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CNN International: Philadelphia Shooting Suspect to Appear in Court; Judge Blocks Biden Administration Contact with Social Media Firms; Israel Conducts Strikes in Gaza After Rocket Attacks; Atomic Regulators Okay Fukushima Water Release; Republicans Vie for Votes on Independence Day. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired July 05, 2023 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and everywhere around the world. I'm Bianca Nobilo.

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Max Foster joining you live from London. Just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On what was supposed to be a beautiful summer evening, this armed and armored individual wreaked havoc.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The man who did this is in custody. The man who did this will be facing multiple counts of murder.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a significant victory for the states that are suing the Biden administration.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A federal judge has just blocked the Biden administration from meeting with the heads of social media companies.

MIKE PENCE, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There was no place we'd rather be than in Iowa.

RON DESANTIS, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: These generations got to step up and be a custodian of freedom. I think right now is our generation's time to do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Live from London this is CNN NEWSROOM with Max Foster and Bianca Nobilo.

FOSTER: It is Wednesday, July the 5th, 9:00 a.m. here in London, 4:00 a.m. in Philadelphia. Where the suspect who police believed shot and killed five people at random, will appear in court and face multiple murder charges in the coming hours.

NOBILO: Police have yet to reveal a motive for the violence but believe the suspect, who is being referred to with they, them pronouns acted alone in Monday shooting. Here's more details on the incident.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERNEST RANSOM, STAFF INSPECTOR, PHILADELPHIA POLICE DEPARTMENT: The suspect, while wearing body armor, a ski mask and holding an AR-15 assault rifle was observed at several locations near 56th Street, near Chester Avenue and Springfield Avenue. The suspect then began shooting aimlessly at occupied vehicles and individuals on the street as they walked. None of the victims engaged the suspect or where the suspect was going to inflict this act of violence upon them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Philadelphia's district attorney expects a judge will deny bail for the suspect who also facing multiple counts of aggravated assault, as a first-degree felony and weapons charges as well. He says the coming trial will be vigorous.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY KRASNER, PHILADELPHIA DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Phase 1 for us was really to reach out and try to support all those adversely affected. Phase 2 is the beginning of a vigorous criminal prosecution of truly atrocious, horrific act. It will either be prosecuted by this office or possibly by the feds. If so, they will have our complete cooperation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: Police have identified those killed in the Philadelphia shooting. The victims range in age from 15 to 59 years old. The city's mayor and district attorney are expressing their anger over gun violence and are calling for change to gun control laws, with a pointed messages at officials supporting the use of automatic weapons.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM KENNEY, PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA MAYOR: And frustrated and outraged at mass shootings like this continue to happen in communities across the United States. This country needs to reexamine its conscience and find out how to get guns out of dangerous people's hands. We are begging Congress to protect lives and do something about America's gun problem.

KRASNER: It is disgusting, the luck of proper gun legislation that we have in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. I cannot agree more heartedly with the mayor. It is disgusting that you could go to New Jersey and find a whole list of reasonable gun regulation that we don't have. That you could go to Delaware and there's almost as long a list of reasonable gun legislation that we don't have. Some of that legislation might have made a difference here. And it is time for everybody in our legislature -- including the ones that would like to walk around with an AR-15 lapel pin -- it is time for every one of them to face the voters. And if they're not going to do something then the voters are going to have to vote them out. Because that's what that lapel pin pen means. It means vote me out. I am against you and I am against your safety. And a lot of us have had enough of it. I can tell you I certainly have had enough of it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBILO: Meantime, in Texas police are still searching for a motive after gunfire erupted at a neighborhood party in Fort Worth. Three people were killed as a result including 18-year-old Paul Willis.

FOSTER: His aunt tells CNN he has a recent -- he was a recent high school graduate who wanted to join the U.S. Air Force. She says his mother didn't recognize him when she got to the scene.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[04:05:00]

VICTORIA SALLY, SHOOTING VICTIMS AUNT: My sister was a block away when he got shot. And she walked past him not even knowing that it was her son. That he was laying there dead. There was people were around his body. And they just left him on the street. Just left him. Like he was just laying there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Well Paul Willis' aunt says he was a good kid. He worked as a manager at the local McDonald's. She says he was focused on work so much. He even skipped his graduation because of his job.

NOBILO: We will of course continue to monitor both of these stories and bring in the very latest.

A federal judge has blocked the Biden administration for communicating with social media companies about policing certain content on their platforms.

FOSTER: This was a victory for Republican states which suit the government alleging it had gone too far in efforts to combat COVID-19 misinformation. CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: A federal judge has blocked key Biden administration agencies and officials from communicating with social media companies about certain content. This injunction comes in response to two state Attorney Generals from Missouri and Louisiana. Who in 2022 filed a lawsuit that said the Biden administration overstepped in communicating with social media companies during the pandemic, when it asked those social media companies to police speech on topics such as COVID-19, election integrity and the security of voting by mail.

Now this judge said the agencies and officials are barred from, quote, specifically flagging content or post on social media platforms and/or forwarding such to social media companies urging, encouraging, pressuring or inducing in any manner for removal, deletion, suppression or reduction of content containing protected free speech. Now those affected include the Department of Health and Human

Services, the CDC, the FBI and the Justice Department, as well as more than a dozen top officials including the U.S. Surgeon General and White House press secretary. By this order, they are prohibited from communicating with Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Twitter, YouTube, Google and TikTok as well as another of other online platforms.

Now we reached out to those social media companies for comment and have not heard back. Meta though, did declined to comment.

There are a few exceptions, the Treasury Department, Commerce Department and FDA can still have contact with these social media companies. But the agency's names can communicate only with the social media companies if there is any illegal activity or national security threats. Judge Doughty, a Trump appointee, has not made a final ruling on this case. But this is a significant victory for the states that are suing the Biden administration in this matter.

Vanessa Yurkevich, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: A White House official says the Justice Department is reviewing the injunction and will evaluate its options.

The White House also issued a statement in response to the judge's order which, reads in part: Our consistent view remains that social media platform have a critical responsibility to take account of the effects that platforms are having on the American people, but make independent choices about the information they present.

NOBILO: Moving to the Middle East now, where Israel says that all of its forces have now withdrawn from Jenin in the West Bank and that its military operation there is over. But the violence in the region has still spread now beyond Jenin, to Gaza and to Tel Aviv.

FOSTER: Israeli forces say they've been conducting strikes in the Gaza Strip in the past few hours after rockets were fired towards Israeli territory. They say all five of those rockets were intercepted. The IDF said its strikes targeted weapon production sites for the Palestinian militant group, Hamas.

NOBILO: Palestinian officials say Israel's Jenin operation has left at least 12 people dead and many more injured. Israel says one of its soldiers was also killed.

And, according to UNICEF, at least three children were among those killed in Jenin. The United Nations is calling for an immediate end to the violence.

FOSTER: Meanwhile, Hamas says it's responded to that operation. Claiming responsibility for a car ramming and stabbing attack in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, which left at least eight people injured.

CNN's Nada Bashir has been tracking all of these developments. I mean, where is this going? NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: Well the fact that the U.N. warning that this is another pattern of violence that we have seen in the past. The Israeli troops have indeed left Jenin but the tensions there are still high and the continued threat of potential escalation of violent violence is still looming large over the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank. As you mentioned there, we've seen that exchange of rocket fire from the Gaza Strip. There is significant concerns around a potential escalation. Particularly, of course, as we saw the ramming of pedestrians in Tel Aviv.

So there is real concern there and of course we have to put this into context.

[04:10:00]

This is the largest incursion of this kind that we have seen at the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank since the second -- further back in the early 2000s. And this is a deeply impoverished region of the West Bank. It's home to some 17,000 people living within an area that is less than a quarter of a square kilometer. And of course, there is real concern around the impact that this has had on the civilians living in this area.

We know of course, that the IDF has said that it is targeting terrorist infrastructure, that it has successfully achieved its targets in Jenin, hence the withdrawal. But actually we've heard from Hamas. They have framed this as a victory. They have said that the IDF has learned its lessons and that they have withdrawn as a result of the Palestinian resistance. So clearly, very different pictures there on both sides.

But of course, we are talking about a huge civilian impact. That has been the warning from the United Nations and another international human rights groups. There's been at least 12 people killed including three children. And the infrastructural damage that has been sustained is significant. And as we begin to see civilians returning to their homes, of course thousands were forced to flee as a result of being caught in that crossfire. They will be returning to immense destruction. And of course, many of them returning to a scene of mourning.

FOSTER: And bulldozers were used. Weren't they? And we've had some retaliation as well in Tel Aviv yesterday.

BASHIR: Yes absolutely. We saw eight people injured after a car rammed into pedestrians and then the driver proceeded to leave and attempted to stab civilians there. A police spokesperson told CNN yesterday, that the driver was killed at the time by an armed civilian. And we've heard from the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, reacting to that and condemning the attack. Take a listen.

FOSTER: Nada, thank you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (voice-over): Today there was a heinous terrorist attack in Tel Aviv that was stopped due to the intervention of an armed civilian. Whoever thinks that such an attack will deter us from continuing our fight against terrorism is mistaken. We will not allow Jenin to go back to being a city of refuge for terrorism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASHIR: And that we've seen the troops withdrawing from Jenin, but this is not a sign of all being well. This is not a sign of peace. We've seen how quickly things can change in the West Bank in the past time and time again. And of course, the concern now is as we continue to see retaliating attacks, we could potentially see a further escalation of violence.

FOSTER: OK, Nada, thank you.

NOBILO: More than a million metric tons of treated radioactive waste water, that is what Japan wants to dump into the sea from its decimated Fukushima nuclear power plant.

FOSTER: On Tuesday, international nuclear regulators said they think it's OK but not everyone agrees.

NOBILO: CNN's Marc Stewart is live for us in Tokyo. So Marc, the IAEA has said that releasing this treated water into the sea is consistent with their safety guidelines. But concerns do persist. What are those concerns? And how sure can the atomic agency be?

MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. So the concerns are about the safety of this water, not only in the short term but also the long term. What will it do to the marine life for example? That is why fishermen here in Japan are among many groups expressing reservations about this release of water, in addition to the broader international community.

I was just at Fukushima, Daiichi back in April and it looks much more like a water treatment facility that a nuclear power plant. It is there that these tanks of water, enough to fill 500 Olympic pools, has been filtered. It has been diluted.

You mentioned these international standards for safe water release. This water still will contain a radioactive isotope known as (INAUDIBLE) but it is very much consistent with the levels that we have seen released from other nuclear facilities not only here in the world but around the entire globe.

Still despite these reassurances, including a visit today, a highly symbolic visit today, by the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, there are critics including China. And it is a point that came up for discussion recently at a briefing at the ministry of foreign affairs. Take a listen to some remarks from a spokesperson speaking from Beijing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAO NING, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON (voice-over): The report cannot greenlight the discharge, as it cannot prove that ocean discharge is the only option for the safest and most reliable option. China once again urges Japan to, in a responsible attitude, for the whole humanity and our future generations, stop pushing through the discharge plan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEWART: There are other alternatives including burying these tanks of water. But this idea of releasing it into the ocean is the one that is prevailing among the scientific community, at least attached to this project. We should point out that this release of the water is not just going to be a sudden one and done event. A tunnel has been built from the, plant into the Pacific Ocean. It will take years, perhaps decades to fully release this.

[04:15:00]

Max and Bianca, I should also point out that the International Atomic Energy Agency will have a presence here in Japan to monitor this process.

NOBILO: Oh that is definitely reassuring. Marc Stewart live in Tokyo. Thank you so much.

FOSTER: A suspicious powder found inside the, White House has been sent for further analysis.

NOBILO: The initial test of the substance showed that it was probably cocaine. CNN's Jeremy Diamond has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Secret Service said a powdery substance was discovered at the White House on Sunday evening. It prompted a brief evacuation of the White House complex. A hazmat team with the city of Washington D.C. came in, deemed the substance nonhazardous. But two sources familiar with the matter say that that powdery substance tested positive for cocaine. Now, that was done via a field test which is sometimes inconclusive and it has been sent out for further testing and evaluation.

Now, Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi, he says that this powdery substance was found in a work space within the West Wing. President Biden, for his, part, he was not at the White House when this took place.

Now, we should note that on the weekends here at the White House, there are often tour groups that go through the West Wing out of the White House. So, it's certainly possible that that is how that baggy of cocaine apparently, should it be confirmed, made its way into the West Wing. But that being said, the Secret Service is conducting a ongoing investigation into the matter to determine exactly how that substance made its way on to the White House grounds.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: We are following developments on a mass shooting in Washington D.C. Police say nine people were injured outside a Fourth of July celebration just a few hours ago. Two of the victims were children aged 9 and 17. None of injuries are considered life-threatening. Police say they are looking for blue or black SUVs as part of their investigation. And the shooting took place about five miles from the U.S. Capitol building. We'll continue to monitor the story.

NOBILO: And it's just staggering that there's so many of these deadly attacks.

FOSTER: They're hard to keep up with aren't they now?

NOBILO: But they're supposed to be celebrations in times were people come together.

And Independence Day can be a useful day to stump for votes. And that's just how many Republican candidates spend their holiday. But one was conspicuously absent. We'll have a look at the day on the campaign trail.

FOSTER: Plus, 18 million people in the U.S. are under severe weather threats. The states expecting a stormy Wednesday in the latest forecast.

NOBILO: And later on, the social media war is heating up with Mark Zuckerberg's company Meta about to launch a new at to compete directly with Elon Musk and Twitter.

[04:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NOBILO: Independence Day was no holiday for many of the Republican presidential candidates. They took advantage of patriotic events in two key primary states to buy the vote.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis marched into Fourth of July parades in New Hampshire. South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, North Dakota and Governor Doug Burgum, former Texas Congressman Will Hurd also appeared in the Granite State.

FOSTER: Meanwhile, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez was in Iowa, where former Vice President, Mike Pence also campaigned. But Donald Trump was nowhere to be found. Still though his presence is not far from the candidates minds, I'm sure. CNN Omar Jimenez reports from New Hampshire. But first from our Kyung Lah in Iowa.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR U.S. CORRESPONDENT: It is all in on Iowa. And that is abundantly clear as we are watching former Vice President Mike Pence campaign through Iowa. His campaign says that it is this all 99- county visiting each one shaking as many hands as possible, hitting the coffee shops, hitting the pizza cafes. This is where they believe that the former vice president shines.

And you certainly saw it as he was walking a Fourth of July parade in Urbandale, Iowa. It was a two-mile parade route that at many points, the former vice president burst into a jog, shaking hands with as many people as possible, trying to sell this idea of a conservative future that he sees as the blueprint for America.

And then he came up here to rural Boone, Iowa where he talks about energy, a conservative Supreme Court and a future that he believes will work in a general election. As well as this first in the nation caucus state.

Notably not here is his former running mate and President Donald Trump, who chose to not be in Iowa, something that Mr. Pence pointed out in talking with reporters.

MIKE PENCE, FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: I can't account for what other campaigns decided. But for me, it was vitally important to be here where the journey to the White House always begins, and to spend two miles at times jogging up hill to take our case to the people of Iowa. And I promise you we're going to keep running that hard all the way to the finish.

LAH: It's a strategy the campaign says that for now, they will absolutely not deviate from. Meanwhile, the other candidates like Ron DeSantis chose to spend their Fourth of July in New Hampshire.

Kyung Lah, CNN, Boone, Iowa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The weather rain on the parade for Fourth of July festivities here in New Hampshire. But it didn't dampen the spirits of everyone who came up to support, not just the country and general patriotism but also some of the GOP candidates who were here very much on the campaign trail.

Among them Florida Governor Ron DeSantis through his superPAC -- or I should say the pro-DeSantis superPAC never backed down. Their spokesperson even acknowledged that they feel they are way behind in the polling and that this is an uphill battle, though not one that they say it is unwinnable. And that's part of why he hid this trail hard. And meeting a lot of people along what was two parade routes across New Hampshire over Fourth of July shaking hands. Doing some of that on the ground presence, that again, could help make some inroads into what has been a shadow over the GOP field.

[04:25:00]

And what I mean is that is that the significant lead that polling has shown former President Trump to have over the rest of the field. Recent CNN polling has shown that among Republicans, and Republican leading voters, 47 percent would support the former president. And the next closest, which is DeSantis, is double digits away. And that's also why we saw not just DeSantis but South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, North the Governor Doug Burnham, former Texas Congressman Will Hurd out and about to try and close some of that gap as we of course approach the first debates in August.

But the more significant dates as they approach the first primary dates. And at the end of the, day what's more American than campaigning for president on the Fourth of July?

Omar Jimenez, CNN, Merrimack, New Hampshire.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBILO: The wildfire in the U.S. state of Washington is forcing hundreds of people to flee from their homes. The tunnel five fire has already burned through more than 500 acres in only three days, after it broke out.

FOSTER: Authorities have ordered evacuations for a four-mile area around the fire. They say it's unpredictable and hot and dry and windy conditions are making things even worse. Officials say the fire is 5 percent contained and it could be weeks until there is a significant improvement.

About 80 million people across the U.S. are under threat of severe storms today. Central and Southern states could see large hail and damaging winds.

NOBILO: Severe storms brought more heavy rain to already drenched areas in the Northwest. Parts of New Jersey saw flooding on Tuesday and then there's also the sweltering heat.

FOSTER: A number of U.S. cities have tied or broke their daily high temperature records, including many across the Pacific Northwest. And that trend is expected to continue over the next 48 hours. CNN's Chad Myers has the forecast.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Fairly typical day across the United States for your Wednesday. Storms along the East Coast and less across the Northeast -- Boston, New York, Philadelphia less than you than you had yesterday for sure.

And then the middle part of the country, that's where the severe weather is going to set up. All the way from Chicago, all the way back even towards Oklahoma City. Some of the storms could contain hail and also gusty wind. So, as we take you to 6:00 a.m. storm is moving through Omaha, down to about Kansas city. Later on in the afternoon, things get a little bit bumpy. And by 8:00, we see the storms firing, even across sports of the Southeast. Every little red spot there will be one thunderstorm. And there will be a few that caused significant lightning as well. So if you're out again on Wednesday, maybe like you are today, you will have to watch out for that lightning in your forecast.

Not a lot of rainfall coming down though in any one spot so you don't have that concentrated flood risk for your Wednesday. Things look pretty good across most of the country. Then across the Southwest, still going to be very warm. Although

cooling down over the next few days. Phoenix, you're still going to be over 110. But across parts of the Northwest, you have a couple of hot days and then it begins to cooldown.

Las Vegas, 104. Now I know that sounds hot. But that's your normal high for your Friday. So, that's how we were from 1:15 in some spots, now down to about 104.

Still hot in the Pacific Northwest for a couple more days. And yes, hot and sticky across the Southeast. Although the numbers in the shade say 90s. You're going to feel like 100 with that heat index.

NOBILO: And while the southern U.S. has been baking under an intense heat dome in recent weeks. Monday marks the hottest day ever recorded globally, with an average temperature reaching the 63 degrees Fahrenheit. And that is according to initial data from U.S. meteorologists.

In China, a recent heat wave has pushed temperatures into the mid 90s. North Africa has seen temperatures exceeding 122 degrees Fahrenheit. And even Antarctica, currently in its winter, recently broke its July temperature record. Scientists say human driven climate change combined with the developing El Nino pattern are to blame for this record heat.

FOSTER: Coming, up Ukraine's fight to reclaim its land is long and complicated. But they have say they are still on track at making progress around the city of Bakhmut. That's next.

NOBILO: Plus, Britain's King Charles is set to receive a second crown, this time in Scotland. More on the weeklong festivities.

[04:30:00]