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CNN International: Justice Alito Endorses Statement the U.S. Should Return to Godliness During Secret Recording; Chiquita Liable for Financing Terrorist Organization in Colombia; Suspect Arrested in Attack on 4 U.S. College Instructors. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired June 12, 2024 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster. If you're just joining us, here are our top stories today.

A U.N. inquiry into the first few months of the war in Gaza has found both Israel and Palestinian militants, including Hamas, committed war crimes and other grave violations of international law. A U.N. panel says both sides committed sexual violence and torture and intentionally attacked civilians in a press release. Israel claims the U.N.'s reports are biased and reflective of anti-Israeli discrimination.

The fate of the latest proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza remains unclear, as mediators plan to study a response from Hamas. One Israeli official has described it as a rejection. Hamas is demanding amendments, which include a timeline for a permanent ceasefire and a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

And U.S. President Joe Biden says he'll continue to respect the judicial process, as his son Hunter Biden considers an appeal of his conviction on three federal felony gun charges. A jury in Delaware found Hunter Biden was guilty of possessing a gun whilst actively addicted to drugs in 2018, and that he lied on federal documents to obtain it. He's now the first child of a sitting U.S. president to be found guilty of a crime.

U.S. Senate Democrats say they are working to pass a new Supreme Court ethics bill this week. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin says there may be some new evidence coming to light about gifts that Supreme Court justices have taken and have not reported. The United States' highest court has come under fire recently for reports of justices accepting expensive gifts and lavish trips, pricey book deals, and even for flying controversial political flags.

A left-wing activist group has just added to the top of the court's turmoil as well. She posed as a religious conservative and secretly recorded conversations with Justice Samuel Alito, his wife, Martha-Ann and Chief Justice John Roberts. Those secret recordings were released on Monday.

Jessica Schneider explains what they revealed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tonight, no comment from the Supreme Court after two of its most senior justices and one of their spouses are heard on secret recordings discussing sensitive topics.

LAUREN WINDSOR, LIBERAL ACTIVIST WHO SECRETLY RECORDED JUSTICES: People in this country who believe in God have got to keep fighting for that, to return our country to a place of godliness.

[04:35:03]

SAMUEL ALITO, ASSOCIATE JUSTICE OF SUPREME COURT: Oh, I agree with you.

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Justice Samuel Alito speaking to Lauren Windsor during a dinner last week hosted by the Supreme Court Historical Society. Windsor, a liberal activist posing as a devout Catholic when talking with the justice, where he also addresses the current polarization of the country.

WINDSOR: I don't know that we can negotiate with the left in the way that, like, needs to happen for the polarization to end. I think that it's a matter of, like, winning.

ALITO: I think you're probably right. I think one side or the other, one side or the other is going to win. I don't know.

I mean, there can be a way of working, a way of living together peacefully, but it's difficult, you know, because there are differences on fundamental things that really can't be compromised. They really can't be compromised, so it's not like you're going to split the difference.

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): The society condemned the secret recordings, saying attendees are advised not to discuss anything from the event. Windsor defended her actions today in an interview with CNN.

WINDSOR: There's nothing illegal in D.C. about recording people so long as one person is a party to that conversation. To people who want to pearl clutch about this, you know, please tell me how we're going to get answers when the Supreme Court has been shrouded in secrecy and really just refusing any degree of accountability whatsoever.

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): CNN has not independently obtained or heard the recordings in full, but they come after recent ethics concerns involving the court, including controversial flags flown at homes of Justice Alito, flags that the justice said were put up by his wife.

MARTHA-ANN ALITO, WIFE, JUSTICE SAMUEL ALITO: You come after me, I'm going to give them back to you.

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Martha-Ann Alito also heard on the audio where she addressed the flag controversy head-on.

M.A. ALITO: You know what I want? I want a sacred Heart of Jesus flag because I have to look across the lagoon at the pride flag for the next month.

WINDSOR: Exactly.

M.A. ALITO: And he's like, oh, please don't put up a flag. I said, I won't do it because I'm deferring to you. But when you are free of this nonsense, I'm putting it up and I'm going to send them a message every day. Maybe every week I'll be changing the flags.

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Windsor also secretly recorded Chief Justice John Roberts, who rebuffed her when she made a case for a more Christian society.

WINDSOR: I think that we live in a Christian nation and that our Supreme Court should be guiding us in that path.

JOHN ROBERTS, CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT: Yes, I don't know that we live in a Christian nation. I know a lot of Jewish and Muslim friends who would say maybe not. And it's not our job to do that. It's our job to decide the cases as best we can.

SCHNEIDER: We have not seen any comment on these secret recordings from the Supreme Court or from the justices or Justice Alito's wife. Now, the Supreme Court Historical Society hosted this dinner where the recordings were made. It is a yearly event held inside the court building where members of the society are allowed to buy tickets for themselves and one guest.

And the gathering provides members rare access to the justices, as we saw in these secret recordings.

Jessica Schneider, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Billionaire Elon Musk has dismissed his lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, accusing the company of breach of contract. Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015, sued the company in February, accusing the ChatGPT maker of abandoning its original non-profit mission by reserving some of its most advanced AI technology for private customers. But OpenAI pushed back, publishing several of Musk's emails that seemed to show him acknowledging the need for the company to make large sums of money to fund its AI ambitions. Musk's lawyers cited no reason for dropping the lawsuit.

One of Silicon Valley's most famous convicts is appealing her 11-year prison sentence for defrauding investors. Elizabeth Holmes is seeking a new trial, claiming the judge made several mistakes during the 2022 proceedings.

Holmes was convicted of running a multimillion-dollar scheme to defraud investors, doctors and patients with her blood-testing company, Theranos. The premise was simple. One drop of blood spun through a Theranos machine could deliver fast, accurate results. The trouble was it never worked. Legal experts say it could take several months for the court to issue a ruling. A 17-year legal battle has ended with U.S. banana giant Chiquita

liable for financing a Colombian paramilitary group. The company must pay more than $38 million to the families of eight of its victims. Stefano Pozzebon has the details from Bogota.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[04:40:00]

STEFANO POZZEBON, JOURNALIST: The ruling in a Florida federal court on Monday that found banana company Chiquita Brands International liable for financing a Colombian right-wing paramilitary group that committed extensive human rights violations over 20 years ago is a groundbreaking case of international litigation according to the team of attorneys that won the argument in West Palm Beach. Chiquita was ordered to pay the relatives of victims of the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia, or AUC, a criminal group connected to landowners and corporate interests in northern Colombia that the United States declared a foreign terrorist organization in 2001.

Some details of the cases that were read in court were brutal. Talk of extrajudicial executions, forced displacements and gratuitous displays of violence. But the ruling on Monday was celebrated as a victory for justice.

MARCOS SIMONS, GENERAL COUNSEL, EARTHRIGHTS INTERNATIONAL: This money is not going to replace what's been lost. We're still talking about horrific abuses that these families have suffered. But the money is important because, unfortunately, the language that corporations understand the best is money.

And so sometimes it takes a significant monetary penalty to change corporate behavior.

POZZEBON: The Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, celebrated the ruling on his social media channels. Chiquita is also facing litigation in Colombia, according to local media. And in a statement to CNN, Chiquita confirmed its intention to appeal.

And throughout the last 20 years, the company maintained that it had been a victim of extortion by the AUC. But the U.S. justice previously found that Chiquita paid the AUC over 100 times between 1997 and 2004 for $1.7 million in total. Monday's verdicts ruled that the money was instrumental in propping up the AUC and that Chiquita was liable for the human rights abuse committed by the group.

The cases heard in Florida are only a small portion of the total number of plaintiffs against the company. And a team of attorneys that brought successfully forward these cases intend to follow with further and further suits against Chiquita.

For CNN, this is Stefano Pozzebon, Bogota.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: One person is dead and a suspect is now in custody following the hijacking of a commuter bus in Atlanta on Tuesday. Authorities say they responded to a report of gunfire on the bus. And when they arrived, the bus took off with 17 people on board and the driver being forced to drive away at gunpoint.

Police were led on a dangerous rush-hour chase through heavy traffic with the bus striking several vehicles along the way. When it finally came to a stop, the suspected gunman was arrested. On board, police found a bus passenger with a gunshot wound who later died in hospital.

Here's how one passenger's husband described what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNNY GILBERT, PASSENGER'S HUSBAND: When she called me, she told me a guy just shot another guy on the bus.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did she tell you why or what happened?

GILBERT: Apparently they were on -- the way I understand it is the shooter was being maybe disruptive or getting on people's nerves or something. And I don't know if the other guy said something to him or what triggered the actual shooting.

But that's what she said, is the guy got on the bus. He seemed kind of crazy or whatever. And there was a confrontation between the victim and him. And he shot the other guy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Chinese police arrested a man they say stabbed several American educators at a popular park. We'll have the details on that next.

[04:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: K-pop supergroup BTS reunited just a few hours ago, but not to make new music. Jin, the group's oldest member, was discharged from the military after completing his 18-month mandatory service requirement. He was greeted by five of his six bandmates. At age 31, Jin is the first member of BTS to finish military service, with the group expected to reunite next year once all members are discharged. Jin of K-pop's BTS completes mandatory military service today, effectively.

Now, a fire at a popular market in Bangkok has left hundreds of animals dead. It lasted about 30 minutes before being extinguished. Authorities say no-one was injured, but many animals were killed, including dogs, cats, rabbits, snakes, birds, fish and chickens.

One pet shop owner says 400 of her exotic snakes, worth around $136,000, died from smoke inhalation.

And Russian marine specialists rushing to save a humpback whale caught in a fishing net off Russia's Arctic coast. The net and some rope are apparently wrapped around its body near the flippers. The whale, now known as Stanislav, was spotted by tourists on Russia's Kola Peninsula. Officials say biologists searched more than 120km of coastline before locating the whale. Specialists are trying to get close to it, but weather is proving an issue.

Now, police say they've arrested a suspect in the stabbing of four U.S. college instructors in north-eastern China. Authorities say the 55-year-old man collided with a foreigner whilst walking in a popular park in the city of Jilin on Monday, then stabbed instructors and a Chinese tourist who tried to intervene. More now from CNN's Marc Stewart.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Four college educators from America lie on the ground, covered in blood, in a popular park on a public holiday in Jilin city in north-eastern China. All conscious, able to use their phones to say they've just been stabbed by an attacker with a knife. A fifth person, a Chinese tourist, was injured while trying to protect them, police said.

One man is in custody. Police say he lashed out with the knife after colliding with a foreigner.

The three American citizens and one permanent resident of Iowa are from the state's Cornell College in China on a teaching program. One of those hurt, David Zabner. His brother, Iowa State Representative Adam Zabner, said David was doing well. His three unnamed colleagues and the Chinese tourist were also receiving medical care, according to the Chinese government.

CNN's Steven Jiang asked about the delay in the government to acknowledge the attack, not getting a direct response.

LIN JIAN, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON (through translator): All of the injured were sent to the hospital immediately and received proper treatment. None of their lives were in danger.

STEWART (voice-over): China is a powerful security state. Its authorities constantly working to keep a lid on crime. Guns are tightly controlled.

[04:50:00]

So when a mass casualty incident does happen, it's almost always a knife attack. In May, a man wielding a knife killed two and injured 21 at a hospital in China's southwest. Stabbing attacks at kindergartens in 2023 and 2022 left nine dead.

Monday's attack may have been sudden, violent, and chaotic, but could this incident have a lasting impact on the already strained relationship between the U.S. and China?

JIAN (through translator): Carrying out people-to-people and cultural exchanges between China and the United States is in the common interests of both sides and has received active support and response from all walks of life in both countries.

STEWART (voice-over): Chinese President Xi Jinping himself has a personal attachment to Iowa, having first visited the state as a young official in 1985. During his most recent trip to the U.S. late last year, Xi invited 50,000 U.S. students to his country to help grow academic and cultural ties. And that may be damaged by this one violent attack on a summer day.

Marc Stewart, CNN, Jilin City, China.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: There's beef in the competitive eating world. A longstanding champion gets banned for his ties to plant-based meat. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Hot dog eating champion Joey Chestnut will not compete in this year's contest due to his sponsorship deal with a plant-based food company. Event organizers say the 16-time winner of Nathan's hot dog eating contest is ineligible now that he's signed a deal with Impossible Foods. They say it goes against their long-standing rule against representing rival brands. Chestnut would have to renounce the sponsorship before returning to the league.

A London gallery says it has no plans to remove the new royal portrait of King Charles III. But security will remain on alert after protesters vandalized the painting on Tuesday.

Animal rights activists pasted stickers of a cartoon character from the series Wallace and Gromit on the portrait. The gallery owner says the painting is covered in transparent thermoplastic and wasn't damaged.

The first official portrait since Charles's coronation sparked mixed reactions when it was unveiled last month, let's say. It will remain on display at the gallery until June 21.

The birthplace of the Beatles is getting ready to welcome another music superstar. Taylor Swift is set to play three shows of her record-breaking Eras Tour in Liverpool, England, starting on Thursday. The city has opened up Taylor Town Trail, a series of art installations inspired by the singer's past albums. Swift is well into the second year of her billion-dollar tour, which isn't set to close until December after wrapping up in Europe and a handful of North American dates.

Now a six-month-old, based Powerball mystery has finally been solved. A group calling themselves The Breakfast Club has come forward to claim the $842 million prize. The actual members haven't been named. Their attorney says the group has chosen a lump sum payout of $305 million after taxes and they plan to travel, prepare for retirement and be more charitable.

Thanks for joining me here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster in London. CNN "THIS MORNING," up next after this break. [05:00:00]