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New Data Reports the Planet Marked 12 Hottest Months on Record; U.N. Chief Calls on All Countries to Ban Advertising Fossil Fuel Products; Georgia Election Subversion Case Paused Indefinitely; Florida Judge Further Delays Classified Documents Case; Boeing's Starliner Heads to the International Space Station; World Leaders Gather To Mark 80th Anniversary Of D-Day; U.S. Concerned As Tensions Ramp Up On Israel-Lebanon Border; Biden To Meet Ukraine's Zelenskyy During Visit To France. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired June 06, 2024 - 02:00   ET

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

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[02:00:30]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world and everyone streaming us on CNN Max. I'm Rosemary Church. Just ahead.

We are following breaking news out of Gaza where officials say dozens of people are dead or wounded after an Israeli airstrike on a U.N. school.

Gathering on the beaches of Normandy, world leaders prepare to mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion.

And the world is on a highway to climate hell. The U.N. rings the alarm bell after a year of record-breaking temperatures.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN NEWSROOM with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: And we begin this hour. In the Middle East where Gaza officials say dozens of people have been killed and wounded in an Israeli airstrike on a U.N.-run school housing displaced Palestinians in the heart of the Enclave. Hospital officials say at least 39 people are dead and fear the number could rise. The Israeli military confirmed it carried out the strike saying it targeted a Hamas compound operating inside the school in Nuseirat.

The IDF said it took many measures to minimize the danger to civilians. Well, as the war in Gaza continues to devastate the Enclave there are growing fears of a wider conflict in the region. Fighting is intensifying between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. Cross border attacks from Lebanon have led to fires breaking out across northern Israel burning large areas of land and forcing evacuations.

The Israeli military says approximately 30 rockets and drones were launched from Lebanon toward Israel on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Israeli fighter jets targeted Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the border area and had this warning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL (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)

CHURCH: The U.S. remains incredibly concerned about the risk of escalation on the Israel-Lebanon border. The State Department says they are engaged in intense diplomatic talks to prevent further escalation and called it an untenable situation. CNN's Jeremy Diamond is in Jerusalem with more.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: At least 10 people were injured in the northern Israeli town of Hurfeish, according to the Israeli military, after Hezbollah launched a explosive drone attack at that town. It's not clear how many of these 10 people who are injured are civilians versus military. But this is a significant attack carried out by Hezbollah. One that, interestingly did not set off those sirens in northern Israel, which typically sound hen Hezbollah fires rockets or drones.

But this is the latest in what has been really an uptake in terms of the size and scale of attacks, both from Hezbollah directed at Northern Israel, but also in terms of Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon. Over the course of the last week or so we've been witnessing this kind of slow simmering conflict for the last eight months, cross border attacks between Israel and Hezbollah. But they have yet to unleash a full-blown war between the two sides.

But there's no question that now especially in light of these wildfires that we've seen in northern Israel over the course of the last couple of days, as a result of that rocket fire from Lebanon, that there is renewed attention on the security situation in northern Israel. Renewed attention on the fact that more than 60,000 Israelis in North have been displaced from their homes as a result of this conflict.

And now the question is what can be done to restore that sense of security. The Israeli prime minister was in northern Israel, and he vowed that Israel is "prepared for intense action in the north," vowing that one way or another security will be restored in northern Israel. And what he's talking about there, obviously, is either diplomatic means or he's talking about military action. And it's clear that the clock is ticking.

It's just not clear what exactly could potentially trigger that all- out war between the two sides. There is a sense though, that if these ongoing ceasefire and hostage negotiations succeed if Hamas agrees to this latest Israeli proposal on the table.

[02:05:02] You could see a week's long ceasefire in Gaza. One that in addition to providing a much-needed respite in Gaza could also provide a diplomatic opening for some kind of resolution between Israel and Hezbollah. But at the moment, we seem very far away from that happening.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Jerusalem.

CHURCH: As Israel marked Jerusalem Day on Wednesday. CNN witness large groups of Israeli Jewish settlers and nationalists descending on the Al Aqsa Mosque compound, the third holiest site in Islam.

Video shows the Israeli settlers dancing in the compound known as the temple mount to Jews, and the noble sanctuary to Muslims where Jews are allowed to visit, but not pray. Another video shows crowds of young Israeli nationalist throwing objects at Palestinian shopkeepers in Jerusalem's old city. Jerusalem Day is a national holiday in Israel marking the capture of East Jerusalem from Jordan in 1967.

In recent years, right-wing Israelis have used the holiday to stage rallies, singing anti-Palestinian songs and harassing Muslims. Israeli police say 18 people were arrested Wednesday on suspicion of violent offenses and disorderly conduct.

The fighting in Gaza is providing some political ammunition for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Speaking in St. Petersburg on Wednesday, he pinned the blame for the Middle East crisis on U.S. politics, claiming Washington has monopolized the peace efforts and pushed aside all other mechanisms to find a solution. The Russian leader also slammed the recent decisions by some Ukrainian allies who have allowed Kyiv to use their weapons for limited strikes inside Russia.

Ukrainian lawmaker says U.S.-made weapons are already helping to defend the Kharkiv region, especially the hummus mobile rocket systems. But President Putin warned any strikes on Russian territory will have consequences.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA (through translator): Delivering arms to a war zone is always bad, even more so if those who are delivering are not just delivering weapons, but also controlling them. This is a very serious and very dangerous step. But ultimately, if we see that these countries are being drawn into a war against us and that they are directly participating in a war against the Russian Federation and we reserve the right to act in the same way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: More than 20 world leaders are gathering in France to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day. Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy in 1944 eventually leading to the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. U.S. President Joe Biden will visit the American Cemetery in the coming hours, where he will meet with veterans and their families and take part in a wreath laying ceremony. French President Emmanuel Macron will be on hand as well. He plans to host a state dinner for President Biden later this week.

Veterans who fought in Normandy, many nearing 100 years old have been arriving in France over the past few days to a hero's welcome at Charles de Gaulle Airport. Britain's King Charles and Queen Camilla paid tribute to veterans at a ceremony in Portsmouth, England on Wednesday. King Charles praised the bravery of those who fought against tyranny.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLES III, KING OF THE 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.

WILLIAM, PRINCE OF WALES, DUKE OF CAMBRIDGE: 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)

CHURCH: The speeches were followed by an elaborate drone show featuring images of Spitfire fighter aircraft, a soldier and the words I can remember. More on the D-Day anniversary from CNN's Melissa Bell.

MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT: World leaders have been gathering here in Normandy to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day. That's to be marked by the heads of state of not just the United Kingdom, France and the United States. Joe Biden expected to deliver a speech at the cemetery where so many American servicemen are buried. But also, it'll be in the presence of President Zelenskyy. The Ukrainian president.

[02:10:04]

A reminder of what we expect to hear from the American President over the course of the next couple of days, an important historical line being drawn between events here on the beaches of Normandy 80 years ago, through the Cold War into what's now being done in and for Ukraine. It isn't just the heads of state that are here though, so many people have turned up with their vehicles, World War II vehicles that helped carry the weapons and the equipment.

The men that allowed Operation Overlord to be the success that it was the amphibious vehicles as well. An important reminder of the huge logistical operation hugely ambitious as well. That was to mark the very beginning of the liberation not as to France, but of Europe.

Melissa Bell, CNN, Normandy.

CHURCH: Voters in the 27 European Union countries are going to the polls starting today in the Netherlands. They are picking members of the European Parliament in the world's second largest election after India. People in Estonia have been allowed to vote online and in person since Monday. Ursula von der Leyen is seen as the front runner for a second term as European Commission president.

Far-right parties are expected to make gains with some projecting they could take up to a quarter of the new parliament 720 seats. And that could have a major impact on immigration policy and Europe support for Ukraine. Geert Wilders leads the ultra-conservative Freedom Party in the Netherlands.

GEERT WILDERS, FREEDOM PARTY LEADER: The West is waking up you see parties like mine growing and them having increased popularity all over the European Union. So, the people are waking up so I hope for them to stay awake and make the next coming days crucial to the future of Europe. Will it be with more open borders on immigration or will it be locked off with more as I said, not an expansion of the European Union. But returning to the capitals of the legislative side is something that we are aiming for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The prime minister of Slovakia who survived an assassination attempt says he is considering returning to work later this month. Robert Fico was shot at close range in the chest by a 71-year-old man last month. On Wednesday. Fico posted a video message on Facebook and his first public comment since that attack. In the video, he criticized opposition parties saying they are supported by the West at the expense of his government because his government is skeptical of supporting Ukraine.

Fico called the shooter a "opposition activists" and says his party is being targeted.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT FICO, PRIME MINISTER OF SLOVAKIA (through translator): I feel no hatred towards a stranger who shot me. I will not take any legal action against him. Nor will I seek damages compensation. I forgive him and let him sort out what he did and why he did it in his own head. In the end, it is evident that he was only a messenger of evil and political hatred, which the politically unsuccessful and frustrated opposition developed in Slovakia to unmanageable proportions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: There is no leak of hazardous chemicals following a deadly train crash in the Czech Republic. That's from Reuters news agency for a passenger train collided head on with a freight train east of Prague on Wednesday. The report says at least four people were killed and more than 20 others injured. The freight train was carrying calcium carbide. A hazardous industrial chemical. The check Transport Minister says it's too early to speculate what may have caused the crash.

Just ahead a flyover and explosions. The U.S. and South Korea launch a new military drill on the Korean Peninsula. We will have a live report from the DMZ. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. As tensions on the Korean peninsula escalate, the U.S. and South Korea have launched a new round of joint military exercises. A U.S. B-1B bomber and South Korea's F-15 kg Eagles together drop munitions weighing hundreds of kilograms in a rare maneuver. Now this comes amid growing tension over the hundreds of trash balloons North Korea has sent across the border into the south.

So, let's go to CNN's Mike Valerio is following this live for us near the Korean Demilitarized Zone. Good to see you, Mike. So, give us a sense of what you're seeing as tensions between the two sides escalate.

MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, you know, we're just under nine kilometers away from the border of North Korea about 5-1/2 miles. And people I would say, we just finished interviewing a 60- year-old farmer who has been farming all the land we see around us and behind us for 36 years. And he told us in Korean that they are dealing with a profound feeling of being so uncomfortable.

That's the best translation we can marshal from Korea. And he's been through this before but this is the first time that trash balloons have been sent from the North as a psychological exercise. So, you know, Rosemary, one of the reasons we're here as we push in and show you that's towards North Korea over those low hills and the ridge behind us. You know, if tensions escalate. Mr. Kim, the farmer here was telling us that half of his farm, 10,000 hectares would be subject to the military coming in.

The civilian restricted zone encompasses about half of his farm, the military could come in to set up shop to make sure that the civilian population around the DMZ is safe. So, of course, something like that would plunge his productivity. People around the area do not want to see their lives completely upended. And he does not, Rosemary, agree with the balloons that have been sent from South Korea to the north.

Which brings us to new video that we have this morning of 10 balloons being sent before dawn from South Korea, replete with Kyiv-dramas, Kyiv-pop albums, 200,000 leaflets condemning the Kim regime in North Korea. Listen to what the founder told us before he launched those balloons.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PARK SHANG-HAK, LEADER, FIGHTERS FOR A FREE NORTH KOREA (through translator): South Korea is not an American colony or a wasteland of humanity, like I learned in North Korea. North Koreans are filled with anger and hatred and only sing military songs. But South Korea is a gentle country like you can see.

We send money, medicine, facts, truth and love, but to send filth and trash in return. That's an inhumane and barbaric act. (END VIDEO CLIP)

So we're just going to give you a sense of what is in those balloons besides the flash drives with all the, you know, Kyiv-pop music, K- dramas. This is an English translation of one of the books that's in those 10 balloons and just look what it says. The Ugly Duckling became a swan, the Republic of Korea. So, books like these, again, the English translation it wouldn't be in Korean are being sent north to show North Korea that it's not a wasteland down here.

You open the pages and you see like a new container port, the port of Busan right there. So, you know, I think it's really extraordinary. We're processing this interview, we're going to bring it on CNN in the hours to come. But farmers here saying that when you're driving on the roads, Rosemary, some of the areas have not been cleared from of landmines from the Korean War, even though we're still in this period of armistice.

They say that this was nothing. They've built it into this beautiful area that we see. It would be a shame for tensions to escalate and for things to get even worse for their livelihoods to be threatened, Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right. Mike Valerio joining us live from the Korean DMZ. Many thanks. I want to return now to Europe where voters will go to the polls today in the Netherlands as this year's European Parliamentary elections get underway. And joining me now from Brussels, Maria Demertzis is a senior fellow at the European Think Bruegel. So, thank you so much for joining us.

MARIA DEMERTZIS, SENIOR FELLOW, BRUEGEL: Thank you.

CHURCH: Voters in Estonia and the Netherlands cast their ballots today then the rest of the 27 EU countries will cast their votes over the next four days to decide the outcome of these European elections. What's at stake here?

DEMERTZIS: I think the most important issue here is the expectation that there's going to be an increase on the far-right votes. This is to be expected because we have seen very similar trends in national parliaments. So, in fact, it would be a surprise if that didn't happen in Europe. The question is how big this increase was going -- is going to be? That's the first thing. The second thing is whether the different forces that rests on the far right will be able to cooperate, it's not a given that they will be able to cooperate.

And if they manage to cooperate, how that is going to hinder governance of the European Parliament and of course passing very important laws that have to pass in the next term.

CHURCH: Yes. As you say, we are seeing this rise in right wing politics across Europe, with the far right set to make huge gains in these European elections. How much concern is there about this shift to the right and what might the consequences of this be?

DEMERTZIS: I think it's real, I think it's -- there will definitely be an increase in the far-right vote. The question is how big this is going to be. The threat really, the files that will be threatened by such an increase will be climate, the important legislators that have to pass asylum, all the policies, the very hard game policies of the European Parliament managed to pass in the past four years whether they will be compromised.

And of course, the most important one, given that it is so imminent, it is support, whether the support for the Ukrainian situation will continue. There are forces inside the E.U. that want to stop countries from the E.U. supporting the Ukrainian cause. And that, of course, will be immediately under threat. Of course, again, like I said, I think it's important to see what numbers we are going to get the increased what exactly that will be and whether there will be an ability to actually prevent the European Parliament from making important decisions.

CHURCH: Yes. Because that is one of the big worries here, isn't it? Support for Ukraine, if there is a huge shift to the right. What would the consequences be for the war in Ukraine? What would it take to change Europe's direction on this?

DEMERTZIS: Yes. I think that's, that's very important question. There really two risks here. The first one is whether we will continue to support with military, sending military equipment. That's the first thing. And the second thing is whether there will be an agreement on allowing Ukraine to join the E.U. This is not for the immediate future. But the support in this and what we call the enlargement of the E.U. is actually crucial for the Ukrainians themselves, and indeed for trying and finish the war as quickly as possible.

However, the enlargement issue is very foolish in the E.U. and particularly if we see extreme rights governing then that is going to be almost impossible to proceed with. But the most immediate one is continued support, military support coordination of E.U. help to the Ukraine and of course an encouragement for other parties also, and primarily the U.S. to continue supporting the Ukraine.

CHURCH: And voters will elect 720 members of the European Parliament and that Parliament will then approve the next commission president who is responsible for setting the legislative direction of the E.U. Who will likely be the next president? Is Ursula von der Leyen still the front runner for a second term or is that not guaranteed perhaps?

DEMERTZIS: No, it's certainly not guaranteed that she's the front runner, but there's absolutely no guarantee. And again, the outcome of the elections is going to have an influence on the ability of Mrs. von der Leyen to claim second -- a second term. Importantly, the -- in the next month or so when Prime Ministers will have many opportunities to meet, there will be a sort of a bargaining process coming on.

And if the extreme right parties have gained significant space in the European Parliament, then of course, they will demand important concessions from the next commission president. Concessions on climate and even concessions perhaps on the issue of asylum policies. And that of course, is the next big risk and what is constituents might be. But again, I think it would be incorrect for us to assume that the position of Mrs. von der Leyen is guaranteed.

[02:25:03]

CHURCH: Maria Demertzis, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate it.

Highway to climate hill. Just ahead. Why the U.N. Secretary General is issuing this dire warning on the climate crisis.

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CHURCH: The U.N. Secretary General says the world needs to get off the highway to climate hell after hitting what's being described as a shocking new milestone. For the past year, all 12 months have been the hottest on record. It's prompted the U.N. chief to urge world leaders to take swift action, including banning advertising for fossil fuel products.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONIO GUTERRES, U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL: We are playing Russian roulette with our planet. And we need an exit ramp off the highway to climate hell. And the truth is we have control of the wheel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The unprecedented heat is being filled all across the world and climate scientists and Weather experts are warning that the heat record set in the past year will likely be broken again and again in the next few years.

More now from CNN's Bill Weir.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 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 our snapshots from a planet overheated by human activity or monthly heat records have been shattered for the last 12 months in a row.

WEIR (on camera): 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, CLIMATE SCIENTIST AND PROFESSOR, BROWN UNIVERSITY: I mean, Bill, this is just a dizzying rate of change that we're experiencing right now.

[02:30:00]

But in the near future, 2023 (ph) 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 speed or skeptatics (ph) will change that. Let's hope it doesn't come too late.

WEIR (voice-over): While 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.

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?

LIZ BENTLEY, PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY: Any policies is 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 9 percent a year until 2030. And while they still went up last year, it was only by 1 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, 1 percent is in the wrong direction, but it is 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 (voice-over): Bill Weir, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Adam Met is the Founder of Planet Reimagined, and a U.N. sustainability advocate. He joins me now from New York. Appreciate you being with us.

ADAM MET, FOUNDER, PLANET REIMAGINED: Thank you for having me.

CHURCH: So in his special address on World Environment Day, Wednesday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for a clamp down on the fossil fuel industry, accusing those companies of spending billions of dollars on deceiving the public. He also highlighted the hottest global months on record and listed what world leaders, financial institutions, activists, and of course, the rest of us can do to try to address the climate change crisis.

Now, you were there in the audience and heard his ambitious plan and call for urgent action. What did you think and how achievable is all this do you think?

MET: So, when I was sitting there and listening to his speech, I was surrounded by people from all different walks of life, financial institutions, governments from around the world, even climate influencers from Instagram and TikTok, and his speech was in equal parts an emergency and hope. I think that there is so much that all of the people who are in the room and who heard the speech can do, and everyone plays a different role. I mean, financial institutions can obviously contribute money, but then there are people who need to implement the solutions. And he laid out a really comprehensive plan. They were 33 calls to action in his speech and I want to get into some of those with you.

CHURCH: All right. Certainly, we'll do that in just a moment, because the world is still relies heavily, of course, on fossil fuels. But despite his attack on that industry, the secretary-general wants fossil fuel companies to help lead the way in the shift towards renewable energy. How realistic is that given these companies make so much money from fossil fuels and have very little incentive to help any effort to shift away from them?

MET: Yeah, again, the secretary-general's message was quite a balanced one. He started by calling the fossil fuel companies the Godfathers of climate chaos, and called on people around the world to stop investing in advertising that supports fossil fuel companies. But at the same time, he called for potential, he said that they really could be the leaders of the renewable energy transition. And one of the biggest solutions that we are working on now is something that we are doing at Planet Reimagined to engage with fossil fuel companies, especially these smaller independent producers, to help them transition, help them put renewable energy projects on top of their the current oil and gas land.

[02:35:00]

They really can be the leaders if they put their mind to it, and the political will.

CHURCH: Indeed. And Secretary-General Guterres said that nearly ten years since the Paris Agreement was adopted, the target of limiting long-term global warming to 1.5-degrees Celsius is hanging by a thread. He listed multiple different calls to action as you referred to there. So, what do we all need to be doing right now, to make a difference and turn this climate crisis around?

MET: So, there were calls to action for all of the different groups, from financial institutions to governments. But one of the ones that is closest to my heart and closest to all of our hearts is voting. He was very clear about this. He said that's the number one call to action. There are 64 countries around the world that are having elections this year. And when you think about that, there's so much opportunity. Mexico just voted in for president, a climate scientist. That's an incredible move towards supporting climate action.

And if you think about voting, most people say, oh, my vote doesn't count. There's a young woman named Molly Cook who just want her primary for the Texas State House. She won her primary by 74 votes, just 74 votes. And she is a big advocate for revamping public transportation, which is a huge climate issue.

Now, if you think about voting, you might think, OK, I'm voting for somebody and they're just going to be in office and they're not really going to do anything. In the last handful of years, the United States passed the largest climate package in history. The Inflation Reduction Act supported so many climate things just for individuals, in addition to on the policy side. And what I mean by that is it made climate action more accessible for us. It made electric vehicles cheaper. It made it easier for us to buy solar energy. It allowed us to put heat pumps in our homes, made it far cheaper for us and more accessible.

If you think about voting as an action that happens once a year, once every two years, once every four years, then you don't think of it as impactful. But if you think of it as a way to create the policies that impact your day-to-day lives, then it becomes so much more immediate and so much more important. So, I think that's why the secretary- general really focused on voting as the key call to action here.

CHURCH: Some very good advice there. Adam Met, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate it.

MET: Thank you.

CHURCH: Prosecutors in two of Donald Trump's criminal cases are dealing with new setbacks. In Georgia, a state appeals court filed an order, Wednesday, saying it is suspending the election interference case indefinitely while it rules on whether the district attorney should be disqualified. This is a massive win for the former U.S. president who's been trying to delay all of his legal issues until after the November election.

CNN's Sara Murray explains.

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 are looking at potentially months of re-litigating 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 in Georgia, Steve Sadow cheered on this move by the appeals courts, says 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.

CHURCH: And now, to the classified documents case in Florida that was supposed to begin last month. Judge Aileen Cannon, who Trump appointed, handed him yet another win by revamping the court schedule and causing more delays. Her move pushes legal questions that she has had months to consider, even farther down the road. She also agreed to hold complex hearings later this month on Trump's request to have evidence found at Mar-a-Lago tossed out and on his challenge to the special counsel's appointments.

And we'll be right back.

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[02:41:50]

CHURCH: After false starts, scrapped missions and other embarrassing missteps, Boeing Starliner spaceship is heading to the International Space Station for the first time with a crew onboard. After their week-long mission, the two astronauts are due to touch down on land in the southwestern U.S., not in the water. But now, two helium leaks have been detected on the ship in addition to one that was found before takeoff. NASA and Boeing say the spacecraft is in orbit and stable, and the two astronauts are safe and were told to go to sleep while mission control monitors the situation. Starliner is scheduled to dock with the ISS later Thursday.

And thank you so much for joining us. I am Rosemary Church. "World Sport" is up next. Then, I'll be back in 15 minutes with more "CNN Newsroom." Do stay with us.

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