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Powerhouse World Leaders Gather in Southern Italy for the Annual G7 Summit; CNN talks to One of the Hostage Survivors During Saturday's Raid in Gaza; CNN gets Exclusive Access to a Ukrainian Prison as the Country Offers Enlistment for Parole Deal to Prisoners; Sandy Hook Mass Shooting Survivors Graduated High School; BTS Celebrates 11 Years as a Group Coinciding with Jin's Return After His Military Discharge. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired June 13, 2024 - 03:00   ET

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

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LYNDA KINKADE, CNN CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from here in the United States and all around the world. You're watching "CNN Newsroom". I'm Lynda Kinkade.

Just ahead, the wars in Gaza and Ukraine looming large over this year's G7 summit as leaders of the world's most powerful democracies gather for their annual meeting in Italy.

From a prison cell to the front lines, Ukraine recruits convicts to boost the military. We'll look at how the new prospective soldiers are being screened.

And BTS mania hits fever pitch in Seoul as the K-pop supergroup's annual party gets underway just one day after the group's oldest member was discharged from the army.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Lynda Kinkade.

KINKADE: It is 9am in southern Italy where the leaders of the world's biggest economic powerhouses are coming together for the 50th annual G7 summit.

Their meeting is shaping up to be a showdown with Russia over its war in Ukraine. U.S. President Joe Biden will unveil more than 300 new sanctions targeting Russia. They're meant to degrade Moscow's ability to source materials for the war, particularly from the Russian ally, China. Mr. Biden is also expected to sign a new 10-year security pact with Ukraine on the sidelines of the summit. It will include training for Ukrainian forces, more weapons and military equipment and greater intelligence sharing.

And 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. More now on President Biden's agenda from CNN's senior White House correspondent MJ Lee.

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MJ LEE, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Here in the coastal Puglia region of southern Italy, the leaders of the so-called G7 nations set to convene on Thursday. U.S. President Joe Biden landing here late Wednesday night for the final G7 summit of his first term. But questions loom large in the aftermath of his son Hunter's conviction on three federal gun charges, including whether the president would commute his son's sentence. The White House on Wednesday would not rule it out.

In a show of support for his son, Biden spent the previous night with Hunter and other members of his family in Wilmington, Delaware.

In Italy, a myriad of weighty and urgent issues on the world leader's agenda. At the top of that list, the continuing Russian assault on Ukraine now in its third year. Biden, along with the heads of Italy, the U.K., France, Germany, Canada and Japan, preparing to announce a series of significant joint initiatives.

The president pushing for a $50 billion loan program for Ukraine, which would tap into the interest accrued from frozen Russian assets and a new 10 year U.S.-Ukraine security pact. The U.S. also expanding sanctions on Russia, targeting foreign financial institutions supporting the war and Russia's access to critical I.T. technology, software and other equipment.

This year's gathering of world leaders kicking off almost exactly three years to the day after Biden's first G7 as president in Cornwall, England.

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: The United States is back.

LEE (voice-over): Biden's unpredictable predecessor, Donald Trump, after alienating the U.S. in so many ways had been replaced by a familiar American statesman pledging to restore and strengthen America's leadership on the world stage.

BIDEN: We need someone to take office this time around who on day one can stand on the world stage, command the respect of world leaders.

LEE (voice-over): But three years later, Biden confronting questions about just how much his big bet on repairing U.S. alliances abroad has paid off. He and other European leaders confronting resistance at home from the far right.

BIDEN: Some of our very conservative members are holding it up, but we got it done.

LEE (voice-over): The possibility of a second Trump term already setting off fresh anxiety in world capitals, even as Biden insists that protecting democracies across the world is a noble cause no matter the cost.

BIDEN: Isolationism was not the answer 80 years ago and is not the answer today.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Well, U.S. Republican lawmakers are getting ready to welcome former U.S. president and convicted felon Donald Trump back to Washington today as he tries to shore up support within the party ahead of the election.

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Although Trump will not be entering the U.S. Capitol building, it will mark his first appearance on the Hill since the January 6 insurrection more than three years ago. And it will be his first meeting with top U.S. Senate Republican, who he has butted heads with in the past.

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REPORTER: Do you plan to confront any of the bad blood between the two of you or any of the issues you've had, including over January 6?

SEN. MITCH MCCONNEL (R-KY), U.S. SENATE MINORITY LEADER: You know, I said three years ago, right after the Capitol was attacked, that I would support our nominee regardless of who it was, including him. I've said earlier this year I support him. He's been earned the nomination by the voters all across the country. And of course, I'll be at the meeting tomorrow.

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KINKADE: But other Senate Republicans who have been critical of Trump, like Mitt Romney and Lisa Murkowski, said either they won't attend the meeting or they won't commit to being there.

U.S. House Republicans have voted to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress after he refused to release audio from interviews with President Joe Biden during the classified documents investigation. Garland said it is deeply disappointed that the House Republicans have turned congressional authority into a partisan weapon.

More now from CNN's Manu Raju.

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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 on contempt charges, the vote 216 to 207. Just 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, questioned 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.

Now, there was a transcript that was released that Democrats and the Justice Department believe were 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 if they were concerned that audio would release publicly or released to Congress. But even as this 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 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: It's symbolic.

ROY: I wouldn't call it symbolic, hold him contempt. We'll see what he does. I mean, hopefully you'll look at this and see the error of his ways.

RAJU: But there is 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 if the president asserts executive privilege and they affirm 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.

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KINKADE: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Italy now for the G7 summit after his latest diplomatic push in the Middle East failed to secure a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. America's top diplomat left the region frustrated over numerous Hamas changes to that proposal. And he questioned whether Hamas is proceeding in good faith. Details now from CNN's Kylie Atwood. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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

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

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BLINKEN: A deal was on the table that was virtually identical to the proposal that Hamas put forward on May the 6th. 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, different in different occasions, being counterproductive to the efforts.

BLINKEN: Hamas waited nearly two weeks and then proposed more changes. A number of which go beyond positions that 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 if the terrorist group is prioritizing the protection of Yahya Sinwar, its military leader hiding in the tunnels under Gaza or 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?

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's 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 the holding of these hostages. Our soldiers are performing in the most valiant and moral way to end this war with a 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.

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KINKADE: Well, the U.N. is warning of increasingly dire conditions for the people of Gaza without a ceasefire and an increase in aid. They say more than a million Palestinians could face starvation and death by mid-July and only 10 localities are preventing famine from being declared. Here's the director general of the World Health Organization.

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TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, W.H.O. DIRECTOR-GENERAL: A significant proportion of Gaza's population is now facing catastrophic hunger and famine-like conditions. Despite reports of increased delivery of food, there is currently no evidence that those who need it most are receiving sufficient quantity and quality of food.

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KINKADE: Well, the WHO reports that more than 8,000 children under the age of five have been diagnosed and treated for acute malnutrition in Gaza. 32 children have died.

Tensions are flaring along Israel's northern border. About 200 rockets were fired at the country from Lebanon Wednesday. Some were intercepted. Others fell into northern Israel and sparked fires. There have been no reports of injuries there. Hezbollah has claimed responsibility for the rocket barrage. 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 on Tuesday.

And still to come, Florida prepares for more heavy rainfall after a rare, life-threatening flood emergency in the south of the state.

Plus, Russia's show of force in the Western Hemisphere. Warships and a nuclear sub arrive in Cuba. We'll tell you where they're headed next.

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KINKADE: Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kinkade.

More heavy rain and flooding is expected in South Florida for a third day in a row. The life-threatening flooding prompted the governor to issue a state of emergency for five counties. And the National Weather Service says flood warnings are in effect until 8 am today for much of the region. Officials are urging residents to avoid driving or walking through floodwaters, which in some places was knee deep. Some areas have seen more than 18 inches of rain over the past two days.

Flood watches are in effect for over 8 million people. And a flood watch has been extended until Friday for some cities, including Miami and Fort Lauderdale. Some vehicles were stranded and almost submerged after two days of torrential rain. According to FlightAware.com, more than 600 flights were canceled at airports in Miami and Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday. More than 100 are already canceled for today.

Eight people are facing federal charges in Washington for trying to stage a climate protest on the field of the congressional charity baseball game. The protesters were quickly arrested Wednesday night as House and Senate lawmakers were taken to the field for the annual event. Police say all eight are charged with interfering with law enforcement. The group known as Climate Defiance, which has disrupted other political events in protest of fossil fuels, claimed responsibility.

New York police are investigating a man who was arrested early Wednesday after he was pulled over with a loaded gun and about 100 rounds of ammunition, along with other weapons. They're trying to find out whether he was plotting an attack. Police are working with the Joint Terrorism Task Force, though it's too soon to say if the incident is terror-related. Here's the New York police chief explaining what was found in the man's car.

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CHIEF JEFFREY B. MADDREY, NEW YORK POLICE DEPARTMENT: They recover one nine millimeter Glock handgun. They recovered nine loaded magazines. They recover a heavy body armor. They recover handcuffs, NYPD uniform items, two axes, a stun gun, multiple knives, a weighted whip and an expandable baton.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: The NYPD later clarified that the man was found with eight loaded magazines, not nine, as the chief said. New York's governor told CNN there's no tolerance for the man's behavior and says he'll be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

An Arizona man accused of hoping to incite a race war before the upcoming presidential election has been indicted by a federal grand jury on firearms charges. The U.S. Justice Department alleges that 58- year-old Mark Prito planned a mass shooting targeting black people and other minorities at a concert here in Atlanta in May. The Arizona district attorney's office says he had given guns. He had seven guns when he was detained on May 14th. The indictment alleges that Prito shared his plans with an undercover FBI agent and a confidential FBI source. He denies the plan.

Four Russian Navy vessels, including a nuclear-powered submarine and one of Moscow's most modern warships, have arrived in Havana, Cuba. The deployment may be routine, but the Russian military drills in the region are not common. Details from CNN's Matthew Chance in Moscow.

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MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Onlookers lined 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, its 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 (through translator): 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's 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)

KINKADE: Well, still to come CNN, speaks with the family of a former Israeli hostage. What they're saying about the abuse and punishment he suffered at the hands of his captors. Plus, some Ukrainian convicts get a chance at redemption if they agree

to go to the front lines.

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KINKADE: Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kinkade. The family of an Israeli hostage who was rescued in the IDF raid in central Gaza Saturday. He's sharing details of abuse and punishment he suffered during his months in captivity. Andrei Kozlov was working as a security guard at the Nova music festival on October 7th when he was kidnapped by Hamas.

CNN's Paula Hancocks spoke to his family about his rescue and what the future holds.

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PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When the Israeli military launched Saturday's rescue mission in Gaza, one of the hostages thought they had come to kill him.

Andrei Kozlov shouts his name in terror to the troops. His family says the Hamas guards told them for months the sounds of war they were hearing were Israel trying to target them as they were causing trouble for the state.

His brother, Dmitry, tells me he didn't understand why the IDF came. He was afraid they came to kill him. It took some time to realize they had come to rescue him.

Psychological abuse, coupled with frequent punishments, marked Kozlov's captivity, according to his family.

They were trying not to leave marks, his brother says, because eventually it is their reputation. But they would still punish him this way or the other.

He has told us there are some moments he will never share with us, his father says. But one he did share is that at the hottest time of the day, they would cover him in blankets. It's a difficult ordeal to be dehydrated through heat.

Kozlov, 27 years old, is a Russian citizen who moved to Israel almost two years ago. He was working as a security guard at the Nova music festival on October 7th when he was kidnapped and taken into Gaza.

His parents flew from Russia Sunday for an emotional reunion, one they hadn't dared to hope for after eight long months.

This is the best scenario we could have hoped for, his father says. To see him alive, to feel his presence and to hug him, it is outstanding.

His mother says we are infinitely happy to see him. He laughs, he jokes, he enjoys communicating with all of us, with his family, with doctors, with the people who surround him.

His family says Kozlov was shocked when Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to visit him and the three other hostages rescued while in hospital.

As for those hostages still in Gaza, his father says, a deal or a rescue, whatever it takes --

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As for those hostages still in Gaza, his father says, a deal or a rescue, whatever it takes to get them out.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Tel Aviv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR: Well, in central Ukraine, at least nine people were killed by a Russian missile strike Wednesday.

Officials in Kryvyi Rih say Russian forces targeted a residential area, destroying buildings, setting cars on fire and burying people in the rubble. At least 29 people, including five children, were wounded. The country's interior minister says four people are missing.

Ukraine is moving ahead with a plan to fill its gap in manpower on the front lines. And one part of the solution involves people who are currently behind bars.

Our Clare Sebastian joins us now live from London. Good to have you with us, Clare. So in some areas, we've heard reports that Russians outnumber Ukrainians seven to one. So how would this mobilization from prison potentially change that?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you say, Lynda, it's part of the solution. The numbers that we're talking about right now are not huge. Ukraine's justice ministry says almost 2,000 men so far have passed through the sort of various checks and been officially released by the courts. That's out of some 5,000, almost 5,000 applicants. So if you think that for context, President Zelenskyy said in February that 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed. That's, by the way, less than half of the U.S. estimate. This isn't necessarily going to move the needle, but it is part of the solution at a time when mobilization is intensely controversial. So we got to look, an inside look exclusively at how this recruitment is working.

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SEBASTIAN (voice-over): Think twice before coming to us, says this battalion commander of Ukraine's third 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 (translated): It so

happened that during a fight that 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 is stringent, and yet less than a month since President Zelenskyy signed the 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 CONVICT RELEASED TO FIGHT (translated): 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 for revenge, but also for people who are suffering.

SEBASTIAN (voice-over): Ukraine is keen to differentiate its prison recruitment effort from that of Russia. The late Yevgeny Prigozhin drafting thousands of inmates into his Wagner paramilitary group. The so-called meat grinder 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. We passed them through all legal and health care 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 good salary, respect, uniform, better living conditions.

SEBASTIAN (voice-over): 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 (translated): 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.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SEBASTIAN: So this is happening on the one hand as that hopeful from that prison pointed out, when the situation on the front lines are extremely difficult for Ukraine, but also at a time when mobilization itself is intensely controversial, President Zelenskyy at the same time as passing that law on mobilizing prisoners also tightened the rules around general mobilization, lowering the draft age, increasing fines for draft dodging and things like that, things that have fundamentally changed life for men in Ukraine. So this part of it is less controversial, something the Ukrainian people can get behind. And that is why I think this is something that the Ukrainian government is out speaking about and wants to be out front with.

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KINKADE: All right. We'll see how it goes and plays out for this war effort. Clare Sebastian for us live from London. Good to have you with us. Thank you.

Well, still to come, they survived one of the United States' most deadly mass shootings when they were just six and seven years old. How former Sandy Hook students and now high school graduates are turning their heartbreak and pain into action and hope.

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KINKADE: Well, on Wednesday, several dozen students who survived one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history graduated high school. They were first graders at Sandy Hook Elementary School when a gunman murdered 20 of their classmates and six adults.

The new graduates tell CNN's Randi Kaye how their lives have been shaped by that tragedy and how they're determined to keep massacres like that from happening again.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GRACE FISCHER, NEWTOWN HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATE: Super excited about heading to college. It's definitely a very bittersweet kind of emotion.

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Bittersweet because Grace Fischer is graduating Newtown High School without 20 of her classmates. They were killed in the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary nearly 12 years ago. Emma Ehrens was there that horrible day, too, and lost her best friend.

EMMA EHRENS, NEWTOWN HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATE: Thinking about all the what ifs of what if they were sitting next to me at graduation? What if we were still friends? Where would we be?

KAYE (voice-over): Both Emma and Grace were just six years old in 2012 and seated in their first grade classrooms when the gunman stormed into their school.

EHRENS: We thought it was construction because it's been going on for the past couple of days on the roof. And then a guy armed came into my classroom and started shooting all of my friends and my teachers and my classmates. His gun had been jammed. And a friend of mine, Jesse Lewis, had yelled at us to run. And that's what we did.

[03:40:01]

FISCHER: We kind of sectioned ourselves into the cubby area, which is kind of like an indent. So from the door, we're absolutely hidden. I remember feeling like I was in danger. KAYE (voice-over): Emma remembers bumping into the gunman in her rush

to get out. The boy who yelled to her and others to run, Jesse Lewis, was fatally shot on the spot.

KAYE: And you believe he saved your life?

EHRENS: I do. I really do. In the hallway right by the main entrance, there was chairs in front of the office. And under the chairs were people because of the force of impact of the bullets. They were blown under the chairs.

FISCHER: When we got to the firehouse, we had to line up like by grade. And that's when my teacher was really like, this is really not OK, because when we lined up by grade, like half of our grade was missing and everyone else was there.

KAYE (voice-over): In the years since, both girls have struggled to cope with the memories from that day.

EHRENS: I've gone to therapy for like six or seven years. I have Survivors Guild, PTSD.

FISCHER: It definitely instilled like a lot of fear in me. And even now, I don't think I've been to a single concert in my entire life, just because I'm really worried about that big crowd of people and not knowing where to go in case of an emergency.

KAYE (voice-over): They've turned some of that anxiety into action.

EHRENS: I want to live in a nation that values children more than guns.

KAYE (voice-over): Both are members of the Junior Newtown Action Alliance, which promotes gun safety.

FISCHER: I do not want future kids of America to have to be scared in a classroom.

We really are pushing, obviously, for a federal assault weapons ban, but also we do shift our focus to like safe storage laws and also mental health resources.

KAYE (voice-over): They've met with members of Congress about gun laws, and just last week, Vice President Kamala Harris. And yet school shootings continue.

EHRENS: It's definitely like a knife to the heart when you see it happen again and again after fighting so hard.

KAYE (voice-over): On graduation day, the names of those lost were read, and ribbons marking the day of the massacre worn in their honor.

FISCHER: Because their lives were lost so early, and I went through that at such an early age, I feel like it's my purpose to continue my life in honor of them.

EHRENS: I know whatever I do, they will be proud of me. I like to believe that.

KAYE (voice-over): On the most recent anniversary of the shooting, Emma posted this photo on her Instagram, writing in part, I just want to live in a safe world. I miss you guys every day. I hope you are happy in heaven.

The picture shows Emma with her best friend, Avielle Richmond, who died in the shooting.

Randi Kaye, CNN, Newtown, Connecticut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Joining me now from Washington is David Hogg, the co-founder of March for Our Lives and Leaders We Deserve. He's also a survivor of the 2018 Parkland school shooting. David, I appreciate your time today. Thank you.

DAVID HOGG, CO-FOUNDER, MARCH FOR OUR LIVES AND LEADERS WE DESERVE: Thank you for having me.

KINKADE: So, as you know, this week, students who survived the Sandy Hook Elementary Massacre graduated from high school, more than a decade after 20 of their classmates, who were aged just six and seven at the time, and six staff members were killed. What's changed in terms of gun policy since then?

HOGG: I mean, for a long time, many people thought after Sandy Hook happened that nothing could change in the U.S. But amazingly, after Uvalde, something did change. We passed the first federal gun law in 30 years, and we're already seeing the results of that. After the passage of that law, we've seen just recently the FBI came out with a report that said this quarter, this past quarter of 2024 that the murder rate is down over 20 percent in comparison to the year prior.

And that law passed after Uvalde also put billions of dollars into mental health programs and also into violence intervention programs aimed at stopping people from wanting to pick up a gun in the first place. Is it enough? Are there still school shootings that happen? Are there still instances of gun violence? Yes, there are.

But we have to acknowledge there is progress being made because it's hard, frankly. It's hard to talk about the shooting that doesn't happen. But we know that there have been over 500 people since Uvalde that have not been able to purchase semi-automatic rifles because of the passage of the Safer Communities Act.

KINKADE: So there has been progress, but obviously much, much more needs to be done. You, of course, survived the largest high school shooting in American history. You became a compelling voice, obviously calling for ways to end gun violence. But we know in recent years, guns became the number one killer of kids in the United States, more than car accidents, more than cancer, more than drownings. No other comparable country has this problem. What do you see as the biggest hurdle?

[03:45:04]

HOGG: Honestly, I think the biggest hurdle that we have right now is the filibuster in the Senate that has made it so that even when you have a majority in the Senate, you may not be able to actually govern or pass most legislation because you need 60 votes. And to me, it brings up questions of how much we can really call ourselves a democracy if when the majority has power, they can't actually use it to pass things.

And I would really say, overall, it's not even one policy. It really is just the filibuster being in the way that prevents us from doing things like repealing the immunity protections that the gun industry has through things like PLACA. That stops them from being sued or passing universal background checks or other policies that are supported by the vast majority of the American people. Right. If you have a majority in the Senate, you should be able to pass a bill.

KINKADE: Of course, you once wrote on Twitter, people call us snowflakes. And you added, what happens when snowflakes vote? That's called an avalanche. This, of course, is an election year. How big of an issue should this be? And how can voters make a difference?

HOGG: I mean, this has to be one of our top issues. And we've seen the president making it one of his top issues. Just the other day, he was openly talking about the need to ban assault weapons like the ones used in Parkland, Uvalde, Sandy Hook, El Paso, and just so many other countless shootings. And he's boldly leading on it. He's passed, from the best of my knowledge, the most executive actions of any president before to address gun violence.

And he also, in collaboration with March for Our Lives and our partners, helped create the Office of Gun Violence Prevention that I spent several years working to create since I was a freshman in college. And in the time since, we've seen that office work to implement pieces of the Safer Communities Act to make sure that states are actually using the money that has been allocated to them to help prevent gun violence.

Because it doesn't just matter if you pass a law. It matters how that law is implemented. And we're seeing great progress being made on that.

KINKADE: And just finally, would you consider running for office?

HOGG: I think if that was the last thing, yeah, I want to do everything I can before that to help grow the power of people, young people running in the movement. Because this isn't about me. This is about a movement, right? This is about trying to make sure that we have as many people like Congressman Maxwell Frost out there as possible, which is why, in addition to what I do with March for Our Lives, I now run a PAC and Super PAC called Leaders We Deserve that helps support young people running for state legislature and Congress.

And just recently, our first elected candidate, Darius Clark, was running in the most competitive race in Virginia for the state legislature. He secured that seat with 800 votes. And he won. Democrats got a one-seat majority in that House.

I got to go down and lobby and testify in some of these committees. And one of them that our candidate, Darius Clark, chairs is the Public Safety and Guns Committee and Firearms Committee.

And I got to see him on the spot because of that one-seat majority, kill a bill to arm teachers, and he introduced a bill to provide tax credits to gun owners for gun safes and gun locks that received wide bipartisan support and actually was signed into law by the Republican governor in Virginia as one of the only pieces of gun safety legislation that actually passed this year.

KINKADE: David Hogg, you and your team are making some great progress. We appreciate your time and wish you all the best. Thanks so much.

HOGG: Thank you. I appreciate it.

KINKADE: And we're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back. Stay with us. You're watching CNN.

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[03:50:00]

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KINKADE: Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kinkade.

K-pop superstar Jin of BTS is celebrating the end of his military service by hugging 1,000 fans. The oldest member of BTS was discharged Wednesday. An event to mark the 11th anniversary of the group's debut is being held today. And lucky fans who go by the name ARMY have the opportunity to meet Jin and even see him perform.

Well, CNN's Mike Valerio joins us now from Seoul. Good to see you, Mike. We're in our matching mouth. The South Korean pop group are back together, at least for the moment. Just explain for us how fans are reacting.

MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I would say, Lynda, that there is broad-based jubilation for Jin, the return of Jin here. We're in the heart of "FESTA 2024" with the iconic Olympic rings with the Seoul Olympic Stadium just over my left-hand shoulder. But, you know, Lynda, we're having a fantastic time. We have met people from all over the world who have been here since 3 am to make sure that they had a piece of this.

So some people here are going on nearly 15 hours. And people who we've met around the globe, they've, of course, part of the magic of this is exchanging, you know, their love and affection for Jin and BTS. So this is from our new friend from India. She gave us a photo card of her favorite Jin headshots. Jin, very handsome, as well as this is from our new friend from Thailand. She made gourmet cookies in the shape of, I should say, a carbon cookie cutout of the cartoon character that Jin made to help promote his music a little while back. So to give you a sense, Lynda, of what we're looking at, we're going

to go over my left-hand shoulder. So this is one of the queues just to get in here, the grounds that are in the shadow of the Olympic Stadium. Again, we're going on nearly 15 hours. And the headline are the people who have gotten the golden Willy Wonka-esque ticket to hug Jin. About a thousand fans in total.

Jin is just fresh off military service. So we heard from him yesterday while he was still in his military fatigues, as well as one super fan from Bangkok we ran into just about two, three hours ago. She's elated to be hugging Jin. Listen to what both of them had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIN, BTS MEMBER (through translator): It was so fun for the last year and six months. It's such a relief. I met so many good people.

ONG TOUICHIT AND MIM CHEENCHANYA, BTS FANS FROM BANGKOK: She wished to tell Jin, if you come to Thailand, can you hold a concert for seven days?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[03:55:06]

VALERIO: So we have seen super fans hugging Jin for about, Lynda, I would say maybe for about two seconds each. There is one clip which we are getting loaded into our CNN control room of one person trying to kiss Jin on the cheek. Starting to go viral. Jin sort of played it off very well. But there's a concert here at 8 pm and you know, the wider factor as we wrap up, Lynda, for why this matters, K-pop is such a cultural force, a multi-billion dollar soft power industry for Korea. So the fans who we're talking to here, they say Jin, the first member of BTS to come out of compulsory military service because he's the oldest. This is like a new beginning for BTS. The band will be back together by this time next year.

So they're seeing this as a new chapter for K-pop music. Certainly a moment where the genre can be supercharged to the elation of fans worldwide, Lynda.

KINKADE: It's amazing. I can't believe some fans, some super fans have been out there since 3 am. Just incredible. And we know that they are planning to reunite once all the band members have finished their military service in a couple more years. Good to hear Mike in Seoul. Thanks so much for that.

I'm Lynda Kinkade. Have yourselves a wonderful day. "CNN Newsroom" continues with Max Foster in London in just a moment.

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