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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Ukraine's Allies Meet To Discuss Recovery Challenges; Tate Brothers Face Rape And Human Trafficking Charges; Biden Meets With Experts On Risks And Promises Of Artificial Intelligence. Aired 5:30- 6a ET

Aired June 21, 2023 - 05:30   ET

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

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[05:32:40]

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Ukraine's deputy defense minister says the main strike is still ahead in Ukraine's counteroffensive. Kyiv says right now they are targeting Russian artillery, Russian arms systems, and says Moscow is hemorrhaging military resources on the front lines.

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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (through translator): Currently, our soldiers in the south and east are very actively destroying the enemy, physically clearing Ukraine. This will be the case in the future as well. Defense against terror means the destruction of terrorists.

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ROMANS: As Ukraine prepares for even tougher battles ahead its allies are looking toward reconstruction. The Ukraine Recovery Conference is underway right now in London.

CNN's Nic Robertson joins us live from London. And Nic, with the war not yet over it's tough to determine what reconstruction will look like. What are you hearing?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, it's tough to know what it's going to look like but people are trying to put a figure on it and that's coming to about $400 billion is the estimate right now for reconstructing Ukraine. That's more than beyond the scope of governments to do. There are more than 50 different countries represented today.

But the idea of this conference is to get private investors, businesses -- companies like Sanofi, like Hyundai, like Virgin -- to all stump up and help support Ukraine -- invest in Ukraine. And there are a number of different ways that that's being tackled by sort of anti-corruption measures that are going into place.

We heard from Secretary of State Antony Blinken today saying the United States is committing an additional $1.3 billion in aid, but $600 million of that is going to go to help reconstruct and reconfigure the power grid within Ukraine -- a power grid that he says will be connected to Europe. The United States is also spending money to improve the road, rail, and port connections to Europe.

This is all about a future Ukraine. It sends a strong message to Vladimir Putin that Ukraine's allies are going to rebuild it and help shape Ukraine to be integrated to the West and not the East. So this is a very strong message for Vladimir Putin.

We've heard from President Zelenskyy saying look, the reasons to invest in Ukraine are we have clean energy. We produce agricultural products for 600 million people around the world.

[05:35:02]

And we're hearing from business leaders as well. And the British prime minister has said that he's got 400 businesses from 38 different countries to agree to help support and invest in Ukraine. And he has created or is creating a mechanism -- an insurance mechanism -- a war insurance mechanism to help underwrite those extremely high costs of investing in Ukraine.

To many investors, it might look like a bottomless pit with sticky sides. You pour your money in, the war goes on, you don't get a return on your investment, and money sticks to the sides -- corruption. But the picture is being painted here of how that is changing and there is a vision worth investing in.

ROMANS: All right, Nic, nice to see you. Thank you.

All right, quick hits around the globe right now.

French police raided the headquarters of the Paris 2024 Olympic organizing committee after allegations of financial corruption. They also conducted a raid connected to infrastructure for the games.

Indian officials in the state of U.P. are investigating the deaths of at least 68 people in Ballia as a severe heat wave hits that region. Temperatures have soared to 114 degrees this week.

Estonia becomes the first former Soviet state to legalize same-sex marriage, approving amendments to the Family Law Act on Tuesday. It could also mean gay couples can now adopt children there.

Just ahead, sonar detects banging sounds underwater in the search for that Titanic sub. And the Tate brothers in a Romanian court on charges of rape and human trafficking, next.

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[05:40:44]

ROMANS: Self-proclaimed misogynist influencer Andrew Tate appeared a short time ago in a Romanian courtroom alongside his brother, Tristan. The Tate brothers, along with two Romanian women, are charged with human trafficking, rape, and setting up a criminal gang.

CNN's Salma Abdelaziz covering the case for us from London. What are we learning, Salma, about the charges and the suspects?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The first thing we need to know about today's court appearance is that it is a preliminary hearing. So, by and large, all that's going to be determined today is a) what occurs with the preventative detention. You'll remember that Andrew Tate was arrested -- put in jail in December of last year. He was released into house arrest after a court ruling in March of this year, so the court will find out if that continues -- how long it continues.

And the second part that's supposed to occur today is to set a date for the trial. Now, the actual trial itself is expected to take many years.

They were indicted yesterday, Romania's courts announced -- indicted, the two brothers, of human trafficking and rape, along with two other Romanian associates. The indictment dates back to events taking place in 2021 against seven women -- seven victims. The brothers have long maintained their innocence.

And what is so concerning to authorities and to parents afraid of the influence of Andrew Tate is that every time he's in the headlines it seems that more attention is drawn to his social media accounts. His Twitter account was reinstated late last year. Since that time his number of followers has skyrocketed. Just since the announcement of the indictment yesterday, he's tweeted dozens of times from that account, including a video maintaining his innocence that has received four million views.

I also have to note here that in addition to the indictment that he is facing now he is also under investigation for money laundering and trafficking of minors -- of minors. But despite the very serious criminal allegations he's facing he continues to just captivate and horrify.

ROMANS: Very serious charges, indeed.

All right, thank you so much, Salma.

The top pick in tomorrow's NBA Draft throwing out the first pitch at last night's Yankees game -- and well, it wasn't a strike.

Andy Scholes has this morning's Bleacher Report. The full New York treatment for him.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, Christine.

Victor Wembanyama getting to do it all ahead of tomorrow's NBA Draft in New York, including riding the subway. The NBA giving him that full New York experience on the way to Yankee Stadium. And it's safe to say it's not easy in those cars when you are seven-foot-five.

What else isn't easy? How about holding a baseball? Check out Wemby's post of him gripping a ball. He put the caption "Lmaooooo." And when it came to throwing out that first pitch with his giant hands -- well, fingers maybe held onto the ball a little too long. It's just a bit outside. Wemby, though, had a nice laugh. He then threw a ball into the stands but he threw a rocket. Yankees manager Aaron Boone was a little concerned for the fans. But good times there from Wemby.

Now, as for the Yankees game, check out this interaction between Yankees starter Gerrit Cole and the Mariners' Jose Caballero. So, Caballero was just taking every last second he could to get into the box before the eight seconds were on the pitch clock every single time, and that seemed to annoy Cole, who threw the ball over everyone on this pitch. Then after Cole struck out Caballero here to end the inning, he wagged his finger at the Mariners' dugout.

The Yankees, behind Cole, would win that one by a final of 3-1.

All right, a controversial play at the plate, meanwhile, led to the White Sox beating the Rangers. So with the game tied at six in the bottom of the eights, Chicago's Elvis Andrus racing home on this play. He was out as he was tagged by Rangers' catcher Jonah Heim before touching the plate, but the White Sox -- they challenged and a replay official ruled that the catcher blocked the plate, giving Chicago the 7-6 lead, which turned out to be the final score.

Rangers manager Bruce Bochy was just irate and for pretty good reason. He ends up getting ejected. And afterwards he just couldn't believe that call.

[05:45:03]

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BRUCE BOCHY, TEXAS RANGERS MANAGER: For that call to be made, I'm dumbfounded. It's absolutely one of the worst calls I've ever seen and it was done by replay. I just don't get it -- I don't care how many times they'll try to explain it. You can't do that in that situation. It's a shame. It's embarrassing, really.

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SCHOLES: All right.

And the good times, though, continuing in Cincinnati last night. The Reds winning their 10th-straight game, beating the Rockies 8-6. It's their longest winning streak since 2012.

And get this -- they're now tied for the third-longest winning streak by a team. They lost 100 games the previous season. Now, Cincinnati now two wins away from tying the 1890 Louisville Colonels at the top of that list.

And, Christine, a lot of teams doing well in baseball right now. The Giants have won nine in a row. The Braves, seven in a row. So I guess as it's heating up this summer so are some Major League teams.

ROMANS: All right, Andy Scholes. Thank you so much. Nice to see you, Andy.

SCHOLES: All right.

ROMANS: Coming up on "CNN THIS MORNING" the race to find the source of underwater noises detected during the search for that Titanic submersible.

And next, right here, President Biden's delicate balance on artificial intelligence. How to regulate it without stifling it.

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[05:50:22]

ROMANS: All right. Your Romans' Numeral this morning -- it's grim -- 131. A new report from the World Economic Forum estimates women will not attain parity with men for another 131 years. In other words, not until the year 2154. The report says, in part, that progress was disrupted by the COVID pandemic's impact on women and girls in education and the workforce.

All right. Looking at markets around the world right now, Asian markets finished lower. The Hang Seng down nearly two percent after signs that China's stimulus was less than some had hoped for. European markets are mixed as the U.K. inflation held steady in May.

On Wall Street, stock index futures right now are barely mixed. Stocks were down for the second day in a row yesterday. The Dow down more than 200 points amid signs of weakening global demand.

But U.S. home construction surged by the fastest pace in more than a year, climbing 21.7 percent from April.

On inflation watch, gas prices held steady overnight at $3.58 a gallon. That's -- look at that -- a $1.39 less than a year ago.

Fed chief Jerome Powell set to testify before the House Financial Services Committee later this morning. That will be the main event for markets.

All right. Artificial intelligence isn't only of interest to tech companies and investors, it's also on the minds of our nation's leaders. President Biden met with a group of AI experts in academics Tuesday in San Francisco.

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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want to hear directly from the experts and these are the world -- some of the world's leading experts on this issue and the intersection of technology and society, who we - who we can provide a range - who can provide a range of perspectives for us and - on AI's enormous promise and its risks.

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Let's bring in Sultan Meghji, Duke professor and venture capitalist -- plus, former chief innovation officer for the FDIC -- someone who knows this space very well.

Sultan, promise and risk -- that's what the president said. Those are the two words that are part of any AI conversation and I guess will be going forward, right?

SULTAN MEGHJI, FORMER CHIEF INNOVATION OFFICER, FDIC, DUKE PROFESSOR, VENTURE CAPITALIST (via Skype): Absolutely. This is such an amazing piece of technology that's being built and this is uncharted territory not just for us as a civilization but especially for our political leaders.

ROMANS: It often feels like technology outpaces regulation -- sometimes way outpaces regulation.

Listen to what Sen. Chuck Schumer said yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): Congress cannot behave like ostriches in the sand when it comes to AI. Some might think it's better to ignore this issue or hope someone else figures it out because it's so complex. But ignoring AI is untenable for Congress.

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ROMANS: So I'm wondering if lawmakers are already too late to the game in your view.

MEGHJI: It's a reasonable question to ask. So many of the voices involved right now are looking at what the U.S. government didn't do around regulation of social media and really trying to jump on this. But the reality is this has been going on for decades and we're just seeing this kind of burst into the public domain. And I think the time for kind of forward-looking regulation was a few years ago.

ROMANS: I wonder -- you know, you mentioned social media. There's also crypto. There's been concern that the government was just behind the curve on both of those arenas.

Do you think that's going to make them be, I guess, more forceful on AI -- regulating AI?

MEGHJI: Oh, it certainly seems that way. I mean, this is far more we've seen engagement from the -- from D.C. with the people on the ground building these technologies with AI than we've seen with -- than we saw with either of those over the last 20 years.

So I think the government is slowly starting to realize they have to do something. Now the question is what are they going to be able to do and how will they strike a balance between a regulatory first model, which is how they're approaching it, while still fostering innovation.

ROMANS: What would you recommend so that they don't -- they're not too heavy-handed and get this wrong?

MEGHJI: Well, we can look to the early days of the internet as a place where the government, the private sector, academia, nonprofits, non-governmentals, and multilateral global engagement all, to a degree, worked together. Now, the -- it's an incomplete process -- I think we talked about the last time I was on -- but there was a multilateral approach. And that's -- that would be my recommendation instead of a regulatory first model.

ROMANS: Yes. I think in the very near term -- I guess, as we're heading into an election season -- these deep fakes and that part of AI, I think, is going to get a lot of attention in the very near term, no question.

Sultan Meghji, thank you so much. We'll talk again soon.

MEGHJI: Thanks for having me.

ROMANS: All right. Next on "CNN THIS MORNING" research teams, right now, trying to detect the source of banging noises in the ocean. Could it lead to the small sub lost at sea near the Titanic ruins?

And Hunter Biden's plea agreement with federal prosecutors. It's not quite a done deal just yet.

[05:55:00]

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ROMANS: All right, our top of the morning, the top shows on TV right now.

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Clip from Netflix "BLACK MIRROR."

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ROMANS: "BLACK MIRROR" is number one on Rotten Tomatoes' most popular list.

Here is number two.

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Clip from Disney+ "SECRET INVASION."

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ROMANS: That's Samuel L. Jackson in Marvel Studio's "SECRET INVASION."

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Clip from HBO Max "THE IDOL."

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[06:00:00] ROMANS: "THE IDOL" is number three despite just a 33 percent rating from critics and 58 percent from viewers.

All right, thanks for joining me this morning. I'm Christine Romans. "CNN THIS MORNING" starts right now.