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Huge Swaths of the U.S. May Experience Record-Breaking Heat Waves; Chinese Premier Meets Australian PM During His Official Visit to Strengthen Australia-China Ties; Kenyan Women Accused British Soldier Trainees who Raped and Abandoned their Children; Bryson DeChambeau Reigns U.S. Open Golf 2024. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired June 17, 2024 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. I'm Anna Coren, ahead on "CNN Newsroom".

In California, fire crews battle sweltering heat and high winds as they work to contain a fast-moving brush fire.

That as part of the U.S. Midwest and Northeast gear up for record- breaking heatwave that could stick around well into next week.

And why Israel's so-called tactical pause in part of Gaza apparently took the highest levels of government by surprise, we're live in Tel Aviv with the latest.

We begin in the U.S., where a massive fire is burning in California's Los Angeles' County. The post-fire has burned more than 14,000 acres, that's nearly 6,000 hectares. Authorities say it's only 2 percent contained so far, with high wind gusts and very dry air making it difficult for firefighters to contain it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FLEMMING BERTELSEN, U.S. FOREST SERVICE: This is a relatively fast- moving fire. It's lined up with the topography and the northerly wind. So it's making a pretty good run. It's got relatively light, flashy fuels available to it, which causes a more rapid rate of spread. And so yeah, it's something that's keeping us on our toes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: The wildfire, which began on Saturday, has forced hundreds of people to evacuate the area and a red flag warning is in place until this afternoon. Well, CNN's Camila Bernal has been following the developments and has more from California.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CAMILA BERNAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Firefighters are working around the clock to try to gain containment on this fire. So what you're seeing here behind me at the moment is actually a controlled burn. What firefighters on the ground are trying to do is keep the flames from spreading to areas where you're seeing that green vegetation.

And so they are working here on the ground and also communicating with pilots in the air to then come and do water drops. We've seen consistent water drops throughout the day and firefighters saying that this is actually a very difficult fire because of a number of things. The high temperatures, the low humidity and the wind. The wind is a huge concern. On Sunday, wind gusts of 45 to 55 miles per hour throughout the day.

And it is the evening that is most concerning. The overnight hours, the National Weather Service saying wind gusts of 60 to 70 miles an hour. Take a listen to what the Forest Service is saying about all of this.

BERTELSEN: Every one of us is concerned with the wind. That's the single most driving factor of this fire. It does, it burns fairly frequently along this corridor, which keeps it from there being a very large brush component. However, now we have more light flashy fuels so the fire can move quickly.

And then when the wind lines up with the drainages and starts ripping right through them, it's definitely a concern. So that's what we're looking at. Hopefully these winds that are forecasted tonight don't materialize to the extent they're supposed to, which is 60 mile an hour. And maybe tomorrow will be a more calm day.

BERNAL: And authorities in this area telling people to be extremely careful, to have their belongings packed in case they have to evacuate.

Already, at least 1,200 people are under evacuation orders. Many others are under evacuation warnings. And that's because these flames can spread quickly. I mean, again, this is a backfire. This is something that they're doing on purpose to try to contain the flames, but it could spread quickly. And authorities just telling people to be extremely careful.

Camila Bernal, CNN, Lebec, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: Meantime, a significant heat wave is expected to sweep across large parts of the U.S. this week. Record-breaking heat is building from the Midwest and Great Lakes to the Northeast. More than 260 million people could see temperatures above 90 degrees, with some cities likely topping 100 degrees. It's potentially the longest heat wave experienced in decades for some areas, with high temperatures expected to continue into next week.

CNN's meteorologist Allison Chinchar has more.

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ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, more than two dozen states have the potential to break record temperatures over the next five to seven days. Some of these cities could do it multiple days in a row.

Every single one of these dots represents one of those potential records, and there's more than 170 of them over the next week. Now, some southern cities like Atlanta, St. Louis and Dallas already started feeling the heat over the weekend.

But now that warmth is going to start to spread northward, so areas of the Midwest and even the Northeast will start to see their temperatures begin to tick up pretty soon.

Take for example Chicago. The average high this time of year is only 81 degrees, but every single one of the next seven days is expected to be above that.

And into the Northeast, it's going to be more of a delayed effect. Many of these areas don't start to see the temperatures spike until Tuesday or Wednesday. But for places like New York, Albany, Boston and even Philadelphia, they'll peak Thursday or Friday 15 to 20 degrees above average.

The other story we're following is flooding. There's two separate areas of the country we're watching. The first is going to be across portions of the Midwest on Monday. This includes places like Minneapolis, Eau Claire, Duluth and even Fargo, all looking at the potential for several inches of rain, which could lead to some flooding over the next few days.

The other area of concern for flooding has to do with the tropics. We're keeping an eye on this potential invest right here.

It's going to start to spread northward, and as it does, it's going to push all of that moisture up along the Gulf Coast, leading to multiple days of potential flooding. For Monday, the main concern is going to be from Mobile back through Houston, Texas. Then by Tuesday, it shifts a little bit farther to the West, but also we start to see it more of an enhance. So now you're looking at the potential for a moderate risk that does include the city of Houston.

Here's the thing. Just last month, Houston was dealing with very devastating flooding, and now we're going to be adding more rain on top of it.

You can see widespread in these colors of red and even pink. You're talking seven to 10 inches of rain. But locally, some areas could pick up at least a foot total of rain.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: Eliot Jacobson is a climate analyst and retired professor of mathematics and computer science. He joins me now from Santa Barbara, California. Wonderful to have you with us. This, of course, is the end of El Nino and soon the start of La Nina, perhaps as early as next month. Explain to us what this means.

ELIOT JACOBSON, CLIMATE ANALYST: So La Nina is going to be a switch, hopefully back to some cooler weather. But El Nino is a raising of ocean surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean, and that tends to release a lot of the heat that was latent in the ocean, and it just spills into our atmosphere. So the whole planet just tends to heat up very quickly during an El Nino phase.

They don't last long, but in the little short time they're here, the six months or so, a lot of heat gets released. So now we're switching. Apparently we're in neutral right now and maybe switching to La Nina, and that should at least give some temporary relief to the sea surface temperatures and maybe help bring the temperatures, the global temperatures down just a little bit as well.

COREN: Well, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is predicting that with La Nina, the U.S. will see an even more active hurricane season as a result. I mean, they're forecasting something like up to 13 hurricanes that that could develop in the Atlantic Ocean this year. And I think one of the leading meteorologists said that people should prepare as if a hurricane could impact them this year.

JACOBSON: Right. Well, there is when we have a La Nina phase, then there's not as much wind shear and that taken together with these extraordinarily warm sea surface temperatures, especially in the Atlantic and the Caribbean.

Those areas are just superheated right now. So we have prime conditions for just an extraordinary hurricane season. Now, that's always just a gamble. We don't know for sure, 100 percent, that that will happen. But based on everything we know, that certainly is in the cards for this year.

COREN: Three of the last five years were La Nina cycles, which, as you say, are supposed to cool the climate. Yet the world, as we know, saw the highest global temperatures on record. It seems that that pendulum swing between El Nino, La Nina, it is now out of kilter.

JACOBSON: Well, the La Nina should bring us down a little bit. But the thing is that we are so high right now that even if we come down sort of a normal amount from La Nina later this year, we're still going to be setting records compared to every other year. So if we're at 1.6 this year and La Nina takes us down to 1.4, well, the average of those is 1.5. And that's the Paris limit. And we're really staring that right in the face right now. So this is something that people are watching really closely, just how far down will this La Nina take us?

[03:09:58]

And that -- that's a really important question right now, because whatever that number ends up being, it's going to tell us a lot just about how fast things are moving, whether they're accelerating and whether honestly it's just getting to how it's happening too fast and too severe. And it may be just life changing in the short term. We don't actually know.

COREN: The U.N. chief, Elliot, has said that the world is on a highway to climate hell as it endures 12 straight months of unprecedented heat. Is it too late to properly address this climate change crisis that we are facing, this existential threat that it feels like not enough is being done to actually reverse the damage?

JACOBSON: So that is my opinion, and it's a very sad opinion to have that essentially that's the direction we're heading right now. We are headed towards the collapse of global industrial civilization. We're headed towards the sixth grade extinction.

And like I say, something really, truly extraordinary is going to have to happen in the short term to stave that off. And it's not at all clear at this moment what that is.

And that's exactly why the U.N. secretary is putting out such an urgent message. He is not kidding around. That is the truth.

COREN: Well, the world really needs to wake up and start paying attention. Eliot Jacobson, thank you so much for that sobering analysis.

JACOBSON: Well, thank you for having me on.

COREN: The Israeli military's tactical pause announced on Sunday created confusion at the highest levels of the Israeli government. An Israeli official tells CNN that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was unhappy when he heard about the announcement. That source says Netanyahu was assured that the fighting in Rafah will continue.

The Israeli military says the pause is designed to allow aid to get from the Kerem Shalom crossing into central Gaza. Well, here's the map of the route that the IDF posted. Kerem Shalom is in the lower left corner of your screen. The red line marks the route aid trucks will take free of fighting to reach the European hospital.

Well, meanwhile, Palestinian Muslims marked the holy day of Eid al- Adha on Sunday. It's normally a joyous celebration. There were prayers amid the rubble like this event in Khan Younis. But with many Palestinians hungry, it wasn't much of a feast.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAHMOUD ABDEL JAWAD, PALESTINIAN IN GAZA (through translator): As you know, the Eid is for all Muslims and for us. It is sacrificing animals to shed blood. But this Eid, there isn't any sign of that. There are no sacrificed animals. Now we sacrifice ourselves. We sacrifice our own bodies. But there's no Eid celebrations in Gaza.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: The death toll in Gaza now stands at more than thirty seven thousand three hundred. That's according to Gaza's Ministry of Health. CNN cannot independently verify the figures and they do not distinguish between combatants and civilians. Well, in a statement, U.S. President Joe Biden said he's doing everything possible to end the war, free the hostages and work towards a two-state solution.

Journalist Elliott Gotkine joins us now live from Tel Aviv. Elliott, on this tactical pause, it seemed to catch the government by surprise. I guess, you know, are we finding out why there was this confusion and what it would suggest?

ELIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: We haven't got fully to the bottom of exactly what happened, Anna, but what it may be indicative of is the competing pressures that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government find it finds itself under, on the one hand, from the United States to do everything that it can to get as much humanitarian aid into the enclave as possible.

And on the other hand, the pressure that Netanyahu is under from his far right ministers to basically not give anything away to particularly to what they would say Hamas, but to the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip while war continues to rage. Whatever the case, it certainly is an incredibly curious situation where you have the Israeli military putting out this statement saying on Sunday that this tactical pause had gone into effect on Saturday and will go into effect until further notice from 8 o'clock in the morning local time till 7 p.m. local time.

That was swiftly followed by a clarification saying that that doesn't mean that there will be a cessation of hostilities in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, especially not in the southernmost city of Rafah, where Israel says Hamas has its last redoubt and where Israel says it must do battle with the militant group to destroy Hamas' last remaining battalions. So that's on the one hand. So it seems Netanyahu says that he didn't know about this until he saw about it in the media.

The same Israeli media is reporting goes for Defense Minister Yoav Galant. And if that is the case, you effectively have the two men that make up Israel's war cabinet.

[03:15:01]

It won't be until Benny Gantz left last week, the two men that make up Israel's war cabinet who are in charge of the war against Hamas, seemingly unaware of what would apparently be quite a significant decision to enact this tactical pause.

Now, predictably, Itamar Ben-Gvir, the national security minister, the far-right minister in the Israeli cabinet, was furious at the prospect of a tactical pause, saying that the, in his words, the evil fool that made this decision ought to lose their job, not least because it came in almost immediately after one of the deadliest weekends for Israel and its soldiers, where at least 10 soldiers were killed over the weekend, including eight in a single incident near Rafah. Anna?

COREN: Elliott Gotkine, joining us from Tel Aviv. We appreciate the update. Thank you. After the break, a Chinese premier visits Australia for the first time

in seven years. We'll have more on the agenda next.

Plus, U.S. President Joe Biden tells supporters that the country cannot afford another Trump presidency, and that warning is raising a record amount of donations for Democrats.

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[03:20:00]

COREN: Australia's prime minister is officially welcoming Chinese Premier Li Cheng, who is on a four day visit to the country. This is the first visit to Australia by a Chinese premier in seven years, the latest sign of thawing relations between Beijing and Canberra.

Well CNN's Kristie Lu Stout joins us live from Hong Kong. Kristie, it's been a rocky road, right, for China and Australia in recent years. But this panda diplomacy and now this renewed relationship appears to seem that this partnership is getting back on track.

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, and the two countries earlier today, they agreed to improve military-to-military cooperation. And China has also added Australia to its list of visa free countries, all a clear sign of improving relations, just as the Chinese premier Li Qiang is in Australia for this four day visit. This is the first time a Chinese premier has visited Australia since early 2017. And this is a visit designed to showcase that the relationship is improving and it's stabilizing after years of tension over trade and over foreign interference.

Earlier today, there were talks that took place in Canberra between the prime minister of Australia and the Chinese premier on the agenda were a range of issues. Let's bring it up for you, including trade, including energy, regional security, climate change, human rights up for discussion, including the fate of a jailed Australian writer, Yang Hengjun. But despite many points of friction here, the Australian prime minister hailed the stabilization of ties. I want you to take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY ALBANESE, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: Premier Li's presence represents another important step in stabilizing our relationship with China. Our approach has, of course, been patient, calibrated and deliberate. I've said repeatedly we will cooperate where we can, disagree where we must, but engage in our national interest. And that is in the interests of Australia and in the interests of China, as well as in the interests of regional stability.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now, on Sunday, the Chinese premier began his trip to Australia with a visit to an Australian winery, as well as Adelaide Zoo, where he said that Beijing is pledging two new pandas to be sent to Australia in a bid of panda diplomacy. Li Qiang on Sunday also said that relations were, quote, "back on track". On Sunday, we also heard from the foreign minister of Australia who made revealing comments, just revealing the work that was going on behind the scenes to reach this moment of stabilization and to have Li Qiang to visit Australia.

This is what Penny Wong, the foreign minister of Australia, told ABC on Sunday on the visit. Let's bring it up for you. She said this, quote, "it comes after two years of very deliberate, very patient work by this government to bring about a stabilization of the relationship", unquote. Now, of course, trade looms very large in this relationship between Australia and China. China is Australia's largest trading partner. China is a big investor in Australian mining projects. So it should come as little surprise that the next up for Li Chang will be the mining state of Western Australia. That visit take place tomorrow. Anna.

COREN: Kristie Lu Stout, as always. Thank you.

LU STOUT: Thank you.

COREN: U.S. President Joe Biden is warning Americans that a second Trump presidency would be catastrophic for the nation at a star studded Los Angeles fundraiser. He framed this year's presidential election as an inflection point in U.S. history, hoping this will rally more support for his reelection campaign.

Priscilla Alvarez has this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Biden over the weekend underscored the stakes of the election at a glitzy fundraiser in Los Angeles in a conversation that was moderated by Jimmy Kimmel. The president warned about a second Donald Trump presidency, but he did so this time by focusing on the Supreme Court, saying that in the next four years, it's possible that there will be more vacancies on the Supreme Court and pose the question as to what that could mean if it was Donald Trump as president during that time.

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: The next president is likely to have two new Supreme Court nominees, two more, two more. He's already appointed two that have been very negative in terms of the rights of individuals. The idea that if he's reelected, he's going to appoint two more firing flags upside down is really, I really mean it.

JIMMY KIMMEL, "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE" HOST: Could this be, could this be the scariest part of all of it?

BIDEN: Well, I think it is one of the scariest parts of it. Look, the Supreme Court has never been as out of kilter as it is today.

[03:24:55]

After the decision that overruled Roe v. Wade, the Dobbs decision, you had Clarence Thomas talking about the fact that there are going to be other things we should reconsider, including in vitro fertilization, including contraception, including all these things. ALVAREZ: The president talking there about reproductive freedoms, a galvanizing issue for the Biden campaign and one that they have fanned out across the country to talk about and to make the argument that they are at risk. Reproductive freedoms are at risk if Donald Trump were to win a second term.

But seated next to President Biden was also former President Barack Obama, who also talked about the values of candidates. And that, too, should be considered by voters when they go to the polls. But this was also an event that would that allowed Democrats to rake in more money. And indeed, this was the largest ever Democratic fundraiser with more than $30 million raised. And that is the momentum of the Biden campaign is trying to keep going into November as they also try to maintain that cash advantage over Donald Trump.

Priscilla Alvarez, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: Well be sure to watch as CNN hosts the U.S. presidential debate next week. It's on Thursday, June 27th at 9 p.m. Eastern in the U.S. That's 9 a.m. Friday here in Hong Kong.

In the coming hours, Maryland Governor Wes Moore will sign an executive order pardoning more than one hundred and seventy five thousand marijuana convictions. That's according to "The Washington Post."

The pardons will apply to any misdemeanor possession or paraphernalia charges listed in the state's electronic court record system. That's The Post reports and also apply to people who have died. The Post says the pardons are time to coincide with Juneteenth, a holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the U.S. CNN has reached out to the governor's office for more information.

A deadly weekend in the U.S. rocked by more than a dozen mass shootings. We'll have details when we come back, including one shooting that left an eight-year-old boy and his mother in a critical condition.

Plus, there's been intense fighting near Ukraine's border as a peace summit in Switzerland wraps up. A live report is next.

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[03:30:00]

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ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR: Gun violence rocked a number of cities across the U.S. this weekend. That's according to the Gun Violence Archive. There were at least 14 mass shootings that killed nine people and injured dozens of others. In Texas, at least two people were killed when gunfire broke out at a Juneteenth celebration just outside Austin. In Massachusetts, seven people were shot during a spontaneous car club meet-up outside of Boston. Police say the victims range in age from their late teens to early twenties.

And in Michigan, authorities are searching for a motive after a gunman opened fire at a splash pad park on Saturday, shooting nine people, including children. Our Gloria Pazmino has the latest on that investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Several communities impacted by gun violence throughout this weekend, including this community in Rochester Hills in Michigan, where nine people were wounded by gunfire, including an eight-year-old and a four-year-old.

One of them shot in the head remains in critical condition, along with his mother, a 39-year-old woman who sustained gunshot injuries in the stomach and on her leg. She is also in critical condition. Police telling us that these victims are all part of the same family.

Police are telling us that they have identified the gunman as Michael William Nash, 42 years old, from Shelby Township. They say that this shooting appears to have been at random.

They've yet to identify any sort of motive for this shooting, but they said that he drove up to the splash pad where young children and families were gathered. He got out of his vehicle and opened fire 28 times, even stopping to reload his weapon.

He then fled the scene and took cover at his mother's house. She happened to be out of the home at that moment. And there was a struggle between police and the gunman as he continued to barricade himself inside the home.

Police tell us that they later found him dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside the house, where they also found additional weapons, including a military-style rifle that was sitting on top of the kitchen table. We have images from that collected by a drone that was sent into the house as they were trying to contain the suspect in the house. I want you to take a listen to the local sheriff talking about how this event unfolded and how it could have been worse, and also witnesses who were not far from the scene and heard when the gunshots first rang out.

CHERYL DELCOTTO, WITNESSED SHOOTING: We were sitting on the patio and we heard, we thought it was firecrackers. I guess it was gunshots because we heard people screaming, like, help us, help us.

MICHAEL BOUCHARD, OAKLAND COUNTY SHERIFF: I believe that because we had quick containment on him, that if he had planned to do anything else, it wouldn't surprise me, because having that on the kitchen table is not an everyday activity, that there was probably something else, a second chapter, potentially.

PAZMINO: Now, this is the second mass shooting in the last five years for this community of Oakland County. This is home to the Oxford High School. That's where the Oxford High School shooting took place back in 2021. This community, once again, left reeling from this gun violence.

And from what we have heard so far, it looks like the number of victims could have been much greater, given the amount of times that the gunmen fired into that playground where people were gathered. We've also learned that White House officials, including the president, President Joe Biden, have been in touch with local representatives offering support and any resources.

In New York, Gloria Pazmino, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wraps his peace summit in Switzerland, military bloggers say there's fierce fighting in a Ukrainian town in the Kharkiv region.

[03:35:07]

Ukrainian troops are trying to push back Russian advances near the border after losing control of several villages. A Ukrainian squad commander describes the situation as difficult but controlled, saying Russian troops are surrounded.

The Kremlin claims its forces are trying to create a buffer zone at the border that could help protect Russian cities like Belgorod. And Russia's defense ministry says its troops have improved the situation along the front line.

Well meanwhile, the Ukrainian president saw a strong show of support from his allies at the peace summit. More than 80 countries backed a joint statement calling for territorial integrity for Ukraine. Well, this comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin unveiled his terms for a so-called peace proposal on Friday, which was criticized by many world leaders. Zelenskyy closed the summit with this warning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: We are responding to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, not only with a full-scale defense of human life, but also with full-scale diplomacy. It's important that all participants of the summit supported Ukraine's territorial integrity because there will be no lasting peace without territorial integrity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: Joining us now is CNN's Clare Sebastian in London. Let's start with this peace summit, Claire. Not all countries signed that joint statement. It must have dampened the excitement somewhat of what was actually achieved.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, I think, Anna, we have sort of two sides of the coin here, right? On the one hand, the very strong, very welcome for Ukraine optics of that enormous family photo, around 100 countries participating. And the sort of optics that show off the back of a big week of

diplomacy, the Berlin reconstruction conference, then the G7, that Ukraine does have the support of a large portion of the sort of global community. But on the other hand, there is also that cold, hard reality that, number one, there are countries who still see it as expedient to keep up a relationship with Russia.

You see from the holdouts, those who did not sign the communique, India, for example, which still buys a lot of Russian oil, much more than it did before the war, South Africa among them as well, Saudi Arabia also, which has tried to sort of sit on the fence here, play a mediating role, that they didn't sign the communique.

And secondly, there are countries that really just want this war over, regardless of the cost, because of the effect it's having on their economies. I think that's why you see food security as one of just three points from President Zelenskyy's 10-point peace plan that made it on to this final communique, because that is something that has affected particularly the global south, that blockade, which Ukraine has now obviously opened up to some degree that blockade, on its grain exports.

Russia, meanwhile, took this opportunity, President Putin, launching a type of counter-programming, laying out his own conditions for peace, which involve, number one, Ukraine withdrawing from portions of its own territory, and number two, essentially the same demands that he laid out at the end of 2021, even before the war, which I think is a very clear reminder here that the strategy from Russia is attrition. This is what Ursula von der Leyen, the E.U. Commission President had to say about Putin's demands.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

URSULA VON DER LEYEN, EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT: It was not a peace negotiation, because Putin is not serious about ending the war. He's insisting on capitulation. He's insisting on ceding Ukrainian territory, even territory that today is not occupied by him. He's insisting on disarming Ukraine, leaving it vulnerable to future aggression. No country would ever accept these outrageous terms.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN: So, obviously, a lot of credible assurances for Ukraine there, but also the reality that advancing to actual peace talks with Russia is still very elusive, Anna.

COREN: Clare, let's now turn to this latest fighting in Kharkiv region, we've just reported, as Ukraine tries to reclaim ground. What are you learning?

SEBASTIAN: Yeah, so look, this is, just so everyone is clear, this is sort of the new front line that Russia opened up in the past few weeks, coming sort of across the border from the north towards the town of Volchansk. We're hearing from both sides that there's pretty fierce fighting happening in that town at the moment. It seems to be concentrated around an aggregate plant in the north of the town. Ukrainian sources, a commander on the ground and a very sort of well- followed blogger saying that Ukraine so far is able to sort of repel Russian attempts to take control of that aggregate plant. But Russia also saying that the conditions there are improving. Ukraine, meanwhile, reported in the past few weeks that with the supplies of Western weapons coming through, they have had better success in stabilizing that area. Anna?

[03:40:10]

COREN: Clare Sebastian in London. We appreciate the update. Thank you.

Well, still to come, shocking allegations against British soldiers stationed in Kenya are being investigated after being overlooked for decades. The details when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COREN: At least eight people are dead and dozens of others injured after two trains collided in India's West Bengal state. Beliefs say three compartments were derailed when a goods train rammed into a passenger train from behind. Authorities add that some of the injuries are not fatal and people have been rescued with their luggage.

Well, Kenya is investigating claims of sexual assault committed near a British training base north of Nairobi. Locals revealed horrific tales of gang rape and other forms of sexual violence by British soldiers to a parliamentary committee investigating the troops' conduct. Well, similar complaints have been made for decades and we must warn you, some of you may find the subject matter disturbing.

Our Larry Madowo has this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She's just 17. But Marian lives alone in this single room house, a mixed-race girl in rural Kenya where nobody looks like her.

MARIAN PANNALOSSY, SEARCHING FOR FATHER: They actually call me poor white girl. I don't know why they call me poor white girl. They always say, why are you here? Just look for a connection that you will go to your own people. You don't belong in here.

MADOWO (voice-over): Marian's mother, Lydia Juma, was among hundreds of women who accused soldiers from the British Army Training Unit Kenya - BATUK of rape. She was interviewed in this 2011 documentary.

LYDIA JUMA, ACCUSED BRITISH SOLDIER OF RAPE: Because in our tribe, we can't report that thing. It's a big shame. If you go and say that you have been raped.

[03:45:09]

MADOWO (voice-over): Lydia Juma died two years after that interview and Marion has never met her father. She has to fend for herself in a society that ostracizes her.

MADOWO: You have not lost hope of finding your father someday?

PANNALOSSY: No, I've never lost hope.

MADOWO (voice-over): Mixed-race children keep being born in the remote villages where the British Army trains in Kenya.

Generica Namoru says she was in a consensual relationship with a British soldier while she worked at their base. But she claims he has never supported her since she gave birth.

GENERICA NAMORU, IN A PREVIOUS RELATIONSHIP WITH A BRITISH SOLDIER (through translator): I'm a woman with a white child. It's not easy for my family, especially because a child is expensive. She's suffering for no good reason.

MADOWO: So you just want him to take responsibility for his daughter?

NAMORU: Yeah, nothing else. For him, I want him to take care of the education, health.

MADOWO: Have you ever received a cent from him since she was born?

NAMORU: I've never received any cent.

MADOWO (voice-over): Generica is jobless and says she has unsuccessfully tried to petition local authorities and the British Army to find her ex-boyfriend.

The British High Commission told CNN it cooperates with local child support authorities in paternity claims.

But the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights says the U.K. government has made no effort to hold soldiers accountable in such cases.

MARION MUTUGI, COMMISSIONER, KENYA NATIONAL COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS: These children really deserve British citizenship. They're British kids. Their fathers were British.

MADOWO: So the British government is just not interested in resolving these cases?

MUTUGI: We don't think they are interested. We call it BBBB, British Boys Behaving Badly.

MADOWO (voice-over): The U.K. pays Kenya about $400,000 a year to allow up to 10,000 British soldiers to train in the country.

Kenya renewed the five-year deal in 2021, despite opposition from some local groups, lawmakers and human rights defenders.

MUTUGI: We have also had cases where these women and people who have reported have been intimidated. So there is a conspiracy to make sure that justice does not happen for these women.

MADOWO (voice-over): Allegations of rape and other crimes, including murder, by British soldiers in Kenya date back to the 1950s. These elderly women accused BATUK officers of rape in the '70s and '80s in a landmark case in London over 20 years ago. Ntoyie Lenkanan says she was one of them.

NTOYIE LENKANAN, ACCUSED BRITISH SOLDIERS OF RAPE (through translator): I was going to fetch water when I was ambushed by a group of British soldiers who were hiding in the grass near the river. One of them grabbed me and raped me.

MADOWO (voice-over): In 2007, Britain's Ministry of Defense dismissed over 2,000 claims of rape from mostly Maasai and Samburu women saying quote, "there was no reliable evidence to support any single allegation". The government in Nairobi lost the case files without explanation.

A Royal Military Police investigation concluded that most of the Kenyan evidence appeared to have been fabricated. One Kenyan official called it a cover-up. They did not conduct DNA tests on any of the 69 mixed-race children alleged to have been born as a result of rape by British soldiers.

Lawyer Kelvin Kubai is working to reintroduce the case in Kenyan courts. 17-year-old Marian will be the lead plaintiff, taking up a fight her mother didn't win in her lifetime.

KELVIN KUBAI, LAWYER: It is traumatic and it's psychologically disturbing to people like Marian and many others. I continue to see the British training amidst them with all these unresolved trauma and historical injustices.

MADOWO (voice-over): Larry Madowo, CNN, Nanyuki, Kenya.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: The British High Commission told CNN that it takes all allegations raised by the community seriously and ensures thorough investigations. It added that all sexual activity which involves the abuse of power is prohibited.

We'll be right back.

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[03:50:00]

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COREN: Things are heating up on the court between WNBA rookies Caitlin Clarke and Angel Reese. On Sunday in Indianapolis, Clarke's Indiana Fever beat Reese' Chicago Sky 91-83, with Clarke herself scoring a game-high of 23 points. But not before she was knocked down to the ground by Reese while going for a layup. After an official review, Reese was handed a flagrant foul, which the WNBA defines as a player using quote unnecessary and or excessive contact against a player. Well after the game, Clarke seemed to brush off the hard foul, while Reese disagreed with the referee's decision.

Bryson DeChambeau became U.S. Open champion for the second time after a topsy-turvy day of golf in Pinehurst, North Carolina. Known as a scientist for his precise and sometimes eccentric approach to the game, DeChambeau applied his calculus to win by one shot after an early challenge from a surging Rory McIlroy. McIlroy led at one point, but faltered in the home stretch, making a bogey on three of the final four holes to narrowly miss out on his fifth major. DeChambeau held his nerve with a crucial sand save at 18, made par, and at one over for the round, six under total secured his second championship in five years. Congratulations.

Well, after that victory, our Patrick Snell caught up with the champion.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Well, Bryson, many congratulations on your second U.S. Open title. It was a crazy wild finish. Take us out there on the course with you. You're down the stretch with Rory McIlroy, and I'm wondering, where do you rank that bunker shot at the very last?

[03:55:05]

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU, 2024 U.S. OPEN CHAMPION: That bunker shot at the very last was possibly my best golf shot in my entire life. I didn't know that practicing those 50-yard bunker shots when I was a kid would have brought me to this point at Pinehurst number two to win my second U.S. Open, but sure enough, it did, and couldn't be more proud. Yeah, a place in history.

SNELL: Absolutely. One of the wonderful images from this whole week, your engagement with the fans. You told me earlier in the week, though, that three years ago, the landscape was very different for you, and that you could have handled things differently. Compare that to that euphoria and the warmth you felt all weekend at Pinehurst.

DECHAMBEAU: A lot of personal growth. 2022 was a rock-bottom year for me and pushed me to be the person I am today, and I've got a lot of people that stuck around me from 2022, which has allowed me to be the person I've grown to be now.

And I can't thank them enough, because without them, I wouldn't be here. And it's been a long road, but I'm certainly very blessed and thankful to have those individuals sticking with me and continuing to push me forward.

The memory of your late father John is, of course, forever special, especially so on Father's Day. What would he have said to you about this victory, and how did he inspire you to achieve this title?

DECHAMBEAU: He'd have probably said, why did you pull it on 18 off the tee shot? Knowing him and his witty humor. But he would have been smiling and hugging me and giving me a lot of praise. So he was a good man.

SNELL: Did you feel his presence out there?

DECHAMBEAU: All day. There was numerous times on 2, 3, 4, even 5, where I was just walking down the fairway thinking about him. As much as I was engaging with the fans, they were at the forefront of my mind still.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: That wraps up this hour of "CNN Newsroom." I'm Anna Coren, thank you so much for joining us. "CNN Newsroom" continues with my colleague Max Foster after this short break, stay with us.

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