Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

CNN International: British Elections are Just Days Away; Sunak and Starmer Face Off in Final Debate Before Election; U.S. Presidential Debate: No Live Audience, Mics Muted When Speaking Time Expires; Espionage Trial of U.S. Reporter Evan Gershkovich Begins. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired June 27, 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: Now, a week from today, voters head to the polls in Britain's general election, and it looks like Labour leader Keir Starmer could become the next prime minister, as the Tories, led by current prime minister Rishi Sunak, continue to sink in the polls. Sunak and Starmer went head-to-head on Wednesday in their last debate before the July 4th election.

Starmer says his Labour Party is best suited to lead the country out of a cost-of-living crisis and soaring inflation. Sunak accused his rival of not being straightforward about his plans for taxation, women's rights and illegal migrants. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RISHI SUNAK, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We need to make it crystal clear to people that if they come to our country illegally, they won't be able to stay. And that's why, if I'm your Prime Minister on July 5th, the flights will go to Rwanda, we will build that deterrent that multiple other European countries now agree is the right way to deal with this problem, and that's how we solve this problem.

If Keir Starmer is your Prime Minister, all those illegal migrants will be out on our streets. And that is the choice for you. Do not surrender our borders to the Labour Party.

KEIR STARMER, U.K. LABOUR PARTY LEADER: Why are record numbers still coming under your watch, Prime Minister? How on earth can you say it's working? You put the scheme in place, the flights could go off.

I noticed you called the election, by the way, before any flights could actually get off, but it could be tested. Interesting timing. But if this was such a deterrent, why is it obviously, obviously not working?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: CNN's Nic Robertson takes a closer look at the campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): Elections close. U.K. PM Rishi Sunak's Conservative Party facing an historic drubbing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The polls are showing that the Conservatives are in a pretty difficult position.

GIDEON SKINNER, SENIOR U.K. DIRECTOR OF POLITICS, IPSOS: Our central estimate was having the Conservatives around about 115 seats.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): 650 seats at stake each week of campaigning, damaging Sunak more than the last. The British Prime Minister left D- Day commemorations in France early.

SUNAK: On reflection, that was a mistake and I apologize.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): More damaging allegations followed. Several of his senior staff bet on the unexpected July 4th election date.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I was incredibly angry.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Good for his main opponent, Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer. You'd think, not so much. Labour, like Conservative, have dropped a little in the polls.

SKINNER: Maybe two to three points. The big picture is still that Labour have got on average, a fairly healthy lead.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Healthy, meaning about 20 percentage points. Starmer's challenge? Most voters aren't sure what he stands for.

Recently praising his socialist predecessor Jeremy Corbyn, now booted from Labour, saying he would have been a better Prime Minister than Donald Trump friend Boris Johnson.

STARMER: Look what we got, Boris Johnson. A man who made massive promises, didn't keep them.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Labour's left-wing legacy haunts Starmer, a centrist.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You said he'd make a great Prime Minister. Did you mean it?

STARMER: It wasn't a question that really arose because I didn't think we were going to win the election.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): His skills so far, uniting his once fractious party. Not so for Sunak. Right-wing Tory voters increasingly tempted by the upstart right-wing disruptor Reform Party, led by Nigel Farage.

NIGEL FARAGE, REFORM PARTY: Thanks for coming, everybody.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Another friend of Trump, who almost a decade ago led the charge for Brexit. Now back in the political fray, as ever, pulling the country right, costing Sunak voters. The field, though, bigger than these three leading parties. Middle class, middle-of-the-road Liberal Democrats struggling for attention.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think politicians should take themselves too seriously.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): His stunts paying off, Lib Dem polling up, slightly, mostly at Sunak's expense. Starmer looking to benefit in Scotland, too. The powerful but scandal-hit, independence-driven Scottish National Party, SNP, onto their third leader in 15 months.

JOHN SWINNEY, FIRST MINISTER OF SCOTLAND: Be careful what you wish for, because the Labour Party is going to pick up where the Tories left off.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): But despite their tough talk, likely losing their dominance north of the border.

ROBERTSON: Polls are notorious. There's no hard guarantee of actual results. And if the most favorable outcome for Sunak is an historic loss, the worst could leave his party in the political wilderness for years, vulnerable to populists like Farage.

Nic Robertson, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Last hour, I spoke with Anand Menon. He's director of U.K. in a Changing Europe. I asked him about the level of excitement about the upcoming election.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANAND MENON, DIRECTOR, U.K. IN A CHANGING EUROPE: Of all the things you can say there is in the U.K., there's very little in the way of excitement. One of the curious things about this election is the sort of overwhelming sense that no one is particularly inspired by politics. Trust in politicians is at an all-time low.

And actually, in a sense, we're left here with a choice between who we find least unpleasant.

[04:35:00]

In the sense that even Keir Starmer, who, as your reporter said, is 20 points ahead in the polls, has a net negative favorability rating.

FOSTER: And in terms of what we're looking for here, it's widely believed that Starmer will win. Are we just talking, then, about the scale of the win and the majority and how much power he would have in government because of that?

MENON: Up to a point, yes. In the sense, I mean, our system means that even if you have a very small majority, as long as that majority holds, the government can pretty much do what it wants. But I think what we're looking at here is the potential for an enormous Labour victory that isn't just about the power that the government has, but risks potentially seeing something that we've not seen, which is the Conservatives being relegated in vote share perhaps to third place.

The real issue here is just how badly the Conservatives do, because not only do Labour have that 20 percentage point lead, but their voting intentions at the moment look incredibly efficient. That is to say, they're gaining votes in the places they need them to win, and they're not necessarily gaining votes where they're already miles ahead.

FOSTER: And what sort of prime minister would Keir Starmer be for people who don't know him?

MENON: Well, that's the million dollar question. No one is entirely certain at the moment. He's never held government office before. We're not quite sure how the government will function. And Labour, because they've been ahead for so long, have played a very defensive game in this election by simply, in a sense, saying as little as possible. So we don't really have a clear sense either of how they'll govern or of what they'll do if and when they come into government.

So actually, that is something we have to wait and see after the 4th of July.

FOSTER: One big issue in the U.K., famously, is Europe. It's been a remarkably small part of this campaign, though, hasn't it?

MENON: It has, because for different reasons, neither of the big parties wants to talk about it. The Tories don't want to talk about it because the majority of Brits think that Brexit has gone badly and blame the Conservatives for that. Labour don't want to talk about it because they're trying to attract Leave voters and so don't want to talk about moving us closer to the European Union.

So it is the elephant in the room. Both parties are talking about growth. We know that there is a source of growth in terms of the European single market, but neither party will mention it. It's been very, very strange in that sense.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER (on camera): Be sure to watch CNN's special coverage of the U.K. elections on July the 4th, starting before 10 p.m. London time, right here on CNN.

We're just hours away from the biggest event so far of the 2024 U.S. presidential campaign, the first debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. The 90-minute face-off will take place at CNN's world headquarters in Atlanta.

It's the earliest general election debate ever and the first between a president and a former president. It's also the first with a convicted felon. There's no clear leader in CNN's latest presidential Poll of Polls and there's been no shortage of voter dissatisfaction with both candidates.

There will be some important differences tonight from previous debates. First, there will be no live audience. Second, the candidates' microphones will be muted when their speaking time has ended.

CNN's Phil Mattingly and Victor Blackwell have details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CHIEF U.S. DOMESTIC CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to the set of the CNN presidential debate.

We want to give our viewers a sense of the rules of the debate so that when they watch it, they can understand how President Biden and President Trump will be engaging with each other.

Just after 9:00 p.m. Eastern, President Biden will enter from the right side of your screen. President Trump will enter from the left side of your screen. The podiums are eight feet apart. Directly across from them the moderators, CNN's Jake Tapper and Dana Bash.

Now, a reminder that this is a television studio. There's no audience. Candidates will have two minutes to answer questions and one minute for responses and rebuttals.

At the moderator's discretion, there may be an additional minute for follow-ups, clarifications, or responses. So how does a candidate know how much time is left to speak? Attached to the cameras in the studio and in the candidate's field of view or the timing lights.

When the light show yellow, there are 15 seconds left and candidates answer or response. When the lights flash red, there are five seconds left, and when the display is solid red the time is up. At that point, the candidate's microphone will be turned off and the other candidate will have their microphone turned on.

My colleague, Victor Blackwell, has more on that.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Thank you, Phil.

If we go behind the podiums, you can see two green lights. When they're on, they signal to the candidate his microphone is on. When the green lights are off, they signal to the candidate, his microphone is off.

Now, I want to give you a sense of what it will look like for viewers at home if a candidate whose microphone is off interrupted a candidate whose microphone is on. So I'm standing at one podium and I'll ask Phil to come in and take the other podium.

And so let's say I'm answering a question. My light is green and I'm speaking. Phil's microphone is off and his green lights are not illuminated. He's going to interrupt me as I'm speaking. And this is what it will sound like.

[04:40:00]

My volume remains constant while fills interruption can be difficult to understand.

MATTINGLY: Let's try the opposite. My microphone is now on. Victor's microphone is off and he's going to interrupt me. My volume remains constant while Victor's interruption can be difficult to understand.

Now, we should note, by agreeing to participate in this debate, both campaigns and candidates have also agreed to bide by these rules.

The CNN presidential debate airs live at 9:00 p.m. Eastern.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: CNN's production team shared that demonstration with the campaigns, and we are sharing this with our viewers so everyone fully understands exactly how that debate will work.

Now, a new whistleblower has come forward with claims about manufacturing problems at Boeing. They involve the production of the 787 Dreamliner jet at a supplier facility in Wichita, Kansas.

The whistleblower is a former mechanic who says he was fired months after raising the red flag about the issue. He says he saw workers drilling holes too big for what's known as forward pressure bulkheads on the 787s. According to the whistleblower, the problem may affect at least 10 airplanes and could lead to, in his words, catastrophes.

But Boeing says the issue has been investigated, and it doesn't pose a safety concern.

Now, we showed you this house yesterday before it plunged into churning water next to a breached dam in Minnesota. It was the home of Jenny Barnes and her family.

It's my childhood, Barnes told a local news station. I grew up in the house. I've been there all my life.

Severe storms and floods hit the U.S. Midwest with all that water overwhelming the dam. The bad weather killed at least two people.

Now, still ahead, Russia's trial of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich began on Wednesday. What the U.S. is saying about the espionage charges against him next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: The White House is expressing its support for American journalist Evan Gershkovich after his espionage trial began in Russia on Wednesday. They're condemning the proceedings as a sham and a performance. The U.S. is also accusing Moscow of treating Gershkovich and other detained Americans as bargaining chips. CNN's Matthew Chance reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the first glimpse of Evan Gershkovich for months. Cameras briefly allowed into the courthouse about 1,000 miles from Moscow where his trial for espionage is finally underway.

His head shaved, the 32-year-old Wall Street Journal reporter looked calm. He faces a sentence of up to 20 years if or likely when he's found guilty.

In a statement, the editor-in-chief of the journal wrote: This bogus accusation of espionage will inevitably lead to a bogus conviction for an innocent man.

[04:45:00]

CHANCE: Hi, Matthew from CNN. Are you holding up all right?

No, no questions.

CHANCE (voice-over): For nearly 15 months, Gershkovich has been held under tight security in Moscow's notorious Lefortovo Prison. He, his employer and the U.S. government all vigorously deny the spying allegations against him.

But Russia appears determined to press ahead despite official U.S. objections.

A new statement from the U.S. Embassy in Moscow says Evan did not commit any illegal acts and should not have been arrested at all. This trial isn't about the presentation of evidence, due process or the rule of law. We're talking about the Kremlin using American citizens to achieve its political goals, the statement adds.

With the conflict raging in Ukraine, Russia began a crackdown at home on free speech, silencing dissidents or forcing them into exile. It's against this backdrop that Gershkovich was arrested on a reporting assignment in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg.

This is video from the website of the tank factory there, where Russian prosecutors allege Gershkovich acted, quote, on the instructions of the CIA to collect secret information, although no evidence has been made public.

The trial will take place in the city, which is about a thousand miles from Moscow, amid an outcry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Journalism is not a crime.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Journalism is not a crime.

CHANCE (voice-over): Some of the most prominent journalists in the United States are calling for his release. And Tucker Carlson even appealed directly to Putin in his recent sit down.

TUCKER CARLSON, HOST, TUCKER CARLSON NETWORK: And I just want to ask you directly, without getting into the details of it or your version of what happened, if, as a sign of your decency, you would be willing to release him to us and we'll bring him back to the United States?

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We have done so many gestures of goodwill out of decency that I think we have run out of them.

CHANCE (voice-over): But they're not running out of Americans in Russian prisons. Far from it.

PAUL WHELAN, FORMER MARINE SERVING 16 YEARS IN RUSSIAN PRISON: I'm innocent of any (INAUDIBLE) political kidnapping.

CHANCE (voice-over): Former Marine Paul Whelan is serving 16 years in what U.S. officials say were trumped up spying charges.

Dual citizens Ksenia Karelina, an amateur ballerina from L.A., and journalist Alsu Kurmasheva are also in custody, as are Gordon Black, a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army, and U.S. schoolteacher Marc Fogle. Critics suspect the Kremlin is collecting U.S. citizens as bargaining chips for a future deal.

With his trial for espionage now underway, Evan Gershkovich is one of the most valuable in the Kremlin's hand.

Matthew Chance, CNN London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Russia's Navy is going on an acquisition spree with plans to get 40 new vessels this year. President Vladimir Putin says it's part of a plan to replenish and modernize the fleet. He says it's also important to protect the fleet by implementing systems to detect aerial and underwater threats.

Ukraine says it has put one-third of Russia's Black Sea fleet out of commission. According to Mr. Putin, Russia received more than 30 new warships last year.

The U.S. has identified about 400 migrants who were smuggled into the country by a human trafficking network that may have ties to ISIS. Federal authorities are carrying out additional security screenings. Most of the migrants are from Central Asian nations. A U.S. official says the smuggling network has ties to another network that brought a group of Uzbek nationals across the southern border by a facilitator who did have ties to ISIS.

The NBA says goodbye to a pair of French teenagers, the first and second picks of the league's 2024 draft. Details just ahead. Or hello.

[04:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Well, the opening round of the pro basketball draft is in the books. And for the first time ever, a pair of French players were selected first and second. CNN's Andy Scholes has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS: We're here at the Hawks practice facility. The team celebrating after taking French forward Zaccharie Risacher with their first top overall pick since 1975. Risacher was one of the top prospects in this draft because of his three-point shooting in defense.

The 19-year-old was the French League Best Young Player Award winner and Euro Cup Rising Star recipient. Risacher making it two years in a row that the top pick comes from France. Victor Wembanyama was last year.

And for the first time ever, the first two picks coming from France. As the Wizards would take Athletic Center Alex Sarr with the second pick. First time since 2003 that the top two picks in the draft did not play college ball.

Now, there were lots of questions about what the Rockets were going to do at pick number three. And they went with the best shooter in the draft, taking Kentucky's Reed Sheppard.

And the draft always brings out some fashion. All the guys in their fancy suits for draft night, arguably the best dressed of the night. Seven-foot-two center Donovan Clingan, who was rocking a tuxedo. The Blazers were certainly impressed as they took him with the seventh overall pick.

And the first and second rounds taking place over two days for the first time ever. And today, all eyes are going to be on Bronny James to see if, when, and where he gets selected. The second round starts at 4 Eastern in Atlanta with the Hawks.

Andy Scholes, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: The group stage of UEFA's European Football Championships came to a dramatic finish on Wednesday. Georgia stunned Portugal with a 2-0 victory in their first major tournament in the nation's history.

CNN's Patrick Snell has the highlights and a preview of the round of 16.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Well, we now know the last 16 of the European Football Championships in Germany. And as always at this stage, you get a whole range of emotions, don't you? You get sheer heartbreak for countries going home with them. There's utter delight and elation for those nations making history.

Let's get to Group F now. We're already qualified Portugal faced Georgia on paper. Not many giving Georgia too much hope. But matches aren't played on paper, are they?

Cristiano Ronaldo and his Portuguese teammates, in fact, group winners ahead of this one. But all three other teams in the group could advance. And it's Georgia ahead after just two minutes of play with the Napoli superstar Vica Valenzuela producing a sublime finish. Really well taken. The opening goal of the match.

At this point, Georgia were qualifying. Then just before the hour mark, it gets even better for the Georgians. They double their lead. George Mikautadze converting from the penalty spot after the foul on Luka Lochoshvili. This is one famous, famous win. And Georgia would see the game out.

Look at these scenes. Ronaldo not happy. He wants to win every game he plays, doesn't he?

And Georgia, 74th in the world, through to their first ever major tournament knockout stage after a victory they will forever cherish and their fans as well. Without question, though, this the greatest night in Georgia's football history. You know, by beating Portugal, this now the biggest upset in tournament history based on FIFA rankings. Portugal are ranked sixth in the world. I'll say it again.

Georgia all the way down in 74th place. What an occasion for Georgian football.

All right, earlier in the day, that despair I was talking about. And it goes and it applies to Ukraine, who carried the hopes of a war-torn nation into these Euros. Ahead of their match with Belgium in Stuttgart. All four teams in Group E remarkably level on points. Ukraine gave it everything and they did have a really good chance right at the end. Two minutes into stoppage, it's Georgiy Sudakov who runs a really amazing, terrific run there. But the shot is straight at the keeper. That had to go in, didn't it, for the Ukrainians from their point of view.

And just seconds after that, look at this. The final whistle goes and it's heartbreak for Ukraine, whose players fall to the ground at the end there. And it's a huge disappointment.

Ahead of the tournament, Ukraine's head coach Serhiy Rebrov, a revered former player as well, telling us how he hoped his team could show the world the real character of our country. Well, they have fallen just short, but they can hold their heads up high. Very high indeed.

Just look how Group E ended then. This is incredible.

[04:55:00]

For the first time ever in Euros history, all four countries within that same group ending up on the same number of points. Heartbreak for Ukraine, who now become the first team ever in this competition to not advance from a group on 4 points. The reason they go out is in goal difference. Romania and Slovakia both advance but Slovakians as one of the best third place nations.

So what about the last 16? Well, here we have it. The host, Germany, will take on Denmark on Saturday. On the same day, we got the defending champs, Italy facing Switzerland, England will face Slovakia, Turkey have Austria, Georgia will play Spain, while Portugal take on Slovenia.

Belgium's failure to top Group E means the Red Devils now face the daunting task of taking on France for a place in the quarterfinals. And with that, it's right back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Amazing story.

Now to the stories in the spotlight this hour. The original artwork that graced the cover of the first Harry Potter book sold for a record $1.9 million. Sotheby's says it's the most valuable Harry Potter item ever sold at auction. The artist, Thomas Taylor, was one of the first to read J.K. Rowling's manuscript about the boy wizard. He created the cover art with watercolor and black pencil in just two days. It would go on to be featured on the cover of the book's first edition in 1997.

Campers and fans are arriving for the famed Glastonbury Festival at the Worthy Farm in south-western England. This is Glastonbury's 38th edition. Tickets for the five-day event cost 355 pounds, $450, and sold out in less than an hour back in November. Headliners include Coldplay and Dua Lipa, and it's going to be a big weekend.

And there's a first for the event as well, a K-pop act. 17, which has 13 members, are set to perform on the world-famous Pyramid Stage, and that is tomorrow.

Panda diplomacy back between the U.S. and China. Two giant pandas left China on Wednesday. They are now headed to the San Diego Zoo in Southern California. The loan was finalized in February, marking China's first panda loan to the United States in two decades. The San Diego Zoo hasn't had pandas since 2019, when it returned its last two to China.

The world-renowned facility was the first in the U.S. to carry out cooperative research on giant pandas. That was with China.

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

[05:00:00]