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Tensions Ramp Up On Israel-Lebanon Border As IDF Warns Decision Is Approaching On Fresh Offensive; D-Day Veterans Return To Normandy For 80th Anniversary Of Allied Invasion; Trump Election Subversion Case Paused; WSJ Takes On Biden's Age, White House Fires Back; Democrats Defend Biden after WSJ Story on Mental Fitness; Highway to Climate Hell; First U.S. and S. Korea Life Munitions Drop with B-1B in 7 years; British Royals Honor World War II Veterans. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired June 06, 2024 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[01:00:24]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm John Vause. Ahead here on CNN Newsroom. Fighting on Israel's northern border dramatically surges in the past 24 hours with Israel's military and Hezbollah militants trading fire.
The greater the contrast, the greater the potential, U.S. President Joe Biden in normally and talking of America's global leadership both past and present. Unlike his predecessor Donald Trump, and his America First policy, and the White House once again in damage control after another critical report on Joe Biden's age at 81 years old is the U.S. President still up for the job as the world's most powerful man.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN Newsroom with John Vause.
VAUSE: We begin this out in the Middle East where finding on Israel's northern border has surged and just 24 hours leading to renewed fears of a wider regional conflicts. Cross border attacks from Hezbollah militants in Lebanon spark fires across northern Israel.
According to the IDF, approximately 30 rockets and drones were launched from Lebanon into Israel Wednesday, entering at least 10 people while Israeli airstrikes targeted Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon. The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the border area and delivered this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRMIE MINISTER (through translator): Whoever thinks that they can hurt us and that we will sit idly by is making a big mistake. We are prepared for very intense action in the north. One way or another, we will restore security to the north.
(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: The U.S. remains incredibly concerned it says about the risk of escalation on the Israel-Lebanon border. The State Department says they are engaged in intensive diplomatic talks to prevent further escalation, calling it an untenable situation.
Well, Wednesday, Israel marked Jerusalem Day, the day IDF forces took control of East Jerusalem during the Six Day War, but one which has become increasingly nationalistic in recent years. CNN witnessed large groups of Israeli Jewish settlers and nationalists descending on the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, the third holiest site in Islam.
Israeli settlers who say dancing in the compound known as the temple mount to Jews and the noble sanctuary for Muslims, but Jews are allowed to visit but not pray. The images show crowds of young Israeli nationalists throwing objects at Palestinian shopkeepers in Jerusalem old city.
According to Israeli police, 18 people were arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of violent offenses and disorderly conduct.
Meantime, hospital officials in central Gaza say at least 65 people, including women and children were killed in Israeli airstrikes on Wednesday. One of the survivors says there was no warning the area would be targeted and no one told them to leave. The IDF says it carried out operations based on intelligence indicating Hamas militants were in that area. CNN's Nada Bashir has more now and a warning her report contains graphic images.
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NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER (voice-over): What is left to say for the children of Gaza, wounded and killed in 1,000 by a month long Israeli military unsought. For so many, there are no words. The wounded are rushed to hospital beside the dead.
This child clutches onto her father, terrified, but alive. For so many others in the central city of Deir al-Balah, there is only grief and suffering as the bodies of Gaza's latest victims fill over on morgues.
Dozens were killed in overnight strikes by the Israeli military said to be acting on intelligence targeting Hamas militants and infrastructure. But this was an area as is so often the case where thousands of displaced civilians had been sheltering.
Under region many displaced Gazans in the South had returned to in recent days. Among them were Onshadi's (ph) daughter and her son, his lifeless body besides her. Her four other children had been left fighting for their lives in intensive care.
What did they do to deserve this? They were just children, not fighters, Onshadi (ph) says.
[01:05:00]
As the dead are laid to rest, the living must grapple with a humanitarian catastrophe that is only getting worse. Mountains of waste piled high, raw sewage contaminating the strip's heavily restricted water supplies.
The U.N. now warning of severe health and environmental risks with diseases fear to be spreading rapidly through Gaza's densely populated displacement camps. Life here is so much more difficult than you could even imagine, Abdullah Rakman (ph) says. Raw sewage, mosquitoes, no water, the smell at night. Our children can't sleep. There are sick people here, the elderly.
More than a million people in Gaza are now facing catastrophic levels of hunger. A group of independent experts warned on Wednesday, that famine may already be underway in the north. Children across the strip have been left to scavenge for whatever they can find to feed their families. Scraps of paper and plastic gathered from the street used in place of firewood to bake bread.
My children hadn't eaten all day, this mother says. This is all we have left to feed them for the whole day. And as Israel deepens its offensive further south, humanitarian operations have been left on the brink of collapse.
I have one question, this woman says, why are they doing this to us? What did we do to deserve all this? Nada Bashir, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: A Ukrainian lawmaker says U.S. supplied weapons now being used at targets on Russian soil and making a significant impact. In particular, he says America made HIMARS mobile rocket launchers are the weapon of choice for Ukrainian soldiers, striking Russian air defense systems and weapons depots, helping significantly reduce Russian missile attacks on the Kharkiv region.
U.S. and other Western allies have begun showing a willingness to allow Ukraine to use their weapons for strikes on Russian territory, something which Vladimir Putin has strongly warned against.
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VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): In the end if we see that these countries become involved in a war against us, what they are doing makes them directly involved in a war against the Russian Federation. We reserve the right to act the same way. Overall, it leads to some serious problems.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: At this hour, 80 years ago, Allied warships and planes were pounding German defenses on the French coast and of what was and still is the largest seaborne invasion in history. The Battle of Normandy would continue for months, the beginning of the end of Nazi Germany.
On this day war is once again raging in Europe, with Ukraine, now into the third year of a fight for survival with Russia. And against that backdrop, world leaders are gathering in France to mark the anniversary of D Day, with one notable exception. Russian President Vladimir Putin was not invited. But the German chancellor was. U.S. President Joe Biden expected to meet shortly with veterans and their families during a visit to the American Cemetery. French President Emmanuel Macron paid his respects to civilians killed in bombardments during the war. He plans to host a state dinner for President Biden later this week.
Surviving veterans who fought in Normandy many years ago now almost 100 years old, had been arriving in France over the past few days, receiving a hero's welcome at Charles de Gaulle Airport, Britain's King Charles and Queen Camilla paid tribute to veterans at a ceremony at Portsmouth in England on Wednesday. King Charles praised the bravery of those who fought against tyranny.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KING CHARLES, UNITED KINGDOM: The stories of courage, resilience and solidarity, which you've heard today and throughout our lives cannot fail to move us, to inspire us. And to remind us of what we owe to that great wartime generation,
PRINCE WILLIAM, UNITED KINGDOM: The mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, who watched their loved ones go into battle, unsure if they would ever return. Today we remember the bravery of those across the sea to liberate Europe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: After the speeches came and elaborate aerial show, featuring images of Spitfire fighter aircraft, a soldier and the words I can remember.
Joining us this hour is Max Boot, historian, author, columnist for the Washington Post and Senior Fellow for National Security Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. Welcome back, Max. It's good to see you.
MAX BOOT, COLUMNIST, THE WASHINTON POST: Good to be here.
VAUSE: So we'll get to Joe Biden in a moment of his trip to France, but I wanted to hear your thoughts on this 80th anniversary of D Day, and the leader of Germany is there at the invitation of the French president. Well, the Russian President Vladimir Putin is not because he wasn't invited.
[01:10:00]
BOOT: I think that summarizes in one sentence, the great achievement in the great failure of Europe over the past 70 plus years, the great achievement being the reconciliation of Germany, the transformation of Germany, into a liberal democratic state and close alliances with former enemies such as France and Britain, as well as Germany.
And of course, the great failure is the fact that Russia has not been integrated into Europe and Russia is very much a threat to Europe for a liberal country that once seemed to be on the cusp of becoming a democracy in the 1990s and now has regressed so that's a completely liberal state that threatens Europe. It's a tragedy. VAUSE: Well, even ceremonies in Normandy in (INAUDIBLE), a brotherhood of nations united in sacrifice, to beat back authoritarianism. And that sentiment, The Washington Post reports is factoring into European Parliamentary elections this week, as well as Biden's message in his campaign against Trump.
The issue here is that 80 years ago, the U.S. faced an external threat from dictators and fascists in Europe and elsewhere. In 2024, the calls are coming from inside the house.
BOOT: There was actually a lot of similarity between the period right now and the period before World War II, because remember, right before World War II, there was also a threat from fascist states like Nazi Germany and fascist Italy. But a lot of Americans are oblivious to what was going on. We had an America First movement in the United States that said that what happened in Europe was none of our business and that we should just stick to our internal domestic affairs.
And then, of course, came the attack on Pearl Harbor by Japan on December 7, 1941. And that was the end of the America First movement. And you never heard it. Again, anybody's saying that they were part of an America First movement until Donald Trump came along in 2016.
And now is America first isolationist philosophy is embraced by a large section of the Republican Party and could well be once again in office at this time next year, even as a new fascist threat looms in Europe from Russia, which has invaded Ukraine and is threatening the frontline NATO states in Europe.
VAUSE: And across Europe itself, there have been a resurgence of far right parties as POLITICO reports. In France, the National rally party is on track to receive a third of the vote, while in double the support of its nearest rival, President Manuel Macron's Renaissance Party.
In Germany despite a series of scandals, the AfD is headed for second place, head of every partner and Chancellor Olaf Scholz governing coalition. In Italy, the prime minister there the -- her right wing Brothers of Italy Party is floating far ahead of the chasing pack. So with E.U. elections this weekend, it seems Europe is now heading for its own Donald Trump moment. Is that possible?
BOOT: There is no question that far right populist parties are searching not only in Europe, but also in the United States. But I think so far, Europeans with a handful of exceptions have generally had the good sense not to award power to those parties, and to stay on a democratic path and to oppose the Russian invasion of Ukraine, even though we know that the Russians are spending a lot of money around to far right parties to try to subvert European unity.
I hope that the example of D Day 80 years later will help to inspire both Americans and Europeans to stay the course in defense of liberal democracy.
VAUSE: Well, President Biden also wants to present a stark contrast to Donald Trump's visit, for the 75th D Day anniversary. That's when Trump refused to visit a cemetery where U.S. Marines were buried. He had concerns about the rain messing up his hair. And during an earlier conversation with senior staff, he asked them why should I go to that cemetery, it's filled with losers. He later referred to 1,800 dead Marines as suckers for getting killed.
And on Friday, Biden will make a point to visit the cemetery which Trump skipped. The contrast here is about a lot more than just visits to cemetery. So it's about, you know, building international relations, which Trump did not in standing together supporting Ukraine, which Trump will not continue working with allies and repenting, you know, repairing bent vessels that were damaged during Trump's four years in office.
How effective though, could this ultimately be for Biden come November?
BOOT: I mean, I think it'll certainly help right now will probably be forgotten by November. But I think it's good to reinforce his basic message. And of course, he doesn't have to say anything overly political while he's in Europe. And he probably shouldn't say anything overly political because he doesn't want to do what Trump did, which was to take partisan fights to other countries.
But I think simply the example of going to the cemetery and honoring the dead in representing America, as we all want America to be represented. I think it'll be a very powerful contrast to Trump, who seems to be entirely focused on himself.
[01:15:00]
And based on the comments you quoted, you know, which had been widely verified, he's -- Trump seems to have nothing but contempt for those who have served this country and even given their lives for this country. And obviously, President Biden has a very different attitude because his own son Beau Biden was a veteran of the of the U.S. military. So I think he understands the importance of the kind of sacrifice and service that we honor when we have these commemorations of D Day.
VAUSE: Max, thank you for being with us. Really appreciate your time and tell us your insights.
BOOT: Thanks for having me.
VAUSE: At least Four people are dead. More than 20 others injured after a passenger train with more than 300 people on board collided with a freight train that 100 kilometers east of Prague in the Czech Republic Wednesday.
The freight train was reportedly transported calcium carbide and industrial chemical considered hazardous. The passenger train was headed to a town in western Ukraine.
When we come back, a big break for Donald Trump, a bad break for the woman trying to prosecute him. A Georgia appeals court puts his election interference case on hold for the foreseeable future. Also head, the White House again in damage control slamming a new Wall
Street Journal article critical Joe Biden's age and mental fitness and the fact they only talk to Republicans, at least published Republicans had to say.
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VAUSE: Welcome back. A new setback for prosecutors in the election interference case against Donald Trump in the state of Georgia, may recall his attempt back in 2020 to conjure up just enough votes to win the state.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: So look, all I want to do is this, I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more that we have because we won the state.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: State appeals court filed an order Wednesday saying it's suspending the case indefinitely, while it rules on whether the district attorney should be disqualified. This is a big win for the former U.S. president. He's been trying to date all of his legal issues until after the presidential election. CNN's Sara Murray explains.
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SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: The Georgia Court of Appeals pausing the prosecution of Donald Trump and several of his co- defendants in the election interference case in Fulton County indefinitely. This latest move basically guarantees that there is no way the case against Trump and several of his co-defendants is going to be going to trial before the presidential election.
That is a far cry from what the Fulton County district attorney had hoped for. She had hoped to go to trial in August, well before the election.
Now we're looking at potentially months of relitigating this question of whether Fani Willis should be disqualified from prosecuting the case because of her romantic relationship with a fellow prosecutor as well as other public comments she has made about the case.
Now the district attorney's office declined to comment on this latest development. Meanwhile, an attorney for Donald Trump and Georgia Steve Sadow cheered on this move by the appeals courts as he looks forward to arguing that the case against Donald Trump should be dismissed, and Willis should be disqualified for what he calls misconduct. Sara Murray, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[01:20:13] VAUSE: Well, the White House is pushing back on reporting from the Wall Street Journal, which suggests the President's mental acuity is slipping because of his age. Here's the headline from the piece behind closed doors, Biden show signs of slipping. There you go. With details of dozens of interviews for both Republicans and Democrats claiming to have witnessed a decline in the present state of my -- state of mind and physical abilities.
Well, the White House suggests it's nothing more than a partisan political hit piece, given the fact that Democrats were not quoted in the in the story at all. CNN's MJ Lee reports now from the White House.
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MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOSUE CORRESPONDENT: According to The Wall Street Journal, they spoke with some 45 people over the course of several months, including Democrats, Republicans and administration officials who met with President Biden or were briefed on some of these meetings that included the president, and some of these people telling reporters that he seemed a little slower, less sharp, essentially showing his age. He is, of course 81, and is the oldest person to serve in the role of president.
And importantly, the story did say the most of the people who were critical of the president in the story happened to be Republicans.
Now we saw on Wednesday, the White House and Biden allies furiously pushing back on this story. And one person in particular that was quoted throughout the story that really seemed to aggravate the White House. This was Kevin McCarthy, the former House Speaker, who of course, spent a lot of time with President Biden in closed door meetings and negotiations. And he said in the story that the President at times, rambled, always have to use cards. He said, he just wasn't the same person that he was when he was vice president.
And the White House's response to this was basically that is BS coming from somebody who at the time when he was in these negotiations had said, even in public that the President seemed sharp when he was interacting with him.
Now, I think the broader pushback that we are getting from the White House on this Wall Street Journal story is essentially that the Republicans that are featured in this story are using the story to go after the president in a political way ahead of the November elections. And we did also just get a real sense of how sensitive the issue of age is for this White House in the campaign.
One interesting moment, from the story is where it said that several Democrats had shared with the White House either a recording of an interview or details about what was asked by the reporters. And some of those lawmakers spoke to the Journal a second time, and once again, emphasize Biden's strengths. And Congressman Gregory Meeks from New York, a Democrat said they said that I should give you a call back. They, they're referring to the White House. Now, the Wall Street Journal reporters said that, you know, there have
been debates about how the President is in public versus how he is when he is performing behind closed doors. And they sought to try to show any differences between how he is publicly how he is in private, of course, for observers, including reporters who report on the president day in and day out, we do see sort of a mixed performance at times. We see him on days when he seems incredibly sharp, incredibly focused and energized.
And then of course, we definitely see moments where he is tripping over his words, or is forgetting people's names or mixing up places. So this, of course, comes at a particularly sensitive time for this President given that it is an election year and his opponent, former President Donald Trump, who is in his late 70s. He has tried to seize on every one of these moments where the President has tripped up to his political advantage. MJ Lee, CNN at the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Live to Los Angeles now and Ron Brownstein, CNN senior political analyst and senior editor at The Atlantic. Welcome back, Ron, good to see it.
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Hi, John.
VAUSE: We'll get to the reporting by the Journal in a moment. But first, back in February at ABC News, Ipsos poll found that 86 percent of Americans think Biden, 81 years old, is too old to serve another term as president. That figure includes 59 percent of Americans who think both he and former President Donald Trump, the Republican frontrunner are too old and 27 percent who think only Biden is too old.
Before that poll, another one in September last year, ABC News, Washington Post poll 74 percent of Americans thought Biden was too old to serve. A second term rather. And 49 percent said the same about Trump.
So obviously that concern is growing in between September and February more people are feeling that way. The reality is Biden's concern -- age is a big concern for American voters.
[01:25:00]
So, you know, this is an issue which cannot be ignored, but I guess maybe it shouldn't be done the way the Wall Street Journal handle it.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes, you know, I have a sort of counterintuitive view on the Journal story. I think it's problematic that they relied predominantly on Republic apparently, you know, on Republicans maybe, you know, two Republican speakers as their as their principal sources, although they certainly have testimony from Democrats there.
I don't really think it matters that much what people say about Biden's acuity. I think what is driving this overwhelmingly is what voters see, you know, what they basically see with their own eyes. It's the way that he presents himself both kind of the timbre of his voice, the way he moves, you know, Biden mangle sentences when he ran for president in the 1980s. I covered that campaign, you know, he's never been in artful speaker.
I think the core issue here is that, as one Democratic strategist said to me, he said, look at Biden, turn off the sound when Biden is on TV, and that, this person said is what many Democrats believe is driving this overwhelming consensus that he is too old.
And the way the way that he can respond to that, John, I think is not by, you know, Democratic senators saying no, he's absolutely sharp and a meeting or foreign leader saying that many of which will say that. I mean, he's really got a resolve to the extent this can be resolved, it's going to be resolved by him in big moments where people are watching, and he delivers a performance that reassures them that he is up for the job, not only in a second term, even now, I mean, there's this big concern.
So I think, like the debate with Trump, if it assuming it happens, is going to be much more important to these perceptions than kind of the back and forth over, you know, differing representations of the way he performed in private meetings.
VAUSE: What is interesting is the change in Biden in just five years. I want you to take a look at first. Biden talking about asylum during one of the debates with Donald Trump. This is back in 2019.
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JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: You come to the United States, and you make your case that I seek asylum based on the following premise, why I deserve and under American law, they're sitting in squalor on the other side of the river.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Now compare that to the president speaking on Tuesday, about asylum seekers, here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: I'm moving past Republican obstruction, and usually the executive authority is available me as President to do what I can on my own.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Just the look, the sound of the voice, there is a decline there, which obviously people, as you say they see that and then they judge for themselves. I guess the question is, how much further could that decline continue over the next four years?
BROWNSTEIN: Yes. And I think that is something that really, you know, unsettles a lot of voters. I mean, there's no question. It's a real issue. And that's why, you know, there is a lot of frustration in the Democratic Party that he chose to run for a second term. I mean, you're not -- by no means are all elected or rank and file
Democrats on board with this when he said right before COVID in March 2020, at that appearance in Michigan, that he saw himself as a bridge to another generation of leaders. There are a lot of Democrats who took that to mean that he was not going to seek reelection.
You know, the presidency ages everyone. Donald Trump is not who he was in 2016. And if you look at the flubs that here -- that he is making on the campaign trail, and he couldn't confusing Nancy Pelosi and Nikki Haley, and you know, many of the other kind of head scratching things that he has been saying. I mean, no one would say that this is someone who is undiminished from where he was only a few years ago.
So yes, I think I, look, this is not a problem that is that is going to go away for Biden. It is also a problem for Trump. I think the bigger problem for Biden, his frustration over inflation, and alienation, is the fact that key constituents of the Democratic Party have never been that enthusiastic about him, especially a young people.
But as I say, if to the extent that Biden can bring this under control, he's going to have to do it, and he's going to have to do it, when the lights are brightest. And people are watching by delivering a performance that gives them more confidence than they have now that he is up to the job, even today, much less five years from now.
VAUSE: Was it ever a deal in place that he would serve one term and then sit down and maybe hand it over to Kamala Harris?
BROWNSTEIN: No, no, there was -- no I don't think -- I don't think he's ever explicit. I just think that, you know, a lot of people just kind of looked at the, you know, the first of all the objective reality of his age.
[01:29:47]
And secondly, those comments which were so well received, I mean he's on a stage with I think it was Cory Booker and Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar and Gretchen Whitmer.
You know, there is a lot of talent in the next-generation of the Democratic Party, particularly in the state houses. There are a lot of Democrats who think Josh Shapiro the governor of Pennsylvania, or Gretchen Whitmer the governor of Michigan or Gavin Newsom the governor of California, Roy Cooper the governor of North Carolina. All could be very strong candidates.
But Biden, you know -- as I said, I covered his presidential campaign in 1986 and 1987 when he had to leave the race because of a brain aneurysm. He has wanted this job for a long time. He believes he beat Donald Trump which no one else, you know, either Democrat or Republican has done.
He's a proud guy. You know, he did not go to the Ivy League. He always feels like he's been underestimated and he's kind of dug in his heels on this. And also, I think, you know, he feels and the people around him feel
that Kamala Harris is not in position to beat Donald Trump and replacing her as the nominee would tear apart the party.
Ao all of these things kind of pushed him in a direction that a lot of Democrats were ambivalent about. But if he loses, if he does not win this race the recriminations are going to be overwhelming because every problem that he is facing both in terms of his age and public perceptions of the economy, you know, have been evidenced for a year- and-a-half, at least.
You know, almost nothing has changed in this race in many ways in the last year. You know, as I wrote on CNN.com today, I think that's largely because each man's vulnerabilities limits the effect of the other's vulnerabilities and kind of keeps them locked in place.
But if he doesn't win with all of this so apparent, I mean, the finger pointing, the kind of sense that he made the same mistake as Ruth Bader Ginsburg, I think is going to be overwhelming.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Very clearly the former house speaker, Nancy Pelosi, you know, she called out "The Wall Street Journal" and said this. They ignored testimony by Democrats, focused on attacks by Republicans and printed a hit piece. Dozens of Democrats say they were interviewed, but their comments were just not published and the White House issued this statement.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes.
VAUSE: "Congressional Republicans, foreign leaders, and nonpartisan national security experts have made clear in their own words that President Biden is a savvy and effective leader who has a deep record of legislative accomplishment."
You know, that's the statement which was sort of mandated to read out because we need to get that side out there. But as far as Pelosi's point was this a hit piece.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes. Look, you know, I think relying so heavily on Republicans to make this case is, you know, sort of not the best choice in journalism, but they are reflecting a reality that, you know, as MJ Lee said there are good days and there are bad days.
Biden -- Biden showed especially in his first years, the value of experience. I mean, what he achieved legislatively in those first two years in a 50-50 Senate was truly remarkable that troika of bills, the Inflation Reduction Act with all the clean energy provisions, the Infrastructure Bill, and the Chips Bill, the Electoral Count Act revisions.
I mean, it was a kind of maestro performance and he generally has been successful at working with allies, certainly in orchestrating the response to Ukraine.
But I have always felt that, you know, part of the presidency is not only what you do behind closed doors. It's the ability to communicate with the public and to drive a message and to build support for your agenda.
The famous political scientist Richard (INAUDIBLE), you know, famously wrote 40, 50 years ago, the power to persuade was the most important power of the presidency. Biden wasn't graded that when he was 50. He's less effective at that when he's 80 and I think that is the core of the concern about the age that the people see him do not see strength, they do not see him mastering events, and obviously the chaos in the world and inflation at home kind of compounds that.
So he is the one, he is the only one who can make a dent in this problem. I think it doesn't matter what Nancy Pelosi says about how effective he is behind closed doors.
People have to see him in a way that gives them confidence that he has the personal capacity to do what they expect of a president maybe unrealistically, which is master events at home and abroad.
VAUSE: Yes, Trump talks a good game, whereas Biden actually plays a good game. It's interesting to see what happens as this gets closer to November.
Ron Brownstein, thank you sir. Good to see you.
BROWNSTEIN: Thanks, John.
VAUSE: Well, highway to climate hell. Why the U.N. Secretary General is issuing a dire warning again on the climate crisis more details on that in just a moment.
[01:34:22]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: This just in to CNN. Dozens have been killed and wounded in an Israeli airstrike on a U.N.-run school which was housing displaced Palestinians in central Gaza. Hospital officials say at least 39 people are confirmed dead and fear the number will rise.
The Israeli military has confirmed it carried out the strike, saying a Hamas compound was operating inside the school in Nuseirat. The IDF many measures were taken to try and minimize the danger to civilians.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONIO GUTERRES, U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL: But like the meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs we are having an outsized impact.
In the case of climate, we are not the dinosaurs we are the meteor. We are playing Russian roulette with our planet. And we need an exit ramp off the highway to climate hell.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: That's just part of the U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres' speech on Wednesday on climate change.
In that speech, he also slammed fossil fuel companies calling them the godfathers of climate chaos.
For the first time he called on all countries to ban advertising fossil fuel products. The speech comes as new data from the E.U. reveals the planet mounts (ph) a shocking new milestone of 12 consecutive months of unprecedented heat.
Every single month from June last year to last month, was the world's hottest months on record. And that each month since July 2023 has been at least 1.5 degrees warmer than the pre-industrial era.
It also shows the average global temperature over the past 12 months was 1.63 degrees above pre-industrial averages. Well, the unprecedented heat is being felt across the world and climate scientists and weather experts are warning that a heat record set in the past year would likely be broken again and again and again and again in the coming years.
More now from CNN's Bill Weir.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Across the American heartland came a Conga line of devastating tornadoes, deadly flooding from Brazil to Germany, a 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.
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, DIRECTOR OF INSTITUTE FOR ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY, BROWN UNIVERSITY: I mean, Bill, this is just a dizzying rate of change that we're experiencing right now.
[01:39:40]
COBB: 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: While the head of the United Nations has been railing against polluters and petrol 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 --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 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.
COBB: 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 -- these actions, as you say, to treat fossil fuel adverts as if it would be, you know, 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: 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 in 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.
WEIR: Bill Weir, CNN -- New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: The U.S. and South Korea have resumed live fire joint military drills with a USB-1B bomber escorted by two South Korean F-15k Eagles hitting targets on South Korean soil with hundreds of kilograms of explosives.
Our CNN's Will Ripley has the latest details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A major show of force. The U.S. flying a long-range B-1B bomber over the Korean Peninsula. The first precision-guided bombing drill with South Korea dropping live munitions in seven years, says Seoul, still cleaning up the mess from a massive barrage of North Korean trash balloons.
About 1,000 balloons floating full of filth and garbage. Some 15 tons of trash, raining down on residents all over South Korea in recent days.
The first wave of trash balloons, triggering ominous cell phone alerts.
KIM MIN-HEE, RESIDENT OF YONGIN CITY, SOUTH KOREA (through translator): Why are they sending things like this? I'm worried that they might send something dangerous.
RIPLEY: Kim Yo Jong, younger sister of the North Korean leader, issued a statement calling the balloons a form of freedom of expression, a response to South Korean activists who've been sending balloons to North Korea for years, carrying leaflets condemning Kim's government.
South Korea's speedy response, possibly sending propaganda blaring loudspeakers back to the DMZ, the heavily armed border dividing the two Koreas.
Seoul suspending the 2018 Inter-Korean military agreement, a deal to dial down tensions during the short-lived Korean detente before diplomacy with Former President Trump and Kim went off the rails five years ago.
These days, Kim is suspected of trying to put more military spy satellites into orbit. Last week's failed launch triggering emergency sirens in Japan.
North Korea also launching a barrage of short-range ballistic missiles last week. President Biden telling "Time" magazine, North Korea remains a serious threat. As long as there are nuclear weapons available, it's always going to be a problem.
Another problem, Vladimir Putin. U.S. intelligence warning of a deepening military alliance with the Russian strongman. Putin expected to visit Kim in Pyongyang soon.
With tensions rapidly rising between North and South Korea, and now U.S. bombing drills back in play, trash balloons may be the least of our problems.
[01:44:47]
RIPLEY: Analysts believe that there will be some sort of military response from the North, some sort of tests to try to show strength, just like the U.S. and South Korea are trying to project x strength.
The problem here, analysts say, is that there's been no official diplomacy, no talks between the United States and North Korea in five years since the former Trump administration. And in the absence of diplomacy, this cycle of military deterrence, some fear could lead the Korean Peninsula towards yet another crisis.
Will Ripley, CNN -- Taipei. (END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: With that, we'll take a short pause here on CNN. We'll be back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: The shadowy Israeli detention center in the Negev Desert is now the center of a case before Israel's supreme court. The government lawyers said the camp has been phased out after human rights groups began legal action based mostly on CNN reporting on those abuse of Palestinian prisoners at that facility.
Here's CNN's Matthew Chance and his report (INAUDIBLE) part of the story he filed last month.
(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.
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 (through translator): 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: 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.
While the case at the Israeli supreme court essentially questioning the legality of this detention facility at Sde Teiman in southern Israel, the fact that so many hundreds of Palestinians have been held there since the Hamas attacks of October the 7, in dire conditions without proper access to medical facilities.
And of course, the reports of abuse and torture as well. In response to that court hearing, the Israeli authorities inside the court said they were in the process, essentially of phasing the detention center out. [01:49:45]
CHANCE: They said they'd already moved hundreds of Palestinian prisoners out of Sde Teiman to other detention facilities. And that they were going to do hundreds, move hundreds more out in the weeks ahead.
There's still a question over what happens to the detention facility though in the months ahead, whether it will remain open or whether it will continue to be wound down and eventually close.
That's something we expect to see be clarified over the coming days. There's another court hearing in a few days from now, again, in Israel to try and get a clearer sense of what the Israeli government's intention is for Sde Teiman and detention facilities.
But look, make no mistake the investigation that our team carried out into the abuses there had a huge impact overseas, first of all.
The White House said it was deeply concerned about the allegations of abuses that were exposed inside Sde Teiman, the German government, which is normally very supportive of Israel, expressed its concern. The U.N. did the same even the Israeli army announced that it was launching an investigation into the allegations of abuse in Sde Teiman and other detention facilities.
But the most important impact I think has been the way in which this detention center has really rallied human rights activists inside Israel -- not, not critics of the country from outside, but human rights activists who are, for the most part against the direction that Israel has been taking in its war in Gaza. This has been a real rallying cry for them because they believe that Israel has gone too far and the court case that we saw today is an expression of that concern, that increasing number Israelis feel about the direction in which Israel has gone when it comes to this conflict against Hamas in Gaza.
Matthew Chance, CNN -- London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Well, here's something not often heard.
It was a good day for Boeing. After more than four years, dozens of setbacks, more than $1 billion over budget. But the Starliner aircraft -- space aircraft he launches with two astronauts on board, but there are still challenges ahead. More on that, in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: After false starts, scrapped missions, other embarrassing missteps, Boeing's Starliner spaceship is heading to the national space station for the first time with crew onboard.
After their week-long vision, the two astronauts onboard are due to touch down on land in the southwestern United States just not in water.
Now, two helium leaks though had been detected on a ship in addition to one that was found before takeoff, NASA and Boeing both say the spacecraft is in orbit and stable and the two astronauts on board are safe and told to go to sleep for a while, while they monitor the situation on earth.
They're scheduled to dock with the ISS later on Thursday.
Britain's King Charles and Prince William will be in France in the day ahead, taking part in ceremonies marking the 80th anniversary of D- Day. On Wednesday they honored World War II veterans in Portsmouth in England.
CNN's Max Foster has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: A royal wave from a 99-year-old British World War II veteran. D-Day soldiers who are still here to tell their stories, revisiting their past as a lesson for the future.
[01:54:53]
FOSTER: Some even traveling across the sea from Portsmouth in England to mark the 80th anniversary of the U.S.-led landing in Normandy, France.
They were joined by British royals and a handful of world leaders who celebrated their allied efforts, urging the next generation to listen to those who came before.
KING CHARLES III, UNITED KINGDOM: Our role is not purely passive; it is our duty to ensure that we and future generations do not forget their service and their sacrifice.
FOSTER: The ceremony, the first major event since King Charles' cancer diagnosis saw him side-by-side with his wife, Queen Camilla, who shed a tear amid the somber occasion, as well as his son and heir, Prince William.
Their rare family show of force a representation of unity amid a time of global division. Charles and William using the moment to remind their country and the world of the need for civic duty, sacrifice, and the strength of allied cooperation.
WILLIAM, PRINCE OF WALES: I am deeply honored to join you today, to recognize the bravery of all of those who participated in the D-Day landing. The start of the liberation of France and Europe that led to victory of the allied powers.
FOSTER: Royal ties to the Second World War are far from forgotten. Keen not to be hidden during the war, after bombs dropped on Buckingham Palace, the then King George VI and Queen Elizabeth decided to stay put, in solidarity with those living through the blitz. And at just 19-years-old, a teenage Princess Elizabeth carried out her
first public duties during the war, joining the women's military, training as a driver and mechanic.
Former reflections were mixed with this week's commemorations, rich in symbolism and resonance of current times, a commitment and plea to learn from the past.
Max Foster, CNN -- London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Thank you for watching. I'm John Vause.
Please stay with us. CNN NEWSROOM continues after a short break with my colleague and friend Rosemary Church.
I'll see you right back here tomorrow.
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