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CNN This Morning

Today: Biden To Deliver Speech On Democracy From D-Day Site; Soon: Biden And Zelenskyy Hold Bilateral Talks In Paris; Heat Dome Shatters Records, Expands North And East. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired June 07, 2024 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:38]

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: It's Friday, June 7th.

Right now on CNN THIS MORNING:

President Biden promoting freedom and democracy from the shores of Normandy, while Donald Trump returns to the campaign trail, apparently bent on retribution.

President Zelenskyy meeting with World War II veterans as he goes impatient with the pace of U.S. aid to Ukraine.

And Trump ally Steve Bannon ordered to prison with a very short window to appeal for help from a higher court.

(MUSIC)

HUNT: All right, 5:00 a.m. here in Washington.

A live look at New York City. Look at that beautiful shot on this Friday morning. Nice to start the day that way.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. Wonderful to have you with us.

President Biden returns to Normandy, France, today to deliver a speech on the power of democracy, from a site separating the Omaha and Utah Beaches, that is where American soldiers scaled cliffs to secure positions against the Germans on D-Day, a key turning point for Allied forces in World War II.

Yesterday, President Biden was on hand for the ceremony commemorating the 80th anniversary of D-Day, and we watched him meet with the fewer and fewer of the living veterans who stormed the beaches on that day. And, of course, he offered praise for their contribution to world history.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You must remember the fact that they were heroes here that day does not absolve us from what we have to do today. Democracy is never guaranteed. Every generation must preserve it, defend it, and fight for it. That's the test of the ages. In memory of those who fought here, died here, literally saved the world here, let us be worthy of their sacrifice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Literally saved the world here.

While Biden was honoring our greatest generation, Donald Trump was spending time with Kari Lake and Charlie Kirk at a town hall in Phoenix, Arizona, yesterday. It was Trump's first campaign event since he was convicted.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I just went through a rigged trial in New York with a highly conflicted and I mean highly conflicted, judge where there was no crime. It was made up, fabricated stuff.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: All right. Joining me now to discuss, Akayla Gardner, White House correspondent for "Bloomberg News".

Akayla, good morning to you. Thanks so much for being here.

AKAYLA GARDNER, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, BLOOMBERG NEWS: Good morning.

HUNT: Let's talk about what we're going to object to see from President Biden today. In just an hour or so, the president plans a bilateral meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine. This, of course, a very stark image as his -- his country is, of course, being attacked by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

All of it, all of this marking the 80th anniversary of D-Day, the symbolism is impossible to miss.

GARDNER: Yeah, this is the first time these two are going to be sitting down since December of last year. So, it's really been a long time since they've had to have a face-to-face private discussion. And, of course, in those six months, much of that time, Ukraine went without funding because it was stalled in Congress for so long. Now they have it and they're trying to make up gains that they've lost in Ukraine here.

So, Zelenskyy is really going to be using this opportunity both this week and next week at the G7 to continue to push the U.S. to give them some of those defense weapons that they really need. He's been had success with Biden now allowing or supporting Ukraine, doing attacks, inside of Russia, which was huge and something that they had been pushing for, and really something that they want to see.

They want to see the U.S. able to give them more opportunities to be offensive rather than defensive. They think that's exactly what they need to be able to win this war eventually.

HUNT: So, the comparison that the White House is inviting with President Biden's remarks, which are set for later on today, on those very cliffs of Pointe du Hoc that Ronald Reagan delivered a famous address from and recognizing it's a group of Army Rangers that were trying to get take these positions against the Germans.

[05:05:04]

Let's just flashback to that Reagan speech because I think you're going to hear echoes of this from the president today. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RONALD REAGAN, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: We in America have learned bitter lessons from two world wars. It is better to be here ready to protect the peace than to take blind shelter across the sea, rushing to respond only after freedom is lost. We've learned that isolationism never was and never will be an acceptable response to tyrannical governments within expansionist intent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: So Reagan, of course, at the time, the Republican president now it seems Democrats seem to have taken up the mantle more aggressively of not wanting to be isolationist, whereas as there are increasing forces on the conservative side that are pushing for that today.

GARDNER: Absolutely. I think this is super typical of Joe Biden. He tends to use sites of history to a vote these emotions when he's talking about democracy. We've seen him do this with January 6. We saw him do this with the -- with the midterms and he's really tried to paint himself as a preserver of democracy.

And right now, he's contrasting himself to two men. That's Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. He believes Putin is a threat to Europe at large, that if he, Congress Ukraine, that he will not stop there. And yet at the same time, he's saying Donald Trump is someone who is not going to preserve this tradition of American foreign policy that has really been preserved across parties.

We know that Donald Trump says, if he were to be elected, he wants to bring an end to Ukraine and seemingly that would meet them ceding territory in this war.

HUNT: We heard Biden talk a little bit about Putin recently also. Let's take a look at that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: I've known for over 40 years. He's concerned me for 40 years. He's not a decent man. He's a dictator and he's struggling to make sure he holds his country together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Biden speaks very differently about Vladimir Putin than Donald Trump does.

GARDNER: That is very true.

Obviously, now that Trump has had somewhat a friendly relationship with Putin, we know that Biden, if he's elected, he's going to have to continue to remain support and Congress, that is something that is upper question here. And I think that's exactly what by these two meetings with Zelenskyy are so crucial because he's really going to have to show him in Congress at large that he has a plan to end this war, in case Biden is not reelected in November.

HUNT: So, Akayla, let's just touch briefly on some of the other political news which is at Donald Trump's vice presidential selection. We've reported here at CNN that a series of potential picks have received vetting materials.

The former president that was on Fox talking about what he plans to do when he plans to make this pick. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: But I think ill announce who that person is going to be during the convention. I think that's pretty normal during the convention, albeit an interesting period of time.

INTERVIEWER: You want to give me any names?

TRUMP: No.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: So, actually, isn't super common for the vice presidential pick to be announced during the convention? This to me speaks of Trumps sort of pension for the dramatic riot to have this big buildup, try to figure out how to do it in a way that surprises everyone. It makes a big show out of it. Shall we say?

GARDNER: Yeah. The campaign has really not been engaging at all when it comes to the subject of vice presidents. We've seen a couple of names come out now. Doug Burgum, we've heard Marco Rubio, Tim Scott, some of these people that could really give Trump a broader appeal.

I think that's why were watching this pick so closely, is to see whether he can be able to win over some independence, some moderate, some people that can really get him some of those Nikki Haley voters that have continued to just vote in these primaries, continued to back her and support her, and he really needs to get that broader appeal, especially after his conviction.

HUNT: All right. Akayla Gardner for us this morning, Akayla, thank you very much. I really appreciate your time.

All right. Coming up next here --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: We will not walk away.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: President Biden vowing to stand by Ukraine ahead of critical meeting with President Zelenskyy today.

Plus, if Hunter Biden is found guilty, will his father pardon him? We'll have the answer.

And the FDA reversing its ban on Juul. We'll tell you more about that.

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[05:13:33]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: We will not walk away because if we do, Ukraine will be subjugated and will not end there. Ukraine's neighbors will be threatened. All of Europe --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: President Biden sending a message to U.S. allies and reminding Americans about the critical role of NATO in his tribute to the soldiers who landed on the beaches of Normandy on the 80th anniversary of D-Day.

In about an hour, President Biden will hold a bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Paris.

Zelenskyy shared an emotional moment yesterday with a 99-year-old U.S. veteran, Melvin Horwitz on Thursday/

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VETERAN: You're the savior of the people.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: No, no, no. You saved Europe.

VETERAN: You bring tears to my eyes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: You saved Europe.

All right. CNN's Nic Robertson joins us now from London.

Nic, good morning to you. We saw so many emotional at moments in France yesterday with the surviving American veterans. And, of course, President Biden speech tied together the European fight against fascism eight decades ago to what is going being on now in Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

I -- can we talk a little bit about what the goal is of this bilateral meeting because there are probably concrete things about it, but there is also a lot of symbolism. NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: There is, and I

think we heard President Zelenskyy touch on that symbolism when he spoke to the French parliament earlier because he spoke about Hitler crossing a red line and saying that Putin has crossed the red line going into Ukraine now.

[05:15:07]

So it is -- there is a lot of symbolism. There are a lot of parallels here and they really worked to President Zelenskyy's advantage, but also to President Biden.

So there's a meeting of minds. I think on that when they get together and sit down today, but I think, you know what Zelenskyy is going to want to hear from President Biden, is that real sense of continuity? What if Donald Trump gets elected president? What can President Zelenskyy count on from the United States? That has to be a really big worry for him and its no surprise therefore, that he should Zelenskyy should have been in the French parliament today thanking them because if the United States does under a Trump presidency become more isolationists, cut ties as Donald Trump has indicated, he might do with NATO or not resupply Ukraine with weapons than it is to France and to Germany and to others in Europe that Zelenskyy has got to look to.

So, I'm sure that's going to come up, but it also liked to press President Biden to be able to have a little more freedom using the weapons that Ukraine is getting from the United States to strike deeper into Russia -- Russian targets.

HUNT: Right. And I mean, look, in terms of Donald Trump, it doesn't seem to me like he can likely count on anything on that score. But let's dig into what the current American administration is letting them do.

Here was Secretary Lloyd Austin talking about what America has authorized in terms of use of U.S. weaponry on Russian soil. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LLOYD AUSTIN, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Our policy using long-range strike by weaponry to go into Russia hasn't changed, but what we have done provided Ukraine the ability to counter fire. And I think that's going to prove to be very, very helpful to the Ukrainians going forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: President Biden also addressed this in an interview, he said that these weapons are not going to be used in Moscow at the Kremlin, but rather just along the border is still, it raises tensions.

ROBERTSON: It does. And, look, you know, President Zelenskyy has been told you can use these weapons for counter fire, but every military commander is going to say, well, why do I have to wait for a known enemy position to fire? They're all my troops killed. My truth before I'm able to return fire. They're going to want they president zones get the very least is going to want to upgrade this to preemptive fire. Lets use some of that drone imagery that tells the troops where Russia basing its equipment. That's pounding its cities and fired that.

What Ukraine is really hoping to do here with the ability to, at the moment counter fire, where a beer from systems on the ground or when even they get to F16 and a Mirage 2000 fighter jets that France has committed to give them. They're going to want to fire behind the Russian lines, those positions that are targeting cities like Kharkiv, right now.

What does this do militarily over time? Because this is not a war that's won today or tomorrow, or next month, but probably were looking into next year or beyond, this thins out the Russian lines, it doesn't remove them, that it pushes back there Russia's sort of support positions, its ammunition stores, its fuel stores, all of these things that Ukraine needs to hit to weaken Russia as frontline, which ultimately is going to have to push that front line back.

So hit behind the front line, weaken that frontline, and save the lives of civilians and troops.

HUNT: All right. Our Nic Robertson for us in London on this Friday, Nic, we're grateful to have you. Thank you.

All right. Coming up next, Steve Bannon running out of time and run out of options before he heads to prison.

Plus, sweltering temperatures sent nearly a dozen people at Donald Trump's Arizona rally to the hospital.

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[05:23:39]

HUNT: All right, 23 minutes past the hour. Here's your morning roundup.

The date is set. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will address a joint meeting of Congress on July 24. His decades-long relationship with President Biden badly strained over the Israel Hamas war.

The FDA reversing its marketing ban on Juul vaping products. The agency first ordered the devices and pods off the market in 2022. The product stayed on shelves will the appeals process played out. Now, the agency says they products are back under review.

Eleven people taken to the hospital after Donald Trump's rally in Arizona Wednesday due to heat exhaustion. The temperature yesterday in Phoenix, 109.

That heat dome in Arizona is expanding north and east this morning after shattering records across California, Nevada, and Arizona. Our meteorologist Allison Chinchar tracking in all of it for us.

Allison, good morning.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning.

And yes, and, while and maybe spreading into other areas, those same areas like Phoenix and Las Vegas, in Tucson are still going to be feeling the heat as well. This is where our heat dome is located and you can see its over a pretty widespread for an area across much of the southern tier of the U.S., used to have all of these excessive heat alerts in places like Las Vegas, Phoenix, Tucson, even portions of Albuquerque, but we are going to start to notice them spreading into other areas.

Here's a look at some of those records that we said yesterday.

[05:25:01]

And keep in mind, some of these areas have been setting multiple days worth of records this week, Death Valley topping out at 122, setting a new record there. Phoenix topping out at 113, Las Vegas, 111. And for some of these places, heat is not going away anytime soon.

Now, we'll start to see at least a little bit of a dip over the next couple of days. Take for example, Phoenix going from a high of 111 today, down to only 106 on Sunday. Las Vegas going from 109 today down to only 103.

But keep in mind those are still above the average for a lot of these places. So even though the temperatures are coming down, there's still above where they would normally be this time of year.

Take for example, Phoenix, look at this. Yes. You see that dip going down through the weekend, but the average high right now is 102 and every single one of the next seven days is expected to be above that 102.

And it's not just Phoenix, look at Las Vegas. The average high here isn't even supposed to be in the triple digits, you'd normally would be about 97 degrees. While we do see that little bit of a dip in the back half of the weekend, Kasie, and into Monday, it goes right get back up into next week.

HUNT: Yikes.

All right. Stay safe out there, folks. Allison Chinchar for us -- Allison, thank you.

Coming up next here, an Israeli airstrike on a school in Gaza kills at least 45 people. Were American made weapons involved?

Plus, Trump ally Steve Bannon ordered to report to prison in less than a month.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JIMMY FALLON, COMEDIAN: A judge announced that next month, Steve Bannon will start serving his time in prison. In prison, it looks like a guy would just got out of prison.

Yeah, Bannon goes to prison on July 1st. It's too bad we're all going to miss out and seeing that summer beach bum.

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