Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Hong Kong's Landmark National Security Trial For 47 Democrats; Israel Says War On Gaza Likely To Last Another Seven Months; Jurors In Trump Hush Money Trial End First Day Of Deliberations After Asking To Rehear Testimony; Iceland Volcano Dramatically Erupts Again As Streams Of Lava Reach Town's Defensive Walls. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired May 30, 2024 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:00:25]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, wherever you are around the world, thanks for joining us. I'm John Vause live in Atlanta. Ahead here on CNN Newsroom.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you seriously undermine the performance of the government that suddenly sedition.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Beijing tightens its grip over Hong Kong with more than a dozen high profile democracy activists convicted under the National Security Law for peaceful dissent.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: (INAUDIBLE) could now be in these charges. These charges are rigged. The whole thing is rigged.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Donald Trump's faith now rest of the New York jury and their verdict in his hush money payment to a porn star trial in New York, and the medical breakthrough with artificial intelligence. A stroke survivor are now able to communicate in both his naked Spanish as well as English.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN Newsroom with John Vause.
VAUSE: Hong Kong's draconian National Security Law has been used with full force the city's High Court, with its government appointed judges handing down guilty verdicts on 14th of 16 pro-democracy activists.
This was the largest prosecution under the National Security Law. Dozens of activists and politicians were arrested in 2021 for organizing an unofficial primary election ahead are the city's legislative vote.
CNN's Kristie Lu Stout live again for us this hour in Hong Kong. This is so telling where Hong Kong seems to be heading. But what are the details today? What are we looking at here?
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the verdicts are indeed out today here in Hong Kong and the city's largest national security trial today it involves 47 pro-democracy figures. Now earlier, 31 of them had already pleaded guilty of subversion. We know that the remainder 16 had pleaded not guilty of those 14 today were found to be guilty, including Gwyneth Ho, the former journalist, and on top of her the former elected opposition lawmaker notice (INAUDIBLE), we know that sentencing will come out next.
Now security has been tight this day. We've watched hundreds of people show up to witness the proceedings, including diplomats from the United States as well as the European Union. And there was that moment in the courtroom when the verdict was announced. There were family members of the defendants who cried out openly in court. This has been a long and drawn out legal ordeal that dates back to more than three years, back it was January 2021 when 47 of these pro-democracy figures were arrested in a dawn raid.
They were charged with conspiracy to commit subversion, which is a very serious crime under the National Security Law here in Hong Kong. It's punishable by up to life in prison. They are accused of orchestrating and participating in an unofficial primary vote that authorities here had deemed illegal, not the National Security Law. It was imposed by Beijing on Hong Kong in 2020.
And it was in response to the 2019 massive anti-government protests. And critics say that this law has effectively dismantled the opposition. It has crushed dissent. Supporters say it is restored long order with Chinese authorities pointing out it's a matter of national security. And they warned against any foreign interference.
But when you talk to observers, they point out that this trial is significant because it is a test of Hong Kong's judicial independence, watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN BURNS, EMERITUS AND HONORARY PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG: It's absolutely clear that the National Security Law reduced the independence and the autonomy of the judiciary, no juries much more difficult to get bail. Those are all things that previously were determined by the by the judges.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: You know, the state has won every single national security law case until now, two former district councilors have become the first two national security defendants to be acquitted after trial. Back to you, John. VAUSE: Kristie, thank you. Kristie Lu Stout live for us there in Hong Kong.
Well, despite repeated claims to the contrary by Israel's Prime Minister, the border city of Rafah in southern Gaza is unlikely to be the final battleground in Israel's war with Hamas. Israel's national security adviser has warned the conflict could continue for another seven months, taking it up until the end of the year.
Images geo located by CNN show Israeli tanks in a neighborhood in Rafah indicating a possible push to the west, or part of what an IDF spokesperson says is a targeted and limited operation.
[01:05:07]
And there are now before and after satellite images which show part of that so called precise operation. This is destruction from Sunday's airstrikes on a displacement camp in Rafah which left at least 45 people dead, many of them women and children. Israel says two Hamas leaders were targeted. And despite the high death toll, there will be no change in U.S. policy in supplying military assistance to Israel.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How many more charred corpses because he has to see before the President considers a change in policy?
JOHN KIRBY, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL SPOKESPERSON: We don't want to see a single more innocent life taken and I kind of take a little offense at the question. No civilian casualties is the right number of civilian casualties.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: But those civilian casualties continue so does the combination over the Israeli strike in Rafah. U.N. Special Coordinator for Middle East peace described it as appalling and says the devastation and refer will only intensify.
At the United Nations, the deputy U.S. Ambassador urged Israel to do more to protect civilians and remove all barriers to aid entering Gaza. Israeli diplomat says Hamas could end the war today by releasing the hostages and laying down his arms.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT WOOD, DEPUTY U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: We also have emphasized that Israel must connect its military operations to a political strategy that can ensure the lasting defeat of Hamas, the release of all the hostages and a better future for the Palestinian people. The continued pattern of significant civilian harm resulting from incidents like Sunday's airstrikes undermines Israel's strategic goals in Gaza.
MAJED BAMYA, PALESTINIAN UNITED NATIONS ENVOY: Israel can kill any Palestinian and call them either terrorists or human shields to justify their murder. It uses both term extremely loosely so they can cover anyone and everyone. Israel has called any form of opposition to its occupation and suppression of the Palestinian people terrorism.
JONATHAN MILLER, DEPUTY ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: Israel has been very clear from the outset. This war can end today without one more shot being fired. All that is required is for Hamas to release the hostages and put down their arms. These are our conditions and we're not asking for anything more. But the reality is that Hamas refuses these terms.
(END VDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The war could also ended Israel ceased all operations but it has not and has uncovered tunnels along the border between Egypt and Gaza, used by Hamas they say to smuggle in weapons. CNN Jeremy Diamond has details and a warning. His report contains graphic images.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On a hilltop in western Rafah, Israeli tanks overlooked Gaza's border with Egypt. The Israeli military's latest prize. Three weeks into its Rafah offensive, Israel says it now controls the strategic Philadelphi Corridor, spending the length of that seven and a half mile long border, which the Israeli military says Hamas has used to smuggle weapons into Gaza. Egypt denies these tunnels exists.
REAR ADM. DANIEL HAGARI, ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES SPOKESPERSON (through translator) The Philadelphi Corridor served as Hamas' oxygen pipeline through which Hamas regularly smuggled weapons into the Gaza Strip.
So far, our forces have located about 20 tunnels in the Philadelphi Corridor area. We investigate these tunnels and neutralize them.
DIAMOND (voice-over): This is the human toll of that military offensive. United Nations says more than 940,000 people have been forced to flee the city in recent weeks. For many this is not the first time. There is no safety, Al-Mawasi is hit, the U.N. warehouses are hit, the U.N. schools are hit. There is no safety, Tayser Alga (ph). You might die at any moment, anywhere.
Multiple Israeli strikes on camps for displaced Palestinians in recent days have made that point with deadly clarity, none more so than this strike in northwestern Rafah on Sunday night, which killed at least 45 people and injured hundreds more, according to Gaza as Ministry of Health.
The Israeli military has said it did not expect civilians to die and has launched an investigation into the strike, which killed two senior Hamas militants but at least three people can be seen on the road outside those structures moments before the strike.
The Israeli military targeted these two container like structures just steps away from structures housing displace civilians, which were also destroyed in the blasts, or the subsequent fire. Four weapons experts tell CNN the weapons used in the strike were U.S. made bombs. They say these remnants found at the site of the attack or pieces of a GBU-39 small diameter bomb carrying a relatively small payload intended to minimize civilian casualties, but dropping them in densely populated areas can still have devastating consequences.
JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: For going to Rafah, I'm not supplying the weapons that have been used historically we deal with Rafah.
[01:10:00]
DIAMOND (voice-over): But for now the U.S. doesn't plan to stop providing those weapons with the White House insisting Israel hasn't crossed that red line.
KIRBY: We don't want to see a major ground operation. We haven't seen that at this point.
DIAMOND (voice-over): Major or not, the Israeli military is now deep in Rafah or Palestinian rescuers are struggling to safely reach the wounded as the dangers are mounting for so many. Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: After all the allegations the testimony the lurid sexual details, the yelling by lawyers in court now comes to the void between testimony and verdict. And for Donald Trump and anxious wait, as with his feet now wrestling with the seven men and five women jury in his hush money payment to a porn star trial in New York.
On Wednesday, after receiving instructions from the judge, the jurors began deliberations breaking after more than four and a half hours. They're set to resume later Thursday. Details are from CNN's Kara Scannell reporting in from New York.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The historic first criminal trial of a former president and presumptive Republican nominee is now in the hands of a jury.
TRUMP: (INAUDIBLE) racing interest charges but we'll see. We'll see how we do.
SCANNELL: 12 Manhattan residents, seven men and five women deliberating if Donald Trump is guilty of 34 felony charges of falsifying business records in an attempt to influence the 2016 election.
TRUMP: These charges are rigged. The whole thing is rigged.
SCANNELL (voice-over): After nearly four hours of deliberations the jury sent in their first note asking for portions of testimony to be read back from former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker and former Trump fixer Michael Cohen about a meeting at Trump Tower. Prosecutors say there was a 2015 meeting there between the two men and
Trump where Pecker allegedly agreed to be the eyes and ears for Trump's campaign and flag any negative stories to Cohen. There were several other meetings there that Pecker and Cohen testified about during the trial.
The testimony will be read back to the jury at the start of deliberations on Thursday. The jury also had a second question before they were dismissed for the day about Judge Juan Merchan instructions.
Earlier, he explained that to find Trump guilty, they must unanimously find that he falsified business records with the intent to violate New York State election law promoting or preventing the election of a candidate to public office by unlawful means. The jury does not need to be unanimous about what those unlawful means our.
Prosecutors have put forward three theories about how Trump violated election law, a corporate donation or individual contribution exceeding $2,700, falsifying other business records such as Michael Cohen's bank records and tax law violations.
As it did during his 17 hours of intense testimony and closing arguments, Michael Cohen and his credibility took center stage. Under our law, Michael Cohen is an accomplice, Judge Merchan said to the jury, even if you find the testimony of Michael Cohen to be believable, you may not convict the defendant solely upon that testimony, unless you also find it's corroborated by other evidence.
Cohen, the prosecution star witness and the only person called who could directly implicate Trump testified he spoke to Trump twice to get his sign off just before making payments to Stormy Daniels. He said Trump approved the repayment scheme.
Trump's defense painted Cohen as a liar and a thief who could not be trusted out for revenge on his former boss. The judge left the jury to deliberate with these parting words. It is not my responsibility to judge the evidence here it is yours, Merchan said. You are the judges of the facts and you are responsible for deciding whether the defendant is guilty or not guilty. Kara Scannell, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Norm Eisen is a CNN legal analyst as well as the former House Judiciary special counsel in Trump's first of two impeachment trials. He's also our eyes and ears in courtroom 1530 in Manhattan Supreme Court. Welcome back. Good to see you.
NORM EISEN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Thanks for having me back, John, another big day, in part 59.
VAUSE: Exactly. What's going to help and sort of the part where, you know, after the does what, two dozen witnesses or the yelling between the lawyers, it's been three weeks. And it seems Donald Trump still doesn't really understand what this case is about. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: Nobody knows what the crime is because there's no crime. Nobody knows what the crime is. The DA didn't name the crime. They don't know what the crime is. That's what the problem is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Surely anyone who was awake who sat through this trial, listening to the evidence, and the testimony has a very clear understanding of the alleged crime here, and that would include the 12 members of the jury, right?
EISEN: That's right, John. By the time Judge Juan Merchan instructed the members of the jury on the law on Wednesday morning, it had been abundantly clear for many, many months exactly what he would say to them.
[01:15:07]
It was a formality when he talked to them to say that Donald Trump is accused of election interference of a conspiracy to unlawfully influence the 2016 election by paying hush money and covering it up with 34 false documents. It's simple, you can get it in one sentence.
VAUSE: Well, we know that sort of limbo period between testimony and verdict and everything resolved with the jury the only indication of what they may be thinking came by to jury notes. The first one was a request to review testimony from key witnesses that Trump allegedly conspired with his former fixer, Michael Cohen, and the tabloid publisher David Pecker to bury negative stories during the 2016 campaign.
So what is the relevance of that? And is that essentially sort of a bad sign if you like for Donald Trump?
EISEN: It's always tricky to read jury notes as if they were tea leaves. But I do not think that this one created a very good feeling in Trump and his defense team today because what jurors are asking about is the theme of the prosecution's closing argument earlier this week, which is corroboration.
They're saying, tell us about what David Pecker, the former publisher of the National Enquirer said to Donald Trump about the catch and kill campaign that was agreed upon to assist Donald Trump's pursuit of the presidency in a Trump Tower meeting, Pecker, Trump and Michael Cohen.
And then they asked about several other Pecker contacts, including a direct call with Trump to implement that alleged conspiracy and if the National Enquirer was spending anything of value to benefit the Trump campaign, prosecutors allege they were and the testimony the jurors asked for supports that in the form of David Pecker, then that would constitute one of those unlawful election influence crimes by wrongful means.
So, ominous for Trump and somewhat of a vindication of the prosecutors approach of saying, hey, go chronologically here starting with that August 2015 Trump Tower meeting. VAUSE: The other night for the jury was asked Judge Merchan to reread his instructions, which came earlier in the day. And that's where we had this very clear direction about Michael Cohen. The judge told the jury they cannot convict Trump on Michael Cohen's testimony alone, because he's an accomplice. But they can use his evidence if corroborated with other evidence. I also directed the juries to very basic mundane stuff like they must make -- must not make a decision rather based on biases or stereotypes.
You know, for the most part, the directions from the judge seem sort of fairly mundane, if you like, there was nothing unexpected or unusual method. This is an unusual trial. Why would the judge make no mention to the jury to focus just on this case alone, and you ignore the wider political implications of a verdict?
EISEN: John, juries' role here is really to apply the law and the judge stated the law to them. I thought, clearly, forcefully, it did take 80 minutes, so I understand why they want to hear it again, particularly the elements of the crime is to really understand the legal checklist.
Their job is not to worry about the political consequences. They need to put blinders on. The whole idea of a rule of law system is no one is above the law. So if the judge had mentioned those considerations, he would have actually risked the very bias he seeks to prevent.
VAUSE: A vertical covenant the moment they'll begin deliberations again in the morning, but it's Trump left the courtroom during a break. It seems him and his legal team are now trying to sort of lower expectations if you'd like. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Mother Teresa could not beat discharges. These charges are rigged. The whole thing is rigged. It's a disgrace. And I mean that Mother Teresa could not beat charges, but we'll see. We'll see how we do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Mother Teresa, huh. So if there is a guilty verdict, what happens to Trump in the moments after that verdict is announced?
EISEN: Well, I'm not an authority on Mother Teresa, but I'm pretty confident John that she never paid hush money to a porn star to allegedly the influence the outcome of an election and then allegedly engaged in a cover up.
[01:20:05]
In terms of what happens to Trump, when we have an outcome here, if he is convicted, he will face sentencing in 30 to 60 days. Defendants who are found guilty of these falsifying business records, felonies, and Trump is looking at 34 of them do get jail time in the most serious cases. VAUSE: Mother Teresa paying money to a porn star, it's an interesting visual. Norm Eisen. Thank you, sir, for being with us as always. Very much appreciate it.
EISEN: Thanks, John.
VAUSE: We will take a short break when we come back, explosions of lava shooting high into the air now reaching a defensive wall built around the small nearby fishing town at Grindavik. The residents have been urged to evacuate.
Also ahead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENATIFIED FEMALE: We're going to replace old with new. We are modernizing through the support that we're giving to the Ukrainians.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: How the U.S. military is making technological leaps forward by helping Ukraine in its fight for survival with Russia.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Well for the fifth time since December one of the biggest volcanoes in Iceland is spewing fountains of red hot lava high into the air as it rumbles back into life. Scientists warned this eruption is more vigorous than the previous ones. Lava has now cut two of the three roads leading to Grindavik and as rich as the face of war built around that small fishing town. Residents have been urged to evacuate.
Well, Iceland's famous tourist destination and geothermal hotspot the Blue Lagoon evacuated Wednesday before the eruptions began.
New Delhi is sweltering under record heat the capital recorded a high of 53 degrees Celsius Wednesday, that's 125 degrees Fahrenheit. Parts of northwestern India also facing unprecedented heat waves. But forecasters believe winds from the Arabian Sea could bring some relief in the days ahead.
Temperatures across Asia have been hotter than usual for this time of year. Trend, scientists say continues to be made worse by manmade climate change.
Well, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea is blaming the climate crisis for the increase in natural disasters in his country, including Friday's deadly landslide. Now, India has joined Australia, New Zealand as pledging help to help Papua New Guinea whereas when he has 2,000 people may be buried alive under the rubble. More now from story from CNN's Anna Coren.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Almost a week since a catastrophic landslide wiped out a vibrant community in Papua New Guinea. The people of Yambali are trying to come to terms with their loss.
Hundreds if not thousands of people live buried under nine hectares of debris the size of more than nine football fields with rubble eight meters deep at some points.
[01:25:00]
MATE BAGOSSY, UNDP: Where there's an entire village and shops and the fuel station and the lodge and the church and the school is basically a mountain that has fallen their heads.
COHEN (voice-over): Those who did survive have used what they can to shift boulders the size of cars, the generations of families may never be seen again.
SANDIS TSAKA, ADMINISTATOR OF ENGA PROVINCE: The trauma and the emotional scar on the on the people that have survived is great. And we will continue to see kids without parents who keep crying out for the parent where they are, orphans, you know, fathers that had lost entire families mothers that don't know what to do.
COHEN (voice-over): Miok Michael lost six loved ones in the disaster.
MIOK MICHAEL, LOST FAMILY MEMEBERS IN LANDSLIDE: My grandma, and three of my cousins, and within my (INAUDIBLE), it's adding up to lightning of them..
COHEN (voice-over): Michael went to the site when he heard what had happened filming this video. He says homeless survivors had no place to sleep. The sheer scale of the disaster and the remoteness of the site has made the response extremely challenging.
TSAKA: That the subsidies have a scale and magnitude that we've never experienced in this part of the world or in this country for that matter. And the loss of life. The number of lives we lost will surpass any natural disaster that has happened in Papua New Guinea.
COHEN (voice-over): Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister pointed the finger at climate change for an increase in disasters across the rugged Pacific nation.
JAMES MARAPE, PRIME MINISTER OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA: In this year, we had extra ordinary rainfall that has caused flooding in river areas. Sea level rise in coastal areas, and landslides.
COHEN (voice-over): Now Australia has begun flying in and distributing aid. The Papuan military says it will open the highway soon, help at last for people who have lost their homes their way of life, their entire community. Anna Coren, CNN, Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Foreign ministers from NATO will gather in Prague in the coming hours with the war in Ukraine on the agenda. U.S. is expecting as a central show support to Kyiv stopping short though of an invitation to join the military alliance. On Tuesday, multiple NATO countries said they'd be okay if Ukraine use
weapons supplied by them, for at least some strikes inside Russia. Washington has so far opposed that but Secretary State Antony Blinken, who arrived in Prague after a trip to Moldova hinted at a possible shift in U.S. policy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETAR OF STATE: We're always listening. We're always learning. And we're always making determinations about what's necessary to make sure that Ukraine can effectively continue to defend itself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: U.S. supplied Ukraine with attacking missiles with a range of up to 300 kilometers. NATO Secretary General also supports using Western weapons for strikes inside Russia.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JENS STOLTENBERG, NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL: According to international law, Ukraine has the right to self-defense. And self-defense includes also the right to strike targets outside Ukraine, including legitimate military targets in Russia.
Some allies have not imposed any restrictions at all other allies have and I have said that I think now the time has come to reconsider whether it's right to have those restrictions or not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Well, a U.S. general in World War I famously said that the infantry wins battles but logistics wins wars, that appears to apply to Ukraine, as NATO now estimates that Russia is making three times more artillery shells than the U.S. and Europe combined. U.S. arm makers are trying to close that gap. And CNN's Oren Liebermann as aren't living reports, they're helping the U.S. military in the process.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just outside Dallas, Texas. test rounds of artillery ammunition are rolling off a new U,S, production line.
LIEBERMANN: The goal of the U.S. is to produce 100,000 155 millimeter artillery shells like these a month by the end of next year. This facility alone when it's at full capacity, and up and running within the next 12 months, will make nearly a third of that, 30,000 shells a month.
LIEBERMANN (voice-over): The U.S. has committed more than $51 billion in security aid to Ukraine since the start of the war. The weapons go to Ukraine, but the vast majority of the money comes right back into the U.S. and manufacturing facilities, jobs and production. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think what we've seen from the lessons learned in Ukraine is that all of us the United States, our NATO allies need more munitions, we need bigger stockpiles, conflicts can be more drawn out than we thought.
LIEBERMANN (voice-over): And when one weapon from us inventories goes to Ukraine, another newer weapon takes its place. Bradley infantry fighting vehicles sent into the thick of the fight will be replaced by the latest models of the armed and armored systems. Counter battery radars Ukraine has used a defense against incoming fire will make way for newer radar systems.
[01:30:02]
And ATACMS missiles that Ukraine has used to strike deep within occupied territory are to be replaced with advanced longer-range precision strike missiles.
As we send weapons to Ukraine the U.S. replaces them with either newer variants or newer systems. It is a way of modernizing the U.S. military.
CHRISTINE WORMUTH, U.S. ARMY SECRETARY: That's right. I like to say, were not going to replace old with old, we're going to replace old with new. We are modernizing through the support that we're giving to the Ukrainians.
LIEBERMANN: To feed the Kremlin's war, President Vladimir Putin has placed Russia's economy on a full war-time footing, trying to outproduce the West in what is becoming a grinding war of attrition.
Russia spends nearly 7 percent of its GDP on defense with plans to go even higher, far more than the U.S. or any western nation.
Even if Russian weapons are lower quality an old military adage says that quantity has a quality of its own. When Russia burned through its own supply of artillery ammo too quickly, North Korea sent millions of rounds that made their way to the front lines.
Iranian Shahed drones have expanded an already deadly Russian arsenal and the Kremlin wants more.
The U.S. effort to produce weapons at the speed of war took precious time to close the gap. For years, the U.S. relied on decades-old plans like this one in Scranton, Pennsylvania to make artillery rounds. A World War II era defense industrial base that suddenly fell far short.
This new artillery plant is part of a surge in weapons production that isn't done yet with pressure on the U.S. to supply Ukraine's military as it modernizes its own.
SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): It took two years from start to finish to bring us here. And now were just in the process of building that the munition stock the pile, that we need not only to help our allies in Europe and elsewhere, but to deter countries like China and Iran, and North Korea. LIEBERMANN: It's not just artillery ammunition that's being ramped up
in terms of its production, the U.S., for example, also wants to produce many more Patriot missiles, 650 a year up from only 100 now. And that's been a critical munition for Ukraine brain to withstand Russian aerial assault. It's not a question of resources, but of political will.
Oren Liebermann, CNN -- in Mesquite, Texas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: According to officials in Seoul, 10 short range missiles have been fired from Sunan off North Korea's east coast trailing about 350 kilometers before crashing into the sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.
South Korea condemned the launches and has accused the North of jamming GPS services for two consecutive days. But adds military operations were not affected.
Well, along with the ever-present threat of missile and artillery fire from North Korea, now comes floating trash sent over the border in giant balloons and then ultimately spilling all sorts of rubbish on the roads and sidewalks.
Our man in Taipei is CNN's Will Ripley.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This seems to be a new strategy by North Korea, sending so far hundreds of these trash- filled balloons into South Korea.
Local residents have actually been getting warnings to avoid outdoor activities because authorities just don't know exactly what is inside these things.
Photos show plastic bags with garbage and filth, as South Korea described it, you know, scraps, paper, dirt -- that sort of thing. North Korea says this is a response to South Korean activists sending prohibited materials.
For a long time now, South Koreans, a lot of NGOs, sometimes former North Korean defectors that are now living in South Korea, they send into the North, sometimes using balloons, leaflets, food, medicine, even media like Korean dramas or K-Pop, music that is forbidden for North Koreans to listen to, programs that are forbidden for North Koreans to watch.
But they send them from South Korea anyway, as part of this propaganda push to try to convince the North that there is a better way of life in the South.
This has been going on for a long time. North Korea has long accused the South of psychological warfare and has promised retaliation. So now, by sending these hundreds of trash-filled balloons, they want
South Korean authorities to experience the headache of cleaning up and locating all of this, just like they say they've been dealing with for a long time.
But for North Koreans who receive content, particularly from South Korea, the penalties can be extremely severe. Remember, we showed you rare footage of those North Korean teenagers apparently sentenced to hard labor for viewing and distributing South Korean content.
There was a time 2017, 2018, when there we're some brief periods of cultural exchange between the North and South, part of that diplomatic detente. And at that time, North Koreans were allowed to legally get a glimpse of South Korean culture.
But those days seem like a distant memory now with information controls arguably tighter than ever inside North Korea.
[01:34:46]
RIPLEY: And now, these trash balloons being sent to the South, part of this tit-for-tat, back-and-forth, and just yet another sign of the escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
Will Ripley, CNN -- Taipei.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Still ahead, mixed messages from Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee campaigning on an issue of law and order, taking the stage with two rap artists who have their very own rap sheets.
Plus new accusations he has referenced a former rapist and former movie mogul Harvey Weinstein ahead of his retrial on rape and sexual assault charges.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Welcome back, everyone.
I'm John Vause and you're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has campaigned as the law-and-order candidate, the get tough on crime guy.
But at the same time, he praised accused criminals and convicts, even promised to grant them pardons. He personally faces more than 90 felony charges in four separate criminal cases.
CNN's Randi Kaye takes a look at the blatant hypocrisy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Donald Trump, just last week in the Bronx inviting two rap artists on stage. But not just any rap artists, they've both been indicted in an alleged conspiracy to commit murder. DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Here, as well as
rapper Sheff G, does everybody know Sheff? Where is Sheff G. Come on up, fellas. Rapper Sleepy Hallow.
KAYE: Those fellows Sheff G and Sleepy Hallow are alleged gang members who the Brooklyn district attorney, named in an indictment. They are accused of conspiracy to commit murder and weapons possession.
This is them in a video used as evidence in the case, brandishing weapons in a car. Both have pleaded not guilty. And from the looks of it, are now on Team MAGA.
SHEFF G, RAP ARTIST: One thing I want to say, they're always going to whisper your accomplishments and shout your failures.
Trump will shout the wins for all of us. Make America great again.
TRUMP: Thank you very much. Actually I like those teeth. I want to find out where you got -- I got to get my teeth like that. I want that to happen to me.
ERIC GONZALEZ, BROOKLYN DISTRICT ATTORNEY: It was shocking that a presidential candidate would be meeting and having known gang members who have an open indictment of four attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder introduce him at a presidential rally.
KAYE: Over the weekend, Trump aligning himself with a convicted criminal who is serving life in prison.
[01:39:45]
KAYE: At the Libertarian National Convention promising to commute the sentence of the founder of Silk Road, a now defunct unregulated online marketplace where users could buy and sell anonymously.
TRUMP: And if you vote for me, on day one, I will commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht who was sentenced of time served.
KAYE: Silk Road's founder Ross Ulbricht was convicted on charges including money laundering and drug trafficking, and sentenced to life in prison in 2015 after a prosecutor noted six deaths resulting from drugs bought on his Web site.
Ulbricht was quick to thank Trump on social media, writing on X, "Donald Trump pledge to commute my sentence on day one if reelected. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."
At that same libertarian event, there's Trump posing for a photo with rapper Afroman. He'd pleaded guilty in 2015 to punching a woman at one his concerts.
And then of course, there are the convicted January 6 rioters, Trump almost never lets an opportunity pass to praise them. And has promised to pardon them if elected to a second term.
TRUMP: When people who love our country protest on January 6 and Washington they become hostages unfairly imprisoned for long periods of time.
KAYE: Trump's commitment to those criminally-charged also unfold display at his hush money trial as his own former lawyer turned convicted felon Michael Cohen testified against him, Trump's courtroom entourage included former New York City police commissioner Bernard Kerik, who served time in prison for fraud before Trump pardoned him.
Also in tow, Chuck Zit, an actor and former leader of Hell's Angels, New York chapter who spent years in prison, a place Trump is currently very much trying to avoid.
Randi Kaye, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Harvey Weinstein will face new accusers ahead of his retrial in New York. His 2020 conviction was overturned on appeal, but other convictions still stand.
The assistant district attorney says the new claims are under investigation. A new indictment is possible.
Weinstein became a symbol of the Me Too Movement after a long list of Hollywood wannabes and royalty went public accusing him of everything from sexual harassment to rape.
He remains behind bars due to rape and sexual assault convictions in Los Angeles.
When we come back, how artificial intelligence is helping a stroke survivor communicate in two languages. More on the remarkable breakthrough in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: We're keeping an eye on the U.S. stock futures ahead of Thursdays trading on Wall Street.
Right now we can see across the board they are down. Dow futures down by almost 1 percent. Nasdaq by three-quarters of 1 percent. And the S&P 500 futures down by about 0.6 of 1 percent.
The U.S. markets tumbled Wednesday. Investors are still worried about inflation and when the Federal Reserve plans to reduce interest rates.
[01:44:46]
VAUSE: The Dow falling more than 1 percent, 411 points lower. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 also in the red.
In Argentina President Javier Milei has implemented aggressive austerity measures since taking office late last year in a bid to turn around the economy and tame sky-high inflation. But those tougher policies have also led to a rise in poverty and unemployment.
More now from journalist, Stefano Pozzebon. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN JOURNALIST: Not your traditional political rally, but Argentina's president is anything but conventional.
A former Mick Jagger impersonator Javier Milei presented his latest book to thousands of screaming fans at the tune of rock and roll. But back stage, the reality is much different.
The Argentinian economy is hitting rock bottom according to latest estimates, with growth falling at the steepest rate since the COVID-19 pandemic and thousands unemployed.
Ane of them, another rock cover artist.
SEBASTIAN MASARACHIO, UNEMPLOYED BASS PLAYER: The production company I was working for lost their main client. And most of us were let go. Since February I'm basically floating.
I tried to find other jobs, but it didn't work out.
POZZEBON: It was not long ago that Masarachio toured the country with his music. Now, he just plays by himself.
MASARACHIO: Often wages don't even cover the expenses. My bass chords, cables. If something breaks down or not even gas and transport to get to the venue.
POZZEBON: Construction worker Pablo Vazquez is also struggling to make ends meet.
PABLO VAZQUEZ, UNEMPLOYED CONSTRUCTION WORKER: The president needs to realize what is happening. He says, everything is fine, but many people are unemployed. People are on the streets sleeping on the streets. We are not doing fine.
POZZEBON: More than 100,000 Argentinians lost their jobs this year in the construction industry alone, part of a harsh austerity package imposed by Milei's pledge to chainsaw through public finances.
The president believes Argentina's chronic economic troubles come from overspending by previous governments. And brags that his measures are already showing results tampering inflation, and registering fiscal surplus for the fourth straight month.
At home and looking for a job, Masarachio believes Milei's cuts were required. But it means that moment may have come too late.
MASARACHIO: I'm still hopeful. I know that at my age this is my last chance. And if things stay this way, I'll have to think about leaving this country.
POZZEBON: Stefano Pozzebon, CNN -- Bogota.
(END VIDEOTAPE) VAUSE: Well, a day after millions cast their ballots in South Africa's general election counting is now underway with final results expected Sunday.
And for the first time in three decades the ruling African National Congress is facing a serious threat to its hold on power after years of corruption and unemployment in the country the World Bank calls the most unequal in the world.
Nearly 28 million people were registered to vote, a record number. And election officials say they were pleased with the high turnout nationwide.
Coming up here, a new study challenging what we thought we knew about language and how the brain works, and what that could mean for the future of medicine and those left unable to communicate.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:49:51]
VAUSE: Well now to a medical breakthrough which provides invaluable insight into how brains actually process language.
A team of scientists has developed a brain implant for a man who was paralyzed and was unable to speak after suffering a stroke. Now he can communicate not just in one language, but in two, both English and his native Spanish.
The team surgically implanted electrodes coupled with an artificial intelligence system on the patient's brain cortex. His neural activity was recorded and then translated into words on a screen.
Dr. Edward Chang led this neural implant study, he's a neurosurgeon and co-director of the Center for Neural Engineering and Prosthesis. He joins me now from San Francisco.
Congratulations on the outcome here and your achievement because this is another success on what's already been an incredibly successful team in developing these implants. So thank you for being with us.
DR. EDWARD CHANG, CENTER FOR NEURAL ENGINEERING AND PROSTHESIS: Yes. Thank you for having me. It's great to be here.
VAUSE: So just explain to us exactly what you did it here. Because this -- these are brain implants which have been around for a while. You develop them essentially, which had been able to translate neural activity into words on a screen. But they'd been limited to just English.
So now we have one which is bilingual, so how did you do it? And how did the patient respond to all of this? Essentially in broad brushstrokes, what have you done here that is so significant?
DR. CHANG: Yes, thanks. So the way that we did this was basically translating brain activity brainwaves from a series of about 128 sensors that were over the participant's brain covering the parts of the brain that normally are responsible for allowing us to speak.
In his particular case, he had a severe stroke that left him unable to speak about 15 years ago. And he's actually had the implant for the last five years.
We've been working with him closely for the last five years primarily working on decoding English from the implant whenever he's trying to think of English words.
We've been able to make that work. This study is really a new step. We weren't sure that this was going to work initially. Thankfully it did where we were able to use artificial intelligence algorithms that basically translate those brain activity patterns into both English or Spanish words, depending what he was trying to say.
VAUSE: So the key here from what I've read and correct me if I'm wrong is it's very complicated and it's fascinating, but the key seems to be this combination of artificial intelligence and predictive modeling and its used by the English and the Spanish modules which are part of the system.
And once they decided the most likely first word based on the thought pattern and the neural activity, then next day they try to -- they have a match -- the most likely match is the one which was used.
And then "Scientific America" explains it like this. They each choose the second word based on not only the neural pattern match but also whether it is likely to follow the first one.
So I am would get a higher probability score than I'm not. The final output produces two sentences, one in English, one in Spanish, but the display screen that Pancho, the stroke victim, faces shows only the version with the highest total probability score.
So how accurate are these matches and how did that whole predictive model come to be? Who thought of it?
DR. CHANG: Yes. Well, this is actually something that we all use. When you're texting on your phone for example, and you've got that auto correct. That's a kind of predictive coding and we built that into this from the very beginning.
The trick with this, of course, is trying to make sure that the decoder is actually being sensitive to whether you're trying to speak English or Spanish.
And if this was as easy as trying to pick up, you know, one part of the brain that's processing Spanish and the other part that's processing English. That would be relatively easy.
In this particular case, in Pancho's case, what we found was the activity was completely overlapping. So essentially, the decoding algorithms A.I. that we used had to be fairly specific to those speech patterns for a given language.
VAUSE: So this is a lot about where speech is basically developed in the brain, where it comes from, and how it is processed.
DR. CHANG: Yes.
VAUSE: But English and Spanish are fairly similar. What about languages like English and Mandarin or Arabic which are completely different?
DR. CHANG: Wonderful question.
Yes. Well, I think the best way to think about this is the areas that we're tapping into is the part of the brain that's actually controlling the vocal track -- the lips, the jaw, the tongue, the larynx. These are the things that are moving in my mouth to actually give rise to words.
And all languages use vocal track movements in order to create words. So were tapping into that. But individual languages actually have different patterns.
And so what the A.I. is learning is a specific patterns that are so suited with one language or another when we speak. And its sensitive enough to do that in order to make this accurate.
VAUSE: So, you know, there's been a lot of debate recently about the future of A.I. and a lot of talk about it, you know, is it safe, there's the evil part or you know, the downside of A.I.
When we have something like this, you know, there's an opinion piece which was written in "The Guardian" about the technology here.
[01:54:44]
VAUSE: And in part it wrote, "Technology is a tool created by humans and therefore subject to human beliefs and constraints. A.I. has often been depicted as completely self-sufficient, self-teaching technology. However, in reality, it is subject to the rules built into its design.
So clearly for Pancho and others who are benefiting from this A.I. is able to communicate again, then you know, it's a force for good.
I wonder is the danger here in this whole debate that we overlook the developments and the benefits of A.I. out of fear of the downside?
DR. CHANG: I think that's definitely a potential danger. I mean there's no question that the kind of things that we're now able to do with brain decoding, neural prosthetics in order to help people who are paralyzed. A lot of what we've shown in this paper actually could not have been done more than five years ago.
Now, we're really using things that have only been developed in last couple of years. So this is clearly a case where this is going to enable new forms of medicine that never existed before.
VAUSE: Dr. Edward Chang there, thank you so much for being with us, Sir. Congratulations on your success. May you continue to do so. Thanks for being with us. DR. CHANG: Thank you so much.
VAUSE: You're welcome.
DR. CHANG: Thank you.
VAUSE: Well, panda diplomacy is back on track with the return of giant pandas to the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington. The announcement came Wednesday. First lady Jill Biden planning a black- tie vegetarian dinner. Get it -- black tie, black and white pandas -- for the two-year-old pandas.
They're due to arrive from China by the end of the year. And China's ambassador says, the newest envoys of friendship are a symbol of the friendly ties between the United States and China.
Well, pieces of Beatles history have a new home after selling at auction for almost $3 million.
The acoustic guitar which was owned by John Lennon and used by both Lennon and George Harrison during recording sessions for the Beatles "Help" and "Rubber Soul" albums, was among the items.
Lennon gave the 12-string guitar away at the end of 1965 and had not been seen or played for more than 50 years.
(INAUDIBLE) went under the gavel with Julian's auctions in New York City. Nice guitar.
I'm John Vause. Thank you for joining us. CNN NEWSROOM continues with my friend and colleague, Rosemary Church after a short break.
See you back here tomorrow.
[01:57:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
