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Biden And Trump To Face Off In The First Presidential Debate; Putin To Send Weapons To North Korea; Gunmen Attack Synagogues In Dagestan; Netanyahu Criticizes White House For Weapons Delay; The Supreme Court's Deadline Fast Approaching On Some Major Cases; Supreme Court To Rule On Key Cases; Texas Woman Is Accused Of Drowning A Three-Year-Old Girl; CNN Original Series Presents "Violent Earth With Liev Schreiber"; Whales Rescued From Ukraine. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired June 23, 2024 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN HOST: Welcome everyone. You're in the "CNN Newsroom." I'm Omar Jimenez in Washington. We are counting down to CNN's presidential debate now just four hours -- four days away, sorry, the four there. That's a real countdown going on. It's the first major showdown between incumbent President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump since 2020 and the earliest general election debate in U.S. history.

Now, the Biden campaign says this will be the first time a large portion of voters tune in to witness the stark choice between the two men and hopes to show the president as the only candidate working for the American people while painting Trump as a convicted felon, which he is at this point, who is, quote, "fighting for himself."

Tonight, we're learning new details about how the Biden campaign hopes to maximize on this major showdown with Trump. CNN senior White House reporter Kevin Liptak joins me now. All right, Kevin, so you and I've been talking this week and the president's been at Camp David preparing for this debate. How's his campaign feeling? What is their strategy?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: I do think you get a sense of just how high the stakes are for this debate, at least in the Biden campaign's viewpoint. And that is why President Biden is spending so much time at Camp David, almost a week preparing for this debate. And we did get a glimpse. They put out a memo this morning and we got kind of a glimpse of their strategy in the days leading up to it. They really want to build up some enthusiasm among their supporters for this debate.

So they're going to have debate night watch parties, 300 of them, 1,600 events in battleground states. They're going to bring in influencers, digital creators to try and sort of build-up, you know, energy around Biden's appearance at this debate. And one of the things I think was clear from this memo are the topics that they really want President Biden to hit on. And there are three of them specifically.

One is abortion. And obviously, this has been a galvanizing issue for Democrats for so long. They want to talk about President Trump's record in appointing those three Supreme Court justices that eventually led to the overturning of Roe v. Wade. And certainly they think that's going to be a powerful moment for President Biden.

They want to talk about what they view as the threats to democracy that Trump poses and the threats to political violence. This has been a theme that has really been underpinning the entire Biden campaign. And that's certainly something that he's going to talk about on the debate stage.

And the last is the economy. That's the number one issue for so many voters. It's an issue that President Biden is somewhat weak on. You know, there is a lot of dissatisfaction around the economy. In a way, he wants to flip the script and make the point that, in his view, the economic plans that Trump is embracing would only benefit the rich. So you do see these kinds of three bullet points that certainly the campaign wants to talk about and certainly President Biden is going to want to talk about on the debate stage.

And you can bet that out there at Camp David, as he's surrounded by quite a large group of advisors, policy advisors, political advisors, communication folks, that they're going to start drilling away on these issues because if there's one thing that President Biden wants to do, it's show that he's with it, that he's got this punchiness to him and he's going to want to, you know, really nail down on these specific issues during his debate.

JIMENEZ: And you can see on your screen some of the folks who are with President Biden at Camp David, including chiefs of staff, former chiefs of staff and beyond on the policy front, as well as Kevin was talking about. You mentioned abortion and sort of tying the Supreme Court justices to the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

Obviously, we're coming up on the anniversary of that, two-year anniversary of that tomorrow. We saw how much that lit a fire under many Democratic voters. Do we have a sense of what the Biden campaign has planned to mark that anniversary?

LIPTAK: Yeah, they are viewing this as a pivotal moment. They've got 50 different events, in fact, that they've planned around it. It's already started. Joe Biden, the First Lady, was in Pennsylvania today talking about this. The vice president is going to be in Arizona. She'll be in Maryland. These are all issues that I think that the Biden campaign very much wants to talk about.

This has been so galvanizing for Democrats in the two years since Roe v. Wade was overturned. And what you've seen them doing just in the last couple of months is very much trying to lay this at the feet of Donald Trump. And he has, you know, at various instances taken credit for the overturning of Roe v. Wade through the Supreme Court justices.

[17:05:03]

What he's been talking about lately is bringing it back to the states, putting the issue of abortion back into state capitals. But I think for the Biden folks, they want to make the point that this has allowed states to put in very restrictive abortion laws that, you know, make it very difficult for women to receive care that they say they need. And so this is going to be something that they're talking about a lot.

JIMENEZ: Yeah. Kevin Liptak, really appreciate the reporting, as always. As the Biden campaign goes all in on debate prep, Trump is taking a less conventional approach for now, choosing instead to hit the campaign trail and tease a potential running mate. CNN's Steve Contorno has more details on the possible Republican ticket.

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Omar, we have learned that Trump's VP search has centered around three frontrunners, Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum. Trump yesterday said he's made that decision, but he's not letting that person know yet, nor the public.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: Have you decided who your Vice President is?

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: In my mind, yes.

UNKNOWN: Do they know?

TRUMP: Nobody knows. Who do you like as VP?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CONTORNO: Trump's remarks came during a stop for Philly cheese steaks amid a full day of campaigning by the former president. He had certainly enjoyed juxtaposing his approach to the final Saturday before the debate versus Joe Biden's more studious approach. Listen to what he told the Philly rally later that evening.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Right now, Crooked Joe has gone to a log cabin to study, prepare. No, he didn't. He's sleeping now because they want to get him good and strong. So a little before debate time, he gets a shot in the (BLEEP). I say he'll come out all jacked up, right? All jacked up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CONTORNO: Trump went on to criticize Biden over crime, immigration, inflation, really sharpening those attacks heading into his debate next week with Joe Biden, where we expect the fireworks to really fly. Omar?

JIMENEZ: All right, Steve Contorno, thank you so much. Joining me now is CNN senior political commentator and former Republican congressman of Illinois, Adam Kinzinger. Thanks for being here. First, I want to get your reaction on Trump's potential VP pick, Senators Marco Rubio, J.D. Vance, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum. I mean, do any of those three add anything substantial to a Trump ticket?

ADAM KINZINGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I mean, look, I don't think the vice president very often makes much of a difference. In this case, look, they each are kind of unique. I think the safe pick for Donald Trump would be Doug Burgum because he's kind of unknown. He's pretty vanilla. Marco Rubio would be probably who he picks if he wanted to add a little bit of national security credential, because, you know, obviously Rubio pays attention to that stuff a lot. J.D. Vance, if he wants to go more popular.

So, I don't think any of these would be a bad pick for him, but I think it's all going to be about Donald Trump. And I don't think the vice president contender is going to make any difference in this election.

JIMENEZ: And you can see some of the folks on your screen who have been in contention up to this point. And he says he's made a decision, but he hasn't told anyone yet. So we'll see. Obviously, you talk about it's all going to be about Trump on that front. We're going to see that play out when he goes up against President Biden this week in the debate.

And I want to talk about their different approaches here, because, look, we just heard from Kevin Liptak a little bit earlier. President Biden's at Camp David with close advisers going through a lot of different policy issues, as we understand it. Trump on the campaign trail holding more informal meetings with some of those V.P. contenders and otherwise.

As we understand, he will not be holding any mock debates with his campaign team like he did in 2020. We will see, though. For someone like Trump, is less preparation a good thing for him? Or how do you see that playing out here?

KINZINGER: I think with Trump, preparation doesn't make much of a difference because we know his style. He's just going to go there. He's going to free -- he's going to just throw stuff around. He's going to just make accusations. Each of these men probably have just simply different ways.

I remember when I always debated in Congress, I didn't like to do a lot of preparing because I didn't want to sound overprepared. But I also think it shows just the difference between how these two men are running a campaign. Joe Biden, very serious. Issues matter. He wants to talk about issues and how they affect the American people. Donald Trump is all about populism. He's all about just trying to rile the crowds up.

And so I think they're both going to be probably y preparing how it works best for them both, but I think for both of them, the bar is very low, including the bar on expectations. So they just have to exceed that low bar and I think they'll do just fine.

JIMENEZ: And look, within the rules of this debate, there are also other dynamics, too, because obviously the candidates' mics will be muted once their time is up, while the other candidate responds to a question. I mean, look, it's probably not going to stop them from muttering or verbally reacting to one another when it when it's happening.

[17:09:57]

But I'm curious, do you think how that is going -- how do you think that is going to impact the substance of what we hear? And do you actually think it's going to stop someone like Trump, who's known for interrupting during debates, from doing so in a repetitive manner?

KINZINGER: Yeah, I mean, look, I'm actually intrigued at how this works out. I think, honestly, there's a little more risk for Joe Biden ad I only say that because Donald Trump, when he overtalks and he's overbearing, that actually usually affects him worse, if you remember the debates from 2020. But we probably will get more substance out of both these folks now, because they'll have very limited time.

But that'll be the interesting thing, is if Donald Trump then tries to overtalk without a mic, I mean, you think about it, all you're going to hear is just some crazy guy in the background, you know, yelling something, and is not going to have that mic to overpower Joe Biden.

So really, it could go either way. But I kind of, in a way, like this dynamic, because for the American people, I think it allows us to get a little less focused on the drama, maybe, who knows, it's a dramatic election, and a little more focused on ideas and principles.

JIMENEZ: Very optimistic of you to say that. I want to move on to another topic real quick before you go. Now, look, this past week, Russian President Vladimir Putin paid a visit to Kim Jong-un in North Korea, where he threatened to arm North Korea with weapons if the West continues to supply Ukraine with munitions.

I know you were on with Bill Maher this past Friday, and you said that that visit actually shows Putin is desperate. What do you mean by that? And do you think that latest push from the U.S. to help Ukraine fight off Russian troops is working?

KINZINGER: I do think it's working. Look, the front lines have stabilized in Ukraine. Ukraine has to get more people and that's what they're in the process of dealing with now, because they just don't have as big of a population as Russia. And they actually care about the lives of their people, unlike Russia. What this shows, you think about it, North Korea is a pariah state, even to Russia.

Russia was involved in some of these sanctions to keep them from getting nuclear weapons. But Vladimir Putin has been forced to go to North Korea, begging for artillery shells, because he's expending rounds much faster than he's creating them. What's also happening on the counter to that, South Korea now is considering opening up their vast amount of munitions of 155 artillery shells, which, by the way, are much more reliable than North Korea's and are much more accurate than North Korea's.

A lot of North Korea's munitions are exploding in the barrel and actually killing the artillery crew. So when you see dictators driven into each other's arms, that's not a sign of weakness from America. That's a sign of strength from America, because it's forced these really bad people to have to rely on each other because they can't go anywhere else.

JIMENEZ: All right. Adam Kinzinger, thanks for being here. Thanks for your time. Really appreciate it.

KINZINGER: You bet. Yep.

JIMENEZ: And you can watch the CNN presidential debate right here. It's going to be live Thursday at 9:00 p.m. Eastern and streaming on Max. Can't wait.

All right. We're also following a lot of news going on, including breaking news out of Russia. Authorities say they are starting a terror investigation into what they call coordinated attacks by militants with automatic weapons in the south of Russia.

Now, a priest was killed inside a church and a synagogue is on fire after gunmen attacked, according to police.

(VIDEO PLAYING)

Now, separately, officials say gunmen fired on a police traffic post and a synagogue there was also targeted. This is some of the videos that we've been getting in to this point. At least nine people have been killed and 25 injured so far in the attacks, several of them police officers. This, according to an Islamic organization in Dagestan.

Now, CNN's Clare Sebastian is tracking the latest from London. Claire, what more are police able to confirm at this point?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, well, Omar, this is still, we think, elements of it at least ongoing, even though it is late in the evening now in Dagestan. It's been a pretty major police operation. What we know is that this has been two cities, Makhachkala and Derbent. They're about 80 miles apart along the Caspian Sea coastline in Dagestan.

It seems that religious sites were the main target. We're now hearing from the Russian Jewish Congress that there were two synagogues targeted, one in each city, also a church in Derbent, and we believe another church, at least one church in Makhachkala, because we heard via Russian state media citing the Dagestani interior ministry of a shootout at a church in that city in which 19 people were trying to take shelter. They are now, according to state media, safe.

But, look, the death toll is up to nine, of those seven are law enforcement officers, we believe. The other two, one is a priest who, according to the monitoring commission in Dagestan, had his throat slit in the church in Derbent.

[17:14:59]

So, some gruesome details emerging there, and another church security guard, but, as I say, this is still ongoing. We're hearing also of a number of militants who have been killed as part of the operation. We have reached out to the Kremlin, no response as of yet, but we know

that this will not be welcome news to President Putin, very much sort of distracted and overtaken by his war in Ukraine, which means that stability at home is even more prized at the moment.

JIMENEZ: All right. Claire Sebastian, appreciate the reporting. Thank you. Still ahead, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is criticizing the Biden administration for delaying shipments of American arms to Israel, plus a Texas woman charged with attempted capital murder for allegedly trying to drown a three-year-old girl in an apartment complex pool. Why one advocacy group is calling for a hate crime investigation.

And it may be one of the biggest rescue operations ever executed. Ahead, the Herculean effort to move a pair of beluga whales out of a war zone in Ukraine to safety in Spain. We'll bring you those details. You're in the "CNN Newsroom."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:20:00]

JIMENEZ: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is defending his decision to publicly call out the Biden White House. Netanyahu says the criticism came only after months of private discussions went nowhere over delays in getting American weapons. But the White House says it's made its position clear and will not keep responding. Paula Hancocks joins us live from Jerusalem. Paula, we're hearing from Netanyahu now a little bit of what I just mentioned there. What else is he saying?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we've just heard from him in an interview, Omar, with an Israeli network, Channel 14. And he's given some clarity on where Israel is with the war in Gaza and what his plans are. He has said that the intense phase of the war is about to end, vowing to shift the power to the north.

Now, this is something we had been hearing speculation about. And certainly earlier, we had heard from the defense minister, Yoav Gallant, as well, before he went to Washington, talking about this phase C, saying that they would then be able to concentrate elsewhere. So we have clarity from the prime minister saying also that the war is not going to end. That's not what he is saying at this point. But the current efforts in Rafah, the current stage in Rafah, will be ending.

Now, he also spoke about the potential ceasefire hostage deal, which is on the table at the moment, certainly in limbo. And he said that he's ready for a partial deal with Hamas, but will continue to try and achieve his goal of eliminating the group after a ceasefire. Now, of course, that could be problematic for Hamas. We have heard them consistently say that they want Israel to give a timeline for a permanent ceasefire, something which Israel has resisted doing.

But that is one of the stumbling blocks, we understand, as to why this has not been agreed to by Hamas officials at this point. So, Netanyahu being quite clear that he wants a partial deal to try and get some hostages back, but he hasn't given up on trying to just destroy the group of Hamas completely.

Now, he also spoke about the tens of thousands of people that have been evacuated from the north on the border with Lebanon and says that he wants to try and bring them back. He would like a political agreement with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. But if that is not possible, then he will do it another way, clearly alluding to the fact that there will be a potential war on the northern border as well. We know tens of thousands on the Lebanese side of the border have also been evacuated.

So this interview really giving us a little more clarity as to where the Israeli prime minister is at this point in his intentions for this war in Gaza. And it also comes as the defense minister is in Washington, and he will be meeting with Biden administration officials. Omar?

JIMENEZ: Now, a relationship that at times has seemed strained. We'll see if that changes in the coming meetings. Paula Hancocks, I appreciate it.

All right, still ahead. It could be a blockbuster week at the Supreme Court with several major cases left to be decided, including the Trump immunity case and emergency abortion access in Idaho. We're going to break down the cases and what could happen here in the "CNN newsroom."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:25:00]

JIMENEZ: All right, time is running out for the Supreme Court, but that also means we could have answers soon. The justices have an unusually large number of cases still left to decide. It includes blockbusters like immunity for former President Trump, obstruction charges for January 6th riders, a challenge to state abortion bans in Idaho, and social media regulating its own content.

With so many hot button cases still undecided, the justices may release a firehose of important decisions this week. Joining me now is Michael Gerhardt, a constitutional law professor at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and author of a book, "The Law of Presidential Impeachment: A Guide for the Engaged Citizen." Hopefully many engaged citizens are watching right now, Michael.

The closely watched case this year centers on whether former President Trump can claim immunity from federal election subversion charges. So the appeals court ruled against him. What do you think the Supreme Court's going to do here?

MICHAEL GERHARDT, CONSTITUTIONAL LAW PROFESSOR, UNC: It's a great question. And you're right, this is a blockbuster case. This is a case that's going to be hugely important for the future of constitutional law. We know it's a tough case for the court that's why it hasn't released a decision yet. It's tough. And my expectation is there'll be an opinion that will give the president a pretty broad range of immunity from criminal prosecution for criminal, for official conduct.

[17:29:59]

That's the critical thing. How broadly the court defines official conduct, I think they'll end up doing it pretty broadly. That was, you know, I figured that from how the oral argument went. And that's going to be transformative. It's going to change the -- it's going to make the president more powerful.

JIMENEZ: And of course, a major question here is, look, we are in an election year. A lot of the -- this is the major question that, of course, affects the legal cases against him, which could then affect people's perceptions of the president. All of these things are related here. And the appeals court decision came in February. Is it unusual for the Supreme Court to take a case so late in the term and in theory move as quickly as we may see them do?

GERHARDT: It's rather unusual. It certainly has a lot of precedent. The court ja done that in the past. What's a little different now is the court appears to have hurried to take the case, but then it doesn't seem to be in a hurry to decide it. That's sending kind of signals to the lawyers out there. This is a tough case, and the justices are clearly, I think, having some difficulty arriving at a very clear standard.

JIMENEZ: Yeah. I want to get to some of the other cases here, because another one is whether the Justice Department went too far charging hundreds of people at this point in the January 6 Capitol riot using a federal obstruction law. Now, Trump may use the decision to justify what happened. He has already said he would pardon some of them. But what are the implications here if the court rules in favor of the rioters here, especially with so many that have been charged, in some cases convicted and sentenced with this law?

GERHARDT: It's going to be huge if the court decides that obstruction charges cannot be brought in a case against either President Trump or any other rioter. If the court rules for Trump, that basically means in hundreds of cases, the charges will be thrown out and prosecutions may have to be redone or may no longer be possible.

JIMENEZ: I want to get to another case as well. Another abortion case is still undecided on what happens in states with strict abortion bans. Pregnant women come to the hospital with medical emergencies. Obviously, it's got a big impact on women, on medicine, on voters. We're a day ahead of when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago at this point. What do you think is going to happen with this particular case? What do you see legally in this?

GERHARDT: Well, this is a really significant conflict between the federal government and the states. So, Congress has said emergency rooms must provide stabilizing care. For a long time, that has included medical emergencies. That would, if upheld, override the state law in this case, which bans abortions. So, this case comes down to whether or not the court is going to reaffirm this law, which has been on books for years, or uphold it and thereby strike down the Idaho law and conflict.

JIMENEZ: And before we go, the other case I wanted to get your opinion on is the -- is the Rahimi case where it was ruled that domestic abusers who are subject to restraining orders are not able to gain weapons. It was an eight to one decision. It seems pretty clear cut for these justices. But previously, they had said that to survive a challenge, gun laws must have some connection to the nation's history and tradition, something back from a 2022 case. How do you square those two things and how do you think they got to this decision in what appears to be easy fashion?

GERHARDT: Well, that is a great question. I should have asked my class that question. I think that the court determined that in this particular case, there was nothing in the past barring it, and thereby allowed the federal -- excuse me, the state to adopt the law it did in this case. So, the court used history and tradition differently here than it had in the past.

JIMENEZ: Interesting. Well, I may have passed with just that question, but I don't have confidence in myself for the rest of your class. Michael Gerhardt, appreciate you being here. Thank you so much.

GERHARDT: Thank you.

JIMENEZ: Of course. All right, still ahead, we really following stunning accusations against a Texas woman accused of trying to drown a three-year-old girl at a pool. Why those in the community are calling the incident a potential hate crime?

[17:35:02]

You're in the "CNN Newsroom."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JIMENEZ: A Texas woman has been charged for allegedly trying to drown a three-year-old girl in an apartment complex pool while making racist statements. Now, police say Elizabeth Wolf was asking the child's mother if they were American before she forced the little girl underwater.

[17:40:00]

CNN national correspondent Camila Bernal joins us now. Camila, what can you tell us about this case?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Omar. So, the Council on American Islamic Relations says that this family was Muslim, and it's why they're saying that this could have been racially motivated and why they're calling for this to be investigated as a hate crime.

Now, authorities say it happened back in May 19th, and they were called to an apartment complex pool in Euless, Texas. And what they say happened here is that they were called for a disturbance between the two women, someone who was intoxicated, who attempted to drown a child.

And so, when authorities got there, they arrested Elizabeth Wolf for public intoxication, but they began to talk to the victim's mother, and she told authorities that Wolf had essentially asked her where she was from, asked if those were her children, and once she responded, Wolf grabbed the woman's six-year-old son, and he was able get away from her with just his finger being scratched.

But as she was helping her son, then Wolfe grabbed her three-year-old daughter and attempted to drown her. You know, this mother saying that her child was calling for help, was coughing up water. And now the mother says that she does not want to be identified, but the council did speak to her and is calling her Miss H. This is what they're saying she said. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MUSTAFAA CARROLL, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CAIR DFW CHAPTER: According to the mother, the six-year-old son was able to escape, but her petite three-year-old daughter was unable. The alleged attacker snatched off the mother's headscarf and used it to beat the mother with, as well as kicking her, to keep her away from forcing her child head underwater.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERNAL: Now, again, this is a mother who says that her child is traumatized. Thankfully, again, she was able to pull them out of the water. They had a medical evaluation and authorities saying that they are okay, but authorities did confirm that this mother said that Wolf had made racial statements and statements about her not being American.

Also, important to point out here, Wolf was charged with attempted capital murder. Her bail was set at $25,000. She was also charged with injury to a child. That bail was set to $15,000. But the council saying those bonds need to be higher. She is out of jail now. They're saying this needs to be investigated as a hate crime, and they're saying they want safety for the Muslim community, Omar.

JIMENEZ: Wow. Camila Bernal, thank you for bringing us that reporting.

BERNAL: Thank you.

JIMENEZ: We're also following flooding in parts of Minnesota that has prompted Governor Tim Walz to declare an emergency, authorizing the Minnesota National Guard to help with flood operations and potential rescue missions.

This comes as 14 to 18 inches of rainfall were recorded in Le Sueur County and the city of Waterville. Now, officials say lake waters in the region have reached uncontrollable levels. Residents have been evacuated as flooding has already caused significant damage in those areas.

Still ahead, two whales rescued from a war-torn city in Ukraine and transported across Europe to get the care that they need. How scientists completed the daring mission and how Miranda and Plombir are doing now? You're in the "CNN Newsroom."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [17:45:00]

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JIMENEZ: Volcanic eruptions can have immense destructive potential. Pretty astonishing footage and tales of survival can give us a look into their monstrous power. This week's episode of "Violent Earth with Liev Schreiber" looks at the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens that killed 57 people. Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: The weekend of May 18th, my boyfriend at the time, Gerald Radin (ph), and I decided to do a weekend getaway of fishing down at a fishing hole down by Mount St. Helens. Our campsite was on the south fork of the Toutle River. We were about 25 miles to 30 miles from Mount St. Helens that morning.

We did not hear a huge boom or a huge blast or anything like that. We could hear rushing water and we could see the river rising towards our tent. Rolled, looked up, and we saw this huge train trestle coming downstream towards our campsite and it was holding back a bunch of debris like logs and mud. And we looked at each other and we need to get out of here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: Joining us now to discuss is marine scientist, environmental entrepreneur, and climate risk expert, Dr. Deborah Brosnan. Now, we just heard from a survivor of the Mount St. Helens eruption, but you also survived the volcanic eruption in Montserrat back in 1995. That one killed 19 people. Can you just tell us about what happened?

DEBORAH BROSNAN, MARINE SCIENTIST: Yes, I was on Caribbean Island of Montserrat studying the marine life to help design a marine reserve, and I was underwater monitoring the coral reefs when I heard this very strange sound. And shortly afterwards, these rivers of ash started to come down through the water on top of me. And the Montserrat Volcano is like Mount St. Helens. It's an ash explosive volcano. So almost immediately, day turned to night, became pitch black underwater.

[17:50:00]

So, I went up to the surface and effectively going back up into the eruption. And as soon as I hit the surface, everywhere was covered in ash. This ash was coming down on the ocean. And then I swam back to the boat through burning vegetation, burning leaves. And I found the boat more by instinct because I knew where I'd anchored it because it was so dark. We couldn't see a thing.

And so, I got back on the boat which was then covered in ash and the engines had one that choked and died. So about four hours later, I was able to make it back to the -- back -- back to land, back to the port.

And being underwater is what saved me. But I made it -- I made it back to a very, very different landscape and I remember thinking that we had changed from a natural -- a natural hazard, a scientific natural hazard, to a natural disaster that was going to affect people's lives for a very long time. The port was under a hundred -- the main town was under a hundred feet of ash. The airport three miles away was covered in ash. And there, we were looking at a very, very stark situation.

JIMENEZ: Wow, wow. And you returned to Montserrat after the eruption. Most of the city, obviously, as you just mentioned, was destroyed. But what was the rebuilding process like for the community?

BROSNAN: I returned there because we had to. For me, it was really important that the community be able to recover. And one of the ways that they had to recover was to find a way on and off the island. So, the local government working with the British government decided to set up a new port and had just done that a little bit beforehand. So, we were working on this new port when the eruption happened.

And I went there to work with the community, to design this new port, and we had to do it in an area that was pristine. But because the community depended on fisheries so much, fisheries and agriculture, we realized that some of the reefs that were vital for fisheries would be destroyed by the port. So, we literally relocated the reef around the headland to ensure that the habitat still persisted.

So, it was working with the community that was there. Montserrat lost about half its population during that period. So, the lesson for me really was that we have to start using our science early enough to help communities who are facing these kinds of issues, both volcanoes and even now more so with climate change.

JIMENEZ: Of course, and the science being able to try and get in and find as much as we can the warning signs, to be as prepared as possible when tragedy like this happens. Dr. Deborah Brosnan, I really appreciate you being here. Thank you for telling your story as well.

BROSNAN: Thank you for having me.

JIMENEZ: Of course. And for everyone else, "Violent Earth with Liev Schreiber." A new episode airs tonight at 9:00 Eastern and Pacific, only on CNN.

Still ahead for us, breaking news in Russia. Nine people are dead, including a priest and six law enforcement officers, after attacks on synagogues and a church. Authorities are investigating what they call coordinated attacks by militants. You're in the "CNN Newsroom."

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[17:55:00]

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JIMENEZ: Rescued from Ukraine and moved in a pretty complex operation. We're not talking about humans here. Two beluga whales, actually. They traveled out of a war zone and across Europe to their new home, an aquarium in Spain. CNN's Salma Abdelaziz takes a closer look at what it took to get them there.

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SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER (voice-over): Meet Miranda and Plombir, two very playful beluga whales from Ukraine's Nemo dolphinarium in Kharkiv. Their smiling faces a much-needed respite for a country at war. In a city where Putin's troops are fast approaching, the front lines drawing closer and closer to the aquarium, and supplies needed to care for the animals becoming scarce.

A multinational team scrambled an extremely complicated and high-risk marine mammal rescue operation. Its mission, transport these gentle giants nearly 2,500 miles across Europe to Spain, a trip that would take over 34 hours.

It started with a 12-hour drive and a truck through an active war zone. The team comforting Miranda and Plombir on the bumpy ride. That was followed by European border control checks into Moldova, a special plane equipped with its own crane to safely lift the precious cargo on board, and finally, a chartered flight. A trauma team was at the ready throughout. The organizations involved in the effort telling CNN about the unprecedented nature of this operation.

DENNIS CHRISTEN, SENIOR DIRECTOR OF ZOOLOGICAL OPERATIONS/MAMMALS AND BIRDS, GEORGIA AQUARIUM: It took a lot of -- a lot of navigating some unfamiliar territory. It's not a facility we worked out of. It's definitely not an airport that typically handles this sort of situation. The equipment that they have to be able to load a dynamic animal load that weighs that much into large cargo aircraft doesn't exist. So, we had to make some pretty innovative -- sort of come up with innovative solutions to deal with those things.

UNKNOWN: Welcome. Welcome to the Oceanografic.

ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): Their final destination, Valencia, Spain, where their caregivers are set to stay with Miranda and Plombir until they settle into their new home.

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The Oceanografic de Valencia Facility, which is already home to another pair of belugas, even warming the temperature of their water to make it more comfortable for their new arrivals.

CHRISTEN: So, any time you're, you know, moving an animal from a home that it's comfortable, you know, it's adapted to, into a new condition, you know, there's a lot that we have to take into consideration to really acclimate those animals. We're watching them all day today and through the night. And so, it's exciting to see how well they're doing.

ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): The two celebrating their new waters with a spurt of excitement and a spark of curiosity as they begin to make new friends. Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, London.

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