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New Day

Possible Motive in Abe's Assassination; Karen Attiah is Interviewed about Biden's Visit to Saudi Arabia; Ex-Oath Keeper Testifies Tomorrow; Wildfires Threaten Sequoia Trees. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired July 11, 2022 - 08:30   ET

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

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[08:31:17]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: We have new details this morning about the man accused of assassinating former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, as the country pays its final respects to a revered leader. His wake held just hours ago and a funeral set for tomorrow in Tokyo.

CNN's Matthew Chance is joining us live from Nara, Japan, from the scene where Abe was killed on Friday.

Matthew, what are you seeing there?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Yes, Brianna.

Well, the impact of that political assassination of Shinzo Abe has sent shock waves around the country. Nowhere more so, of course, than here in the western city of Nara.

We're at this makeshift shrine which has been set up just a few feet always from where Shinzo Abe was gunned down last week. And, you know, the crowds have cleared a bit now, but throughout the course of the day, hundreds upon hundreds of people have been coming here, laying tributes, laying flowers, offering prayers. This little bunch of flowers here saying (speaking foreign language), which means thank you for your hard work and rest in peace. And it's similar things like - you see some people now, look, there, they're putting some offerings down and they are, you know, paying respects to a man who was the longest serving prime minister in this country in its modern history.

And people have expressed shock, the people we've been speaking to, shock that some of his stature or indeed anybody would be gunned down in the streets in this way, in a country where gun crime essentially is virtually unheard of.

We've been speaking to the police here in Nara, who are heading up the investigation into the killing. They've, of course, arrested the suspect. His name is Tetsuya Yamagami. He's 41 years old. The police told me earlier today he is cooperating, that he's calm, but he has not expressed any regret at all for shooting Shinzo Abe. This is the place where he was actually killed. We're just going to

cross the road here. There are some police here. And you can see, there are people here - there's one person here, bending down in the exact location where Shinzo Abe actually fell, and, you know, basically bled to death as a result of a wound in his neck.

The big mystery at the moment is why? Why would somebody of this political stature be killed in such a brutal way? There's not very good answers to that at the moment. The police are refusing to be drawn on it. All they're saying is that the assassin - or the alleged assassin harbored a hatred towards what they call a certain group that they won't name because of financial hardship that group caused to the assassin's mother. That's what the assassin said. He believed Shinzo Abe was associated with that group. Again, they won't say what it is.

But there is widespread speculation across Japan and amongst everybody you speak to here, they were talking about the Unification Church, which is a new religious sect, a cult from South Korea that has one of its offices right here in Nara. That organization has given a press conference today saying they're confused about why they may be linked to this, but they have confirmed that the assassin's mother is an active member of the organization.

Again, the police are considering their investigations. The suspect is saying that he worked alone. But the police are telling us that they're still not ruling out the possibility that there may have been somebody else involved, possibly somebody who helped him build the weapon that killed Shinzo Abe, or possibly somebody who knew about it but didn't let on.

And so, again, shock around the country, in a country where gun crime is so rare. I mean to give you an example of that, I mean, in 2021, there was just one person murdered with a gun in this country.

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You know, there were more than 200 people murdered in the United States, or killed in the United States with a weapon, you know, just last weekend. And so, you know, it's an extraordinarily rare crime for this country to be grappling with, Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes, just shocking that nation.

Matthew, thank you so much for that.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: This week, President Biden will travel to Saudi Arabia and Israel. In Saudi Arabia, he will meet with leaders of those -- that country, including the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman. That meeting has stirred backlash following the murder of "Washington Post" writer Jamal Khashoggi. Biden published an op-ed defending this visit, writing, quote, my aim was to reorient but not rupture relations with a country that has been a strategic partner for 80 years. My aim will be to strengthen a strategic partnership going forward that is based on mutual interest and responsibilities, while also holding true to fundamental American values.

Joining us now, "Washington Post" opinion columnist, who worked with Jamal Khashoggi, Karen Attiah.

Karen, thanks so much for being with us.

The president writes, he wants to strengthen a strategic partner going forward that's based on mutual interest and responsibilities while also holding true to fundamental American values.

Is that possible when you're talking about meeting with the Saudi crown prince?

KAREN ATTIAH, "WASHINGTON POST" COLUMNIST, WORKED WITH KHASHOGGI: Yes, I mean, I -- thank you so much for having me.

I think a lot of that rhetoric is - and rhetoric, obviously, we've heard from successive (ph) U.S. presidents, including the predecessor, Donald Trump. So, I'm not particularly sure what exactly is so new about that rhetoric.

And, you know, let's be clear, very specifically the controversy and the backlash to President Biden's trip is specifically the meeting with Mohammed bin Salman. And in the weeks preceding this trip to Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, who's visited Turkey, where, of course, Jamal Khashoggi was killed, and it's - it's just on the heals of what appears to be Mohammed bin Salman's re-entry into the good graces of the world, including - including with the United States.

So, the -- the question really is, what exactly is the U.S. getting out of a photo op, handshake, what have you, with Mohammed bin Salman, who's not only been accused of -- credibly accused of orchestrating the operation that brutally killed my colleague, but also has been the mastermind of the war in Yemen, which has claimed many, many lives, caused humanitarian disaster, would -- who continues to imprison and hold human rights activists in Saudi Arabia. It just appears that the U.S. is going hat in hand. President Biden's going hat in hand to a man that, frankly, you know, questioned whether or not he really will get much in the way of freedom and values out of this trip.

BERMAN: We've repeatedly asked administration officials what they've been promised from the Saudis. For instance, you talk about, you know, human rights and concessions along those fronts in Saudi Arabia. We've also been asking if (ph) any promises that they'll increase oil supply in just dollars and cents. I mean will you get a promise to do something and help lower gas prices? And they tell us, no, they don't have those promises. But would that make it worth it?

ATTIAH: Doesn't seem like that would really makes sense.

So then the question is, what is - what is this really about? And, of course, there's been, you know, a lot of pressure, international desire for a repairing of relations and normalization of relations between the Gulf countries and Israel. You know, they're talking about the Abraham Accords and, of course, the Biden administration will say, which is what the Trump administration also said, that we need a strong relationship with Saudi Arabia in order to counter Iran.

But again, this has been - this has been old rhetoric that I -- you know, and I sit here and I think if the current administration were saying the same things about why they were going to Saudi Arabia, it would be a massive, massive, massive outcry. And yet again, you know, as we've (ph) said, if this question of, like, what exactly the U.S. is getting out of this, what exactly are Americans who watched a U.S. resident be not only brutally murdered, but to have our strategic partner lie on the international stage about their involvement of it, it just really seems like it will make the U.S. and Biden, frankly, look weak on American values and human rights.

BERMAN: Karen Attiah, it's always great to hear from you. Thanks so much for joining us.

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We look forward to talking to you again.

ATTIAH: Thank you so much.

BERMAN: New overnight, the Justice Department rejecting Steve Bannon's sudden willingness to testify before the January 6th committee. We're going to tell you what else this surprise court filing revealed.

KEILAR: And with the end of Roe v. Wade, a pregnant Texas woman argues she shouldn't be fined for driving alone in the carpool lane. Does she have a case?

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BERMAN: New from the January 6th committee, a former spokesperson and self-described propagandist for the Oath Keepers, Jason Van Tatenhove, expected to testify tomorrow.

Our Sara Sidner has done extensive reporting on the group.

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SARA SIDNER, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Members of the extremist anti-government Oath Keepers were a part of this siege. They are seen in combat gear, brazenly bragging about breaching the Capitol.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Overran the Capitol.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're in the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) Capitol, bro.

SIDNER: The extremist paramilitary group is known for recruiting current and former members of the military and law enforcement.

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It has emerged as one of the groups that is a major focus of federal investigators.

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BERMAN: And joining us now is CNN senior national correspondent Sara Sidner.

You know, we say Jason Van Tatenhove was a spokesperson years ago for the group. You actually have had a chance to speak to people who are much more intimately involved, even much more recently, including the boyfriend of someone who's already been charged.

SIDNER: Yes. So, we have talked - and I've talked to Stewart Rhodes, who is the leader of the Oath Keepers, and who made a lot of statements. And there are some -- in the indictment, some very clear statements he made after January 6th that the government says he was plotting to do more violence and preparing his troops, so to speak, for more violence.

But we've now seen this indictment that has a lot of new details in it. That is that there was a co-conspirator who was bringing things like explosives, who had on his property military ordinances, like grenades and illegal firearms that they seized.

But we also heard about someone having bomb-making -- something that basically was a recipe for bomb-making that they found inside of her -- her name is Jessica Watkin (ph) - inside of her home. She had this little bar in Woodstock, Ohio. I went to that area to see if we could find anything out about her. And very early on, right after she was arrested -- she was one of the first, by the way, to be arrested on conspiracy charges in this case, and now, along with nine others, faces these stronger charges.

And so we went to talk to some of the people surrounding her. And we've never shown this particular part of the interview that I did with her boyfriend, who stopped to talk to us after we tried knocking on the door. He got in his car and stopped to talk to us. And basically the boyfriend says that she would never, ever do anything with explosives. That she knows that there is no legal or moral use of explosives when you're not a current member of the military, to use something like this, but that what he thought she did and what she thought she did may have been illegal but it wasn't wrong.

And so it gives you kind of a sense of what the mindset of people are. This particular person has also gone in front of a judge in the very beginning and said, you know what, I'm done with this. I'm going to renounce my position in the Oath Keepers. I'm going to renounce the militia that I made and I'm just going to go back to trying to live my life.

So you - we're starting to see who some of these people are. But all of them so far have pleaded not guilty, except for three members of the Oath Keepers. Three members have pleaded guilty to the most -- the strongest charge against anyone that has come out, both the Proud Boys are facing seditious conspiracy and members of the Oath Keepers facing seditious conspiracy, three members have pleaded guilty to that charge and maybe authorities are trying to have them cooperate, which is why we may be seeing more of these details come out.

KEILAR: And how strong are the links between the Trump circle and these extremists? SIDNER: Well, you need to look no further than some of the

communications that were happening, but also video on the day, on the day before. So, you see, for example, Roger Stone there with members of the Oath Keepers. And we know that there are long ties between Roger Stone and the Proud Boys. There's a lot of times when they've been together.

The question is, is there a direct link with somebody from one of these extreme groups, with the Trump administration coordinating. And that's what the January 6th committee has to prove. It has not yet proved.

BERMAN: Sara Sidner, thank you so much. Great insight.

So, an investigation underway this morning after three churches were burned or vandalized outside of Washington, D.C. We have new details ahead.

KEILAR: And a massive fire is raging in Yosemite National Park. It has burned more than 2,000 acres so far. CNN is live on the scene.

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[08:53:28]

KEILAR: Time now for "5 Things to Know for Your New Day."

Former Trump chief strategist Steve Bannon suddenly wants to testify before the January 6th committee, one week before he goes on trial for defying the committee's subpoena.

BERMAN: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer testing positive for Covid, experiencing very mild symptoms, we're told. He is planning to work remotely this week.

KEILAR: And more than 30 million people are under heat advisories today across the southern and central plains as temperatures are set to hit the 90s and triple digits.

BERMAN: In Bethesda, Maryland, police investigating arson and vandalism at three separate churches within miles of each other along the same roadway and include damage to pews, crosses, headstones and some overturned statues.

KEILAR: And a pregnant Texas woman, who got a ticket for driving in the HOV lane, plans to fight it in court, claiming she was not driving alone because her fetus should count as a passenger now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned. The Texas penal code recognizes a fetus as a person but the transportation code does not.

BERMAN: And those are "5 Things to Know for Your New Day." More on these stories all day on CNN and cnn.com. And don't forget to download the "5 Things" podcast every morning. Go to cnn.com/fivethings.

KEILAR: The fast-moving wildfire in Yosemite National Park has burned more than 2,000 acres. It shows no signs of stopping. And it's now threatening the world famous sequoia trees that are thousands of years old.

CNN's Nick Watt is joining us from Yosemite with the latest.

Tell us what's going on there, Nick.

NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, right now we have more than 500 firefighters on the ground battling to save these 500 majestic sequoia trees, some of them over 2,000 years old.

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The concern is over the weekend, during just a 24-hour period, this fire exploded, more than doubled in size. And the heat that is helping drive that fire, well, that is forecast to continue over the next few days.

Now, what you see behind me, those are not clouds. That is smoke. We've also seen a lot of action from the air. We've seen 737s, DC10s (ph) dropping retardant to try to contain the fire.

Now, those firefighters on the ground, some hot shot crews, they're digging trenches around the Mariposa Grove to try to protect those trees.

Now, these trees, some of them have bark two feet thick, so they can withstand regular fires. They've been around for thousands of years. They've withstood a lot of fires. But what has officials worried is just the intensity of the fires that we're seeing here in California.

Now, there is a lot of dead trees. That is fuel. The concern today, the heat, the terrain. We're going to keep an eye on this. The firefighters say it's going well, but the fight is far from over.

Brianna.

KEILAR: Our fingers crossed. Yosemite is such a gem, Nick, and we know you'll keep an eye on it for us.

WATT: Yes.

KEILAR: Nick Watt, thank you.

Some brand new reporting this morning. Top Democrats ruling out a 2024 bid, as the White House fears a potential challenger to President Biden.

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