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Trial For Jailed U.S. Reporter To Begin Tomorrow In Russia; U.S. Gold Medalist Won't Defend 800M Olympic Title; Native American Community's Concerns Over Undocumented Migrants. Aired 11:30a-12p ET
Aired June 25, 2024 - 11:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:30:00]
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JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: The trial for American journalist Evan Gershkovich is set to begin tomorrow according to Russia's state news agency. And the whole thing will take place behind closed doors. Gershkovich has been in jail since he was arrested while on a reporting trip in March of last year. He's accused of trying to obtain Russian state secrets.
His employer, The Wall Street Journal, and the U.S. have both strongly denied those charges. A conviction could land him up to what, 20 years in a Russian prison.
William Pomeranz is the director of the Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies at the Wilson Center. And there are just no expectations this is going to be any kind of a fair trial.
WILLIAM POMERANZ, DIRECTOR, KENNAN INSTITUTE, WILSON CENTER: There is going to be no fair trial.
ACOSTA: Yes.
POMERANZ: He is going to be convicted. And once he is convicted, then some sort of negotiations will take place. And we just don't know where those stand.
ACOSTA: And so, you think this is just the theatrics on the part of the Russians --
POMERANZ: It's --
ACOSTA: Just amped to leverage up.
POMERANZ: Amped to leverage up.
ACOSTA: Yes.
POMERANZ: But to basically confirm that they were right that Gershkovich was a spy or conducting espionage or something like that. And they just want to make sure from their standpoint and their legal system that he was fairly convicted even though it is not going to be a fair trial. ACOSTA: You know, the rest of the world doesn't see it that way at all. And you know, what about the other Americans who have been held -- been detained you know, folks will say essentially, just like hostages in Russia? I mean, this makes it -- we're showing some of their photos on screen right now. I mean, this makes it enormously complicated.
POMERANZ: Yes. And the Russians basically have only negotiated one-on- one prisoner swaps. So, it is unclear whether they could get a second person in this type of swap.
ACOSTA: Yes.
POMERANZ: But I think it's going to be unlikely.
ACOSTA: Yes. And Paul Whelan has -- he's been in custody since 2018. He spoke to CNN just a few days ago. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL WHELAN, AMERICAN DETAINED IN RUSSIA: The U.S. needs to go out and do something, you know. Fill up Guantanamo Bay with Russian officials, arrest Russian spies, do something that makes the Kremlin sit up and take notice and say, OK, yes, right now it's time that we're going to get Evan and Paul back. And then we want back what you've -- you know, got of ours. And we'll call it a day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: What do you think of that?
POMERANZ: Well, I understand why he wants to call it a day.
ACOSTA: Yes.
POMERANZ: But I don't think that there is realistic negotiations for Paul Whelan right now. And I don't think that he would be part of the prisoner swap with Evan Gershkovich. So, I think, unfortunately, unless we have some other people who we can serve up as a potential swap, I fear that Paul Whelan will be remaining in jail.
And he's right. He's been in jail for years now. And we have not been able to even really negotiate any sort of prisoner swap for him.
ACOSTA: And there was an American detained just the other day. I mean, the Russians seem to be stockpiling these Americans. And -- I mean, you just have to wonder like, what does this say about Russia right now?
POMERANZ: It says that Russia is an outlier country and outlaw country. And it will be taking hostages until it gets its way. It was very interesting that Putin proposed negotiations after the negotiations in Switzerland.
No one talked to him. No one -- everyone ignores him. And his basically -- his program is just unviable. ACOSTA: Well, William Pomeranz, thank you very much for raising the issue of Evan Gershkovich. We're going to keep on it and hope that he comes out real soon, as well as those other Americans who have been waiting far too long.
POMERANZ: Yes. I --
ACOSTA: Yes.
POMERANZ: The Russians have just been as you said, taking hostages.
ACOSTA: Yes.
POMERANZ: And they're just seeing when they can use them for their own advantage.
[11:35:05]
ACOSTA: All right. William, thank you very much. Really appreciate it.
Still ahead. One of the biggest names in Olympics history. Michael Phelps heading to Capitol Hill today. We'll tell you why after the break.
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ACOSTA: American hopes and heartbreak playing out at the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Trials. Athing Mu won the gold medal in the 800- meter race at the Tokyo Olympics, but her dream of repeating at the Paris Games was shattered last night when she tripped and fell during a race.
[11:40:04]
And high school sophomore Quincy Wilson finished sixth in the 400- meter finals failing to qualify. The 16-year-old sensation had previously broken the under-18 World Record at the trials. Both Wilson and Mu could make Team U.S.A. on relay teams. We'll follow that.
And later today, two Olympic greats will testify up on Capitol Hill. Gold medalists Michael Phelps and Allison Schmitt will push for strict anti-doping measures just weeks ahead of the Paris Olympics. Their primetime testimony follows a bombshell New York Times report that 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for a banned substance before the Tokyo Games but were allowed to compete.
Joining me now to talk about this is CNN Sports Analyst and USA Today Columnist Christine Brennan. Christine, I'd love to say I'm surprised. I'm shocked. It's like gambling going on in Casablanca.
I mean, you know, what do you think about this issue? I know you've been covering this doping in sports extensively. But you have two Olympic greats testifying on this.
CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST: That's right, Jim. You know, this has reached critical mass as we are what, less than five weeks away before the swimming competition in Paris. And that's why Michael Phelps and Alison Schmitt and Travis Tygart, the drug police, the man who caught Lance Armstrong, he's in charge of the U.S. anti-doping agency, they're going to be talking to Congress.
And the issue is that Chinese doping and the fact that the World Anti- Doping Agency, they're the worldwide direct police, Jim, that they did not let anyone know that 23 Chinese swimmers had tested positive in 2021, seven months before the Tokyo Olympics. Those swimmers went to the Tokyo Olympics. Three of them -- three gold medals in that group.
ACOSTA: Wow.
BRENNAN: And 11 of those 23, Jim -- 11 of the 23 will be competing in Paris. And the reason why we care in addition to just being generally outraged about this is that the United States, all of us taxpayers are the biggest funders of the world anti-doping agency. The group that kept this secret.
ACOSTA: That's fascinating. So, they're obviously not doing their jobs and not informing the public of this. Let's read a portion of Michael Phelps's expected testimony. He says this. It is clear to me that any attempts of reform at the World Anti-Doping Agency have fallen short, and they're still deeply rooted systemic problems that prove detrimental to the integrity of international sports and athletes' right to fair competition time and time again.
Is there anything that can be done about this, Christine? I mean, do they -- does that agency essentially need to be warned, hey, you got to clean up your act or you're not getting any more money from us?
BRENNAN: Well, for sure.
ACOSTA: Yes.
BRENNAN: That's what the U.S. can do. By the way, the United States Congress did invite the World Anti-Doping Agency to send a representative and they refused.
But compare and contrast, U.S. anti-doping agency, you were talking about Track and Field earlier -- three years ago. I'm sure many people remember Sha'Carri Richardson, the sprinter. She has now made the Paris Olympics. But in going to Tokyo, she qualified. And then she had that positive drug test for marijuana.
And who told the world about that? The U.S. anti-doping agency. Even though people were so sad because that is a banned substance, but clearly, certainly not performance-enhancing the way that steroids performance-enhancing drugs. And the things we're talking about with the Chinese. And yet the U.S. anti-doping agency made that public. And she could not compete in Tokyo.
So, there is a way to be transparent over and over again. The U.S. and other countries, Western countries, Asian countries have been very transparent about if their athletes test positive, they have to kick them out. And yet here we have China with secrecy. And the World Anti-Doping Agency could have easily made this public. They did not. And now this will all go, Jim, to the pool deck in Paris where you'll have great athletes -- Katie Ledecky who wants to be drug tested.
ACOSTA: Yes.
BRENNAN: Goes out of her way to be drug tested -- (AUDIO GAP) people. She has said that now she feels that trust in the World Anti-Doping Agency is at an all-time low as we now head into the biggest event in the four-year Olympic cycle.
ACOSTA: Amazing. I mean, can you imagine being Katie, you're getting ready to jump into the pool dive into the pool, and try to win a gold medal and you're not sure you know the swimmer next to you what they're up to? And you know, the anti-doping agency that is responsible for all this falling down on the job.
All right. Christine Brennan, as always, thanks so much. Really appreciate it. Good to see you.
BRENNAN: Thank you, Jim.
ACOSTA: All right. The sun is shining brighter in South Florida this morning because last night the Florida Panthers won the Stanley Cup. The team's first-ever NHL title. They beat the Edmonton Oilers two to one in game seven.
Sam Reinhart scored the winning goal. There it is right there. The Panthers won the first three games only to see the Oilers make an incredible comeback to tie the series. That was incredible that they did that.
[11:45:05]
Only the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs have come back from a three-to-zero deficit to win the Stanley Cup. The Oilers' Connor McDavid was named MVP for the postseason. It was an incredible Stanley Cup Finals. And we'll be right back.
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ACOSTA: When Donald Trump and Joe Biden clash on CNN's primetime debate on Thursday, the volatile issue of immigration is sure to come up. CNN's David Culver has the story of one Native American community on the Arizona border and their concerns about rising crime and migrant hardship.
[11:50:01]
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VERLON JOSE, TOHONO O'ODHAM NATION CHAIRMAN: Here about a mile, you're going to start to see a lot of debris -- a lot of trash.
DAVID CULVER, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. What is all these?
JOSE: This is the migrants. The migrants because they're --
CULVER: They just leave all that. I see clothes. I see trash.
JOSE: Yes.
CULVER (voiceover): The Tohono O'odham Nation's sacred land is bearing the brunt of migration.
JOSE: Your heart builds for the migrants and so forth like that. But then other parts, let's just look at the destruction that they're causing us. Look at the trash that they're leaving.
CULVER (voiceover): About 30 miles west of Tucson, Arizona, the reservation essentially straddles the U.S. southern border, which is marked by a simple cattle fence.
JOSE: This is a San Miguel gate. The traditional crossing.
CULVER (voiceover): The tribe's chairman Verlon Jose says a border wall here would ruin their traditional land.
JOSE: This is where the creator had put us.
CULVER: You don't see a boundary.
JOSE: We don't see a boundary.
CULVER (voiceover): But migrants do. And so do cartels which use the Tohono O'odham's land as a profitable crossing ground.
JOSE: There's an area right up here where they just turn around, drop a -- (INAUDIBLE) just go across there.
CULVER (voiceover): We see that for ourselves.
CULVER: Look, a crossing right here.
JOSE: Look at -- they're coming.
CULVER: You can see this right there.
JOSE: Yes, they're coming.
CULVER: Straight ahead.
JOSE: Crossing -- where's your camera? Get down and come with me.
CULVER: To request asylum. They're from Mexico.
CULVER (voiceover): Dropped off with her three kids. Norma says she was told to walk towards a makeshift camp. Even in the scorching desert heat, she believes where she's headed will be better than what she's left behind. CULVER: She works for a political party directly in Mexico. And she says her political party lost. She said the surge in violence and danger is so much so that she and her -- (INAUDIBLE) her kids have decided to cross into the U.S. So, the tribe allowed the Border Patrol to set up a structure for the folks who do come over until they're processing.
CULVER (voiceover): Everyone we meet here, mostly families from the same country. Even the chairman was intrigued with how they ended up in such a remote part of the border.
CULVER: I asked. And that's the thing I said. Do you know where we are? She didn't even know -- (INAUDIBLE) she has no idea where we are right now.
CULVER (voiceover): Chairman Jose believes cartels are behind it.
JOSE: It's a business. It's a business that doesn't play better off.
CULVER (voiceover): It's in part why the tribe coordinates with Customs and Border Protection, allowing them to set up substations on Tohono O'odham land along with several towers armed with far-reaching high-definition cameras.
CULVER: So, they're searching from the air as well as the ground here.
CULVER (voiceover): Border Patrol often deployed to stop threats or to rescue stranded migrants. Members of the tribe have noticed an increase in violence and crime. Motivating some to turn to their Catholic faith. Prayers for safety and security echoed more than a thousand miles south of tribal territory in the outskirts of Mexico City.
It's here. We again meet Norma days after we watched her and her kids crossed the border.
CULVER: It's really emotional for her even being in front of the Virgin of Guadalupe. And she carries this card with her. And her constant prayer to the Virgin was to protect her kids more than anything else.
CULVER (voiceover): 48 hours after crossing into the U.S., Border Patrol sent Norma and her kids back to Mexico just days after the Biden administration took executive action on the border allowing for a swift deportation of most migrants after a daily cap is reached.
CULVER: And it wasn't until they were physically at the border that she realized they were going to be sent back to Mexico.
CULVER (voiceover): The six-day journey cost Norma more than $8,000 and ended where it started back in the neighborhood where she still feels the threats of political oppression.
CULVER: She says she feels OK going out right now because we're here and we're together. But when she was by herself like normally, she would only go out on Saturday in the middle of the day. CULVER: She says that her recommendation for others who may want to try to cross the way that she did is don't try it.
[11:55:04]
CULVER (voiceover): While Norma has no plans to cross again, back on Tohono O'odham land.
JOSE: Sometimes, I'll come out here by myself just when I need a little solitude.
CULVER (voiceover): Chairman Jose fears without Congress coming together across party lines, migrants and drugs will continue to cross his sacred land.
JOSE: It has a major impact on us. We're not here to lay blame on who's responsible for this because I think we all are. And I'll do whatever it is to protect this land. Yes. That's all I got. My blood, sweat, and tears. I got nothing more.
CULVER (voiceover): David Culver, CNN, on Tohono O'odham Nation.
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ACOSTA: Thank you for joining me in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta. "INSIDE POLITICS" with Manu Raju starts after a short break.
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