Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Ukrainian President says Russia Prepares for a Possible Nuclear Plant Attack in Zaporizhzhya; Thousands gathered for a Funeral and Protest after the end of Israel's Military Operation in Jenin; U.S. Treasury Secretary is set to visit China; Zelenskyy Speaks to CNN on the Recent Russian Mutiny Attempt and Crimea's Future; Average Global Temperature Now at a two-Day Record-High; Grand Slam Tennis Superstar Talks to CNN on his Archrival's Plans to tie His Wimbledon's Record. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired July 06, 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)
KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to all of you watching us around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber.
Ahead on "CNN Newsroom." CNN goes one on one with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an exclusive interview. This, when we learn of a deadly overnight attack in Ukraine's western city of Lviv. We'll have a live report on the strike and hear that exclusive interview. Plus --
(VIDEO PLAYING)
Thousands gather for a funeral in the West Bank city of Jenin after the Israeli military says its operation there has ended. We're live in Jerusalem with the latest.
And U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is on her way to China Where she's hoping to improve relations between the world's two largest economies.
UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Kim Brunhuber.
BRUNHUBER: We begin with a deadly Russian attack on a Ukrainian city far from the front lines. Ukrainian officials say at least four people were killed and 32 injured when a Russian missile struck an apartment building in Lviv. Rescue teams are working right now to free people who are trapped in the rubble. At least seven have been rescued so far.
Meanwhile Russian-backed officials in occupied Donetsk say Ukrainian attacks are causing chaos there. A missile strike in the Makiivka district apparently causing this huge fire at an oil depot. Ukraine says fighting is very, very hot around Donetsk and Luhansk. They're reporting dozens of combat engagements in the region. And Ukrainian fighters say they feel, quote, "positive and optimistic about their progress around Bakhmut." They claim to have recaptured a number of territories and say they're causing huge losses to Russian forces.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russia is preparing to launch a possible attack on the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant. He's accusing Russian forces of placing, quote "objects resembling explosives on roofs around the facility."
Ukrainian officials say they have procedures in place if anything happens, but the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency is urging caution, saying there are no visible indications of mines or explosives at the facility. Zelenskyy tells CNN's Erin Burnett why he's so certain in spite of the IAEA. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR, ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT: Zaporizhzhia? I know you've been touring the nuclear plants. You have warned that Putin could be prepared to have a terrorist attack on Zaporizhzhya. Do you feel that could be imminent?
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: Sure. I have really from intelligence, I have documents, I don't, I can't tell you what kind of documents, but it's something connecting with Russia. I said that they are technically ready to do something. It's very important that they mind some local mining. Yes,
BURNETT: At Zaporizhzhya.
ZELENSKYY: At Zaporizhzhya in the station. They technically are ready. And that's why we pushed Magate. Magate in English, I'm sorry. IAEA. Yes, IAEA. Yes, and we pushed them and we said look. Your team there, you're four. There are four people and this plant is like city. It's really like huge.
BURNETT: It's huge.
ZELENSKYY: It's huge, it's very big. Four people will not find mines.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Our Nada Bashir joins me from London. So before we get to those accusations first now take us through this latest Russian attack in Lviv.
NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: Well, look Kim, the fighting certainly hasn't let up in the East. But this is a strategic city in the West and its location has largely spared Lviv from Russia's relentless bombardment. But this is an attack which has left civilians in the city deeply shocked as you mentioned earlier at least four people were killed 13 others have been hospitalized in this missile attack was targeting civilian infrastructure these were residential homes at least 60 residential homes according to the city's local mayor have been impacted in this latest attack and as you can imagine this has left civilians deeply shocked take a listen
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OLYA, LVIV RESIDENT (through translator): We were at home. At night, I woke up from the first explosion, but we didn't have time to leave the apartment. There was a second explosion. The ceiling started to fall. My mother was immediately hit. I jumped out, and I was covered in rubble, only about knee-deep. I tried to reach my mother, but I couldn't. I got to the window, started screaming, and in about half an hour, the rescuers got to me, took me out, and took me to the eighth hospital.
[03:05:13]
LYUDMYLA PETRIVINA, LVIV RESIDENT (through translator): I heard screams from the neighbors opposite me. I think they were being pulled out of the rubble. Opposite me, there were terrifying screams. They must have been pulling people out of the rubble. Now, I don't see my neighbors on the street here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASHIR: And Kim, local emergency services are still working on the ground, working through that rubble to rescue survivors. At least seven people have been rescued from beneath the rubble, but it is anticipated that there will be people dead beneath the rubble. And that is what the emergency services are currently working through at the moment.
Of course, this is a tragic attack against civilians. Local officials have described this as yet another terrorist act by the Russian armed forces. And we have heard from President Zelenskyy offering his condolences to the family is impacted but also vowing that there will be a tangible response from Ukraine.
BRUNHUBER: All right, so more on President Zelenskyy. Now going back to his claims about Russia mining the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, I mean what are we to make of those accusations and the IAEA's response?
BASHIR: Well, this has certainly sparked concern. This is Europe's largest nuclear power plant. This has been a focal point of the conflict for some time now. We heard from President Zelenskyy warning that Ukrainian intelligence suggests that explosive-like devices have been detected, identified on the Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant.
President Zelenskyy in June in fact did say that the Ukrainian Armed Forces and military does believe that Russia is planning some sort of terrorist-like activity around the plant, potentially turning the plant itself into a weapon. So this is certainly a huge concern not only for Ukraine but for the international community overall with potential for a nuclear accident.
These are allegations that the Kremlin has of course denied and has continued that denial of any sort of attack around the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, and we have heard from the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, at this stage they say that they haven't detected any sort of explosives around the plant. However, they are asking for further access to the plant, namely to the plant's roof where this is where the Ukrainian intelligence suggests those explosives may be placed.
So this is a significant concern but we've also heard from some analysts who have pointed to the fact that there is little military advantage to targeting the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant for the Russian armed forces and also the fact that this could actually have a greater impact on Russian-held territory in the east. But of course those warnings from the Ukrainian intelligence are stark and this is a huge concern for the international community.
BRUNHUBER: Yeah, of course. All right, Nada Bashir, thank you so much for that.
And stay with CNN for an exclusive interview with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskyy speaks about the pace of Ukraine's counteroffensive, President Putin's state of mind, and whether Putin is really in charge of his military. Watch this interview with CNN's Erin Burnett in about 20 minutes.
The U.S. Navy says it prevented Iranian warships from seizing two commercial oil tankers on Wednesday. Both incidents occurred in the Gulf of Oman in international waters. The Navy says it recently stepped up patrols of the waterway in response to Iran's ongoing threats to commercial traffic.
CNN's Oren Liebermann is at the Pentagon and has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: A series of tense military encounters in the Middle East underscoring the volatility of the region. It starts early Wednesday morning when the U.S. Navy says at about 1 am, local time, an Iranian Navy vessel approached a commercial oil tanker. The U.S. saw this happening and even before that tanker called for help or issued any sort of distress, a U.S. Navy destroyer, the USS McFaul, intervened getting close to the incident and according to the U.S. Navy, that's when that Iranian Navy vessel changed course and headed away from the scene. But that wasn't the end of these encounters.
Only several hours later, in international waters in the Gulf of Oman, so very near where this first incident happened, another Iranian Navy vessel approaches another commercial oil tanker. This time, that Navy vessel drew even closer, hailing on that oil tanker to stop so it could be boarded or seized, according to the U.S. Navy.
The oil tanker issued a distress signal, and that same U.S. destroyer, the USS McFaul, responded at full speed. Before got there, personnel on board that Iranian Navy vessel opened fire with small arms hitting the oil tanker and doing damage to the ship.
No personnel were injured on board that oil tanker, but according to the U.S. Navy, some of those shots landed very close to the crew living quarters. And in fact, you can even see some of these pictures where those shots hit and some of the shrapnel from those bullets in these images from the Defense Department.
[03:10:05]
As the USS McFaul, that destroyer approached once again the Iranian Navy vessel changed its heading and left that incident. The U.S. has seen these sorts of encounters and attempts at seizures before. In fact, it was in late April, early May, after Iran seized two commercial vessels within days of each other that the U.S. and its partner nations increased maritime and military patrols in the area specifically to avoid incidents like this.
But even after all of this, the Middle East was not able to do anything, wasn't done yet. Several hours later in the skies over Syria, three U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drones were conducting a mission against ISIS targets when, according to U.S. Air Force Central Command, three Russian fighter jets came in.
And you can see video of this encounter released from U.S. Air Force Central. The Russian fighters got in the way of the MQ-9 Reaper drones, dropped parachute flares, and even opened up full afterburner in front of the MQ-9 Reapers, forcing the U.S. drones to take evasive action against the heavier, more powerful and faster Russian fighters.
The U.S. called it unsafe and unprofessional, warning Russia not to continue in this sort of behavior. But we have seen Russia continue down this path, according to the U.S. military, ignoring the deconfliction protocols, getting close to U.S. aircraft, even in one case several weeks or months ago, trying to dogfight a U.S. aircraft. And of course, it was several months ago that Russian military aircraft actually hit a U.S. drone over the Black Sea, forcing it down.
Oren Liebermann, CNN in the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Israel says it has achieved its goals in a major military operation in the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank, but is promising to return if needed to fight what it calls terrorist activity.
(VIDEO PLAYING)
Huge crowds turned out for the funerals of 12 Palestinians killed during the two-day incursion, the largest in the West Bank city in more than two decades. Israel claims they were terrorist combatants. Damage to the sprawling camp is immense, with homes destroyed and roads dug up by bulldozers. U.N. human rights experts are blasting the incursion as a possible war crime. And government leaders in Jenin say it's the Israeli government who's acting like a terrorist. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FAKHRI TOROKMAN, HEAD OF RECONSTRUCTION COMMITTEE, JENIN REFUGEE CAMP (through translator): What happened in the Jenin refugee camp the past two days was an organized criminal act. This is a terrorist state that used all its power and all the tools it has to destroy and terrorize a refugee camp in Jenin, which is spread across just one square kilometer.
It destroyed the infrastructure in a way that is unacceptable and unprecedented. When large bulldozers come and destroy whole streets, including the water system, the electricity, and the sewage, the army took out its anger on the streets and the infrastructure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Alright, let's go live now to CNN's Salma Abdelaziz in Jerusalem. So Salma, is it fair to say that tensions and uncertainty are still high? I mean, what's it been like inside Jenin so far?
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Perhaps higher than ever, Kim, thousands of people fled the Jenin refugee camp when that operation -- when the Israeli military incursion began. They returned yesterday to find the city widely devastated, widely destroyed. Take a look at what we found.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): Chants of anger and defiance ring out in the city of Jenin. The morning after Israel's military withdrew. Thousands filled the streets to bury the dead.
The Israeli military says that all 12 killed in its incursion were combatants and that its operation aimed to dismantle terror networks here. But this father says he is proud. His 19-year-old is what he calls a martyr and was a fighter for one of the Palestinian armed factions killed in the incursion.
My son told me he didn't want to get married or have a family. He says all he wanted to do was to dedicate his life to Palestine, to fighting the occupation.
(on-camera): This funeral is quickly turning into a demonstration of resistance. Many of the armed Palestinian factions are here to show that they are unbowed, unbroken by Israel's reign.
(voice-over): For many Palestinians, Jenin is a name and place synonymous with suffering and resistance. But this battle has come at a heavy cost. In the aftermath, the camp's residents were left without running water, electricity or basic services, and families returned to destroyed homes.
Hanat Shalabi says she and her three daughters were caught in the crossfire. Our home, all these material things, they can be replaced, she says. But how can I rebuild the psyche of my little girls? How will they ever feel safe again?
[03:15:00]
She takes me upstairs to show me what's left of her daughter's room. My youngest, she's only seven years old, she tells me. She says she wishes she was never born. She says I should never have birthed her into this horror. Israel's military says it's achieved its operational goals wiping out
weapons depots and command centers in Jenin. But it has also deepened the hatred and motivated the resistance in a city notorious for always fighting back.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ABDELAZIZ (on-camera): The question is, did this Israeli military operation solve anything? Let's start with the Israeli army side. They say their objective was to break the mindset that Jenin was a haven or is a haven rather for terrorists.
That's what Israel's army says it wanted to achieve. But what we saw on those streets there yesterday, Kim, was that the armed resistance factions were declaring a sort of victory just for being able to withstand this incursion, just for being able to withstand the sheer power of Israel's army.
And for the Palestinians, did this solve anything? Absolutely not. Those structural issues remain. Jenin is one of the most impoverished corners in an already marginalized area, of course. The West Bank, very little opportunity there, whether it is economic or whether you're speaking about the future of the young people in that area.
And of course, this generations-long conflict continues. The anger against the occupation in the West Bank remains. As you mentioned, Israel's military has reserved the right to return to Jenin to enter again at any time it sees fit. The Palestinians we spoke to inside Jenin, they had no doubt that Israel's army would return and so would another cycle of violence.
BRUNHUBER: Listen, great on the ground reporting there. Salma Abdelaziz in Jerusalem, I really appreciate it.
All right, now to Tel Aviv, where protests against the Israeli government appear to be heating up again. Have a look.
(VIDEO PLAYING)
Hundreds of people blocked the city's main highway on Wednesday after the police chief resigned. Israel's far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, tried to demote the commander, claiming he was too lenient on protesters earlier this year. The chief says he could have used unreasonable force against demonstrators but wanted to avoid bloodshed.
First, Lincoln, now, Yellen, the U.S. Treasury Secretary, is the latest Biden cabinet member to be dispatched to China, what officials hope to get out of the visit?
Plus, the search for the person who left a small bag of cocaine in the White House over the weekend. Well, the latest on what we know, just ahead. Please stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:19:57]
BRUNHUBER: For the second time in the past few weeks, a top member of the Biden administration is traveling to Beijing. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen's visiting -- and is aimed at easing tensions between the two superpowers. She's expected to meet with her Chinese counterpart and the new economic team but not President Xi Jinping.
That's after President Joe Biden compared him to, quote, "dictators" at a fundraiser last month.
CNN's Anna Coren is tracking this, and she's live in Hong Kong. So Anna, take us through what we're expecting.
ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kim, in the next hour and a half, Janet Yellen is expected to land in Beijing, where she will continue attempts to improve U.S.-China relations, which as we know are at an all-time low. It comes just two weeks after the U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, was in Beijing.
Yellen is expected to receive a warm welcome, and that's because of her economic pragmatism. She wants to improve communications with the Chinese and really lower the temperature between the world's two largest economies. Beijing sees her as this voice of reason within the Biden administration. She's pushed to maintain economic ties with China. She's argued against tariffs and restrictions on investment in China.
And while giving testimony before Congress back in April, she warned that decoupling would be disastrous. But let's have a listen to what she had to say last month at the Paris Finance Summit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JANET YELLEN, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: As the world's two largest economies, we have a responsibility to work together on global issues. It's something we can do and something the world expects of us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: Her itinerary is yet to be made public, Kim, but we understand that she does plan to meet, obviously, with her Chinese counterpart and other high-ranking officials. But what we hear will be constructive and frank conversations. But as you mentioned, she is not expected to meet with the Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
BRUNHUBER: Alright and then so Anna, I mean, how do you think this is being portrayed in China?
COREN: Well look, this is not going to be a love fest by any stretch of the imagination. The Treasury Secretary has spoken out against China's human rights record and called for diversifying American supply chains away from China.
Yellen will obviously try to convince Beijing the U.S. is not trying to harm or contain the Chinese economy by blocking access to sensitive technologies such as semiconductors in the name of national security. Beijing is not buying this whatsoever.
Just this week, China retaliated by announcing that it would restrict the export of certain minerals critical for the production of semiconductor chips, solar cells and other tech products.
On Monday, Janet Yellen met with the Chinese ambassador in Washington where they laid out the issues of concern. And the very next day, we heard from a spokesperson from the Chinese Foreign Ministry saying, quote, let me read it to you. "We always believe that China-U.S. economic and trade cooperation is mutually beneficial in nature and hope that the U.S. can create a favorable environment for the sound development of China-U.S. economic and trade ties and win-win cooperation with concrete actions."
At the end of the day, Kim, these are two economies deeply entwined. $700 billion, roughly in trade between China and the U.S. each year. And with the global, you know, economic uncertainty it just adds to the importance of the relationship. China as we know is struggling to reboot its economy post-COVID, while the U.S. is trying to contain inflation and avoid a recession. You know, economically the U.S. and China, they both need each other. Kim?
BRUNHUBER: All right, thanks so much. Anna Coren in Hong Kong. I Appreciate it.
Now earlier I asked Geoeconomics founder Robert Koepp if the Biden administration is downplaying expectations ahead of Yellen's visit as it did when the Secretary of State traveled to Beijing last month. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT KOEPP, DIRECTOR, ASIA-PACIFIC GEOECONOMICS AND BUSINESS INITIATIVE, CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY: It could be a lot more. We could be having great diplomatic ties with China, like we do with, for example, Japan or South Korea, but we don't. And the only thing that is left is economics. We have no dialogue at the military level, which is even more worrying. So hopefully they can get something done in terms of building communication rapport with this visit.
BRUNHUBER: Yeah. I mean, they'll have to begin by undoing the damage done by President Biden calling Xi a dictator. I mean, relations seem so low, it just seems like we're sort of trapped in this never-ending cycle.
KOEPP: Yes, it does. I mean, I might take a little bit of exception with the cause being necessarily Biden's comment about Xi being a dictator. I mean, it's definitely a symptom. It doesn't contribute to building positive rapport. That's true.
But I think if you looked at the unbalanced, the actions between the two sides, the Chinese have been much cooler towards bridging differences in the U.S. has been in fact, if anything, you can argue, and a lot of people on the right have critiqued the Biden administration for being too soft on China. Blinken's visit just a few weeks ago that Anna was mentioning, the optics were not great. I think he was sitting down the table from Xi. Domestic press in China really played it up as the U.S. coming there as a supplicant, begging for China's forgiveness almost. But point taken, I mean, both sides could be more diplomatic with each other.
[03:25:28]
Someone brought a small bag of cocaine into the White House, and the U.S. Secret Service wants to find out who. The drugs were found Sunday in a busy area of the West Wing, used by both staff and visitors.
As CNN's Jeremy Diamond explains, the Secret Service isn't messing around.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, law enforcement officials telling me that they're doing everything possible to try and identify the person who brought this baggie of cocaine into the White House on Sunday evening. That includes DNA testing, fingerprint analysis, secret service officials I'm told are also going through visitor logs as well as security camera footage.
This all started on Sunday evening when a white powdery substance was found inside a small dime-sized bag in one of the cubbies. These cubbies are used for visitors who come into the West Wing. That's where they drop their cell phones off. It's also used by White House officials before they go into a skiff to view classified information.
They also would drop their cell phones in these types of cubbies. Now, the White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, for her part, certainly left the impression that it could be a visitor who was going on a West Wing tour who left this bag of cocaine there. She talked about the fact that this is a highly-traveled area, that this is where visitors are brought in when they go on these West Wing tours.
But when I asked her whether or not she could rule out that it was a White House official, she could not do that, saying she wouldn't speculate on who was doing this. She did express confidence in the Secret Service's investigation, but nonetheless, that federal law enforcement official telling me that they just don't know if they'll actually be able to identify who brought this baggie in.
That's in part because of the number of people who would go through this West Wing entrance, and also because of how small that bag -- that was where the cocaine was, making it that much more difficult to identify fingerprints or potential DNA there, but this investigation is certainly ongoing at this hour.
Jeremy Diamond, CNN, The White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Ukraine's president says there's a reason why most Russian troops didn't fire a single bullet during a recent mutiny. Explains it in an exclusive interview with CNN's Erin Burnett. That's straight ahead.
Plus, the planet reaches record high temperatures twice in back-to- back days. Experts warn it's likely to happen again. We'll have the latest wake-up call in the climate crisis. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:30:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: And welcome back to all of you watching us around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is "CNN Newsroom."
Recapping one of our top stories this hour, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is promising a tangible response to a deadly Russian attack in the city of Lviv. The Western city is far from the heavy fighting on the eastern front lines, but overnight Thursday, a Russian missile struck an apartment building, killing at least four people and burying others under the rubble. Rescue workers are on the scene looking for more survivors.
Now, despite the attacks like the one in Lviv, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy says Russian leader Vladimir Putin is weaker than ever. Zelenskyy sat down with our Erin Burnett to talk about the recent mutiny led by Wagner mercenaries and the future of Crimea. Here's part of that conversation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR, ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT: Mr. President, it is a great honor to be here with you. We are here, of course, today in Odessa. And across the Black Sea from where we are right now, Crimea. How does it feel to be here on a beautiful day like this and to look out and know that Crimea is there?
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I've been to the hospital today where I saw our military, the Navy personnel, Marines which have been injured, and they all talk about Crimea.
Also the doctors who saved lives of these guys. And I congratulated the doctors with the Ukrainian Navy Day. And all of these doctors are from Sevastopol.
And when the occupation of Crimea and Sevastopol happened, they escaped to the Ukrainian-controlled territories. They're all here. I also visited the Ukrainian Navy Institute, which used to be based in Crimea. So everyone shares the same feeling of definite victory, definite return to Crimea.
I will tell you not as a president, but as a citizen. I used to adore Crimea even before I had become a president of Ukraine. Every year we visited Crimea with my family. We cannot imagine Ukraine without Crimea. And while Crimea is under the Russian occupation, it means only one thing. War is not over yet. BURNETT: To be clear, in victory, in peace, is there any scenario
where Crimea is not part of Ukraine?
ZELENSKYY (through translator): It will not be victory then, because this is what we're saying right in the beginning.
Even before the full-scale invasion, we understood that it's purely a matter of time when the contact line in Donbas and Crimea would turn into a war. It could be anything. It could have been our de-occupation steps, or it could have been a full-scale invasion by the Russian Federation, which has happened. They have been planning to annihilate us completely straight from the start. It's a fact.
Thank God that now, apart from ourselves, the majority of the world believes it too. That's why there cannot be any solution without Crimea. It could be the same frozen situation as in Donbas.
BURNETT: I know the U.S. CIA Chief Bill Burns has come and visited you regularly. He was here recently. What did you tell him about your plans to take back territory in the counteroffensive?
ZELENSKYY (through translator): To be honest with you, I was surprised to see the information in some media, both in the U.S. and Ukrainian and European media.
My communication with the CIA chief should always be behind the scenes, and the media attention because we discuss important things, what Ukraine needs and how Ukraine is prepared to act. We don't have any secrets from CIA because we have good relations and our intelligence services talk with each other.
The situation is pretty straightforward. We have good relations with the CIA chief and we are talking. I told him about all the important things related to the battlefield, which we need.
BURNETT: Do you feel, I know you've talked about some frustration about the pace of the counteroffensive. How much pressure do you feel from the United States, from other allies, to try to give them dates or timelines of when gains may happen?
ZELENSKYY (through translator): Our slowed down counteroffensive is happening due to certain difficulties in the battlefield. Everything is heavily mined there. I wanted our counteroffensive happening much earlier, because everyone understood that if the counteroffensive will be unfolding later, then much bigger part of our territory will be mined.
Thus, we give our enemy time and possibilities in order to place more mines and prepare their defense lines. All our commanders who I talk with constantly were discussing this situation.
[03:35:10]
The Russians have built three defense lines in some directions. I am grateful to the U.S. as the leaders of our support, but I told them, as well as European leaders, that we would like to start our counteroffensive earlier, and we will need all the weapons and material for that. Why? Simply because if we start later, it will go slower, and we will have losses of lives because everything is heavily mined, and we will have to go through it all.
The main thing which gives me a positive support is that we move forward. This is the main signal.
When it comes to our partners, I didn't see any pressure to start the counteroffensive. In some media, I heard the noises from this or that leader or the representatives that they expected our counteroffensive happening much earlier. Yes, I have heard all of that, but we believe in our victory.
BURNETT: On the front lines, I saw Ukrainian infantry. They were dealing with the fields of mines, you know, that Russians would just throw them out, not even hiding them. They're dealing with the little tiny tripwires for grenades that they lace all the way through the forest.
You have human beings now going in to try to take 100 feet, 200 feet of land at a time. Is there anything that would change that speed dramatically? Is this something when you say F-16s are necessary or ATCMS are necessary, would that make a difference to those infantry walking through fields?
ZELENSKYY (through translator): Today, we have got a different war. Not only people die. First and foremost, we need material to save human lives, and this material gives results. When we talk about ATACMS, they are very important because we can hit some long-distance targets without losing our people.
The fact that Russia has advantage on the ground and has more long- range weaponry is one of the things, but ATACMS are very important. Will this accelerate our moving forward? Yes, 100 percent. Because in some directions, it will give us opportunities to start the counteroffensive. In some directions, we cannot even think of starting it as we don't have the relevant weapons and throwing our people to be killed by Russian long-range weapons would be simply inhumane.
So we're not going to do it, and ATACMS is definitely our priority. We also have shortages in artillery. We cannot hit all the targets because of the absence of the quantity in our own artillery. We gather some units in the priority directions, but we cannot divide it between many. We lack quantity. This is a fact.
As the F-16, I emphasized on it many times. It's not even about the Ukrainian advantage in the sky over the Russians. This is only about being equal. F-16s help not only those on the battlefield to move forward. It's simply very difficult without a cover from the air. We've got losses of lives and slowing down. However, let's look at F- 16s as a very important humanitarian mission. We've talked about it many times, the Grain Initiative.
Erin, we are today in Odessa. The Grain Corridor, extremely important for the whole world, is happening just here. It's important for Africa, Asia, for the countries of Europe, et cetera. Today, if the Russians beginning to block this corridor, we don't have anything to answer this. F-16s give us a possibility to build a defense of this corridor.
BURNETT: Mr. President, you know, you recently said that you have dealt, and I'll quote you the way it quoted, "with different Putin's." It's a completely different set of traits in different periods. Now, of course, he's faced a rebellion, an attempted coup from Yevgeny Prigozhin. Have you seen any changes in how you think he's acting in his behavior since the attempted coup?
ZELENSKYY (through translator): Yes, we see the reaction after certain Wagner steps. We see Putin's reaction. It's weak. Firstly, we see he doesn't control everything. Wagner's moving deep into Russia and taking certain regions shows how easy it is to do. Putin doesn't control the situation in the regions. He doesn't control the security situation. All of us understand that his whole army is in Ukraine.
Almost entire army is there. That's why it's so easy for the Wagner troops to march through Russia. Who could have stopped him? We understand that Putin doesn't control the regional policy and he doesn't control all those people in the regions. So all that vertical of power he used to have just got crumbling down.
[03:40:09]
Further down, we see very interesting analytics. Half of Russia supported Prigozhin. Half of Russia supported Putin. We know from our intelligence reports that Kremlin was conducting all those surveys. 18 or 19 regions of Russia firmly supported Prigozhin's actions. 21 regions of Russia firmly support Putin.
Some of the Russian regions were in the balancing in the meantime without knowing for sure who to support. We all see this process that shows half of the Russian population is in serious doubt. All those stories that he controls everything, these are feeble stories now.
So this is a different Putin, and I don't mean a different person. This is a different Putin when it comes to his power. It's an old person, not a perky person. This is someone who doesn't control what is happening.
When he is so weak now and he made his historic mistake by invading Ukraine, this invasion created all the rest. The power of Wagner, Prigozhin's fame, uncontrolled situation in his own country. This is what his full-scale invasion brought upon him. In this moment, when he is weak, the world needs to put pressure on him.
BURNETT: But you're saying half of the Russian regions did not support Putin, would support Prigozhin. So does that mean there will be another challenge to Putin's power? I mean, that's a dramatic split.
ZELENSKYY (through translator): I think that Putin will make attempt to consolidate his society. He will make everything in order to break and nullify the Wagnerites' fame and everything they were doing. He will be distancing himself from all that and will be communicating extensively in order to unify the society. His society is un-unified. Pay attention to this interesting example.
After all these events, where did Putin go? I can tell you, he rarely comes out to the street. We see him in his offices, et cetera, but we never see him out and about.
Where did he go? He leaves his bunker only when it's extremely needed. He went to the town of Durban, in the Dagestan Republic, if I'm not mistaken. The stats show that Putin's popularity is the lowest in Dagestan. A lot of locals died, whom he sent to the ward to die. And Prigozhin is very popular there. So he's behaving like a political animal. He goes to Dagestan. They filmed a stage video showing certain people applauding him in order to show this region as a pro-Putin one.
BURNETT: They were surrounding him.
ZELENSKYY (through translator): He just goes to difficult regions and performs his one-man show.
BURNETT: Do you believe he's fully in charge of the military right now when it comes to your front line and this counteroffensive? Do you believe Putin is fully in charge of the Russian military?
ZELENSKYY (through translator): I don't think he fully controls all the processes. He gives orders to the commanders. It's understood. They are scared to lose their jobs, but he doesn't understand and doesn't control the middle layer of the Russian military, nor the lower rank officers and soldiers. Sometimes we see it quite clearly when he's talking about some towns or villages that they are under the Russian flag. But in reality, all of them are under the Ukrainian control.
It means he just doesn't get all the understanding what's happening, as he's only being fed some positive information. He doesn't want to hear bad news. I reiterate the aging autocrats don't want to process negative emotions. We are dealing with reality.
They are in a bad situation. That's why their commander started supporting Prigozhin. For us, he's a terrorist. Whereas for them, he's someone who was with them on the battlefield. He was with the Wagnerites, with those murderers, but he came to the front line, sat in the trenches and so on. That's where he got his support from.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Alright, still ahead, back to back days of record breaking heat. The global average temperature reaches new heights this week as a natural phenomenon combines with human-linked climate change. We'll explain next. Please stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:45:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BRUNHUBER: For the second time this week, the planet hit a record high temperature. Scientists say Tuesday reached nearly 17.2 degrees Celsius, nearly 63 degrees Fahrenheit. Now that may seem mild, but keep in mind that's the average temperature for the whole world.
And then that figure is almost a full degree Celsius above the average between 1979 and 2000. Tuesday's high shatters the previous records at just a day earlier, Monday's global average temperature was at the time an unprecedented 17.01 degrees Celsius. Climate scientists say this is more evidence the planet is warming much faster than expected.
CNN meteorologist Chad Myers explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Behind me here from 1850 to 2022, whether that was blue and below normal or red and above normal, obviously you can see that most of the latest years have been well above normal. And in fact, the past nine of nine are the warmest on record since we've been keeping records, 2021, 2022, and likely now 2023 with the latest revelation here that we broke a new temperature record overall.
Now this is the entire globe: water, land, and the like. This is the number here from July 4th, 17.18, we'll round it up to 17.2. The old record high is here, that was August 13th, 2016.
So what that tells me is that if we're already warmer than this August temperature back in 2016, another El Nino year, by the way, that this number and this chart may still continue to go up even higher before it falls back down. Be likely, will be breaking more and more daily records.
And why is it cooler in February, March, November, December? It's cooler because there's less land in the southern hemisphere's summer down here.
Land heats up a lot quicker than water. And because we don't have a lot of land in the southern hemisphere, that's why it doesn't warm up as quickly. Look at all the land in the northern hemisphere, heating up, baking the ground. That's how we get up to this 17.2, the old record being 16.9.
Although technically, July 3rd beat this too. So 17.2 only beat the record that was one day old. But after that, we're back again here seven years ago before we could even approach that.
So what's causing all this? Well, there are a number of theories. El Nino. La Nina, and also that big volcano that sent so much water vapor into the atmosphere when it exploded under the ocean. Now water vapor is a warming gas that is in our atmosphere right now, probably be a long time before all of that water vapor comes out.
[03:50:03]
But El Nino, what does it do? On a normal year some cool water gets pushed off and we don't have warm water along the West Coast of the Americas. When El Nino comes in, all of a sudden that water -- that warm water spreads out. So there's more warm surface area under the satellite as it rotates around and around and around and measures all of those temperatures.
Obviously it's been warm across the Northern Isles, British Isles, all the way up across the North Sea. Temperatures are one to two degrees above normal here. We had the warmest June on record for the U.K. by almost a degree. Obviously, we've been very hot in China, 41.1, the hottest temperature ever recorded in Beijing on any given day.
So what do we know about climate change? Well, we know little whether it really affects tornadoes and hurricanes. We think it probably does hurricanes a little bit because the water would be warmer. But we certainly know that we're going to have more coastal flooding, more flash floods, and of course, heat waves. And that's where we are now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Torrential downpours and flooding have killed at least 15 people in southwest China. Four others remain missing, that's according to state media. Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered authorities to step up their prevention and response efforts as the country enters its main flood season.
(VIDEO PLAYING)
Have a look at that, the destruction from the days of heavy rain and flooding is widespread. Four countries have issued the highest level red alert warnings. More than 85,000 people have been displaced just in Sichuan province. At least 400 emergency teams have now been deployed to help rescue and relief operations in the area.
All right, coming up next, CNN's exclusive interview with one of tennis' all-time greats, Roger Federer talks about coming players and the prospect of Novak Djokovic tying his Wimbledon record. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRUNHUBER: One of the greatest tennis players of all time retired last year, but Roger Federer is keeping busy working with his foundation and raising his family. CNN's Christina Macarlane spoke exclusively with the 20-time Grand Slam winner about emerging tennis stars and a long-time rival.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN SR. SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Your friend and coach, Ivan Ljubicic, said that Carlos Alcaraz is, quote, "a sick combination of Djokovic, Federer and Nadal." That's what you said.
ROGER FEDERER 20-TIME GRAND SLAM WINNER: You said that. That's a quite a compliment. It's a lot to live up to.
MACFARLANE: Isn't it? Well, I just wondered what you thought of that. FEDERER: I mean, yes, I mean, I think Carlos, at his young age that he
is right now, he's doing incredible things, you know. I always don't like to put too much pressure on the younger players, especially coming through. It's like, okay, he's gonna do this, but he's the type of player who says, well, I'm coming to Wimbledon, I'm coming to Wynn, I'm coming to Paris, I'm coming to Wynn.
So he's created that pressure on his own, which is great, and that's why I can also say, easier, I think he will achieve, you know, incredible great things in the future, which means multiple slams, you know, many years, hopefully, at the world number one for himself, you know, it will be interesting for me to see especially how he's going to play at Wimbledon, and especially the first few matches, because it's the first few matches where the grass is like this carpet.
You know, it's soft, it's slippery, you've got to take that little extra step. You start losing confidence in your movement, next thing you know, you're not playing so well and then things become tricky you know but I think he's got all the tools so I think he's got a lot of different ways to win matches and I think that's what champions are made of.
[03:55:20]
MACFARLANE: And he has a tall order to topple Novak Djokovic this fortnight as well, I mean.
FEDERER: Yes I think he's the big, big -- that's the word I was looking for. Yes.
MACFARLANE: How do you feel about the prospect of him tying your Wimbledon record this fortnight Novak if it happens?
FEDERER: Honestly, I think it's great for him. You know, I had my moments for me having won my eighth or my fifth in a row or whatever it may be. That was my moment, you know. So if somebody equals that, passes that, this is their thing, their moment. And I know nowadays it's especially media driven as well, also the player-driven. I was driven as well by trying to break records to equal records.
But I think as you sit back, you have a totally different perspective, as you don't eat it anymore you start relaxing just very proud of your achievement so I hope he does it to be honest because I think anything more he does adds to tennis history goes above and beyond just talking tennis he goes into global sports like when he went to 23 now in Paris this is incredible stuff great news and it's good for the game so I think he's the heavy favorite and I wouldn't be surprised if he if he wins Wimbledon again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Now, we have some breaking news just in to CNN. The president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, says Wagner Group CEO Yevgeny Prigozhin is now in St. Petersburg, Russia. You remember Prigozhin led his mercenary fighters in a brief rebellion against Russian military leaders two weeks ago. They left their positions in Ukraine and seized the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don.
Wagner fighters marched towards Moscow but gave up their rebellion after just a few days. He reportedly agreed to exile in Belarus. And again, the president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, said at a news conference just moments ago that Prigozhin is now in St. Petersburg, Russia. Of course, we cannot verify that at this time.
All right. I'm Kim Brunhuber. You can follow me on Twitter @kimbrunhuber. "CNN Newsroom" continues with Max Foster and Bianca Nobilo, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
