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Texas now under Tornado Watch due to Tropical Storm Alberto; Russian President Arrives in Vietnam After his Landmark Visit to North Korea; Strikes in Ukraine's Power Grid Struggles Ukrainians to Daily Rotating Blackouts; Protesters in Kenya Denounced Proposed Tax Hikes; Overdue Black Americans Treated to a Juneteenth Honor Flight for the First Time. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired June 20, 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)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world and to everyone streaming us on CNN Max, I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead, U.S. President Joe Biden and Donald Trump will meet face to face one week from today for the first presidential debate. We will show you how the two candidates are prepping for the event.

And extreme weather conditions in the U.S. are leading to fires, floods and mudslides. We will tell you when we might get a break from the record heat.

Plus, Russian President Vladimir Putin touches down in Vietnam just hours after signing a mutual defense pact with Pyongyang.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Good to have you with us. Well, in just one week, U.S. President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump will face off in a live debate right here on CNN. Both men are preparing for the pivotal showdown in what could be a defining moment in this year's presidential race. The White House press secretary said this about Mr. Biden's preparations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARINE JEAN PIERRE, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: That is squarely in the camp of the campaign, so I have to keep that there and I'm not going to speak in details about that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Trump, who skipped all the Republican primary debates, is ramping up his preparation for this high stakes moment. CNN political analyst Maggie Haberman explains. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAGGIE HABERMAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Trump is taking this more seriously than people allow publicly, right? I mean, in public, his aides often downplay the prep that he does. He's been doing not standard debate prep. He doesn't have stand-ins as of now for Biden. They are focusing on various issues that could come up. Abortion, health care, energy, COVID. And then very specifically, and this was one thing that came up last Thursday, what Trump will say when asked January 6th related questions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The race remains tight. A new Fox News poll shows Mr. Biden has inched ahead of Trump for the first time since October. But as you can see, it's still a very close matchup.

Well, the campaigns are clearly eager for the showdown with the Biden team marking the Juneteenth holiday by tearing into what he calls Trump's flagrant racism. His campaign also released this ad.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN (voice-over): We celebrate freedom, freedom to live, breathe, play, choose, marry, vote. We are the culture. We blaze trails. We define our future. We are the heart and soul of America. And we must ask ourselves. In this moment, how will we continue our legacy? How will we continue to define America, with our hard earned rights under attack from those who look to divide the nation?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The Biden campaign released a statement marking Juneteenth and attacking Trump. It reads in part, and I'm quoting here, "Donald Trump has spent his entire life denigrating black Americans. He spent his entire presidency harming black communities and he spent his entire campaign this cycle engaged in empty racist gimmicks instead of meaningful outreach. Black Americans have not forgotten his lifetime of racism."

The comments come just days after Donald Trump tried to court black voters as he campaigned in Detroit over the weekend.

And 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 here in the United States. That's 2 a.m. Friday in London, 9 a.m. in Hong Kong.

More than two million people in southern Texas are under a tornado watch right now due to Tropical Storm Alberto. The National Hurricane Center says Alberto has been strengthening and will continue to bring heavy rains, coastal flooding and gusty winds along the coast of Texas and northeastern Mexico through the day today. Flash flood warnings are also up in some areas. Mudslides are also possible, especially in higher terrains across northeastern Mexico.

[03:05:05] The center of the storm is about 120 miles east, southeast of Tampico in Mexico, and is expected to make landfall near there in the coming hours. The winds have knocked out power to more than 10,000 customers in Texas. That's according to poweroutage.us. And storm surge combined with the tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded. Texas Governor Greg Abbott has issued a disaster declaration for 51 counties impacted by the tropical storm.

And last hour, I spoke with the mayor of Corpus Christi in Texas, and I asked her what they've been doing to prepare for the storm and possible tornadoes. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAULETTE GUAJARDO, MAYOR, CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS: So what we've been doing the last 24 hours is working very diligently, proactively with our departments or many departments, most especially our Texas Department of Emergency Management, the Division of Emergency Management with the state of Texas. And so it's been there's been a lot of good partnership and good deployment of resources here in Corpus Christi.

CHURCH: So what are you telling residents to do to prepare for the worst case scenario here?

GUAJARDO: So we're telling them, of course, what we hear in Texas, you know, turn around, don't drown and make certain to stay in if you don't need to leave, because we don't know the rains are they're come and go and they're very heavy at times and they're lighter and others.

But there are different flood levels around the city. And so there are low lying areas. There are some areas, for example, North Beach, which is it's -- it's below sea level. And so it can be very dangerous. And so we're asking people to stay alert to our public news releases. We have reverse alerts which are constantly going out, letting everyone know what's going on.

And of course, just to stay safe and not to leave your home if -- if you don't have to or if actually right now we are really monitoring everything. Really, it's by the minute, like we just said, there's a tornado watch now until a few hours later from now. But we just -- we're just keeping everyone abreast and apprised of everything that's happening.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Meantime, extreme heat is still posing a threat to other parts of the U.S. CNN meteorologist Chad Myers has the latest forecast.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It sure would be nice to get some of those rains here from parts of Texas into New Mexico where the fires are. And yes, we will see a few scattered showers here, but really more we're going to get will be the wind. We're going to see winds 20 to 25 miles per hour in areas where the fires are. Now, the wind is from an opposite direction that could put firefighters in some danger, but also could push the fires back onto areas that have already burned. But you never like to see 20 to 30 mile per hour winds over a fire zone.

I'd like to see some wind here in the east, maybe blowing this heat away for a change or at least giving you a wind chill factor, which certainly won't be the case. Again, we're talking about heat index. About 260 million people or more going to see temperatures above 90 over the next few days, maybe not every day, but certainly you will.

There's where the heat will be for today, a little bit farther toward the west tomorrow and really just expanding toward even D.C. by the weekend, where temperatures will be almost 100 degrees. And that's not heat index. That's thermometer.

We still have these excessive heat warnings and watches all the way across the U.S. where we're just now seeing just long duration days where it's day after day, over 90 degrees, over 95 degrees in some spots, even New York City today, all the way to 90 too.

And if you are not in the wind or if you are in the sunshine or between buildings with the concrete, it will feel warmer than that, without a doubt. Today's heat index in Syracuse, a lovely 99 this afternoon and 99 not with heat index, but with the air temperature for D.C. Saturday and for Sunday, a lot of folks going to be doing things out and about in D.C. Make sure you try to stay cool there. Lots of water for you, the pets, the kids and even the plants, because they're going a little bit of water. Please have a great day.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Parts of New Mexico are enduring multiple weather related disasters. Heavy rain on Wednesday caused flash flooding in the mountain village of Ruidoso with mudslides in areas already burnt by wildfires. Those storms appearing alongside wildfires burning near the same village. Officials report at least two people have died as a result. The two major fires burning in the area have scorched large parts of the land, forcing residents to evacuate. California is experiencing a dramatic surge in wildfires.

[03:10:01]

Cal Fire says the amount of land burned by fires has increased nearly 15,000 percent from the same time period last year. They say the fires are fueled by dry grasses and strong winds, but nearly all of them have been caused by people.

Well, like our Chad Myers reported, high temperatures are set to continue across the U.S. throughout the weekend. It comes after more than a dozen daily high temperature records were either broken or tied on Wednesday in the northeast. Some New England states will see a brief reprieve from the heat thanks to cold front sweeping in on Friday. But others are busy thinking of ways to stay cool.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JEWEL MANLEY, BEXLEY, OHIO RESIDENT: It feels muggy and hot and crazy, overwhelming, but it is what it is.

SHEILA STRAUB, BEXLEY, OHIO RESIDENT: Staying cool is a process this week. I think eating a lot of ice cream, taking lots of showers and being grateful for air conditioning. We are so blessed to have it. So stay hydrated and be well out there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Vladimir Putin is spending the day in Vietnam in a bid to boost economic ties after his trip to North Korea. Dignitaries welcomed the Russian leader at Hanoi's presidential palace just a short time ago. Mr. Putin is trying to dispel the perception that he's increasingly isolated by Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine.

He's already met with the Vietnamese president and will speak with the prime minister and Communist Party chief in the hours ahead. The Russian leader has expressed his willingness to help Vietnam with its nuclear power program and increase tourism between the two countries.

So let's bring in CNN's Beijing bureau chief Steven Jiang now. So, Steven, what's been China's reaction to this strengthening of bilateral relations between Russia and North Korea?

STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: Rosemary, officially, they have not said much, although the Chinese foreign ministry's daily press briefing is about to start. So they may say a bit more, but I expect these reactions will be relatively bland along the lines of China welcomes to see Russia and North Korea develop neighborly, friendly, neighborly relationship because even some analysts in China have described this upgraded relationship between Pyongyang and Moscow as transactional with each side offering what the other desperately need.

Now, China, at the end of day, feels very secure and confident about its own relationship with both North Korea and Russia because its role, it realizes, is simply indispensable in terms of propping up both economies. China, of course, has been providing North Korea with an economic lifeline for decades, and increasingly they've been doing this with the Russian economy, helping Moscow dodge severe Western sanctions by rapidly expanding its trade and investment relationship with Moscow.

And a lot of language you heard in the past few days in Pyongyang also explains why the three leaders: Xi, Putin, and Kim, very much feeling bonded over their common shared grievance against the U.S. and its allies and these language about hegemonic power trying to suppress other countries' interests, very much reminding a lot of people of what you often hear here in Beijing as well.

But China, of course, unlike Moscow and Pyongyang, is still very much part of the global trade system and they do still need Western investments and technologies, especially when they are facing economic headwinds. And Xi Jinping, also with his own political ambitions, potentially wanting to play a peacemaker in the war in Ukraine. So you're not going to hear China throw, quote unquote, "full support" publicly behind Russia's war efforts in Ukraine.

At the end of the day, though, these tensions that have been building on the Korean peninsula with this tit-for-tat cycle, North Koreans testing more weapons while U.S. and its allies responding with bigger and bigger military exercises, not in the interest of China because everything's happening on its doorstep. That's why, interestingly, although Beijing insisted coincidentally,

Chinese officials were actually in Seoul on Tuesday talking with their South Korean counterparts about improving diplomatic and security ties on the day when Putin was actually arriving in Pyongyang. So China definitely trying to strike a delicate balance here. Rosemary?

CHURCH: All right. Steven Jiang, joining us live from Beijing. Many thanks.

Well, Putin's trip to North Korea ended with a treaty signing, which he says includes a mutual defense provision. Some experts are comparing it to NATO's Article 5. An attack on one country means both could respond. And it may be an attempt to justify the use of North Korean munitions in the war in Ukraine.

CNN's Matthew Chance reports from Moscow.

[03:15:02]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This was carefully choreographed pomp and ceremony.

A lavish welcome in North Korea for the Russian president.

In Pyongyang's central square, tens of thousands cheered, waving flags and balloons as their own ruthless autocrat, Kim Jong-un, stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the Kremlin's strongmen.

It's been 24 years since Putin's last visit here. Now international sanctions and war have driven him back.

Later the two leaders signing a strategic alliance treaty, unwavering they called it, heralding a new and dangerous phase in cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang.

I've no doubt this powerful treaty will be very constructive, declared Kim Jong-un, strictly peace-loving and defensive, he said.

Putin clarified the partnership includes mutual assistance in the event of aggression. That's similar to NATO's Article 5, raising concerns Ukrainian attacks on Russia could invoke the clause.

Already U.S. officials say Russia is using North Korean ammunition to sustain its barrage on the Ukrainian front lines.

Moscow and Pyongyang deny arms transfers, which would be in violation of U.N. sanctions. The Kremlin needs all the help it can get to win its conflict in Ukraine.

What North Korea may get in return is also concerning. Its space, ballistic missile and nuclear programs used to threaten the U.S. and its allies would benefit from Russian technology. The Kremlin says Pyongyang hasn't even asked for help in the most sensitive areas.

Back in Pyongyang, the only tech being transferred so far seems to be automotive. The Kremlin gifting Kim a Russian-made limo, in which Putin then drove him around during a brief interlude.

But then it was back to the business of state-sponsored flattery. Putin and Kim, stone-faced at times, sat as the captive audience clapped along to patriotic Russian and Korean songs.

Both leaders, opposed to the U.S. and its allies, are isolated and sanctioned by the West. In Pyongyang, at least, neither looks like a pariah.

Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Coming up next, signs of a new dust-up between the White House and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. A look at why tensions are flaring again.

Plus, Kenya's government responds after massive protests break out over proposed tax hikes on a variety of goods. We'll take a look at that.

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[03:20:00]

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CHURCH: Israel and Hezbollah are trading new threats of war. The militant group's leader is warning Cyprus against opening its airports and bases to Israeli forces after Israel warned of an all-out war. The Iran-backed group is also vowing to hold nothing back against Israel.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HASSAN NASRALLAH, HEZBOLLAH CHIEF (through translator): If war is imposed on Lebanon, the resistance will fight without restraints, without rules and without limits. The enemy knows very well that we have prepared ourselves for the worst and most difficult days and the enemy knows very well what awaits it. And that is why it was deterred for nine months.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Israel and Hezbollah have been trading cross-border attacks since October 7th, but the strikes have ramped up in recent weeks and Israel is threatening to destroy Hezbollah after the group released this drone footage purportedly showing military and civilian sites in northern Israel.

Well meantime, tensions between the U.S. and Israel are spilling out into public view. We are learning that a U.S. envoy called out Benjamin Netanyahu during a private meeting following public comments by the Israeli Prime Minister who claimed the U.S. is withholding weapons and ammunitions to Israel.

CNN's MJ Lee reports from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MJ LEE, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Those comments from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu where he accused the U.S. of holding back weapons and ammunitions from Israel really not sitting well with U.S. officials.

Well one senior official telling me that they were perplexing and simply wrong. And what CNN is learning is that U.S. officials actually privately conveyed that sentiment to Prime Minister Netanyahu in a meeting.

U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein told the prime minister that those comments were unproductive and completely untrue. And meanwhile, U.S. ambassador to Israel, Jack Lew, said in that same meeting, basically sort of walked through all of the arms that are being provided to Israel and have been delivered to Israel, basically to make the point that he believes the ambassador is wrong.

And what we've seen U.S. officials do is publicly emphasize that there is only one shipment of arms that the U.S. is currently holding, and that is the shipment that President Biden has talked about publicly.

Now, there is an Israeli delegation that is currently in Washington to have a series of meetings with their American counterparts. And we are told that a meeting that was slated for Thursday appears to have been postponed, though one official said that that was actually a reaction to Prime Minister Netanyahu's comments in that video. Other officials told CNN that it was actually just a scheduling matter.

But either way, we are, of course, continuing to see those tensions between U.S. and Israeli officials continuing to mount as this war goes on.

MJ Lee, CNN, at the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[03:25:04]

CHURCH: The U.S. has re-anchored its temporary pier to the coast of Gaza, according to two U.S. officials. The pier was dismantled earlier this month for the second time in anticipation of rough seas and weather conditions. The U.S. began building the pier in April and started using it to deliver food and medical supplies in May. Since then, the deputy Pentagon press secretary says more than 3,500 metric tons of aid has been delivered from the pier. Extreme heat in Saudi Arabia leaves dozens of people dead on the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca. And the death toll could still rise further. Details after the break.

Plus, a big struggle for Ukrainian civilians as power blackouts persist with no relief on the horizon.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Welcome back to "CNN Newsroom." I'm Rosemary Church. Want to check today's top stories for you.

The first named storm of this year's Atlantic hurricane season, Tropical Storm Alberto, is set to make landfall in the coming hours near the Gulf Coast city of Tampico in Mexico. More than two million people in southern Texas are under a tornado watch right now due to that massive storm.

Electricity has now been restored to 95 percent of Ecuador. A nationwide power outage on Wednesday left the country of 17 million people in the dark for hours. The public infrastructure minister blamed the outage on faulty transmission lines and a lack of investment in the country's electrical system.

[03:30:00]

CHURCH: More than 250 deaths have been reported among Hajj pilgrims making the annual journey to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Some are due to heat stroke with temperatures in the kingdom as high as 49 degrees Celsius or 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Others have died from diseases or other medical conditions.

Ukraine is denouncing a new defense pact between Russia and North Korea, which the two countries dubbed as a breakthrough. Their leaders signed the agreement in Pyongyang on Wednesday, committing to use all available means to help each other if either Russia or North Korea is attacked by a third country. In response, Ukraine's presidential advisor called the agreement a brazen nullification of international resolutions and restrictions imposed on Pyongyang.

For more, Clare Sebastian joins us now live from London. Good morning to you, Clare. So what more can you tell us about Ukraine's reaction to this newly signed agreement between Russia and North Korea?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, look, it represents clearly a very real danger to Ukraine. If this military technical cooperation that President Putin spoke about involves getting more missiles, more ammunition for Ukraine, then obviously that is a big concern. And if Ukraine is going to continue, if North Korea is going to continue to send millions of rounds of ammunition to Russia as both the U.S. and South Korea believe they have already done, then that would exacerbate Ukraine's existing deficit on the front lines.

Interestingly, Mikhail Podolyak, who's that advisor to President Zelenskyy, also criticized the U.N. for its, quote, "silence on the issue of implementation of the sanctions that these weapons transfers would be in violation of." I think the unspoken here is that Russia, of course, wields a lot of power on the U.N. as a permanent member of the Security Council, something that now stands to benefit North Korea.

But the other issue, I think, with this defense pact is that obviously this comes as the West, including the U.S., has lifted some restrictions on Ukraine using their weapons to hit across the border in Russia. There's a question over whether hitting over the border could be construed as an attack on Russia and therefore be used to justify North Korean help in Ukraine. So all of this, of course, a big concern to Kyiv.

CHURCH: And, Clare, what do you know about an overnight attack on Ukraine's power grid?

SEBASTIAN: Well, this is now a pattern that we've seen, and not in the winter, but starting sort of from the end of March, we've now seen this will be the seventh massive attack on Ukraine's power grid. Overnight, we know from the Ukrainian state energy company Ukrenergo that four different regions saw damage.

DTEK, which is the country's largest private energy company, says three of its workers were injured when a thermal power plant was damaged. This involved, according to the Air Force, some nine missiles, 27 attack drones. All the attack drones seem to have been shot down by air defenses, but four missiles got through. And, of course, this yet another test to the resilience of the Ukrainian people.

Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEBASTIAN (voice-over): Blackouts turned simple daily activities, like taking a toddler out to play, into Herculean tasks.

KATERYNA SERZHAN, KYIV RESIDENT: Because we live on the 15th floor, and sometimes when Varya wants a bicycle, it's kind of complicated.

SEBASTIAN: It's created a situation where it's actually hard for you to leave your house.

SERZHAN: Yeah, maybe it's easier to leave our house, but it's hard to come back, you know.

SEBASTIAN (voice-over): Starting in late March, Russia launched a series of massive attacks, precision targeting Ukraine's power generating facilities.

For the first time in summer, rolling blackouts are now almost a daily occurrence.

A gas camping stove, the only way to cook a hot dinner.

And yet, Kateryna's resilience belies the scale of this crisis. By early June, the attacks had destroyed 40 percent of the country's electricity generating capacity, says DTEK, Ukraine's largest private energy company. And winter is too close for comfort.

DMYTRO SAKHARUK, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, DTEK: We have 120 days left before the start of the heating season. 120 days. So it means that the speed at which we need to move should be extremely high. It may not be business as usual.

SEBASTIAN (voice-over): There's no quick fix. Rebuild where possible, in some cases using parts from decommissioned power plants in Europe. Start building more smaller power units to spread the risk. Import more from Europe.

SEBASTIAN: Are you worried that it won't get done in 120 days? That it's going to mean that there are still deficits going into the winter?

[03:35:02]

SAKHARUK: The deficits will be higher than today. And that will mean that people will not have light in their houses up to 20 hours.

SEBASTIAN (voice-over): Even with scheduled blackouts, the unexpected still happens. We lost the lights. That's the reality we live in, says this Ukrainian news anchor.

SVITLANA GRYNCHUK, UKRAINIAN DEPUTY MINISTER OF ENERGY: We called it the second front line. Energy now is like the second front line. We understand that the winter period will be difficult for us. But we are doing our best and we try to be ready.

SEBASTIAN (voice-over): And that means being ready for more attacks.

GRYNCHUK: First priority is to protect our energy facilities, to protect our energy infrastructure. And the best way is air defense.

SEBASTIAN (voice-over): There is progress on air defense and funding. But it's not quick enough for Katerina and her daughter, now looking to leave Kyiv for the winter and rent a house with a wood-burning stove.

SERZHAN: We have only an apartment here. And we understand that it will be really cold over here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SEBASTIAN: Well, I think, look, this clearly speaks to part of Russia's strategy, which is not just to take territory in Ukraine, but to cause Ukraine to essentially fail as a sovereign state, to cripple its economy. There are very wide-reaching implications of hitting the power grid. It feeds into inflation as businesses have to pay to invest in things like generators. It can increase unemployment as businesses scale back their activities to survive this.

Now, Ukraine is, of course, piling everything that it can into this. But again, if more people do what Katerina in that piece is threatening to do and leave the cities, we could see an exodus from the cities in the winter, which has its own implications. So it is right now a race against time.

CHURCH: All right. Our thanks to Clare Sebastian, bringing us that report from London.

Protesters in Kenya are demanding the government scrap a controversial tax bill. Huge crowds marched in several cities, including the capital Nairobi. With police there reportedly arresting hundreds of people. Kenya's government has announced amendments to the bill, saying they would drop some of the new taxes on products such as cars and bread. But as the cost of living soars, many Kenyans say that's not good enough.

CNN's Larry Madowo joins us now live from Nairobi. So, Larry, what is the latest on these tax protests in Kenya?

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, we're expecting another day of protests here in Nairobi and other major cities across the country. We're outside Kenya's National Assembly and it has been sealed off. There is a heavy police presence here. I wanted to show you what's happening here.

You see police in riot gear already. It's at least an hour and a half before the protests are officially supposed to begin. Back there you see water cannon tracks to disperse any protesters that make it this far. It will be unlikely they'll get this far to Kenya's National Assembly because of the heavy police presence around the capital here in Nairobi.

This is a road that's usually accessible that goes right in front of Kenya's parliament. It's blocked on both sides. And you see police, other arms of security just out here waiting for any protesters to get this far.

The right to protest is enshrined in Kenya's constitution as long as they are unarmed. Peaceably, they can present petitions to public authorities. But part of the criticism of Kenya's government is that they crack down often violently on any protesters who try to get this far, whether it's to the National Assembly or to any other kind of government buildings.

And so the protesters have said they're coming back here to raise their voices against overtaxation. Some of that public protest already forced the government to reduce some of the more controversial elements in that proposed finance bill.

The bill is under discussion right now inside Kenya's National Assembly. Members of the National Assembly are discussing some changes and proposals. They have a few more hours to make amendments to that before they vote on it this afternoon. But the voices they will be hearing from out here on the street will be telling them, we don't want any aspect of this.

Since President Ruto came into government, he has been trying to generate more revenues internally to move the country away from debt. He says the right to protest is protected in Kenya. But these changes have to be made by institutions. And that's something that a lot of people are just not paying attention to. They feel that he's not listening to them. And one of the interesting things about these round of protests, often the political protests you see in Kenya have been by political parties, by the civil society groups.

The protests we saw on Tuesday and yesterday are largely youth-driven. A lot of Gen Z's organizing on TikTok and other forms of social media and encouraging their peers to come out and have their voices heard.

CHURCH: All right. Our thanks to Larry Madowo in Nairobi with that report. I appreciate it.

[03:40:06]

A contentious Republican primary in the state of Virginia could be heading for a recount with Congressman Bob Good and State Senator John McGuire just 300 votes apart. And there's one man who could cost the incumbent his seat. CNN's Brian Todd explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Republican Congressman Bob Good in a nail-biter as he fights to retain his seat in Virginia's 5th congressional district. After Tuesday's primary night, Good trails his opponent by a razor-thin margin and the race could be headed for a recount. Good normally checks all the boxes for being a far-right MAGA Republican. He's an election denier, supports strict immigration measures, opposes all abortions. But he now could lose because of one move.

REP. BOB GOOD (R-VA): I just want to congratulate and thank Governor Ron DeSantis.

TODD (voice-over): Good initially endorsed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in the Republican presidential primary, drawing rage from the man who ended up dominating the race.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Bob Good, who is actually bad for Virginia and who will stab you in the back like he did me.

TODD (voice-over): It didn't matter to former President Donald Trump that once DeSantis bowed out, Bob Good went back to endorsing Trump. Good even made a pilgrimage to Trump's hush money trial to curry favor.

UNKNOWN: We are President Trump's boys. We have his back.

TODD (voice-over): None of it mattered. The marker of betrayal had been laid down.

LAURA BARON-LOPEZ, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, "PBS NEWSHOUR": I think it's safe to say that Donald Trump holds a grudge. And we've seen that if anyone, whether they're inside of his administration when he was president or they're a Republican in Congress, that if they do anything that he considers disloyal, then he will go after them. TODD (voice-over): Trump endorsed Good's challenger for the

nomination, Virginia State Senator John McGuire, a former Navy SEAL known for his expertise in commando tactics.

But Good also drew the wrath of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy by being one of eight House Republicans who voted to oust McCarthy from the speakership last fall.

BARON-LOPEZ: And so because of that, Kevin McCarthy put some weight into this race as well behind Bob Good's challenger.

TODD (voice-over): The Good-McGuire race isn't the only battle drawing attention to Virginia and the Trump dynamic in the state. Eugene Vindman, a whistleblower who served in Trump's White House and raised alarms about Trump's infamous 2019 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that led to the then president's first impeachment, will win his Democratic primary in Virginia, CNN projects.

Both presidential candidates are focusing attention on the Commonwealth, even though President Biden handily won Virginia in 2020. Biden held a fundraiser there Tuesday night that included Bill and Hillary Clinton, at which Biden implored attendees to support abortion rights. Trump recently campaigned in the state.

DANIEL STRAUSS, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER: Republicans really want to really think that this is a state that is ripe, that if there is a wave or if there is a strong Republican birth in the 2024 election, that will include Virginia.

TODD: Donald Trump's reach in this primary season seemingly extends everywhere. Brian Jack, a former aide to Trump in his administration and his campaign, and Wayne Johnson, a former Department of Education official in the Trump administration, have both just won Republican nominations for U.S. House seats in the state of Georgia.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: When we return, an historic flight for two dozen black veterans and a hero's welcome that's long overdue. All in celebration of Juneteenth and the end of slavery in the United States.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:45:00]

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CHURCH: History was made Wednesday night. 26 black veterans arrived in Washington, D.C. for the first ever Juneteenth Honor Flight. Juneteenth is a holiday which commemorates the end of slavery in the U.S. And this time, the unsung heroes included a 101-year-old World War II veteran.

CNN's Diane Gallagher was there to report on the emotional journey.

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DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Celebration. Admiration. Appreciation. All long overdue. And it coming on this day makes it that much sweeter for more than two dozen black veterans, including 101-year-old Calvin Kemp on board the first ever Juneteenth Honor Flight.

From Atlanta to Washington, D.C. A well-earned, all-expenses-paid, jam-packed day of fanfare and camaraderie, visiting military memorials and monuments, but also confronting conflicting emotions about their own service and how a country they loved and fought for didn't always love them back.

CALVIN GEORGE KEMP, 101-YEAR OLD WHO SERVED IN WORLD WAR II: I went in bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and got that Navy uniform on. I felt proud, and I was somebody. I felt like somebody. I felt very proud of representing my country. And then when I come back home, I couldn't go to school. I couldn't go in a place and buy a hamburger. I couldn't go in a motel. That broke me down.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): Those feelings, shared by so many black veterans, are in part what inspired Honor Flight Network's board member, John W. McCaskill, to help push for a Juneteenth flight.

JOHN W. MCCASKILL, HONOR FLIGHT NETWORK BOARD OF DIRECTORS: We want them to know that they're just as much a part of the fabric of this nation as anybody else who served.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): Today, Kemp, a World War II veteran, had the honor of participating in the wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown. Kemp told CNN that respect was the last thing that he received in his service in a segregated U.S. Navy unit.

KEMP: I came back from the movies about 11 o'clock that night, and my back was soaking wet with urine. Soaking wet. Each guy just come by and sprinkled it. I had respect for the United States, and then they broke my heart when they abused and mistreated me.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): That mix of pride and pain also exists in U.S. Army veteran Robert Sams. Injured by a landmine in Vietnam.

SGT. ROBERT ROOSEVELT SAMS JR., U.S. ARMY (RET.): It took my left eye out and hit me down in here. I still got a piece of shrapnel still in my head, down in this room here.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): Sams was awarded the Purple Heart, but says he had to fight for more than 50 years just to get his full disability benefits. This trip, for him, makes him feel appreciated. Finally.

SAMS JR.: We did so much. So much. It didn't take any time to recognize it. It should have been done a long time ago.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): For Marian Captain Dee Elder, the connection between her own service and Juneteenth is especially poignant. CAPTAIN MARIAN DEE ELDER, U.S. AIR FORCE (RET.): I'm finally being

recognized, and Juneteenth makes it extra special because as a black, I'm going with a group of black veterans. And this is a token of appreciation.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): Elder, who spent more than 20 years in three different branches, is proud of her service, but says her journey to becoming a flight nurse didn't always feel fair.

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ELDER: A lot of opportunities I was passed over, and I believe it was because I was a woman and a black woman.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): And while one trip can't right the wrongs of the past.

UNKNOWN: I really wish today could last. See, I'm tearing up now.

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CHURCH: Diane Gallagher reporting from that Juneteenth honor flight.

And still to come, Argentina will defend their title when Copa America gets underway Thursday right here in Atlanta.

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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Copa America 2024 kicks off tonight when Argentina faces Canada here in Atlanta. All eyes will be on Lionel Messi and defending champion Argentina. The country has already won the title 15 times. Matches will be held across 14 cities in the U.S. This is the second time the tournament has been hosted outside South America. Ecuador was originally designated as the tournament host, but pulled out in November 2022 due to economic and security concerns.

[03:55:00]

Environmental protesters have spray-painted one of the world's most famous prehistoric monuments. Stonehenge in England was covered in orange paint Wednesday by two activists from the group called Just Stop Oil. Both were arrested. It comes as huge crowds are expected at the monument for the northern summer solstice. Just Stop Oil wants the U.K. government to phase out fossil fuels by 2030. The group also made headlines last month when protesters smashed the glass protecting the Magna Carta at the British Museum in London.

Britain's Prince William greeted racegoers at Royal Ascot on Wednesday in the absence of his father King Charles. The Prince and Queen Camilla toured the royal procession in a horse-drawn carriage. The King is taking a break before returning to Ascot for the final three days of action. The horse racing event was founded in 1711 and was beloved by Charles' late mother, Queen Elizabeth II.

Well finally this hour, they say wine gets better with age. But this one may be the exception. A 2,000-year-old wine, believed to be the oldest ever found in liquid form. It was unearthed five years ago from a tomb in southern Spain. The wine, which researchers determined was a white wine, was found inside an urn along with human remains. They say it's an almost impossible discovery because wine tends to evaporate quickly. But it was somehow hermetically sealed, keeping it preserved all this time.

I want to thank you so much for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. Have yourselves a wonderful day. "CNN Newsroom" continues next with Anna Coren.

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