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Israeli Airstrike Kills Dozens of Civilians; Presidents Biden and Zelenskyy to Meet in Paris on Friday; Trump Returns to Campaign Trail as a Convicted Felon; Serial Killer Suspect Indicted on Two New Murder Charges. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired June 07, 2024 - 00:00   ET

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

LAURA COATES, CNN ANCHOR: -- let's go to the movies. Let's go see a show. For some reason, I always love it. And I don't mind an empty theater for the matinee, but don't tell anyone that I'm not at a meeting for that reason.

[00:00:09]

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sure. Of course.

COATES: Harry Enten, thank you so much and thank you all for watching. "ANDERSON COOPER 360" is next.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to you all around the world. I'm John Vause.

Ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM, wash, rinse, repeat. Another Israeli airstrike, targeting Hamas militants, hiding among thousands of displaced Palestinians in Gaza, leaves dozens of civilians dead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Democracy is never guaranteed. Every generation must preserve it, defend it, and fight for it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: As the U.S. president honors the heroes of the D-Day invasion, he warns, 80 years on, democracy and freedom are, once again, under threat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We are in more danger from the enemy from within, with these lunatics, these fascists, these communists.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Speaking of which, self-declared wannabe dictator Donald Trump picks up where he left off, demonizing critics and lying about his trials as he hits the campaign trail for the first time as a convicted felon. ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with John Vause.

VAUSE: For the second time in just over a week, an Israeli airstrike targeting Hamas militants in Gaza, and using precision-guided U.S.- made munitions, has killed dozens of civilians.

In the early hours of Thursday, UN officials say the second and third floors of the al-Saadi (ph) School, used as shelter by thousands of displaced Palestinians, were hit without warning, apparently by precision-guided bombs, which a CNN analysis has found were American- made GBU-39 explosives, the same U.S.-made and supplied munitions used by Israel in an airstrike on a camp for displaced Palestinians in Rafah.

Two senior Hamas militants were targeted and killed in that strike, along with 45 civilians, many of them women and children.

Israel says between 20 and 30 Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters were hiding inside the UN school building on Thursday. So far, at least nine have been identified.

Last month, the White House warned that shipments of offensive weapons to Israel could be suspended over concerns for the high number of civilian casualties.

For now, though, the Biden administration wants more details on this latest attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KIRBY, SPOKESPERSON, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: We want to learn more about this clearly. And we'll ask the tough questions as we always do.

But we also want to make sure that Israel does have what it needs to defend itself against a still viable threat by Hamas. And Hamas is deliberately making it that much more difficult.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: The EU's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, is calling for independent investigations into the airstrike on the UN school on Thursday, as well as other recent strikes in central Gaza.

Once again, it seems Palestinians forced from their homes by Israel's offensive on Gaza and seeking shelter in a building or camp which are protected under international law, are victims of that same Israeli offensive.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond following the latest developments from Jerusalem. First, a warning, though: his report contains some graphic content.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mohammad 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 (ph) is the second brother Mohammad (ph) has lost during the war. His third brother is in the hospital in critical condition, his skull fractured in the blast.

Mohammad (ph) 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 UN school, converted like so many others, into a shelter for thousands of Palestinians displaced from their homes. Blood-stained 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. An 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 accuse Israel of targeting civilians.

"Netanyahu is killing the civilians. He's not killing militants," Jaber Abu Daher 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 UN agency.

"Attacking, targeting or using UN buildings for military purposes are a blatant disregard of international humanitarian law," wrote UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini.

But the devastation goes beyond UN facilities. Scenes like this have been playing out all week in central Gaza, in the clear uptick 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," his father tells his son. "Don't cry. You're a man," he says. But he is the one who breaks down.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Joining me now is retired U.S. Air Force colonel and CNN military analyst, Cedric Leighton.

Good to see you, sir. Thanks for coming back.

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Oh, you bet, John. Always good to be with you.

VAUSE: OK. So as more details now emerge about this Israeli airstrike on a UN school, which was used to House displaced Palestinians.

I want you to listen to the State Department spokesperson, Matthew Miller, on the legalities and responsibilities of Israel. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEW MILLER, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: If it is true that you have this site where Hamas is hiding inside a school, other militants are hiding inside of school. Those individuals are legitimate targets. But at the same time, they're embedded near civilians.

Israel has a right to try and target those civilians, but they also have the obligation to minimize civilian harm and take every step possible to minimize civilian harm.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Yes, that seems kind of muddled. I've spoken to a lot of legal experts about this very issue and is Israel allowed to hit Hamas targets, knowing that civilians will be killed and injured?

And the answer has always been a firm no. Just because one side is committing a war crime -- in this case, Hamas using civilians as human shields -- does not give Israel permission to carry out another war crime.

LEIGHTON: Right. War crimes are, you know, by their very nature, illegal. And the very idea, John, that you would go in and deliberately kill civilians runs contrary to all the laws of warfare, all the laws of armed conflict.

So this is the kind of thing that we have to be very careful with, especially at the U.S. government level. They cannot allow themselves to say that it is permissible to kill civilians. That is something that is not permissible. It does happen in war. It is always a terrible thing. But it cannot be sanctioned in any way in terms of international legality because there is no international legality for that.

VAUSE: And the U.S. president has made his concerns over civilian casualties well known, especially with regard to an offensive on Rafah, which he said would be a red line, leading to a halt in shipments of offensive weapons to Israel.

Here he is, speaking back in March.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: Israel's not -- I'm never going to leave Israel. The defense of Israel is still critical, so there's no red line I'm going to cut off all weapons, so they don't have the Iron Dome to protect them. They don't have --

But there's red lines that, if it crosses -- and the country cannot have 30,000 more Palestinians dead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: In both the strike on the UN school and the one two weeks earlier, which killed dozens of civilians at a camp in Rafah, the Israelis used American-supplied GBU-39, small precision-guided explosive.

And once again, the White House says, no -- red lines have been crossed. How can these be defined as defensive weapons, and how can that not be a red line?

LEIGHTON: Yes, so this is where there's a lot of hair splitting going on within the administration when it comes to this, John.

Basically, what the Israelis did, is they used a smaller bomb. A GBU- 39 is the 250-pound bomb, which is much different, of course, than a 2,000-pound bomb or any other larger bomb.

So the theory is that they are using a smaller bomb, they would then not skirt the red lines that President Biden said.

Now, we're not sure exactly what President Biden said in private to the Israeli prime minister. But the fact of the matter is that you have to avoid civilian casualties as much as you possibly can in these situations. And even a small bomb, like in comparison, like the GBU- 39, is still a bomb that is going to potentially kill civilians if it is used in a populated area.

[00:10:00]

That's why it gets to be problematic in these senses. But I think what the administration was trying to do is trying to limit the size of the arms that the Israelis were using. They, in essence, did that.

The problem is that, even with those smaller armaments, they're still causing a lot of damage.

VAUSE: Yes. And after eight months of fighting and with much of Gaza's infrastructure destroyed, and that includes the Hamas infrastructure, as well. The militants are now turning to insurgency tactics, with this from Reuters: "Hamas fighters are now largely avoiding sustained skirmishes with Israeli forces closing in on the southernmost city of Rafah, instead relying on ambushes and improvised bombs to hit targets often behind enemy lines."

There is, to a degree, an argument for using 2,000-pound bombs when Hamas was in power, the ruling power using public infrastructure to wage a war against Israel. That argument seems to be a lot harder if Hamas is an insurgency.

So how does that raise the bar on what Israel can and cannot do if that is, in fact, the case?

LEIGHTON: Yes, so this gets to -- you know, in the world of comparisons, historical comparisons, this becomes similar to what the U.S. experienced in Fallujah in Iraq in the period between 2004 and 2006.

So in that particular case, obviously, the U.S. did use some heavy armament in certain engagements that they -- that they conducted in Fallujah. But the lessons that we learned from that is that these types of armaments are really not that effective when it comes to these kinds of insurgencies.

You need small-unit tactics. You need to be able to go in and make contact, in essence, with these guerrilla forces and take care of them on the battlefield in these very close quarters.

A very difficult thing to do, very hard to do from a tactical and a strategic perspective. But that's the kind of thing that should be happening in a case like this.

So yes, the 2,000-pound bombs, great from a strategic standpoint, but in this particular case, they are not the weapon to be used in a low- level insurgency or even a high-level insurgency.

And what we're seeing here is Israel is probably going to be confronted with a Hamas-inspired insurgency for quite some time.

VAUSE: Yes, I guess hopes that this war will end by the end of the year seem to be dashed by that news.

Colonel Leighton, it's good to see you. Thank you, sir.

LEIGHTON: You bet, John. Thank you so much.

VAUSE: Israeli's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has accepted an invitation by the House and Senate leaders to address a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress, set now for July 25th.

On the 80th anniversary of D-Day, as world leaders honored the bravery and sacrifice of tens of thousands of Allied troops who stormed the beaches of Normandy in France, came warnings that, once again, democracy and freedom are under threat from the rise of fascism and the far right.

During a poignant and moving day filled with symbolism, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, bestowed France's highest honor on D-Day veterans, who he said risked everything to help his country in its fight for freedom, while the U.S. president warned democracy must be defended, just as it was on the beaches of Normandy.

President Biden connected Europe's fight against fascism decades ago to Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine. He promised the U.S. would not abandon its allies. To do so, he said, would mean surrendering to bullies and bowing down to dictators.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Isolation was not the answer 80 years ago and is not the answer today.

We know the dark forces that these heroes fought against 80 years ago. They never fade. Aggression and greed, the desire to dominate and control, to change borders by force, these are perennial. And the struggle between a dictatorship and freedom is unending.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Notably, Russian President Vladimir Putin was not invited to this year's D-Day anniversary, but the Ukrainian president was.

Later Friday, Volodymyr Zelenskyy will meet with the U.S. president before delivering an address to the French national assembly.

More now on this D-Day anniversary from CNN's Nic Robertson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): Heroes 80 years ago, soldiers in their hearts, again today. Honored by not one but two presidents.

EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT: And you are back here today at home, if I may say.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Survivors of an era and a battle unparalleled in history, telling their story, a cautionary tale.

[00:15:03]

JOHN DENNETT, BRITISH VETERAN: When you go home, tell them of us and say, for your tomorrow, we gave our today.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): The sea's calmer, the stinging belts (ph) of bullets gone. So, too, the life-ending explosions.

This June 6, more than a carefully crafted commemoration of the 156,000 Allied troops, 5,000 ships, 13,000 aircraft in the D-Day landings.

A warning: dangers are back on the horizon.

KING CHARLES III, UNITED KINGDOM: Three nations must stand together to oppose tyranny. ROBERTSON (voice-over): U.S. President Joe Biden also connecting then and now. Today, Vladimir Putin's Russia, the threat.

BIDEN: The United States and NATO and a coalition of more than 50 countries standing strong with Ukraine. We will not walk away, because if we do, Ukraine will be subjugated, and it will not end there.

Ukraine's neighbors will be threatened. All of Europe will be threatened.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Ukraine's president, not Russia's, invited this year. A break with tradition. And an instant hit with the vets.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Savior of the people, in my eyes.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Yet even here celebrating unity, Europe's emerging divisions on show. British paratroopers reenacting D-Day airdrops, getting passport checks not needed before Brexit.

For these young performers, a new world, not bounded by the post-World War II rules-based order the vets watching them fought for. This 80th anniversary, that baton passed.

LT. CMDR. KATHERINE MIYAMASU, U.S. NAVY: American World War II veterans, you stand relieved. We have the watch.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): A watch that has a price. The account for this generation now settled.

Nic Robertson, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: More now. Timothy Snyder joins us from New Haven, Connecticut. He's author of "On Tyranny" and professor of history at Yale University.

Thank you for coming back. It's good to speak with you.

TIMOTHY SNYDER, PROFESSOR OF HISTORY, YALE UNIVERSITY: Glad to be with you.

Vause: So the president never actually mentioned Donald Trump by name during this speech, but there were references like "saving democracy in our time," and he talked about the U.S. facing a mortal threat Again, like it did during World War II.

And then Biden posed this question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: When we stand against tyranny, against evil, against crushing brutality of the iron fist. When we stand for freedom, we defend democracy. We stand together.

My answer is yes and only can be yes. (END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: So just as much as that was a reference to what's happening around the world, it was also a reference to what's happening in the United States.

So how effective can a call like that be when half of the U.S. believes the other half of the country is just as guilty of attacking rights and freedoms of -- and carry on with tyrannical behavior, like violating the rule of law?

SNYDER: Well, I think it's important to start from those principles, rather than starting from calling one another names.

The problem what the president says is very sound. Democracy doesn't defend itself. It has to be defended.

He's also right politically. The last 15 years have been a terrible time for democracy. Fewer democracies around the world, and the democracies we have are getting worse by the day, including the United States.

And he's right about the future. And his point is that, if we don't take seriously the values for which people are willing to take risks in the 1940s, then we're not really remembering them.

So before we get into who's polarizing, who's right, and who's wrong, think it would behoove all of us just to start from those principles and then think our way through to the next thing.

VAUSE: Well, Donald Trump has been especially skilled at deflecting his own egregious behavior by accusing others of doing the same thing. And here's Trump talking after his recent conviction in his hush money trial, which he claims was politically motivated. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP (via phone): It's a very terrible thing. It's a terrible precedent for our country. Does that mean the next president does it to them? That's really the question.

It's terrible, terrible paths that they're leading us to. And it's very possible that it's going to have to happen to them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: So even if his trials were politically motivated, which they were not, is Trump oblivious to how terrifying his threat is in terms of, you know, going after other opponents and his willingness to break the law to do so to seek retribution?

[00:20:06]

SNYDER: Well, he's oblivious in the sense that he doesn't understand that it's wrong. Democracy, the rule of law, human rights, civil rights, all these

things depend upon moral commitments, which depend upon, in turn, the ability to think of other people and not just oneself. It's very easy to be a fascist or an authoritarian if all one does is think about oneself.

The whole principle of division of powers, of checks and balances, which he is just obliterating there in his remarks, is the foundation of the kind of system that we were meant to be defending during the Second World War.

If you are a fascist like Hitler, it doesn't mean anything to you to say, Well, the courts just belong to me. The law doesn't really mean anything. It's fundamentally just an expression of my will.

That's the thing that we were meant to be fighting against.

VAUSE: Is there a simple explanation as to how Trump has managed to win over, you know, half of the country, almost half the country in support, in the process of obliterating those rights?

SNYDER: I don't -- I don't think it's half of the country, first of all, but it is of course, very many people. You're right.

And I don't think it is that complicated. Democracy is hard. Charisma is an easy trap. The idea that you are special and that everyone should make an exception for you is very attractive.

One can look upon someone who has never really done anything in life, but somehow always succeeded as a kind of model. Things are just going to go our way.

It's very easy to say it's never my fault. It's always someone else's fault. Right? So there is a simple explanation.

But that all leads to a much worse society. It leads to terrible inequality, at least everyone disrespecting everyone else. And it leads ultimately to war.

VAUSE: Well, in Normandy, President Biden did talk about the fragility of democracy and the need to protect it. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: 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)

VAUSE: There are myriad ways to fight and defend democracy. Sometimes that can be defined by what someone does not do. Now, in a poll on focus -- which focused on swing states released by "The New York Times" last November, an unnamed democratic candidate, a generic candidate, basically shifts the race by 12 points on the margins, turning a four-point Democrat deficit against Donald Trump into an eight-point lead, 48 percent to 40.

Yes, well, the biggest challenges facing Biden is his age. And before 2020, he sort of indicated he would stand down after just one term. Is Biden being irresponsible in a way by standing for a second term in an election he could struggle to win, compared to, you know, another Democrat candidate?

SNYDER: No, we are where we are. I mean, I -- frankly, I think if we're going to ask that kind of question, one really should start with the convicted felon and ask whether it's right for the convicted felon to be standing for election. Isn't it a little bit irresponsible, also, to transform an entire political party into a kind of family operation?

Is it really OK that the person who tried to overthrow our entire constitutional system in January 2021 is now running for office again? I take the point of your question, but I really think it comes well after those other questions.

As far as Biden is concerned, I think he's done a historically good job in domestic policy. He's passed more laws which changed the lives of more people than I think anyone since our wartime president, FDR. I don't think it gets enough credit for that.

And then we are where we are. He is certainly going to be the Democratic candidate. And I think one of the reasons he is a Democratic candidate has to do with what he said today.

I think he believes he is the person who can take responsibility for making sure that a collapse in American institutions doesn't take place.

I think he actually believes the things he said today.

VAUSE: Professor Snyder, thank you so much for being with us. Your thoughts very much appreciated. It's good to see you, as well. Thank you, sir.

SNYDER: My pleasure.

VAUSE: When we come back here on CNN, twice-impeached, four-times- indicted one-term President Donald Trump returns to the campaign trail with a brand-new title, convicted felon. More on that in a moment.

And new developments in the case of a suspected serial killer in New York state, as authorities reveal disturbing new evidence. That's ahead, as well.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:26:27]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I just went through a rigged trial in New York.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: The hush money trial in New York was not rigged. And Donald Trump is now a convicted felon and back on the campaign trail.

At a town hall in the swing state of Arizona, Trump ranted about immigration, demonized his critics, and boasted about the hundreds of millions of dollars raised by his campaign.

CNN's Kristen Holmes has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In his first appearance after his felony conviction, Donald Trump talked a lot about immigration in the battleground state of Arizona. He delivered a lengthy political speech, which is supposed to be 15 minutes, lasted for over an hour, talking specifically about immigration.

Here's some of the messages he had.

TRUMP: I want to send Joe Biden's illegal aliens back home where they belong. They have to go back home. Because quite simply, Joe Biden wants an invasion. I want a deportation.

HOLMES: The former president and his team believe that immigration, crime, the economy, these are all issues that are going to help propel him back to the White House as long as he keeps talking about them ahead of the election.

Now, this was not all Donald Trump focused on. He also talked about that conviction, saying it was a rigged trial and touting his fundraising numbers.

We have been told by people close to Donald Trump that he will continue to talk about this trial, saying that it is political persecution, as long as it keeps helping him boost those numbers.

Kristen Holmes, CNN, Phoenix, Arizona.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon may soon be able to advise his old boss on what it's like in jail, now that a judge has ordered he begin a four-month-long prison sentence for contempt of Congress. That prison sentence set to start July 1.

Bannon had appealed his 2022 conviction for refusing to testify and provide documents to the U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol.

Despite losing this appeal, Bannon says he will take his case all the way to the Supreme Court if he has to.

Families of the victims of the Sandy Hook school massacre may soon see some are the $1.5 billion owed to them by right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.

On Thursday, Jones agreed to liquidate his personal assets. The move is likely to end his ownership of Info Wars, the influential conspiracy site he founded back in the late 1990s.

Two years ago, Jones was found liable for defamation and emotional distress for repeated lies he told about the 2012 school shooting, which left 20 students and six adults dead.

So far, families have not seen a penny of the judgment, and Jones has refused to pay.

Still ahead, Vladimir Putin persona non grata in Normandy, France. The specter of Russia's war in Ukraine looming over D-Day commemorations.

Also ahead, the most powerful rocket ever built soaring into space on Thursday. Why SpaceX launch was such a milestone.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:32:48]

VAUSE: Welcome back, everyone. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

U.S. President Joe Biden will meet with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in the coming hours in Paris. Russia's invasion of Ukraine is looming over the 80th anniversary of D-Day.

CNN senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As the U.S. and its allies celebrate the heroes who stormed the beaches of Normandy 80 years ago, President Joe Biden warning freedom in Europe and the world are under attack again, this time by Russia.

BIDEN: The struggle between a dictatorship and freedom, it's unending. Here in Europe, we see one stark example. Ukraine has been invaded by a tyrant bent on domination.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): While Russian leader Vladimir Putin was once again not invited to the commemoration, Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, was on hand, likening Ukraine's struggle to fend off Russia's invasion to the Allies' war against Nazi Germany.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The savior of the people, in my eyes.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): As Russia intensifies its attacks against Ukraine, often using heavy aerial bombs. The Biden administration has given Kyiv the go-ahead to hit the Russians back in Russian territory, using some U.S.-supplied weapons like the HIMARS multiple rocket launchers.

An angry Putin saying NATO risks a full-on war with Russia, but that Moscow might also give arms to U.S. adversaries around the world.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Why do we not have the right to supply our weapons of the same class to those regions of the world where there will be strikes on the sensitive facilities of those countries that are doing this against Russia?

PLEITGEN (voice-over): But President Biden making clear Ukraine can only use U.S.-supplied weapons to hit Russian territory close to the frontlines, the president said in an interview with ABC.

BIDEN: We're not talking about giving them weapons to strike Moscow, to strike the Kremlin, to strike inside -- just to cross the border where they're receiving significant fire from conventional weapons.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): Kremlin-controlled media irate, mocking Biden's comments.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Every time you have to make reference to age. This, of course, is not ageism on our part. Not mockery, just speech. It seems to me that we should already talk about quarter (ph) to the elderly.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): And while Putin claims he would work with any U.S. administration after the presidential election in November, the Russian leader repeating unsubstantiated claims by Donald Trump that the recent hush money trial the former president just lost was politically motivated.

"For the rest of the world, it is evidence that prosecution of Trump in court over allegations related to events that happened years ago without any direct proof," Putin said, "this is purely using the court system for political purposes."

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: In a moment, new details revealed in the Gilgo Beach serial killings case. We'll tell you about a disturbing document found at the suspect's property, which appears to be a blueprint for murder.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:37:16]

VAUSE: Two new murder charges for the suspected serial killer in New York state's Gilgo Beach murders.

Rex Heuermann is now facing charges in six deaths spanning three decades.

In court Thursday, prosecution revealed disturbing details about what police found at Rex Heuermann's home.

CNN's Brynn Gingras has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're here today --

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Authorities revealing new evidence, including a manifesto containing chilling details of how they say accused Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann planned the murders and, in one case, the dismemberment of his victims.

The former architect now charged with two more murders: Jessica Taylor, killed in 2003; and Sandra Costilla in 1993.

RAYMOND TIERNEY, SUFFOLK COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: His intent was specifically to locate these victims, to hunt them down, and to bring them -- to bring them under his control, and to kill them.

GINGRAS (voice-over): Heuermann already charged with the killings of these four women, infamously known as the Gilgo Four, discovered along the same stretch of Long Island highway more than a decade ago.

There were audible gasps in the courtroom as prosecutors introduced a Word document found on a laptop in March, described as a gruesome blueprint for serial killings. Prosecutors say Heuermann created it in 2000 and modified it over years before trying to delete it.

TIERNEY: In that document is, in some cases, identical to the methodology used to murder the six victims in this case.

GINGRAS (voice-over): Court papers show it had sections in how to dispose of a body, avoid getting caught and what supplies may be needed, with horrific detail like, "Hit harder. Remember, don't charge gas. More sleep and noise control equal more play time." And "Use pushpins to hang dropped clothes."

TIERNEY: We went back into the house. We also found an area where there were pushpins into the drop ceiling.

GINGRAS (voice-over): It even included a morbid section on lessons learned and things to remember, like "Use heavy rope for neck. Light rope broke under stress of being tightened."

Heuermann remained unemotional as this new evidence was revealed in court. He pleaded not guilty to all the murders.

MIKE BROWN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: New charges are always horrific. And yes, he's in a bad place in terms of these charges.

GINGRAS (voice-over): Twenty-year-old Taylor was decapitated, and her dismembered body was found in 2003. Nearly eight years later, Taylor's skull, hands and forearm were found near the dumpsite of the Gilgo Four victims, where Heuermann's truck was seen by witnesses.

Investigators say Heuermann was also in the same area where Taylor made one of her last calls to her mother. Her mother cried as the new allegations were read.

JASMINE ROBINSON, JESSICA TAYLOR'S COUSIN: This year has been 21 years since she was taken from us, longer than the chance that she got to be alive.

GINGRAS (voice-over): Advanced DNA technology was used to connect Heuermann to hairs found on remains of both Taylor and Costilla, according to the court paperwork.

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Costilla's naked and mutilated body was found in a wooded area in Southampton in 1993. She may have been Heuermann's first alleged victim.

GINGRAS: It's clear this investigation has expanded with the discovery of this manifesto, in the prosecutor's words, but also additional evidence found in new searches, including of 350 electronic devices like cameras, cell phones, and computers.

This could mean possibly more charges in the future, more closure for families. Heuermann will be back in court next month.

Brynn Gingras, CNN, New York.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three, two --

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VAUSE: The most powerful rocket ever built, seen here soaring into space. The highly anticipated fourth test flight of the SpaceX Starship launched Thursday from Boca Chica in Texas for the first time.

Both the capsule and the super heavy booster survived a controlled re- entry splashdown, demonstrating it is re-usable. This is a major milestone for SpaceX and NASA, which is planning to use Starship to land astronauts on the Moon in 2026. Entire -- in fact, an entire fleet of them, in the future.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're now 30 seconds into flight.

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VAUSE: There they are, Butch and Sunny. Actually, Butch Wilmore and Sunny Williams are floating into the International Space Station. They got there -- by the Boeing Starliner, which docked safely with the ISS on Thursday, but not before a series of problems during flight.

There were helium leaks and a temporary loss of thrusters at one point. The issues appear to be resolved. They're now safely aboard the ISS. But the flight control team continues to monitor the situation back on earth.

Wilmore and Williams, or Butch and Sunny, will spend eight days in space before returning to earth in the Starliner, if it's working.

Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause. Please stay with us. WORLD SPORT is up next, and then my friend and colleague Michael Holmes will have a whole hour of CNN NEWSROOM after that.

Thank you for watching. See you back here next week.

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