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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Dramatic Video Shows Missile Strike On Shopping Mall In Ukraine; Some States Scramble To Protect Abortion Access After Roe Overturned; Serena Williams Loses In Return To Wimbledon. Aired 5:30- 6a ET
Aired June 29, 2022 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:30:00]
LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: Meanwhile, the Biden administration is ramping up its response to the outbreak of monkeypox here in the U.S. The CDC now plans to release more vaccines to the areas with the highest case rates. It's also going to offer testing.
The most recent data from the CDC shows that 244 probable or confirmed cases of monkeypox in the U.S. That number has really shot up.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: It sure has.
All right. Coming up, abortion rights activists getting creative in the wake of Roe's demise.
JARRETT: But first, CNN on the ground at the scene of a missile attack on a shopping mall in Ukraine.
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[05:35:12]
ROMANS: Dramatic new video shows a Russian missile strike on a shopping mall in Ukraine. This is the moment of impact as seen from a park nearby. Eighteen people were killed and many others wounded.
CNN's Salma Abdelaziz is live at the scene for us. We can see the wreckage behind you, Salma. What are you seeing there? What is the aftermath of that missile strike?
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: Well, let's start with what they hit this complex with. Russians using a missile capable of carrying a warhead that is up to 1,000 kilograms. That's 2,200 pounds.
I'm going to step out so you can see the results of that absolute devastation. This shopping complex -- it doesn't even look like that anymore -- completely destroyed.
And what you're looking at now is recovery operations. These rescue workers are searching for missing bodies, of course, presumed -- all of those people are dead under that rubble, potentially. They are working around the clock and it is dangerous work. We understand overnight two of them were hospitalized because they were hit by falling debris.
Now, Russia claims that it was hitting a weapons depot that had U.S. weapons -- weapons from allies. You can see that's obviously not the case.
President Zelenskyy accusing Moscow of intentionally targeting civilians. He wants to see Russia designated as a state sponsor of terror. That's what he told the United Nations yesterday.
Bu this is a continuation of something we've seen time and time again from Russia -- innocence caught in the crossfire. A message sent from President Putin as President Biden meets with these world leaders and has these two important summits -- the G7 and, of course, now NATO where they're discussing what to do with Ukraine. Russia making it clear that they can hit Ukraine anywhere, any time.
ROMANS: Yes, a war targeting kindergartens, apartment buildings, and shopping malls full of people. This appears to be a Russian strategy here, not a Russian accident.
Thank you so much for that. Salma Abdelaziz for us -- Laura.
JARRETT: Meantime, the mother of an American fighter being held in Ukraine says his pro-Russian captors are willing to negotiate for the release of her son and another captured American.
Bunny Drueke says her son Alexander spoke in recent days under duress with the State Department, which told her that his captors were willing to make a deal for his release. Now, she says she doesn't know what conditions for that deal might actually be.
CNN reached out to the State Department for comment on this and were told that they could not comment on the specifics of that case.
ROMANS: All right, talk about irony. Coming up, the accountants caught cheating on their ethics exams.
JARRETT: And how technology could prove to be a double-edged sword when it comes to this post-Roe America.
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[05:42:11]
JARRETT: Welcome back.
Health and Human Services Sec. Xavier Becerra now pledging to protect access to reproductive health care.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
XAVIER BECERRA, SECRETARY, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: Yes. Once we tell you exactly what we believe we are able to do and have the money to do we will let you know. But until then what I can simply say to you is every option is on the table.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JARRETT: Becerra says the department is looking at steps to increase medicated abortions and protecting patient and provider privacy. This, as some states rush to ban abortions while others fight to protect them.
CNN's Erica Hill has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR AND NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Abortion rights supporters in Florida rallying against that state's 15-week abortion ban set to take effect on Friday.
GOV. RON DESANTIS (R), FLORIDA: This will represent the most significant protections for life that have been enacted in this state in a generation.
HILL (voice-over): Planned Parenthood and the ACLU suing to block that new law, which has no exception for rape or incest.
Florida is one of more than a dozen states where bans or severe restrictions are likely to go into effect soon. Trigger laws in Louisiana and Utah now on hold. But in these 10 states, bans are already on the books.
Harris County, Texas seeing a temporary reprieve after a restraining order issued Tuesday allowed some clinics to resume abortions until the 6-week mark. Ohio's 6-week ban was in place just hours after Friday's Supreme Court ruling was announced.
DAVE YOST, OHIO ATTORNEY GENERAL: This decision returns abortion policy to the place it has always belonged, to the elected policy branches of government.
HILL (voice-over): The city council will vote Wednesday on changes to their health plan, allowing city employees and their families to be covered for elective abortions.
JOHN CURP, INTERIM CINCINNATI CITY MANAGER: We'll also include other basic medical needs, including birth control, in vitro fertilization, transgender care, and other family health care needs if those treatments become unavailable in Ohio.
HILL (voice-over): California also acting quickly in the wake of Roe being overturned.
GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D), CALIFORNIA: I just signed an executive order that solidifies California's status as a reproductive safe haven for women.
HILL (voice-over): An amendment will not be on the ballot in November to formalize the right to abortion under the state constitution.
The governor also signing an order banning state agencies from sharing patients' reproductive health care information with other states as concern grows about how some states may use that information to prosecute providers or patients.
ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: So there's a big legal battle coming and we're going to see, I believe, a spate of lawsuits with DOJ trying to strike down state laws that reach into other states.
HILL (voice-over): Nearly two dozen attorneys general have pledged to support and even expand access to abortion care in their states and Washington, D.C. as the legal battles intensify.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[05:45:08]
JARRETT: All right, our thanks to Erica Hill for that report.
Let's bring in Abigail Abrams, staff writer for Time magazine. So nice to have you back on EARLY START.
ROMANS: Good morning.
JARRETT: Appreciate you getting up with us.
You know, technology has transformed access to abortion in so many different ways. And now, of course, the majority of women in the United States get abortions through the two medications that you take. They're not going in for surgery, at least in the majority of cases.
How is this all going to shake out where you have states where abortion is legal and then other people in states where it isn't legal? And the worry, of course, is that people can be tracked, right?
ABIGAIL ABRAMS, STAFF WRITER, TIME MAGAZINE (via Skype): Right -- that's exactly right. So now that we have so much more technology, the abortion landscape really does look very different than it did pre- Roe. We have this fractured landscape with different states having laws.
But because we have abortion pills, as you mentioned, people can really take those and get an abortion from the safety of their own home or from any other private locations. So, in places where clinics are closing because abortion becomes outlawed, people will try to get those pills online. They can connect with providers in other locations.
There are services overseas that will mail them the pills. And they can connect with grassroots activists across the country that have set up these networks to help people either get abortion pills or to travel out of state to go to clinics and get abortions that way.
ROMANS: And you say, Abigail, that these rights groups and these grassroots activists are getting creative, right? They're getting a lot of creative new ways to support existing clinics. What -- give us some examples.
ABRAMS: Right. So we've seen not only telehealth startups that help people get these abortion pills across state lines, we've also seen a group starting the first mobile abortion clinics in the U.S. So they've outfitted vehicles with medical exam tables, with the abortion pills. They've bulletproofed the vans so that -- to prevent against security concerns and will be traveling around in states where abortion is still legal, but on the border of states where it's has been outlawed to help patients access that way.
ROMANS: Bulletproof.
We've also seen a network of pilots -- yes, bulletproof. We've also seen a network of pilots offer their free services to fly people using private flights to other states.
JARRETT: Oh, wow.
ABRAMS: So they are really getting innovative.
JARRETT: So there are now 10 states currently enforcing total or near-total -- effectively, total abortion bans and we know that more are coming. It's essentially going to be half the country where you can't get an abortion legally.
And it's interesting to see how the fallout here and the ripple effects is not just abortion access.
ROMANS: Right.
JARRETT: It's everything from the two pills that I mentioned that are used to abort are the same ones that are used to treat ectopic pregnancies. And then there's also this concern about the embryos that might be created for IVF.
So, even -- however you feel about abortion, people and their families -- women and their families are going to be affected on other issues, too.
ABRAMS: Right. And we've already seen doctors in states where abortion has been severely restricted, like Texas and now Oklahoma and these other states, say that it is affecting their patients in that way.
We've seen pharmacists in Texas refuse to give those pills to patients who are going in for spontaneous miscarriages. We've seen hospitals tell doctors that they need to wait until patients are in a close to a life-threatening situation --
JARRETT: Geez.
ABRAMS: -- in a normal pregnancy complication. It's already happening now.
JARRETT: I just -- I wonder how that's going to work. A doctor takes a Hippocratic oath to do no harm --
ROMANS: Right.
JARRETT: -- and to protect a patient. And the idea that you have to get up to the line of being about to die is just quite stunning, to say the least.
ROMANS: It's like medieval times.
All right, Abigail Abrams --
JARRETT: Abigail, thank you.
ROMANS: -- nice to see you. Thank you so much.
JARRETT: All right, now to this. Accounting giant Ernst & Young being fined a record $100 million by the U.S. government. Regulators discovered the company knew some of its auditors -- get this -- were cheating on their ethics exams for several years and did nothing to stop it. Ernst & Young says it's complying with the SEC's order to reinforce its culture of ethics.
ROMANS: Cheating on the cultures test -- culture ethics test. That's nice -- all right.
JARRETT: You can't make it up.
ROMANS: Just ahead, where you should not be throwing your Fourth of July party this weekend.
JARRETT: And the former aide telling all to the January 6 Committee.
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[05:59:21]
ROMANS: All right, let's get a check on CNN Business this Wednesday morning.
Looking at markets around the world, Asian shares closed down. Europe has opened lower. And on Wall Street, stock index futures are leaning a little bit lower.
It was a down day across the board Tuesday in U.S. stocks after a little rebound in the morning fizzled. Investors jittery, still, over the conference board's Consumer Confidence Index. It fell 4 1/2 points from May to June. It is a fear of inflation here that is driving this number. Its inflation concerns at 8% over the next 12 months.
All right, home prices now are still running hot but the momentum may be slowing. April featured another month of more than 20% year-over- year gains, down slightly from a month earlier.
[05:55:06]
Look at this. All 20 cities tracked by this home index showed double- digit increases for April. Folks in Tampa, Miami, Phoenix -- those are the highest annual increases. Each of those, 30% percent of more year- over-year home price gains. Just amazing.
All right, Airbnb's temporary party ban now permanent. Airbnb first banned parties back in August 2020 to curb the spread of coronavirus. That policy is so successful unauthorized parties dropped 44% year- over-year. Guests who violate the rules could have your account suspended or canceled.
All right, Serena Williams made her long-awaited return to Wimbledon but it ended in a shocking defeat. Coy Wire has more in this morning's Bleacher Report. Hi, Coy.
COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Christine.
Serena hadn't played a competitive singles match since tearing her hamstring on the very same court 364 days ago. The 7-time Wimbledon champ taking center court against France's 24-year-old Harmony Tan who said she was scare-headed into this one.
Serena off to a slow start, losing the first set 7-5. But the 40-year- old turns it around and dominates the second 6-1.
This one became a 3-hour, 11-minute saga, Christine, going to a tiebreak where first to 10 points wins. Serena jumped out to a 4-0 advantage but then she seemed to wear down a bit. Tan took advantage, rallying to win the tiebreak 10-7 in her Wimbledon debut. This was only the third time Serena has ever lost an opening round at a major.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SERENA WILLIAMS, 23-TIME GRAND SLAM CHAMPION: Today I gave all I could do, you know, today. Maybe tomorrow I could have gave more. Maybe a week ago I could have gave more. But today was what I could do. And at some point, you have to be able to be OK with that, and I'm -- and that's all I can do. I can't change time or anything, so that's all I could do on this particular day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIRE: American Coco Gauff dropping the first set in her opening match, but rallying to beat Romania's Elena-Gabriela Ruse in the third and final set. The 18-year-old is still the youngest player in the field and has reached the second round in all three of her Wimbledon appearances.
The LIV Golf series making its debut in London just over two weeks ago now is headed to the U.S. for the first time. They'll tee off near Portland, Oregon starting tomorrow, and that will be the debut of major champions and one-time bitter rivals Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau.
The controversial tour is backed by Saudi Arabian and players have been repeatedly questioned about the country's humane -- human rights record. But DeChambeau -- he's hoping that people can see beyond that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU, 2020 U.S. OPEN CHAMPION: Golf is a -- is a force for good and I think as time goes on hopefully people will see the good that they are doing and what they are trying to accomplish rather than looking at the bad that's happened before. I think moving on from that is important and going -- and continuing to move forward in a positive light is something that could be a force for good for the future of the game.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIRE: All right, how about that U.S. women's national team extending its unbeaten streak to 69 games on home soil with a win over Colombia in Utah. Twenty-second minutes, Sofia Huerta crossheaded in the wrong direction by a Colombia header. It's an own goal. Americans up 1-0. Fifty-fourth minute, U.S. goalie Alyssa Naeher makes her case to be named secretary of defense. An incredible leaping, reaching save.
USA goes on to win 2-0 and will now face Haiti on the Fourth of July -- their first test of the 2023 World Cup qualifiers.
Finally, the Colorado Avalanche are gearing up for their Stanley Cup parade tomorrow and one of the best traditions in sports, every player getting to take the cup home with them for a day. Check this out. Captain Gabriel Landeskog letting his 2-year-old daughter chug a really big sippy cup. This is exactly the kind of sweetness we needed this morning. Whatever is in there, she seems to be a big fan. Hopefully, it was just apple juice and not some of dad's go-go juice. And then she gave Stanley a big old hug afterwards.
Good morning.
ROMANS: Oh, that is adorable -- just adorable. Yes, a very big sippy cup. All right, Coy Wire. Thanks for bringing that to us this morning. Just what we needed.
Thanks for joining us, everybody. I'm Christine Romans. "NEW DAY" starts right now.
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