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CNN International: Insults and Interruptions: A Look at Trump's Past Debates; Campaigning Underway Ahead of Iran's Friday Presidential Election; Kenyan Parliament to Debate Bill Amid Nationwide Protests; China Retrieves First Ever Rock Samples from Moon's Far Side. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired June 25, 2024 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster. Here are today's top stories.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has struck a plea deal with the U.S. Justice Department over his role in one of the largest ever breaches of classified U.S. government material. In exchange for his expected guilty plea on Wednesday to a single charge, Assange will avoid spending any time in an American prison and return to Australia a free man.

Lawyers for Hunter Biden are requesting a new trial in his federal gun case, disputing his conviction on a technicality. The U.S. president's son was found guilty earlier this month on three felony charges, all related to his lying about illegal drug use when he bought a handgun in 2018.

Louisiana is being sued over a new law that requires all public classrooms to display the Ten Commandments. Some parents and civil rights groups say the state is violating the First Amendment and would pressure students into religious observance.

President Joe Biden's team says he's getting ready to encounter any of the many incarnations of Donald Trump, including a very disciplined version. But Trump has a track record of being very undisciplined during debates. CNN's Brian Todd has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Businessman Donald Trump.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Our first hint of Donald Trump's penchant for being an unconstrained debater came in 2015, when then Fox News Anchor Megyn Kelly challenged him over his treatment of women who had drawn his disdain.

MEGYN KELLY, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: You've called women you don't like fat pigs, dogs, slobs, and disgusting animals. Your Twitter account has said several --

TRUMP: Only Rosie O'Donnell. KELLY: No, it wasn't.

TRUMP: What I say is what I say. And, honestly, Megyn, if you don't like it, I'm sorry. I've been very nice to you, although I could probably maybe not be based on the way you have treated me, but I wouldn't do that.

MATT VISER, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, THE WASHINGTON POST: It was the first indication that that this is an unpredictable force in American politics that we had never seen before.

[04:35:00]

TODD (voice-over): The former president has pulled visual stunts to knock his opponent off their game, like the time in 2016 when his campaign had three women who had accused former President Bill Clinton of inappropriate sexual behavior sit front and center at his debate against Hillary Clinton. At that same debate, Trump stood very close behind Hillary Clinton as she spoke.

Clinton later joked about it on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And I would just I could just feel this presence behind me and, you know, I thought, whoa, this is really weird.

TODD (voice-over): In the first 2020 debate, Trump repeatedly, unashamedly interrupted Joe Biden to the point where the then Democratic nominee just couldn't take it anymore.

BIDEN: The question is --

TRUMP: (INAUDIBLE) Supreme Court justice radical left --

BIDEN: Would you shut up, man?

TRUMP: Listen, who is on your list, Joe? Who's on your list?

CHRIS WALLACE, THEN FOX NEWS MODERATOR: Gentleman, I think we've ended this one.

BIDEN: This is so unprecedented.

TODD (voice-over): Trump has often scored points off these moments by feeding off the audience. In the 2016 primaries, Trump deftly parlayed audience reactions and the use of insults to confound his GOP opponents. There was a repeated salvo towards Senator Marco Rubio.

TRUMP: Don't worry about it, Little Marco.

TODD (voice-over): Rubio responded by making fun of the size of Trump's hands. But Trump had a comeback for that, too.

TRUMP: He referred to my hands. If they're small, something else must be small. I guarantee you there's no problem. I guarantee it.

TODD (voice-over): Trump also struck a nerve by often lambasting former Florida Governor Jeb Bush's energy levels.

TRUMP: I know you're trying to build up your energy, Jeb, but it's not working very well.

TODD: Did that change perceptions of Jeb Bush?

VISER: It did, and Jeb Bush, frankly, never recovered from some of that. Created this narrative around the Bush campaign and around events that Jeb Bush was participating in that did start to seem low energy.

TODD: Analyst Matt Viser points out the format for this Thursday's debate will give Donald Trump far fewer opportunities to score with those unscripted, colorful moments, with no live audience for him to feed off of. And the candidates' microphones muted unless it's their turn to speak. Donald Trump will have to find possibly more traditional ways to try to knock his opponent off his game.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Be sure to watch CNN as it hosts the U.S. presidential debate. It's on Thursday, June the 27th, 9 p.m. Eastern in the U.S., 9 a.m. Friday in Hong Kong, 2 a.m. in London.

Now, the final stretch of campaigning is underway in Iran ahead of Friday's presidential election. Six candidates are running in snap elections following the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash last month. In the coming hours, all the candidates will meet for the last presidential debate there. Let's go over to CNN's Fred Pleitgen, who's live for us in Tehran -- Fred.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Max. Yes, that last presidential debate is set to get started any moment now. There should be some public viewings around the city, but I can tell you, looking around Tehran, that the entire city here of Tehran is plastered with election posters of most of the candidates.

You have some that are commemorating Ebrahim Raisi, of course, the late president who was killed in that helicopter crash, which is, of course, the reason why we have this election coming up in the next couple of days. But then you see also on that house over there, that's one of the main conservative candidates, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who is also running in the election. He's actually the current speaker of Iran's parliament and the former mayor of Tehran.

He's of those six candidates, is one of the people who could be considered a favorite in this election. One of the others is someone who's actually pretty well known in the West. His name is Saeed Jalili. He used to be Iran's chief nuclear negotiator a couple of years back. So many officials in the Western countries, especially the United States, will still know him very well.

Interesting about this election is that there is also a moderate candidate who has made it to the final six who are allowed to run in this election. He's also taking part in the debate that is taking place, set to start in the next couple of minutes. His name is Masoud Pezeshkian. He's the former health minister of Iran. And he's a heart surgeon, actually, by training. And he's also running very closely with Iran's former foreign minister, Zarif, who is also supporting his campaign very much.

It's quite interesting to see, because this election, of course, happening very soon after that chopper crash took place. That was on May 19. So just a little over a month later, the Iranians are already conducting these elections.

And we have had Iran's supreme leader, Max, he came out earlier today. He held a speech because today is also a very important religious holiday here in Iran. He obviously spoke about that religious holiday, but also spoke about the importance of the upcoming elections on Friday. Saying that they are, of course, very important for the legitimacy of the political system here in this country.

One of the things that he said is that he believed that there was low turnout, that it would help the ill-wishers, as he put it, of Iran, of course, first and foremost, meaning Western countries, meaning specifically the United States as well.

So I think it's very clear from being on the ground here that the Iranian authorities, that the government, they believe that this is a pivotal election for this country that's coming up.

[04:40:04]

They are trying to get people to come out and vote. And if you look at the makeup of the candidates, you do see that there are some very conservative candidates.

Saeed Jalili, for instance, is a very conservative individual. But there are also moderates, namely Masoud Pezeshkian, who could mobilize some of that moderate vote. Of course, we know that in the last presidential election, where Ebrahim Raisi was elected, that the turnout there was fairly low. So they are hoping for more this time.

They were very quick to initiate these elections, and certainly are saying that they believe that it's important to show that the government functions are continuing and to show that they can re-elect the president very quickly after the tragedy that happened on May 19th -- Max.

FOSTER: OK, Fred Pleitgen in Tehran. Thank you.

Now, ahead of plans for mass protests at Nairobi's parliament today. Amnesty International tells CNN at least 12 prominent social media users have been abducted.

It comes ahead of talks about a controversial finance bill that has sparked nationwide protests for more than a week now. Protesters argue the bill would raise the cost of living. But the International Monetary Fund insists it's a necessary move to reduce Kenya's budget deficit and government borrowing. CNN's Larry Madowo is following developments for us from Nairobi. Take us through it, Larry.

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You hear the sound of tear gas. And these are mostly peaceful protesters. And every time they try to mass, the police keep beating them up violently.

I want to just get away from this because we have the half-sister of Barack Obama joining us here. I'm trying to find her in this confusion. Here she is.

Auma Obama, come speak to us. I'm live on CNN. Why are you here today?

AUMA OBAMA, KENYAN ACTIVIST: I'm here because look at what's happening. Young Kenyans are demonstrating for their rights. They're demonstrating with flags and banners.

I can't even see anymore. They're being tear gassed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We shall not be tear gassed. This is our nation. We know how to live and learn.

FOSTER: You carry on. You do what you need to do to stay safe. I'm just going to explain to the viewers that we're watching there, Larry, in Nairobi.

These are protests that are, you know, around this finance bill. And they're also using tear gas, which is extremely uncomfortable for everyone there. But we'll check in on Larry for you.

But these are the scenes as they're unfolding there. Clearly a very strong response from the authorities to try to clear the area and prevent those protests. We need to check in on Larry, but you know, he's been in these situations before. And I'm sure he'll be fine. Also those protesters. But Larry, can you hear me?

Just take us through what's happening.

MADOWO: Yes, Max, we are ready. I'm here with Auma Obama, who came to join these protesters. The mostly young people, Gen Z, who have been raising their voice online against over taxation. The finance bill that is currently being discussed in the National Assembly.

And just as we began to speak, she has been tear gassed. It's deeply uncomfortable. You struggle to breathe. You cannot speak. And she's in this moment where all she has is a banner. She has nothing more. She's unarmed, like all of the people you see around here. All they have is their phones. That is all they have. And they are getting tear gassed, actively being broken up here in the middle of the capital.

Auma, are you in a position to talk to me again?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shut up. Shut up.

OBAMA: I can't believe that these young people are just trying to demonstrate for their rights. I came to join them as a Gen Z to tell them that we understand that they need to use their voices. And we're being tear gassed. We're being tear gassed. We have flags and banners. Nothing else. Nothing else. These young people have nothing else. Just flags and banners.

The Kenyan flag. How can you tear gas your own people? Listen to them. Listen to these children. They're the future. They're 80 percent of our population. 80 percent. If they decided to turn against us, they can. And that is what they're doing now.

So please, listen to these young people.

MADOWO: You have been involved in the liberation struggle in Kenya for a long time. Have you ever seen a movement like this? A moment like this?

OBAMA: Not like this because these children are doing it on their own. They're not going with politicians. They came out on their own. These are the young people of our future. They didn't ask. And they say they will win. So we need to listen to them.

[04:45:00]

And we're not fighting each other. Just listen to them. Listen to them. Because it's their lives. And for me, the most important thing is that part of the things that are going on with this bill is that they're touching our ancestral land.

Our ancestral land where we bury our people. How can you tax us on land that belonged to us forever, since time immemorial? Are we going back to a colonial situation? It is not right.

These young people need a future. They have no jobs. Over 50 percent of our population who are under 35 have no jobs. We cannot start taxing them when they have no jobs. We're taxing the jobless and we're telling them to take a loan. And then when they start working, they're indebted. It is not right.

And that is why I'm here. I'm here to tell them I support them.

MADOWO: You have never involved yourself in politics before until now. Why now?

OBAMA: Because I want my daughter to have a future. I want my grandchild to have a future. I want these children to have a future. And they're suffering. And they keep saying it and nobody's listening. That's why they're on the road.

You see, that's why they're out. And we need to take it seriously. We need to create jobs. We need to create jobs.

MADOWO: Auma has been tear-gassed with her daughter. That is her daughter over there. And it's an incredible scene that we're seeing here on the streets of Nairobi with teargas.

We need to move. We need to move back. We're getting tear-gas smoke coming to us again. We have to get away from that. There's so much police presence here, Max, everywhere. The sounds of teargas everywhere. Crowds keep moving forward. Keep moving forward so we can escape that tear-gas smoke. It looks like a war zone. It's a heavily militarized response to peaceful protests in Kenya. It's unjustified, Max.

FOSTER: Larry, how does this compare to other responses that you've seen in these situations?

MADOWO: As Auma Obama said, one, these protests have been organized by the young people. It's not a political party or civil society group. It's the young people who are out here protesting, fighting for their futures.

And they're actively getting tear gassed. Look at this scene. Look at these -- there's a tear-gas canister just going past there.

This is one of the most heavily militarized responses I have ever seen. They have turned the middle of Nairobi into what appears to be a war zone. And all these young people have is their banners and their phones.

They've organized a TikTok. They've come out here to defend themselves, to fight for their rights. And they're getting heavily, violently dispersed.

FOSTER: OK, Larry, we'll let you -- we're going to come back to you, but we're going to let you refresh for a moment. Thank you for bringing us that. That's Larry Madowo in the midst of those protests, with Barack Obama's half-sister there as well, tear-gassed while she was on air. We'll be making sure they're all OK and checking back in with them later.

[04:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: China is now the first country to ever bring back samples from the far side of the moon. This lunar probe just completed its historic mission, retrieving samples of dust and rock from the side of the moon, facing away from the Earth. Launched in early May, the probe is China's most complex robotic lunar mission to date.

CNN's Steven Jiang joins us live from Beijing with more. When do we find out what they've got on board?

STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: Yes, that is a question not only watched closely by researchers here, but scientists around the world. Because scientifically, there is a lot to be excited about this mission. As you mentioned, this probe is supposed to be bringing back up to 2 kilograms of lunar soil collected from the moon's South Pole- Itkin Basin.

That is an impact crater formed some 4 billion years ago on the side of the moon that is never visible to the Earth. Why is that important? Because unlike on Earth, where a lot of the evolutionary evidence has been destroyed by the movements of our plate tectonics, the moon's far side is often described by experts as a frozen record of what it was like in the early days of our solar system.

So now, these samples will be studied first by Chinese researchers before the government here allows access to them by international scientists.

But everybody will be looking very carefully at the results of the analysis of these samples to gain better understanding of the evolution, not only of the moon, but also of the Earth and our solar system. And that, of course, potentially could also help China further explore the utilization of resources on the moon, not to mention every progress they make from these sample return missions will help them get closer to putting their astronauts on the moon.

As you mentioned, the goal is 2030 -- Max.

FOSTER: OK, Steven Jiang in Beijing. Thank you so much for that exciting stuff.

[04:55:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Before we go, the Florida Panthers raising the Stanley Cup. They beat the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 in Game 7 Monday night. Sam Reinhart scored the winning goal. The Panthers won the first three games of the series and no team has come back from that deficit to win the Cup since the 1940s.

Thanks for joining me here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster in London. CNN "THIS MORNING" is up next.

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