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Far-Right Party Set To Win Largest Number Of Seats In French Parliament; U.S. Military Bases In Europe On Hight Alert; Biden Supporters Push Back On Calls For Him To Withdraw; Supreme Court To Rule On Trump's Immunity Claim; Court Limits Obstruction Charges Against Jan. 6 Rioters; 13-Year-Old Boy Shot & Killed By Utica Police; Two Pandas From China Arrive At Their New Home In San Diego. Aired 4- 5p ET

Aired June 30, 2024 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Comfort with her and that allows her to reach into their mouths, the mouth of a shark, and remove hooks that the sharks have latched on, as fishermen are in the area.

It's really incredible to watch. You have to tune in at 8:00 p.m. tonight.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: I will be, along with a few million of our friends who will be tuning in this evening. Thank you so much, Boris Sanchez. Glad you made it back out OK. Getting your free dive, you know.

SANCHEZ: Thank you so much, Fred. Good to be with you.

WHITFIELD: Gasping for air.

SANCHEZ: Thank you so much. Appreciate it.

WHITFIELD: All right. For more, don't miss "Deep Dive: The Shark Wars" on "THE WHOLE STORY WITH ANDERSON COOPER," that's tonight, 8:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific.

The next hour of the NEWSROOM starts right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

WHITFIELD: Hello, again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

And we begin with breaking news from France, where the country's far- right party is celebrating what appears to be a dramatic win over President Emmanuel Macron's centrist party. They now appear set to take the biggest number of seats in France's parliament after today's first round of elections in a stinging defeat for Macron. It also has the potential to change the relationship between the U.S. and one of its closest allies.

Macron shocked everyone and called a surprise election just weeks before Paris is set to host the world for the Olympic Games. Far-right leader Marine Le Pen warning her supporters to solidify their power by showing up for next weekend's second round of voting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARINE LE PEN, HEAD OF NATIONAL RALLY PARTY (through translator): We need an absolute majority in order to enact that change that the country is desperate in need of.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Jim Bittermann is outside the party headquarters of the Presidential Coalition.

Jim, how stunning are these results?

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, just to correct you, I'm at the prime minister's office where we have just heard for the prime minister basically saying that the various opponents of the National Rally, the far-right party here, are going to have to form a barricade against them ever coming to power. What he said is this. Our objective is clear, prevent the National Rally from having an absolute majority in the second round from dominating the national assembly.

Now, according to projections we have the National Rally Party, the far-right party, would get somewhere between 230 to 280 seats in the new parliament. They will need 289 seats if they want to have a majority. So it looks like the other parties involved here are going to form a blockade, tell their voters not to vote for the right, the extreme right-wing, and hopefully get their candidates in.

Now that doesn't mean that there's going to be a walk in the park for Mr. Macron because in fact he's going to have to rule -- he's the president for the next three years, he's going to have to stay in office and have a parliament that basically is of the opposite party. There won't be a majority of the opposite party but they'll have a parliament that will be working against him at every stage of the game.

A hung parliament essentially, something I call the cohabitation here in France. That means that basically power sharing. But Macron has got powers. He has power over defense, he has powers over foreign policy, but the purse strings are controlled from here at the prime minister's office. And so it'll depend on who becomes the prime minister. And that all depends on who wins the next round of elections next Sunday -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: So, Jim, I wonder, did Macron anticipate or brace for this? Or did he have some other objective for his decision to have a snap election?

BITTERMANN: Well, Fred, ever since he called it, analysts are trying to figure that out why did he do it. A big question mark. And I think basically there are a couple of things. First, I mean, he was hoping that he would get some more of his confederates in parliamentary seats. But that didn't happen. It wasn't really likely to happen. From the first opinion polls it seemed very likely -- unlikely that would happen.

But otherwise, maybe in the background he had the idea that putting the National Rally Party, the extreme right party, into power would make them lose in a sense, lose the voters. There are places in France where they have come to power in cities, for example, and in some villages and in those places they have not done such a great job of governing. So governing is a whole lot different than running for elections. And as a consequence, I think maybe the back of his mind was that if they came close to power, they just make so many mistakes that the public would be turned off.

[16:05:04]

WHITFIELD: Interesting. But quite the gamble either way.

All right, Jim Bittermann, thank you so much.

BITTERMANN: For sure.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Let's talk more about this with Paris bureau chief for "The Economist," Sophie Pedder.

All right, good to see you, Sophie. What do you think about that ladder possible goal or motivation of Macron that there's some expectation that the far-right party members would gain some seats. Let them rule, you know, or let them be in power in certain corners, people might discover they're not very good at it. And so thereby, Macron kind of wins?

It's a crazy psychology, but what do you think?

SOPHIE PEDDER, PARIS BUREAU CHIEF, THE ECONOMIST: It was implausible. I mean, it's a great mystery, as Jim just said, which I'd be joined to work this out since the day he dissolved parliament. Why has he done it? It is just the case that Emmanuel Macron himself cannot (INAUDIBLE) the next presidential election because you're not allowed to the French constitution to run for more than -- to hold more than two consecutive terms in office.

So maybe that what he wants to do is to show the voters that, you know, you can make (INAUDIBLE), you can do sort of politics on the campaign trail. You can make promises. You can have also the extravagant pledges in your manifestos. But when you actually get into office, it's a whole lot more difficult. And that that could be a way of exposing, you know, some of the contradictions of their programs and what power and the exercise of power really means.

But, you know, if that is the answer, then it's a big gamble because it's not at all sure that that is what would happen at the end of three years in office. And I think, you know, before we even get to that point, we're looking at really a lot of uncertainty. We don't even know if Le Pen's party can form a government. We don't know if she would even want to try and form a government unless she wins the minority -- majority, sorry. If she does win, she might not even want to go to power. So there's

just so much uncertainty here about what is going to happen. In fact I think it's what's also making people feel very uncomfortable.

WHITFIELD: Really? So there's a thinking that perhaps Marine Le Pen would not want, you know, a victory, so to speak? I mean, the second round of voting is going to take place next week. That maybe it would be, you know, more than she can chew?

PEDDER: I think that she's got a lot of confidence in her 28-year-old and that's not a mistake. He's 28 years old, her protege, Jordan Bardella. This is the young guy who's now in charge of the party. He's never held a job outside politics in his life, but he's very much her sort of, you know, left-hand, right-hand man. He is going to be the candidate she purports for prime minister.

So in a way she doesn't have to govern. She has him to do the job for her and that sort of takes the risk for her out of it. But I think for him, to be -- whether he really wants to go ahead and form a government which would be unbelievably unstable because if you had -- if you don't have a majority the opposition will bring you down. So you can imagine a period of time where you have one prime minister choice, form a government, then the president own choice to form a government, and these keep falling.

That's the problem with a hung parliament because it looks very difficult for any of those three big blocs that now exist in French politics, the center, the left, and the right, the far-right to do any kind of coalition with each other. And that's the real problem.

WHITFIELD: So Marine Le Pen, while she may not be governing, she is kind of the face of the movement. So does she get the credit and the blame if things go great or things go terribly?

PEDDER: Well, I think that's her if the situation were to arise, would she be able to keep her hands free, clean up to a point for 2027 and then run for the presidency, that must be part of her calculations. She will sit in parliament even if her party becomes -- does become or doesn't, she will sit in parliament. She's been elected at the first round if you've got over 50 percent of the vote, which she did.

She has already been elected as a deputy in the parliament for the coming session. But I think that what she wants to do is, you know, they're just in buoyant mood, you should see them this evening, they are really on a roll here. They feel that the wind is behind them. And this is a party that is going to do what it can to get into power and show its voters that, you know, it's not just a protest movement. This is a party that's prepared to govern. That's their plan.

WHITFIELD: All right. Sophie Petr, thank you so much.

All right. And we have more breaking news. Several U.S. military bases across Europe are on heightened alert right now due to a potential terrorist threat. One of those bases is in Germany where the U.S. European Command is headquartered. A U.S. official tells CNN they haven't seen this kind of threat level, quote, "in at least 10 years." Joining me now are Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, former commanding

general of U.S. Army Europe and Seventh Army, and CNN Pentagon correspondent, Oren Liebermann.

[16:10:07]

All right. Good to see both of you, gentlemen.

First to you, Oren. Tell us about this alert.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, according to two U.S. officials, several bases at least in Europe have gone to what's called Force Protection Condition Charlie. That's an elevated threat level and comes with certain steps essentially to ensure the safety of service members at these facilities. It's unclear if it's just several facilities such as Stuttgart, which you just showed, an army garrison barracks in Bavaria, or whether it's across the European theater.

Here is how the army describes Force Protection Condition Charlie. It is -- rather it applies when an incident occurs or intelligence is received indicating some form of terrorist action or targeting against personnel or facilities is likely. So clearly the U.S. sees an elevated threat level and has responded to that. Accordingly to one of the officials that CNN has spoken with, they haven't seen a move like this in 10 years, if not more than that.

So the U.S. military in Europe taking precautions here. Now, it is unclear whether this is a specific threat against one base or it is just a larger threat level across Europe. And we have seen that, for example, in France, which is hosting the Olympics in less than a month, as well as in Germany, which is currently hosting the European Football Championships. Officials in those countries have said they will deploy international police officers because of the concern over an elevated threat level and potential terror attack against gatherings like that.

And to point out, Fredricka, I'll also say that the U.S. embassy in Paris warned American citizens that there is an elevated threat against large gatherings.

WHITFIELD: All right, and General Hertling, based on your expertise, what kind of precautions would a U.S. military base have to take under these kinds of terror threats or this category of terror threat?

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, Fredricka, it creates a whole lot of different risk aversions. Gate guards will be more precise in terms of cars that are entering. There will be more patrols around bases looking for any kind of attacks it would go up against the wire of a military base, which you have to consider the two areas that Oren just talked about. Stuttgart, which is the headquarters of not just European Command, a major headquarters overlooking all of Europe, but also U.S. Africa Command.

It's headquartered there in Stuttgart. But it controls forces in Africa so you have 51 countries, foreign countries in Europe, you have 54 in Africa, there could be chatter on the net that gives indication of something like this happening. But the two bases named specifically the garrison in Stuttgart and the garrison in Grafenwoehr, Germany is not only -- which is not only a major training center, but it's a major area where forces are held.

You know, this is not only looking at the protection of the soldiers and the service members that live there. But it's also telling their families, when you go out on the economy, when you go to the local cities, when you do your shopping on the weekend, be very careful, extremely careful. And it's not just the European soccer championship that's going on in Germany and the Olympics that are preparing in France. But you also have the Tour de France starting in just a few days as well.

So major sports events, a lot of crowds, and anyone who's lived in Europe knows whenever you have those kind of crowds during the summertime it poses a threat for someone to come into. Now this couldn't just be a terrorist threat truthfully, Fredricka. I'm concerned more also about threats from Iran, threats from agencies out of that country, and even threats from Africa because of the support for Ukraine that's been happening in Europe.

WHITFIELD: OK. General Mark Hertling, Oren Liebermann, thanks to both of you, gentlemen. Appreciate it.

All right. Still to come, President Biden's campaign is pushing back at calls for him to end his reelection bid. Even as the editorial boards at at least two newspapers think that's what he should do.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:18:47]

WHITFIELD: All right. New today, many top surrogates and Democratic Party leaders are galvanizing around President Biden amid new calls to end his campaign. President Biden has acknowledged that his debate performance was weaker than he wanted. Now supporters are pushing back on the mounting pressure for Biden to step away from his reelection bid. He has shown no signs of dropping out, even as Democratic donors remains split on what's the best path forward.

CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is joining us right now, live from Washington.

Priscilla, what are the president's supporters saying today?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're certainly trying to project confidence after what was a lackluster performance by President Biden on Thursday night, and over the last 48 hours, there have been multiple calls with allies and top White House officials and top campaign officials, again, trying to quell those concerns and try to shift the focus away from the debate and more so on the president's record comparing that to former president Donald Trump's records.

So that is where a lot of the conversations have been, but certainly there has been panic and heightened concern among donors and other allies who knew that the president was facing questions about his mental acuity and his age, but had hoped that Thursday night would be a stronger performance by the president to try to assuage the concerns that are held by voters.

[16:20:10]

Now, what the campaign has also had to contend with is editorial boards in addition to all of what they have been hearing from, again, donors and allies, and those editorial boards of "The New York Times" and "The Atlanta Journal Constitution" have called on President Biden to withdraw. "The Atlanta Journal Constitution" calling it, quote, "an excruciating debate." "The New York Times" calling this a reckless gamble.

Now, the response to that, particularly from the campaign senior adviser Keisha Lance Bottoms was the following, this on a post on X, quote, "I can think of a lot of reasons to call into candidates to drop out, including violently trying to overthrow an election," and then going on to talk again about former president Donald Trump.

So that really captures what the argument has been from allies. It is, it's time to move on from the debate, an acknowledgment that it wasn't the best performance from the president himself and fundraising blitzes. But then trying to mostly focus on the record. President Biden noting in his fundraiser blitz this past weekend that he is going to fight harder and again saying that the stakes of the election are high.

So that is what we can anticipate continuing to hear from the president's allies and the campaign saying that they did raise $33 million since Thursday. The majority of that grassroots donations. The reason they say that's important is to show that there are still voters, especially first-time voters, that are backing the campaign despite these headlines.

But certainly, Fred, it has been a lot of damage control and phone calls over the last 48 hours.

WHITFIELD: All right. Priscilla Alvarez, thanks so much.

All right. Meantime, we're also following the breaking news in France. The country's far-right party is celebrating what appears to be a dramatic win over President Emmanuel Macron's centrist party. Early results show they are in position to take the biggest number of seats in France's parliament. Macron gambled by calling a snap election just a few weeks ago after his party lost in broader European elections. The second and final round of voting takes place next Friday.

And tomorrow morning, former president Donald Trump could get his answer. Will the U.S. Supreme Court say he has absolute immunity. A preview of what to expect, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:26:52] WHITFIELD: All right. We're hours away from a U.S. Supreme Court decision on Donald Trump's claim of absolute immunity. The case stems from Special Counsel Jack Smith's election subversion charges and could come down to whether Trump's actions after the 2020 elections were considered official. Legal experts have said that it's likely that Trump's efforts to get blanket immunity from all prosecutions will be unsuccessful.

CNN political reporter Jeremy Herb is now joining me with more.

Jeremy, put it into perspective. What is at stake?

JEREMY HERB, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fred, I mean, to put it simply the stakes here are quite significant. The Supreme Court is set to decide tomorrow whether Donald Trump will face trial on these election subversion charges as well as the court could choose to decide more broadly whether presidents can be criminally prosecuted.

Let's take a step back how we got here. Last August, Special Counsel Jack Smith, he indicted the president, the former president over his actions to try to overturn the 2020 election. Donald Trump, he claimed he was immune from this prosecution. That led to the trial judge Tanya Chutkan as well as the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals rejecting Trump's claims of immunity. But the Supreme Court, they took up this case and in April, they were skeptical, including several justices, including Chief Justice John Roberts.

They were skeptical of this argument that there should be no immunity. At the same time, the justices did not appear ready to fully embrace Trump's claim of absolute immunity. Instead, what they focused on here was official actions, official duties of a president versus a private action that were taken outside of the realm of presidential duties. And so what to watch for tomorrow is really whether the Supreme Court does give Trump some degree of immunity for those official duties while at the same time leaving him open to prosecution for what he did privately as a private citizen.

The key question is, does the Supreme Court address Trump's actions specifically or do they set a standard that then requires the lower courts to go back and relitigate this whole thing, Fred? If that happens, this could take a whole lot longer and potentially push back beyond the election.

WHITFIELD: OK. And then of course, what is the likelihood that Donald Trump could face trial before the election?

HERB: Yes. I mean, the timing here, it really is important because it was last August that Jack Smith brought these charges. And in December when Trump appealed the first ruling, the special counsel went directly to the Supreme Court and asked them to intervene, to skip the rest of the appeals process and directly tick up this case. The justices declined and that's what led us now on this process where we had multiple rounds of appeals that now we're heading into July 1st tomorrow when we're going to get this decision.

So even if the Supreme Court does clear the way for this prosecution, it's not clear whether it can happen before the election. And if we set up this new appeals process it's virtually impossible -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Jeremy Herb, thank you so much.

All right. Former president Donald Trump is feeling confident after boosts on the campaign trail and in the court. Trump feeling energized at a campaign stop on Friday. Despite his many lies at the debate, he feels boosted following President Biden's weak showing there.

[16:30:04]

Trump also calling it a big win that the U.S. Supreme Court in a 6-3 decision said the Justice Department overstepped in charging January 6th Capitol rioters with obstruction.

And in his Florida classified documents case, Judge Aileen Cannon is seeking more pretrial hearings, meaning further delays in that potential trial.

Joining us right now is politics reporter for "Rolling Stone," Nikki McCann Ramirez.

Nikki, great to see you. All right, let's begin with that debate. I mean, Trump has, you know, got a little extra, you know, pep in his step following that debate.

However, you know, it was through a lot of fact-checking. He said a lot of lies, more than 30. Should he be capitalizing off his showing at the debate?

Oh, are you not hearing me, Nikki? OK, we're going to try and work that out again and see if we can reconnect with Nikki McCann Ramirez.

All right, one of former president Trump's loudest supporters must report to prison in less than 24 hours. We'll tell you what's in store for Steve Bannon.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:35:59]

WHITFIELD: All right, we're continuing to follow breaking news out of France, where hundreds of people gathered to protest the far-right party's win over President Emmanuel Macron in the first round of voting in the French parliamentary elections.

The far-right party is currently in position to take the biggest number of seats in France's parliament after Macron called for the surprise election just weeks ago, right before Paris is set to host the world for the Olympic Games. The second and final round of voting takes place on Friday.

All right, back in this country, Steve Bannon, will report to federal prison in Connecticut tomorrow. The former Trump Adviser was sentenced to four months behind bars for not complying with a congressional January 6th Select Committee investigation. On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Bannon's efforts to pause his prison sentence. Joining me right now is CNN Correspondent Polo Sandoval. So, Polo, what do you know about the check-in to that prison for Bannon?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Viewers know him well, Fred. The conservative podcast host, and at one point, close adviser to Donald Trump when he was in the White House, expected to report to prison tomorrow in Connecticut to begin that four-month prison term after several failed attempts to avoid that prison time.

As you mentioned, on Friday, the Supreme Court basically denying his appeal, his last-ditch effort to avoid time behind bars.

Important to remind viewers how we got here in the first place. Almost two years ago is when he refused to comply with a subpoena that was issued by a House Committee that was investigating the events of January 6th. in addition to alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election. As a result, he was convicted of contempt to Congress.

Over the weekend, we actually had an opportunity to hear from prison consultant Justin Paperny on CNN, the former federal inmate, offering some words of advice to Bannon, who seems to be defiant in recent interviews on other networks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUSTIN PAPERNY, PRISON CONSULTANT: It's going to come down to his routine, how he adjusts. And more importantly, he's got to avoid problems. Bannon has frequently said no prison or jail can shut him up. He has to understand how prison staff can view a statement like that as he pursues his activities probably 24 hours a day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And unlike other members of the previous Trump administration when he was in the White House, Bannon remains behind Trump, continuing to support the former president and his most recent bid to win re-election.

Bannon's argument during his proceedings a couple of years ago, Fred, were that he was not willfully ignoring the House Committee, but he was just acting on his attorney's advice.

The Department of Justice, however, who mainly prosecuted this case, maintained that Bannon responded to their subpoena, quote, "with total noncompliance." Hence, tomorrow, he will be prison bound.

Fred.

WHITFIELD: Wow. And, I mean, Polo, Steve Bannon is now the second former Trump aide to serve prison time.

SANDOVAL: Yeah, it was just months ago that Peter Navarro, another White House advisor or at least another advisor to the Trump White House, was also similarly sentenced to prison and also began a prison stay.

In fact, just a few months ago, he reported to prison in Miami. Also had multiple failed attempts to try to avoid that prison time, Fred.

So as you take a step back here, you see Navarro's case, you see Bannon's case. Both of them were examples of members of the Trump inner circle being basically held accountable for resisting scrutiny.

Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Polo Sandoval, thank you so much.

SANDOVAL: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, still ahead, we're learning new details in a tragic shooting in Utica, New York, where a 13-year-old child was shot and killed by police after pointing a replica gun at officers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:44:25]

WHITFIELD: All right, former President Donald Trump is feeling confident after a boost on the campaign trail and in the courts. Trump feeling energized at a campaign stop on Friday. Despite his many lies at the debate, he feels boosted following President Biden's weak showing there.

Trump also calling it a big win that the U.S. Supreme Court in a 6-3 decision said the Justice Department overstepped in charging January 6th Capitol rioters with obstruction.

And in his Florida Classified Documents case, Judge Aileen Cannon is seeking more pre-trial hearings, meaning further delays in a potential trial.

[16:45:02]

Joining us right now is politics reporter for "Rolling Stone," Nikki McCann Ramirez. Take two. We're going to try this again, hopefully our audio is OK, Nikki.

OK, there you are. You can hear me, and I can hear you.

NIKKI MCCANN RAMIREZ, POLITICS REPORTER, ROLLING STONE: I can hear you. Thank you so much.

WHITFIELD: So -- all right. So Trump is feeling, you know, pretty confident right now. I mean, how is he going to capitalize off, you know, all the things that I just ticked off that have happened in his week?

MCCANN RAMIREZ: Well, we're already seeing it. He is taking his victory lap. He is bashing Trump at rallies, fundraising off of his debate performance.

I think it's abundantly clear at this point that Biden's lack of delivery at the debate on Thursday has been a gift to the former president. And it's not only Trump who's celebrating it, it's down-ballot

Republicans as well. Obviously, a strong presidential ticket helps pull candidates to victory in an election year.

And, you know, the more voters see Biden as vulnerable, the more vulnerable Democratic candidates also running down the ticket become.

The blow this has dealt to voter confidence cannot be overstated. And I think not only the Trump campaign, but also Democrats -- or Republicans in very competitive races are celebrating this.

WHITFIELD: And how is Trump also kind of using the U.S. Supreme Court, you know, kind of in his back pocket? You know, he's publicly said that he would actually pardon many of the January 6 rioters who have been convicted, and now you've got the Supreme Court saying many of them should not have been, you know, prosecuted with all the charges that the Justice Department imposed on him.

MCCANN RAMIREZ: Absolutely. And I will say, while the Supreme Court decision will be very good for hundreds of January 6 defendants who were charged with obstruction, but Trump is operating under a little bit of a different case. The argument there was that the Justice Department had overstepped its authority because the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which was passed after the Enron scandal, in very plain terms, said that obstruction as a criminal offense through that law related to tampering with documents with evidence related to a government procedure or investigation, not necessarily a violent, physical attempt to impede a government process.

Trump, on the other hand, is being charged with tampering with documents. He has been charged with having a role in the creation of slates of fake electors who would have then been introduced into the ratification of the Electoral College vote.

So while Trump may not necessarily be able to argue that these charges should be outright dismissed, the Supreme Court has granted him an opportunity to potentially challenge these arguments in court, further delay the case, which is really the ultimate goal here.

So in that sense, the Supreme Court has handed him a bit of a muted win, but a win nonetheless.

WHITFIELD: And then how close is Trump to making a decision about who his running mate might be?

MCCANN RAMIREZ: Oh, any day now. I think they were teasing it to come out around the time of the debate. Biden's performance, obviously, usurped that entire news cycle.

So if I'm in the Trump camp, I'm waiting for the conversation to die down a teensy bit for the focus to kind of normalize before I make a big announcement about who my VP is going to be. Because you don't want an announcement like that to get drowned out in all the chatter about Biden.

WHITFIELD: All right. Nikki McCann Ramirez, thank you so much. Thanks for hanging in there with us too.

MCCANN RAMIREZ: Thank you so much for having me.

WHITFIELD: This time, it worked. All right.

Meantime, we are also learning new details after a 13-year-old boy was shot and killed by police in Utica, New York.

Authorities say the incident happened after the teen fled from officers and then pointed a replica Glock handgun at the police.

Police say three officers first approached the boy and another teen because the pair matched the descriptions of robbery suspects.

CNN's Ivan Rodriguez is joining me with more details on this. What are you learning?

IVAN RODRIGUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, the video really shows a chaotic scene of a Utica police officer shooting a 13-year-old boy. He had been tackled to the ground after running from police and pointing a replica handgun at them, according to authorities.

This body cam was provided by Utica police. You're going to see the video freeze at a certain point with a red circle around that replica gun. We want to warn you, some of the images you're about to see may be hard to watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POLICE OFFICER: Keep your hands out of your pockets. The reason why we're stopping is you're riding in the roadway and you're walking. And you're walking.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, shit, I forgot about that.

POLICE OFFICER: What do you mean you forgot about that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was just having fun.

POLICE OFFICER: Can I just pats you down and make sure you got no weapons on you.

POLICE OFFICER: He's got a gun! He's got a gun!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God! You shot him! You shot him, man! Oh, my God!

[16:50:07]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shot in the ambulance, he got shot and fired.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RODRIGUEZ: After police fired that single shot, officers tried administering aid. The boy later died in the hospital. Police say the gun that the boy pointed at one of the officers was a replica Glock pellet gun with a detachable magazine.

The boy's family and community members were present during a press conference Saturday before the body cam footage was released. His mother was seen visibly upset because of disruptions during the press conference. Officials continued speaking on another floor.

Here's what city officials had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR MIKE GALIME, UTICA, NEW YORK: I cannot express in words at this point cannot change what is now forever changed as of last yesterday evening.

CHIEF MARK WILLIAMS, UTICA POLICE DEPARTMENT: The officers quite frequently work in situations that are very chaotic, ever evolving, and they have to make split second decisions.

Having said that, having said that, yes, we meet deadly physical force with deadly physical force, including that their appearance to be a handgun, whether it's replica or not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RODRIGUEZ: The New York State Attorney General's office will now investigate the shooting and make the determination if it was justified. Utica Police Department's professional standards also investigating per department policy. Utica's Chief of Police says the officers on scene have been placed on administrative leave with pay until further notice.

Just a really terrible situation on all sides of that.

WHITFIELD: Yeah, very sad. Ivan Rodriguez. Thank you so much.

We'll be right back.

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[16:56:22]

WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. A ground test of a Chinese rocket ended in a fiery crash. The rocket accidentally launching after structural failure caused it to detach from the launch pad.

A huge explosion could be seen on a hillside. People in the area were evacuated before the rocket test. The owners of the rocket say no one was injured.

And two young pandas have just arrived at their new home at the San Diego Zoo. They are the first new pandas loaned to the United States in more than 20 years.

CNN's Paula Newton looks at what this means for China-U.S. relations and for the pandas.

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PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Meet two of China's newest ambassadors to the U. S. Not official titles, of course, but that's not what it takes to impress these visitors at the San Diego Zoo.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're like cute.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I like their spots.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're really cute and fluffy.

NEWTON: Two giant pandas, three-year-old female Xin Bao and four-year- old male, Yun Chuan are settling in at the zoo after leaving their habitat in China last week.

It's the first time China has loaned new pandas to the U.S. in more than two decades. The zoo says the pandas are being closely monitored after their journey and won't be seen in public for several weeks.

The pandas reportedly already know a few commands in English and are being treated to some of their favorite snacks like fresh bamboo, fruit and a special cornbread. And a new enclosure tailor made to remind them of home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our renovated giant panda habitat is inspired by the habitat of giant pandas in their native range. So there's a lot of vertical structures and hillside and many, many things that harken back to the mountains of Sichuan.

NEWTON: China's giant panda partnership with the U.S. began in 1972, and it was a success. The animals became star attractions at zoos across the country, and several cubs were born. But in recent years, most of the pandas and their cubs have returned to China under the terms of the loan agreements. The last two pandas at the San Diego Zoo left in 2019.

Three pandas at the National Zoo in Washington, D. C. returned to China last year, leaving Atlanta the only zoo at the time in the U.S. to still have pandas, and those are scheduled to leave too.

The number of the furry envoys of friendship dwindled as relations between Washington and Beijing became less friendly. But last year, after a face-to-face meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden, Chinese President Xi Jinping suggested new pandas could be on their way. Their preservation something both countries can agree on.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): The cooperation has made positive contributions to improving giant panda conservation research and enhancing people to people friendship.

NEWTON: The National Zoo says it, too, will get a new pair of pandas from China later this year. That's good for the global panda population, which is classified as vulnerable, according to the World Wildlife Fund and good for a generation of Children in the U.S. waiting for Yun Chuan and Xin Bao to make their debut. The joy of seeing the beloved creatures up close and in person, the very best part of panda diplomacy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's never seen pandas before. But how do you feel about pandas coming?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Happy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Happy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Thank you, Paula.

All right. It was a championship celebration this morning as the Florida Panthers marked their first Stanley Cup title with a parade and rally.

Fort Lauderdale was ready for hundreds of thousands of fans to celebrate with the team as the Stanley Cup made its way down the route.

Attendees were encouraged to stay cool in their Panther pride, with officials warning that jerseys might be too thick for Florida's humidity.

And the Panthers beat the Edmonton Oilers in game seven, Monday, to capture the first NHL championship in franchise history. Congrats to them.

And thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

The CNN Newsroom continues with Alisyn Camerota right now.