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CNN International: World Leaders Gather In France For 80th Anniversary Of D-Day; U.N.: 1M+ In Gaza Could Face "Death And Starvation" By Mid July; Hallie Biden Testifies In Hunter Biden Federal Gun Trial; Tonight: Trump Holds First Major Event Since Felony Convictions. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired June 06, 2024 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:42]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: It is 8:00 p.m. in London, 9:00 p.m. on the beaches of Normandy, 10:00 p.m. in Gaza, 3:00 p.m. here in Washington.

I'm Jim Sciutto. Thanks so much for joining me today on CNN NEWSROOM. Let's get right to the news.

Eighty years ago today, freedom defeated fascism on the beaches of Normandy. In the dawn hours of June 6, 1944, 150,000 young men stormed the French coast lines on D-Day for a prolonged bloody, but ultimately triumphant battle that marked the beginning of the end of World War II.

President Joe Biden, global leaders commemorated the heroism of those soldiers, thanking one-by-one the veterans who returned home, some of them now more than 100-years-old, and they honored the more than 4,000 who made the ultimate sacrifice.

It is a day about the victories of the past, but also about the fights still underway and not yet won, the emotional embrace between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and one D-Day veteran spotlighted the unmistakable through line between the values that brought the D-Day's heroes to Normandy 80 years ago and the battles still being waged for peace and democracy in Ukraine.

In his remarks, President Biden issued a call to action on that forever cause.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're living at a time when democracy and more at risk across the world then they point since the end of World War II, since these beaches were stormed in 1944.

Now we have to ask ourselves, will we stand against tyranny, against evil, against crushing brutality of the iron fist? Will we stand for freedom? Will we defend democracy? Will we stand together? My answer is yes and only can be yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SCIUTTO: We begin our coverage with CNN's Melissa Bell, who is on the beaches of Normandy tonight.

And, Melissa, this day about that sacrifice 80 years ago, but also about the war. Still raging in Europe today in Ukraine.

As you're on the beach now, as the sun begins to go down, how are they marking this moment today?

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Like even at this time, Jim, as you said, the sun going down, it's getting late here in the Normandy beaches, this is Gold Beach and this is what's happening all around me still at this hour, the crowds are out tomorrow to mark this extraordinary occasion (AUDIO GAP) maybe goals like gone up next to us that may -- play such an important part, Jim, in the storming of those beaches that you just heard President Biden speak to.

They've been brought out in great fanfare again, lovingly mended by the men and women in the golf these vehicles, 80 years on, and still in remarkable fighting form. It was these vehicles and all the logistics, the one with them, the really allowed for this battle the first day of which was coming to an end 80 years ago today to have been the success that it was.

And I think what we've heard at the center of all of the remarks, not just from President Biden. Biden, as you said, link getting what happened here 80 years ago to what's being done in Ukraine now, the other central message has been the extraordinary courage and the remarkable operation logistically, of coordination between the allies that took place and that allowed this continent occupied as it was for four years, in the case of France by the Nazis to be liberated inch by inch by this tremendously courageous young man who came ashore, again with all this logistical help that allow them to carry out what has been is to this day Europe's greatest military victory.

And it changed not just the course of the future and the history of this continent, but of course the world. And I think that's what we've heard as well at the heart of President Biden, but also President Macron speeches, the king of England as well. We've had the leaders of all the allied countries that took part in that battle, but also significantly President Zelenskyy of Ukraine, that was the new part of the celebration.

Cars like this jeep that come out year after year to mark these occasions are one thing. We have the annual or every five years, the speeches that are made by the leaders in the cemeteries, is what was new this year was that remarkable cemetery on Omaha Beach, due east of here, just down from Gold Beach where we saw the leaders with President Zelenskyy, reminding the world that that fight for freedom began 80 years ago and yes, continues today -- Jim.

[15:05:08]

SCIUTTO: Yeah. Biden said today that Churchill called it the most complicated greatest operation ever at the time, thousands of ships, tens of thousands of soldiers an airman, and sailors.

Melissa Bell, thanks so much for bringing us a scene from there this evening as the sun sets on this 80th anniversary.

Well, 80 years ago today, the Soviet Union was, of course, fighting alongside the U.S. and its allies to defeat Nazi Germany. Today, Russia missing from that stage in Normandy. Russian representatives not invited to attend because its ongoing invasion of Ukraine. The last time Putin attended D-Day commemorations was in 2014, after Russia's annexation of Crimea and following, of course, its first partial invasion of Ukraine.

Yesterday, the Russian president warned Western countries that he could arm their enemies if Ukraine uses NATO supplied weapons, to strike inside Russia.

CNN's Oren Liebermann joins me now from the Pentagon.

Oren, Cuba's foreign ministry has just announced that Russian navy ships including, and this is crucially, nuclear powered submarine well visit the island, what, 90 miles off the coast of Florida, as part of their historically friendly relations.

I wonder how the Pentagon is receiving that news.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Jim, the U.S. very well aware of these exercises because they've seen Cuba and Russia exercise in the past, including for a number of consecutive years right before COVID, seven or eight consecutive years there.

So they've seen the Russian navy exercising with Cuba. And as you point out this time, it does look like it'll be a larger scale, beginning sometime next week, including a Russian nuclear powered submarine. Now it's worth noting that Russia has not yet publicly commented about this. But Cuba's government says this won't involve any nuclear weapons, and that it's not a threat to anybody in the region.

The U.S. largely views it the same way, saying it does not pose a threat to the United States, even as it's obvious that the Pentagon will be monitoring what's happening here. The Pentagon also says a spokesperson here but one of the reasons this may involve a Russian nuclear powered submarine is because Cuba was angry when it was a U.S. nuclear power to tax submarine that visited Guantanamo Bay last year.

So this may be at least a partial response to that. Nevertheless, the U.S., of course, closely monitoring this, but not viewing it as a threat and at least right now, not viewing this as an attempt to escalate anything, even with Vladimir Putin's recent threats there.

SCIUTTO: Oren Liebermann at the Pentagon, thanks so much.

Joining me now to discuss more broadly, CNN military analyst and former NATO supreme allied commander, General Wesley Clark, and presidential historian Douglas Brinkley.

Good to have you both here.

And, General Clark, since we have you, I just asked you to react to that news of Russia holding these exercises on Cuba, certainly some message sending there, but including a nuclear submarine, which are some of the weapon systems that frankly we know the U.S. takes most seriously, those submarines becoming more advanced, harder to track. Is that a significant shot across the bow as it were for the U.S. from Putin?

GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, I think it's just more hybrid warfare and maneuvering, but I am concerned about Guyana because Maduro in Valenzuela is a Russian client. He visited Putin in December. I was down in Guyana.

There really having trouble sort of grappling with what this means, just as Venezuela builds up forces to intervene, possibly in Guyana. This Russian move just sort of reinforces the potential for some kind of trouble in the Western hemisphere.

SCIUTTO: Douglas Brinkley, it struck me and many others, of course listening, I'm sure yourself as well, the through line that President Biden repeatedly drew in his comments today between the events of 80 years ago on the beaches of Normandy and the war underway in Europe, putting them under the same umbrella and effect a fight for freedom.

I want to play some of his comments today describing that very connection and get your thoughts. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: So, we have a special obligation. We cannot let what happened here be lost in the silence of the years to come. We must remember it, must honor it, and live it.

And we must remember: The fact that they were heroes here that day does not absolve us from what we have to do today.

Democracy is never guaranteed. Every generation must preserve it, defend it, and fight for it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Yeah, those words stood out to me. We must remember that the fact that they were heroes here that day does not absolve us what we have to do today.

And I wonder in the sweep of history, do you think that's a correct through line?

DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: I think it's a very solid foundational line to deliver on this June 6. Everybody knows the world is torn asunder.

[15:10:01]

I mean, we're dealing with the Gaza-Israel war. But more specifically what's NATO going to do with the Ukraine?

You have Zelenskyy coming in to meet President Biden in Paris. Russia is feeling snubbed. They used to be a very big part of Russia to life, to go to Normandy. And now that Putin is not allowed there, so he's going to do some misadventures and misbehave.

But look democracy is being pressured in Europe. I mean, you have right-wing populism on the rise and neo-fascism. And so, I do see linkage that, if not World War II, the years leading up to World War II, to our own times.

SCIUTTO: Wesley Clark, you have been pushing for greater aid for Ukraine consistently since the start of this war. When I speak to European officials, particularly in the east, they described this war as not only existential for Ukraine, but for their own safety as well, because they genuinely believe that they may very well be Russia's next targets if it were to succeed in Ukraine.

And do you believe, General Clark, that that fear is well-founded?

CLARK: I do believe it's well-founded fear, Jim. I mean, this is a Russian imperialism at play. Putin has grandiose visions and this is Americas resolve being tested. And these countries have sought America's support. They believe in American support. Countries in Europe didn't develop nuclear weapons when they could've because of America's extended nuclear deterrence.

And so if when the United States shutters and says, oh, my goodness, we don't want another confrontation with Russia, well, countries in eastern Europe are thinking is, what does that mean for us? Yes, there's a NATO treaty, but it raises all the old fears from the Cold War about decoupling. Would the United States really risk a nuclear confrontation to save, let's say, Estonia?

SCIUTTO: Yeah. And, we've heard from Trump himself quite publicly questioning whether he as commander in chief would order U.S. forces to protect some of those NATO allies in the east.

Doug Brinkley, Professor Tim Snyder of Yale University, who is commented quite publicly on the war since the beginning, when some of describing this is a 1939 moment in terms of Russia's invasion of Ukrainian, the test to the U.S., the test to its allies, he said to me recently, said actually, I would call it a 1938 moment because he describes when Hitler invaded the Czechs and it was a brief moment when Europe thought about defending and didn't, of course, that fell. And then all the events that followed.

I wonder if you agree when you look at history, there's a parallel there as well that what happens in Ukraine might very well determine what is the next step, and do you avoid a larger war, right, but by standing up now?

BRINKLEY: Absolutely. It does bring my 1938 bell.

Look, Biden has worked to enlarge NATO, adding new countries. Sweden now as part of it. That's -- people are joining data out of fear of Russia and if there's not a Democratic stance, if this is a moment of the revitalization of NATO to stop Putin's decimation and war crimes in Ukraine, if the democracies don't weigh in heavily and boot Putin out, there that -- you know, it's the old dominos effect. Once you get Ukraine, what's next?

Because there's great evidence that Putin would like to reconstitute the Soviet Union. It broke apart in 1991. He has thought that Gorbachev blew it and Gorbachev in the day, 1 percent approval rating and Russia was there, you know, because Putin now wants to keep moving. I would he ever aimed for Poland probably not, but many other countries in Europe should be very afraid of what Putin will do if he is successful in Ukraine.

SCIUTTO: Yeah. He -- I mean, just as he denies Ukraine's existence as an independent country, he's often says the same about the Baltic republics, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and that's why they're worried.

General Clark, there's a parallel as well to the America First movement back in the days of World War II. In fact, there was an America First movement that's very much imposed to U.S. involvement in the war. And there is one again today and you have a candidate running for office in quite a close race who propagates the America First agenda again.

Where does that go do you believe and could --- could at this moment, America First, win out in a way that it did not 80 years ago?

CLARK: Well, I think there's two things here, Jim. Number one is the attack surfaces, so to speak, are much more open today than they were in the 1938, '39 period.

[15:15:04]

So Russia propaganda can reach in and touch any American citizen, sometimes disguised, sometimes through spokesman and who repeat Putin's comments. But it's much more powerful and so, the idea of representative democracy has sort of been packed down. It's much more direct today, I think than it was in the 1930s. And the second thing is that how it affects us, is it affects the way the administration in power is handling itself.

And one thing I would say about deterrence, and going back to Douglas comment about the other nations in Europe is you cannot deter an aggressor. If you tell him what you won't do, you have to have ambiguity.

And in this sense that President Macron has exerted actually right. He's putting some trainers in there. He says, let's get some ambiguity. Let's get Putin worried a little bit. Let's don't reassure him that he can swallow Ukraine the same way we reassured Hitler that he could swallow Czechoslovakia.

SCIUTTO: Gentlemen, quite a day to be discussing these issues and to be reminding folks that a lot of these challenges still remain. Good to have you both to help do that.

General Wesley Clark, Douglas Brinkley, I appreciate you joining.

Still to come this hour, the new warning, half of Gaza's population, more than 1 million people, in fact, is expected to face death and starvation, you heard that right by mid-July, it's an alarming assessment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: Welcome back.

As Israel ramps up its offensive across Gaza, a stark warning from the U.N. More than 1 million people, half of Gaza's population, in fact, according to the U.N., are expected to face death and starvation by mid-July, half death and starvation. Overnight, Gaza's health ministry says at least 40 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes at a U.N.- run school in central Gaza.

[15:20:07]

The majority of those killed, women and children.

U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees said 6,000 people were sheltering at the school at the time of that attack. Israel's military claims it was a precise and intelligence-based strike, which was targeting 20 to 30 militants in that school.

CNN analysis of video from the scene found that U.S.-made munitions were used by Israeli forces in that strike. This is the second time in two weeks. In fact, that U.S. were used by Israel in a densely populated area of Gaza.

Jeremy Diamond reports on the tragic aftermath of this latest strike. A warning, once again, some of these images are disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPODENT (voice-over): Mohammed Farajallah (ph) is still picking through the rubble of the airstrike that killed his brother and alongside the blood spattered walls, he's still finding pieces of flesh. He believes they are his brother's.

May his soul rest in peace, he says. I wish I died instead. There is no hope in this life at all.

Mahmoud is the second brother Mohammed has lost during the war. His third brother is in the hospital in critical condition. His skull fractured in the blast.

Mohammed is not the only ones sifting through the rubble. The Gaza health ministry says at least 40 people were killed when the Israeli military struck this building overnight.

But this is no ordinary building. It's a U.N. school converted like so many others into a shelter for thousands of Palestinians, displaced from their homes. Bloodstained mattresses now filling the space where dozens were

sleeping at the moment of impact, fragments of an American-made GBU-39 bomb identified in the wreckage, according to munitions experts who reviewed this footage, the same type of munition used in the deadly strike in Rafah last month that killed 45 people.

The Israeli military says it carried out a precision and intelligence based strike, targeting 20 to 30 Palestinian militants who it says were sheltering in the school and preparing attacks on Israeli troops.

And Israeli military spokesman said the IDF was unaware of any civilian casualties.

Hospital records tell a different story. Nine women and 14 children as young as 4 years old are among the dead delivered to Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.

Those who survived also accused Israel of targeting civilians. Netanyahu is killing the civilians. He is not killing militants, Shadar Abu Daher (ph) says. It's innocent people asleep in an UNRWA facility. What did children and the elderly do? What did they do to him?

The school is one of at least 180 UNRWA buildings to be hit since the beginning of the war, according to that U.N. agency, attacking, targeting or using U.N. buildings for military purposes are a blatant disregard of international humanitarian law, wrote UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini.

But the devastation goes beyond U.N. facilities. Scenes like this have been playing out all week in central Gaza, a clear uptake in Israeli airstrikes. Bloodied and covered in soot, survivors and victims alike have been arriving at Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital at a rising clip.

As one wounded child cries for her mother, another arrives at the morgue to say goodbye to his. Mama is going to visit grandpa, this father tells his son, don't cry. You're a man, he says, but he is the one who breaks down.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: Our thanks to Jeremy Diamond for that report. Frankly, all too familiar.

For more on this dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza, I want to bring in you UNICEF spokesperson, Tess Ingram, who spent a lot of time there herself.

Tess, thanks so much for joining me again.

TESS INGRAM, UNICEF SPOKESPERSON: Good to see you again, Jim.

SCIUTTO: I want to bring up the dire findings from UNICEF's report just released this morning. In Gaza, nine out of ten children lack the food needed for proper growth. That's 90 percent. Another U.N. report found that half of Gaza's population is, quote, expected to face death and starvation by mid-July. That's next month.

Is UNICEF able to get any aid in there to prevent this outcome from happening?

[15:25:00]

INGRAM: Yeah, these are really shocking numbers and the findings from nutrition survey that 90 percent of children are only getting two food groups or less and more often than not, that's breast milk and grains. That's not enough for a child to survive and grow on. So it's really concerning.

And no, we're not getting anywhere near enough aid into the Gaza strip at the moment, the Rafah crossing remains closed, the aid coming in through Kerem Shalom and the other crossing in the north has really been reduced, as has our ability to pick it up safely and distribute it to the people that need it.

So it is beyond breaking point at this point. And we are incredibly concerned what could play out over the coming weeks if there is a ceasefire and if more aid doesn't get it.

SCIUTTO: There has been outrage. There's been pressure from the U.S. on its ally Israel. There have been attempts to get further at and including via this floating pier that has had so many challenges has there been any improvement in terms of opening aid crossings, getting more trucks in or are we where we were or have been for weeks now?

INGRAM: It hasn't changed dramatically enough or improved on a consistent basis, in order to avert the problems that we're seeing. There have been small wins here and there, but nothing that's meaningful enough to reverse the damage that has been done over the last eight months.

We're talking about a severe lack of food and safe water and shelter that's going to take time to address with consistent and large scale eight. And were still not seeing that getting to the Gaza strip or be distributed across Gaza, safely.

We're still seeing attacks on humanitarian aid workers and challenges for us moving around Gaza.

SCIUTTO: So, what do Israeli officials say when you complain about this? And a difficult question is, in your judgment given those interactions which has been going on for some time, is it your sense that its just not a priority for Israeli officials?

INGRAM: Look, for many months now, we've been sounding the alarm as has other U.N. agencies and international community about the need to increase the amount of aid getting into Gaza and make sure that the aid that's coming in is the people need. We are still not seeing that, and I'll leave others to make the judgment on what that means in terms of international humanitarian law.

But even wars has rules and making sure that enough food and water and these essentials can get in and reach people. That is one of those rules.

SCIUTTO: Yeah. Before we go, I want to bring up a crisis that we don't often mention on the air. But this was also contained in the report and this relates to Burkina Faso, a country that's been fighting a war for more than a decade now. It was just ranked the worlds most neglected crisis by the Norwegian refugee council.

Yet they were able to lower the percentage quite remarkably of children living in severe child food poverty by half from 67 percent in 2010 to 32 percent in 2021 still bad, right? But that's remarkable progress.

And I wonder what worked and what lessons can be learned from there.

INGRAM: Yeah, this is a really interesting report in that it tells us the 25 percent of children around the world are experiencing global food poverty, which is a really alarming number. And as we've just said, as high as 90 percent in some places, like the Gaza Strip there are also pockets and progress that we can learn from like the Burkina Faso, which despite the difficult context, has managed this turnaround.

So it is something that we need to watch and learn from to make sure that other contexts can address this problem, which is really costing children's lives.

SCIUTTO: Well, Test Ingram, thanks so much for the work you and UNICEF do there. We appreciate it.

INGRAM: Thanks a lot.

SCIUTTO: And still to come, testimony in day four of Hunter Biden's federal gun trial continues. We'll be live outside the courthouse for an update, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:32:31]

SCIUTTO: Welcome back.

It is now day four of Hunter Biden's federal gun trial. Hallie Biden, widow of Hunter Biden's late brother Beau, took the stand today. We should note she actually dated Hunter Biden during the time that he purchased the firearm, which is at the center of these charges.

President Biden weighed in on the trial today. In an interview with ABC News, he said he would not pardon his son if Hunter is found guilty, adding that he would accept the outcome of the trial.

CNN's Marshall Cohen is tracking all of this for us.

And, Marshall, I understand that Hallie has now left the courthouse. She is off the stand. What do we learn exactly from her testimony today? MARSHALL COHEN, CNN REPORTER: Jim, in many ways, Hallie, Biden was the star witness for special counsel, David Weiss. She is the only person who is actually with Hunter that month in October 2018 when he bought the gun, who is testifying in this case, and importantly, she's the one who took that gun out of his car threw it in a dumpster and that's what triggered the series of events that led to this prosecution.

So she did give some help to the prosecutor while she was on the stand. She said that she observed what she believed was a Hunter Biden under the influence of drugs in October 2018. And she also said that on the day that she searched his car and found the gun, that she also saw what she believed was powder residue of drugs on the day she found that gun.

However, during the cross-examination while she was questioned by Hunter's defense attorneys, she acknowledged that she never actually witnessed Hunter Biden using drugs or even drinking alcohol in her presence in October of 2018. And, Jim, in addition to all that, she did talk about her own struggles with drug abuse. She said that Hunter introduced her to crack cocaine and that she used the drug for a period of time which she said was one of the most embarrassing and shameful and regretful periods of her life.

So she's done now. They have a member of the Delaware state police who actually recovered the weapon. He's on the stand now and remember, prosecutor said they think they might be able to wrap things up today, but Hallie went pretty long. So this may stretch into tomorrow -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: Marshall Cohen in the courthouse, thanks so much.

For more analysis, I'm joined now by CNN legal analyst, criminal defense attorney Joey Jackson.

Joey, good to have you.

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Thanks, Jim. Good to be here.

[15:35:01]

SCIUTTO: So let's begin if we can on the testimony of Hallie Biden, clearly, the prosecutions star witness here, few revelations as Marshall was highlighting, there, that he introduced her to crack cocaine in 2018, that she herself use the drugs. She, of course, was the one who found the gun disposed of it in a dumpster.

She did though as Marshall noted there say she did not actually witness Hunter Biden using drugs in that time period. I wondered, did she hit the mark here in terms of her testimony for the prosecutors, in terms of what they need to prove?

JACKSON: Yes. So, Jim, with respect to what they need to prove, just as a reset, we know obviously that you cannot lie to a federally licensed dealer who deals guns, number one. Number two, you cannot lie on the form. Number three, you cannot illegally possess one.

So the critical inquiry and why she is so important, she being the widow of his brother, Beau, attorney general, one-time attorney general of Delaware. He involved in a romantic relationship that is Hunter Biden, she knew what he was doing, what his activities were, what his proclivities were, what his inclinations were, and whether he was actually using at the time.

Remember, the core issue for the prosecutors are what? What did at the time of the purchase, the defense trying to establish that at that specific time, he wasn't so to the extent that she said she did not see him, right specifically making an observation of amusing drugs it could be that during that roller coaster of a time as many addicts endure, that he was not addicted at the time. And that's the specter of doubt that is trying to be raised.

And so when you say if they hit the mark, I think the jury can process it needs to determine that, hey, he had to be an addict at that time because of the proximity of his usages that she described in his behavior as she described, but the defense saying, well, you didn't see him doing it and certainly acts go in and out. Again that's the doubt, Jim, that they're trying to raise.

SCIUTTO: So let me ask you about the defense's approach here because the defense focused on the federal form that he had to fill out when purchasing this weapon, noting that the form asks, quote, are you an unlawful user or addicted to illegal drugs? They're suggesting that offense is that prosecutors have not proved that Hunter Biden was using drugs when he bought that revolver or, and this is crucial, did not see himself as being an addict at the time.

And I just wonder from your perspective, is that a -- I mean, again, they just have to establish reasonable doubt here. Is that is that an effective line of defense.

JACKSON: So I think what happens is that you use what you have and what they have is the notion that they want to focus down on, that is the defense on the core issue of the mental state he was in. Did he see himself as an addict? Was he either in denial at the time or was he legitimately getting over any type of drug use?

And if he was, he was not an addict at the time and if he was not an addict at that time, then it would be true, right. Or if he didn't willfully indicate that he was, you know, lying, then it wouldn't be a lie, and so that gets him out from under lying to a federally licensed dealer or lying on the form or illegally possessing. So that's what they're using.

And just quickly, Jim, I think a big issue in the case for me is going to be whether the jury nullifies. This is a really a public shaming, right, of someone who is addicted. And I know the prosecution is saying addiction is not on trial, lying is on trial, but I think that the defense through all of this humiliating testimony about what he was enduring, what he was undergoing, what he was going through, the jury, it may resonate with them, people who know addicts, people know addicts overcome so much of, why are we here? Are these resources really being brought to bear on this when the gun was for 11 days, when there was no untoward, inappropriate, or illegal use with that gun? S a critical question inquiry for me is even if prosecutors technically prove their case, whether the jury's -- his hometown Delaware say, hey, wait a second. We're going to kick it out anyway. That's what I'm looking.

SCIUTTO: And do you just need one juror who'd be willing to say that?

JACKSON: So what happened, Jim, in that case, one juror gets you a hung jury. A hung jury means that you don't render a verdict. Prosecutors can retry it.

On the issue of nullification, all of the jurors collectively would have to say, you know what, it may be the point that he was addicted, it's really not clear, why are we here? Do we need get all this humiliation and public shaming? It doesn't do it for me. Let's get rid of it.

That's what they could do. What they will do it is an open question.

SCIUTTO: And, listen, a lot of this testimony we can -- we can recognize is just difficult to listen to and hear about.

Joey Jackson, thanks so much.

JACKSON: Always. Thanks.

SCIUTTO: Well, tonight in Phoenix, Arizona, Donald Trump hosts his first major political event as a convicted felon. He spent the week since a jury handed down that historic verdict guilty on all 34 felony counts, attacking the justice system and falsely claiming that President Biden played a role in his conviction. Take a listen to Trump last night hosting conservative HBCU alumni and faculty at Mar- a-Lago.

[15:40:09]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I would have loved to have testified, but it was very unfair trial. Everybody advised don't do it, it's a very unfair trial. I wanted to testify, but in the end it was a right thing to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: He often says that, makes that point, perhaps sensitive to the question, why didn't he testify? Why didn't he testify under oath if he wanted to make that case in the courtroom?

His legal team did get some good news in the past week, we should note, that is that its trials in Florida and Georgia have been delayed even further. All but guaranteed they will not happen before Election Day.

So how is this reshaping if it is the Trump campaign?

CNN's Kristen Holmes has been following it closely.

Kristen, that message we heard at that fundraiser is one we've heard before. He's the victim of a weaponized justice system, also noting while he could have testified if he wanted to kind of thing. How are they planning to message this going forward?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's two things going on. So first of all, we have the event, we actually have today where they are claiming that this is going to be a political event and he is going to focus on things that you should be focusing on the campaign trail, talking about immigration and crime in the economy. However when you talk about messaging, there is a little but particularly right now of continuing to harp on that trial using that trial to try and raise money.

And I will say when I got here, Charlie Kirk was up the stage, the head of Turning Point, which is an organization aligned with Donald Trump. He's friends with Don Jr., he was talking about essentially giving more money to Donald Trump because of the verdict in that case. So, they are still using that messaging.

But we are told today that Donald Trump is expected to focus more on political. Whether or not he can actually do that remains to be seen because as you have noted, most of what we've heard from them has been rants against the justice system, against Biden, essentially calling himself the victim and saying that this is political persecution.

Obviously, he said, there's absolutely no evidence that Joe Biden had anything to do with this. This is the case that was brought by the state of New York. But last night, we actually heard from Donald Trump in an interview with Sean Hannity and he seemed to be trying to give him an out on this idea that he would seek retribution if he was reelected to office. It didn't go as it seemed Hannity wanted it to. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: Focus on those that want people to believe that you want retribution, that you will use the system of justice to go after your political enemies.

TRUMP: So, number one, they're wrong. It has to stop because otherwise we're not going to have a country. Look when this election is over, based on what they've done, I would have every right to go after them.

HANNITY: End this practice of weaponization, is that a promise you're going to make?

TRUMP: You have to do it. But it's awful. Look, I know you want me to say something --

HANNITY: No, I don't want you to say. I'm asking.

TRUMP: I don't want to look naive.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HOLMES: So, really try to get him to promise that he would not seek retribution, that he would end this practice, Donald Trump not willing to make that promise.

So, just to give you a little bit of a layout of what we're going to see today. This is a very friendly crowd, Turning Point, as I said, organization aligned with Donald Trump after Donald Trump gives brief remarks, he's going to be asked questions because it a town hall style format, but we are not expecting any kind of questions that are going to trip up as we have seen, really throughout this day is some 5:00 this morning, these are people who are here to see and support the former president.

SCIUTTO: Yeah, and listen beyond not making a promise not to weaponize, he seemed to be making the case to do so. Quiet a remarkable moment in that interview, Kristen Holmes, good to have you there. Thanks so much.

Well, 80 years later, the beaches, those soldiers stormed on Normandy during the allied invasion are part of a different kind of fight, the one over climate change. We're going to talk about the erosion of history coming up next.

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[15:47:15]

SCIUTTO: On the scene of an historic and existential battle for freedom, the beaches of Normandy are today fighting another existential and invisible thread, climate change. The cliffs in shores where 150,000 Allied soldiers defeated the Nazis 80 years ago are literally disappearing before our eyes. The Normandy climate change report last year concluded two-thirds of its coastline is already eroding with climate change-fueled sea level rise and storms further endangering historic sites there.

CNN chief climate correspondent Bill Weir has more on that threat.

Bill, the Normandy tourism office lists 100 places more along the coastline to visit. And remember, but many of them are now being washed away? Tell us what's happening.

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Well, not quite, Jim. It hasn't gotten that dire yet. There's still bunkers that sort of pop out of the sand there. There's a memorial for the Rangers near Utah beach that is on a cliff face that crumbled recently, they had to close that out of safety concerns. But it's just a matter of time, sort of a military metaphor, the war with an angry or nature is fought at sea levels by inch by inch by day by day.

And then big events like there was a storm Kieran (ph) a couple of seasons ago, just massive winds came in and that can batter and erode beaches much faster. That that report that said two-thirds are receding, said there's no sort of data to show that storms are getting more frequent there, but sea level rise is this is increasing. It's still, you know, in small measurements, but going up more rapidly. And so just like everywhere else from Charleston in the United States,

where they're planning $1 billion seawall to the outer banks in North America, historic places, going back on this side of the pond to the revolutionary war and over there there's something poignant about that, especially for the Western world. But this will affect very special places to people everywhere, South Asia and Africa.

And so, but this is sort of, unfortunately the new reality, what to do, what to save, how to -- how to save it?

SCIUTTO: And are there ways to -- I mean, because you see efforts, right? I mean, you see people put up seawalls, you see them dump more sand on the beaches in various places around the world will were seeing this happening. Some of it seems to work and some of it doesn't seem to last very long.

I mean, is -- are there things that Normandy can do that will last to help defend these sites?

WEIR: Sure. Coastal resilience, all of its good these days. Every bit of seagrass you can plant in a place like that. The English Channel is the ecosystem there that helps.

Seawalls generally make things worse because you're fighting against nature and it ruins the circulation of the oceans to your neighbors and many places, changes things.

[15:50:03]

Ideally, you know, can replenish the sand, but that's expensive and in a place like this, that maybe what happens is just, you know, millions of dollars worth of dredging and trucking of sand to replenish beaches, which is what they do up and down the Atlantic Coast and the Gulf Coast here in the U.S.

But it is, you know, really poignant when you think about these moments in history that we revere, but they were fought on an Earth where nature bats last you know, and, and sort of a new effort for humanity is to band together and figure out how to survive whatever's coming next on a warmer planet.

SCIUTTO: We talked periodically about the state of the warming planet we spoke most recently about missing those degree targets, right, in terms of the overall warming.

Is any new good news you could share as we -- as we follow this story?

WEIR: I always say, you know, it depends. I can -- I can end my day giddy with the possibilities or super depressed depending on what part of the story I focus on. And, yes, as things are degrading, as we're about to crank up one of the hottest summers in 2000 years on the northern hemisphere, there is an industrial revolution that is taking off and clean energy and big earth repair solutions. We're sort of missing targets here and there and its a lurch kind of like the days of COVID, where, you know, you think there's a vaccine and then it goes back and forth. There's political fights over all of these sorts of things.

It's inevitable that the world will electrify. And we'll figure out a way to bend that carbon curve. It could happen within the next year. We could stop making in carbon Godzilla bigger this year. And then its a matter of how fast we can starve that big monster that's ruining everything and chop it up and bury it and figure out the most equitable way to power our lives in ways that don't heat it up.

SCIUTTO: And, listen, we have agency in this. I mean, as we've said before climate change, science and policy is on the ballot in this country in November as well.

WEIR: Absolutely.

SCIUTTO: Bill Weir, thanks so much.

WEIR: You bet.

Following some technical difficulties today, Boeing's first crewed mission to the International Space Station is now finally docked. There's a live look in fact at the ISS, actually this was moments ago as it happened. That's not easy to do. They're flying around an orbit at 17.5 thousand miles an hour. We're going to have more on their mission, coming up.

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[15:55:02]

SCIUTTO: So a happy moment in space from just moments ago, two astronauts onboard Boeing and NASA Starliner spacecraft.

They are Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore. Well, they successfully docked and boarded the International Space Station and welcomed with a ringing bell.

Also plenty of hugs by the seven onboard, astronauts and cosmonauts. We should note now back on the arrival there, they are now nine people working and living on the ISS. The Starliner successfully docking at the space station after 24 hours in space.

That docking was actually delayed after four thrusters on the Starliner failed to fire. The astronauts will also face where time with helium leaks. Williams and Wilmore now expected spent at least eight days onboard the space station before departing and heading back to Earth.

It's a big moment because there have been a lot of stops and starts for the Starliner launches, including some scrubs of the emission. Initially early this week, but it did get up there and it's important because not only are SpaceX rockets taking astronauts up there now, now you have another option, important for the space station, important for the space program as well.

Thanks so much for all of you for joining me today. I'm Jim Sciutto down here on Earth in Washington. "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" is up next.