Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Supreme Court Strikes Down Trump-Era Ban on Bump Stocks; Evan Gershkovich Stand Trial in Russia; Gershkovich on Espionage Charges; Biden Sanctions Israeli Group Disruption Aid to Gaza; Demolition Begins of Parkland School Shooting Site; Caitlin Clark Disappointed on People Using Her Name. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired June 14, 2024 - 10:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:30:00]

EVAN PEREZ, SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: -- that had a very conservative view on this, that they're the ones that decided to do this, when the Obama administration had decided that the law, that the current statutes, did not support the ATF being able to put this rule into effect.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: And, Paula, let me go back to you, you have more on this.

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we're taking the time to go through this opinion. And for anyone just tuning in, let me read to the top of Justice Thomas's opinion, the majority here. He writes that Congress has long restricted access to machine guns, a category of firearms defined by the ability to shoot automatically more than one shot by a single function of the trigger. Now, he's a semi-automatic firearm, which requires shooters to re-engage the trigger for every shot are not machine guns. In this case, asked whether bump stock and accessory for a semi-automatic rifle that allows the shooter to rapidly re-engage the trigger and therefore achieve a high rate of fire converts the rifle into a machine gun. They hold that it does not.

But in a fiery dissent, his liberal colleagues disputed this, for example, Justice Sotomayor wrote, when I see a bird that walks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, I call that bird a duck. A bump stock equipped semi-automatic rifle fires automatically more than one shot without manual reloading by a single function of the trigger. Because I, like Congress, call that a machine gun. I respectfully dissent.

So, a pretty fiery dissent from the liberal justices. Now Jim, we are still waiting for 20 other outstanding opinions from the high court, including that big other gun question that we were talking about earlier. There'll be no more opinions today, but we do expect to get more later next week.

ACOSTA: All right. Very interesting. And yes, you can read from that dissent from Sotomayor. She's frustrated and she's been making it clear she's been frustrated lately on the Supreme Court. Paula Reid, everybody, thank you very much for that reaction. We're going to take a quick break. Be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:35:00]

ACOSTA: In Russia, there's a troubling new development for Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich. He is the first American journalist since the Cold War to be arrested on espionage charges. He now faces up to 20 years in prison after Russian prosecutors indicted him and formally accused him of spying for the CIA.

CNN's Matthew Chance is in Moscow for us. Kylie Atwood is here in Washington. Matthew, what can you tell us? The State Department says, of course, these charges are false. What are they saying on the part of the Kremlin?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Evan Gershkovich, of course, has been held in pretrial detention here in Russia since March 2023. So, more than a year. That period has now come to an end and the Russian court system, the authorities have moved ahead with the prosecution. They've indicted him. They've moved the case to a to a to a courtroom in Yekaterinburg, which is about 1,000 miles from Moscow that we don't know at this point when the case will actually begin, those details have not been made public yet.

But what has been made public is what exactly Evan Gershkovich has been accused of. Up until now, we haven't really had any statements from them beyond he was arrested for working for an American intelligence agency on the basis of espionage. They've been a bit more specific in the indictment saying that Gershkovich was acting on instructions from the CIA. Something, of course, the United States and Gershkovich and "The Wall Street Journal" have categorically denied.

Collecting information about a tank factory in Yekaterinburg. The tank factory has been named as UralVagonZavod, which is a big, sort of, military facility that both produces and repairs military equipment in the Urals area of Russia. And the indictment said that Evan Gershkovich did this with careful measures of secrecy. Again, no evidence was presented at this indictment at the start of this trial, but we expect that will, you know, obviously come out during the trial. Although, whether it'll come out publicly or not is unclear, Jim.

ACOSTA: And, Kylie, what do we know about efforts to free Gershkovich? Might there be a swap? What do we know?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: There might be. You know, that's the hope, of course. What we heard from the State Department yesterday is they put a substantial offer on the table months ago to the Russians, but they're not going beyond that. They're not giving us any more details as to where those efforts stand, except to say, of course, that it remains a priority for them. They continue to work on it. And, of course, we should note there's that other American who's been wrongfully detained there for more than five years, Paul Whelan. He's been incredibly frustrated over the last year. You know, he's seen other Americans leave. He stayed behind. Here's what he said in December about those frustrations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL WHELAN, AMERICAN DETAINED IN RUSSIA: Serious betrayal. It's extremely frustrating. I know that the U.S. has come up with all sorts of proposals, serious proposals, but it's not what the Russians are after. So, they keep going back and forth.

The only problem is, it's my life that's draining away while we do this. You know, it's five years. It's unfathomable to me that they left me behind.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ATWOOD: Now, he told my colleague, Jennifer Hansler, on the phone just last month that he was particularly depressed at this point in time. It was, you know, around the time of him being detained for five years. He was feeling a little bit better a month ago when he was on the phone with Jennifer Hansler, you know, saying that he had been in touch with high level Americans. They're continuing to work on his case. So, that's a good thing.

But when it comes to Evan's case and the fact that he's now being transferred to that prison, that is 800 miles west of Moscow, the State Department says it's going to go dark for a while. They're not going to be in touch with Evan during that transfer. He's expected to be transferred by the end of the month.

[10:40:00]

And when you talk to U.S. officials before, you know, the trial was expected to begin, they said that this period of time before the trial began was potentially a hopeful period to come up with some sort of a swap with the Russians, because once a trial begins, it's hard to do that. So, obviously, there are concerns now that the expectation is that this will begin. We'll just have to watch and see what happens.

ACOSTA: And, Kylie, you're getting some new information about Israel and some issuing of sanctions from the Biden administration. What can you tell us about that?

ATWOOD: Yes. So, the Biden administration rolling out new sanctions today on a group that's affiliated with the Israeli military. They have been standing in the way of humanitarian aid getting into Gaza. And so, President Biden rolled out an executive order earlier this year that essentially allowed them to go after people who were standing in the way of humanitarian aid getting in or violence in the West Bank and Gaza. And so, that is what enabled the State Department, the Treasury Department to roll out these new sanctions. We're waiting for some more details from the State Department on this. But it's significant because it demonstrates that the Biden administration isn't just going to talk about their concerns, right, about this violence and about these prohibitions that aren't just happening on -- you know, on Israeli official sides, but also on these protesters side, but they're actually going to go after them and target them and try to really drive them down. We'll see if it works.

ACOSTA: All right. Kylie. Matthew, thank you very much. Really appreciate it. For more on all of this. Let's bring in CNN contributor and former CNN Moscow bureau chief Jill Dougherty. Back to Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, Jill, your response to what's taking place in the case of the American journalist. This is obviously a frightening situation for his family.

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CONTRIBUTOR AND FORMER CNN MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF: Well, it is. And unfortunately, the timing is in, you know, Putin's hands. Because Putin has -- there are a number of reasons I think that he's holding him.

Obviously, Gershkovich is a hostage and he will be used as such to get whatever Putin wants. And so far, we've believed that this was a guy named Vadim Krasikov, who's an FSB hitman who killed a Chechen in Berlin and is being held in Germany. That may still be the case.

But, you know, Putin has said on the timing here that there might be a trade after conviction. And there's no question, unfortunately, that Evan, you know, 99, 100 percent will be convicted. So, maybe at that point you could get a trade. But I don't think at this point you're going to get anything until then. And it will be very difficult time.

ACOSTA: And is it possible that he -- all of this is happening to him at this moment to sort of raise the stakes in what may be a hostage negotiation that is secretly going on between the Biden administration and the Russians? I mean, is it -- is Putin trying to gain some leverage here more than he has?

DOUGHERTY: You know, that -- you don't know exactly what's going on behind the scenes. But there's not a lot of discussion. I mean, they are talking, but I think the game plan at this point for Putin is to drag this out. You know, you have to look at the political side of this as well.

There's the let's get our guy back, for Putin, his KGB FSB man. But there's also the timing. I mean, this is -- you know, he's in a very, very acrimonious time with the United States. This hurts the Biden administration, makes things difficult for the administration. And so, if you can drag this out and continue, you know, to put pressure I think that's another objective of Putin.

ACOSTA: And Kylie was mentioning this a few moments ago, the State Department is saying that Gershkovich is likely to be moved about 800 miles away. Let's listen to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROGER CARSTENS, SPECIAL PRESIDENTIAL ENVOY FOR HOSTAGE AFFAIRS: If it's anything like what happened to Brittney Griner, Paul Whelan, Trevor Reed, there'll be a period when he leaves Lefortovo where we won't have any contact with them. It'll almost be like it's gone dark. But eventually, an American or I would say detainees surfaces in Yekaterinburg, we'll have a chance to re-establish that connectivity from there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Yes. Jill, I mean, I'm just thinking about the situation with Alexey Navalny. I mean, this is just devastating news for Gershkovich's family.

DOUGHERTY: It is. And one of the big problems here is the secrecy because the Russians constantly say, we don't want any publicity. This should all be done behind the scenes, et cetera, et cetera. But also, their legal system is very, you know, obscure so that there is no question. I mean, they have to transport Evan.

One would doubt that they will buy him a plane ticket to go to the venue for this trial. They'll probably put him on a train, that could take a very, very long time. You know, they can, again, drag this out. And every minute is very painful, I'm sure, for the family and for Evan and also for the United States.

ACOSTA: Absolutely. All right. Jill Dougherty, thank you very much for all of that. We appreciate it. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:45:00]

ACOSTA: Happening now, demolition is underway of the building at the center of one of the worst school shootings in American history. The 1,200 building at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School has remained frozen in time since the 2018 shooting that left 14 students and three staff members dead. Demolition could not begin until the gunman's trial was over and it's going to take several weeks to complete. School officials have not yet announced what will replace that building.

[10:50:00]

South Florida is bracing for more rain and possible flooding today. It's the fourth straight day of it. Today's forecast, thankfully, not as severe as it was Thursday. Still 7 million people across South Florida, including in Miami and Fort Lauderdale, remain under a flood watch. Florida's governor has issued a state of emergency for several counties in that southern region, and he's urging locals to remain home and not try to walk or drive through the floodwaters.

WNBA star Caitlin Clark is clarifying comments she made about people using her name to stoke the culture wars in this country. Reporters asked the rookie phenom to respond to the weaponization of her name, specifically in discourse, referring to racism and misogyny, and here's what she had to say about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAITLIN CLARK, INDIANA FEVER GUARD: I think it's disappointing. I think, you know, everybody in our world, you know, deserves the same amount of respect. The women in our league deserve the same amount of respect. So, people should not be using my name to push those agendas.

It's disappointing. You know, it's not acceptable. But yes, I mean, this league is a league I grew up admiring and wanting to be a part of. Like some of the women in this league were my biggest idols and role models growing up and helped me wanted to achieve this moment right here that I get to play in every single night.

So, just treating every single woman in this league with the same amount of respect, I think it's just basic human thing that everybody should do, like, you know, just be a kind person and treat them, you know, how you would want to be treated. And I think it's, you know, very simple.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: CNN Sports Analyst and USA Today columnist Christine Brennan joins us now. Christine, you know, she's been asked the same question earlier in the day. At first, she suggested that commentary invoking her name didn't bother her. She did say there that it does bother her. What do you think? What's your take on all of this?

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORT ANALYST AND SPORT COLUMNIST, USA TODAY: Well, the overriding thought, Jim, is that Caitlin Clark is the most important person in sports and obviously becoming one of the most important people in our culture.

And, you know, she's 22 years old. And as Dawn Staley said, after the National Championship game where South Carolina beat Clark's Iowa team, she said, thank you, Caitlin Clark. You have been carrying a very heavy burden for our sport. And boy, oh, boy, was Dawn Staley correct. I don't know that anyone saw all of this coming. But the person who has handled it beautifully I think is Caitlin Clark.

ACOSTA: Yes.

BRENNAN: You know, I covered Tiger Woods and he got a couple of these questions, but in general, he got off scot-free on all these issues. I was the one actually asking. Michael Jordan never got these questions. So, I think Caitlin Clark, that was a beautiful answer. Hopefully, everyone will calm down on social media, Jim, although I guess you and I would agree that probably won't happen.

But this 22-year-old, in the eye of a storm, lifting up a league and lifting up women's sports has never before, I think, has handled herself very well.

ACOSTA: Yes. I mean, I wonder if there's some unrealistic expectations. As you said, she's 22 years old. I mean, to expect her to be able to answer these kinds of culture questions on the fly, like she's on "60 Minutes" or something. I mean, I just wonder if it's putting a lot of pressure on her that's just not really fair. BRENNAN: Well, I mean, you know, the questions are going to keep coming and she knows, and she's really super smart and so poised. I mean, what a gift to our culture that this is the person who is lifting up women's sports as never before. I mean, she's bigger than the 99 women's World Cup team, as you know, I've said that and written that.

And the bottom line is that she understands this will come in our social media world. People are attaching themselves to her. They're valid questions. Some of them are also just out there and she's getting hit by all of this. Meanwhile, she's playing basketball and had a couple of great assists to lead her team. And of course, steals and, of course, some points. Obviously missed some shots. Led her team to a really big victory last night. So, she's an athlete.

And again, I go back, Jim, to Tiger Woods. Tiger, obviously, also kind of a lightning rod, but he didn't have to worry about social media. So, let's look at this and make sure the last thing women's sports and the WNBA wants to do is make Caitlin Clark, well, basically a distractor from doing the most important thing, which is rising and bringing women's sports to a level it has never been before. We've never seen an athlete capture the imagination of the nation like this.

And Billie Jean King said this to me last week, Jim, you do not want to ruin it and you do not want to make it so that Caitlin Clark cannot be the person who brings girls and boys and kids from around the world into basketball and following women's sports as never before.

ACOSTA: Yes. I mean, there are so many people around the country now who are just cheering her on. And I do want to ask you about the NBA playoffs. We're running out of time very quickly. But it looks like the Celtics might be able to sweep the Mavericks out of the -- I -- to me, this is -- I mean, I thought the Mavericks would win one of these things.

[10:55:00]

BRENNAN: Yes. Oh, I agree. I mean, the Celtics were playing really, really well, obviously.

ACOSTA: It's amazing.

BRENNAN: You know, teams get -- as you know, you (INAUDIBLE). Yes, they get hot and they get going. But yes, we'll see if the Mavericks can come back a little bit. But I doubt it at this point.

ACOSTA: Yes, it's going to be tough, but not surprising that the Celtics close out the sweep tonight. They've had an amazing run this year. Christine Brennan, always great to talk to you. Thanks so much. Really appreciate it.

BRENNAN: Thank you, Jim.

ACOSTA: All right. And thanks very much for joining us this morning. I'm Jim Acosta. Our next hour of "Newsroom with Wolf Blitzer" starts after a short break. Have a great weekend, everybody. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:00:00]