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CNN International: Biden and Zelenskyy Sign U.S.-Ukraine Security Pact; Supreme Court Rejects Challenge To FDA On Abortion Pill; Trump On Capitol Hill Fort First Time Since January 6 Insurrection; Former Employees Sue Elon Musk's SpaceX Over Firings; Russian Sends Spying Case Against Jailed U.S. Reporter To Court. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired June 13, 2024 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:00:02]
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: Mr. President, thank you. Your team. I would also like to so thank the United States Congress for their support. Both parties, both chambers. Thank you and thanks to every American heart that does not betray freedom and supports us.
Slava Ukraini!
(APPLAUSE)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now, what we'll do is we're going to take two questions from American reporters and -- two questions from American reporters and a question each from two Ukrainian support -- reporters.
But, first, the first person I'm going to call is Colleen Long of "The Associated Press".
REPORTER: Thanks, Mr. President.
About two weeks ago, you changed course to allow Ukraine to fire U.S. weapons into Russia. Given the reported successes, would you consider further expanding the parameters on U.S. weapons into Russia, even despite your concerns about escalation.
And on the news from home, you're going through something that so many American families go through, the intersection of addiction and the criminal justice system. But you're not like most families. Was your son able to get a fair trial? Do you believe the Justice Department operated independently of politics?
And for President --
BIDEN: Let me answer your question, you asked this question, okay?
With regard to the first question, it is clear that the near broad meeting just across the line of the border with Russia and Ukraine, that it makes a lot of sense for Ukraine to be able to take out -- or combat what is coming across that border. In terms of long -- long- range weapons, longer range weapons into the interior of Russia, we have not changed our position on that sort.
With regard to the question regarding the family, I'm extremely proud of my son, Hunter. He has overcome an addiction. He is -- he's one of the brightest, most decent man I know.
And I am satisfied that I'm not going to do anything. I said -- I said I abide by the jury decision, I will do that, and I will not pardon him.
REPORTER: President Zelenskyy, a number of leaders here in Italy, including President Biden are facing upcoming section challenges. How will the security agreement signed tonight? And the other promises of support continue if they are not in office? And what's your contingency plan if they don't?
ZELENSKYY (through translator): Yeah. Thank you for this question.
May I ask -- first and foremost, I'd like to thank the people of the nations, first and foremost, to the United States, to the countries in Europe, and other, on other continents who have supported us since the very beginning -- of the beginning of this absolutely unjust war, Russia against the people of Ukraine. That -- and that is a -- they, they'd been killing people that homes and territory, all that is very important. It is part of life, but first and foremost, we're speaking about people and lives of people. You understand.
And this war was unjust since the very beginning, the war of this evil, his name is Putin, the war against the people of Ukraine. And he has killed so many people. To say that it is not him, it -- there was a military man who did it, the last one is just an instrument of his and he's playing this instrument and therefore, it is important for us that since the very beginning, we were supported by people, by nations because they understood that we share common values.
We simply want to live and the people understood, they imagined what will happen if such evil attacks them. And therefore, we were supported by people and I thank President Biden and other leaders who's since the very beginning of the invasion, that this invasion started to support us. They, based on their values, they, they were based on the voice of their people and it is impossible without people.
And I'm sure that this nations chooses leaders and presidents, and it seems to me that no matter whom the nation chooses, first and foremost, it seems to me that everything depends on the unity within this or that state. And if the people are with us, any leader will be with us in this struggle for freedom.
[15:05:07]
Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Thanks so much.
Yes, please, Inter, Irini Bonova (ph), Inter TV channel.
REPORTER: Irini Bonova of Inter TV Channel Ukraine and I have question for both leaders. So, today during the G7 meeting, their discussion focused on
developing Ukraine's air defense system based on the most advanced Western complexes and also on an hazing long-range capabilities.
So my question is, can you provide any details on the initiative and about the readiness of our allies to take part in it. Thank you.
BIDEN: I'll be happy to respond to that.
We have acquired commitment from five countries so far for Patriot batteries and other defense systems, as well as we've let it be known to those countries that are expected from us air defense systems in the future, that they're going to have to wait. Everything we have is going to go to Ukraine until their needs are met. And then make good on the commitments we made to other countries.
ZELENSKYY: I think President Biden already answer to your question, really. He knows and all or their partners, they know that urgently we need seven Patriot systems. He has to save our cities, not all of them. It's a busy (ph) but urgently seven, and we discussed the possibility of having five of them is true, but the partners work on it. It doesn't mean that tomorrow we will have these five systems, but we see in the closest future good result for Ukraine.
BIDEN: You have some relatively quickly.
American reporter Josh Wingrove, Bloomberg.
REPORTER: Thank you, Mr. President.
I have a question for Mr. President Zelenskyy shortly on the announcements. But if you don't mind, I'd like to ask you about your discussions on the situation in Gaza here at the summit. You were asked just a short time ago about it, after the skydiving demonstration.
Can you give us your assessment of Hamas' response and do you believe that they are trying to work towards the deal, or is this response working against the deal? And what is your message to allies, including those here at the G7 about what more, if anything, the U.S. can do to drive towards a peace agreement.
Thank you.
BIDEN: I wish you guys were little play by the rules a little bit. I'm here to talk about a critical situation in Ukraine. You're asking me another subject -- I'll be happy to answer in detail later. But the bottom line is that we've made an agreement -- I've laid out on an approach that has been endorsed by the U.N. Security Council, by the G7, by the Israelis and the biggest hang-up so far is Hamas refusing to sign on, even though they have submitted something similar.
Whether it had not come to fruition remains to be seen. We're going to continue to push. I don't have a final answer for you.
REPORTER: To President Biden's point the question about today's discussions, President Zelenskyy, the $50 billion today.
You've had the supplemental of course, from the U.S. Congress recently. Can you give us an assessment of the situation on the battlefield right now? And what has been given now, how long will this get you in terms of either stopping the Russian advance are making headway on this? And how long will it last you if indeed future leaders or current leaders are unable to reach consensus on further aid packages.
And President Biden, I'd welcome your assessment of the situation currently on the battlefield. What difference the supplemental is made as well, sir. Thank you.
ZELENSKYY (through translator): Thank you for your question.
Indeed, we were expecting the fundamental baggage of the support from the Congress of the United States of America and truly, it was a long pause for our warriors (ph) first and foremost, but it is important and we are very grateful of that. In the very end, we have this supplement, and this will for sure strengthen our warriors. Yes, this -- this has given the opportunity to the enemy within this pause to try to occupy Kharkiv. But that attempt was stopped by our warriors. They were repelled, the enemy was repelled.
And we, despite everything disrupted, all their plans and it seems to me that that is the most important thing. What this supplement that will arrive gives us, it enables us to fully equip the reserves.
[15:10:04]
Those guys, those brigades that are ready, so -- so that they provide for the opportunity to rotate our units on the battlefield, so that they can have some grasp, so that the brigades can regenerate, so that other brigades and to the battlefield, instead of them with equipment. This is what the supplement gives them. So the rays of morale, but also the rays of strength of our brigades, and it seems to me that this is the most important.
For how long this will -- this will be enough, look, we without package have been holding the lines for eight months, and the Russians had no successes. And therefore the question on for how long it will be enough? No, I think the question has to be for how long the unity will last.
The unity in the United States, together with the European leaders, how these are those elections will influence this unity. It seems to me that we should loop on this exactly this way, to preserve unity, to preserve the integrity of the world, integrity of the democratic world, because if Ukraine does not withstand, the democracy of many countries will not be able to withstand and I'm sure of that.
BIDEN: By the way, the idea that we had to wait until we pass the legislation overall held up by small majority of our Republican colleagues was just terrible and there's a lot more money coming beyond what's already come and the other tranches that are available now that we pass the legislation. So they'll have what they need and get it there as quickly as we possibly can.
ZELENSKYY: Thank you so much, Mr. President.
"Telegraph" please.
REPORTER: Good evening. My name is (INAUDIBLE) of "Telegraph". Thank you for this opportunity. I have a long way from Kyiv and have enough time to prepare such long question.
Firstly, to Joe Biden.
Mr. President, additional Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act, as it you signed, mandated the submission of strategy war for the Ukraine -- for the war in Ukraine within 45 days after it enactment this deadline passed on June 8. And to now, yet the international community has not seen this strategy. Has it been developed and if the strategy is classified, what step does your administration plan to take to hasten Ukraine victory in the world?
My first question, the second will be for President Zelenskyy.
BIDEN: What was the last part of your question?
REPORTER: Has it been developed? This strategy? And to what steps does your administration plan to take to victory Ukraine in the world?
BIDEN: Steps we're going to take to make sure it has -- Ukraine has victory in that Russia does not prevail. Is continued support when we just signed, we sign that no significant number of nations of signed it.
We have convinced the G7. We convinced -- we've got support at the G7. And quite frankly, 48 other countries we sat with prime minister of Japan, South Korea, we have 50 nations assigned up beyond NATO and the G7.
And so, we're going to stay as long as it takes. With regard to the plan, that is -- that is a plan and process now. We're in discussion with our Ukrainian friends exactly what it would be.
We have a lot of movement toward that. We know the outlines of it. We have not done the detail of it all, but we know what Ukraine is capable of doing when given the material to defend themselves and that's exactly what they're doing now.
REPORTER: And my second question is to President Zelenskyy. It will be on Ukraine. And recently you have made a couple of -- I'm sorry, statements regarding China and there are rumors in the press regarding the possible supplies of Russian weapons to China but from that China is actively promoting its own peace plan among certain countries.
What are the motives of Beijing now and wouldn't it be possible to change the vision of China regarding our war in which role the U.S. can play in this? And final question, is China a partner of Russia in these crimes that it commits? ZELENSKYY: First, to all, I had phone conversation with leader of China, by phone. He said that he will not sell any weapon to Russia, that is the first. We'll see with you. We'll see, but he said to me. If he is respectable person, he will not because he gave me the word.
[15:15:01]
The second, our -- you know that, you know, very good with details, how our peace formula. It's very open for everybody basing on charter of the United Nations. And you know that it bases on next principles, territorial integrity, sovereignty, nuclear security, food security.
If China has alternative view on it, it can prepare alternative peace formula, if we share common views on it, like with globally, with all the world, I think so. So if they share the same way to peace, we will find dialogue.
BIDEN: By the way, China is not supplying weapons, but the ability to produce those weapons and the technology available to do it. So it is, in fact, helping Russia.
Thank you all so very much.
ANNOUNCER: This concludes our press conference. Thank you everybody.
ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: Welcome to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Erica Hill, in for Jim Sciutto this afternoon.
You've just been watching, of course, President Joe Biden of the United States, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine there, taking just a few questions at the G7 summit in Italy on the hail -- on the heels, rather, of announcing this historic long-term from security agreement between the two countries.
The leaders laying out what this long-term relationship between Washington and Kyiv entails. Its a 10-year commitment to train Ukraine's armed services, help produce weapons, increase intelligence sharing. Zelenskyy calling this a, quote, truly historic day, and said that this pact will benefit the entire your world.
Joe Biden also asked him, one of the very first questions there at the press conference, about his son Hunter's conviction on federal charges earlier this week. He, of course, was convicted on three different federal counts for illegally purchasing and then owning a gun in 2018. The president saying he's extremely proud of his son for overcoming his addiction and repeated, he will not pardon Hunter Biden.
Joining me now to discuss, CNN international diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson, who is in Italy for the G7 summit, and CNN senior reporter Stephen Collinson, who is in Washington.
Nic, just to start off with you. So we heard that the details here of this executive agreement that we had known abroad strokes about interesting, some of the questions I think are the questions that a lot of people had that were first posed to the presidents there, which were so what happens when somebody else is in power because, of course, the United States staring down an election in just a matter of months? What is the reality for this agreement if in fact President Biden is no longer in power next year, Nic?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Then it appears on the surface at least that could be changed. But I think the way that President Biden set out what this bilateral security agreement is part of, because, of course, it grew out of the NATO summit last year when Ukraine President Zelenskyy arrived and he wanted Ukraine to get under that NATO umbrella, Article Five, an attack on one is an attack on all, will all come to your aid -- well, he didn't get that. What he was totally would get would be this bilateral security agreements and they're coming through, 14 signed until this morning, another two today with President Biden and the Japanese prime minister signing another one, 17 -- 16 more to go.
And the way that works now, rather than one individual providing that security, if one falls away, and this was not quite President Biden's analogy, but this is what he was saying. If one falls away, the others still remain. The reality and everyone knows that here is that this could really -- if president, if President Biden loses the election to Donald Trump, then things like this could change substantially, and President Zelenskyy was asked about this as well.
And he really put his hope and what he described as a unity of the people, the unity of the voters in the United States. And they're -- them placing their values in democracy. And he reiterated the point he made as well. And I think these all things clearly that he wants Donald Trump to understand, that it is not just about Ukraine, it's about Europe, but it's about Democratic values. It's about what the United States stands for.
So, President Zelenskyy, I think putting his hope and faith in the American electorate and the unity.
[15:20:00]
Now those things aside, there were other agreements today that did or will stand the test of a change in the U.S. presidency. I'm one of those was the $50 billion of loan that in principle, and its hoped around the table here today would get to Ukraine by the end of the year because then if there was a change in presidency, the incoming president wouldn't be able to reverse that loan. The money would be in the hands of Ukraine. Ukraine will be obliged to repay it. So there's that.
But I had a couple of other takeaways that I thought were items that we hadn't really heard before. One of those from President Biden, the one that jumped out at me was the issue of providing the Patriot defensive missile systems to help protect Ukrainian cities. Ukraine wants seven at a minimum, President Zelenskyy said. President Biden said, there's a commitment for five, and he said, we have told the countries that we were going to provide those systems for that being built, because of the immediacy those other countries will have to wait and that they are going to go to Ukraine as soon as they are ready. And you also heard the president defend his decision to allow Ukraine to strike over the border inside of Russia and Russian military facilities that are shooting into Ukraine.
HILL: Yeah, absolutely. You know, the Patriot missile stood out to me as well, Nic, in addition to there was this infinite emphasis from President Zelenskyy, in squadrons with an S, talking about F-16s as well, as we look at all of that.
You know, in terms of the messaging to Stephen, that was really interesting here, one of the things I wrote down the President Zelenskyy said, talking about this underscores essentially America support for Ukraine's future membership to NATO and saying this agreement is a bridge to NATO.
Those are also important words moving into this election here in the United States, which is being watched so closely around the world because of the comments that have been made by former President Donald Trump about his thoughts on NATO, especially if he were to be reelected.
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: That's right. And they're also very important words for the people of Ukraine to hear from their present after what has been quite a grim period in the war that's civilians are taking a lot of punishment from Russian raids. And we've seen some advances for the Russians on the battlefield.
I think what really stood out to me was when the president in reference to remarks that Zelenskyy was making about unity around the world for Ukraine's cause. As you mentioned, he said that they were pulling Ukraine closer into the Euro Atlantic community. All of these agreements that Nic was talking about, not just the U.S. Ukraine agreement, the agreement to use interest on frozen Russian assets to rebuild Ukraine, coming agreement with NATO to institutionalize support for Ukraine.
They are hedging against the possibility that Donald Trump could return. In some ways, they are also increasing the political and the moral cost that Trump would incur if he walks away. I think if it was any other kind of leader, that might be something that would weigh upon him if he goes into the Oval Office on January the 20th next year, but there is I think some danger that Trump will watch this and think that he's being boxed in and that might even harden him more against Ukraine, more against those NATO members. He spent his first term, many of them berating on the question of what whether they're spending enough for their own defense.
So this is very interesting diplomatic development, but its going to really have, I think reverberations back home in the United States during this election campaign.
HILL: Certainly. Well, Stephen Collinson, Nic Robertson, appreciate it. Thank you both.
Also with me now, Kim Dozier, CNN global affairs analyst.
Kim, always good to get your take on these moments as well.
You're picking up where we left off with Nic and Stephen Collinson there. As we look at where things stand, as we look at the announcement and even just the way that it was presented today, is there anything that we should read into that in terms of what both leaders are trying to project in this moment?
KIM DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, both leaders are trying to cement this in a way that will be hard for any future president who isn't President Biden to walk away from. And also from Zelenskyy's point of view, he's battling morale problems at home, a loss of confidence among the Ukrainian people for Western support, towards Western support. So he needs to reassure them that this is real and its going to last in a sense, putting a brave face on it.
But the -- it's the best that he can do. He also knows that just possibly this $50 billion loan that is backed by the interest from frozen Russian assets -- assets that that money could reach Ukraine by the end of the year and be very valuable.
[15:25:00]
And that can happened before any of the leaders around the G7 table get replaced, possibly by elections to come.
HILL: As everyone sort of games out and everyone, I mean, on a global level, watching leaders, we know how vulnerable so much has been made of how many of these leaders that we see right now at the G7 may not be there in very short order, as this is being looked at globally, there has been a real spotlight on the response of the Biden administration and how much has or has not been done.
I know you just came back from really important reporting trip. What are you hearing from other leaders in terms of where America stands on the world stage right now?
DOZIER: Yeah, just came back from the Baltics where those countries have given a large part of their gross domestic product more per capita than the U.S. is given an aid to Ukraine.
And they're very frustrated that the U.S. just keeps giving sort of, it's always slightly behind by weeks or months what Ukraine has asked for. And then when they give those weapons, a lot of them come with a lot of rules, caveats and limitations. Right now, that Ukrainians are allowed to use some weapons to strike the Russians around Kharkiv. But they can't strike other logistics supply lines with U.S. weapons without getting censure from the White House.
That's frustrated European allies. Even British officials who've given weapons systems to Ukraine and put no limits on how they can use them. Think everyone has this sense of time running out, just possibly so the feeling is, get the Ukrainians as much as you can as quickly as you can, right now and let them do what they think they have to do.
So that's what I heard from multiple European officials. So there'll be somewhat reassured and pacified by what happened today in terms of the ten years security pact. But they're looking at the calendar and they're worrying there might be a Trump administration to come.
HILL: Kim, always great to have your insight. Thank you.
Still ahead here this hour, the Supreme Court allows a widely used abortion bill to stay on the market, but what's next?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:30:29]
HILL: The Supreme Court today unanimously rejecting an effort to curb access to a widely available abortion pill, finding the conservative medical group that brought the suit initially just didn't have the standing to challenge the FDA's approval of that drug.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh, writing for the court, quote, a plaintiff's desire to make a drug less available for others does not establish standing to sue.
CNN justice correspondent Jessica Schneider and CNN medical correspondent Meg Tirrell, joining me now.
So, Jess, when we look at this initially, so the court said you had no standing here. Basically, this was a procedural -- a procedural ruling, but he didn't weigh in on the merits of this case or the argument which could have had a major impact, not just on this drug, but also on the FDA and its approval process. Is there a sense that there may be a challenge in the wings coming that will have standing?
JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, for now, the FDA is applauding this decision but there was based on procedural or technical grounds. So yes, it is very possible that another group could assemble and then bring this -- bring a lawsuit very similarly, in hopes that they have the standing. I mean, it could be people like women who have been injured by this drug even though this drug is very safe, very effective.
So it is possible that the legal questions surrounding whether or not the FDA had the authority to first approve this abortion drug in the year 2000 and then ease some of the restrictions on it in subsequent years. For example, it's now available via mail. Its now billable via telehealth, women can get it up to ten weeks of pregnancy instead of previously it was only up to seven weeks of pregnancy.
So a lot of the restrictions have been relaxed in recent years, and those are all things that this group of doctors who opposed abortion, they were all fighting the fact that the FDA had approved this drug and then ease some of these restrictions. But the Supreme Court dismissing this unanimously today, saying that these doctors, because they didn't use mifepristone, because they didn't prescribe mifepristone. They just had no basis for bringing this lawsuit.
But you're absolutely right, Erica, it leaves the door open to other challengers who might have a more direct link or direct injury to mifepristone to bring a case in the future. I will note if they do, were probably talking months, if not years down the road that this would take to put together a lawsuit, bring it into the courts, and then come to a decision.
So, for now, it's going to be status quo with this abortion pill it will remain widely available until some other legal challenge makes its way through the courts.
HILL: It's been widely available and widely used. Its main drug used in medication abortions, which represent I believe more than half of all abortions city in the U.S. It's also used to help manage early miscarriage. It's important not to forget that.
Meg, as Jessica pointed out, this is incredibly safe. It's safer than giving in birth, quite honestly, in this country. What are the practical implications as of today?
MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, things are going to stay the way they are right now. As you said, this is the most common way of accessing abortion in the United States and accounted for 63 percent of abortions in 2023.
Mifepristone is one of two drugs in this regimen. The other one is this is my misoprostol and people are increasingly accessing these medications through telemedicine. So 19 percent of all abortions in the U.S. last year were via telehealth.
So this is an increasingly important way that people access these medications and this is not going to change as a result of this ruling because this was tossed out on standing. But as we were just hearing, this could come back and another legal challenge through the same pathway.
But I'm also hearing that there's a lot of focus on who wins the next presidential election because that could put leadership into place at the Department of Health and Human Services and at the FDA that can potentially even roll back some of these things that have made this drug easier to access, that can happen a lot faster. You know, it could happen in January versus over a period of longer time if it has to go back up through the legal system.
HILL: It is really an important point. Meg Tirrell, Jessica Schneider, thank you both.
TIRRELL: Thanks.
HILL: Donald Trump back on Capitol Hill today for the first time, not at the Capitol, but very close for the first time since the insurrection, addressing Republicans in both chambers where he touched on abortion actually in a closed-door meeting.
By all reports, that gathering was light on policy, pretty heavy on revenge, in many ways, more like a Trump rally. There was commentary on Taylor Swift, jokes about panel elector, digs at members who voted to impeach the former president, even an impression of Joe Biden.
CNN's Alayna Treene is with me now.
[15:35:00] So, Alayna, in comments a short time ago after these meetings, the former president was remarkably subdued, didn't really take questions. He stressed that he has great unity within the party. It looks like he is really doing everything he can to shore up that support.
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: That's exactly right. And unity was really what Donald Trump's team wanted the overarching theme of these meetings today to be. When I spoke with them leading up to him coming to D.C., they said, we want to line up all of the Republican lawmakers behind Donald Trump. That was part of the goal.
The other part was to make sure that they're all on the same page as we head into this very contentious stretch of time. But for the November election, as well as their third agenda item, was it begin discussing specific policy for 2025 five should Donald Trump reclaim the White House so that they could hit the ground running.
Now, look, the House Republican meeting with Donald Trump this morning was what you described. Even though he had wanted to talk about policy, talk about staying on message, he kind of did rant and go all over the place.
You mentioned, he talked about Taylor Swift. He criticized her support of President Joe Biden. He brought up Nancy Pelosi. He criticized many of the members who voted to impeach him, not very much on message.
However, we did hear from members in the room that the he did really get that kind of rah-rah pep valley -- pep rally vibe that he was seeking in that meeting.
Now, for the Senate Republican meeting up until later in the day, that was more subdued. And I think you saw that with Donald Trumps remarks following that meeting. We were told that Donald Trump was very cordial, particularly with people who have opposed him in the past. Now, we know a key person that we were watching was Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, someone who had not spoken with Donald Trump ever since the Capitol attack around January 6 in 2021.
They spoke today. Donald Trump sat next to him, our great reporters who were getting details from inside the room told us. And again, he was cordial with those, even those who argue that they do not plan to support him. And so, a different kind of Donald Trump indeed.
And again, you heard him in his remarks really say, we want unity. We have great unity, really trying to harp on that message that I know his team was very much hoping this meeting would produce at the end of it today.
HILL: Right.
In terms of being on the same page, Republican Party tend to do a pretty good job of getting everybody to fall in line, whether it's Donald Trump or a different leader. I was struck by, again, the reporting from inside the room, but Donald Trump did bring up abortion, telling Republicans not to be afraid to follow their heart, but to be smart in how they talk about it. He also said he was happy he got the decisions back to the states, but
that some states may quote not so good decisions. This seems to be actually one area and I'm talking about abortion reproductive rights were Republicans are not united in their messaging. Why is that?
TREENE: No, that's exactly right. I think the biggest reason is that this has been easier issue for them to run on until the overturning of Roe versus Wade. Everyone felt like they could say and have the same rhetoric that they wanted, that they thought made their voters, and their base happy without having to see the actual ramifications of that being enacted.
Now, were in a totally different world after the decision to overturn Roe versus Wade and Republicans are really struggling with how to message on this.
Now, from Donald Trumps perspective, I can tell you that he privately continues to tell people close to him that he thinks the issue as a political loser. He does not want to be discussing this as they look forward to November. And he's very worried as well about the Republican Party and the rhetoric they -- they use to discuss abortion.
That's why we heard him say today that he wants them to use the correct language, to be careful how they frame this to the American public. And of course, we know this about Donald Trump. He is very aware of the messaging around this and how its being viewed by voters specifically, the voters, the more independent leaning conservative voters that he needs, as well as many of these members need to get elected come the fall.
HILL: All right. And we'll be watching for all that. Alayna, appreciate the reporting. Thank you.
TREENE: Thank you.
HILL: Let's take a little deeper into politics at this hour. Molly Ball at "The Wall Street Journal" with us, along with Sophia Cai of "Axios".
Good to have you both here this afternoon.
So as we look at where things stand, let's just pick up quickly when it comes to abortion. We're also talking IVF, right? Senate Republicans blocking that bill to provide -- to protect rather IVF access nationwide.
What we're hearing from a number of Republicans, but I have heard this week certainly is, why do we need to do this? It doesn't need to be protected. It's fine. Important to note, both Senators Collins and Murkowski did vote for that bill.
Sophia, in terms of a message here, when we look at support for IVF protections, when you look at abortion as a voting issue, a new Gallup poll out today shows a record number of voters, 32 percent say their preferred candidate for major office must share their views on abortion.
[15:40:00]
How much concern is there severe within the Republican Party about getting this message under control?
SOPHIA CAI, NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER, AXIOS: There's a lot and that's why you see some Republicans like Ted Cruz and Katie Britt doing their own sort of narrower version of a bill to protect IVF. But at same time, they don't want to be seen as working with Democrats and giving Democrats a win, especially when they have control over the Senate. And, you know, in some Republican primaries going on right, which is Wisconsin-8, the seat to fill Mike Gallagher's seat, you know, you have IVF becoming the one issue where Republicans running in the same race are in different sides of the issue.
So, you see that playing out both. Now nationally and at the state level.
HILL: And how much, Molly, I mean, you know, to Sophia's point, this is -- and even we heard from Alayna, it was easier to run on before, right? Democrats running away with this issue, doing everything they can to bring it up. It's fascinating to see how we've gotten to this point, Molly, especially given what we saw just in terms of coming out of votes yesterday, right, with the Southern Baptist Convention exactly.
MOLLY BALL, SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: And so, I think to your point, it's -- Democrats view it as being to their benefit to keep this on the agenda in any way possible, particularly the political agenda. It is on the agenda as you say it, with religious groups, it's on the agenda with the Supreme Court and Democrats need voters to feel that this is an important voting issue in November, because what we see in polls is that while this is a winning issue for Democrats, it's not necessarily the number one issue that people are keeping in mind as they vote.
So, Democrats hoping to send this message over and over again in as many ways that they can, that this is going to be on the ballot and that people need to keep this issue in mind. So as you say Republican, some Republicans proposed their own -- Republicans have been trying to send the message that they want to protect IVF, but that in this case, they had concerns with this bill. There were details about it, that they did not agree with. It would have created an insurance mandate, for example, that Republicans viewed as not necessary or is too expensive.
So there were reasons that they had for not supporting this particular bill, but they still want people to know that they do not want Americans to believe that if Republicans win the House and Senate and/or the presidency, that they would somehow move to ban IVF because I overwhelming majority of Americans, I believe nearly 90 percent in some polls do support IVF, do support there being access to reproductive technologies for them to be able to grow their families.
HILL: We were talking a lot understandably today about how the world is watching this election, given what's happening in Italy at the G7.
Sophia, you had some reporting, I noticed on a couple of fundraisers -- dueling fundraisers in London, four both of the candidates here in the U.S., which I think just underscores how much focus there is, perhaps not just in the expat community, but among global leaders and global business leaders, Sophia.
CAI: Yes. So, last night in London they just happened to be a coincidence of Biden fundraiser where Don Jr. and his fiancee, Kimberly Guilfoyle, attended as the headline. Guess also, Nigel Farage, the guy who really champion Brexit and he's a top Trump ally.
And on the other hand, you had Anna Wintour also in London holding a fundraiser, and it was some of the first most prominent sort of overseas fundraisers that we've heard about them. But it's not uncommon for presidential campaigns to go overseas to raise expat donors, and of course, just from U.S. citizens.
HILL: Molly, some of your recent reporting to I was just going back and looking earlier this month this bipartisan coalition that went to Taiwan and the great commentary that you had about the concern among lawmakers, including one Republican lawmaker, when it comes to what a second Trump administration could bring and how that is impacting America's standing in the U.S.
How is that outlook changing even perhaps on the heels of today's announcements?
BALL: Well, I think, you know, we see this in Europe playing out right now as President Biden speaks at the G7. I, as you say, was recently in Asia with a bipartisan group of senators, there were members of the House who also made the trip to Taiwan to meet with the newly elected president who is viewed as more hostile to the Chinese government than the alternative who lost the election.
[15:45:00]
And to a national security conference in Singapore, an important annual conference that gathers many people from -- many leaders from around the Indo-Pacific region and where President Zelenskyy also spoke. And the unifying thread, I think, in all of these gatherings, whether you are in Europe or in Asia, is just how on edge the entire world is about the American election. They are all watching our vote, watching the polls nearly as closely as an American political reporter because they know that so much hinges on whether or not Trump returns to the presidency.
And even many of Trumps supporters will say, and many of them would spin this as a positive, but that he is quite unpredictable and he has said many things about many issues and it is impossible to know what he might do on any given day. So even if you view that as potentially beneficial to America and its interest, it's certainly in the eyes of world leaders means that there's an incredible amount of uncertainty surrounding the American election. And they are all on edge waiting to see how it will play out.
HILL: As are many Americans, I think, at this point. So we should all be buckling up for the next several months.
Molly, Sophia, thank you both.
And stay with us. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HILL: Employees at SpaceX looking for their day in court, alleging in a new lawsuit that there's a culture of sexual harassment that begins with Elon Musk himself.
Clare Duffy has the details on what Musk's now former employees say life was like working at SpaceX.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: Yeah. Erica, these former employees claim they were illegally fired for their involvement and writing a letter back in 2022 that raised concerns about a culture of gender discrimination and sexual harassment inside SpaceX. That letter at the time was signed by around 400 employees.
[15:50:03]
And this lawsuit like the letter, specifically takes aim at Elon Musk, the CEO's habit of making crude sexual innuendos on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. It says that because he's the CEO, his tweets were considered official company documents so that they influence the way that other people felt they could behave inside of this company.
For example, it points to one tweet from Elon Musk in 2021, where he references plans to start a new university called the Texas Institute of Technology and Science, which, of course, would have a euphemistic acronym referring to women's bodies.
I want to play for you. What one of the plaintiffs, one of these former employees, told CNN last night about the influence of Elon Musk's tweets on the company.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAIGE HOLLAND-THIELEN, PLAINTIFF IN LAWSUIT: SpaceX will retweet Elon Musk's Twitter and he will re-tweet them. And so, it becomes impossible to separate his personal nonsense from the actual day-to- day life of an actual working environment where engineers are working hard and trying to get things done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DUFFY: This suit claims that because of this culture created by Elon Musk's tweets. Other employees at the company felt they could do things like name part of one of the companies, rockets, the upskirt camera. It also alleges that Elon Musk himself ordered the firing of these employees for their involvement in writing this letter where they asked executives to disavow his tweets. I should say that SpaceX did not respond to our request for comments,
but an executive of the company previously said these employees were fired for cause -- Erica.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL: Clare Duffy, appreciate the reporting. Thank you.
Stay with us. We'll be right back after this quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HILL: Welcome back.
We're following new developments in the detainment of "Wall Street Journal" reporter Evan Gershkovich. Russian prosecutors have indicted him and sent the case against the jailed journalist to court, accusing him of spying for the CIA.
Gershkovich has been detained in Moscow since March of 2023 and charged with espionage, an accusation thoroughly denied by him, the United States government and "The Wall Street Journal".
[15:55:05]
CNN's Matthew Chance joins me now from Moscow.
So, Matthew, walk us through the latest developments here in Evan's case.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think it's been -- it's pretty significant, Erica, in the sense that the period of pretrial detention that Evan Gershkovich has been subjected to since she was arrested last March -- March of last year, when he was detained for espionage by the Russian authorities, that's now come to an end, and the Russian authority is moving ahead with a trial.
They transfer the case to the Russian city of Ekaterinburg which is where he was arrested for espionage in the first place, although we don't know when the trial is going to actually begin or when it will be transferred. That kind of detail hasn't been given.
In the court documents, though, in the indictment which had been made public for the first time, there were a few kind of interesting details about what he's accused of, details that hadn't been made public before.
First of all, the documents say that Gershkovich was acting on the instructions of the CIA at previously a specific allegation that Gershkovich was working with the CIA, had not been made by the Russians. Obviously, it's something the United States government and Gershkovich himself categorically denies you mentioned.
It says that he collected secret information on a tank factory in Yekaterinburg. The factory is called Uralvagonzavod, which means the train carriage maker in the Urals, a factory there. So it's basically a maker of military equipment. It repairs military hardware as well.
But the indictment goes on to say that Gershkovich did this with careful measures of secrecy, that that's the phrase that uses. And so the allegation obviously denied by Gershkovich and all around him is that he was engaged in espionage.
Now, there's already been a denial from "The Wall Street Journal". The U.S. government has also denied it, but "The Wall Street Journal" has issued a statement, the editor in chief of the journal, saying the Russian regimes smearing of Aaron -- of Evan is repugnant, disgusting and based on a calculated work, based on calculated and transparent spirit lies. He also says that it's an assault on the free press -- Erica.
HILL: Matthew Chance, appreciate the update. Thank you.
Thanks to all of you for joining me this hour. I'm Erica Hill.
Stay tuned. "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" is up next.
