Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

WAFA: Israel Launches Strikes On Southern Gaza Town; U.S. Frustrated By Hamas Changes To Ceasefire Proposal; Russian Navy Ships, Nuclear-Powered Sub Arrive In Cuba; Haifa Residents Fear Evacuations May Be Coming Soon; Ukraine Offers Enlistment-for-Parole Deal to Prisoners; House GOP Find Garland in Contempt of Congress. Aired 12- 12:45a ET

Aired June 13, 2024 - 00:00   ET

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

[00:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHN VAUSE, HOST, "CNN NEWSROOM": Hello everybody. I'm John Vause.

Ahead here on CNN Newsroom --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: It's time for the haggling to stop and the ceasefire to start.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: But, it seems chances of a ceasefire in Gaza are fading fast, as Israeli forces on land, in the air, and on the sea, attack a small coastal fishing village, which Israel declared a safe zone. Leaders of G7 nations gather in Italy with an agenda to further isolate Russia and use frozen Russian assets to pay for reconstruction of Ukraine. Also this --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LIN JIAN, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON (Interpreted): It will ultimately undermine Europe's own interests.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: After subsidizing their own EV makers for years and dumping cheap cars on foreign markets, Beijing is hit by EU tariffs and seems unhappy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN Newsroom with John Vause.

VAUSE: We begin this hour in southern Gaza where the coastal town of Al-Mawasi has been the target of an attack from the air, ground, and sea by Israeli forces, according to WAFA, the Palestinian news agency. Tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians have been living in tents in squalid conditions in this small village, about the size of Heathrow Airport, after being designated as safe zone by the Israeli military ahead of renewed IDF operations on the border city of Rafah. CNN has reached out to the IDF for comment on these latest reported strikes. We are yet to hear back.

Joining me now is Matthew Schmidt, an Associate Professor of National Security at the University of New Haven in Connecticut. Matthew, thank you for being with us.

MATTHEW SCHMIDT, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAVEN: My pleasure, John.

VAUSE: The timing of this attack raises a lot of questions, so too the actual location, what appears to be an all-out attack by Israel as a ceasefire deal with Hamas hangs in the balance, also targeting Al- Mawasi, which is an area Israel had declared a safe zone. So, why there and why now? What does it say?

SCHMIDT: Well, I think, first of all, we have to recognize that attacking an area declared as a safe zone is unquestionably a direct violation of the Geneva Convention. The only argument for why it might be OK to violate the sanctity of that safe zone, the place where Israel has urged civilians to flee to so that they can conduct operations elsewhere and it's now changing its mind, has to be because there is some kind of high-value operation, either because they think Sinwar -- Yahya Sinwar is there, the head of Hamas, or they think that Israeli hostages are there. Those are the only two reasons that I can think of as to why they would violate the safe zone. But, there is no question that this is going to be terrible for the people that are there, and we have to look into this as a war crime violation.

VAUSE: Obviously, these are details which are yet to be confirmed and a lot can change between now and in the coming hours. But, what we know is that, in the past six days ago, Palestinian officials say 35 civilians died in an Israeli airstrike on a UN school, which was sheltering displaced Palestinians. That strike, Israel said, was precise and targeted Hamas militant leaders, (inaudible) that, 45 civilians dead, according to officials in Gaza, another precise and targeted Israeli airstrike.

On Tuesday, an independent investigation carried out for the UN, but not by the UN, found both Hamas and Israel potentially guilty of war crimes after that Israeli rescue operation which led at least 200 Palestinians dead. That's according to Gaza officials. Israel disputes that number. Here is the UN Secretary-General on that independent report.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONIO GUTERRES, UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL: We have witnessed and we are perfectly aware of what was a unique level of destruction and unique level of casualties in the Palestinian population during these months of war that has no precedent in any other situation that I've lived as Secretary-General of the United Nations.

(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: That report came out on Wednesday. Sorry. So, Israel has zero regards for UN. It doesn't -- did not cooperate with his investigation. It should be noted that countries like Syria, China, Russia, North Korea, do did not cooperate usually with UN investigations. But, it seems incredibly for a strike like this to go ahead, Al-Mawasi, in the hours after those accusations came out by this independent investigation of war crimes.

SCHMIDT: Yeah. I think we have to wait and see what Israel is saying here as to why they want to launch this.

[00:05:00]

It's important to remember, though, that there is no equivalence between these two sides in one important sense, which is civilian casualties are the core of Hamas' military strategy. And now, Israel may have reached the point where it started with the kind of righteous war and things have veered off into a situation where the former Israel Defense Force Chief of Staff, the current IDF Chief of Staff, and the Minister of Defense are all critiquing, right, the head of government, Netanyahu, and saying, his approach to the war, right, is ill conceived, and in many ways, right, immoral.

So, I think that's really what we're putting up against each other here in this case, is that we have one side who absolutely uses civilian casualties as part of its theory of victory, and another side, who doesn't have the theory of victory, and is indiscriminately slaughtering people because it doesn't have a theory of victory.

VAUSE: Yeah. I should say caught in the crossfire here, more than a million Palestinians, especially in the south, they're constantly on the move. Now, the men, women, children, they're exhausted. They're terrified. And they've been living like this for eight months. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EZZEDINE AL-BELBISI, BUREIJ CAMP RESIDENT (Interpreted): Enough. We are exhausted. Every day, we are forced to relocate to a different area. Our young children are deprived of food and water and have nothing. We urge the entire world to support us and to put an end to the injustice we face. Enough is enough.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: This is one of those days you are getting safe zones. So crucial here in Gaza. What you have today? A 25-mile long strip of land, very narrow, where 2.7 million Palestinians are living. So, there is not a lot of land. There is no more places to go. So, when an area is in fact designated as a safe zone, that's where a lot of people flee, and it is overcrowded. There are camps with almost no territory for new arrivals. But, they go there. So, if this is in fact an Israeli offensive on one of those designated safe zones, it seems to go into a whole new realm of what's been going on inside Gaza for the last seven, eight months. SCHMIDT: Yeah. I think that Israel cares about world opinion. It cares

to some degree about whether or not it's being accused of blatant war crimes. And so, for it to decide to move into this area at this time in this way, again, subject to what we find out in more detail in the coming hours, really suggests that something major is going on here. And if that's wrong, if there is nothing major that's going on here, then those critiques from IDF leaders, right, and from Benny Gantz, are going to hammer -- are going to hit home even more against Netanyahu, and I think really weaken his capacity to continue to wage this war.

VAUSE: Yeah. Matthew Schmidt, thank you for being with us. Obviously, there is a lot we can learn about this story in the hours ahead, and hopefully we will. But, thank you for your early analysis and your opinions. Thanks for being with us.

SCHMIDT: Always, John. Take care.

VAUSE: Now, these strikes come after the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's latest diplomatic push in the Middle East. It failed to secure a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. America's most senior diplomat left the region frustrated over numerous Hamas changes to the proposal, and he questioned whether Hamas is proceeding in good faith.

More details now from CNN's Kylie Atwood.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLINKEN: It's time for the haggling to stop and the ceasefire to start.

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Secretary of State Antony Blinken ending his Middle East in Doha without a peace deal in hand. An agreement between Israel and Hamas appears to be in limbo again.

BLINKEN: A deal was on the table that was virtually identical to proposal that Hamas put forward on May 6, a deal that the entire world is behind, a deal Israel has accepted, and Hamas could have answered with a single word, yes.

ATWOOD (voice-over): Instead, Hamas put forward multiple changes to the ceasefire proposal, Blinken said, a frustrated Secretary of State and his Qatari counterpart now unable to detail where the talks will go from here.

MOHAMMED BIN ABDULRAHMAN AL-THANI, QATARI PRIME MINISTER: It's frustrating a lot of times. The behavior from both parties in different occasion has been counterproductive to the efforts.

BLINKEN: Hamas waited nearly two weeks and then proposed more changes, a number of which go beyond positions that it had previously taken and accepted. Some of those are workable changes. Some, as I said, are not.

ATWOOD (voice-over): The top U.S. diplomat also bluntly suggesting that Hamas may not actually be committed to finding a solution.

BLINKEN: If one side continues to change its demands, you have to question whether they're proceeding in good faith or not.

ATWOOD (voice-over): This just days after he questioned that the terrorist group is prioritizing the protection of Yahya Sinwar, its military leader hiding in the tunnels under Gaza with the Palestinian people.

BLINKEN: Are they looking after one guy who may be for now safe -- buried, I don't know, 10 stories underground somewhere in Gaza, while the people that he purports to represent continue to suffer in a crossfire of his own making?

[00:10:00]

ATWOOD (voice-over): Israeli officials have privately deemed Hamas' response to be a rejection. Prime Minister Netanyahu's office said Wednesday evening that the Israeli leader was conducting a security assessment in part quote, "due to Hamas' negative answer regarding the release of hostages." The U.S. says Israel is committed to the deal, which Netanyahu still has not formally embraced, as he faces pressure from far-right cabinet members who oppose the deal.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Hamas is committing war crimes every day, including with the holding of these hostages. Our soldiers are performing in the most valued and moral way to end this war, victory against these killers, and against these kidnappers, and we shall prevail.

ATWOOD: Now, Blinken also called for urgent action in the coming days to bridge the gaps, to bridge these differences between Israel and Hamas. We'll watch and see what that looks like. He said he believes that that is possible but he also said that there are no guarantees.

Kylie Atwood, CNN, Doha.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: The 50th annual summit of G7 leaders kicks off in southern Italy in the coming hours and will focus on further isolating Moscow and trying to reduce its financial capability to bankroll Putin's war of choice in Ukraine. Ahead of the summit, in a move demonstrating Moscow's military might and a projection of power, Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a flotilla of warships and a nuclear-powered submarine for a five-day visit to its ally in the Western Hemisphere, Cuba, a show of force with reminiscent of the days of the Cold War decades ago.

At the G7 summit, U.S. President Joe Biden will unveil more than 300 new sanctions targeting Russia. The measure is meant to degrade Moscow's ability to source materials for the war, particularly from Russian ally China. Biden is also expected to sign a new 10-year security pact with Ukraine on the sidelines of the summit, which will include training for Ukrainian forces or weapons, other military equipment, and greater intelligence sharing. G7 leaders are set to announce a $50 billion loan to Ukraine, paid for with proceeds from Russian investments which have been frozen since the war began.

Well, Moscow has routinely deployed warships to Cuba and other allies in the Western Hemisphere. Russian military drills in the region are not as common. 2008, four Russian warships, including the nuclear- powered cruiser Peter the Great, exercised as well on a visit to Venezuela, which is why many believe the Russian warships in one sub now docked in Havana there, as Vladimir Putin tries to project Russian military power a long way from home.

Details from CNN's Matthew Chance in Moscow.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Onlookers line the seafront in Havana to welcome these powerful Russian vessels, including the flagship of the Kremlin's Northern Fleet, the Admiral Gorshkov, and the nuclear-powered submarine the Kazan, the message for many Cubans that Moscow, it's Cold War, ally is back. We have historical ties with the former Soviet Union and now with the Russian Federation, says this Havana resident, something that in my opinion is very important for the country. I've never seen something like this so close, says another. Such a large ship of that magnitude, I'm very impressed, she adds.

But, the real message is aimed at Washington. Russian defense officials say the strike group, now just 90 miles off the U.S. Coast, has been practicing the use of high-precision missiles against the mock enemy. U.S. officials are downplaying any threat, saying they don't believe the Russian vessels are armed with nuclear weapons. But, U.S. officials tell CNN that ships and planes have been deployed to monitor the Russian exercises. And the naval deployment comes at a time of worsening U.S.-Russian relations, just weeks after President Biden greenlighted Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory with U.S.- supplied weapons, with Vladimir Putin warning Russia could arm U.S. enemies in response.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (Interpreted): If the West supplies weapons to the combat zone and calls for their use against our territory, then why shouldn't we mirror these actions? I am not ready to say that we will do it tomorrow. But, we, of course, should think about it.

CHANCE (voice-over): There is no plan to supply Cuba with the kind of weapons these modern Russian warships usually carry. But, the Kremlin could still make trouble in America's backyard.

Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Well, fire is burning out of control at an oil refinery in northern Iraq, according to local reports.

[00:15:00]

No word on the cause but the blaze reportedly began at an asphalt storage warehouse at the refinery in Erbil late Wednesday. At least one person has been injured. No word on fatalities at this point.

When we come back, a possible trade war is brewing between the EU and China over electric vehicles. Europe ratcheting up its tariffs on imports from China. We are live in Beijing for the very latest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: The day may finally soon be here when OPEC no longer controls the price of oil. The International Energy Agency is forecasting supply will outstrip demand by a staggering eight million barrels a day by 2030. That could inflate the world's cushion of reserve oil supplies (inaudible) earnings during the Coronavirus pandemic when prices crashed. It may lower prices and upend OPEC's ability to prop up. The costs of its members grew 80 percent of the world's proven reserves of crude, reckoning.

The European Union has hiked tariffs on electric vehicles imported from China, risking a trade war, perhaps. The additional tariffs range from about 17 percent to 38 percent, bringing the highest overall rate to 50 percent. That's after a European Commission investigation provisionally found Chinese state subsidies for EV makers kept their prices artificially low, leaving European carmakers unable to compete.

CNN's Steven Jiang is live in Beijing with more on this. These tariffs, they kind of go on a company by a company basis. So, they're not quite the same as the U.S., and the EU seems at least willing to negotiate.

STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: That's right, John. I think that's the huge difference here. But, the Chinese response, of course, not surprising, very angry, condemning this as a violation of consensus between Chinese and European leaders and saying this would hurt bilateral trade. It would hurt European consumers and industries, making a mockery of the EU's pledge for green economic transformation. And then, of course, again, vowing that Beijing will take all necessary measures to protect its interests and industries.

But, as you mentioned, the difference between what Biden announced last month, 100 percent tariffs against Chinese EVs, that European picture is a lot more complex. For one thing, the Chinese EVs have a much bigger market share in the EU, about 20 percent. That includes both Chinese brands but also European brands having facilities here, making cars a lot more cheaply and efficiently, some would say, before exporting them back to their home markets, and actually includes companies like Tesla as well.

And secondly, of course, a lot of European economies and their carmakers are a lot more entwined with the Chinese EV industry, Volvo based in Sweden, owned by a Chinese company. Germany, of course, there are automakers there, a car -- auto suppliers very much having vested interests here. They have a huge presence here not only selling cars here, but again, making cars here as well.

[00:20:00]

That's why we've already seen German Chancellor Scholz and the likes of Volkswagen have already come out publicly to oppose these new tariffs. That obviously plays very well into China's traditional divide and conquer strategy in dealing with the EU. And perhaps most importantly, though, John, is how effective these new tariffs would be. BYD, the biggest Chinese EV maker, faces a new tariff of 17 percent. But, a lot of experts have said, given how amazingly low their cost base is, that's not going to affect their comfortable profit margin in the EU. It has to be something around 50 percent to make a difference.

So, because of all these reasons, it's going to be very tricky to see how the Chinese are going to respond. They have to do something after months of condemnation, the threats, but they may want to exercise some restraint, given how complex and nuanced the picture is. John.

VAUSE: Steven, thank you. Steven Jiang live for us in Beijing.

We'll take a short break. When we come back, from prison cell to the frontlines for convicted criminals in Ukraine, a chance and a new life perhaps by signing up to fight the Russians. CNN exclusive inside one of the jails at the selection process, who is qualified and who does not.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Back now to our lead story this hour, the Israeli military launching airstrikes and strikes from the sea and also from land on the town of Al-Mawasi in southern Gaza. That's according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA. Tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians have been living there in squalid tent camps, after being designated a safe zone by the Israeli military ahead of renewed IDF operations in nearby border city of Rafah. We have reached out to the IDF for comment. We are yet to hear back. As soon as we do, we'll bring it to you. Tensions also flaring along Israel's northern border, about 200 rockets fired into Israel from Lebanon on Wednesday, according to the IDF. Some were intercepted, others fell into northern Israel and sparked fires. No reports of injuries.

Hezbollah is taking responsibility for the latest barrage of rockets. The Iranian-backed militant group says it's in response to an attack carried out by the IDF in southern Lebanon. Israel says it killed one of Hezbollah's most senior commanders, along with three other fighters in an airstrike Tuesday.

Joining me now is CNN Military Analyst and former U.S. Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton. It's good to see you. Welcome back.

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST, & U.S. AIR FORCE: Thanks so much, John. It's great to be with you again.

VAUSE: OK. So, once again, many are asking this question, will Israel and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, are they heading for an all-out war, especially after we hear statements like this from Hezbollah after an Israeli airstrike killed their senior leader? [00:25:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HASHEM SAFIEDDINE, HEZBOLLAH OFFICIAL (Interpreted): After the martyrdom of Abu Taleb, we will increase our operations in intensity, force, quantity and quality, and let him wait for us in the field.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Most experts say war is not coming and foreign policy explains it this way. "Both sides are keenly aware and want to avoid the destruction. Hezbollah knows that Lebanon would be destroyed with thousands of casualties. But Israel is also aware that what it faced in Gaza over these past few months without achieving its full objectives would be nothing compared to a war with Hezbollah." That gets us to the question, though, what about the law of unintended consequences, when both sides here are firing rockets and missiles at one another into sort of tit-for-tat exchange across the border. The stakes seem pretty high, and the room for error seems pretty small.

LEIGHTON: Yeah. That's absolutely correct, John. My main concern is that, as you watch the increasing volume of rocket attacks across the Lebanese-Israeli border, it becomes really clear that the risk of miscalculation is increasing every day. And when you have rocket attacks and other projectiles going across the volume of about 215, as was the case in the last attack, then it's very clear to me that the way in which this could go very wrong is really quite apparent. They could be firing up the wrong thing. They could hit a target that then sets the other side off. And that's something that I think we have to be very concerned about.

VAUSE: The good folk at the Washington Institute have been tracking the cross-border exchange of fire since it ramped up after the Hamas attack October 7. The blue dots here, Israeli strikes, while Hezbollah is represented by the yellow dots, and what this map reveals is an escalation by Hezbollah, which beyond the -- that it is taking this fight beyond the normal rules of engagement in both target and distance.

Now, there has been this accepted parameters of what this cross-border exchange will look like. Hezbollah may not actually want to war, but it does have -- it has been able to expand the theater of operations. So, the question is, how long will the Israelis put up with that before there is some kind of major strike back?

LEIGHTON: Yeah. The Israelis are known to do those kinds of strike back, and it's very clear that, as the area of operations expands based on Hezbollah's weapons, based on the -- their willingness to use those weapons at longer distances, that then makes it very likely that the Israelis will respond in kind. In fact, they've already increased the number of cross-border raids from Israel into Lebanon. A lot of airstrikes have been going on in response to Hezbollah moves. And it's one of those situations, John, where the Israelis are very likely to hit something that is near and dear to Hezbollah, and that could, in fact, set off a chain of events that neither side seems to want at the present time.

But, that escalatory ladder is very, very likely to be implemented in this particular case, and neither side will want to do that. But, I think it is something that can easily happen if they're not careful.

VAUSE: Because if you look at the situation right now in the north as well as in the south of Israel, it seems like the country is shrinking, because there is now this buffer zone up in the north, where residents are being forced to evacuate, about 60,000 of them no longer living in their homes because of the rocket fire coming in from Hezbollah. Similar situation with the buffer zone around Gaza. Israel is shrinking right now.

LEIGHTON: Yeah, and Israel is shrinking off of a very small territory that it actually has. And that means that the population becomes more densely packed. They can't use a lot of the farmland, especially in the north and along the -- in the south, along the Gaza border. And that will impact Israel economically. It will also impact the quality of life, and that is going to, in effect, make it very hard. It's kind of like a constrictor (ph) going after Israeli territory, and that constrictor is something that the Israelis are going to react against. And that is, I think, something that will naturally spur them to move in both directions, both against Gaza, which, of course, they're already doing, and possibly against Hezbollah as well, because they cannot afford to lose the use of their northern areas.

VAUSE: Very quickly to finish off with the closest big Israeli city to the Lebanon border is Haifa. Here is how one Israeli journalist put the situation there in Haifa right now, as these missiles keep coming in. He wrote, "Residents of Haifa, Israel's third largest city, with a population of close to 300,000, believe that it's only a matter of time before they are ordered to evacuate their homes." Is that a possibility here, and if there is a hot war between Israel and Hezbollah militants? Haifa is very much in range of those Hezbollah rockets.

[00:30:05]

LEIGHTON: Well, that's -- that's the actual factor, John, the fact that the -- that Hezbollah is using Iranian rockets, which have a range that definitely includes Haifa and other parts of Israel within it.

That's going to create a big problem. And it is very possible that, at some point in the future, residents of FIFA will, at the very least, be under fire. Hopefully, they will be able to avoid that.

But evacuations, in a case like that, would certainly, unfortunately, be possible.

VAUSE: Cedric Leighton, thank you very much. Thanks for being with us. We appreciate it.

LEIGHTON: You bet, John. Thanks so much for having me.

VAUSE: A Russian missile strike has killed at least nine people in central Ukraine Wednesday. Officials in Kryvyi Rih say a residential area was targeted, destroying buildings, setting cars on fire, and wounding at least 29 people, including five children.

Four people are still unaccounted for.

For Ukrainian inmates, a chance at a second life. That is, if they can survive fighting on the front lines against Russia.

Allowing some prisoners to sign up for military service. Ukraine is looking to address a shortage in manpower. Russian troops reportedly outnumber Ukrainian at least seven to one in some parts.

Here's CNN's Clare Sebastian with details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "Think twice before coming to us," says this battalion commander of Ukraine's 3rd Assault Brigade. "We are really tough."

This is Ukraine's newest effort to solve a crippling manpower shortage on its front lines. CNN gained exclusive access inside a Ukrainian prison as inmates are given the chance to choose another path.

SERHII, UKRAINIAN PRISONER WHO WANTS TO ENLIST: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: It so happened that during a fight, I killed a person. I foolishly killed a man. I have a wife and children. I want to protect my wife, my kids, my family.

SEBASTIAN (voice-over): The vetting process, stringent. At less than a month since President Zelenskyy signed a law allowing some prisoners to apply for early parole to join the armed forces, Ukraine's justice ministry says from almost 5,000 applicants, nearly 2,000 prisoners have been released to fight, basic training already underway.

For 28-year-old Dmytro, the decision was personal.

DMYTRO, UKRAINIAN INMATE RELEASED TO FIGHT: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: Two missiles hit my house. I had two small children and a wife. Nobody survived. At that moment I was already in prison in Kharkiv. I am not here only for revenge but also for people who are suffering.

SEBASTIAN (voice-over): Ukraine is keen to differentiate its prison recruitment efforts from that of Russia.

YEVGENY PRIGOZHIN, FORMER FOUNDER/LEADER OF WAGNER GROUP: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

SEBASTIAN (voice-over): The late Yevgeny Prigozhin drafting thousands of inmates into his Wagner paramilitary group, a so-called meatgrinder assault on Bakhmut that cost thousands of lives. DENYS MALIUSKA, UKRAINIAN JUSTICE MINISTER: We selected the best

prisoners we have. Those who volunteered to participate in the mechanism were passed down through all legal and healthcare checks.

SEBASTIAN (voice-over): The justice ministry says so far, the experiment is going well.

MALIUSKA: My understanding is that their morale is far better than any other conscripts. They receive a good salary, respect, a uniform, better living conditions.

And yet, for some of these men who may be on the front lines by the end of summer, this was not an easy decision.

VITALIY, UKRAINIAN PRISONER WHO WANTS TO ENLIST: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: My family is very worried. To be honest, they don't support me. It's a choice. Because now the situation at the front is difficult.

SEBASTIAN (voice-over): A chance to turn around their own fortunes and, they hope, the fate of their country.

Clare Sebastian, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: At least 49 people have died in a fire which raced through a building just outside Kuwait's capital used to house foreign workers.

The six-story building was engulfed in flames. Around 150 people lived there, we're told.

Several Indian nationals are among those who died. India's external affairs minister is en route to Kuwait to oversee relief efforts and repatriate the deceased.

One police official warns the death toll could rise. According to state media, the building's owner has been detained on suspicion of negligence.

Argentina's Senate has approved a sweeping reform bill that set off violent protests outside the legislature. Protesters clashed with police outside the country's Congress on Wednesday before the vice president cast a tie-breaking vote to adopt the bill.

Police say at least 27 people were arrested. Three others were injured. One protester says the Congress is not interested in the people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, PROTESTOR AT ARGENTINIAN SENATE (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): It is a shame. I was here all day. The gendarmerie and the police fenced off the Congress. This is the house of democracy. In this country, there was a lot of blood. We're missing people. There were tortures. There were kidnapped people. And that we are really living all of this again, the truth is that it is unfortunate.

[00:35:10]

We already know, when Congress is fenced, it is because they are voting against the people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: The bill gives temporary economic emergency powers to President Javier Milei, and the legislation now goes back to the lower chamber of Congress, which has already approved it, for more discussion.

Extreme heat forced the Acropolis, one of Greece's most famous landmarks, to close for hours on Wednesday. And there is more hot weather on the way.

The site closed between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m., the hottest hours of the day.

Temperatures in Greece are forecast to exceed 40 degrees Celsius this week.

The closure of the Acropolis is becoming an annual trend as Europe breaks temperature records, year on year. It closed last July during a blistering heat wave, which swept through the continent.

Well, held in contempt and threatened with prosecution. The Republican-led U.S. House takes aim at the attorney general. Details on that and Merrick Garland's response in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: After being found guilty of felony violations of federal gun laws, the son of the U.S. president, Hunter Biden, now facing a maximum of 25 years in prison.

But his actual prison time may be significantly shorter, if there is any at all.

A former federal prosecutor tells CNN sentencing guidelines for the crimes is only between 15 to 21 months in prison, but it's all up to the judge, who could even choose to place Biden on house arrest, given his security concerns.

President Biden has already said he would not pardon his son, but there's still a possibility Hunter Biden's sentence could be commuted. The White House press secretary on Tuesday declined to rule out that option, saying she had not discussed the matter with the president.

U.S. House Republicans have voted to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for refusing to release audio from interviews with President Joe Biden during the classified documents investigation.

Garland says it's deeply disappointing that House Republicans have turned congressional authority into a partisan weapon.

Here's CNN's Manu Raju.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Now along mostly party lines, the House moving ahead to refer the attorney general of the United States to be held in contempt charges. The vote: 216 to 207, one member defecting. That was Republican David Joyce of Ohio.

But what we saw in this fight was Republicans demanding that Garland comply with a subpoena. The subpoena demanding audio recordings of an interview that the special counsel, Robert Hur, did with President Biden over Biden's handling of classified documents?

Of course, in that report that Hur released months ago. It details how Joe Biden responded to some questions. A question about whether Biden could have even been prosecuted over this, because he believed the jury would view him as a sympathetic elderly man with a poor memory.

[00:40:04]

Now, there was a transcript that was released that both Democrats and the Justice Department believes is sufficient to satisfy Republican demands.

But Republicans wanted the audio tapes, as well, something Democrats believe would be used for political purposes.

The Justice Department contended that releasing that audio tape, essentially, would impair the ability to go ahead and interview witnesses in separate investigations in the future. Perhaps, witnesses would not want to come forward, being if they were concerned that audio would release publicly, or released to Congress.

But even as this sort of vote happened today, some Republicans called for prosecution of Merrick Garland, and even some said he should go to prison.

REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): Is Merrick Garland above the law? I mean, I thought the whole argument is that no one is above the law. And now that we've held him in contempt of Congress, he should be prosecuted by the Department of Justice. And he deserves to see the exact same fate as Peter Navarro and Steve Bannon.

REP. CHIP ROY (R-TX): Oh, I mean, the Department of Justice isn't going to go prosecute the attorney general. I mean, but you know --

RAJU: So this is symbolic?

ROY: I wouldn't call it symbolic.

Hold him in contempt. We'll see what he does. I mean, hopefully he'll look at this and see the error of his ways.

RAJU: But there's virtually no chance of prosecution of the attorney general of the United States, in large part because this now gets referred to the U.S. Attorney's Office in the District of Columbia, which is under the Justice Department.

Now, on top of that, the White House has asserted executive privilege on those audio tapes. And the position of the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel is that the -- if the president asserts executive privilege, and he affirmed that it was correct in this regard, that essentially, that is the correct position of the executive branch.

So this is essentially a dispute between the executive branch and the legislative branch. And ultimately, if this gets resolved, it would have to be by the courts to determine whether Congress has the right to that audio.

And if this plays out in the courts, this could take months and months and months to resolve, certainly, after the November election. So ultimately, that's how it could play out. But prosecution, as Republicans will concede, highly, highly unlikely.

Manu Raju, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: I'm John Vause. Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'll be back at the top of the hour. Meantime, please stay with us. WORLD SPORT up next. See you in about 18 minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:45:14]

(WORLD SPORT)