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CNN International: Ukrainian General: U.S. Cluster Munitions have Arrived; Actors to Join Writers in Strike against Studios; Biden Hails NATO Allies' Unity Over Ukraine; U.S. Defense Secretary: "A lot of great things Accomplished" at NATO Summit in Lithuania; Wife of Huw Edwards Confirms he is Suspended. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired July 13, 2023 - 08:00   ET

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

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BIANCA NOBILO, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to CNN "Newsroom", I'm Bianca Nobilo in London in for Max Foster. Just ahead, President Biden is in Helsinki right now welcoming Russia's neighbor Finland to NATO, the latest on the last leg of his European trip. Also ahead, fresh off the heels of the NATO summit and exclusive sit down with the U.S. Defense Secretary.

CNN's Wolf Blitzer joins us with what Lloyd Austin told him about Ukraine's future. And thousands of Hollywood actors are about to go on strike it will be the industry's second major walkout amid the ongoing writer's strike.

U.S. President Joe Biden is in Finland on the final leg of his three nation European trip welcoming NATO's newest member. Right now, he's in an audit Leader's summit meant to showcase the alliance's expanding power and influence early and as Biden met with his Finnish counterpart and praise the relationship between Washington and Helsinki.

It comes just one day after NATO leaders wrapped up a crucial summit in Lithuania. CNN's Nic Robertson joins me now. Nic, do you think that historians will look back in decades to come and see these changes and this expansion as a very significant moment geopolitically?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: I think that very much depends what happens in Ukraine. If the war goes well, in Ukraine's favor, Russia loses that will obviously push Putin out of power. And it will be seen as a defining moment, not potentially because they played a part, but because they just showed that unity and resolve.

They are two additional nations joined NATO, and that center, a very hard message to Russia and a message to support Ukraine. So I think yes, in the future, it could be but I think the jury's out at the moment, but that seems to be that trajectory. I mean, it's interesting as well, if you just look back five years, where President Biden is today meeting with these Nordic leaders five years ago, right now. President Trump at the time was meeting with President Putin, how much things have changed. That was a U.S. President that bought the message of President Putin over and above the message of own intelligence services. Now we're in a completely new page.

NOBILO: This really explains the trepidation of some European leaders looking ahead to that 2024 election. Nic Robertson, thank you. Ukrainian General tells CNN that American cluster munitions have now arrived in Kyiv. The General says the weapons can radically change the battlefield but Ukraine has yet to deploy them in its counter offensive.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's Air Force says it down 20 Iranian made drones and two cruise missiles overnight. Officials say at least one person was killed in the Ukrainian capital amid falling debris. And CNN's Alex Marquardt joins us now live from Dnipro in Eastern Ukraine.

Alex, what impact are the cluster munitions going to have on the battlefield? And what impact has the decision for the U.S. to provide them had on the morale of Ukrainians fighting on frontline?

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bianca, this General we sat down with certainly thinks that they get to have a significant impact. We spoke with General Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, he's in charge of much of the southern front, which is arguably the most important part of this counter offensive as Ukrainian troops try to pierce that Russian front line and cut off that land bridge.

The General believes that the Russians are going to be very afraid of these cluster munitions and they may in fact give up territory where they can be most effective. General Tarnavskyi also acknowledges that these can be very dangerous of course for civilians and that they won't be fired in heavily populated areas, Bianca.

That was part of the agreements that Ukraine struck with the United States in getting these weapons. Here's a bit more of what the General had to say earlier today. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIGADIER GENERAL OLEKSANDR TARNAVSKYI, UKRAINIAN ARMY: In general, this is a very powerful weapon.

MARQUARDT (on camera): Have you used them already? And how much do you think they're going to change the fight?

TARNAVSKYI: We just got them, we haven't used them yet but they can radically change the battlefield. Because the enemy also understands that with getting this ammunition we will have an advantage.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUARDT: Bianca, Russia had responded angrily to this announcement that the U.S. would be sending cluster munitions. They said that they would have to respond in kind. The Former President Dmitry Medvedev said that it was time to empty Russia's arsenals of these inhumane weapons.

Of course, we have to note that Russia has been using these weapons pretty much for the entire time during this war. That is one of the main arguments that the U.S. made when offering these very controversial cluster munitions to Ukraine, Bianca.

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NOBILO: Alex Marquardt, thank you very much for joining us. Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is urging the U.S. not to grow weary of Ukraine's grinding battle against Russia. He tells CNN that keys victories over Moscow is imperative and emphasize the importance of NATO support for Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS JOHNSON, FORMER BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I think it's very, very important that we established that Ukraine is on the path, now to NATO membership. There can be no possible excuse or reason to keep faffing around and underlying. The last remaining objection, you remember was that it was going to be provocative to Vladimir Putin.

Well, we've seen what happens when you don't have Ukraine in NATO, or you provoke the worst war in Europe for 80 years. You need Ukrainian for certainty for stability, and for the security not just of Ukraine, but Russia as well. So everybody knows where the boundaries are, and everybody knows who is protecting who.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: Johnson also said he supports the decision to send cluster munitions to Ukraine. Now the discovery of a mass grave in Western Sudan has U.N. officials demanding an investigation into the deaths of 87 people. While all the bodies have not yet been identified, the U.N. says that many were from the often targeted ethnic group of the mass elites.

It says that credible information suggests that they were killed by the rapid support forces military group and allied militias, CNN Senior Africa Editor Stephanie Busari, joins us now from Lagos, Nigeria. Stephanie, this meeting with neighbors of Sudan is being held in Egypt to try and explore ways out of this conflict. What potential methods are they exploring to try and broker a peace deal?

STEPHANIE BUSARI, CNN SENIOR EDITOR AT AFRICA: Bianca, it's the usual mediation, trying to bring the generals to the table to festival have a ceasefire. So urgent aid can get into the people of Sudan who are desperately in need of this, but also to lay down their weapons and come to some sort of resolution.

These countries gathered today at the summit in Cairo are the worst affected. Include Chad, Egypt itself, Ethiopia, Libya, Central African Republic, these countries borders Sudan and have been affected by the influx of refugees, for example, Chad is at breaking point, receiving people into a country that can barely look after its own citizens. But it's really just to bring an end to conflict that the U.N. is saying is heading into an all-out civil war situation. So Egypt wants to broker this deal and really just get the generals to lay down the weapons and consider the impact, the wider impact on the general region and the damage that it's doing to the country and to the Sudanese people themselves, Bianca.

NOBILO: Stephanie Busari, thank you. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrapped up talks with top Chinese Diplomat Wang Yi in Jakarta a short time ago, is the latest in a series of high profile attempts to dial down heightened tensions between the world's two largest economies.

Blinken is in Indonesia for the ASEAN Regional Summit. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is also in Jakarta and he met with Wang earlier on. A scorching heat wave is sweeping across Italy with officials warning temperatures could surpass 48 degrees Celsius in the coming days.

A red alert warning has been issued for 27 cities. Earlier this week, the heat wave claimed its first known victim when a man in his 40s collapsed while working on road maintenance. Hollywood is about to shut down in a matter of hours, the Screen Actors Guild is expected to join the Writers Guild in a strike against the major studios and streaming services.

Fran Drescher, President of the actors union said the final offer from producers was insulting and disrespectful. It will be the first actor strike since 1980. And the first time the actors and writers have both been on strike together since the 1960s. CNN's Natasha Chen is in Los Angeles for us.

Natasha, this is an interesting calculus for the studios because the industry is going to be so impacted by this strike if it goes ahead, not just in the immediate but in the longer term and the economy more widely, but they're still not going to budge on the demands from those striking.

NATASHA CHEN, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh Bianca, that's absolutely already happening because the Writers Guild WGA has been on strike for more than 70 days. And so now, as we expect to see that the National Board for SAG-AFTRA will vote to strike at noon, local time in Los Angeles.

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That adds 160,000 members of the Actors Guild joining the more than 11,000 writers already on the picket lines. So productions had already been slowing down because of the writer strike. Now, many more productions come to a halt if you don't have the actors working.

Now, you mentioned Fran Drescher, she and the chief negotiating team from SAG-AFTRA released a statement I want to read part of that to you it says, the studios and streamers have implemented massive unilateral changes in our industry's business model, while at the same time insisting on keeping our contracts frozen in amber. The studios and streamers have underestimated our members resolve, as they are about to fully discover. Now, as far as what the sticking points are, they have talked about, you know, higher wages, the use of new technology, like artificial intelligence that could take the digital likeness of an actor.

The studios in their statement said that they made a groundbreaking and historic offer. And I want to read you part of what they said to the press that they said we are deeply disappointed that SAG-AFTRA has decided to walk away from negotiations. This is the union's choice, not ours.

Rather than continuing to negotiate SAG-AFTRA has put us on a course that will deepen the financial hardship for thousands who depend on the industry for their livelihoods. And that goes back to what we were just saying in the beginning, which is that all of these production jobs are affected, whether you run a camera, whether you produce, whether you are a writer, actor, or if you are catering to these productions, serving these productions in some way.

And that's why the local economies in California, New York and Georgia where a lot of these shoots happen, are already feeling the effects. I talked to plenty of businesses locally, that I have already laid people off prop and set warehouses, makeup artists, dry cleaners, restaurants, delis, janitors, who are out of work because of the writer strike and they have been bracing for this moment to see if the actors would join because this is about to get worse, Bianca.

NOBILO: -- that you'll be keeping an eye on it for us, Natasha. Natasha Chen, for us thank you so much.

CHEN: Thank you.

NOBILO: The U.S. Defense Secretary says he has no doubt that Ukraine will join NATO when the war with Russia ends. After the break, we'll bring you an exclusive CNN interview with Lloyd Austin.

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NOBILO: We accomplished every goal we set out to accomplish that is what U.S. President Joe Biden said just before leaving Lithuania at the end of the two day NATO summit, a gathering that ended with a joint declaration from G7 leaders to negotiate long term commitments with Ukraine to help deter future Russian aggression, but without a formal invitation or a clear timeline for when Ukraine will eventually become a member of the military alliance.

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And alliance that of course has recently expired Funded Finland joined NATO earlier this year and Sweden was recently given the green light after months of negotiations. Biden is now in Helsinki to attend a summit with Nordic leaders to help Finland's entry into NATO a country whose obsession effectively doubles its border with Russia.

Now Speaking to CNN's Wolf Blitzer, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that Russian President Vladimir Putin bought NATO "closer to its doorstep when he decided to invade Ukraine". And CNN's Wolf Blitzer joins me now from Vilnius, Lithuania. Wolf, it's always fantastic to see you. Thank you for joining the program.

There has been a lot of hand wringing from NATO allies about exactly what Ukraine's future is, inside NATO, whether or not becoming a full member will aggravate Russia further or perhaps incentivize Russia to continue with frozen conflicts, but the U.S. Defense Secretary not in any doubt.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: He did not mince any words at all, Bianca, when I spoke to him just a little while ago, we have extensive, very, very significant interview exclusive. And I must say he was very forceful in defending not only Ukraine's coming into NATO at some point after the war.

And those are key words after the war, but making it clear that all the NATO allies agree that Ukraine should eventually become a full scale member of the NATO alliance. I'll play this little clip that from the interview that we did just a little while ago, here in Lithuania. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (on camera): From a military standpoint, Mr. Secretary, how close is Ukraine to meeting NATO standards?

LLOYD AUSTIN, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: Well, there are a number of things that will have to be done, as you know, they a big part of their inventory is legacy equipment. And so in terms of training and equipping, there's work to be done, but we're doing that work as we're helping them as they fight this war. And so things have been done up to this point, there's more that will need to be done to ensure that they have a full complement of capability.

BLITZER (on camera): So you have no doubt that after the war, Ukraine will become a member of NATO.

AUSTIN: I have no doubt that that will happen. And we heard just about every part, all the countries in the room, say as much. And I think that was reassuring to President Zelenskyy. But there are other things that have to happen as well, you know, judicial reform, you know, things that make sure that the democracy is in good shape and so those things will take place over time, sir.

BLITZER (on camera): How much time do you think it will take after the war? Let's assume the war ends, God willing, it will end someday, how much time will it take for NATO to join, for NATO to welcome Ukraine as a full member?

AUSTIN: I won't speculate on that. Well, if I will just say that all the countries that I've witnessed are interested in moving as quickly as possible.

BLITZER (on camera): So you think all 31 members of NATO right now want Ukraine in? AUSTIN: I think it'll be 32 by that time, but --

BLITZER (on camera): This week?

AUSTIN: Right, but I do believe that everyone wants to watch Ukraine to be on board.

BLITZER (on camera): As I said, Sweden is now set to join NATO. How is it from your analysis, and you got good data analysts? How is Putin reacting to this expansion of data?

AUSTIN: Well, I'm sure Putin is very concerned. And this is probably something that he didn't expect to happen, although President Biden warned him of this at the very beginning. But you know he's brought NATO closer to his doorstep. And so, you know, if you were him, you, you certainly be concerned about what you're saying.

But countries like Sweden and Finland bring a lot to the alliance, and were happy to have them on board. And I was just in Sweden a couple of weeks ago, I got a chance to spend time with the Minister of Defense and visit some of their troops, look at their capabilities. They will bring value to the alliance right away. And it's a strong American democracy. Well, that's really the most important point.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And I left the interview, Bianca, very clear, in my mind how supportive the Defense Secretary of the United States was in the results from this NATO summit here in Lithuania. There's no doubt he was very pleased that NATO allies were pleased G7 countries were pleased in what's going on.

They think there's going to be some real dramatic progress in the weeks and months ahead, going forward. So let's hope that happens. But it was an upbeat interview, I must say.

NOBILO: Another bold statement from the United States, which has been backed up with action is the decision to send cluster munitions to Ukraine, which some allies raised concerns about.

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Why is it, that Lloyd Austin doesn't have these worries?

BLITZER: He says he personally when he was an active duty military, in military personnel, he himself was involved in deploying and using cluster bombs in various locations around the world. He knows a lot about these cluster munitions. He says that the Ukrainians will be fully trained to make sure that they're used in areas where they're fighting the Russians.

The Russians are using cluster bombs against the Ukrainians, and not only in various military related areas, but in civilian areas as well. He says the Ukrainians will not be doing that they will be trained a proper way and you're right cluster bombs have been banned by more than 100 countries around the world including several NATO allies. They don't like them because sometimes they don't go off there's just a bomb that's left. But months later or years later, even kids can be playing in an area they see these devices, they go off and they can be badly injured. But he says the Ukrainians will use these cluster munitions the right way to make sure that doesn't happen down the road.

NOBILO: Wolf Blitzer, thank you so much for joining us and for bringing that exclusive and very timely interview to us. Coming up the high profile BBC anchor who was suspended earlier this week has now been identified in a statement by his wife, the latest on what we know.

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NOBILO: Turning to the U.K. now the wife of BBC anchor Huw Edwards has confirmed that Edwards is the BBC presenter who was suspended earlier this week following allegations payments for sexually explicit images. A statement made on behalf of Edwards was released just moments after the London Metropolitan Police said on Wednesday.

That there was no information to indicate that a criminal offense has been committed. These developments are the latest in a week of British media frenzy as CNN's Scott McLean reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the BBC home service. Here is the news.

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The British Broadcasting Corporation has been covering the news for more than a century. But lately, it is the news. On Friday, the Sun newspaper printed anonymous allegations accusing an unnamed but well known male BBC presenter of paying a young person for explicit images.

The BBC reported that they had suspended the presenter and the U.K., known for its sensational tabloid culture was thrown into a frenzy of speculation over his identity. Several well-known BBC faces were quick to distance themselves online, and even on air.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's his decision. But he needs to come forward now.

MCLEAN (voice over): Alongside questions of who came questions about what with the young person at the center of the controversy themselves, even disputing the allegations made by their mother to the son. The BBC referred the complaint which it originally received back in May to the London Metropolitan Police.

TIM DAVIE, BBC DIRECTOR-GENERAL: It is a very difficult and complex situation. And we're trying to calmly and judiciously navigate our way through quite difficult circumstances where as I said, you've got to balance duty of care issues, privacy issues.

MCLEAN (voice over): On Wednesday, the Met declared there was no information to indicate that a criminal offense has been committed the Second police force to draw the same conclusion.

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Shortly after the wife of Huw Edwards one of Britain's most famous and one of the BBC's highest paid journalists made a statement on his behalf confirming the accusations were made about him and asking for privacy, writing, I am doing this primarily out of concern for his mental well-being and to protect our children.

Huw is suffering from serious mental health issues. The events of the last few days have greatly worsened matters. He has suffered another serious episode and is now receiving in-patient hospital care where he'll stay for the foreseeable future. Once well enough to do so, he intends to respond to the stories that have been published.

Edwards has been open about mental health struggles in the past, saying at one point things got so bad he couldn't get out of bed. In the meantime, the BBC now says it will continue its internal investigation. Other less serious allegations have been made against Edwards.

Police say they are aware but haven't received specific information and that there was no police action on them at this time. Questions about the BBCs handling of the complaints will surely not fade from the front pages anytime soon. Now, neither will questions about the veracity of the original reporting in the Sun newspaper. Scott McLean, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBILO: Finally, the incredible James Webb Space Telescope has been wowing astronomers ever since NASA released the first images one year ago. And to mark the special anniversary, the U.S. space agency unveiled this spectacular new image of the cosmos, the dark areas of where new stars are being born, while the lighter areas are the early stages of evolving solar systems.

It's about 390 light years away, making it the closest star forming region to Earth. One NASA researcher said the image brings new clarity in their quest to understand how stars and planets are born. Gorgeous! Thank you for joining me here on "CNN Newsroom". I'm Bianca Nobilo in London and "World Sport" with a wonderful Patrick Snell is up next.

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