Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
CNN International: Prime Minister Netanyahu Disbands Israel's War Cabinet; IDF: "Tactical Pause" Is Designed To Allow More Aid Into Gaza; Fears Of A Wider Conflict Amid Israel-Hezbollah Tensions. Aired 8-9a ET
Aired June 17, 2024 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:00:10]
AMARA WALKER, CNNI HOST: Hi, everyone, and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Amara Walker. This is CNN Newsroom.
Just ahead, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu disbands his war cabinet, as questions swirl around the tactical pause in the fighting in Gaza. We will have a full report. Plus, Ukraine in focus, U.S. President Biden has welcomed the head of NATO to the White House. Can all the diplomatic efforts help Kyiv win back momentum? And massive fires scorch California, while the northeastern U.S. braces for historic heatwave. We are live on the ground and in the CNN Weather Center this hour.
And we begin with some new developments in the war in Gaza. An Israeli official says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has disbanded the war cabinet, which was responsible for key decisions relating to the Israel-Hamas war. It was formed in the days after the October 7 Hamas attacks. The decision comes after opposition leader Benny Gantz withdrew from the body last week. Meanwhile, Israel's military announced a daily tactical pause along a specific route and specific times to allow for humanitarian aid into Gaza. The IDF later clarified that it's still -- its troops are still fighting in Rafah and parts of Gaza.
CNN's Paula Hancocks is joining us now from southern Israel. Paula, let's start with Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to disband his war cabinet. What's behind that decision?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Amara, in the war cabinet, there were always three men who were basically making the decisions, which was the Prime Minister, the Defense Minister, and the opposition leader, Benny Gantz. Now, of course, since Gantz has resigned, saying he is in protest of the fact there is no plan to get the hostages out, no day-after plan for Gaza and not a plan to get people back to northern Israel as well, who've been evacuated, it is now effectively a two-person war cabinet.
So, what he has done is he has disbanded that and he has said, according to an official in his office, that the decisions, when it comes to the war in Gaza, will be made on a security cabinet basis, which is a wider cabinet basis, also saying that -- so, experts are saying that this kind of avoids the pressure that was coming from the far right of his coalition. Some of those far-right elements wanted to be part of the war cabinet. So, by disbanding it, potentially he has got rid of that problem as well. He doesn't have to accept or reject them because he does have a balancing act when it comes to his coalition at this point.
But, they do say, and within the Prime Minister's Office, this won't make a difference to actually making the decisions on the war in Gaza, and if they have to, they will have smaller groups to decide tactical changes. Amara.
WALKER: And regarding that tactical pause, if there is still fighting going on in Rafah and parts of Gaza, as the IDF says, is this tactical pause in effect to allow humanitarian aid in?
HANCOCKS: So, this is a pause that comes from the Kerem Shalom crossing where we just were, and it goes into Gaza, and then up the Salah al-Din Road, which is effectively the north-south road that runs through Gaza. Now, from the IDF's point of view, they say that they are securing that road, so it will be safe for international aid organizations to distribute aid, which they say is stuck on the Gaza side of the Kerem Shalom border. They say there is more than 1,000 trucks that are there currently.
But, we've spoken to some of those aid groups, including the UN groups in Gaza, and they say that sometimes it is simply too dangerous for them to be able to get to that crossing and pick up the aid. It's not just the fighting that they're concerned about. It's also the sense of lawlessness in Gaza. There is a lot of looting. They say it's very dangerous for them to be able to try and distribute the aid. I did ask the IDF spokesperson if there would be some kind of military escort with these trucks to try and get the aid in, and that was not answered. So, at this point, it doesn't appear that that would be the case.
We've also heard from Gaza media office saying that as far as they're concerned, there has been no tactical pause. So, they believe that Israeli lies, in their words.
[08:05:00]
Now, the IDF has been quite clear that the fighting will continue. It will continue in Rafah, which is very close to where this route is for the tactical pause, as they will be continuing what they have been doing since last month. Amara.
WALKER: All right. Paula Hancocks watching this for us from southern Israel. Thank you, Paula.
Meanwhile, a U.S. Special Envoy arrives in Israel Monday, as tensions escalate on Israel's northern border with Lebanon.
CNN's Ben Wedeman is joining us now live from Beirut. Ben, U.S. officials are warning that there is a very real danger of miscalculation escalating the conflict along the Israel and Lebanon's border. What have you learned? BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we've been seeing is that certainly in the last few weeks things on the border have gotten much hotter in terms of the daily back and forth between Hezbollah and Israel, although I must add that it's currently a Muslim holiday and yesterday on the -- at least from Hezbollah's side, they didn't fire anything at the Israelis as far as we can tell.
But, this envoy, Amos Hochstein, who is the Senior Energy Advisor at the White House, and he is really the point man in dealing with the sort of the Lebanon-Israel file for the United States, he is in Israel now. We assume, although it has not been officially announced, that he is going to be coming to Beirut in the coming days.
Nonetheless, what is obvious, certainly from statements made by senior Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the signs we're getting from Hezbollah, is that both sides are primed for escalation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WEDEMAN (voice-over): Every day, the message goes out from south Lebanon in slick propaganda videos accompanied by a stirring soundtrack. Hezbollah is ready to go from daily skirmishes to full- scale war with Israel. Mired in what appears to be an unwinnable war in Gaza, Israel has vowed to turn its military might on Hezbollah.
Earlier this month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the border, saying, we are prepared for very strong action in the north. But, the Iranian-backed group is by far the most formidable battle-hardened foe Israel has faced on its borders since the 1973 October war. After its guerrillas forced Israel to pull out of south Lebanon 24 years ago, in 2006, Hezbollah fought Israel to a standstill, although the war left parts of Beirut and much of southern Lebanon in ruins. Retired Lebanese Army Brigadier General Elias Hanna knows the militant group well.
GENERAL ELIAS HANNA, LEBANESE ARMY (RET.): Hezbollah is an exclusive club, well-disciplined monitor, and they have, which is the most important issue, a charismatic leader, Syed Hassan Nasrallah.
WEDEMAN (voice-over): Since October, Israeli strikes have killed more than 300 Hezbollah fighters, including last week high-ranking commander Taleb Abdallah, given a hero's farewell in Beirut. At the funeral, senior Hezbollah leader Hashem Safieddine warned, we will increase our operations in intensity and force, in quantity and quality. Analysts believe Iran has provided Hezbollah with an arsenal of sophisticated long-range missiles capable of reaching Tel Aviv and beyond.
Until now, Hezbollah has mostly limited its strikes to military targets along the rugged mountainous frontier, hitting Israel's extensive network of surveillance posts. It also says it is taken out an Iron Dome battery, the backbone of Israel's missile defenses, and has used ground-to-air missiles to shoot down three top of the line Hermes 900 drones, in the process, forcing tens of thousands of Israelis to flee their homes in the north. Hezbollah is learning faster than Israel can adapt, says Hanna.
HANNA: They are learning. It's like a learning process. It's like trial and error. So, as far as you go in time, you are seeing more intensity, more combined use of weapon and then more in-depth and more and effectiveness against the Israelis. And what is the problem? The Israeli have no answer for that.
[08:10:00]
WEDEMAN (voice-over): Since October, Israel has both stirred its forces on the border and held exercises to prepare for war. Hezbollah is also ready for war, a war that is just one miscalculation away.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WEDEMAN: Now, Mr. Hochstein is probably trying to convince the Israelis, now is not a good time, given the situation in Gaza, to jump into a war with Lebanon, and of course, in Lebanon, given Hezbollah's strength and abilities to strike well inside Israel, the price for Israel would be very high. But, Prime Minister Netanyahu is under intense pressure from the public in Israel to allow those people who fled the north to go back home. So, they're really in a bind.
Now, the one solution and what has been seen before is that in late November of last year, when there was an eight-day halt in the fighting in Gaza and there was a release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and detainees, the border along between Lebanon and Israel was quiet. Hezbollah has made it clear, if the fighting stops in Gaza, the border will be quiet. So, probably a ceasefire is the best solution all around. Amara.
WALKER: Ben Wedeman in Beirut for us. Thank you so much, Ben.
And this just in to CNN, two autocrats are set to meet on Tuesday and that is raising international concern. In the latest sign of a deepening alignment, the Kremlin says Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit North Korea on Tuesday and meet with Kim Jong Un. It will be the Russian leader's first visit to North Korea in more than two decades.
We're live in South Korea now with CNN's Mike Valerio. This is remarkable. Mike, what do we know?
MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Amara, it seems as though most of the events we're going to be watching will happen on Wednesday, because according to the calendar that we've been able to confirm so far through Pyongyang and the readout, the official announcement, I should say, coming from the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin is going to be visiting eastern Russia tomorrow, just a few hours from now, local time. So, it seems as though he is going to come down from the northern part of far eastern Russia, and then pay his visit to Kim Jong Un later on Tuesday into Wednesday.
But, Amara, really at the heart of this, this is about what each country wants from one another. There seems to be a very long laundry list from North Korea, starting with an update to its satellite and missile technology. It's tried to launch these satellites for a very long time. Its latest launch a few weeks ago has failed. It launched one, put one quote unquote "spy satellite" into orbit of November of last year. But, this is something that Russia knows how to do and they are forming what's been called a strategic partnership in September of last year when Kim Jong Un visited Russian President Vladimir Putin by train in a pretty remarkably photographed visit in all the pageantry that existed for that visit.
So, satellite technology, food, energy, prestige North Korea wants from this visit by the Russian leader, also another ally to confront the United States. Russia's list is a little shorter, but its magnitude is just as big, Amara. It wants more munitions, a continuing supply of munitions from North Korea to help prosecute its war in Ukraine, and North Korea is happy to do that, experts we talked to tell us all the time, because North Korea desperately needs foreign cash from all the sanctions pressure that it has come under for years. And it has a huge stockpile of armaments. South Korean intelligence officials have told us that there is evidence of North Korean weapons on Ukrainian battlefields, American intelligence officials have mirrored that as well.
So, long story long, Amara, what we are watching from here in Seoul, when this eventually comes to a close, it will be fascinating, and in many quarters of foreign policy observers somewhat arresting if North Korea and Russia, through this new partnership, come to some sort of new military agreement, a new military understanding. The last time that they had a treaty of mutual aid, Amara, between North Korea and the USSR, it was signed in early July of 1961, saying, alright, if something happens to North Korea or the USSR, we will come to each other's support. That was nullified with the collapse of the Soviet Union and Russia forming ties with South Korea.
So, if you can imagine at the end of this meeting, this new bromance, if you will, between Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin, and some new military understanding coming to fruition, or military drills, that will be certainly remarkable. We should add that this meeting is happening on the same day that China and South Korea are holding joint security talks to certainly protect and promote the status quo here on the peninsula.
[08:15:00]
This is not something that China would want, a new military agreement between Russia and the north, because anything, Amara, that has the possibility of adding new American troops, that is certainly not in China's interest. So, a lot to watch here in terms of what really happens, what is delivered in concrete terms from this meeting, Amara.
WALKER: Yeah. This will be raising more than just eyebrows, but a lot of concerns. Mike --
VALERIO: Yeah.
WALKER: -- Valerio live for us there in Seoul, South Korea, especially there in Seoul, at the Blue House. Thank you. So, of course, as Mike was saying, the U.S. President and the head of
NATO will be keeping an eye on Vladimir Putin's trip. The whole world will be. Joe Biden and Jens Stoltenberg are expected to sit down together in Washington in a few hours from now, and it comes on the heels of a summit in Switzerland dedicated to finding a formula for peace in Ukraine. The talks wrapped up on Sunday, but not everyone agreed to the final statement. Some of the major holdouts were India, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the UAE. All of them have close relationships, trading relationships, I should say, with Russia.
CNN's Arlette Saenz is standing by at the White House. Arlette, what are you watching for from President Biden's meeting with Stoltenberg?
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Amara, President Biden will meet with the NATO chief Stoltenberg here at the White House, in the Oval Office, a bit later this afternoon, and it comes at a time when both the U.S. and its allies are essentially trying to safeguard aid for Ukraine, as the prospect of a second Trump presidency looms. You spoke about that peace summit in Switzerland over the weekend. Vice President Kamala Harris was there, reiterating that the U.S. will continue to support Ukraine in its war against Russia, while also trying to find ways to impose further costs on Russia.
And President Biden just last week huddled with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the G7. The two men signed this 10-year security agreement where the U.S. would continue to provide training to Ukrainian soldiers as well as work on the production of military equipment and other types of weaponry. And it all comes as the Biden administration is really trying to cement this aid for Ukraine further into the future.
But, key officials acknowledge, including National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, that this plan isn't exactly Trump proof. This is just an executive agreement. There is the possibility that Trump could scrap this proposal, this 10-year security agreement when he -- if he comes into office. But, Sullivan said that the administration is doing their darndest to try to ensure that they can get this aid to Ukraine in the long run.
Now, there is great concern among President Biden's advisors but also some U.S. allies as well as Ukraine about the fact that Trump really has not said if he would further continue to support Ukraine down the road. He has simply said that he would find a resolution to this conflict very quickly. He has said -- he has really expressed skepticism about providing additional aid to Ukraine down the road.
And Trump has also issued warnings about what he would do with NATO if he is reelected. Back in the winter, Trump had said that he would encourage Russia to do whatever the hell it wants to countries who are not meeting NATO obligations. So, that has caused some consternation among typical allies of the United States as they are watching this potential of a second Trump presidency and whether that will actually come to fruition in November. So, what Biden is hoping to do today in this meeting with Stoltenberg is further trying to shore up that support for Ukraine as its war against Russia continues. I will also note that the NATO summit is expected to happen here in
Washington, D.C. in just a few weeks. So, that will be another opportunity for these allies to have a show of solidarity for Ukraine, as they are trying to push back on Putin's aggression in that country.
WALKER: All right. Arlette Saenz at the White House, thank you very much. Good to see you, Arlette.
Still to come, record-breaking heat is building across the U.S. as a massive fire burns out of control in California. We will have details next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:20:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WALKER: Here in the U.S., a massive fire is burning in Los Angeles County. The post fire has scorched more than 14,000 acres. That is nearly 6,000 hectares. And authorities say the blaze, which began Saturday, is only two percent contained so far. Meantime, a major heatwave is expected to descend upon large parts of the U.S. this week. In some parts, it already has. Record-breaking heat is building from the Midwest and Great Lakes to the North East. And more than 260 million people could see temperatures above 90 degrees. That's a huge majority of the U.S.
Let's start in Lebec, California, and Camila Bernal is there for us. Camila, we can see some of the flares there behind you. What are you seeing?
CAMILA BERNAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Amara. So, the biggest problem right now that firefighters are having is the wind. The National Weather Service forecasted wind gusts between 60 and 70 miles an hour overnight, and really, that's what's making it tough for firefighters. It's hard to even stand here right now. It's unclear exactly how much we're getting in terms of wind gusts and how fast the wind is going. But, that is what carries a lot of these embers. You see the hotspots here behind me. The fire already came through this area, but you still have some of those hotspots. And then, when you add the wind, that just carries it, and sometimes carries it across streets or across highways.
And so, firefighters right now are doing everything they can to create that fire line to contain that fire. They're using crews on the ground and in the air. But, again, they're just struggled because of the wind. Yesterday, we were here all day, and we saw these crews using a number of aircraft, just going around and around, bringing water from a nearby lake to try to avoid the flames from spreading. But, we were at two percent containment yesterday. We're still at two percent right now, and we're only seeing the acreage increasing. So, unfortunately not a lot of progress here, and still a lot of work to be done.
About 1,200 people are under evacuation orders and others are under evacuation warnings, because officials here saying you may have to leave at a moment's notice. So, they are telling people to be ready, to be prepared, because again, this wind can cause the flames to spread extremely fast, and that's when you may have to leave at a moment's notice. So, we will see more work from these firefighters around the clock today, but we are expecting a Red Flag Warning through the day and higher temperatures as time goes by as well. So, it's the high temperatures, the low humidity and then you add the winds, that's what's making it extremely difficult for these firefighters, Amara.
WALKER: Very challenging conditions. Camila Bernal, thank you.
Let's take a closer look now at that heatwave facing much of the U.S. this week. Meteorologist Allison Chinchar is at the CNN Weather Center for us with more. I mean, wow, that is a lot of red, matching your dress there on the map behind you.
ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It is, and it's a lot of population.
WALKER: Yeah.
CHINCHAR: You're talking to over 80 percent of the U.S. population is expecting a temperature of 90 degrees or higher at some point this week. Now, for some, that's only about five to 10 degrees above average. But, for a lot of folks, you're talking 15, even 20 degrees above normal, and then we start getting into record territory. So, you're looking at nearly 200 potential record-high temperatures set for the rest of this week, even through the upcoming weekend. The bulk of them, yes, are going to be in the Northeast and into the Midwest, but you'll see even a few dots down there into the Southeast, also out to the West.
[08:25:00]
So, you've got a lot of areas here that are going to be dealing with it. But, the reason why you have those alerts focused in the Northeast is because this is where a lot of that record-breaking heat is going to be. And for some, it could be multiple days of records in a row, which is it's that prolonged heat. Remember, not all of these areas, especially portions of like, Vermont, Upstate New York, even Maine, not a lot of these people have air conditioners. So, that's going to be a concern.
Another spot, Maine, we don't really have a lot of air conditioners in homes, especially Northern Maine, the Caribou Ft., specifically. The forecast high for Wednesday, is they are supposed to get to 99 degrees. Now, if they do, in fact, hit that mark, that will break the all-time high of temperature record, previous one, 96 degrees. All of these areas are going to start to see that swing in the Northeast, maybe on Tuesday or Wednesday when that big uptick will happen. But, for many of these areas, Albany, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, looking at that peak around Thursday or even Friday where those temperatures will be 15 to even 20 degrees above average.
Now, another topic we're continuing to watch is this, this potential system down here has a 70 percent chance of becoming a tropical system in about the next five to seven days. And the point is, even as it goes into the Gulf of Mexico, it's going to start to bring all of that moisture surging up through the Gulf Coast. So, whether or not this actually gets a tropical storm name or not, it's going to bring a surge of moisture into these areas and a lot of it. Take a look at this. All of this area you see here, Amara, you're talking seven to 10 inches of rain. Some spots could pick up as much as a foot total in the next few days.
WALKER: All right, a lot to track. Allison Chinchar, thank you so much, live for us there at the CNN Weather Center.
Well, it was a deadly weekend across the United States. There were at least 14 mass shootings from Friday through Sunday. Two people were killed and 14 were injured when a man pulled out a gun and began firing during a clash at a Juneteenth celebration in Texas. Then, in Michigan, at least nine people were injured when a man opened fire at a community waterpark. Officials say the gunman was later found dead at his home from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. And in Massachusetts, at least seven people were wounded when shots rang out at a car meetup where young people had gathered to play music and dance.
CNN's Rafael Romo has been tracking this us -- this for us. Rafael, what's the latest on the Michigan shooting? It sounds like a really terrifying scene, because when you go to a splash pad that is where when you see a lot of young people with their parents.
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. That's exactly right. A very pleasant afternoon. We're not quite yet in the summer, but many families trying to get out there, enjoy a day with their children, and all of a sudden somebody started shooting. Police in that particular case say that it might have been a situation where the individual, who died after committing that shooting, had some sort of mental health issues.
Let me first tell you about the one in Texas, Amara, because that's where the two people died. It was yet another mass shooting this weekend, out of the at least, as you mentioned at the beginning, 14 that happened around the country. According to police, it happened when a fight between two groups broke out at a Juneteenth festival in Round Rock, Texas, not quite 20 miles north of Austin. The shooting happened just before 11 Saturday night at Old Settlers Park at the event organized by the city.
Round Rock Police Chief Allen Banks said that during the altercation, someone produced the gun and began to fire, adding that police and fire rescue crews, who already were on the scene, immediately responded and began to render aid to the victims. 14 people were injured, including six who were transported to nearby hospitals. There were two children among them. According to Chief Banks, the two people who died were not part of the altercation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN BANKS, ROUND ROCK, TEXAS POLICE CHIEF: It breaks your heart. It breaks your heart for a family that was coming out to enjoy their evening, and now their life has forever changed as a result of somebody who could care less about somebody else's life. And that's so disappointing. Our goal is to put those folks behind bars, and our goal is to get them put away for life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMO: And Amara, let me go back to that shooting in Michigan now. Only hours earlier, on Saturday afternoon, there was that other mass shooting in Rochester Hills. It'll happened Saturday afternoon at a splash pad in the city located less than 30 miles north of Detroit. As families were enjoying a pleasant afternoon, the suspect got out of his car, walked up to the splash pad and opened fire when he was about 20 feet away. This is how a witness described it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHERYL DELCOTTO, SHOOTING WITNESS: We were sitting out on the patio and we heard a shot. We thought it was firecrackers, and it was -- I guess, it was gunshots because we heard people screaming, like help us, help us. So, we ran around. I called 911. I've seen people lay on the ground. I've seen a guy that was shot on the stomach.
[08:30:00]
He was sitting on the chair, an older man, and then I've seen this guy is like, where is my -- his son was coming out on the stretcher, blood all over his face, and it was scary.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMO: And Amara, listen to this. This new tragedy has hit Michigan, especially hard. The community is still reeling from two other mass shootings. Last year in February, the gunman killed -- a gunman killed three Michigan State University students and left five others critically injured. And in 2021, a teenager killed four students at a high school in Oxford, just 50 miles north of Rochester Hills. According to the Gun Violence Archive, there were at least 14 mass shootings this weekend in the United States that left nine people dead and over 70 others wounded from Ohio to Massachusetts. Back to you.
WALKER: A uniquely American phenomenon, these mass shootings. Rafael Romo, thank you.
Still to come, the U.S. election this fall will be much more than just a presidential race. Up next, we will talk about what Donald Trump is trying to do to help Republicans down ballots. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WALKER: Donald Trump will take a break from campaigning for his own reelection today to help Republican lawmakers in the House keep their majority. House Speaker Mike Johnson and the leader of the Committee that works to get Republicans elected to the House are coming to Mar- a-Lago to meet with Trump. That is according to a Republican source. Over the weekend, Trump tried to appeal to a demographic that's typically very skeptical of his message. That would be black voters. He took part in a community roundtable at a predominantly black church in Detroit, Michigan.
Alayna Treene is tracking the Trump campaign. Hi, Alayna. What is on the agenda for today's close meeting between the House Speaker and Trump?
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Right. Well, it will be the House Speaker Mike Johnson as well as the National Republican Congressional Committee leader Richard Hudson. They will both be meeting with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago today. And look, this meeting is very important. It, of course, comes just days after Donald Trump himself ventured to Washington, D.C. to meet with House Republicans as well as Senate Republicans. And while there, Donald Trump promised that he would help get those members not only reelected but also try to get their candidates, their chosen candidates, I should say, elected come this fall.
But look, this is very important for a number of reasons, both to Donald Trump but of course as well to House Republicans. They want his help in getting them elected. Donald Trump's endorsement has a very heavy sway.
[08:35:00]
However, at the same time, in the past, Donald Trump is also very cognizant that many of the people he has endorsed, particularly in the lead up to the 2022 midterm elections, many of those candidates he got behind ultimately went on to lose in that election. And so, this is something they're going to be planning out today.
And I can tell you, it's been interesting to watch this cycle. Donald Trump has not weighed in and endorsed as many candidates as we've seen him do in the past. Now, publicly, he says, part of that is because he is so focused on his own election fight. But, when I talk to Donald Trump's candidates and people close to the former President, they say, look, we really want to be careful with who we're endorsing. We want to make sure that the people we throw our support behind can actually win.
Now, the other part of that is that Donald Trump wants to stack Congress with his own loyal allies. We've seen Mike Johnson himself be a very fierce supporter of Donald Trump, and part of that is Donald Trump has been obsessed with wanting to harness the power of Congress to go after Democrats for what he is arguing is weaponization of the government against him. In the days after his conviction in a Manhattan courtroom on 34 counts of falsifying business records, Donald Trump called Mike Johnson, and I was told he was very angry. It was a profanity-laden conversation, and essentially told him, we need to fight the Democrats.
And so, part of this goal of making sure that they have a strong majority is also to be able to wage war on Democrats, and of course, as well be able to enact Donald Trump's agenda, should he win the election so that they can hit the ground running with his 2025 goals.
WALKER: Alayna, speaking of Trump's conviction, I mean, he was out campaigning over the weekend, and he suggested that his criminal conviction would help him appeal to black voters. What else did he say, and how is this resonating with that population?
TREENE: Yes. You're right. He did say that. He has also touted his mug shot. Not only this weekend he did that, but he has done that in the past where he thinks that his mug shot will help him have more credibility with the black community. He used other similar rhetoric, a lot of what he discussed during that visit to 180 Church in Detroit, a predominantly black American church. He talked about crime. And he really -- he described Detroit itself as a hellish city. He said it was rife with crime. Take a listen to how he put it during that speech.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Crime is most rampant right here and in African American communities. We don't want to get robbed and mugged and beat up or killed, because we want to walk across the street to buy a loaf of bread. But, the black population wants law enforcement more than any other population.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TREENE: So, as you could hear there, Amara, at the end, the audience, which was not predominantly black, it was mostly white supporters of his who were in that audience, cheered at that remark. But, I can tell you as well that from our coverage of just talking to black voters across the country, many of them have been turned off by some of this rhetoric, particularly this talk about crime and that it impacts black communities more, that black communities have worse cities and crime in their own communities. So, I think that's important to keep in mind.
But, really, the goal of this and during the speech of Donald Trump and his campaign did roll out a new black voters for Trump coalition, they really want to try to make inroads with this key demographic. Now, it's one that has typically gone for Democrats ever since the Civil War, really, but we have seen Trump's numbers increase with black voters during this election. So, we're watching polling on that. And really, from my conversations with Trump's campaign, they think even if they can siphon off a small portion of these voters in particular cities, it could make a difference in the fall. Amara.
WALKER: Alayna Treene in Washington, thank you very much.
So, in about an hour from now, the U.S. Supreme Court will again command the attention of U.S. politics watchers with a clutch of decisions expected. There are close to two dozen cases still undecided and just a few days left in the court's current term. The most eagerly awaited decisions include a ruling on Donald Trump's claim of absolute presidential immunity from prosecution, whether the January 6 insurrection amounted to obstruction of a congressional proceeding and an attempt to limit abortions carried out in emergency rooms.
Katelyn Polantz, our Senior Crime and Justice Correspondent, is keeping an eye on the court for us. I mean, so much still on the Supreme Court's play, Katelyn, and such a short time left before they take their summer break. Take us through some of the cases we're still waiting on.
KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Yeah. Amara, what we're waiting for the Supreme Court to do today is to tell us what they're going to be doing next year, and what we're seeing year after year, as more and more decisions get before this court, more cases get before this court that are highly political, is they're looking at more cases that will concern a lot of people and a lot of political issues, whether they're going to be hearing next term at cases about gun control, cases about the care of transgender people.
[08:40:00]
Those are the sorts of decisions the Supreme Court is making now to set up their calendar for next term. But, we're also waiting for those opinions that could make or break a lot of things, specifically related to the presidency and the cases against Donald Trump, the cases against January 6 rioters, the two major cases that we don't have opinions yet from the High Court on and that are expected before the end of this term, which is very likely, coming at the end of this month, or about the use of the Justice Department, the Justice Department's use of a federal obstruction of justice law, whenever they chose to prosecute January 6 rioters with felony counts.
Now, a lot of those rioters also face charges related to violent crime. But, whether that infrastructure that the DoJ put in place when they were prosecuting those people, the Supreme Court is looking at that. We have to see what they're going to do, how we view those cases going forward and how we look back at them for the people that are in jail and already serving sentences, also that case of presidential immunity and whether Donald Trump should get it in his January 6 case, that'll make or break whether he goes to trial this year. A lot to watch here.
WALKER: Yeah, consequential cases indeed. Katelyn Polantz, thank you very much.
Still to come, shocking allegations against British soldiers stationed in Kenya are investigated after being overlooked for decades. More on that when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WALKER: There are signs that relations between Beijing and Canberra are fine. China's Premier is in Australia now on a four-day trip. Kristie Lu Stout has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The leaders of China and Australia are hailing a quote "stabilizing relationship" after talks in Canberra on Monday. It's a clear sign of improving ties as Chinese Premier Li Qiang continues his four-day visit to Australia. This is the first visit to Australia by a Chinese Premier since early 2017, and relations are improving despite years of tension over trade and foreign interference. The two leaders met for talks on Monday. Now, the Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Chinese
Premier Li Qiang agreed to greater military-to-military communication. China also added Australia to its list of visa-free countries. Other agenda items included trade and energy, regional security, climate change, human rights, and the fate of a jailed Australian writer Yang Hengjun. Tang is a pro-democracy blogger and spy novelist who is facing a suspended death sentence on espionage charges in China. Now, despite many points of contention, Prime Minister Albanese hailed the stabilization of ties with China.
[08:45:00]
ANTHONY ALBANESE, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: Premier Li's presence represents another important step in stabilizing our relationship with China. Our approach has, of course, been patient, calibrated and deliberate. I've said repeatedly, we will cooperate where we can, disagree where we must, but engage in our national interest, and that is in the interests of Australia and in the interests of China as well as in the interests of regional stability.
STOUT: On Sunday, the Chinese Premier has started his trip to Australia with a visit to a winery as well as Adelaide Zoo, where he announced Beijing would provide a new pair of giant pandas. And while in Adelaide, Li also said that China-Australia relations were quote "back on track". The relationship has warmed since Albanese's Labour Party took office in 2022. China has gradually dropped a series of trade curbs and tariffs on Australian exports like beef and wine. Look, China is Australia's largest trade partner. Australia is the biggest supplier of iron ore to China, and China is also an investor in Australian mining projects. On Tuesday, the Chinese Premier will visit the mining state of Western Australia.
Kristie Lu Stout, CNN, Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALKER: Kenya is investigating claims of sexual assault committed near a British training base north of Nairobi. Now, locals reported horrific tales of gang rape and other forms of sexual violence by British soldiers. And we do warn you, some may find the subject matter disturbing. Our Larry Madowo has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She is just 17. But, Marian lives alone in this single room house, a mixed race girl in rural Kenya, when nobody looks like her.
MARIAN PANNALOSSY, SEARCHING FOR FATHER: They actually called me poor white girl. I don't know why they call me poor white girl. They always say, why are you here? Just look for a connection that you will go to your own people. You don't belonging in here.
MADOWO (voice-over): Marian's mother, Lydia Juma, was among hundreds of women who accused soldiers from the British Army Training Unit, Kenya (BATUK) of rape. She was interviewed in this 2011 documentary. LYDIA JUMA, ACCUSES BRITISH SOLDIER OF RAPE: Because in our tribe, we
can't report that today is a big shame if you go and say that you have been raped.
MADOWO (voice-over): Lydia Juma died two years after that interview, and Marian has never met her father. She has to fend for herself in a society that ostracizes her.
MADOWO: You have not lost hope of finding your father someday?
JUMA: No.
MADOWO: Mixed race children keep being born in the remote villages where the British Army trains in Kenya. Generica Namoru says she was in a consensual relationship with a British soldier while she worked at their base, but she claims he has never supported her since she gave birth.
GENERICA NAMORU, CLAIMS BRITISH SOLDIER ABANDONED DAUGHTER (Interpreted): I'm a woman with a white child. It's not easy for my family especially because a child is expensive. She is suffering for no good reason.
MADOWO: So, you just want him to take responsibility for his daughter.
NAMORU: Yeah. Nothing else. For him, I want him to take him to education, health.
MADOWOW: Have you ever received a cent from him since she was born?
NAMORU: I've never received anything.
MADOWO (voice-over): Generica is jobless and says she has unsuccessfully tried to petition local authorities and the British Army to find her ex-boyfriend. The British High Commission told CNN they cooperate with local child support authorities in paternity claims. But, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights says the UK government has made no effort to hold soldiers accountable in such cases.
MARION MUTUGI, COMMISSIONER, KENYA NATIONAL COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS: These children really deserve British citizenship. They're British kids. Their fathers were British.
MADOWO: So, the British government is just not interested in resolving these cases.
MUTUGI: We don't think they are interested. We call it BBBB, British Boys Behaving Badly.
MADOWO (voice-over): The UK pays Kenya about $400,000 a year to allow up to 10,000 British soldiers to train in the country. Kenya renewed the five-year deal in 2021 despite opposition from some local groups, lawmakers, and human rights defenders.
MUTUGI: We have also had cases where this women and people who have reported have been intimidated. So, there is a conspiracy to make sure that justice does not happen for this women.
MADOWO (voice-over): Allegations of rape and other crimes, including murder by British soldiers, in Kenya date back to the 1950s. These elderly women accused BATUK officers of rape in the 70s and 80s in a landmark case in London over 20 years ago.
[08:50:00]
Ntoyie Lenkanan says she was one of them.
NTOYLE LENKANAN, ACCUSED BRITISH SOLDIERS OF RAPE (Interpreted): I was going to fetch water when I was ambushed by a group of British soldiers who were hiding in the grass near the river. One of them grabbed me and raped me.
MADOWO (voice-over): In 2007, Britain's Minister of Defense dismissed over 2,000 claims of rape from mostly Maasai and Samburu, women saying, quote, "There was no reliable evidence to support any single allegation." The government in Nairobi lost the case files without explanation. A Royal Military Police investigation concluded that most of the Kenyan evidence appear to have been fabricated. One Kenyan official called it a cover-up. They did not conduct DNA tests on any of the 69 mixed race children alleged to have been born as a result of rape by British soldiers. Lawyer Kelvin Kunai is working to reintroduce the case in Kenyan courts. 17-year-old Marian will be the lead plaintiff taking up a fight her mother didn't win in her lifetime.
KELVIN KUBAI, LAWYER (Interpreted): It is traumatic and it's psychologically disturbing to people like Marian and many others who continue to see the British training amidst them with all these unresolved trauma and historical injustices.
MADOWO (voice-over): Larry Madowo, CNN, Nanyuki, Kenya.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALKER: The British High Commission told CNN that it all -- it takes all allegations raised by the community seriously and it ensures thorough investigations. It added that all sexual activity which involves the abuse of power is prohibited. We'll be right back
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WALKER: It is a scenario that strikes fear in the heart of even a seasoned traveler. The FAA is investigating a Southwest plane that came within 400 feet of crashing into the ocean. It happened in April but it only recently became public.
CNN's Pete Muntean joining me now live from Washington. Hi, Pete. What do we know?
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Hi. This happened about two months ago, back on April 11. But, as you mentioned, only now coming to light. This Southwest 737 Max 8 was coming into land in Lahaina, about a 20-minute flight from Honolulu, typically goes relatively easily, but the data paints a very scary tale with weather very bad at the time of landing. The visibility was low. There was heavy rain at the time. The pilots set up to come into land on instruments, but aborted the landing, known to be especially busy time in the cockpit of a large airliner. Typically, you come down and then climb again. But, the data shows the plane still dropping at a rate of 4,000 feet a minute while only 600 feet above sea level. And then, the point ultimately came down to 400 feet above sea level.
The real question here is the cause, and investigators really have their work cut out for them. Bloomberg reported a memo that indicated this was a newer first officer flying the plane at the time. It inadvertently pushed forward on the control column, the yoke, in the 737 there. Now, Southwest says in its statement, "Nothing is more important to Southwest than Safety. Through our robust Safety Management System, the event was addressed appropriately as we always strive for continuous improvement." You may remember a similar incident on a United Airlines flight also in Hawaii back in December of 2022.
[08:55:00]
The NTSB found significant miscommunication in the cockpit. Now, people might be asking if this was a Boeing problem because this was on a Boeing 737 Max 8. It is not. Likely pilot error here. Pilots simply outclassed by the busy problem unfolding ahead of them in the cockpit. FAA investigating here. We will wait to hear if the National Transportation Safety Board will also throw its weight behind this incident, although that seems very likely, Amara.
WALKER: Pete, I need your words of comfort before I travel on Sunday. I mean, it just feels like there have been so many negative news coming out of the aviation industry lately, also with the titanium pieces and now this and all the close calls on the runways. Please give me some support -- some moral support here before I fly on Sunday.
MUNTEAN: Aviation continues to be the safest form of travel, especially in the United States. There has not been a fatality on a commercial airliner in the U.S. since 2018. That was a single fatality, a freak incident when a fan blade came off of an engine on a Southwest Airlines flight and killed the passenger sitting next to it. There has not been a fatal crash of a commercial airliner in the U.S. since 2009. The Colgan Air crash that caused major reforms across aviation changed the way that pilots were trained, changed the experience requirements for them. There has been really, really significant change here in aviation, and no real significant issues that have followed.
The big thing here is to separate these incidents out into a few different buckets. The Southwest door plug blow out back on January 5, that was a Boeing quality control issue. So many of these other issues really are simply pilot error issues and they come to light in part because we report on them because that is why we are here for, the Fourth Estate, but also --
WALKER: No. MUNTEAN: -- because they're just simply more people paying attention to these things.
WALKER: Yeah. With you, Pete. Thanks for holding my hand. I appreciate it. Good to see you, Pete Muntean.
MUNTEAN: Anytime.
WALKER: I'm Amara Walker. Connect the World with Becky Anderson is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:00:00]
