:01]

Israel is saying that it has killed seven militants, both with UAVs, drones, and in exchanges of fire as well. The Palestinian Health Ministry isn't yet at that figure, but that certainly the figure the Israelis are working on.

And Israel is saying that there is no timeline, there is no specific endpoint for this incursion into Jenin. They will finish when they feel that they have done the job that they came to do.

They said they are also seizing weapons, seizing munitions as well, and really this is a kind of almost the expectation that there might be some kind of big operation due to take place at some point, but Israel believes that it took the militants engineered by surprise with the launch of that airstrike about some eight or some nine hours ago, which started this incursion. Rosemary.

CHURCH: And Elliot, on another issue, what is the latest on protests against Prime Minister Netanyahu's plans for what he calls judicial reform?

GOTKINE: Well, this judicial overhaul that we've seen for the best part of six months of course is to remind viewers that the government is trying to reduce the powers of the Supreme Court so that it is very, very unlikely to be able in future to toss out laws that have passed by Knesset, the parliament here, and also to get the government of the day more powers to select the judges that sit on the Supreme Court. So those are the main elements that the protesters have been demonstrating against.

Today they say that they are trying to put more pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government. It started with attempts to blockade the port of Haifa in the north of Israel, this is one of two main ports in Israel. There is Haifa in the north and Ashdod in the south. So, they are trying to blockade that till this morning.

And then this afternoon, the plan by these protesters is to disrupt flights in and out of Ben Gurion Airport. This is the main international entry and exit point to Israel, just outside of Tel Aviv, about 90,000 passengers expected to come in and out today, for more than 500 flights.

Protesters are advising people not to go by car because they are planning to block roads where possible and they are advising passengers to travel by train instead. That is due to take place later this afternoon. The government is adamant that they will try to ensure that travel remains as is planned, but they are of course prepared for attempts to try to disrupt travel and delays are expected. Rosemary?

CHURCH: All right. Elliott Gotkine, bringing us a live report from Tel Aviv, many thanks.

Officials in France say that 157 people were detained overnight in a much calmer night following days of unrest. The violent protest first broke out after Tuesday's fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old who was of Algerian descent. About 45,000 security forces remained deployed across the country, as officials brace for any further violence.

French president Emmanuel Macron is set to meet with the leaders of the upper and lower houses of parliament in the hours ahead. On Sunday, he met with his top ministers and urged them to restore order. The shooting victim's grandmother is also calling for calm.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

NADIA, GRANDMOTHER OF SHOOTING VICTIM (through translator): I blame the police man who killed my grandson. I am the grandmother. I blame the policeman who killed my grandson. That is all I want. The police, they are here, fortunately. They are here and the people who are breaking things, I tell them stop, stop. They use Nahel's death as a pretext. Now, they must stop.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

CHURCH: CNN's Nic Robertson has more now from Paris.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: In the center of Paris, again, another night, bracing for possible violence. Police are in numbers on the Champs-Elysees. 871 fires set Saturday night, compared to Friday night, 2,500 or so, the night before, 3900 or so. The numbers are trending down.

If Saturday was a pivot, Sunday night is going to be a real test if that violence trends down the center of Paris'Champs-Elysees. Looking down there, there's still a lot of tourists out. The sun is setting, people still enjoying the evening. There are riot cops on the streets there, but not the buzz that there was, and activity there was at the same time on Saturday.

Over here, a few more police officers here, they're getting around the city in the small saloon vehicles. That's how they're racing around to try and stay on top of any potential protests. And just looking around down here, just as it's falling dark, you can see the police officers with their motorbikes. And those were the high-speed officers.

Saturday night, there are police officers riding their motorbikes, riot officers sitting pillion passenger, keeping moving, moving in groups of 20, keeping moving and staying on top of the groups of the rioters. And that's what we're hearing from the government right now. Still keeping the same number of officers on the street, 45,000 police in gendarmes, saying they will have swift justice for any perpetrators of violence, and try to stay on top and quash any outbreaks of violence.

[03:10:09]

Meanwhile, Nahel's grandmother, the young boy who was tragically shot and killed on Tuesday, his grandmother appealing for peace and calm.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And earlier I spoke with Christian Mouhanna, a professor of sociology of law and policing at France's National Center for Scientific Research. And I asked him what the French President should be doing to restore calm and trust after the fatal police shooting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTIAN MOUHANNA, PROF. OF SOCIOLOGY OF LAW AND POLICING, CNRS: On the one hand he has to improve the relationship between the population of these poor areas, especially the youngsters that participate to riots.

And on the other hand, he has to -- he has in front of him a lot of politicians and of police unions who are not in favor too lenient, they say, to these youngsters. We have high pressure from some police unions who want the repression would be very strong and are waiting for sanctions. They are not ready to cooperate to build better relationships with youngsters.

CHURCH: As they try to find a way to restore calm, German chancellor Olaf Scholz says that he does not expect France to become unstable, but he is watching the unrest with concern. How worried should the European Union be about this protest and the underlying issue of course that triggered this violence in France?

MOUHANNA: Yes, there was -- it's a very high -- it's a very big problem. The problem is that we have to think of policies to reveal a new way of policing France. The problem is that President Macron in the different issues that was always sending the police force to answer the demonstration.

And now, perhaps we have -- we have now limit of -- we have reached a limit of this kind of policy because many protesters in many of these (ph) we have had yellow jackets and tensions, demonstrations and so on. And perhaps we have to think of a better way to work in our institution and perhaps the political organization of France has to be revealed, also.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And still to come, the U.S. Treasury Secretary prepares to visit China as Washington tries to stabilize relations with Beijing. We will go live to Hong Kong for a preview of Janet Yellen's trip.

Plus Ukrainian forces are striking at Russian positions in the east, but they say the fighting is tough, slow going, and complicated. We will have the latest on the war effort, just ahead.

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[03:15:00]

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CHURCH: Welcome back everyone. Janet Yellen is the latest high-ranking U.S. official to work on repairing strained U.S. ties with China. The Treasury Secretary is scheduled to travel there later this week, but things could be a little awkward. At a political fund-raiser last Month, her boss, U.S. President Joe Biden compared China's leader Xi Jinping to dictators.

Joining me now is CNN's Anna Coren. Good to see you, Anna. So, what is the latest on these developments around Janet Yellen's planed visit to Beijing, given the current strained relations between the two nations?

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, we always knew that Janet Yellen planned to travel to Beijing, but I think what's really encouraging is that it comes just two weeks after the U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken went to Beijing to reestablish dialogue, at a time when, as we know, relations are at an all-time low.

Yellen will be heading to Beijing later this week. We don't know her exact itinerary, but we understand that she does plan to meet with a Chinese counterpart and other high-ranking officials for what we hear will be constructive and frank conversations.

But, like with Blinken's trip last month, officials say they are not expecting any significant breakthroughs nor is she expected to meet with the Chinese President Xi Jinping. Yellen has long signaled the Biden administration's desire to improve communications with the Chinese, and really lower temperature between the world's two largest economies, which, as we know, are deeply intertwined.

Back in April, while getting testimony before congress, Yellen stressed the importance of maintaining ties with China and said that decoupling would be a big mistake. And then last month, at the Paris, Finance summit on stage, with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, she said and let me read you the quote, "as the world's two largest economies we also have a Responsibility to work together on global issues. It is something that the world expects of us."

Now, Yellen's trip comes at a time of uncertainty for the global economy, China, as we know, is struggling to reboot its economy, post- COVID, following a slew of economic data, while the U.S. is trying to contain inflation and avoid a recession. Global challenges and mutual areas of concern will no doubt be on the agenda, but the airing of grievances is also expected.

The U.S., as we know, has imposed sweeping restrictions on China's access to advanced technology, specifically semiconductor technology, citing national security threats to the U.S. This is something that China is very upset with.

While the U.S. is concerned about the scope of China's new Counterespionage law and the challenges that it could present for foreign companies, we know that Yellen will be meeting with American companies operating in China.

[03:20:09]

So, obviously, a lot to discuss on her three-day visit, Rosemary. But at the end of the day, you know, these two economies that trade $700 billion annually and they both need each other.

[03:20:22]

CHURCH: Indeed. Anna Coren, joining us live from Hong Kong, many thanks for that report.

U.S. President Joe Biden is heading to the U.K. later this month where he will meet with King Charles III. It will be the presidents first official meeting with the monarch since King Charles assumed the throne back in May.

As CNN's Priscilla Alvarez reports, Mr. Biden's stop will come ahead of a series of important meetings.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: The White House announced on Sunday that President Biden will be visiting three countries next week, the United Kingdom, Lithuania, and Finland.

Now, the President will start his trip in the United Kingdom, where he is set to meet King Charles II, who was recently coronated, as well as the British Prime Minister, who visited the White House here last month.

Now, those high stakes meetings will later be continued for the president at the NATO summit, where there is going to be a discussion over Ukraine and the war that is going on there, particularly after the counteroffensive that has been launched and those internal tensions in Russia, all of that looming over this summit.

Now, President Biden has repeatedly talked about the strength of the NATO alliance, also saying it has never, quote, "been more united." But in all these discussions, the ongoing debate will be looming over all of it, over how and when Ukraine may become part of that alliance.

Now, after that summit, President Biden will not go to Finland, where he will conclude his three-country trip.

Priscilla Alvarez, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Now, to a remarkable admission by a Russian official, Dimitri Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, says that his country is existentially threatened by the possibility that Ukraine could join NATO. He wrote an article for a Russian-government newspaper Sunday. He says Russia's goal is to eliminate that threat, even if it means keeping the war going in Ukraine indefinitely.

Well, Ukraine is reporting heavy fighting along the entire eastern front with Russian forces attacking in several directions and making some advances. But Ukrainian officials say their forces are having partial success south of Bakhmut. They posted this video showing what appears to be a strike on a Russian tank in the region and Ukraine says that it is gradually advancing along the southern front lines around Berdyansk and Melitopol

And Clare Sebastian joins me now, live from London. So Clare, what is the latest on Russian advances made in Eastern Ukraine?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Rosemary, so the deputy Defense Minister of Ukraine has admitted on Sunday that Russia is making some advances. I think we can show on a map near the Svatove and Kreminna access, this is near the northern Luhansk region in the northern part of the Donbas areas, that Russia took in the early part of the war, you can see in the red section there, and Ukraine has been trying to take back.

Svatove is a key logistic center of supply line for Russian troops that makes strategic sense to do this. But separately Ukraine is also saying that it's advancing, as you, say around the edge of Bakhmut and then in the south around the key port cities of Melitpol and Berdyansk, that's an area that is consistent with what we believe to be Ukraine's aim of cutting in half the land bridge between Donbas and Crimea.

So, look, we know that in the west there have been worries that perhaps Ukraine's counteroffensive is not meeting expectations. They do continue with a slow slope of hundreds of miles in the frontline, and continuing to face the additional challenge of the assaults after a 12-day break. We now see the second one in as many days, 17 shahed attack drones launched, according to the air force, of which they shot down 13.

And separately, the armed forces saying that there were 12 crews and air defense missiles launched, of which they shot down three. We have no reports yet, Rosemary, as to the impact of those missiles that were not intercepted.

CHURCH: And Clare, Russia says that it removed 700,000 Ukrainian children from war zones, what more are you learning about this?

SEBASTIAN: Yes. This comes from a veteran Russian lawmaker Grigory Karasin, who is the head of the foreign affairs committee at the upper house of Russia's parliament. This is a strange claim, in some ways, Rosemary, he does not present any evidence and the number that he says, 700,000 children that he claims have been moved out of war zones in Ukraine to Russia, far exceeds the number that we heard.

[03:25:05]

Ukraine side, President Zelenskyy announced in June, saying that 19.5 thousand children had been deported to Russia, he said that some 371 had already been returned. So, it's not clear where he's getting that number from. He uses that claim as a way to then accuse Ukraine of mistreating minors in the country, but it is worth watching, given of course that this is the exact crime for which the International Criminal Court indicted not only President Putin but his children's rights on this one (ph) back in March. Rosemary?

CHURCH: All right. Clare Sebastian, joining us live from London, many thanks.

Well, the U.S. has been providing almost nonstop support for Ukraine ever since the war began, but military leaders say critical units of the U.S. Army are now being stretched too thin. On top of training Ukrainian soldiers, the Army's air defense branch is tasked with manning missile systems across the globe to provide around the clock deterrents against America's biggest adversaries

CNN's Halle Britzky explains the pressure these units are under.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HALLE BRITZKY, CNN PENTAGON PRODUCER: The leader said they have seen an increase in soldiers going to behavioral health on post, so seeking out mental health support. They are also concerned about the wear and tear on families. As we so often here, you know, in the Pentagon, you recruit a service member, but you retain as a family, and so that is of concern of leaders as well. So they're working to mitigate some of these issues as well as keeping this unit ready for the mission.

They are standing at multiple new air defense units to sort of staggered over the next several years and offering quite a sizeable enlistment bonus to help fill out those ranks, roughly around $47,000.

They are also embedding mental health specialists, these behavioral health specialists, into air defense brigades, to give someone closer to the soldiers in case they need them. They are also reducing commitments. Official said that they reduced commitments in the Middle East particularly, especially as foreign allies and partners in that region can provide some of their own air defense.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The governor who passed Florida's Don't Say Gay law is now running a different kind of attack. Ahead, details on a video shared by Ron DeSantis' presidential campaign slamming Donald Trump's LGBTQ support.

Plus, some of the U.S. Supreme Court's recent rulings present new challenges for the Biden White House, and could potentially upend the 2024 election as well. We will take a closer look.

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[03:30:00]

CHURCH: Ron DeSantis' camp has shared a new video targeting his chief rival for the GOP nomination, Former President Donald Trump. In the video, DeSantis slams Trump for not only supporting but also courting LGBTQ voters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I will do everything in my power to protect our LGBTQ citizens.

(VIDEO PLAYING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: That video is being widely condemned as homophobic, as CNN Correspondent Kristen Holmes reports, it's the latest attack in a growing feud between the GOP's top two 2024 contenders.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They have said to me, both on background, and even on the record, that they believe this is some kind of scrambling attempt for Ron DeSantis to get relevancy, to kindly bring up his poll numbers, but also the video itself is just bizarre and I like the fact it's now being talked about.

They're talking about why are there other pictures of shirtless men in-between headlines of Ron DeSantis condemning actions against trans people as well as not teaching gender ideology. So, there's been a lot of conversation around that.

The other thing I want to notice is, you know, those statements that were made at the very top of that clip it's unclear whether or not the DeSantis team knew what they were doing, but they were taking a month after the poll shooting, and they were win -- Donald Trump was accepting the Republican nomination. And if you actually isn't an entire speech, which I did afterward, the next lines are protecting people from domestic terrorism.

So, it was strange, you know, too many people watching the video as well as to the Trump campaign, that those are the remarks they would use the former, you know, presidential candidate, the leader of the Republican party, essentially offering his support after a tragic event.

PAULA REID, CNN SR. LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR: How are other Republicans responding to this? Because clearly, they're looking for voters, but they're also looking for support within their own party. So how is this -- how is this landing?

HOLMES: When I talking to donors, they think this was a weird play. They're not entirely sure why they decided to release this video. Another group that is very important actually released a statement, and that's the Log Cabin Republicans, they call themselves the largest Republican group that advocates for LGBT.

And this is what they said, they said that conservatives understand that we need to protect our kids, preserve women's sports, safeguard women spaces, and strengthen parental rights, but Ron DeSantis' extreme rhetoric has just ventured into homophobic territory. They also said that this was divisive.

And so, it's interesting to see this group, this huge group, stepping forward here, when they haven't in the past when you've heard so many of these candidates coming up. They're talking about woke ideology, trying to campaign against teaching gender ideology. This clearly crossed the line for a lot of people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Meanwhile, the current president, Joe Biden, faces his own political challenges as a new week begins. A series of monumental decisions last week by the U.S. Supreme Court included one that effectively struck down a campaign promise he made to find student debt relief for millions of Americans. Now, the Biden administration says it will try to provide that help by using existing authorities granted by federal law.

Looking ahead to 2024, Democrats are hoping this issue, as well as other recent rulings will help boost turnout for their voters, similar to how the Supreme Court's abortion ruling helped them in the 2022 midterms.

Let's bring in Ron Brownstein, a CNN senior political analyst and a senior editor with "The Atlantic." Always good to have you with us.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Hello, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So, before closing out its term last week, the Supreme Court delivered three landmark rulings, dominate by the courts' conservative supermajority, blocking the Biden administration's student loan forgiveness plan, limiting LGBTQ protections by ruling in favor of religious objections over anti-discrimination laws, and rejecting affirmative action in college admissions.

[03:35:01]

Transport secretary Pete Buttigieg says this decision will chip away at LGBTQ plus rights. What is the likely political fallout from the specific ruling, do you think?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, you know, I don't think any of these rulings will have the immediate political impact that last year's decision and in the constitutional right to abortion did. That was an absolute earthquake in American politics, whose implications are still reverberating and will still be important in 2024.

But these rulings continue the pattern that we've seen as this supermajority has come into place of making decisions that will be enormously consequential on the fabric of American life and that consistently reflect the values, the priorities, and even the grievances of the coalition, behind the Republicans, who nominated them and for the most part confirm them.

We are seeing a significant change in the law that is really potentially just beginning, given that the youngest members of this majority are only in the early 70s -- so the oldest members -- excuse me -- are in the early 70s, it could be another decade where the U.S. is living under the decisions made by this majority, absent some big health issue, and it is very clear the direction it's heading.

CHURCH: Do you think the Biden administration would need to consider the expansion of the Supreme Court as a consequence of that, when you consider the ramifications of decisions like this?

BROWNSTEIN: Yeah, Joe Biden is not the President who's going to do that. You know, Joe Biden's roots are in a very different era of American politics, you know, elected to the Senate in 1972, and someone who kind of is more of an institutionalist, I think. They'll be more discussion of that among Democrats as years go by.

But I think actually what's more likely than expanding the court is serious discussion about term limits on the court, 18-year term limits, once they were fully -- once that idea was put in place, once it was fully implemented, every president with yet two employments in their four years, at least, they were guaranteed that.

And it's an idea that started among conservatives. Originally, it was conservative law professors who began talking about it. I think you're gonna hear more discussion of that in the years ahead. I think on court expansion there is a fear there that we just set off an endless cycle of escalation.

All of that though, either, you know, any of those alternatives is still years away. And what we are seeing now is consistently this court ruling in a way that reflects the priorities and grievances, as I said, of that Republican coalition, and often ruling against not only the preferences but the intrinsic identity of younger generations, who are more likely than any generation in American history to be racially diverse, to be secular, to identify as LGBTQ. They are systematically seeing their priorities rolled over by this court majority.

CHURCH: And Ron, President Biden received a lot of support from young voters when he initially proposed that plan to forgive some student debt. But now, of course, the Supreme Court has struck that down. So, Biden is now offering a new path for student debt relief, but will it work and how important is it to Biden politically that he find a way to make sure that it does?

BROWNSTEIN: Yeah, I feel this is a dual-edged sword. I mean, Biden has never been that personally popular with young people. His approval rating among them has been quite low. Many -- a significant majority of them will say in polls, I think, he is too old to be president.

And I think that this decision by the court, which I think, will be the most politically consequential of those that they lay down over the past week, as very much, as I said, a dual-edge sword for Biden. On the one hand, he can point to it and say, look, I tried to do this for you, and Republicans blocked it.

On the other hand, he's already facing a kind of skepticism among younger people about whether he's really making enough progress on the things they care about. And this becomes another, potentially, promise that he could not deliver. They're trying to find a fallback position of using the Higher Education Act of 1965 to forgive debt. There were Democrats, like Elizabeth Warren, who from the beginning thought that was a better option and the authority that he used. It takes a while, in a regulatory manner.

But I suspect before the election in 2024, they will be back with another plan to relieve debt and you will see Republicans again go to court, and this will be something the Supreme Court will decide in 2025, if the Democrats still hold the white house.

CHURCH: All right, Ron Brownstein, Always appreciate your analysis, many thanks.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me. CHURCH: And still to come, a solid first half of the year for Wall

Street. But what about the outlook for the rest of the year? We'll take a look.

[03:40:04]

Plus, as the Hollywood writers' Strike goes on, we'll look at the impact it's having on other essential employees and businesses. Back with that, in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: June was a big month for Stocks, in fact, the S&P 500 rallied for the first half of this year. But what can we expect in the second half?

CNN Chief Business Correspondent Christine Romans has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: The stock market has shown resilience after that awful 2022 as we wrap up the first half of the year here for Wall Street, here.

The NASDAQ is up nearly 30 percent so far this year, that's the best first half since 1983. Wall Street also got some encouraging news on the inflation front, the Fed's Preferred Inflation Gauge cooled last month, hitting its lowest level in more than two years. And the U.S. economy also grew faster than estimates, expanding at an annual pace of 2 percent in the first quarter.

The job market is still resilient, with unemployment claims recording the biggest drop in 20 months. Despite all of this optimistic news, inflation is still above the Fed's 2 percent target.

And Jerome Powell reiterated the Central Bank's Rate hike campaign is set to resume after a pause in early June. Keep in mind it is a short week on Wall Street for the holiday, U.S. markets are closed Tuesday for July 4th. After reopening, we will get the minutes from the Fed's June Meeting, jobless claims, and a critical June jobs report.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Today is the first full day on the picket line for thousands of hotel workers in Los Angeles and Orange County, California.

(VIDEO PLAYING)

CHURCH: Union employees at 65 major hotels walked off the job Sunday morning. They're demanding higher pay and better benefits, and say, they've been priced out of the cities in which they work.

Many of the hotels are using management personnel and non-union staffers to keep things running during the start of the busy summer tourist season.

[03:45:07]

Well, the ongoing strike by the Writers Guild of America is not only affecting movies and television shows. It's also having a significant impact on many behind-the-scenes employees and businesses that are essential to these productions.

CNN's Natasha Chen explains from Los Angeles.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NATASHA CHEN, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Yolanda Cendejas Garcia, a janitor, was laid off from Paramount Studios shortly after the writers strike began. Fewer productions means less to clean. Nearly two months later, she is collecting plastic bottles for cash.

She is buying cheaper groceries, and says, she will soon lose health insurance and worries about buying her diabetes medication.

And now SAG-AFTRA has announced an extension of talks over its deals with studios, while its 180,000 members have already overwhelmingly authorized a strike. These actors could add to more than 11,000 writers already on the picket line, and halt more productions.

YOLANDE CENDEJAS GARCIA, LAID-OFF JANITOR, PARAMOUNT STUDIOS (through translator): The few savings that i had are going away. When am I able to work again or what am I going to do, I do not know.

CHEN: Mark Meijer Jr. laid off a dozen employees from his set and prop business in early June.

(on-camera): This warehouse is usually full of people buzzing around, loading tables, chairs, lamps into 15 trucks a day. But listen, right now in this 89,000 square foot warehouse, it is quiet.

MARK MEIJER JR., SET AND PROP BUSINESS OWNER: Now, we are lucky to have one order returned.

CHEN (voice-over): King's Deli, down the street from the Warner Brothers lot, is seeing half their business that usually comes from catering for productions. Co-owner Rosie Blosser says even three years after COVID-19 began, they never really returned to normal. Now, with the strike --

ROSIE BLOSSER, OWNER, KING'S DELI: We are trying to figure out What we can do today to keep it going.

CHEN (voice-over): Corrie Levelle does not know the answer either.

CORRIE LEVELLE, OWNER, SANDY ROSE FLORAL: We are all dying out here.

CHEN (voice-over): She says that she was forced to move her floral prop business to a new location at double the right, just before the strike began.

LEVELLE: We still have the paper tags hanging on the doors that describe whose office it is, because they have not had a chance to completely get set up yet.

CHEN (voice-over): She has laid off all but one employee.

The 100-day WGA strike in 2007 and 2008 caused more than $2 billion in economic damage. The writer's union says that adjusted for inflation, that means their current strike is costing the economy about $30 million a day.

KEVIN KLOWDEN, CHIEF GLOBAL STRATEGIST, MILKEN INSTITUTE: The overall economic impact is far more widespread across the country than it was last time around.

CHEN (voice-over): The Milken Institute's Chief Global Strategist estimates that even outside of California, there will be at least a $1 billion loss this time in major film hubs like Georgia and New York.

Impacting people never named as part of making movie magic.

LEVELLE: We're so below the line that we're below the credits.

CHEN (voice-over): Who are essential, nonetheless, waiting for an agreement on the contract they will never even see.

Natasha Chen, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And we'll be right back.

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[03:50:00]

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CHURCH: Glamor symbols of 20th Century nightlife are returning to Cuba more than 60 years after they started to fade.

Patrick Oppmann reports from Havana.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Throwing a party with 20 musicians in front of a neon sign may seem like overkill, but repairing and relighting this pre-revolutionary ice cream shop storefront has been a long time coming.

Before Fidel Castro took power, Havana was a sea of neon. After his 1959 revolution, the government seized all private businesses, and as replacement parts grew scarce, the signs began to go dark.

ADOLFO NODAL, HABANA LIGHT AND SIGNS: Cuba was an early adopter of neon. It rivaled Paris and New York in terms of the amount of neon.

OPPMANN (voice-over): Enter Adolfo Nadal, he co-founded a small band of mostly U.S. and Cuban neon enthusiasts who have made their unlikely mission to rescue as many of the signs as possible.

NODAL: It helps to see the city in any way. It brings back a lot of the memory of the city. People remember the signs from the 30s and 40s in Havana as well.

OPPMANN (voice-over): For the artisans who search out to repair the signs, it's a labor of love that can take months.

It depends on the complexity of the metal structure, if it is in good condition, she says. If we have to make new parts, depends on the availability of the raw materials. Unfortunately, none of these items you can find in this country, and they have to be imported.

Repairing Havana's neon signs seems like a quixotic pursuit, in this city were aging buildings collapse every day, and even when they're restored, the signs often stay dark during the regular power cuts here.

(on-camera): The sign restorationist say that fixing up the signs is just the beginning of a transformation. The people are more likely to walk down a well-lit street, less likely to throw trash on the ground, and what they're hoping for Cubans, is not just a restored sign, but a little bit of hope as well.

(voice-over): Nodal says the signs are his small gift to the homeland he left at a young age.

NODAL: I am a Cuban-American, I want to come back and make a contribution to my country. And I am a neon guy. So, I figured the neon would be a wonderful thing to do, and it goes in keeping with the history of havana.

OPPMANN (voice-over): His team's dream, as they slowly bring the lights back, is the neon signs are not just part of the city's past but also its future.

Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Havana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: An update now on the story of Vanilla the chimp, who became a social media sensation after seeing the sky for the first time. We are told she is doing well, getting along with her new friends and soaking up the sun.

In case you missed it, he was the moment of joy for Vanilla. She spent her first 28 years in cages, the first part of her life in a medical research laboratory, and then in a shelter with no view of the sky.

[03:55:08]

Now, like a lot of retirees, Vanilla is spending her golden years in the sunshine state. She's living at three acres of open land in the Save the Chimp Sanctuary in Fort Pierce, Florida.

And CNN's Boris Sanchez spoke with the CEO of Save the Chimps, and she tells us more about Vanilla's life before she came to the sanctuary.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANA PAULA TAVARES, CEO, SAVE THE CHIMPS: She was born in a biomedical lab in New York and endured tremendous hardship in her early years as a study of AIDS and hepatitis medical research. Then, moved into a non-accredited wildlife refuge with all good intentions but living in a very small space with four other chimpanzees, and not until now have been able to really enjoy the opportunity of freedom, having freedom, as they so deserve.

Her first taste of freedom really shows how chimpanzees, like us, cherish any joy, independence, and freedom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And she added to the chimps can live into their 60s. Right now, there are 227 chimps on the island in Florida, and they eat about 2.5 tons of food every day. Save the Chimps is a charitable organization which runs on donations.

And thank you so much for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. Have yourselves a wonderful day. "CNN Newsroom" continues with Max Foster and Bianca Nobilo, next.

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