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CNN International: Biden Makes Case For Democracy In Normandy Address; Biden Unveils New $225M Aid Package For Ukraine; New Israeli Attack On U.N. School Sheltering Palestinians. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired June 07, 2024 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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RAHEL SOLOMON, HOST, "CNN NEWSROOM": Good morning or good evening, depending on where you're watching. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York.
Ahead on CNN Newsroom, U.S. President Joe Biden rallying for the protection of democracy and freedom, just a day after the 80th anniversary of D-Day in France. Plus, more Israeli strikes and shelling today across Gaza. This as tensions between Israel and Hezbollah are on the verge of boiling over. And U.S. job growth coming in hot, very hot, in May, blowing past expectations. We will take a look at what this could mean for the Federal Reserve and the path for rate cuts.
Just moments ago, U.S. President Joe Biden with a powerful call to defend democracy, while highlighting the stark differences between himself and Donald Trump, his opponent this November. He delivered a dramatic speech at the site of American heroism, Pointe Du Hoc in Normandy. That's where U.S. Army Rangers defied all odds by climbing the 100-foot cliffs and securing key positions against the Nazis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: They're asking us, what will we do? They're not asking us to scale these cliffs. But, they're asking us to stay true to what America stands for. They're not asking us to give a risk our lives, but they are asking us to care for others in our country more than ourselves. They're not asking us to do their job. They're asking us to do our job, to protect freedom in our time, to defend democracy, to stand up to aggression abroad and at home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOLOMON: Now, earlier, President Biden met with and actually apologized the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the delay in getting U.S. aid to Ukraine. Mr. Biden issuing the apology which was the result of Republican opposition in Congress, while announcing a new $225 million aid package for Kyiv, the months-long delay allowing Russia to make significant military gains. Biden saying that the U.S. will continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Ukraine. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: You haven't bowed down. You haven't yielded at all. You continue to fight in a way that is -- it's just this remarkable, just remarkable. And we're not going to walk away from you.
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: Well, we're thankful from all Ukrainians to your military support, financial support, humanitarian line (ph), and of course, it's very important. And our meeting here is very symbolic. It's very important that you stay with us. This bipartisan support with the Congress, it's very important that in this unity, the United States of America, all American people stay with Ukraine, like it was during World War II, how United States helped to save human lives, to save Europe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOLOMON: And we're following all of these developments with our International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson, he is live in London, as well as CNN's Senior International Correspondent Melissa Bell, she is in Paris.
Melissa, let's start with you. We sort of laid out some of the broad strokes of Biden speech there. But, what else stood out to you about his remarks?
MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think there was, of course, the huge symbolism of where he was speaking from, not just as he referred in his speech to the events that had happened there 80 years ago, the Pointe Du Hoc where the -- this 100-meter cliff had to be scaled in order for the American troops to be able to take on the Nazi positions, but of course, because it was precisely where Ronald Reagan had 40 years ago called -- laid a passionate plea against isolationism as well. And of course, that is hugely important. It goes to the heart of so much of what we're going to hear, have heard over the last few days and we're going to continue to hear, Rahel, not only as the President wraps up that part of his visit and heads back here to Paris.
In fact, tomorrow, here at the Arc de Triomphe, President Biden is going to be laying a wreath to the Forgotten Soldier. And before having a state dinner with President Macron later today, we're going to have after bilateral meeting between President Macron and President Zelenskyy, a press conference to hear more about what France is pledging to Ukraine. But, that very strong symbolism that will continue through till tomorrow until when the American President leaves on Sunday. Already, as we just heard in that speech, reminding the world and his American public, let's face it, in the face of just a few months away, the American election.
The fact that, as he puts it, the Veterans then that we've been celebrating this week in Normandy would want nothing more than to continue the fight against fascism in the face of what's happening in Ukraine, and that is that clear historical line that's being drawn between events in Normandy and what's happening exactly now, Rahel.
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SOLOMON: Yeah. It's a parallel that has been made several times over the last few days, as you point out, as events there in Normandy have continued on. As I said, this is, of course, in the wake of the 80th anniversary of D-Day events, Melissa. How do you think this message and Biden's message will resonate with fellow ally nations?
BELL: With fellow allies very clearly -- it's important that he is here, and it's important to those allies, specifically I'm thinking here for instance, Rahel, of France, who've been urging Western allies of Ukraine to do much more to help Ukraine in its battles. So, Biden is, of course, coming to speak in a very particular domestic context. But, it is also happening in a very specific context with regard to events in Ukraine.
Remember that it is because of the pressure being felt on the Ukrainian frontlines increasingly over the course of the last month that there is this reaffirmation of Western support that's been coming, not just in the shape of bilateral deals of additional pledges of aid that had been given these last couple of weeks, Ukraine will continue, have continued again without latest American offer this morning, pledge, rather, this morning of $225 million and the additional French pledge of their Mirage fighter jets.
It is also about how the allies can help more. And one of the things that we're looking ahead to here is how far President Macron will go when he meets with President Zelenskyy tonight and speaking to the idea of not boots on the ground that might do some of the fighting, I'm speaking about Western boots, but for instance, trainers that can be there helping Ukrainian forces better to fight. That's one of those red lines that President Macron has been calling for more courage from Western allies. And I think Biden's visit here certainly lends him support or is likely to give him the confidence he needs to push ahead with widespread (inaudible), very controversial proposal, Rahel.
SOLOMON: Fascinating. Well, we will certainly listen closely to see what he says about that. Melissa Bell live for us in Paris. Melissa, thank you.
Let's now bring in Nic Robertson, who is live for us in London. So, Nic, there is a lot of different sort of angles and lenses you can view these comments, certainly here domestically with the election in a few months, certainly to the allies. But, what about the global perspective? What do you think these remarks mean? Whether it's Russia, whether it's the allied countries, how do you think this is being viewed more globally?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah. I think this will be seen as a speech that President Biden was giving predominantly to a domestic audience, an audience that is very much focused on the upcoming elections and the choices they have to make, and President Biden very clearly saying the choice that is preferable to make is one to choose people who are willing to put their country first ahead of themselves. It's a very clear reference. It appears to Donald Trump.
So, I think there was an appeal there as well, obviously, to a younger generation to cast themselves and see themselves following in the footsteps of these Veterans who are willing to sacrifice everything for the ideals that they live by, democracy, its freedoms, and the fact that those don't come for free. And we're reaching a point in history where a price may need to be paid again.
So, while that would be very warming for allies to hear an American President espousing that, I think they will recognize the fact that four months out, three months out or so, from the U.S. election that the President needs to make this sort of speech from foreign soil, if you will, of the closeness of the race, and what's at stake, and President Macron and his ideas about how better to support Ukrainian forces. All of these resonate at the moment these days. They focus minds. I mean, President Macron may be one of the leaders who is carrying a lot of weight in supporting Ukraine this time next year. And he will be aware of that and the divisions in Europe that he will be trying to bridge and keep together.
So, there will be things in there. I mean, President Biden spoke about, can you imagine America that isn't a beacon of these values for democracy? And unfortunately, for some listening in Europe, they are having to contemplate imagining that at the moment they don't want to. They expect that they will have a good relationship with the United States, but they are concerned about the policies if President -- if Donald Trump becomes President again.
SOLOMON: And sort of gaming out whatever happens this November here in the U.S. Nic Robertson live for us in London. Nic, thank you so much.
Well, with me now to continue the conversation is Ambassador William Taylor. He is a former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, and joins me from Washington. We also have Max Boot, a Senior Fellow with the Council on Foreign Relations. Good to have you both.
Ambassador, let me start with you, and this development this morning, a pretty significant deal. So, $225 million, this new aid package, it includes things like ammunition, artillery, air defenses.
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Ambassador, from your perspective, how much does this change things on the ground? How much can this help Ukraine make up for some of the losses on the battlefield?
WILLIAM TAYLOR, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE: Well, Rahel, this is coming, as you've pointed out, after a six-month delay. This new assistance that has been coming since last month has had an effect. It's beginning to have an effect. It's beginning to come onto the battlefield, allowing the Ukrainians to stop the Russians who were indeed making progress. While that ammunition was not coming, while the flow had been paused because of the delay in Washington, the Russians had taken advantage. And so, now that it is coming, and this is the latest tranche that the President announced this morning, now they are -- the Ukrainians are able to stop the Russians and they're doing that around Kharkiv (ph).
SOLOMON: Max, let me play for you a clip where we hear the President apologize for this delay in aid that the ambassador was just speaking about there. Let's listen together.
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BIDEN: I apologize for the -- those weeks of not knowing what was going to pan -- in terms of funding, because we had trouble getting the -- a bill that we had to pass that had the money in it -- from some of our very conservative members who were holding it up. But we got it done, finally.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOLOMON: So, Max, Biden there specifically calling out the conservatives. How do you think this lands back home?
MAX BOOT, COLUMNIST, THE WASHINGTON POST, & AUTHOR, "REAGAN: HIS LIFE AND LEGEND": Well, I'm sure MAGA Republicans won't be happy to hear it. But, I think Biden is absolutely right, because I think we've done a lot of good for Ukraine by supporting Ukraine in its fight for freedom. But, unfortunately, that six months delay that Ambassador Bill Taylor was talking about had a catastrophic impact in Ukraine. It cost a lot of lives.
And more recently, it's allowed the Russians to devastate the Ukrainian electrical infrastructure such that a lot of Ukraine is now plunged into darkness. They don't have power for a good portion of the day. That's the direct consequence of not having air defenses. And the reason they don't have the air defenses they needed because we stopped providing the ammunition.
So, I think that the cost of that Republican delay in Congress was very heavy. But, now that Ukraine is back getting supplies from the U.S., I think it can resist for the Russian advances and regain the initiative.
SOLOMON: Well, Ambassador, it's not even just this new U.S. aid, right, because we also heard from France saying that it will supply more fighter jets. What do you think this new support signals to other allied countries? Is this enough to sort of re-energize that support at a time when it appeared that Russia was making some gains on the ground and actually building momentum?
TAYLOR: Well, they were, Rahel. You are exactly right. They were doing -- they were taking advantage of that pause, and the new assistance that's coming from United States, indeed, along with continued assistance from European. Europeans have been doing good work on that. It is certainly true that Americans are providing the bulk of the military assistance, but the Europeans are also providing military assistance and a lot of economic assistance.
Max Boot just referred to the electricity problem. That's a serious problem. And that is what's needed from the United States as well as from Europe. So, they're pulling away. We're pulling out.
SOLOMON: Max, can I ask, this event, of course, this 80th anniversary of D-Day, but really the last few days in general, you see Biden there. You see him on stage with other world leaders. A lot of people would say he is good at that. How much does that help him here domestically with this election now less than five months away?
BOOT: That's a great question. I really don't know. I mean, I think President Biden actually has a pretty good foreign policy record to run on. I think he has done a great job of mobilizing more than 50 nations to support Ukraine. He has also mobilized coalitions in the Pacific with Australia, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, and other countries to resist Chinese aggression. And I think he has managed as best as he can. That's a very difficult situation with the war in Gaza. I don't think anybody else could really do much better.
But, I don't think that U.S. voters are going to be voting based on foreign policy. And unfortunately, I think the issues that are more -- uppermost in their minds, like inflation and immigration, tend to play more to Trump's strengths. So, I'm concerned that Biden is not going to get the credit he deserves.
SOLOMON: Ambassador, let me ask, and actually, Max, I would ask you to answer the same question as well. But, let me get to the Ambassador first. What countries do you think are paying most close attention to the words from Biden? And what I really want to know is, how do you think Russia is viewing this, both this event this morning with Zelenskyy, but even just the last few days? I mean, Russia, of course, was not invited to D-Day celebrations. Ukraine was. What do you think the perspective is from within Moscow?
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TAYLOR: So, Rahel, the Russians, and Mr. Putin in particular, must be disappointed that the Americans are still there. The Americans are still providing this assistance, and show no sign of stopping. President Zelenskyy earlier on saying the bipartisan support that was necessary in order to pass this bill, pass the support bill, is there. That's key. And the Russians have to be disappointed that that bipartisan support continues. They are also disappointed -- the Russians are disappointed that the Europeans are still there. The Ukrainians will not give up. So, they don't give up. Europeans don't give up. And the Americans are still providing this. They won't give up. That's got to be disappointing for President Putin.
SOLOMON: Max, anything that you would add to that, just this idea, these assurances of support. Russia hearing this, thinking, what? I mean, how much longer does this war now potentially go on?
BOOT: Well, unfortunately, I mean, I think everything that Bill Taylor said is right, but unfortunately, I think Putin can take hope from the fact that Trump is running neck-and-neck with Biden in the polls, and Trump is somebody who has basically talked about abandoning NATO, about letting Russia do what the hell they want with NATO countries. He has talked about ending aid for Ukraine. And unfortunately, as long as Trump remains strong in the polls, Putin can hope that Western support for Ukraine will collapse and he will ultimately win the war. I think that's why it's so important that Trump not win in November, because I think in many ways that U.S. presidential election is going to be a referendum on support for Ukraine and Ukraine's future, and Europe's future is very much at stake in the vote, I think.
SOLOMON: Fascinating. Great to have both of your perspective, sitting Ambassador William Taylor, Max Boot, thank you both.
BOOT: Thank you.
SOLOMON: All right. Still ahead for us, health officials in Gaza say that at least 77 people have been killed in new Israeli strikes, including yet another attack on a UN-run school-turned-shelter. Plus, an escalation and attacks across the Israel-Lebanon border, raising fears of a new front in the war. We will be right back.
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SOLOMON: Welcome back. Gaza health officials are reporting another Israeli strike on a UN school-turned-shelter that was housing displaced civilians. They say that three people were killed and dozens wounded today in the attack near Gaza City. This comes amid an international outcry over an Israeli strike on a UN shelter Thursday that reportedly killed 40 people, including children. Israel says that it killed at least nine Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters in the strike.
Meantime, in Israel itself, there is a lot of uncertainty about a key member of the war cabinet. Former Defense Minister Benny Gantz, he has threatened to withdraw from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's emergency government by Saturday over what he considers a lack of clear war strategy. Gantz will hold the news conference a little more than 24 hours from now.
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All of this happening amid escalating attacks along the Israel-Lebanon border. Israel says that it is quote "ready if necessary to take very intense action against Hezbollah."
We are joined now by Paula Hancocks, she is live in Jerusalem, and Ben Wedeman, who is in Beirut for us.
Paula, let's start with you and just what's the latest we know on the school attack and other strikes across Gaza?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rahel, there has been another UN-linked school that has been subjected to an Israeli air strike, this one in the Al-Shati camp in the northern part of Gaza. Now, we understand from medics that three people were killed, dozens were injured. Now, we have reached out to the IDF about this. They say that they targeted a container where Hamas was operating. And it comes just a day after we did see that strike on an UNRWA school in Nuseirat in central Gaza, this where some 40 were killed. We understand 14 of them children, nine of them women.
It has been condemned by the United Nations. We also know that the White House is asking Israel about details of what happened. We heard from John Kirby, the National Security Council spokesperson, telling CNN, Israel does have the right to go after Hamas, but the way in which it does so matters. So, certainly, there is a lot of focus on that. And there is a lot of focus on central Gaza itself. At least 12 were
killed overnight in that particular area in different strikes and artillery strikes. And we have been hearing from Palestinians on the ground that they feel that the intensity and the frequency of Israeli airstrikes in the past week is really reminiscent of the beginning of the war, meaning that there is a significant number and intensity of these attacks against these particular areas, and it's certainly the people on the ground there that are feeling the brunt of it. Rahel.
SOLOMON: Paula, what about this fallout over Gantz, as we wait to hear these comments from him? I mean, what's the latest one that?
HANCOCKS: So, this is something that Benny Gantz had threatened last month. He said that he was going to give Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu three weeks, until June 8, which is tomorrow Saturday, to come up with a plan, a plan to release all the hostages, a plan for the day after the war in Gaza, and a plan to calm things down on the northern border, and allow tens of thousands of Israeli residents to move back to that area. Now, as it stands at this point, we know that he will be speaking on Saturday night on June 8, and he has said in the past that that will be the time he will walk away from the coalition. He will resign with his party.
Now, if that does in fact happen, it won't necessarily collapse the coalition. Benjamin Netanyahu may still well have a majority. But, what it will do is it will isolate Netanyahu more. It will take away some of his legitimacy, if you like, when it comes to domestic and also international considerations. So, certainly, that is something that we're going to be watching very closely. There were reports that the Biden administration may even have tried to persuade him to postpone that decision. We did put that to the Gantz camp and they just said that they wouldn't elaborate on conversations with international partners. Rahel.
SOLOMON: Let's see. All right. Keep us posted. Our Paula Hancocks there for us in Jerusalem. Paula, thank you.
Let's go now to Ben Wedeman who was live for us in Beirut. Ben, tensions rising again along the Israeli-Lebanon border. This is an area that you have been covering and reporting for months now. What's the latest?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the situation today on the border is quiet actually. We have seen no reports of Hezbollah firing into Israel. I've seen the Lebanese national news agencies saying there was one air raid on a target in southern Lebanon. But, this comes after days of rising tension. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was up on the border recently, saying that Israel is prepared -- is preparing for very intense action against Hezbollah, if the need arises. Certainly, what we've seen is that area along the border has become largely depopulated on both sides as a result of back and forth fire going back to the eighth of October.
But, certainly, the last week has seen not only intense exchanges, but also we've seen new weapons being used. Hezbollah on Wednesday says -- they said they used what's known as an "Almas" anti-tank guided missile to take out an Iron Dome battery. Of course, the Iron Dome is that anti-missile system that really is the mainstay of Israel's defenses against Hezbollah's rockets. Estimated their -- that arsenal has been estimated as much as 150,000 to 200,000 rockets.
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Now, they were able to take it out with an Iranian supplied "Almas" rocket, which is basically an Iranian version of an Israeli anti-tank missile. Now, in addition to that, yesterday, according to Hezbollah, they, for the first time, used anti-aircraft missiles against Israeli aircraft in Lebanese airspace, according to Hezbollah, causing those Israeli planes to return. So, we're not only seeing an intensification of the action on the border except perhaps for today. Maybe they're just resting after a very busy week, the Hezbollah fighters. But, we're also seeing weapons and tactics that we have not been seen -- we've not seen used by Hezbollah until quite recently. Rahel.
SOLOMON: Fascinating. OK. Ben Wedeman, keep us posted on what changes, if anything, at the border, live for us there in Beirut. Thank you, Ben.
And still to come for us, Russian President Vladimir Putin laying out economic ambitions for his country, saying that Russian-friendly countries deserve special attention. Plus, any moment now, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will sign an agreement with France for supply of fighter jets. We will be right back.
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SOLOMON: Welcome back. You are watching CNN Newsroom. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York. And here are some of the international headlines we are watching for you today.
Russian President Vladimir Putin notably absent from this year's D-Day events in France. He spoke at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum earlier today. The Russian President says that nearly 40 percent of the country's external trade is now in rubles as shares conducted in quote, "toxic, non-friendly Western currencies are diminishing." He went on to say that countries friendly to Russia deserves special attention, as they will define the global economy.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden made a call to defend democracy and freedom during a speech while still in France. He spoke at a site of American heroism. Pointe Du Hoc in Normandy, saying that D-Day troops would want America to stand up to Mr. Putin's aggressions in Europe today.
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BIDEN: They're asking us, what will we do? They're not asking us to scale these cliffs. But, they're asking us to stay true to what America stands for. They're not asking us to give a risk our lives, but they are asking us to care for others in our country more than ourselves. They're not asking us to do their job. They're asking us to do our job, to protect freedom in our time, to defend democracy, to stand up to aggression abroad and at home. (END VIDEO CLIP)
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SOLOMON: Meantime, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is facing political backlash in the UK for skipping part of D-Day ceremonies in France on Thursday. Sunak skipped the event so he could film a campaign TV interview. The Prime Minister issued an apology on X, saying it was a mistake.
Well, just moments from now, French President Emmanuel Macron will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to sign an agreement on Ukraine's wartime needs. On Thursday, Mr. Macron announced that France will provide the country with Mirage fighter jets. Macron says that he hopes that other countries will follow suit and provide Ukraine with their own Mirage jets.
We are following all of these developments with CNN's Senior International Correspondent Melissa bell in Paris. Melissa, you have been following Zelenskyy essentially for quite some time now. You went to Normandy. You are now back in Paris. It feels as if his trip to France has been rather positive for his efforts with the war in Ukraine.
BELL: Oh, for sure, because of the optics, because of the firm backing he has gotten again from Western allies. And this is something for the last couple of weeks that we've seen him do, go through European capitals, getting pledge after pledge of additional support in the shape of bilateral deals. But then, of course, here in Normandy, what it was, we were commemorating Lent itself, given the framing of it by the American presidents, specifically, very clearly to the message that President Zelenskyy has been hoping to drive home now for a long time.
In fact, that's what we heard him say when he stood between -- before French lawmakers earlier, very clearly drawing the parallel between Hitler and Putin and the fight for freedom at the time, and that of his people. Now, beyond those pledges of support, and there is the mention that you make of the French fighter jets that are -- he'll be able to add to his arsenal, specifically his air defenses that he has been seeking to strengthen for so long, but there is also the manner in which the West is able to help Ukraine. It is at the back foot on which Ukrainian soldiers find themselves in that northeastern front opened up by Moscow last month in Kharkiv, the pressure that the civilians are coming under.
That is the important backdrop to President Zelenskyy's ever more urgent pleas, not just for more help, but for better help, for foster help, for getting the right equipment to the right pace is better than has been achieved over the last couple of years. And of course, for more leeway in how he conducts his defense of this country.
We saw Western allies one after the other, and most significantly, the United States, announced that they were allowing -- giving the green light to keep long hauls for, finally given that they could use Western weapons on Russian targets that had been firing towards Ukraine. One of the key things that could come out tonight is much more on what has been a very fringe push so far, that allies of Ukraine look at other more imaginative, more creative. That's the word the President Macron uses over and over again, ways of helping Ukraine at this difficult time and potential turning point in his defense against Moscow truth. And that is the ability, something the French have been negotiating with Ukrainians the possibility that they might send trainers, military personnel who would be sent on the ground in Ukraine to train Ukrainian troops.
The French are looking at creating what they call a French battalion, and these would be Ukrainian soldiers trained by the French, 450,000 of them, that would, it is believed by the French, be able then to use their Western weapons more effectively, and fight for the defense of their country more efficiently. That is, of course, extremely controversial, as we saw when it was first raised by Macron, the hackles raised, not these (inaudible) allies. But, I think something we're going to be looking for is, has President Zelenskyy managed to get at some firm action on that front, Rahel?
SOLOMON: And Melissa, let's just stay there for a moment further. As you point out, it can be controversial. Walk me through sort of the sensitivity that Macron will have to essentially embrace when sort of making these comments from sort of delivering this message about further training, but not necessarily French boots on the ground.
BELL: That's right. I think when you think back to when he first mentioned it back in February, the reaction had been so swift with so many Western allies very much distancing himself from his remarks. We'd spoken to the Elysee in the immediate wake of his surprise announcement that he thought that this is something that allies should consider, the potential of boots on the ground, for things like training, but not just that, border control, other ways in which Western or French, in this case, military personnel might be on the ground, not in combat roles, but in support roles.
Immediately, we had sought clarification from the Elysee, are -- the words had been tampered down. We had been led to believe that we were really looking at the possibility and nothing firm had been announced.
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And yet, as time has progressed, we've heard both from the Ukrainians who said that they are working actively with the French to organize this, but have confirmation from the French that they are having conversations with Ukrainians about what exactly the Ukrainians' needs are in order that they can meet them with this very specific promise, possibility, rather, that they would help with a trading of truth.
So, it's something the French have clearly been pushing for. And we're likely to hear from President Macron tonight, a much clearer call that other allies follows suit in looking at this possibility, again, a red line that's been spoken to by Vladimir Putin, not least because from his point of view, it would be a far more active participation of NATO. And from his point of view, NATO participating on the ground in Ukraine, something that until now had really not been considered, Rahel. SOLOMON: Yeah. Really fascinating. Also really interesting to think about these leaders and the message they have to deliver with their global initiatives and their global priorities, but also the message domestically, both in France and here in the U.S. Melissa Bell live for us in Paris. Melissa, thank you.
All right. To Sudan now where Sudan's military leader says that there will be harsh retribution for a horrific attack that reportedly killed more than 100 people. The President of Sudan's governing body visiting the area south of Khartoum on Thursday. The government says that that is where the paramilitary's rapid support forces launched a gruesome attack the day before, injuring some 200 people.
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Witnesses say that the militants use armored vehicles and heavy weapons and that most of the victims were civilians, including children. Sudanese activists later shared this video on social media showing that -- saying that it shows the remains of scores of victims. The militants have been fighting Sudan's army since April of 2023, forcing millions of people to flee their homes and bringing that country to the brink of famine.
All right. Still ahead for us, U.S. jobs growth boomed in May. But, that is not the whole story. We will explain, coming up next. Plus, Donald Trump is back on the campaign trail as a convicted felon. Details ahead on Trump's message for his political rival about security at the U.S. southern border. We'll be right back.
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SOLOMON: Welcome back. For the first time since his conviction, Donald Trump is back on the campaign trail. It has been a week since a Manhattan jury convicted the presumptive Republican nominee on 34 counts related to a scheme to pay off porn star Stormy Daniels for a damaging story ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Now, on Thursday, Trump returned to the mic at a town hall in Arizona and took some swings at U.S. President Joe Biden. Trump attacked Biden's new executive action on border security, vowing to rescind it on his first day in office if he wins in November.
Let's bring in CNN's Steve Contorno, who is standing by, and joins us live from St. Petersburg, Florida. So, Steve, talked to us a little bit about how Trump is framing this conviction, now in the campaign trail.
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STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Rahel, Donald Trump spent little time before he accused these 12 jurors who convicted him of being quote, "rigged", and also attacking the justice system that is now threatening to sentence him on these 34 felony counts. He also said, if the appeals court doesn't, quote, "straighten things out", we're not going to have a country anymore. And we have seen this continuing escalation of rhetoric from Trump and his allies. He has had a series of interviews in the day since the guilty verdict with interviewers, friendly interviewers, who have been seemingly trying to give Trump an off-ramp from this revenge tour rhetoric that he has been using in the day since the conviction. Listen to, though, what he said to Dr. Phil yesterday in an interview just before his Arizona event.
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DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The word "revenge" is a very strong word, but maybe we have revenge through success. Well, revenge is just a time. I will say that.
DR. PHIL MCGRAW, HOST, DR. PHIL: It does.
TRUMP: And sometimes revenge can be justified.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CONTORNO: Sometimes revenge can be justified. So, clearly, this is still a retaliation mindset the former President has. And he was going to continue to take this messaging on the road through the West Coast. He has events planned after -- in a bunch of cities, including fundraisers that he is holding in California and Nevada, and he has a rally on Sunday in Las Vegas, as he continues to emerge from the trial through the trail, something we have heard from his folks that he intends to ramp up his activity now that he is no longer tethered to a Manhattan courtroom.
SOLOMON: All right. Steve Contorno live for us there in St. Petersburg. Steve, thank you.
Well, the prosecution rests. Hunter Biden's federal gun trial has entered a new phase after prosecutors called their final two witnesses. This morning, the court heard from a DEA Special Agent and an FBI forensic chemist who testified as an expert witness about the powder and the residue found on the pouch that was with Hunter Biden's gun, at the center of this case. Now, the defense has now just called its first witness, a reminder that the U.S. President's son is accused of illegally owning a gun while being addicted to drugs in 2018.
Let's bring in CNN's s Marshall Cohen, who has been keeping a close eye on this case. He joins us live from Wilmington, Delaware. Marshall, the question that I had been wondering is, do we expect to hear from Hunter Biden. Period. But, talk to us also about Hunter Biden's daughter and his uncle, perhaps on the witness stand today?
MARSHALL COHEN, CNN REPORTER: Hey, Rahel. Those are some great questions. First and foremost, it's always an option for any defendant in any criminal case to take the stand and testify in their own defense. It's a very risky move. Hunter's attorneys said this week that they have not made the decision yet. But, I would say that's pretty unlikely. Getting into the meat of the defense case, which is currently underway, on the witness stand right now is an employee of the gun store here in Wilmington where Hunter bought that gun in 2018. The defense is trying to poke some holes in what happened at that store with the paperwork. The paperwork is very important because after all, he is accused of lying on that form about his drug use. But, the bigger names that everybody is anticipating would be Hunter's
daughter Naomi, and his Uncle James Biden, which would be the brother of President Joe Biden. The defense is expected to bring them in as witnesses. Not exactly clear when that's going to happen. But, that's part of their effort to rebut a lot of the previous testimony from some of Hunter's exes that he was rampantly abusing drugs around the time and the months surrounding when he bought that gun.
The lead defense attorney, Abbe Lowell, said in his opening statements that Uncle Jimmy, as he called him, was a big part of Hunter's support system and even paid for some of his treatment around the time of that gun purchase, trying to give the idea to the jurors that maybe he wasn't using crack cocaine at that moment, maybe he was trying to move himself towards sobriety, because so much of this case, Rahel, turns on the question of whether he was a user of drugs or addicted to drugs at that time. So, the defense case is underway here, and they are hearing from the gun store employee now, but still waiting for those big names from the Biden family.
SOLOMON: Well, keep us posted, Marshall. I know you've been following this story from the very beginning. We'll see you soon, I'm sure. Thank you, Marshall.
All right. Well, two high-level Donald Trump associates are expected in an Arizona court over election subversion charges. Mark Meadows, the former Chief of Staff for Trump, and Mike Roman, a former Trump 2020 campaign official, are set to be arraigned in a Phoenix area courtroom today. They're the latest defendants to face conspiracy, fraud and forgery charges from alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in the state.
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The former President Donald Trump has not been charged in this case.
Joining us now from Washington is Zachary Cohen. Zach, give us a sense of what we can expect today in court.
ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yeah, Rahel. Any minute now, we could see Mark Meadows appear virtually before a judge in Phoenix, Arizona, for the first time since he was indicted back in April for his alleged role in this conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election results in that state and in six others. This deals with his alleged role in the fake electors plot, trying to organize those electors from the six battleground states and have them sign those certificates that were falsely claiming that Donald Trump won those states, when he did not.
So, Mark Meadows today is going to make that first appearance in which will be read the criminal charges that he faces, and that includes multiple felonies, one kind of a felony conspiracy of felony fraudulent schemes charges and multiple felony forgery charges as well. So, the penalty and the stakes for Mark Meadows on these state level charges is very high. But, look, this is just the latest court appearance from Mark Meadows. As you know, he was charged in Georgia on state level crimes there for his alleged role in trying to overturn the 2020 election and he is just the latest Trump ally to appear in court in Arizona.
Also today, Mark -- Mike Roman, as you mentioned, a former Trump campaign official, he will similarly make his first appearance before an Arizona judge. And look, just like any other criminal defendant in the state of Arizona, we do expect at some point Mark Meadows, Mike Roman, and all the co-defendants in this case do have their fingerprints taken and a mugshot taken, similar to what we saw in Georgia. And you mentioned too that Donald Trump is not charged in this case. And that's correct, but he is clearly identified as unindicted co-conspirator number one in the charging document, which is interesting, because we've been told repeatedly, this investigation remains ongoing.
SOLOMON: Oh, interesting. OK. That's a bit of a mic drop there. Zachary Cohen, thank you. We will wait to see. Zach Cohen, thanks.
All right. Turning to the economy, there was a big question among investors at this hour. Will the Federal Reserve rate cuts, will they have to wait? I think most people think, yes. That's because U.S. s job growth shot higher in May, jumping to 272,000. That is a lot more than Wall Street economists were expecting, and it could make fighting inflation even trickier for the Fed. But, it's not all about that hot headline number, because we also saw a big drop in household employment with the jobless rate also rising to four percent. That's the first time that has happened in more than two years.
Joining us now to break all this down from New York is Matt Egan. Matt, there is a lot here. Right? You got the household survey which shows that job growth is actually contracting. You have the establishment survey that shows job growth is actually accelerating. What do you make out of this report?
MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, Rahel, it looked like this jobs market was slowing down from that gangbusters pace. But now, these new numbers that are out show that really the jobs market is back on track. So, 272,000 jobs added last month, that is a really strong number in basically any environment, but it is 100,000 jobs more than what was anticipated. And that chart shows that this is really a big bounce back from April when there was that slowdown.
Now, a lot of people sort of wondered, was the jobs market starting to slow down? Was this a new trend of weaker growth? And apparently not. You see the unemployment chart, the household survey was notably weaker here and that is where the unemployment rate comes from. And so, we did see that the rate ticked up from 3.9 percent to four percent. That was unexpected. And that is significant because it's the first time we've seen four percent unemployment since early 2022. But, big picture, four percent unemployment, that is still historically low.
Bank of America economists may have summed it up best. They said, the economy may be cooling but it is not cool. And when you look at the sector breakdown, I mean, there was -- hiring was pretty strong across the board, 68,000 jobs added in healthcare, another 40,000 government, 40,000 more in leisure and hospitality. That's bars, restaurants, hotels. Wages, wages were strong too, notably paychecks growing faster than prices. So, that's good. I think that the concern here, Rahel, from the perspective of the Fed and an economist is they were looking for a Goldilocks report, right? Not too hot, not too cold. That could have opened the door to interest rate cuts.
Look, at the end of the day, this report does look hot. It doesn't really look like this jobs market needs an interest rate cut. And so, we've seen in just the last few hours, investors were dialing back their expectations for an interest rate cut. There is almost no chance of a cut in June, very low in July, September looks 50:50. You really have to go all the way out to December before there is any sort of competence among investors for an interest rate cut. So, at the end of the day, Rahel, jobs market looks strong, historically strong, but interest rate cuts, probably not coming anytime soon.
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SOLOMON: Yeah. I like that too from Bank of America. The labor market is cooling but it is not exactly cool. Matt, can we just for a moment explain a little bit about the relationship between -- can we explain the relationship between interest rate cuts and the economy? I mean, just the idea that a cut would, if you can hear me, Matt, stimulate economic growth, it might stimulate economic spending at a time when the Fed is actually trying to cool spending. Could you could connect that dot for us and the audience, please?
EGAN: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, the Fed slammed the brakes on this economy, trying to get inflation under control, right? And inflation does seem like it's in a much better place than it was two years ago. The idea was, if you make it more expensive to borrow, harder to get a mortgage, a car loan, to pay off credit card debt, that's going to slow the economy down. And to some extent, it did. I think the problem for the Fed is inflation is supposed to be at like two percent, and we're more like three percent. So, the problem would be, if they cut interest rates now, that's just going to encourage people to borrow more, right? That means they're going to finance the purchase of that car, get a mortgage, maybe spend some more on their credit card. And that would, of course, increase demand, and could actually push inflation even higher.
So, they're just in this delicate balance where they don't want to cut interest rates too soon because that could make inflation worse. But, they also don't want to wait so long that unemployment goes maybe from four percent to 4.5 percent or five percent. So, they're trying to get it just right. But, it seems like the idea of an interest rate cut this summer is unlikely, and even in the fall, it's looking less likely. I mean, who knows, Rahel. Maybe this is something that doesn't happen until 2025.
SOLOMON: Wow. So, Matt, what that means is that you and I are going to be having this conversation for a long time. We're going to be talking about this way for a long time. Matt Egan, thank you so much, and great for you to explain that perspective, always sort of good for everybody to -- just explain how it all works. Thank you, Matt.
EGAN: Thanks, Rahel. SOLOMON: All right. Let's take a quick check of the markets. Right now, markets are actually mixed. But, this is actually an improvement from earlier this morning, when the jobs report first came out, the Dow looks actually positive, which is nice, up about two tenths of a percent, slightly less than that, the S&P pretty much flat, and the NASDAQ also pretty much flat. I should say that next week is a big week for the U.S. economy. We get a key inflation report on Wednesday. We also hear from the Federal Reserve on Wednesday. So, it could be a bumpy week in the markets. Watch that space.
Let's take a look at Europe, right across the board, pretty much even across, the FTSE 100, the DAX and the CAC 40, pretty much all closing lower by about half a percent. Asian markets, a little bit more of a mixed picture, the Shanghai Composite closing up, but barely fractionally up there.
All right. Up next, here is a clue for you. This long-running U.S. s game show is bidding farewell to one of its hosts. Coming up, we will look at Pat Sajak's final spin on "Wheel of Fortune".
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SOLOMON: Welcome back. And before we go, one more thing. Today is Pat Sajak's last appearance as the host of long-running U.S. game show "Wheel of Fortune". It will be his final spin after more than 40 years and 8,000 episodes.
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[11:55:00]
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Former host, Chuck Woolery in 1981, and at times, he was very playful with contestants as he dealt with him on air. Now, before spinning the wheel, Sajak worked as a TV weatherman in Los Angeles. Ryan Seacrest will now take over as host, and Vanna White will continue her role as co-host.
Well, speaking of money, we know your time is money. So, thank you for spending some time with me today. I am Rahel Solomon live in New York. Stick with CNN. One World is going to next.
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