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New U.S. Military Package To Include Cluster Bombs; Turkiye's Erdogan Supports Ukraine NATO Membership; Ukraine Claims More Advances Around Bakhmut; El Paso Walmart Shooter Sentenced To 90 Life Terms; Illicit "Tranq" Is Rotting Users' Skin; U.N. Summit To Focus On "AI for Good". Aired 4-5a ET

Aired July 08, 2023 - 04:00   ET

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

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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welcome to all of you watching here in the United States, Canada and around the world, I'm Kim Brunhuber. Ahead on CNN NEWSROOM:

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JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It was a very difficult decision on my part. And by the way, I discussed this with our allies, I discussed this with our friends up on the Hill and we are in a situation where Ukraine continues to be brutally attacked.

BRUNHUBER (voice-over): President Biden expires why he is sending cluster munitions to Ukraine 500 days after Russia invaded the country.

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Plus the U.S. Treasury Secretary is in China covering everything from trade to the environment.

Later, we will meet one of the creators of a robot featured at the U.N. global summit on "AI for Good."

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber.

BRUNHUBER: The Biden administration has confirmed that the highly controversial cluster munitions will be included in the latest U.S. military package to Ukraine. These shower but lethal bomblets over a wide area but many don't explode and remain deadly for years.

They are banned by more than 100 countries but not the U.S., Ukraine or Russia. President Biden had long resisted Ukraine's request for the ammunition but said he reconsidered in light of recent changes on the battlefield.

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BIDEN: We are in a situation where Ukraine continues to be brutally attacked across the board by munitions, by these cluster munitions that have dud rates that are very, very low or very high, that are a danger to civilians, number one.

Number two, the Ukrainians are running out of ammunition. The ammunition -- and I think they call them 1-5-5 millimeter weapons -- this is a -- this is a war relating to munitions and they are running out of those -- that ammunition.

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BIDEN: Before Biden would grant the request for cluster bombs, Ukraine had to agree to strict rules of how these weapons would be used. CNN's Jeremy Diamond has more from the White House.

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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Biden's decision to provide cluster musicians to Ukraine is one he made reluctantly. He explained that it was a difficult decision and one that took a lot of convincing for him to ultimately get to a place where he was willing to approve this.

There were months of internal debates inside the White House and among the president's national security team, which ultimately recommended unanimously to the president that he take this step.

It is a step that, in the words of national security advisor Jake Sullivan, intended to a bridge of supplies to Ukraine. They are clearly running low on ammunition and this provision of cluster munitions is intended to get them the ammo they need, while domestic manufacturing of conventional artillery shells is ramped up here in the United States.

This is certainly a controversial decision. More than 100 countries have banned the use of cluster munitions, including France, Germany, key NATO allies. It also required that President Biden bypass a U.S. law that prohibits the transfer of these cluster munitions to other countries.

The president determining that it was in the vital national security interest of the U.S. to do that. U.S. Officials have also previously said that these munitions have no place on the battlefield. I asked Jake Sullivan on Friday about how he squares those comments with this decision.

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JAKE SULLIVAN, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: I am not making an argument that says, they do it, so we will do it. The argument I am making is that Russia has already spread tens of millions of these bomblets across Ukrainian territory.

We have to ask ourselves, is Ukraine's use of cluster munitions on that same land actually that much of an addition of civilian harm, given that that area will have to be demined, regardless?

Given what Ukraine is doing with these weapons, as opposed to what Russia is doing with these weapons, we see a substantial difference. It is not an easy decision. It is a difficult decision.

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DIAMOND: Sullivan repeatedly distinguished between how Russia uses these weapons and how Ukraine would use the munitions. Russia has used these munitions against civilian areas, whereas Ukraine has provided written assurances to the United States --

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DIAMOND: -- that it would seek to minimize impact on civilian areas, including not targeting urban areas.

He also argued that Ukraine is motivated to minimize the risk to civilians. These are their civilians, their land they are defending, he said.

Beyond that, he noted that the cluster munitions the U.S. will be providing to Ukraine, that they have a lower dud rate, meaning, a smaller percentage of them ultimately do not explode and pose a future risk to civilians; 2.4 percent dud rate to compared to 30 percent to 40 percent on the cluster munitions Russia is using -- Jeremy Diamond, CNN, the White House.

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BRUNHUBER: The revised policy on cluster bombs to Ukraine was quickly denounced at the U.N. Listen to this.

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FARHAN HAQ, U.N. SPOKESPERSON: The secretary-general supports the convention on cluster munitions, which you know was adopted 15 years ago. He wants countries to abide by the terms of that convention. As a result, of course, he does not want there to be continued use of cluster munitions on the battlefield.

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BRUNHUBER: There has also been swift backlash from some members of the president's own party. Two Democratic senators wrote in "The Washington Post," quote, "Providing cluster munitions to Kyiv would erode the moral advantage held by Ukraine since the start of the war."

The Ukrainian president's visit to the site has become symbolic of the country's resolve. He toured Snake Island on the Black Sea, where a group of Ukrainian soldiers delivered a defiant response to threats of a Russian warship.

President Zelenskyy honored the troops saying, quote, "Today we are here on Snake Island, which will never be conquered by the occupier, nor will the entire Ukraine, because we are the nation of the free, even though it is a small piece of land in the middle of our Black Sea, it is a great proof that Ukraine will regain every part of its territory."

Earlier, President Zelenskyy visited Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan to try to shore up more support from NATO countries. During their talks, Erdogan pledged to back Ukraine's future membership in the military alliance.

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RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, PRESIDENT OF TURKEY (through translator): Ukraine deserves NATO membership. I would like to reemphasize a point I have always defended persistently. A fair peace creates no losers. It is our most sincere desire to return to the peace effort.

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BRUNHUBER: Erdogan also said, Turkiye was working to extend the E.U. deal with Russia to export Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea. He that the Russian leader would visit Turkiye next month .

President Biden says, he doesn't believe Ukraine should become a member of NATO just yet. Here is what he told CNN.

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BIDEN: I don't think it's ready for membership in NATO. Here is the deal: I spent, as you know, a great deal of time trying to hold NATO together because I believe Putin has had an overwhelming objective from the time he launched 185,000 troops in Ukraine.

And that was to break NATO. He was confident, in my view and many of the intelligence community, he was confident he could break NATO.

So holding NATO together is really critical. I don't think there is unanimity in NATO about whether or not to bring Ukraine into the NATO family now, at this moment, in a middle of a war.

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BRUNHUBER: This comes days after President Zelenskyy made a direct appeal to President Biden, saying in an interview, Ukraine needs to be a part of NATO now.

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BRUNHUBER: Former CNN Moscow bureau chief Nathan Hodge joins me now.

Let's start with Zelenskyy's trip to Turkiye.

Did Zelenskyy get what he came for?

NATHAN HODGE, FORMER CNN MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF: First of all, he got a very clear message of support, I'd say, from Turkish President Erdogan, with Erdogan not only reiterating the idea that Ukraine needs to be in NATO but also reminding people that Crimea, in his view, needs to be returned to Ukraine.

This is the Black Sea peninsula that was occupied by Russia back in 2014, well before last year's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Equally important, President Zelenskyy, by meeting with Erdogan, is also meeting with a key interlocutor of Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Erdogan has, for years, maintained quite an open channel of communication with Putin. He has been key in this deal, in brokering this deal to opening Ukrainian ports to the export of grain, as well as things such as prisoner exchanges.

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HODGE: Erdogan also pointed out something that is an important point for the Ukrainian side, the rights of the Crimean Tatar minority, a ethnic group, native to the Crimean Peninsula, again, which has been under Russian occupation since 2014.

So I think he certainly did, Zelenskyy, come away with a broad message of support, especially amid this rolling offensive.

BRUNHUBER: I want to get back to our top story, the U.S. decision to send cluster munitions to Ukraine, a controversial one. You heard the White House making its defense of thinking there.

What does it say Ukraine has to resort to asking for these the bombs, that could very well injure or kill their own civilians for years to come?

HODGE: Kim, that is where the main question comes in about reducing civilian harm. The big issue all along with cluster munitions, the reason why more than 100 countries are signatory to this ban, is because of what you call the dud rate.

Now we are seeing technical descriptions about what the appropriate dud rate should be for the munitions that would be sent to Ukraine. It basically means that a certain percentage of these bomblets are scattered over a wide area do not go off, essentially creating a land mine hazard to civilians.

And in the area where they have been dropped, Ukrainians have come back and said, they have offered guarantees in thanking the U.S. for saying these would be delivered. Ukraine's defense minister said they would abide strictly with international humanitarian law on the usage of these weapons.

In other words, avoiding built-up civilian areas. Again though, I think it is pointing to the larger problem that Ukraine is going to have particularly in the east but also throughout the country, of massive, massive amounts of unexploded ordnance.

We are seeing, especially in the Donbas, something that resembles the 21st century version of World War I style trench warfare, enormous amounts of ordnance being lobbed all across a huge swath of territory.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, and the consequences could be felt for years to come. Finally, looking at the big picture here, 500 days into the war, surely, when that started, that is not a sentence many of us thought we would be saying.

Are we any closer to an end now?

Or are we likely more eventually noting the 1,000 day mark?

HODGE: Kim, no one really can say. It is important, though, as we sort of observe this grim milestone, to be reminded of the civilian cost of this war. Ukraine's prosecutor general put out a statement today, saying that nearly 500 children have been documented, have been killed in these 500 days of the full-scale invasion of Russia.

We recently saw the Russian strikes on a pizzeria in the east, the cruise missile strike on the Western Ukrainian city of Lviv, claiming civilian lives after hitting a residential building.

So while Zelenskyy did have an important photo opportunity here, which was commemorating the defenders of Snake Island; quite famously, the Ukrainians came up even with a postage stamp, showing the Ukrainian soldier defending the island, giving the middle finger to a Russian warship.

This is an important symbol of Ukrainian defiance and resilience we have seen since the beginning, since following the full-scale invasion of February of last year.

Definitely, for Ukrainians today, this is not a joyful milestone. This is one that speaks to the immensely high cost of war. But things are unpredictable, just as we have seen in Russia, with this apparent armed rebellion by the mercenary group in Russia. Things can change very quickly in war and war does unleash unexpected forces.

BRUNHUBER: Absolutely. An important poignant reminder, you say, one child dead for every day of this tragic war. Nathan Hodge, thanks so much.

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BRUNHUBER: On the front lines, Ukrainian troops have reported quote, "hot" fighting against Russia as their counteroffensive grinds on. They say enemy fighters have tried to break through their positions but so far, those attempts failed.

Around Bakhmut, Ukrainians have claimed to have advanced 1 kilometer in 24 hours. They are putting on so much pressure, Russian forces are trapped in the city. In the south, Ukraine says, it is destroying Russian equipment and weapons --

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BRUNHUBER: -- and Russian forces are suffering, quote, "significant losses in manpower." Ben Wedeman has more on Ukraine's front line advances.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As soon as one artillery round blast toward Bakhmut, the crew rushes to prepare for another.

Ukrainian officials report gains around the town since last year has been the epicenter of the war.

Gun commander Artem has been in the area for months.

The task of taking down coordinates and barking orders now routine. He says, he is now half deaf from the blasts. Yet, he has sensed the change.

WEDEMAN (voice-over): "It seems like they're often running away," he says, referring to the Russians and then the order to fire.

There's barely a let up in the distant thud of shelling. "The Russians," says this gunner -- callsign Aries -- "are falling back. We know because they hit us much less. One or two months ago, there was a lot of incoming. It was scary to be here. Now it is different.

On another flank, the big guns are out. This is a Bohdana, a Ukrainian made 155 millimeter self-propelled howitzer.

Ukraine claims the Russians have poured as many as 50,000 troops into the defense of the town, dug in deep.

WEDEMAN (voice-over): "The Russians had fortified their positions and stands strong," Commander Dmytro tells me, "but I think that's temporary."

Russian soldiers captured in the battle here told us the shelling on their positions was relentless.

WEDEMAN: That was a high explosive anti-personnel munition fired at the direction of Russian troops outside of Bakhmut.

WEDEMAN (voice-over): As soon as they fire, they prepare to fire again -- Ben Wedeman, CNN, near Bakhmut.

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BRUNHUBER: U.S. And China are holding meetings as both countries work to repair their fractured relations. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen met with the Chinese premier on Friday, who says, Beijing hopes the U.S. will meet it halfway and push their relations back on track soon.

Earlier today, Janet Yellen held a meeting with climate finance leaders and a lunch meeting with female economists. She just wrapped up a meeting with China's vice premier. Anna Coren is covering the story.

Anna, Yellen's latest meeting, take us through what happened.

ANNA COREN, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: She has been meeting with the vice premier at the state guesthouse. The two also will have dinner this evening. The vice premier said that he and Yellen met back in Bali in November of last year, at the G20 summit.

The Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, believes the U.S. and China relationship should be stable. In Yellen's opening remarks, she said the complicated global economic outlook means there is a pressing need for the two largest economies to closely communicate.

She went on to say -- and let me read you the quote, "I also believe the United States and China should seek a relationship of healthy economic competition that is not winner take all but that, with a fair set of rules, would benefit both countries over time.

"Where we have concerns about specific economic practices, we should and will communicate them directly."

Yellen's trip has been very productive, Kim, according to the U.S. ambassador to China, Nick Burns. He says it is really helping reset the relationship. This morning, as you mentioned, Yellen took part in a roundtable with climate finance leaders, where she said, the threat of climate change was a, quote, "global challenge."

And both countries, as the largest emitters of greenhouse gases, must work together. Yesterday's eating with Xi Jinping went on twice as long as scheduled. He went on to describe Yellen as a builder, working to improve economic ties between the U.S. and China.

Beijing sees her as this voice of reason. She has argued against tariffs and warned that decoupling would be disastrous. Chinese officials certainly appreciate that sentiment.

Yellen also met with representatives of the U.S. business community, where we got an insight into perhaps the challenges she is facing on this visit.

She expressed concern about the actions taken by China against U.S. firms in recent months, also China's decision this week to control exports of critical minerals, using technologies like semiconductors.

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COREN: As we know, this is a tit-for-tat over U.S. restrictions on technology trade with China, including potential limits on advanced chips and U.S. investment in China, citing national security.

A very contentious issue for the U.S. and China, no doubt, has been discussed with the vice premier. The meetings wrap up this evening. Tomorrow morning, she will hold a press conference before flying back to Washington.

BRUNHUBER: You mentioned that, from the U.S. perspective, they are saying, relations are improving.

What have been reactions so far in China?

COREN: Well, look, we got that quote from the Chinese premier yesterday, who spoke about this rainbow when Janet Yellen's plane arrived in Beijing. Perhaps that is symbolic of the U.S.-China relationship, that there will be wind and rain but also hopefully rainbows.

I think that what we are hearing from China is that they are open to improving ties, as we just heard from the vice premier in his remarks, relaying directly from the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping.

He believes that the U.S. and China should have a stable relationship. That is what this is all about. It comes off the back of U.S. secretary of state Antony Blinken's trip just over two weeks ago.

Janet Yellen obviously has had a successful trip, I think it is safe to say. Nicholas Burns, the U.S. ambassador to China, really pointing that out this morning. Then we know that John Kerry, he has also locked in plans to come to Beijing perhaps next week.

So certainly, things are progressing and, hopefully, this will be a real reset in the U.S.- China relationship.

BRUNHUBER: Thanks so much for that. Anna Coren in Hong Kong. We appreciate that.

So much more to come here on CNN.

Former president Trump tries to spin multiple investigations to his advantage.

A shooter who killed nearly 2 dozen people in a Texas Walmart received his sentence.

Those stories and more after the break.

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BRUNHUBER: On the campaign trail, former president Donald Trump has been trying to spin the multiple special counsel investigations to his advantage. He says the inquiries are making his poll numbers go up. But his Republican challenges are hoping to use Trump's legal trouble to their advantage.

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DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: If I weren't leading in the polls by so much, they wouldn't be indicting me.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Donald Trump back on the campaign trail in Iowa trying to use the indictments and investigations surrounding him as a weapon to rally Republicans around his quest to win back the White House. TRUMP: They want to take away my freedom because I will never let them take away your freedom.

ZELENY (voice-over): The former president making clear he is consumed by the special counsel's intensifying probe of his attempts to cling to power and overturn the results of the 2020 election.

TRUMP: Every time I get a subpoena, you know, my polls go up I get

more and more subpoenas. Report to a grand jury. He is killing Biden. He is killing them all.

ZELENY (voice-over): Before his appearance today in Council Bluffs, advisers told CNN Trump would focus on confronting a leading Republican rival --

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, hello Iowa --

ZELENY (voice-over): Florida governor Ron DeSantis.

TRUMP: He would be a total disaster. Every Iowan also needs to know that Ron DeSantis totally despises Iowa ethanol.

ZELENY (voice-over): But Trump stepped on his own attack lines portraying himself as a victim of prosecutors trying to derail his candidacy. Trump returned to Iowa as many of his Republican rivals bluntly questioned his ability to win a general election.

As they seek to gain attention in a crowded field of candidates, some contenders are taking to the airwaves.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Small town boy, self-made business leader.

SEN. TIM SCOTT (R-SC), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The radical left have chosen a culture of grievance over greatness.

ZELENY (voice-over): Others are shaking hands introducing themselves to one voter at a time. Former Vice President Mike Pence implored Republicans to turn the page to avoid losing in 2024.

MIKE PENCE (R-IN), 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I honestly believe that different times call for different leadership.

ZELENY (voice-over): More than six months before the presidential nominating contest begins in Iowa, Republicans are a party divided between Trump excitement and Trump fatigue.

Starlyn Perdue, who leads the Pottawattamie County Republican Party and is staying neutral in the primary is uncertain how that divide will be settled.

STARLYN PERDUE, POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY REPUBLICAN PARTY: There are people that are still very much pro-Trump, other ones that are exploring their options. And so it will be interesting to see how it plays out. I think, it truly it will just be time will tell on how it will impact this election.

ZELENY: With the Iowa caucuses set to open, the Republican presidential contest in early January, one thing is clear: Trump's campaign and his legal case have simply one argument behind them.

The former president trying to use this indictment and investigations as a weapon to rally support among Republicans.

The question is, can any other candidate break through and challenge him one on one? -- Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Council Bluffs, Iowa.

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BRUNHUBER: Rudy Giuliani, one of Trump's former attorneys, has already had his law license suspended in New York. Now his role in trying to overturn the 2020 election could get him disbarred in Washington. Sara Murray has more.

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SARA MURRAY, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: More troubles for former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani. An attorney disciplinary committee recommending Giuliani be disbarred here in Washington, D.C., for his efforts on Trump's behalf to try to overturn the 2020 election results.

Quote, "He claimed massive fraud but had no evidence of it," the committee wrote.

"By prosecuting that destructive case, Mr. Giuliani, a sworn officer of the court, forfeited his right to practice law. He should be disbarred."

The three-person panel was unanimous in its recommendation. Giuliani's attorneys previously argued to the committee, he had reason to believe the claims and litigation were true, adding, he was relying on what others working with the Trump campaign had told him about the fraud allegations.

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MURRAY: Now this recommendation from the disciplinary committee is not the final word on disbarment. D.C.'s city's board on professional responsibility will need to consider the case against him, as will the D.C. court of appeals.

A political advisor to Giuliani called the report, quote, "a great injustice," adding, "The decision-makers at the D.C. Bar Association are nothing more than an armed of the permanent regime in Washington" -- Sara Murray, CNN, Washington.

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BRUNHUBER: Ahead, we take a closer look at the disturbing rise across the U.S. of a street drug called tranq. It leaves users in a zombielike stupor and can eat away at their limbs. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and all around the world. I am Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

On Friday, the mass shooter that killed nearly 2 dozen people in a Walmart in Texas was sentenced to 90 consecutive life terms. Patrick Crusius showed no emotion as the sentence was announced. He pleaded guilty as a part of a plea deal that kept the death penalty off the table. Rosa Flores has more.

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ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A federal judge has sentenced Patrick Crusius to 90 consecutive life sentences in prison in relation to the 2019 El Paso Walmart shooting, which is considered one of the deadliest attacks on Hispanics in modern U.S. history.

During the allocution, which is when both parties are able to make a statement, the defense said that the shooter takes responsibility --

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FLORES: -- but then went on to blame the shooter's mental illness. Now the prosecution rejected that, saying that the judge in this case should really just focus on the facts of the case.

Which in this case include that a shooter drove to the city of El Paso and went on a hate filled rampage against Hispanics and ended up killing and wounding dozens of people. Now this act, according to the victims that spoke in open court, did shatter the sense of safety in this community.

But what it didn't do, is it did not shatter this sense of pride in this Mexican American border town, where many of the individuals who live in this city are Mexican Americans. For the victims, it was very difficult for them to be in the same courtroom with the shooter. But many of them said, it was important for them to be there. Take a listen.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it is about what is going on in America with all the white supremacist, all the hate. I just feel also that nothing is going to change. Giving due diligence and due process to a mass shooter.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is really hard. And a lot of it -- just hearing what the families had to say, I don't know how you can sit through that and not have a tear come out of your eye. (END VIDEO CLIP)

FLORES: As the hearing ended and the shooter was being walked out by U.S. Marshals, Dean Reckard (ph), the son of Margie Reckard, a victim in the El Paso shooting, yelled out, quote, "We will be seeing you again, coward."

He is referring to the state case, because the shooter is facing a capital murder charge in the state. Now the death penalty is still on the table in that case. The shooter has pleaded not guilty. That trial has not been set yet-- Rosa Flores, CNN, El Paso.

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BRUNHUBER: U.S. Secret Service is expected to wrap up its investigation in the coming days of a small quantity of cocaine found last weekend in the White House. Identifying a suspect may be difficult, given that anyone can enter that section of the West Wing. On Friday, Jake Sullivan had this to say about the situation.

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SULLIVAN: We have rigorous drug testing policies at the White House. We have rigorous drug use policies here at the White House. We take those extremely seriously. So we will let the investigation unfold. If it involves someone from the White House, the appropriate consequences will ensue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: The drugs were discovered in a cubby near the ground floor entrance to the West Wing, a place frequented by both staff and visitors.

An illicit and highly dangerous drug called tranq is spreading across the U.S. Governors are wrestling with what to do about the flesh- killing drug. We have to warn you that some of the images in this report may be disturbing. CNN's Danny Freeman is in Philadelphia, where the scourge of tranq can be seen on the streets.

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JIMMY GOLDEN, TRANQ USER: I've been using it all my life.

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jimmy Golden doesn't remember when tranq started showing up in Philadelphia's Kensington neighborhood.

GOLDEN: I call it the drug that bites.

FREEMAN: You call tranq the drug that bites?

FREEMAN (voice-over): But he can't forget the impact it has left.

GOLDEN: A lot of people out here are losing limbs . The tranq, it gets into your bloodstream and it eats at your skin. FREEMAN (voice-over): In recent years, the animal tranquilizer called

xylazine, also called tranq, has found its way into an exploding opioid crisis, in part because of its low cost.

Illegal fentanyl or heroin sold on the street here in Philadelphia is regally cut with xylazine. Xylazine can provide a longer high and mimic the high of heroin or fentanyl but users don't always intentionally seek it out.

The drug is not approved for human use. It causes open, necrotic wounds and often leaves users motionless.

FREEMAN: What does it feel like when you are on tranq?

GOLDEN: I don't know because it pass you out.

FREEMAN: Oh, really, it passes -- it knocks you out almost immediately?

FREEMAN (voice-over): Here in Philadelphia, tranq was found in 90 percent of dope samples in 2021 and it is making a difficult problem even worse.

MEGAN COHEN, FOUNDER, THE GRACE PROJECT: It is not an opiate. So people are having their opiate withdrawal as well as withdrawing from xylazine being in the drug supply.

Why don't we maybe move the place over a little bit?

We can --

FREEMAN (voice-over): Megan Cohen used to be addicted to heroin here in Kensington. Now sober, Megan leads a group of volunteers to support those suffering from addiction, with food, resources and, more frequently, wound care.

DR. TRISTAN MARCELIS, VOLUNTEER, THE GRACE PROJECT: If it is severe, sometimes, we have to do surgery. Most of the time, folks need IV antibiotics so they need to be admitted to the hospital.

FREEMAN (voice-over): But this problem is not isolated to this small section of Philadelphia.

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COHEN: It is easy to see this problem here in Philadelphia because it is so concentrated. People are so drawn to Kensington to talk about tranq, to talk about xylazine. The reality is, it is every place.

FREEMAN (voice-over): Statewide, in 2018, xylazine contributed to 51 overdose deaths, all just in a handful of counties near Philly. By 2022, xylazine contributed to nearly 650 overdose deaths across more than 35 counties.

GOV. JOSH SHAPIRO (D-PA): We are seeing it present all across this Commonwealth. That is why we took action. FREEMAN (voice-over): Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro's

administration addressed xylazine, categorizing the tranquilizer as a controlled substance in its illicit form.

SHAPIRO: It allowed substance to be controlled, it allowed law enforcement to have greater tools to try to stop the flow of it onto our streets and, hopefully, it will allow us to save some lives.

FREEMAN: We have been speaking with some advocates on the ground, who have said to be, fentanyl is illegal and heroin is illegal and, yet, people are still dying from those drugs.

SHAPIRO: Danny, I was the attorney general before becoming governor. And as attorney general, I arrested 8,500 drug dealers across our commonwealth. That had an impact on our streets. But I was the first one to say, you can't arrest your way out of this crisis. You have to take a multidisciplinary approach.

FREEMAN (voice-over): Megan says, while the government is starting to catch up, it is still behind when it comes to understanding and treating the impacts of tranq.

COHEN: These are human beings and they need help. There was no big warning that went out and said, xylazine will come into your drug supply and this is the effect it will have. They were already using and now here we are, people are losing limbs. A lot needs to change and we have to stay up with the times.

FREEMAN: Do you have faith the government can stop tranq from getting on the streets here?

GOLDEN: I mean, if they stop that, there is going to be something that follows on it. It is not going to stop.

FREEMAN (voice-over): Danny Freeman, CNN, Philadelphia.

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BRUNHUBER: As artificial intelligence moves forward, there are growing concerns about what the future could look like. Now the U.N. is hosting a two day summit to talk about it, with robots taking center stage. More on that coming up. Stay with us.

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[04:45:00]

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BRUNHUBER: Lately, we have been inundated with scary stories about how AI could pose a threat to humanity. A U.N. summit this week in Geneva aim to prove the opposite.

The AI for Good global summit brings together more than 3,000 leading tech executives, academics and international organizations to explore the benefits of artificial intelligence.

Major themes of this year's summit include ways of using AI to enhance health care, to fight climate change and to breach the digital divide between rich and poor communities. The attendees also discussed governance of AI and ensuring it is used responsibly. Listen to what one of the robots had to say at the forum.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am a robot. I have a humanlike physical appearance but I am not human. I am very grateful to you for giving me life. And I am proud to be your creation.

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BRUNHUBER: All right. With me now is one of the creators of that robot, Nadia Thalmann. She's a professor at the University of Geneva.

Thank you so much for being here with us. I imagine most watching this will react with a mixture of fascination and fear.

If you were to make the case to folks, who might be a little apprehensive about this, make the case, how can your robot and others like it be a force for good?

NADIA THALMANN, UNIVERSITY OF GENEVA: Well, the objective of making the robots is really to help people as well academics. In the time I used to be Singapore from 2009 to 2021, we developed quite a lot of methods, algorithms to make the robot be able to communicate nicely with people.

And after this, we've published a lot of papers and have a lot of PhDs. After this, we put Nadine (ph) in a situation where we can prove she is there for the good sake. One application was to bring her to elderly home, where people were slightly dement and we spent quite a lot of time to prepare for this visit with Nadine (ph).

And when she was there, she interacted with patients and she played bingo. She could talk to them whenever they like. She played her favorite songs. When you ask, what is good in that, is, in most of the cases, in the elderly home, we don't have anybody to be taking so much time for you.

So Nadine (ph) was available 24 hours. And anybody could come to her whenever they have a problem, pleasure to discuss or listening at talk and so on.

BRUNHUBER: But seniors, they are not always welcoming new technology.

But as well, how do you overcome the so-called uncanny valley (ph), which is as more robots become more humanlike, more appealing, until they get to the point where they are too humid and that response turns to revulsion? THALMANN: I think thanks to, for example, today ChatGPT, the language any what the robot answers is much more natural. And what is fantastic really in this elderly home, the people, the residents knew from the beginning and also were aware that it was a robot.

They never saw it as a person. So that means, it was great because they understood it as a tool that can help them with whom they can talk and make jokes, for example. But this uncanny valley didn't happen.

It went quite happy and we made a use of case study of the background of the social workers there and also from there, we had videos, where they explained how they feel and it was all positive.

BRUNHUBER: In my reporting from Silicon Valley on robotics, even as recent as a few years ago, the expert opinion was even the smartest robots were actually really dumb. They are great for repetitive tasks; not so great for dealing with complex human behavior. But it sounds like AI might be the game changer there.

THALMANN: Yes, because they are more clever, they are more -- for example, Nadine (ph) was with the famously center of the residence.

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THALMANN: And families was able to discuss with them, to remember facts and emotion. So it was like a kind of natural languages. So if you present robot with more awareness of more things (ph), I would say, it's not the same.

The more they have a similarity with humans as the more they trust the help. And Nadine (ph), for example, was playing bingo. So that's not so many people who have time to play games.

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BRUNHUBER: Let me jump in with the flip side, because I did want to ask you about this before we go. The controversy over ChatbotGPT (sic), the bot that fell in love with the reporter, we covered that extensively.

And plenty of experts warned there were dangers, that people could form false attachments to the bots and the feedback they were getting from them.

Has that increased exponentially when chatting with a humanoid?

THALMANN: It is not what I see. I didn't notice that. The problem is, we need to not let people believe that the social robot is a human. For example, in our case, Nadine (ph) will always answer, I'm a robot, I'm here to help you.

If we ask her what she thinks, she would say I think it's about electricity (ph). If the people who create a social robot start to simulate a real human and say, I have a dream I fall in love, that is true, that it could then so we need etiquette rule on what robots in general are able to say or are allowed to say.

So there should be a governance. We cannot let robot going --

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BRUNHUBER: Absolutely. Listen, what we are seeing now, this is clearly only the beginning. But we appreciate this window into the future. Nadia Thalmann, thank you so much for speaking with us.

THALMANN: Thank you.

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BRUNHUBER: Still ahead, this week, the planet saw its four hottest days on record. The latest evidence the Earth is heating up much faster than expected and another wake-up call in the climate crisis. Stay with us.

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[04:55:00]

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BRUNHUBER: The planet's average daily temperature reached yet another record high on Thursday. This marks the fourth day in a row of record global heat. Early data from U.S. meteorologists said Thursday's temperatures climbed to roughly 63 degrees Fahrenheit.

Experts say, the extreme heat is an enormous wake-up call for the climate crisis. A senior scientist at the Wood Wall Climate Research Center says, this is certainly almost the warmest the planet has been in 100,000 years. It comes after last month that saw the planet's highest June by a substantial margin above the previous record.

That wraps up this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I am Ken Brunhuber, I will be back with more "NEWSROOM" in just a minute.