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CNN International: Lukashenko Says Prigozhin is in St. Petersburg; Bowers: Spoke with FBI in Election 2020 Probe; Prosecutors: January 6 Suspect Shared Trump's Obama Post; U.S. Treasury Secretary Yellen En Route to China; Authorities Probing How Cocaine Got Into White House; Police: Two Ghost Guns Found with Philadelphia Suspect; U.S. Navy: Iran Tried to Seize Two Oil Tankers. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired July 06, 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 a warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and all around the world. I'm Biance Nobilo.

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm hesitant to talk about any subpoenas, et cetera. But I have been interviewed by the FBI.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jack Smith and his team are looking at Rusty Bowers as a witness.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This lab test has shown it is positive for cocaine.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's the working theory right now that is it was likely a visitor. And we are you confident that it was not a White House staffer?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is an investigation. They're going to get to the bottom of this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These boxes obviously contain signatures of real Ohio.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's overwhelming. They're trying to seek an election in August when we go on vacation and they're getting ready for school, when you're not used to voting. And they're doing it on purpose.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

FOSTER: Beginning with breaking news. The president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko says the Wagner Group CEO Yevgeny Prigozhin is now in St. Petersburg, Russia. 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.

NOBILO: Wagner fighters marched toward Moscow but gave up their rebellion after just a few days. He reportedly agreed to exile in Belarus -- Prigozhin that is. Again the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko said at a news conference just moments ago -- that one of our correspondents Matthew Chance was at -- that Prigozhin is now in St. Petersburg, Russia. Matthew also noted, this contradicted earlier statements. And we're still trying to get a better sense here of where he's been all this time. And of course, we're going to continue to follow the story throughout the hour.

FOSTER: So many questions.

NOBILO: So many.

FOSTER: Why? We'll bring it to you later.

Now new revelations into the Justice Department's 2020 election interference investigation. The former Arizona House speaker says he spoke with the FBI for four hours a month ago. Republican Rusty Bowers tells CNN's Kaitlan Collins investigators seem to have a lot of evidence in a very broad probe.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RUSTY BOWERS, (R) FORMER ARIZONA HOUSE SPEAKER: I offered them nothing new. They seemed to have a good grasp on all of the testimony that I've given, and all of the interviews that I had given, to "The Arizona Republic," and people from "The Washington Post." They were very aware of the January 6th committee testimony that I gave.

There may have been something that I said that was of interest. But I don't remember anything standing out that had not been mentioned before.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Did you turn over any documents to them?

BOWERS: That, I don't remember. I know I gave a lot of documents to my attorney. And I still have a lot of documents, that I don't know if they're important or not. That, I don't remember. I know I gave a lot of documents to my

attorney. And I still have a lot of documents. But I don't know if they are important or not.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBILO: Bowers is the highest-ranking Republican known to have spoken with investigators about direct conversations with Trump and his campaign. The probe is focused on ethics in several states to put forward fake electors who supported Trump instead of Biden.

FOSTER: The Justice Department is also revealing new details about the 2022 search of Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate. Newly released documents show investigators had surveillance video of people moving boxes around the Florida property. The documents say a person identified as "Witness 5" moved boxes around the estate throughout 2022 including 11 brown card board boxes and one with no lid that appeared to contain papers.

NOBILO: Witness 5 appears to be a Trump aide Walt Nauta who has been indicted along with the former president. Now prosecutors have alleged that Trump asked him to move those boxes containing secret and classified material just before the FBI searched Mar-a-Lago last August. Nauta is expected to plead not guilty in a Miami federal court today. His arraignment has been postponed twice already because he didn't have an attorney.

Federal prosecutors believe a post Donald Trump made on his Truth Social site, may have provided guidance for an armed man arrested in Barack Obama's neighborhood. 37-year-old Taylor Taranto was already wanted on charges related to the January 6th Capitol riot. Then prosecutors say Trump posted what he claimed was a Obama's Washington address.

Now Taranto reposted it and then prosecutors say he posted this on Telegram.

[04:05:00]

We got these losers surrounded! See you in hell, Podesta's and Obama's.

It appears Podesta is referring to Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign manager. After that post Taranto showed up in Obama's neighborhood live streaming on YouTube. CNN's Katelyn Polantz picks up this strange and very complicated story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORT: This man Taylor Taranto, he was arrested in the neighborhood in Washington D.C. that Barack and Michelle Obama now live in because he had gone there live streaming himself. Talking about wanting to get in to that area, in through tunnels or entrances, of some sort, last week. He has been detained ever since.

But the story of Taylor Taranto and how he arrived encounters the Secret Service in this residential neighborhood in Washington, D.C. is one that really shows the long arc of January 6th. So this is a man now accused of being there on January 6th at the Capitol riot scuffling with police officers. He carried a cane at that time, and then since then had been posting quite a bit on social media about being an insurrectionist. He said at one point.

And then he was live streaming himself talking about January 6th at an elementary school. He had gotten into a gymnasium at an elementary school in Maryland just outside of Washington D.C. Because he said on his live stream that he wanted to startle a Democratic lawmaker who was opposed to Trump supporters and opposed to January 6th. After that, he was live streaming himself basically say the he had a

van or a car of some sort that was self-detonating and he believed could be positioned or sent by him to outside the Federal Building, the National Institute of Standards and Technology. That's when federal authorities picked up on him and then the next day is when they find him at the Obama -- outside of the Obama residence with his van, which had two guns in it and a lot of ammo, a machete as well and a mattress. Because Taylor Taranto appeared to have been living for two months since in the Washington, D.C. area.

Now his lawyers have been arguing that he shouldn't be held as he waits trial or as you waits additional charges related to January 6th or these other actions. Because he has a family in Washington state and mental health services that can help him there. But he currently is being detained and the judge is looking at him on Thursday and going to decide whether he should still remain behind bars as the case against him progresses.

Katelyn Polantz, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Another member of the U.S. president's inner circle could arrive in China anytime now.

NOBILO: Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen's visit is aimed at deepening communication between the world's two large economies and easing tension after several fraught months. She is expected to meet with China's new economic leaders but not the Chinese president himself.

CNN's Anna Coren has been following this live from Hong Kong. What sort of information are you going to get about these meetings, Anna?

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know that the U.S. Treasury Secretary, Max, is going to land in Beijing shortly. She will continue attempts to improve U.S./China relations which as we know, have been at an all-time low. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the U.S. Secretary of State, was in Beijing just two weeks ago.

Janet Yellen is expected to receive a warm welcome because of her economic pragmatism. Beijing sees her as this voice of reason within the Biden administration which 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. Now her itinerary has yet to be made public. But we understand she will be meeting with her Chinese counterpart and other high-ranking officials, but she is not expected to be meeting with the Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

Now this is not going to be a love fest. You know, the Treasury Secretary has spoken out against China's human rights record and believes American supply chains need to diversify away from China. But Yellen will be working to convince Beijing that the U.S. is not trying to harm or contain the Chinese economy by blocking access to sensitive technology such as semiconductors in the name of national security. This is something that Beijing certainly does not buy.

And just this week, China retaliated by announcing that it would redistrict the export of certainly minerals critical to the production of semiconductor chips, solar cells and other tech products.

And Max, we just heard from China's commerce ministry criticizing further U.S. restrictions on chip exports to China saying that it would be detrimental to Chinese companies and will hinder global technology exchange and cooperation.

[04:10:00]

But look, at the end of the day, these two economies they are deeply entwined. $700 billion in trade between China and the United States occurs every year. And with the economic uncertainty across the globe, it only adds to the importance of the relationship. China as we know, struggling to reboot its economy post COVID while the U.S. is trying to contain inflation and avoid a recession. Economically the U.S. and China, both need each other.

FOSTER: Anna joining us from Hong Kong.

NOBILO: 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: Law enforcement officials telling me that they are doing everything possible to try and identify the person who brought this baggy 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 sic 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, 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 talks about the fact that this 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 don't know if they'll actually be able to identify who brought this baggy in. That's in part because of the number of people who would go through the 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)

FOSTER: Earlier CNN spoke about this unusual situation with a former Secret Service agent. She explained why normal screening to get into the White House probably would not have detected a small amount of cocaine.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EVY POUMPOURAS, FORMER U.S. SECRET SERVICE AGENT: The first thing that came to my mind was thinking, who'd bring this into the White House as far as an individual. So, especially if it's a tour guest or staff member. I want to say this, if you are bringing somebody for a tour and you're the one authorizing that person, you should know who you are bringing into that. It's a sacred place. That's the one thing.

Now as far as security protocol, I hear what you're saying. You're saying somebody went through the perimeter checkpoints, right, the security. These are magnetometers. They're looking for weapons and looking for any biochemical agents. This dime sized bag which is really small, that can pass through. Somebody can hide that somewhere. You're not strip-searching people. So I understand that everybody is kind of like, how did this get through. We're not talking about a large substance. We're talking about something super small. So unless you want to start stripping people down, staff included at that checkpoint -- which I'm sure Secret Service is happy to do -- that's something that will have to change in the protocol.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

The FOSTER: Meanwhile, we're learning more about the man accused of shooting and killing five people in Philadelphia on Monday. Sources say 40-year-old Kimbrady Carriker told police in sum and substance that he carried out the shooting to clean up the neighborhood. Philadelphia's district attorney says the suspect obviously planned this and all indications point towards him acting alone.

NOBILO: A warning to all of you that this following video is disturbing and may be hard for you to watch. This new footage shows what appears to be the suspect walking through the streets of Philadelphia on Monday. You can see smoke discharged from the object that the person is holding. Carriker is currently held in custody without bail.

Philadelphia police say both of the guns found with the shooting suspect are what authorities call ghost guns, untraceable firearms often assembled by the owner from parts usually bought online.

FOSTER: Since they're homemade, they don't have serial numbers and are more difficult to track and regulate. Police say they're lucky the suspect still had his weapons.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEP. COMMISSIONER FRANK VANORE, PHILADELPHIA POLICE DEPARTMENT: The lab does an analysis on them and they could tell. Yes, they don't have any markings. They're not traceable. So if he would have dropped that weapon and got away, we had no way to trace that weapon back to him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: The city of Philadelphia issuing two companies they say are among the largest supplies of ghost guns in the area. A press release accuses the companies of undermining states and federal laws to sell gun kits without background checks.

FOSTER: More now on our breaking news this hour.

[04:15:00]

The president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, says Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin is now in St. Petersburg, Russia.

NOBILO: CNN's Nada Bashir joins us now. Nada, obviously this is just developing. So we have limits in what we know, but the information we do have, what does it suggest? How surprising is it?

NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: There have been a lot of questions around Yevgeny Prigozhin's whereabouts after the Wagner Group's attempted rebellion. We saw the troops marching with little resistance, as we said, towards Moscow just under two weeks ago. And there have been questions of course around where many of the troops have now ended up and were crucially, where Yevgeny Prigozhin has eventually ended up.

Now of course, we do know that a deal was struck at the time with Belarus that Yevgeny Prigozhin would then move to Belarus. But we are now learning during just in the last few moments during a press conference, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko speaking to CNN's Matthew Chance confirming in his words, he believes Yevgeny Prigozhin is currently in St. Petersburg, in Russia.

Now of course at the time of that failed rebellion, we do know that President Putin offered those who took part in the attempted rebellion three key options. They could either sign contracts with the Russian Defense Ministry, other law enforcement groups. They could return home. But crucially that third option was to go to Belarus. So Belarus has played a crucial part in striking that deal.

But the fact that Prigozhin is not in Belarus is certainly interesting and of course there are questions around the repercussions that Yevgeny Prigozhin may face if he is in fact in St. Petersburg, in Russia, as Alexander Lukashenko has now claimed.

FOSTER: Prigozhin always one step ahead, isn't he, it seems of everyone. I mean, when you look at the situation, does it suggest to you he never went into exile in Belarus or that he did and he came out in response to something? BASHIR: Potentially, these are the questions that many will be asking

now, whether in fact he actually did leave to Belarus. Whether some kind of other deal perhaps was struck with the Kremlin, with President Putin. We do know that over the last few months, Yevgeny Prigozhin and President Putin has certainly been at odds and not necessarily behind closed doors.

Prigozhin has been a very vocal critic of the generals on the ground. He's been a very vocal critic of President Putin's approach when it comes to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Often calling publicly in videos for further weapons to be supplied to the Wagner mercenaries working within Ukrainian territory. And criticizing the lack of support that has been offered by the Russian government and the Russian Defense Ministry.

So there are certainly a lot of questions around the relationship now between President Putin and Yevgeny Prigozhin. Where that stands now given the fact that he is indeed in Russia.

NOBILO: Nada thank you so much. There is a certain amount of incredulity when you consider how much any former dissent is cracked down upon on in Russia now. The idea that a leader of a rebellion could undermine Putin's power that much could just be in Russia.

FOSTER: And not arrested, not charged.

NOBILO: Yes, it really begs --

FOSTER: And Matthew's in the press conference, he will be on air when he comes out.

NOBILO: Coming up, rescuers are digging through the rubble trying to save lives after a deadly missile strike far from the frontlines in Ukraine.

FOSTER: Plus, U.S. drones on a mission against ISIS in Syria, suddenly intercepted and harassed by Russian fighter jets. We'll have the latest on that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Curious!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: Curious indeed. Later, actor Daniel Radcliffe addresses rumors about whether he'll have any part of a TV adaptation of the Harry Potter books.

[04:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NOBILO: Ukrainian officials say at least four people were killed and 34 injured in a Russian missile strike on an apartment building in Lviv. The attack happened overnight in a city which is far from the eastern frontlines. Rescuers are working right now to free people trapped in that rubble. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy is promising a tangible response.

FOSTER: He also accuses Russia of possibly planning an attack on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Mr. Zelenskyy says Russian forces are placing objects resembling explosives on roofs around the facility. He tells CNN's Erin Burnett why he believes that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT I have learned from intelligence and 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 mined some local mining. Yes, local --

ERIN BURNETT CNN ANCHOR: And Zaporizhzhia.

ZELENSKYY: Yes, at Zaporizhia in the station. They are technically are ready.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Ukrainian President Zelenskyy also got a little personal speaking about -- to Erin about what he does to simply get through this war. Here is part of that conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BURNETT: Well, we were talking about before how nice it is for you to be able to be --

ZELENSKYY: Yes, to see the nature.

BURNETT: To see nature and the sun. I know they -- they said there's always drones, they are surveilling you. You must appreciate being outside.

ZELENSKYY: Yes. I'm happy to be. Yes, I really don't have time. And I sit in the cabinet. And, of course, it's very good sometimes to find feeling from people. It's very important. When you see people outside, and they are -- they are clapping or they want just to -- to shake your hand and it's very important. In the moment it would mean that you do something important for people and --

BURNETT: Yes, gives you energy?

ZELENSKYY: Yes, energy is so important for me. Just -- not only sun. Just to see people, it's important for me.

BURNETT: Yes.

ZELENSKYY: Yes, not to lose this connection.

BURNETT: As a human being, so many people look up to you. They rely on you. No one can imagine how hard that is. Do you -- do you do anything for your -- to yourself?

[04:25:00]

Are you able to take a minute to read or to listen to music or something to sort of give yourself that moment?

ZELENSKYY: I have such moments, important to be in silence, to be alone. Alone -- how can I be alone? Alone, I can be with music, it's true, or with a book.

And early, early in the morning, when there are no sounds -- sounds in --

BURNETT: No air raid sirens.

ZELENSKYY: No people, no, nobody. I mean, the people, our staff, I mean, nobody is in my cabinet, nobody. I can just read, think, think, and the music helps, really.

BURNETT: What music do you like?

ZELENSKYY: Oh, I like AC/DC, and the Ukrainian music. Of course, I like Ukrainian music a lot of because Ukrainian -- that's native language, that's why you understand not only music, you understand the words, and et cetera. AC/DC, I don't understand all the words because of my soul --

BURNETT: You like the music.

ZELENSKYY: Yes, I like the energy of AC/DC. I like Eric Clapton. A lot of -- a lot of -- Guns N' Roses -- maybe it's too old music for --

BURNETT: I understand. We're the same, we're the same.

(LAUGHTER)

ZELENSKYY: I love it. No, no, it's important to have some -- sometimes at 6:00, 7:00 in the morning, some trainings --

BURNETT: Workout.

ZELENSKYY: Yes, workouts. Or to do something with music, with such music, which gives you energy for all the day.

BURNETT: To get through it, right.

ZELENSKYY: Yeah.

BURNETT: I mean, you -- you're a human being.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: AC/DC, who knew.

NOBILO: That really did surprise me.

FOSTER: That's the big exclusive.

NOBILO: Yes, it's wonderful to see those human moments and him cracking a smile.

FOSTER: Yes, he's got to have a moment out of it hasn't he, but I presume there's just no time. Volodymyr Zelenskyy there speaking to our CNN Erin Burnett.

NOBILO: The U.S. Navy says it prevented Iranian warships from seizing two commercial oil tankers on Wednesday. Both of these incidents occurred in the Gulf of Oman in international waters.

FOSTER: 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 1:00 a.m. 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 it 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.

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 seize 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 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 Russian 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, 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. MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Black Sea forcing it down.

Oren Liebermann, CNN in the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: A year after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down federal abortion rights.

[04:30:00]