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CNN International: Boeing's Starliner Lifts Off On First Crewed Test Flight; Israelis Mark Controversial "Jerusalem Day"; Israel Phasing Out Use Of Controversial Detention Center. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired June 05, 2024 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST: Yeah. Leroy, having you on the show, again, I can hear myself coming back, is a real joy. Thank you. CNN's special coverage continues with my colleague Rahel Solomon, up next.
RAHEL SOLOMON, HOST, "CNN NEWSROOM": All right, Becky. Thank you. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York. You are, of course, watching live pictures of the historic launch of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft from Cape Canaveral, Florida, successfully lifted off a short time ago at 10:52 Eastern Time with two veteran NASA astronauts on board. The crew now on their way to the International Space Station.
With me now to discuss all of this is CNN Aerospace Analyst Miles O'Brien. Also with me now, former astronaut and retired Colonel Chris Hadfield. He is also the author of "The Defector." Good to have you both, gentlemen.
Colonel, let me start with you. Just your reaction to this moment. It is successful, third time. It's a charm, apparently.
COL. CHRIS HADFIELD (RET.), FORMER ASTRONAUT, & AUTHOR, "THE DEFECTOR": Well, it's not successful yet. The engines are still burning. I mean, it takes about 12 minutes to get to orbit and we're about eight minutes into that. But, so far, so good, and Suni and "Butch" are getting crushed in their seat as though big Centaurs are accelerating faster and faster. But, they've made it above the atmosphere. They got rid of that first stage. Everything is going perfectly so far. But, pretty soon, they'll be fast enough to stay in orbit, and then they can do that long 24-hour dance to go dock with the space station.
SOLOMON: Fascinating. And Miles, talk to me a little bit about the significance of this moment. Your reaction.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Well, it's -- this has been -- we've been waiting a long time for Starliner. There is no question. And it was -- got to the point of pretty embarrassing thing for Boeing, and Boeing, as a corporation, its other entities have had other reasons for embarrassment. This is a separate enterprise, its space program. But, nevertheless, some of the troubles it had getting this spacecraft to work right have left them a little red faced. And frankly, Elon Musk has pretty much lapped them as far as getting astronauts to the International Space Station. But, seeing is believing. We got to hedge our bets here. We are nine
minutes into a 12-minute ride from zero to 20,000 kilometers per hour. They're feeling the force of three times gravity right now, not a big deal for these two Navy test pilots who've done 9Gs routinely in their previous parts of their career. But, once we get into orbit, it gets into sort of a symbiotic mode. We can breathe a little more easily. But, there are many steps ahead to make sure this is a viable way to get to the International Space Station. To say space is hard is kind of an understatement.
SOLOMON: Chris, let me bring you back into this conversation. Tell me a little bit about, and I do have feedback in my ear here, but tell me a little bit about the two astronauts that we know, one of whom, Suni Williams, apparently the first woman now to fly aboard this type of mission. I think some people might find that hard to believe. Talk to me a little bit about the astronauts.
HADFIELD: Yeah. It is Suni Williams and "Butch" Wilmore. They're both experienced astronauts. They both lived on the space station for better part of a year. They have orbited the world thousands of times. But, before they were astronauts, they were both test pilots in the U.S. Navy, Suni flying helicopters, "Butch" flying F-18s. That's a super dangerous and demanding job, and it's really excellent training for doing something like we've asked Suni and "Butch" to do today, which is they are the first two people to ever fly this rocket and the first two people to ever fly this spaceship. And that's a huge risk. The odds of dying during my first shuttle launch were one in 38. We don't even know what the odds are for this ship because it's its first flight. So, it's an enormous risk the two of them have shouldered on behalf of us all.
And when you talk about the first, this is only the sixth new spaceship that can carry people that the United States has ever launched, starting way back with Mercury and leading right up now to Starliner. So, it's only happened six times in the whole history of the country that they've had a new human-rated spaceship, and it's the first time that -- just because of cultural shifting, first time that a woman has been part of the crew. But, Suni would be the first one to tell you that doesn't matter. What matters is getting the ship safely to orbit and then maneuvering it to go dock with the space station.
SOLOMON: Yeah. And Chris, let me stay with you for just a moment longer. I mean, what type of training -- explain for us the type of training that is required before this type of trip.
HADFIELD: Yeah. It's not just training, Rahel. They help invent this flight. They've been working on this for years. They've been integrated in what do the displays look like, and what should procedures be, and how can we change everything to optimize the chances of success? It's not like to go take a course and then you fly a spaceship as a test pilot. It's the result of an entire life's work. Most of their training is for things going wrong. The engines have just shut off now. So, we'll check the numbers.
[11:05:00] But, it looks like they're hopefully safely in orbit. But, most of an astronaut's life, and I served for 21 years as one of NASA's astronauts, most of your life is training for things to go wrong and be incompetent and ready enough with split seconds to be able to react to those things and make the vehicle do what it is that you want to do. So, they've been on the developmental side and in simulators and flying jets, and getting themselves to be the two most focused people in the world right now getting that vehicle into orbit.
SOLOMON: Yeah. Incredible. And Miles, let me bring you back into this. Talk to us a little bit about -- I know we still have a few more minutes before we know if this is truly successful. So, keep us honest here. But, talk to us a little bit about what happens next.
O'BRIEN: Well, they're going to -- right now, now that we've had what's called nominal MECO, which is NASA parlance for everything is OK, main engine cut off. Very soon, if you -- as you look at the screen, there is a cartoonish-like animation, which offers up a fairly good rendition of what's happening in space right now, that long cylinder which is attached to the capsule, which is the Centaur second stage will be jettisoned. It did the final push -- well, actually, there is one more push to orbit with some of the rockets that are actually on board the Starliner. But, ultimately, there'll be a -- that will be jettisoned.
There'll be one more burn and it will, as we say, circularize the orbit. So then there'll be just what amounts to a freefall around the planet, which puts them in weightlessness, the one buckle, relax a little bit, and take a few ganders at the Earth beneath them, and then they have about a 24-hour ride to catch up to the space station. It's not unlike, Rahel, kind of an American football player throwing a pass. As they launch, the International Space Station has to be right above them. So, you kind of leave the station with the rocket and hopefully the two of them arrive at the same place at the same time. And that's why the launch windows are what they call instantaneous. They have to launch at that moment or they have to wait another 24 hours, give or take.
SOLOMON: Yeah. Well, it is nice to see this moment of history, obviously, as we continue to wait. Great to have both of you as well to help explain it all. Chris Hadfield and Miles O'Brien, thank you both.
All right. We want to turn to the Middle East now. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that his military is ready for quote, "very intense action along the border with Lebanon" saying quote "one way or another, Israel will restore security to the north." Today, he toured an area where large fires erupted after a rocket barrage from southern Lebanon. Hezbollah and Israel have exchanged cross-border fire almost daily since the war began. As Israel threatens open a new front, it is intensifying attacks on central Gaza. Health workers there say at least 65 people were killed in Israeli strikes overnight, including women, including children. CIA Director Bill Burns and other senior U.S. officials are in the region today to push for a ceasefire plan announced by President Joe Biden. Let's bring in CNN's Jeremy Diamond for more. He is live for us in
Jerusalem, as a contentious march, as we can see behind you, gets underway, Israelis marking Jerusalem Day today, Jeremy. Set the scene for us. Explain a little bit more about what we're seeing.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. That's right, Rahel. Thousands of Israelis have been descending on the Old City of Jerusalem over the course of the last several hours. They are marching from the center of Jerusalem and then coming to this point. This is Damascus Gate. It's the entrance to the Muslim Quarter of the Old City. And over the course of the last few hours, we've been seeing groups of these Israelis, many of them nationalists, marching through the Muslim Quarter, some of them banging on the walls of shops. There have been scuffles that have broken out between some of these Israeli nationalists and the Palestinians who live in the area of this very quarter.
We've also seen the Israeli border police and Israeli police actually go into this crowd at several points, arresting at least five different Israelis over the course of the last couple of hours. That came after some of the people in the crowd began throwing water bottles at journalists who are stationed over here. What we've also been hearing a lot of from the crowd are a lot of anti-Arab slogans and chants, including a very popular chant among right-wing extremists in this country to start chanting, "May your village burn", referring, of course, to Palestinians.
Now, beyond all of that, we should note that we have not yet seen violence on the scale that we saw last year, for example, or the kinds of confrontations that have led to all-out war between Israel and Hamas before. In 2021, violence at the scene of this Jerusalem Day parade resulted in Hamas firing rockets on Israel, launching that 10- day war that happened in 2021.
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Of course, right now, this is all happening at a moment of extraordinary tension with the war in Gaza now stretching eight months long so far. What we haven't seen yet is any kind of response from Hamas. In previous years, as I said, we have seen them fire rockets. No sign of that so far today. Rahel.
SOLOMON: And Jeremy, as you point out, I mean, eight months into this, the attempts or the efforts for a ceasefire continue. What's the latest on the progress of those talks?
DIAMOND: Yeah. Well, we know that the CIA Director Bill Burns, as well as Brett McGurk, a top White House advisor on this issue of the ceasefire and hostage deal negotiations, they have both headed to the Middle East now to see if they can push forward this Israeli proposal that is now on the table, which Hamas is considering, but has yet to offer its formal response. There is no sense yet that there is any kind of imminent breakthrough. But, we have seen them, of course, pop up in the region at key moments in these negotiations in the past.
The key question right now is not only, of course, to see what Hamas' response will be, but also to see whether the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sticks with the proposal that his own government put forward, in particular, because of some of the people we're seeing behind me here, these types of Israeli nationalists, like Itamar Ben- Gvir, the National Security Minister, is a member of the government who is marching in this parade, very much opposed to a ceasefire deal, very much opposed to a deal that could potentially result in the end of the war in Gaza, because they want to see this notion of absolute victory over Hamas before the war ends, and they very much do not see that at the moment. Rahel.
SOLOMON: And Jeremy, as you describe sort of the internal politics there in Israel, talk to us a little bit about from what we can tell public sentiment and where that lies right now for trying to bring some of these hostages home.
DIAMOND: Well, there is -- in the same way that you have crowds like this, who would very much oppose a ceasefire deal at the moment, we are also seeing, of course, across Israel growing protests and growing calls for that hostage deal, which you have been talking about. In Tel Aviv, in particular, we have seen every Saturday night, crowds of tens of thousands of people calling for a hostage and a ceasefire deal. The latest polls show that a plurality of Israelis indeed do want to see that deal happen, do want to see that deal move forward, but of course it does depend right now at least on the response of Hamas.
SOLOMON: Jeremy Diamond live for us in Jerusalem. Jeremy, thank you.
And Israel is phasing out use of a controversial detention center after a CNN investigation triggered international condemnation. Hundreds of Palestinian detainees are being moved out of the camp in the Negev desert into a military facility in the occupied West Bank. Israel's Supreme Court held a hearing on the facility today after a human rights group filed a petition urging it to be shut down.
Last month, our Matthew Chance talked to Israeli whistleblowers, former detainees and eyewitnesses who described horrific conditions at the camp. And here is part of Matthew's report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're driving now to meet one Israeli with personal experience at the Sde Teiman facility. It is experience that he says has left him shocked at the condition and the medical treatment of Palestinian detainees there.
CHANCE (voice-over): He told us he treated Palestinian detainees with gunshot wounds, fresh from the war zone in Gaza, but was appalled at the lack of equipment and expertise.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (Interpreted): The problem is Gazans who were brought in are labeled as terrorists and it is very popular opinion over here that terrorists deserve to die, so they do not deserve the same medical care as everyone else.
CHANCE (voice-over): Satellite imagery obtained by CNN shows how the Sde Teiman facility was expanded after the October 7 attacks, with detention facilities and makeshift medical bays being added after public hospitals in Israel refused to treat injured Gazan suspects. Eyewitness accounts describe a field hospital with 15 to 20 patients virtually naked and blindfolded, with hands and feet shackled to their beds and wearing diapers. One eyewitness told CNN, painful procedures were carried out by underqualified medics, treatment, the medical worker told us, amounts to punishment.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOLOMON: Matthew Chance is joining us now from London with more. Matthew, bring us up to speed on what happened at the hearing and also -- I mean, what happens now to the facility?
CHANCE: Well, Rahel, this is the first time that the legality of this detention center at Sde Teiman has been brought before Israel's highest court, the Supreme Court, and the Israeli authorities, during that court session earlier today, basically said that, look, we're in the process of moving people sort of out of the facility.
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Hundreds have already been moved out so far to other facilities in the West Bank and some sent back to Gaza as well. But, there is still going to be 200 people left over inside, and there is questionable legality of what their status is going to be. And so, the court has said that it's giving the Israeli authorities a few more days, until the 10th of this month, in fact, to let it know what its plans are for those 200 people, and of course, what in turn its plans are for the detention center at Sde Teiman.
But, make no mistake, this reporting, this investigation that the team and I sort of undertook last month really had a profound impact inside Israel. It's become a cause around which many human rights activists have rallied, who believe that the Israeli authorities have gone too far in their prosecution of the war in Gaza, against specifically Hamas. It also caused quite a lot of outrage externally as well. The White House said that it was deeply concerned about the reports of abuse at the Sde Teiman facility and said it was asking Israel for answers about what was going to happen. The German government expressed its concern, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture. Even the Israeli army announced an investigation into the reports of abuses at that detention center and others as well.
And so, this has become a real cause around which critics of Israel but also human rights activists inside the country itself, as I say, have rallied.
SOLOMON: Yeah. Really important reporting. Matthew Chance live for us there in London. Matthew, thank you.
All right. Turning now to Lebanon where man has been arrested after shots were fired outside the U.S. Embassy near Beirut.
(VIDEO PLAYING) Now, officials there say that the gunman seemed to be acting alone and is being treated at the hospital. Meanwhile, they also report that the brother of the gunman has been detained and is being questioned by Lebanese authorities. All of this happening, of course, with tensions ramping up on the Israeli-Lebanese border. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visiting an Israeli border town and warning that his country is prepared for quote "intense action", as we said.
Let's bring in CNN's Ben Wedeman, who is following all these developments from Rome. Ben, what more are we learning about this incident?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we understand it took place at about 8:30 in the morning local time when these shots rang out in what is essentially a parking lot across the street from the main entrance to the U.S. Embassy, a parking lot where people who come to the embassy usually leave their cars. Now, we've seen -- as you see from that video, it does appear to be a single gunman wearing body armor and his face is covered with something. Now, according to a statement put out by the U.S. Embassy, Lebanese security forces as well as embassy security reacted quickly to this. The statement said that no staff were injured and the embassy was not damaged.
Now, keep in mind that this embassy is not in the city of Beirut itself. It's near the town of Awkar, which is to the north of Beirut, up a hill which whenever there are demonstrations against U.S. policy in the Middle East and these happen quite frequently. The roads are closed, and there are always a large number of Lebanese security forces and armored personnel carriers in the area.
Now, this gunman apparently was wounded in an exchange of fire. The Lebanese army put out a statement saying that the gunman was injured now, he, and was being treated. Now, his brother apparently, according to the Lebanese news agency, the official news agency, has been detained. There have also been a series of raids in a town near the Syrian border. His brother and others who are affiliated perhaps are believed might be connected with this incident, are being identified as Syrian nationals. The Lebanese Prime Minister -- acting Prime Minister Najib Mikati said that an intensive investigation is now underway. Now, the embassy halted its normal activities in the immediate aftermath of this incident and the embassy says it will resume normal operations tomorrow.
This is going on, of course, at a time of intense tensions between Israel and Lebanon.
[11:20:00]
So far, we understand, for instance, that Hezbollah has made five or rather six attacks against Israeli targets along the border that was -- that follows 10 yesterday. And of course, as you mentioned, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, was on the border area earlier this morning. Certainly, we know that there is intense pressure on the Israeli Prime Minister to restore some modicum of calm in the area, as many as 100,000 Israelis have fled their homes in the northern part of the country, whereas almost 95,000 Lebanese citizens have left their homes in the southern part of the country.
So, the situation is volatile. This incident in Beirut, nobody is linking it to the tensions on the border, but they do certainly contribute to the concerns about the security situation in Lebanon in general. Rahel.
SOLOMON: Yeah. I mean, Ben, we've been watching your reporting on the border for months now, as we've seen, sort of the impact of the civilians who live both in the south and northern Israel. Certainly keep us posted as this continues to develop. Ben Wedeman live for us in Rome. Ben, thank you.
And in France, we are following ceremonies on the eve of the 80th anniversary of D-Day. The allied invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944, set the stage for the defeat of the Nazis in Europe. Now, the next two days will be full of commemorations honoring the war dead and surviving veterans, some of whom have traveled to France to mark the occasion. French President Emmanuel Macron has been giving speeches honoring those who fought in the war and the civilians who perished. U.S. President Joe Biden, he arrived in Paris earlier. He is going to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy while both leaders are in France.
Let's bring in Melissa Bell, who is live for us this hour from Normandy. So, Melissa, tell us a little bit more about what we can expect from Biden's trip.
MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is going to be a pretty busy few days for the President, Rahel. What we understand is that there'll be a big speech that will be made at the American Cemetery, not very far from where I am standing now, about the events of 80 years ago. And we understand really drawing a line from what happened on beaches like this one, Gold Beach, where so many of the British landed. Omaha is just down that way where the Americans landed that day 80 years ago.
Tomorrow, a line will be drawn, we understand, by the American President between the importance and fateful events that took place here 80 years ago, what followed during the Cold War, and ultimately what is being done today for Ukraine, which is why of course President Zelenskyy's presence is important. Beyond that speech he'll be making at the cemetery, there will be this time, unlike five years ago, the 75th anniversary, a big ceremony to be held as well on the beach itself over at Omaha Beach where of course the Americans lost so many men in the first few hours of the sixth of June 1944. And that will include not just the heads of states of France, the United Kingdom and America, but of course President Zelenskyy as well, in that important message being sent about what the fight in Ukraine represents. Rahel.
SOLOMON: Yeah. Melissa, it's interesting because 80 is a huge anniversary, obviously, but this year perhaps taking on increased significance because this may be one of the last milestones for a lot of these veterans to be there. Talk to us a little bit about what we can expect tomorrow, some of the events tomorrow.
BELL: These very old men now who made such an extraordinary difference, and I just want to show you the site that they'll be seeing. There is so much enthusiasm in and around these beaches. They've come out with the cars of the time. There are the amphibious vehicles with which they landed on these beaches. And as you can see, huge crowds gathering to pay homage to these men. As you say, just a handful of them are well enough to make it. We expect about 200 mainly British and American veterans to be here for the commemorations tomorrow and beyond what they're being greeted with these extraordinary spectacles of people who've come dressed up, servicemen and women who've come to pay their respects. They're going to be at the heart, of course, of these commemorations.
Both -- we've got the king of the -- British king who has come over, as has Camilla, and Prince William, and of course the American commemorations for the American veterans. So, they're going to be honored probably for the very last time, since we expect that this, the 80th anniversary, is the last one many of these veterans will be able to make it to. The youngest that are expected here this week are 96, Rahel, and that means that they were 16 on the day and had to lie about their age in order to be allowed to fight. Just an extraordinary thing in itself. The oldest, about 103 or 105. So, probably this is one of the very last D-Day commemorations where we will have living witnesses of exactly what unfolded here 80 years ago. Rahel.
SOLOMON: Just incredible, Melissa. It gives me chills as you talk about perhaps some 16-year- olds enlisting. Just, wow, what a moment. Melissa Bell live for us there from Normandy. Melissa, thank you.
[11:25:00]
All right. Still to come for us, U.S. President Joe Biden is trying to tackle the border crisis with a controversial action, just weeks away from the first presidential debate. Coming up, we'll have details ahead on the new asylum restrictions. Plus, both father and son are causing a stir. We are tracking Hunter Biden's third day in federal court for his gun trial. We will be right back.
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SOLOMON: Welcome back. We now turn our attention to Wilmington, Delaware, where the son of U.S. President Joe Biden is back in court today for his federal trial on felony gun charges. Defense attorneys have concluded their cross-examination of FBI agent Erika Jensen today. She was the first witness to be called and introduced the court two key evidence, including text messages and photos taken from Hunter Biden's infamous laptop.
Let's bring in our Senior U.S. Justice Correspondent Evan Perez, who is live in Wilmington, Delaware, with the latest. So, Evan, just sort of set the scene on what has happened so far this morning and what we can expect to hear today.
EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR U.S. JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rahel, we've got -- we've seen a lot more of what the government has to offer here. They have an overwhelming amount of evidence to show that Hunter Biden was struggling with drug addiction at the time that he bought this firearm back in October of 2018. They've got text messages. They played yesterday more than an hour of his own words, his own audio book, where he recounts some of those struggles. They've shown the infamous Hunter Biden laptop, his text messages with people who prosecutors say were selling him drugs. They got pictures of crack pipe, all of that, of course, to drive home the point that Hunter Biden knew he was addicted to drugs at the time that he bought this firearm, which was a violation of the law.
For -- on the part of the defense, they've spent the morning trying to poke some holes on what the prosecution has. Obviously, there is no evidence so far that the prosecution has introduced. It shows that on the day he bought the firearm that he was on drugs. And so, what they have is periods before and after the gun purchase. And they're trying to draw a little bit of doubt for the jurors about exactly what this evidence shows.
Now, part of the job here has been to just go through these financial transactions, some of these text messages, and we've seen some of the jurors struggle, trying to stay awake on -- during periods of this presentation. Now, any minute now we expect that Kathleen Buhle, Hunter Biden's ex-wife, will take the stand. She is expected to testify about, again, some of that drug use that she witnessed during the time that they were together. She is one of three different women who are expected to take the stand called by the prosecution, again, to drive home that point.
Again, the prosecution has an overwhelming amount of evidence. They're trying to overwhelm jurors with some of that, and we expect that this is going to take at least a major part of the day focusing on Kathleen Buhle's testimony. Rahel.
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SOLOMON: Evan, it's never a good idea or never a good sign when the jury starts falling asleep. I don't know who that hurts more between the prosecution and the defense. But, keep us posted, as this trial sort of --
PEREZ: Yeah.
SOLOMON: -- plays out. We expect it to last a week or two. Evan Perez live for us in Wilmington. Evan, thank you.
PEREZ: Yep.
SOLOMON: All right. Less than 24 hours after Joe Biden announced his most dramatic move yet on America's border crisis, new asylum restrictions are in effect. The President's executive action bars migrants from seeking asylum when they cross into the U.S. illegally under certain conditions. Now, it kicks in once a daily threshold is met, which the administration qualifies as 2,500 encounters in a day. Progressives wasting no time, already blasting the controversial move, including an ACLU attorney who says that the group is planning to challenge the action in court.
Let's bring in Arlette Saenz, who has been tracking the story, and joins us live from the White House. So, Arlette, now that this policy seems like it's enforced, I mean, talk to us a little bit more about the reaction we're seeing to it.
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: well, Rahel, there really has been a mixed reaction, including within President Biden's own party, to this new executive action that essentially is shutting off the ability of migrants who cross the border illegally to seek asylum here in this country. As you outlined, that is triggered when daily encounters reach a certain threshold, around 2,500 daily encounters. There is a possibility that this could be shut off if, for instance, officials say if those daily encounters get to a number that's averaging below 1,500 a day.
But, yesterday, as President Biden announced this at the White House, he was joined by Democratic lawmakers, including some mayors who represent cities along the U.S. southern border, as well as Democratic lawmakers like Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona, a key battleground state. That also happens to be a border state. Those Democrats offered their support for the President's plan. But, within the President's party, there is also a lot of frustration from progressive Democrats who say that Biden is simply borrowing a page out of former President Donald Trump's playbook.
It's noteworthy that the President is tapping into an authority that Trump tried to use when he was President back in 2018, something that was decried by Democrats at the time, and ultimately was struck down in the courts. But, President Biden tried to push back on his critics yesterday, saying that he had no choice. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: For those who say the steps I've taken are too strict, I say to you that be patient, and good will of the American people are going to -- we are wearing thin right now. Doing nothing is not an option. We have to act.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAENZ: Now, Republicans have argued that this proposal is simply too little too late from President Biden. But, the President in his remarks said that he had no choice in part due to the fact that Republicans had tanked those bipartisan border talks up on Capitol Hill a bit earlier this year, a decision by Republicans that was done at the urging of former President Donald Trump.
Now, this all comes as President Biden is preparing to face off against Trump in their first debate in just a few weeks right here on CNN. And it comes also at a time when voters have increasingly said that immigration and border security are key concerns for them heading into the 2024 elections. Republicans have long tried to paint President Biden as weak on border policy. And so, the administration is trying to show that he is trying to do something at this time to stem the flow of migrants coming to the border, to stop the number of illegal crossings. And so, we will see what kind of impact this has in the 2024 race in the coming months.
SOLOMON: OK. Arlette Saenz live for us at the White House. Arlette, thank you. Well, coming up for us, she was found guilty, then acquitted of
murdering her roommate in Italy. But, there is one conviction that Amanda Knox has not been able to beat. That's coming up. Plus, as extreme heat continues to shatter records across the globe, some sobering and frankly chilling numbers from scientists on climate change. We'll be right back.
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[11:35:00]
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SOLOMON: Welcome back. You are watching CNN Newsroom. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York. And here are some of the international headlines we are watching for you today.
Narendra Modi is going through the motions today as he heads into a record third term as India's Prime Minister. Mr. Modi has resigned his post, but he won't be gone for long. The resignation is a procedural step before he is allowed to form a new government. The Prime Minister's party lost seats in this year's election and will have to build a coalition to remain in power.
Police say that four people were arrested on Tuesday in Hong Kong on the 35th anniversary of Beijing's Tiananmen Square massacre. The detainees were accused of offenses like disorderly conduct, shouting slogans, and assaulting police. It is no longer safe to commemorate Tiananmen Square in Hong Kong. The Chinese authorities have tried to scrub their violent 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters from record.
And an Italian court has upheld the slander conviction of American Amanda Knox. The conviction stemmed from a controversial police interrogation during which Knox accused her boss of killing her roommate Meredith Kercher. Knox was found guilty of murdering Kercher in Italy back in 2007. But, that conviction was overturned years later.
For more on this, let's bring in CNN's Paula Newton, who covered the original Knox murder trial, and she joins us live from Ottawa, Canada. Paula, always good to see you. Talk to us a little bit about first what this ruling now means for Knox.
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is interesting. This, obviously, as you just pointed out, is a case years in the making, and Amanda Knox was absolutely determined going into that courtroom that she would finally clear her name. She did not manage to do that. And according to reports from the courtroom, she was quite emotional afterwards and did not speak. A reminder, Rahel, that this is actually about a slander conviction.
So, what happened? She was a young student. She was accused of killing her roommate, which was another young student in Italy at the time. When she was brought in for questioning by Italian police, she ended up -- the Italian court says slandering a man that she worked for at a bar, Patrick Lumumba. And so, for that reason the conviction stands, even though a human rights Court in Europe determined in 2019 that during that interrogation, Rahel, police did not question her properly. It was under duress and she was without a lawyer. Despite this, that slander conviction still stands today.
This is about so much more, Rahel. But, this is about a woman who really feels as if she was wrongly convicted in the Italian court of opinion, so many people speculating for so many years about what this case was about. And even though she was cleared, many insinuating that somehow she didn't properly react after the killing of her roommate, that is, if she didn't show any remorse. And you can see Amanda Knox even in her public statements on her social media feed since then, really wanting to clear her name and just saying that she was so young, and again, that this was taken under duress.
I want to point out that Pat Lumumba, who is the person actually who still wants this slander conviction to stand, that he did nothing wrong. He was completely exonerated. That is despite spending several days in police custody for something he had no involvement in. And of course, Rahel, I mean, look, we all have to remember, this was the brutal murder of Meredith Kercher, a student in Italy at the time. One can only think of the pain that her family feels every time this course -- this case comes up again, and the fact that Amanda Knox, given she has a family now, has a whole new life in the United States, that she continues to try and clear her name.
[11:40:00]
Now, look, Rahel, she could still appeal this. That won't happen for at least 60 days because she has to wait for the written ruling of these judges. But, she has continued to say that she will work her entire lifetime to clear her name in this really sad and very tragic event in Italy.
SOLOMON: Just absolutely awful. And Paula, it's interesting, because when this happened, of course, this was -- the story was everywhere. I mean, Amanda Knox had been a household name, certainly not for good reasons because of this horrible story. But, we'll leave it here. Paula Newton, keep us updated on how this develops. Thank you.
Well, the official start of summer is still a couple of weeks away in the U.S. But, a so-called heat dome is sending temperatures soaring across the West. The heat dome is a -- it's large area of high pressure that traps air and heat with sunshine for days or even weeks. Now, that will mean dangerously warm temperatures and excessive heat warnings for 17 million people in states like California, Nevada, Utah and Arizona. Phoenix and Las Vegas are expected to hit the 43 degrees Celsius or 110 degrees Fahrenheit weeks earlier than usual.
Now, with month after month of higher temperatures worldwide, scientists say that the planet has crossed a red line of sorts and reached another alarming climate milestone. The past 12 months, they say, have averaged more than 1.6 degrees Celsius above the pre- industrial average. So, that tops the one and a half degree threshold that scientists have warned about avoiding as the planet warms. The UN Secretary-General has just made an impassioned speech on the dangers of climate change, warning that we are not only in danger. We are the danger.
Let's bring in CNN's Chief Climate Correspondent Bill Weir. Bill, on the one hand, it's not entirely surprising. Certainly, we've been living this. Obviously, we've been experiencing this. On the other hand, it's a really dark milestone. What more can you share with us about this new alarming milestone?
BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is 12 straight months in a row that have been the hottest such months in human history. North -- northern hemisphere hotter than it's ever been since the birth of Christ 2,000 years ago. And so, the Secretary-General using the American Museum of Natural History as a backdrop, dinosaurs as a backdrop to talk about extinction level events that we are on a highway to hell, as he calls it, with the godfathers of the climate crisis. That is the CEOs and heads of oil and gas and petro states have their feet on the gas. And what we're experiencing in terms of just violent weather events is just the opening attraction.
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WEIR (voice-over): Across the American heartland came a conga line of devastating tornadoes. deadly flooding from Brazil to Germany, a true drought that has millions rationing water in Mexico City, and temperatures close to 122 degrees in India, enough to kill at least 33 poll workers on the same day in recent national elections, all are snapshots from a planet overheated by human activity, where monthly heat records have been shattered for the last 12 months in a row.
WEIR: As somebody who has been studying sort of with intimate knowledge the climate crisis all these years, what do you make of what's happening around the world these days?
KIM COBB, DIR. OF INSTITUTE FOR ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY, BROWN UNIVERSITY: I mean, they'll -- this is just a dizzying rate of change that we're experiencing right now. But, in the near future, 2023 will register as a normal year, whereas, in fact, if you look at those graphs, all you can see is a vertical line shooting upward from the very recent warmest years on record. So, really just a record-smashing year in 2023.
ANTONIO GUTERRES, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: Let me be very clear again, the phase-out of fossil fuels is essential and inevitable. No amount of spin or scare tactics will change that. Let's hope it doesn't come too late.
WEIR (voice-over): Well, the head of the United Nations has been railing against polluters and petro states for years. He is using this report to plead with world leaders to cut dirty fuels faster than ever, to kick in more for unfair loss and damage in developing countries, and to ban all advertising from oil, gas and coal companies.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you could see the inside of your engine, we at Chevron believe that nothing is more precious than life.
WEIR: What do you make of the Secretary General's decision to really take new steps to call for an end to fossil fuel advertising on television and radio to treat those ads the way you would for tobacco products?
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LIZ BENTLEY, CHIEF EXECUTIVE PROFESSOR, ROYAL METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY: Any policies that we can introduce at national level or even international agreements to actually change the way we rely on fossil fuels are important. So, these actions, as you say, to treat fossil fuel adverts, as if it would be we treat banning conversations around tobacco or at least warning signs, if you do smoke, these are the consequences. We need to get, I think, more savvy to do that around greenhouse gas emissions as well.
WEIR (voice-over): To avoid the worst, scientists say global emissions must fall nine percent a year until 2030. And while they still went up last year, it was only by one percent, thanks to a boom and clean wind and sun power, a sign that humanity could finally be on the verge of bending the carbon curve.
COBB: Yes. One percent is in the wrong direction, but it's getting close to zero, and then it can start going into the negative territory. So, in fact, we are predicted to have peak fossil fuel emissions within the next year or two, which is something I frankly never saw coming even five years ago. So, that's real progress, and I think people need to really appreciate that.
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WEIR: There is essentially an invisible Godzilla in the sky. It is made of carbon dioxide and methane molecules. It weighs over a trillion tons. And the idea that we could finally stop making it bigger in the next couple of years, very much excites scientists. But, the question is, how much of a diet can we put that Godzilla on? How much can we starve it? Can we chop it up and bury some of it underground? And the companies that have become the richest in human history by making that Godzilla bigger, maybe stop giving them billions of dollars in subsidies from taxpayers and may be shift it to the companies that make energy and don't make carbon Godzilla bigger.
Just some of the demands being kicked around here today. The Secretary-General very fiery in years past, fallen on deaf ears, from the big oil companies, Rahel. But, we'll see. The bigger Godzilla gets, the hotter we get. And we're at the beginning of what will be a very hot summer.
SOLOMON: Yeah. Well, it's an interesting point, Bill. Economic incentives do have a funny way of working. We shall see. Chief climate correspondent Bill Weir live for us there, I believe on the Upper West Side, the beautiful Upper West Side of Manhattan.
All right. Still ahead, investors may be scrambling to get in on the artificial intelligence boom, but the U.S. Treasury Secretary is warning about the risks that AI poses to the financial sector. We'll be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOLOMON: Welcome back. The U.S. Treasury Secretary is warning about artificial intelligence in the financial sector. Janet Yellen is scheduled to speak with bankers and tech executives on Thursday about AI. Her speech is expected to caution against using the technology without appropriate risk management. Yellen's speech comes after a warning from a group of current and former employees at OpenAI.
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The insiders there calling for more transparency around the potential risk of AI in the marketplace.
Joining us now to break down the report is Matt Egan. S, Matt, give us a sense of what we can expect to hear from Janet Yellen, both in terms of the potential risks but also perhaps even opportunity.
MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, Rahel, tomorrow's speech by Janet Yellen will be her most extensive remarks to date on artificial intelligence, and these remarks come as AI is evolving at warp speed. Investors and Wall Street firms are embracing AI. Tech companies are scrambling to try to come up with the biggest and most impressive AI tools. And regulators like Yellen, they're just trying to catch up.
And so, Yellen plans to say that, yes, AI does open the door to some significant opportunities. But, she says there is also significant risks when it comes to AI in the financial sector. She is going to lay out some of her major concerns, including the risk around the fact that these are really black boxes, right? We don't actually understand how AI tools work. And that means it's almost impossible to understand how safe they are and how safe they'd be when they get introduced to the financial system.
There is also this concern over how some of these AI models they can churn out biased results, that can obviously be problematic when it comes to financial decision-making. Imagine getting denied a loan because a robot doesn't like the color of your skin or wet zip code you have. One interesting thing is that the speech does not appear to lay out any sort of concerns around the fact that some of these AI models, they can make stuff up. It's a problem known as hallucination. It's something that's gotten some lawyers in trouble because they've cited case law that they got from AI chatbots, and it turns out that that case law did not exist.
Now, earlier, this was about six months ago, U.S. regulators, they actually formally identified AI as an emerging vulnerability in the financial sector. Tomorrow, Janet Yellen plans to say that AI has moved to the top of the to-do list for financial regulators. Well, look, she does plan to lay out some of the positives around AI, some of the opportunities, talk about how it's already being used in forecasting. It's being used to fight financial fraud and power customer support. And then in the future, it could actually help make financing and investing and banking cheaper and easier to access.
A Treasury official told me that Janet Yellen herself has experimented with some of these AI chatbots. We know the IRS has used AI to try to fight against tax cheating. Treasury is using AI to try to fight financial crime. And tomorrow, Yellen plans to say for the first time that U.S. officials are working with the private sector on how AI can be used to fight sanctions evasion and even terror financing. Rahel.
SOLOMON: Fascinating. With any technology, it's always -- it can be used for good. It can be used for bad. It really just depends on who the person is using the technology. Matt Egan, we will wait to hear from the Treasury Secretary. Thank you. Thanks for that preview.
Now, let's take a quick check of the markets and it is green across the board on this Wednesday before we get the big jobs report on Friday. The Dow, the NASDAQ, and the S&P, all up with the NASDAQ up the most among them, let's call it 1.4 percent, not quite 1.4 percent, but I'm feeling a little generous here. We'll call it 1.34 percent.
Let's take a look at Europe where we'll see also green. The trend continues. Green also across the board in Europe, FTSE 100 up about two tenths of a percent, the DAX almost one percent, Paris, almost the same. A different picture in Asian markets, which closed lower.
All right. After a quick break, like mother like son. In today's one more thing, we will take a closer look at England's newest banknotes now with King Charles' portrait. We will be right back.
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SOLOMON: Welcome back. And one more thing before we go. If you live in the UK or you just plan to visit, you may notice a new face on the currency. British banknotes featuring a portrait of King Charles have now gone into circulation. The notes are available in increments ranging from five pounds to 50. And according to the Bank of England, bank notes featuring Queen Elizabeth will remain legal tender and will co-circulate with her son's.
All right. Speaking of money, we know your time is money. So, thank you for spending some time with me today. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York. Stick with CNN. One World, it's coming up next.
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