Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

NATO Statement: Ukraine's Future In In NATO; S. Korea: N. Korea Fires Long-Range Ballistic Missile; Tens Of Thousands Of Israelis Protest Judicial Overhaul; Companies Accused of Breaking Promise to Leave Russia; Golf Officials Grilled Over Saudi-Backed Liv Merger. Aired 12-12:45a ET

Aired July 12, 2023 - 00:00   ET

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

[00:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM. Don't mention the war. NATO fobs off Ukraine's aspirations for membership until certain conditions are met in the fulsome of time.

The resistance strikes back. As the Israeli government's controversial judicial reform bill moves closer to becoming law, tens of thousands turned out in protest claiming democracy is under attack.

And if you can't beat them, then you may as well join them. Even if they're a repressive regime with an appalling history of human rights abuses, the PGA Tour explains to lawmakers why they sold their soul to the Saudis.

Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with John Vause. Wherever you are around the world, thank you for joining us here for CNN NEWSROOM. We begin this hour with a major disappointment for Ukraine and hopes for joining NATO. The 31 leaders from the military alliance are meeting for a second and final day in Lithuania.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was greeted by cheering crowds on Tuesday. He arrived, hoping the summit would see agreement on a specific timeline for Ukrainian membership, arguing it would strengthen both Ukraine and NATO.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT, UKRAINE (through translation): NATO will give Ukraine security. Ukraine will make NATO stronger.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: But NATO leaders stopped way short, saying Ukraine needs to make progress in certain areas to meet all conditions for full membership. But there was one concession the requirement for a membership action plan was scrapped which should streamline the process sound.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENS STOLTENBERG, SECRETARY GENERAL, NATO: This would change Ukraine's membership path from a two-step process to a one-step process. We also made clear that we will issue an invitation for Ukraine to join NATO when allies agree and conditions are met.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: CNN's Melissa Bell is in the Lithuanian capital. She joins us now live with the latest. Melissa, the Ukrainian president was far from pleased by what he saw as he's behind the scene negotiations over Ukraine's NATO membership but without Ukraine's involvement. He posted a statement on social media which read in part, "It's unprecedented and absurd when a time frame is not set neither for the invitation nor for Ukraine's membership, while at the same time vague wording about conditions is added even for inviting Ukraine. And for Russia, this means motivation to continue its terror."

Clearly, Zelenskyy is unhappy. He is scheduled to meet with the U.S. President who's been Ukraine's biggest supporter on everything but NATO membership. So, what are the expectations from that meeting? Are there deliverables as they say in diplo speak?

MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what you've seen yesterday and you'll continue to see today, John, are individual members making further pledges of military aid, military help hardware to Ukraine. But it is, of course, the disappointment of President Zelenskyy expressed as it was in that scathing tweet as he Came here to Vilnius yesterday that really dominated the beginnings of proceedings.

And yet it had been made clear from the very start, specifically by President Biden, in an interview with CNN that it was first of all impossible that Ukraine should join while hostilities continued, but also it was made clear that whilst the alliance would be looking at the conditions and at easing the path for Ukraine into NATO, any hint that would have been of a timetable would for the NATO members have tied the entry of Ukraine to the end of the war.

And that was simply too complicated. Also, simply just reaching agreement between the 31 states on the question of how far to go was sufficiently complicated. And right up until Jen Stoltenberg chaired that meeting of the 31 heads of state plus Sweden, which is an officially apart but will now be because of Turkey's backing down, it was unclear whether he would have everyone on board even to go so far as scrapping the map that membership action plan for Ukraine, which, as he explained in that press conference means that it will be a one- step rather than a two-step process, which should speed things up. Also emphasizing really how much has been done by individual member states, but also by NATO as an alliance for Ukraine and for helping it -- helping keep it free.

So, there was a fundamental disagreement, but also I think an acceptance that what they have achieved so far having President Zelenskyy here, even as the war continues so close to the Russian border, having the unity that in the end has dominated over many of the divisions that had been underlying and that had threatened instead to be the main news lines from this event is something of a success.

I think in that meeting with President Biden and President Zelenskyy will look to see what further help is pledged and what comes out of it. But clearly just the fact of their meeting and the fact of the family photo later that will hint at Ukraine's future which will be with NATO. That was made clear throughout the day yesterday. That should send a very strong signal to Moscow.

And as Jake Sullivan said yesterday morning, the fears of that disunity having been dispelled, it is Vladimir Putin that is likely to find himself very disappointed from the amount of unity that's been shown here in Vilnius.

[00:06:16]

VAUSE: Melissa Bell live in Vilnius there, we appreciate the update. Thank you.

Former U.S. ambassador to NATO, Kurt Volker, is with us now. He also serves as the U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine negotiations. He's currently a senior advisor with the Atlantic Council. Welcome back to the program. It's good to see you, sir.

KURT VOLKER, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO NATO: Thank you so much for having me.

VAUSE: OK, so in the summit communique which references NATO's membership, NATO leaders state of an ongoing need for progress by Ukraine within the democratic and security sector. It goes on to say the alliance will support Ukraine in making these reforms on its path towards future membership -- future membership. We will be in a position to extend an invitation to Ukraine to join the alliance when allies agree and conditions are. met, which the head of the NATO alliance says is how the process has always worked. Here's Jen Stoltenberg.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STOLTENBERG: If you look at all the membership processes, there have not been timelines for those processes. They are conditions-based. It has always been.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: It may have always been that way, but it seems kind of almost asinine to be a stickler for following the guidelines written by the alliance and not in stone during a year-and-a-half-long war in which NATO is already an active participant. This is not business as usual.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VOLKER: Right. Well, I completely agree. I think that ultimately decisions by NATO are made by a consensus of all the existing member states. They all have to agree. And so, by saying what they did that when all allies agree, they're implying that NATO allies don't agree today. And when they say when conditions are met, they're implying that the conditions are not met today.

And here I would -- I would really beg to differ. I think Ukraine is doing more to defend Europe against authoritarianism and genocide than any other country right now. Ukraine is defending the frontiers, and so they're clearly ready to be a member of NATO. NATO may not be ready to take them because they don't want to adopt a war with Russia, and that's OK.

But the signal that NATO needs to send is to Putin that his war will never succeed, that Ukraine will be a secure country and it will be a member of NATO has -- whatever that takes, we will make it happen. That's the message that we need to send.

VAUSE: With regard to, you know, the argument that NATO -- Ukraine joining NATO would be a declaration of war, I mean, it all comes down to Article 5, right, which would you know, NATO would be at war with Russia. Article 5 is the attack on one is an attack on all. And the alliance states it will assist the party or parties so attacked by taking forthwith individually and in concert with other parties such action as it deems necessary including the use of armed force.

It seems Ukraine could be granted membership tomorrow and nothing much would change like Germany, which on Tuesday announced it was providing assistance it deems necessary. Here's the German Chancellor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OLAF SCHOLZ, CHANCELLOR, GERMANY (through translator): Just now a new package of just under 700 million euros has been put together enabling us to provide further immediate support to Ukraine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: So, there's no automatic trigger of troops going to war of one nation is attacked because Article 11 goes on to say that the treaty is, you know, implemented according to each country's own constitution. So, it does just seem that right now there is a very good argument to say that Ukraine joining doesn't actually change a whole lot in reality.

VOLKER: Well, that is technically true. As a technical and legal argument, you're absolutely right. There's nothing in Article 5 that says every country has to leap to military action in order to defend an ally that's attacked. However, the expectation of NATO is that if a country is attacked, there will be a concerted and collective military response.

And we don't want to create a precedent where a country is attacked and people feel free to say yes, but in this case I don't want to use military action. That would be very damaging for NATO. So, we do want to have the understanding that if a country is attacked, there is a collective military response, and that's why allies are hesitant about bringing in NATO on this day because Ukraine is being attacked on this day.

But that is different, that's a different question about NATO membership today from the commitment to NATO membership in the future where it is absolutely clear this is what NATO is going to do. And here is where I think NATO fell a little bit short today. They were not as unequivocal as they should have been about the future of Ukrainian membership.

[00:11:07]

VAUSE: Because clearly there is an assumption by many NATO members that Ukraine, if not now, then once this war ends, will be given membership into the alliance. Others say, well, that just gives Vladimir Putin, you know, more incentive to extend and drag out this war for as long as possible.

VOLKER: Right. If you say that the condition is the end of the war, that is indeed an incentive to Vladimir Putin to keep the war going, just keep fighting. I think we need to say something that's a little bit more giving NATO the freedom of action than that which would be to say when we perceive that the conditions are right, as soon as practical, it is our intention to do this as soon as we can.

That is a signal to Putin that there's no getting out of this. If we say when the war is over, you're right, that does give Putin an option to just continue the war, and then we would never fulfill that condition.

VAUSE: Mr. Ambassador, thank you, sir, for your insights and your time. Very much appreciated.

VOLKER: Pleasure. Thank you.

North Korea appears to have test fired a long-range ballistic missile, according to Seoul. The missile was launched from an area not far from the capital, Pyongyang. It crashed into the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.

During an emergency meeting on the sidelines of the NATO summit, South Korea's president warned there is a price for North Korea's illegal activities. More details now from CNN's Will Ripley speaking a short time ago to CNN Laura Coates.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So, this ICBM was launched from a pretty familiar place, the Sunan airport in Pyongyang. It's a place I've flown into many times. And basically, in addition to being an airport that they occasionally would use for civilian flights, they also use them for missile launches.

And Kim Jong Un can get there very easily from his palace and he can observe the early morning launch and watch this big rocket go up and they take all the video and then they release it as a big news bulletin, maybe 24 hours later, sometimes sooner.

This missile followed a pretty typical trajectory for these ICBM's from North Korea. You know, they've been talking about firing an ICBM at a regular trajectory which would actually have it kind of crossing over possible continents. I mean large numbers of potential countries could have a North Korean missile flying overhead if they were to launch one of these ICBM's at a normal trajectory, but. They did a lofted trajectory which basically sends it very far up in the space and back down, only traveling total ground distance about 1000 kilometers.

That is less provocative for sure. It follows the pattern that North Korea has used for previous missile launches. And it comes at a time, Laura, that there has been a real uptick in tension on the Korean Peninsula. I mean, it was just this week that the sister of Kim Jong- un, the North Korean leader, put out a statement warning that they would shoot down American military reconnaissance planes that had been operating in the area.

North Korea accused those planes of crossing into their --not their airspace, but sort of like an economic zone that they control, you know, near the -- near the North Korean coast. And the U.S. denies this. There is no evidence offered on the North Korean side. But they are basically, you know, sending out warnings and this ICBM launch is certainly intended to be that for the United States, because that missile well within range of pretty much every major city there, Laura.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Thanks there to Will Ripley. We should also note that North Korean media has yet to report the launch.

Still to come here on CNN, a day of resistance by Israeli protesters determined to prevent the government's conventional judicial reforms becoming law. Reforms, they say, which will undermine democracy.

Also ahead, PGA Tour officials tried to explain to lawmakers why they went ahead with a merger with the Saudi-backed LIV Golf, a deal many lawmakers have called a betrayal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): Today is about sports wealth. It's also about hypocrisy. How vast sums of money can induce individuals and institutions to betray their own values and supporters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:15:00]

VAUSE: Mass demonstrations have again paralyzed parts of Israel with tens of thousands of Israelis on the streets protesting the government's plans for judicial reform, a plan which they say threatens Israeli democracy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: Tuesday was declared a day of resistance with protesters blocking major highways and intersections in Tel Aviv. They marched on Parliament and Supreme Court in Jerusalem. There were noisy protests as well at Ben Gurion Airport just outside Tel Aviv. The protests were mostly non-violent but in Haifa, a photographer for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz was hit by a police and water cannons as they tried to break up protests.

CNN's Hadas Gold shows us the disruption of Ben Gurion Airport and explains what's behind the unhappiness and the discontent.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HADAS GOLD, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Here at Ben Gurion Airport, this is Israel's main airport, just outside of Tel Aviv, thousands of protesters have essentially taken over. We're here at the arrivals level. As you can see, no cars are passing through to be able to pick up passengers. And this is part of the protester's national day of disruption. Protests have been going on all day from the morning through the evening all across the country.

Now, protest have been going on here for months against the government's plan to completely overhaul the judiciary. But the reason that they've been particularly amped up now is because of legislation that was passed Monday nights, the first of three readings on just one aspect of this massive judicial overhaul. This particular legislation has to do with stripping the Supreme Court's ability of declaring government actions unreasonable.

But it almost doesn't matter what the legislative steps were. It's just the fact that the legislation is back on the table because they had actually been frozen for several months after those massive general strikes and protests, and the defense minister coming out against the overhaul back in March. There were some attempts at compromise negotiations with the opposition, but those have clearly gone nowhere.

And the coalition government, led by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, are now pushing forward once again with this legislation. It's going to be done in a slower, more piece meal fashion, but for these protesters, they essentially don't believe anything that comes out of Benjamin Netanyahu or the coalition government's mouth when they say this should be a slower process, when they say that even parts of legislation have been softened, watered down.

These protesters and the opposition want this judicial overhaul essentially completely off the table. They say they will continue coming out to the streets and continue protesting. Now, the government and Benjamin Netanyahu say the judiciary desperately needs some sort of reform. They say they've won the election, they have the votes in Parliament to make this happen.

But the protesters here at the opposition and even some of Israel's biggest allies like the United States have expressed grave concern about what exactly this reform will do. And these protesters -- these protesters, they say they will continue coming out. Some have even said that they plan to pitch tents in downtown Tel Aviv to make their protests even more permanent.

Hadas Gold, CNN Ben Gurion Airport.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[00:20:12]

VAUSE: Yohanan Plesner is the president of the Israel Democracy Institute and a former member of the Knesset, the Parliament there in Israel. Yohanan, thanks so much for being with us.

YOHANAN PLESNER, PRESIDENT, ISRAEL DEMOCRACY INSTITUTE: Hi John. Thanks for having me.

VAUSE: OK. So, the leader of Israel's biggest opposition party, Yair Lapid, believes eventually one well another this bill will either not become law. And if it does, it will not stand. Here he is. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YAIR LAPID, HEAD OF YESH ATID PARTY (through translator): This will not happen. If it passes the first reading, it will fall on the second and third readings. If it passes the second and third readings, it will fall in the High Court. If it doesn't fall in the High Court, this damned government of yours will fall by the voters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Does that argument ignore one very important fact, as much as this bill is opposed and feared by a very big section of Israeli society, it is embraced and supported as well, for the most part, by an equally big section of Israeli society. and that division seems to be the major issue here.

PLESNER: Well, John, public opinion data consistently shows that this plan for constitutional overhaul is unpopular throughout the Israeli public. There isn't even majority support for this plan with among Likud voters. Likud, the party led by Prime Minister Netanyahu. His voters are not -- are not in support of this entire overhaul package.

It's actually not what he ran on the campaign. He ran on other agenda items like cost of living and security. And instead once the government was established from the first week, it's focusing for the past half a year only on this one agenda item, a constitutional overhaul in a democracy that is on the one hand, as you've seen in the pictures, very vibrant, very strong, but does not have sufficient institutional stability because we do not have a constitution.

And this is the main point. If you want to initiate constitutional -- fundamental constitutional changes, you need to do it with -- in a broad consensus. This is what the Prime Minister promised President Herzog. He actually spoke to other leaders, including President Biden, and explain to them that he will initiate it with broad consensus. And the facto, they're pushing through a very radical reform with a very narrow majority. And This is why so many Israelis are so concerned. VAUSE: And just to go through the major criticism of this bill is that

it removes or significantly weakened judicial restraint on the elected government. And so for more, here's Benny Gantz, who's leader of the National Unity Party to explain more. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENNY GANTZ, HEAD, NATIONAL UNITY PARTY (through translator): The snowball that is starting to roll here today will grow, accelerate, and trample the whole country if we don't stop it now. The meaning of the law you are trying to approve here today is the start of a dangerous process, removing limitations from the government and erasing judicial critique.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And yet the removal of that judicial oversight is exactly what the government is arguing is needed to protect democracy. So, you mentioned this. Israel does not have a codified constitution. Would the country be facing this crisis right now if it did have a constitution? Because there's been one promise since 1948. This hasn't been done yet.

PLESNER: Well, we would not have been facing this crisis if we had a constitution because, as you know, in many other countries, including the U.S., in order to initiate constitutional changes, regime changes, you need a broad majority in Parliament. In the case of the U.S., you need the House, you need the Senate, you need the approval of states.

In Israel, because we do not have Constitution and we do not even have a separate procedure for constitutional changes, an irresponsible government can push through very radical constitutional reforms with a narrow majority.

Now, the problem with this change is threefold. Number one, the process. Constitutional changes should be initiated with a broad consensus and not in this manner. Number two, the substance of this specific chapter, which is the designed to remove oversight of the government -- sorry, of the supreme court over administrative decisions of the government basically to turn all ministers into all powerful ministers with no oversight on capricious or arbitrary aspects of their decision making.

And number three, it's part of a grand package. And the government quite clearly states that after this phase will be passed, they plan to bring in the other chapters. So, it's a threefold problem. And This is why you've seen the most massive protest in the country's history. And for about half a year, about a quarter of Israelis testify on themselves that they went to protest, physically went out to the street, a quarter of Israeli citizens, and many of them are people who actually voted for the coalition, voted for Likud, but did not vote for that.

VAUSE: Very clearly, I want you to listen to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu explaining how he sees this new law would work. Listen to this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NETANYAHU (through translator): Under the court supervision, the government will have to act in good faith with proportionality, fairness, and equality. And that is why the new bill is not the end of democracy, but a strengthening of democracy. And it is certainly no reason to disrupt the lives of millions of citizens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Just to be clear, Netanyahu is making an argument that a much- weakened Supreme Court, whose judges could ultimately be chosen by the elected government of the day, will be able to supervise that government, in this case a far right extremist coalition, and that supervision will ensure it will act in good faith with proportionality, fairness, and equality. Is that seriously the argument he's making here?

PLESNER: I mean, this is obviously a false argument. You can use words to say whatever you want, but there's no serious concept of democracy that does not include independent checks and balances, independent institutions that conduct oversight on one another. And the legislation that Mr. Netanyahu is bringing forward is one that is designed ultimately to concentrate all power in the hands of the political majority of the coalition.

It represents a very narrow, if not anorectic concept of democracy that whatever the majority of the people or half of the people plus one want can go through with no checks and balances and no securing of rights and personal liberties. And this is why so many Israelis are protesting against that and preventing it from happening.

VAUSE: Sir, thank you so much for being with us. I really appreciate you getting up early. I really appreciate your insights. Thank you.

PLESNER: Thanks for having me.

VAUSE: Thank you.

Still to come here on CNN, some major companies just can't seem to quit Russia, even though they promised publicly they would. And now they're being outed. We'll tell you who they are in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Welcome back, everyone. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

[00:30:07]

For the second night, Ukrainian air defenses have intercepted a wave of Russian attack drones launched towards the Kyiv region.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(ARTILLERY FIRE) (END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Meantime, on the Eastern frontlines, Ukraine's military claims to be making progress, retaking territory around the city of Bakhmut. Ukrainian officials say more than a kilometer of territory has been liberated as part of their push to bring the city within their fire control.

For their part, Russians sources claim success further East, around the town of Lyman.

Neither side has been able to make any meaningful breakthroughs along the Eastern front lines in recent weeks, with small amounts of territory changing hands.

Well, after Russia invaded Ukraine last year, more than 1,000 major companies pledged to leave Russia, taking a moral stance against the war. But nearly a year and a half into this conflict, a Yale professor claims some big names have not made good on their promise.

CNN's Tom Foreman has this CNN exclusive report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When Russia marched into Ukraine, hundreds of companies from other nations announced plans to march out of Moscow, hitting Vladimir Putin's government in the pocketbook and hobbling his war effort.

But one year, four and a half months after the invasion, some others are still doing brisk business in Russia, according to Yale Professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld.

JEFFREY SONNENFELD, YALE PROFESSOR: These are companies that said they were leading and then reneged, saying, Oh, it's too much trouble. It's wartime profiteering, and it is actually aiding, sadly, helping to fuel Putin's war machine.

FOREMAN (voice-over): His research finds, although many companies followed through on their pledges, taking millions of dollars out of Russia, some big players did not. Among them, Heineken.

Sonnenfeld's researchers say the Dutch company has seven facilities in Russia, 1,800 employees, and is still launching new brands there. Heineken calls the war a terrible human tragedy and says the company remains committed to leaving but so far, has not secured Russian regulatory approval to sell its assets.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

FOREMAN (voice-over): Also on the list, Mondelez, the company that makes Oreos, among other things. With 3,000 employees and products still moving in Russian markets, the company is being boycotted by some Europeans, even as it said in a statement last month it is scaling back in Russia. And, there are more. Unilever has called the war "brutal and

senseless." Philip Morris has said the "situation is complex." Nestle last year pledged to sell only "essential" items. But Yale researchers say nonessential items are still being sold, and all of those companies continue doing business with the Russians.

Many suggest divesting themselves from Russia is more costly and complicated than outsiders might imagine. And they don't want to hurt their Russian employees. Sonnenfeld's response?

SONNENFELD: The whole point of the sanctions and the business exits is to put pressure on the average Russian so that the humanitarian thing is to motivate them to act.

FOREMAN: Many of these companies online say they really do stand with the Ukrainians. They've donated money to Ukrainian causes. But critics like Sonnenfeld and others say, you got a lot of good press by saying you would also stand against the Russians. And now, it's time to pay up.

Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Russia has used its Security Council veto to end the U.N.'s humanitarian aid operation in Northern Syria, a region which was hit by a deadly earthquake a few months ago. D

Now, Damascus has praised this decision, saying the resolution would violate serious sovereignty under the pretext of delivering cross- border aid to those in need.

The U.S. representative to the U.N., though, was outraged.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LINDA THOMAS-GREENFIELD, U.S. REPRESENTATIVE TO THE U.N.: This is really a sad moment. It's a sad moment for the Syrian people. And it's a sad moment for this council, save for one country. What we have just witnessed, what the world has just witnessed, was an act of utter cruelty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: More than a decade into Syria's civil war, the U.N. says more than 4 million people in rebel-held areas in the Northwest are in desperate need of cross-border aid. Eighty percent of them are women and children.

Well, more than half a century after taking part in the Manson family murders, a convicted killer is now walking free. Details on the release of Leslie Van Houten in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:36:56] VAUSE: After more than half a century in prison, one of the Manson Family killers is now a free woman.

Leslie Van Houten was released from a California prison Tuesday. She'll spend three years on parole for the 1969 killings of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca.

Van Houten's attorney told CNN she's just relaxing during her first hours out of prison at a transitional living facility where she'll remain for a year.

The now 73-year-old Van Houten was 19 when, along with followers of Charles Manson, she murdered the couple. She has long voiced regret for the killings while admitting she stabbed Mrs. LaBianca 16 times.

PGA tour officials say they face a real existential threat from the Saudi-backed Liv Golf, and if they didn't join them, they would be wiped out.

Democrat lawmakers, though, slammed the proposed merger as a betrayal of American values. Details now from CNN's Andy Scholes.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Defensive PGA tour officials telling lawmakers today they had no choice but to join forces with the Saudi-backed Liv Golf tour.

JIMMY DUNNE, PGA TOUR BOARD MEMBER: We got to the table because of the existence of Liv. They own one hundred percent of Liv. They have billions of dollars in live. They have no economic constraint. They have no time constraint.

They sued us. We did not decide to sue them. They took our players. Their entire existence is based on taking more of our players. That's just the reality.

SCHOLES (voice-over): For more than a year, PGA Tour officials and players slammed the Liv Tour, but in the end, PGA Tour executive Ron Price says U.S. professional golf as we knew it would not survive without a merger.

RON PRICE, PGA TOUR CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER: We faced a real threat that Liv Golf, which is 100 percent financed by the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, would become the leader of professional golf.

SCHOLES (voice-over): But that was not enough for some angry lawmakers.

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): Today's hearing is about much more than the game of golf. It's about how a brutal, repressive regime can buy influence, indeed, even take over a cherished American institution to cleanse its public image.

SCHOLES (voice-over): Fifteen of the 19 hijackers in the 9/11 attack were Saudi Arabian citizens, leaving survivors' families to sue the regime over it.

And more recently, the regime was condemned worldwide for brutally murdering Jamal Khashoggi with a bone saw. A U.S. intelligence report claimed Khashoggi was killed by agents of Saudi Arabia in 2018.

A Saudi investment fund is backed by more than $600 billion. And price says the Saudis' investment in the new merger will be North of $1 billion, adding that the exact details are still being worked out.

And in front of families of 9/11 victims, Senator Ron Johnson defending the PGA Tour's decisions, saying it shouldn't be up to them to be sport's moral compass.

SEN. RON JOHNSON (R-WI): The PGA tour accurately viewed the Liv as an existential threat. It would be grossly unfair to expect the PGA Tour to bear the full burden of holding Saudi Arabia accountable. After all, anyone who drives a car or uses oil-based products has helped fills the coffers of the Saudi public investment fund.

[00:40:15]

SCHOLES (voice-over): And the framework agreement between the Saudis and the PGA Tour must still be approved by PGA Tour's 10-member policy board, which includes star Rory McIlroy and four other PGA Tour players.

But when and if it does go through, it will be tough to heal the wounds of the last year.

RORY MCILROY, FOUR-TIME MAJOR WINNER: I still hate Liv. Like, I hate Live. Like, I -- I hope it goes away. And I fully expect that it does.

JON RAHM, TWO-TIME MAJOR WINNER: I want to have faith that this is the best thing for all of us, but it's clear that that's not the consensus.

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU, 2020 U.S. OPEN WINNER: As it's come to fruition now, I think that this is the best thing that could ever happen for the game of golf. And I am extremely proud to be a part of that. But I truly believe in the end, the game of golf wins.

SCHOLES: As part of today's hearing, the subcommittee releasing documents revealing the secret negotiations between the two sides.

And one of the proposals from the Saudi investment fund had Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy owning Liv teams and playing ten Liv events a year.

Tiger Woods is likely not doing that.

Another proposal suggested (ph) that the governor of the Saudi Fund, Yasir bin Rumayyan obtain membership at the ultra-exclusive Augusta National and the Royal and Ancient Golf Club. And while they do have the framework for this deal, the exact terms have yet to be decided.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: An update now on the court battle over Aretha Franklin's estate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC: ARETHA FRANKLIN, "RESPECT")

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: A jury decided a note written in 2014, signed by Franklin, found under a sofa cushion after her death, will be considered her last will and testament.

Franklin, who died in 2018, did not leave a formal will, but two handwritten notes were found in her home.

Her sons were battling over how her estate would be divided. Would it be the earlier note from 2010, which divided among both, including in were music royalties. But they went with the latter note.

Well, former British prime minister, Boris Johnson, and wife Carrie have welcomed their third child together. She posted this photograph on Instagram Tuesday and wrote, "Welcome to the world Frank Alfred Odysseus Johnson." Odysseus comes from Greek mythology. The character leaves his wife and child to go on an adventure.

Boris Johnson has often used classical references in his public speeches.

I'm John Vause, back at the top of the hour with more CNN NEWSROOM. But first, WORLD SPORT starts after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:45:32]

(WORLD SPORT)