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Biden's Future Overshadows Ukraine at NATO Summit; U.S. Made Munitions Used in IDF Strike on School Complex in Khan Younis; Man Wanted in Deaths of Three British Women Now in Police Custody; Day One of Alec Baldwin Criminal Trial in New Mexico; Biden's Future Overshadows Ukraine at NATO Summit; Hatred Taught at Government-Run Children's Camps in North Korea. Aired 12-12:45a ET

Aired July 11, 2024 - 00:00   ET

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

[00:00:54]

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome. I'm Lynda Kincade.

Ahead on CNN NEWSROOM. Joe Biden hosts NATO leaders at the White House as the chorus of Democrats and supporters calling for him to withdraw from the U.S. presidential race grows louder.

The NATO leaders jointly affirmed Wednesday that Ukraine's future is in NATO and that path is irreversible.

And a man suspected of killing three people with a crossbow has been captured in London.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Lynda Kinkade.

KINKADE: NATO allies are reaffirming their support for Ukraine at their annual summit in Washington, saying the country's future is in NATO. But leaders are quietly expressing their concern about Joe Biden and the prospect that he might lose the presidency to Donald Trump. Mr. Biden hosted a dinner at the White House Wednesday, praising the strength of the alliance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're neighbors because we all share a common beliefs in dignity, equality, democracy, and freedom, and we're all neighbors because we're there for one another. In the neighborhood I grew up in, that's what you do. When a neighbor needed help, you pitched in. When the bullies threatened the block, you stepped up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, meanwhile, pressure is mounting on Mr. Biden to exit the U.S. presidential race. Actor and Democratic donor George Clooney says he loves the president, but it's time for him to step aside. And Peter Welch of Vermont is now the first Democratic senator to call on Mr. Biden to withdraw, quote, "for the good of the country." Multiple sources tell CNN that Democratic donors are holding back big

checks over concerns about the president's viability and top Democrats in the House are offering increasingly tepid endorsements.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): It's up to the president to decide if he is going to run. We're all encouraging him to make that decision. I want him to do whatever he decides to do. And that's the way it is.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Is his decision final?

REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D-SC): I have no idea. You have to ask him. I don't know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, on the sidelines of the NATO summit, Canada has announced an additional $360 million in military aid for Ukraine. A separate NATO declaration issued Wednesday says in part, we welcome the concrete progress Ukraine has made on its required democratic, economic and security reforms. As Ukraine continues this vital work, we will continue to support it on its irreversible path to full Euro- Atlantic integration, including NATO membership.

Ukraine's president is thanking Denmark and the Netherlands for donating U.S. F-16 fighter jets to his military. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made the announcement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: As we speak, the transfer of F-16 jets is underway, coming from Denmark, coming from the Netherlands, and those jets will be flying in the skies of Ukraine this summer to make sure that Ukraine can continue to effectively defend itself against the Russian aggression.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg addressed concerns about working with Donald Trump if he wins the U.S. presidency.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENS STOLTENBERG, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: I expect that regardless of the outcome of the U.S. elections, the U.S. will remain a strong and staunch NATO ally for two reasons. One is that it is in the U.S. security interest to have a strong NATO. NATO is good for Europe, but it's also good for United States. It makes the United States stronger and safer because the United States has something no other ally -- no other major power has and that is more than 30 friends and allies.

Russia doesn't have that. China does have that. The United States has NATO, makes the United States stronger.

(END VIDEO CLIP) [00:05:03]

KINKADE: Joining me now is Matthew Schmidt, associate professor of national security at the University of New Haven and former professor of strategic and operational planning at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College.

Good to have you with us.

MATTHEW SCHMIDT, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF NATIONAL SECURITY, UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAVEN: Good to be here, Lynda.

KINKADE: So President Joe Biden is hosting a White House dinner Wednesday night. Thursday he'll hold his first press conference since that disastrous debate. It will be closely watched. How concerned is NATO about this upcoming election and the uncertainty around leadership?

SCHMIDT: That's all NATO is thinking about whether or not they're talking about other things. Their concern is what happens in the American election and whether or not a potential Donald Trump president would follow through on the threat he made in his last term to pull the United States out of NATO.

KINKADE: Of course, the other issue we are hearing about obviously is Ukraine, also high on the agenda. We heard about the F-16 fighter jets from the U.S., Denmark and Netherlands, which will be flying in Ukraine soon. From the Ukrainians you're speaking to, what's been their reaction so far to this summit?

SCHMIDT: Their expectation going into the summit as I heard from a number of people wasn't much at all. Remember that President Biden had dashed hopes of NATO membership several weeks ago already. So what they're hoping to get out of this summit I think they've gotten, you know, they got this language late today about an unwavering course for membership, which seems to indicate that NATO is committed to letting Ukraine come in, although not putting a timeline on it, and critically not defining specific steps so that's important for them.

But another letdown for Ukraine is that, although NATO agreed to spend $40 billion in military defense on Ukraine in the coming year, they did not agree to spend the original $100 billion. So that's a lot of money, but it's not what they were expecting.

KINKADE: And the other issue that came out was the fact that NATO is calling out China, accusing Beijing of becoming a decisive enabler of Russia's war against Ukraine as a member of the U.N. Security Council, it urged China to stop and put out a statement saying this includes the transfer of dual-use materials such as weapons components, equipment, and raw materials that serve as inputs for Russia's defense sector. The PRC cannot enable the largest war in Europe in recent history without this negatively impacting its interests and reputation.

So what should we make of NATO calling out China in this way? And what sort of reaction could we see and what other action could NATO take? SCHMIDT: To be quite blunt, NATO declared that China was now a direct

threat to the North Atlantic, right? And to its European-based members, which it hasn't done before. That's quite a big deal, and it extends the philosophical umbrella of NATO beyond, you know, European boundaries, right? At least in theory, right? This opens up the idea of Georgia, or this opens up the idea of using NATO as a structure to build some kind of alliance in the Far East.

And so this is really a statement that there's a world that's emerging now with Russia and China and North Korea on one side. And the United States and NATO and Europe on the other. And NATO just picked sides and said, we're not pretending that China is not part of this.

KINKADE: Yes, it really was quite remarkable that statement. I have to ask you how strong the NATO alliance is right now, given that it is growing in membership, in budget, but also given the fact that four months from now we will have an election and how quickly things might change.

SCHMIDT: NATO is celebrating its success but it's a celebration that's overshadowed by the storm clouds of the president. It's doing what it was designed to do. It's protecting its members from the Russian threat. But it's not doing it in the way it was designed to do it. It's doing essentially with one hand tied behind its own back because it's not allowing Ukraine in as a NATO member.

It's essentially defending Europe or fighting, you know, by providing aid and training and intelligence to a non-NATO member. And so it's learning how to do this mission as it goes. And it's looking out and it's saying, look, we've kept the peace for 75 years. But now how long is that going to last, right? Is it going to last another four months?

[00:10:01]

Is it going to last another year with that $40 billion we can put into Ukraine? Is it going to last through a next American presidential term depending on who it is. That's really what's happening in Washington right now behind the scenes, are those questions.

KINKADE: And so, Matthew, should we see Joe Biden stumble through this press conference to NATO? Will we see the calls for him to step aside grow?

SCHMIDT: Not from NATO members. They're going to be diplomatic about it. We know behind the scenes that they're concerned and they have been concerned for some time. If you're talking about what's going on in American domestic politics I think you've seen a lot of a lot more public voices calling for the president to consider to step down tonight.

And I think you're going to see that pressure grow as we go through the weekend because we have the opening of the Republican National Convention and then the Olympics and then the Democratic National Convention. So people want a decision made soon, and that's why you have George Clooney coming out and putting his foot down and saying, thank you for your service, but it's time to pass the torch. And, you know, the members of NATO, they understand American politics.

They're not blind to this in any way. They see what's going on and they're preparing for it.

KINKADE: Yes. Everyone will be watching that press conference closely. And as you say, time is of the essence.

Matthew Schmidt, good to have you with us. Thank you.

SCHMIDT: Always a pleasure.

KINKADE: Gaza ceasefire talks have wrapped up in Doha as the Israeli military expands its evacuation orders to the whole of Gaza City. In Qatar, a diplomatic source says mediators from the U.S., Israel, Qatar, and Egypt were cautious but hopeful when heading into the talks. But it's not clear if any progress is made.

Israel's prime minister met with a top U.S. envoy for the Middle East in Jerusalem. Benjamin Netanyahu emphasized his commitment to a ceasefire deal as long as Israel's, quote, "red lines" are preserved.

Well, this comes as the Israeli military ordered Palestinians to evacuate all of Gaza City, urging more than 250,000 people to head south since Sunday amid ongoing Israeli operations. The IDF says it has opened a safe passage for civilians to reach humanitarian zones. Gaza Civil Defense says Israeli shelling has killed dozens of people Wednesday. Hamas says the evacuations threatened to return negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage release deal to point zero. But the Israeli army is defending its actions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HERZI HALEVI, CHIEF OF THE GENERAL STAFF OF ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES (through translator): In the end, it reduces Hamas' capabilities, allows us to advance with the achievements, allows us to carry out a very important mission. Pressure. We will continue operating to bring home the hostages.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: And we are learning more about a deadly Israeli strike on a school complex near Khan Younis. A CNN analysis of video from the scene determined Israeli forces carried out the attack with U.S. made munitions. The same type of munitions that were used in at least two other Israeli strikes in recent months.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond reports, but a warning, his report does contain graphic images.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Amid the cheers and whistles of a summertime soccer match, the war seems far away in this Gazan school yard until another bomb jolts everyone back to reality. And the sights and sounds of war fill the air once again. People running for their lives. The cries of women and children growing louder and louder. And bodies strewn on the ground.

An Israeli airstrike has hit the other side of Al-Awda school in Khan Younis where thousands of displaced Palestinians were sheltering. In the backs of pickup trucks and crowded ambulances, the dead and the injured arrive at Al-Nasser Hospital. Among them are the bodies of children, limp, bloodied, and blackened. They are rushed inside a quickly overwhelmed emergency room. At least 27 people were killed and 53 injured in the strike, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

The Israeli military said its target was a Hamas militant who took part in the October 7th terrorist attack but provided no additional details. It said it is looking into reports that civilians were harmed.

It doesn't take long to find evidence of civilian harm amid the wreckage. These women are inconsolable over the loss of their father.

Your death broke me, Father, one of them cries as she looks at a photo of him on her phone.

[00:15:06]

At the site of the strike, Um Mohammad explains that everyone here was simply trying to make a living. This was Bilal's (PH) area, she says. He was operating a charging point. He had a stall here and he tried to make a living from charging batteries and cell phones. His body was torn to pieces by the blast alongside the outlets he used to make a living.

Look at what is happening in Gaza, every country is asleep and the whole world is asleep, and we die here.

The strike is part of a troubling trend. It is the fourth strike on or near a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in the last four days, killing 47 people and injuring many others. It is also the latest in a series of strikes to use this American made munition, the GBU-39 small diameter bomb, identified by two weapons experts who reviewed this footage. It is intended to minimize casualties but this is the aftermath when it is dropped on a densely populated area.

Body bag after body bag, as relatives mourn. Life is gone, Mohammad is gone, this mother wails. Another mother's unbearable grief.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Well, joining us now is Scott Anderson, the director of affairs for the UNRWA and deputy humanitarian coordinator. He joins us from Central Gaza. He's near the Nuseirat refugee camp.

Good to have you with us. Look, I want to ask you obviously about the attack we're just learning about, but also the fact that Israel's military has now extended its evacuation order for all of Gaza City, calling it a dangerous combat zone. What's your response to that? And how will it impact the Palestinians that have already been displaced many times over?

SCOTT ANDERSON, DIRECTOR OF UNRWA AFFAIRS IN GAZA: So most Palestinians in Gaza have been displaced once, twice, some as many as 10 times. This is just the latest in a series of displacements for them, as people tried to seek safety for themselves and for their families. And what we're going to see is what's an already crowded area in the middle of Gaza and the IDF humanitarian zone become even more crowded.

We've already seen thousands of people moving from the north to the south through the checkpoint. We do expect that that movement will continue today and what we're focused on right now is reading these people, trying to determine their condition if they need health care, and then trying to direct them where they can find -- hopefully find safety and aid.

KINKADE: You of course have been in war zones in places like Afghanistan. How does this situation compare? A war in a place where people can't really flee to safe area. How would you describe what you're seeing?

ANDERSON: I mean, what we're seeing first is widespread destruction. Where I sit and where I travel across Gaza it looks like something out of a dystopian movie set. The destruction really is quite incredible. And it's a very small area. And unlike Afghanistan or Ukraine or other places there's really nowhere for people to find safety. It's a small area, 365 square kilometers, and people are moving literally just a kilometer or two away from what is a very active combat zone trying to find safety for themselves and their families.

So the biggest difference between this and any other context I've been in is there's really nowhere that's safe. And there's nowhere that people can go with their families to find safety.

KINKADE: Scott, the U.S. is set to resume its high payload bombs to Israel, sending 500 pound bombs while keeping the 2000 bombs on hold. What could that mean for this war?

ANDERSON: I can't really speak to the strategy or impact of munitions, but what I will say is that where the U.N. operates or where hospitals operate we'd ask all parties to the conflict to respect the sanctity of those installations where people are trying to find safety, where people are trying to find health care, and that the operations are carried out in such a way that maximizes the protection of civilians.

So those innocence that are caught in this conflict can find safety for themselves and for their families.

KINKADE: We know the negotiations have been going on in Qatar and about 120 hostages are thought to still be in Gaza. What would be the best outcome to these negotiations? What is your message to those negotiating?

ANDERSON: Well, first thing is we need a ceasefire. That includes the return to the hostages. They've been away from their families for over nine months, and give people in Gaza, you know, a break or respite from the combat and that we can start rebuilding.

[00:20:03]

You have over 600,000 children that need to return to learning. Between COVID and this they've spend three of the last four years outside of school. And you just need a return to normalcy for people. They need an opportunity to rebuild their lives, begin to rebuild Gaza, mourn for lost family members, and try to pick things up and move forward.

So our ask is consistent with what we've been asking for all along, which is, again, a ceasefire that includes the return of the hostages and the opportunity for people in Gaza to begin to rebuild their lives.

KINKADE: Yes, we really do hope for that.

Scott Anderson, we appreciate your time and all the work you're doing there in Gaza. Thanks so much.

ANDERSON: Thank you very much.

KINKADE: Well, three British women killed in an attack that authority say involved a crossbow and now the suspect has been found in a quiet North London neighborhood. We'll have the details on that ahead. Plus after three years, Alec Baldwin's trial for involuntary manslaughter begins in New Mexico, where prosecutors say he was reckless with firearms. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KINKADE: Welcome back. British authorities have captured a man wanted in connection with the deaths of three women in an attack police believe involved a crossbow. Official says suspect Kyle Clifford was found in North London Wednesday afternoon, less than a day after the wife and daughters of a BBC journalist were killed.

CNN's Nic Robertson has this story from London.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, this is where the manhunt ended in this cemetery here, late afternoon U.K. time, in a leafy North London suburb. An address nearby was a clue for the police. They knew who they were looking for. They had been to that address in Enfield, and then they came here to this cemetery.

They say when they caught up with a suspect who the police have identified as Kyle Clifford, a 26-year-old man. When they caught up with him here, they say that he was injured. Now, heavily armed police were involved in the search for him. They say no shots were fired. He was taken out of the cemetery on a stretcher, taken away to hospital. But the full details of what is alleged to be an incredibly gruesome murder are now becoming apparent.

The three women who were killed were the wife and two daughters of BBC journalist, John Hunt. His wife Carroll, who was 61, his elder daughter Hannah, who was 28, and his younger daughter Louise, who was 25. It was their screams on Tuesday night that attracted the attention of the police and the medical services. They rushed to the house but were unable to save the women.

CCTV footage nearby indicated and seemed to show a man coming out of the building there holding a crossbow, putting it in the back of a vehicle.

[00:25:07]

And this is really what gave the police the leads to know where to begin their search. It was a full search across many parts of London. And the police, when they got to this neighborhood here, when they were closing in on Clifford, they told the people on the street here to lock their doors. Now, one lady we spoke to described scenes of absolute chaos and police all over the place. Somebody else told me a paramedics and fire trucks and police all over this normally quiet suburban street.

But Clifford now in police custody, appears to be getting medical treatment, and at the moment the police have not indicated that they are looking for other suspects in this utterly brutal and gruesome series of murders.

Nic Robertson, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Well, Alec Baldwin's trial of involuntary manslaughter charges has begun with prosecutors arguing that the actor was reckless with his use of a gun on the set of "Rust" in 2021. The film's cinematographer was killed and its director was injured. Baldwin has pleaded not guilty, and as CNN's Josh Campbell reports, the defense has a totally different story about what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Day one of the Alec Baldwin criminal trial has wrapped. Both the prosecution and defense making their respective cases before a jury of 11 women and five men here in Santa Fe. The prosecution told the jury that Alec Baldwin should have known better than to take a gun and point it at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was ultimately killed in that fatal incident on the movie set back in October 2021. The defense telling the jury that this was someone who was starring in a film. He was handed a gun and told it was safe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERLINDA JOHNSON, PROSECUTOR: It's simple, straightforward. The evidence will show that someone who played make believe with a real gun and violated the cardinal rules of firearm safety is the defendant, Alexander Baldwin.

ALEX SPIRO, ALEC BALDWIN'S LAWYER: He was an actor acting playing the role of Harlan Rust. An actor playing a character can act in ways that are lethal that just aren't lethal on a movie set.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMPBELL: Now the mood in court on day one was nothing short of sad and somber. At one point Alec Baldwin's wife, Hilaria, approached him, pressing her head against his as they embraced. Outside of court, Alec Baldwin's sister Beth was in tears. She was then comforted by Stephen Baldwin, Alec's brother.

Now of course on the other side of this case is the family of Halyna Hutchins. They've obviously been devastated, and that's what we've seen so often in these negligence trials. Raw emotion, neither side here is disputing the fact that this was an accident. But what the prosecution has said all along is that under New Mexico law, even something that is an accident can still be criminal.

Josh Campbell, CNN, Santa Fe, New Mexico.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Well, despite efforts to calm concerns more U.S. Congress members are calling on President Biden to step aside in this year's election. The details ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KINKADE: Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kinkade, and you're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

[00:30:38]

Back now to our top story, the NATO summit in Washington, where just hours ago, U.S. President Joe Biden raised a glass and toasted 75 years of the alliance.

But this gathering of NATO allies has been overshadowed by mounting questions and concerns over Mr. Biden and his reelection bid. The U.S. president's comments Wednesday night came during a dinner at the White House attended by NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and other world leaders.

Earlier in the day, President Biden sat down for talks in the Oval Office with the new British prime minister Keir Starmer. Mr. Biden called the U.S. and the U.K. the best of allies and said the two men had much to talk about, including soccer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: To start off, you can talk about -- you call it football, we call it soccer. By the way, you know, soccer has become incredibly popular here in the United States. It really is growing. Adn -- but at any rate, we have a lot going on. You're seeking closer ties in Europe, and it's good for all of us in the alliance. I think it's a great idea that we're going to be working together on.

I thought we had a good meeting today in NATO.

KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Very good.

BIDEN: I thought we had a good meeting. And I think things are moving in the right direction.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, while Mr. Biden is looking to project strength on the world stage, more members of the Democratic Party are expressing concern about his chances for reelection. And now Peter Welch of Vermont has become the first Democratic senator to call on President Biden to step aside as the party's nominee this November.

CNN's Kayla Tausche has more now from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over); With world leaders at hand, President Biden eager to get back to business as usual.

BIDEN: Stronger supply chains, stronger economy, stronger military, and a stronger nation.

TAUSCHE (voice-over): And the White House wants to move on from speculation about the president's political future.

But for Democrats, the domino effect continues, actor George Clooney penning an op-ed in "The New York Times," calling on Biden to step aside, writing, "Tt's devastating to say it, but the Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fundraiser was not the Joe 'big F-ing deal' Biden of 2010. He wasn't even the Joe Biden of 2020."

Filmmaker Rob Reiner joining Clooney, writing on X, "Democracy is facing an existential threat. We need someone younger to fight back. Joe Biden must step aside."

And House speaker emerita Nancy Pelosi, noncommittal.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): It's up to the president to decide if he is going to run. We're all encouraging him to -- to make that decision, because time is running short.

TAUSCHE (voice-over): And Colorado senator Michael Bennet on CNN became the first Senate Democrat to break with Biden publicly. Bennett calling the state of the race very worrisome.

SEN. MICHAEL BENNET (D-CO): Donald Trump is on track, I think, to win this election and maybe win it by a landslide. And the White House, in the time since that disastrous debate, I think

has done nothing to really demonstrate that they have a plan to win this election.

TAUSCHE (voice-over): An adviser to the president said few in Biden's inner circle are concerned enough to pierce Biden's firm position. Only family could do that. And only if there's hard data. The adviser telling CNN of his wife and sister, Jill and Valerie won't let him go down in flames.

Since the debate, CNN's poll of polls shows Trump leading Biden by five points, the first time this year the candidates are separated by a margin of more than three points. And some donors planning events in Chicago and Florida say they're now up in the air.

But for Biden, its full steam ahead, for now.

BIDEN: Every NATO member is committed to doing their part to keep the alliance strong.

TAUSCHE: Biden aides are pointing to an aggressive travel schedule in the coming weeks to battleground states, as well as several fundraisers that the president is hosting in Texas, Bennet's home state of Colorado, and two in California as proof that the president is not going anywhere.

But before that, Democrats have their eyes on the high-stakes NATO press conference President Biden will be helming solo tomorrow.

Kayla Tausche, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: The Indian prime minister is reiterating that war is not the way to find solutions to conflicts during his visit to Austria.

Narendra Modi's trip included a meeting with Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, making him the first Indian prime minister to visit the country for leadership talks in more than 40 years.

[00:35:11]

The two leaders discussed trade ties, climate change, as well as the war in Ukraine.

Modi says both parties support restoring peace in the region.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NARENDRA MODI, INDIAN PRIME MINISTER (through translator): the loss of innocent lives is unacceptable, wherever it occurs. Both India and Austria attach great importance to dialogue and diplomacy, in order to rapidly restore peace and stability.

Both countries are ready to provide all possible support to this end.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, Modi's comments echoed his words to Vladimir Putin when he visited Moscow earlier this week. He told the Russian president they must, quote, "adopt a path to peace through dialogue."

An inside look at summer camp in North Korea. Children from a few friendly countries can come and visit. But one big part of the curriculum: there is hatred for the U.S. That story ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KINKADE: Hatred for perceived enemies, drilled into children from a very young age.

CNN has received a firsthand account of what it was like inside an international children's camp run by North Korea. Will Ripley spoke to a Russian graduate student who went there as a teenager.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Russian and North Korean leaders' budding alliance at full speed for the world to see. Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un toasting a stronger partnership than ever before, intent on taking down the U.S.

YURI FROLOV, VISITED NORTH KOREAN CHILDREN'S CAMP: My president is also a murderous dictator. So, there's no surprise.

RIPLEY (voice-over): Yuri Frolov is a Russian graduate student, studying in the U.S. He was in high school in Russia in 2015 and 2016 when his parents sent him on two summer trips to North Korea -- Russia, one of the only nations Pyongyang still allows in -- on government-controlled sightseeing trips.

FROLOV: We landed in Pyongyang, and we spent two days in the capital. They showed us some attractions. They showed us, like, their museum, this -- this show that has, like, dolphins.

RIPLEY (voice-over): Frolov says he's not surprised to see rising Russian tourism in Kim's heavily sanctioned secret state.

FROLOV: Russian tourists is one of the pipelines they can use to get this currency in the country, because once I was there, it was one of their purposes, just to use the people like milk cows just to get, like, the most -- the money they wanted.

RIPLEY (voice-over): He visited the same souvenir shops I did on my 19 reporting trips to North Korea.

RIPLEY: You don't need to read Korean to know what this means here, the U.S. Capital there. The symbolism says it all.

RIPLEY (voice-over): Shops overflowing with anti-U.S. propaganda.

FROLOV: It wasn't like -- like straightforward propaganda. It was brainwashing you, like, through different ways.

RIPLEY (voice-over): Frolov spent two weeks at this international children's camp on North Korea's east coast: summer fun mixed with daily chores like cleaning giant statues of the late leaders.

FROLOV: Which was also very strange. It was like 6 a.m. in the morning and we were just called to clean some dust out from these monuments.

RIPLEY (voice-over): After morning chores, mandatory music lessons.

FROLOV: Sometimes the people would force us to sing propaganda songs about, like, the great leaders of North Korea: Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong- Il, and Kim Jong-un, and basically, we were forced to speak the songs, as well.

But they were, like, in Korean, but they were translated into Russian.

RIPLEY (voice-over): He says even the video games had an anti-American theme.

FROLOV: They were like driving tanks, like destroying the White House in the U.S.

RIPLEY (voice-over): It reminds me of this exchange with two North Korean campers playing that same video game.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who do you want to fight?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): To fight the sworn enemy: Americans.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What if I told you I'm an American? Do you want to shoot me, too?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Yes.

RIPLEY (voice-over): A lesson from Kim and Putin to the next generation.

Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Well, if you have a fear of snakes, this story might not be fun for you.

Chinese customs officials say they caught a man trying to smuggle more than 100 live snakes into the country in his pants. Five species were identified, including four that are non-native to China, although none of them venomous.

Custom officials did not say whether they arrested the would-be snake smuggler.

It's not the first time someone trying -- has been trying to carry a large number of animals into China. Just a month ago, another man was trying to sneak in hundreds of endangered turtles from Macau.

That does it for this edition of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Lynda Kinkade. I will be back with much more news at the top of the hour, but now WORLD SPORT is next. Stay with us. You're watching CNN.

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[00:45:16] (WORLD SPORT)