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Suspect Posted Violent Imagery, Gun Violent Scenes; Ukraine Shifting Defenses after Fall of Luhansk Region; Ukraine war Enters New Phase as Russia Captures Luhansk; Six People Killed, Suspect in Custody; Fears that Fertility Apps could be used to Prosecute Women; "Minions" Movie Scores Big on Opening Weekend. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired July 05, 2022 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: I'm Eleni Giokos in for my colleague Becky Anderson. Hello and welcome to "Connect the World". A
crisis unique to America has rocked the country again another mass shooting more horrifying deaths and injuries.
And this one stands out for the time and the place that it happened at a parade on July 4th celebrating America's Independence Day, a gunman with a
high powered weapon firing on parade goers in Highland Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. Six people killed dozens more injured the suspect in
custody today and you're about to see video of the chaos as the shots rang out. I must warn you it is disturbing.
Now the Mayor of Highland Park, Illinois says the 22 year old suspect legally purchased the weapon used in the shooting Adrienne Broaddus has
more on the attack and the possible missed warning signs about the suspects.
(BEGIN VIDEOTPAE)
ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): And the reality of what unfolded along this parade route is beginning to settle. But as the reality
settles, there's another layer of grief. As members of this community learn more about the people who died.
BROADDUS (voice over): As Americans across the country celebrated the Fourth of July shots rang out Monday from a rooftop in Highland Park, a
suburb North of Chicago.
ZOE PAWELCZAK, SHOOTING WITNESS: It was the loudest thing I've heard. That's not like natural was allowed. And it was just endless.
BROADDUS (voice over): On the ground. This video shows the chaos as people who attended the parade ran for their lives. At least six people were
killed, and more than two dozen sent to hospitals, some in serious condition. There were ages ranging from eight to 85 years old.
BRIGHAM TEMPLE, NORTH SHORE UNIVERSITY HEALTH SYSTEM: Of the 25 who came in with gunshot wounds. 19 of those individuals were able to be treated and
actually discharged home after they had had their full medical evaluation and treatment. Several others did arrive in more serious conditions and did
have to be admitted.
BROADDUS (voice over): Many witnesses, including a state senator are describing the scene as frantic.
SEN. JULIE MORRISON (D-IL): We saw were a couple of women who came running back through the parade screaming crying saying there was a shooter and it
still just didn't ring true with me.
Then there was a wave of people, hundreds of people, moms carrying kids and dads and all people running weaving between the cars running back away from
the parade. And then we knew it was real.
BROADDUS (voice over): Zoe Pawelczak intended the parade with her father and said she and others initially thought the Pops were fireworks. But she
sensed something was wrong. I just grabbed
PAWELCZAK: My dad and we ran and suddenly everyone was running behind us there was a girl just died. Another man was shot in the ear blood all over
his face. It was just so surreal. It's complete shock.
BROADDUS (voice over): Danielle Pettibone said her daughter was at the Highland Park Parade with a relative. She described the moment she learned
about what happened.
DANIELLE PETTIBONE, HIGHLAND PARK RESIDENT: I woke up to a text saying that we were just involved in the shooting at Highland Park, but we're all OK
and Sophia is OK and it really scared me that could have been her and it really just tears me apart that think anyone I don't know who lost their
lives today.
BROADDUS (voice over): A manhunt immediately ensued and by Monday evening, police took into custody Robert E. Crimo III. This video capturing the
moment the suspect was taken into custody. Crimo posted several online music videos on major streaming outlets and a personal website. At least
three of those music videos feature troubling lyrics and seems depicting gun violence.
The videos appear to have been posted and 2021 just days after signing into law, the first major federal gun safety legislation in decades, President
Joe Biden responding to yet another man shooting.
[11:05:00]
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We got a lot more work to do. We got to get this under control.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROADDUS: And Earlier I spoke with the mayor of Highland Park, who told me she knew the suspect as a young child. She was his pack leader in Cub
Scouts. But now she's struggling to come to terms with the fact that her Former Cub Scout is now a suspect accused of killing six people. Adrienne
Broaddus CNN, Highland Park, Illinois.
GIOKOS: That was the 308th mass shooting in the U.S. in 2022. Surprisingly, that number is now up to 315 and the year is barely half over. CNN's
Stephen Collinson has a story online about gun violence in America. And he says a common sentiment of people caught up in such mass shootings is the
disbelief that their community which they have considered safe has been hit but in a nation awash in guns.
Nowhere does immune have to think about the possibility of mass shootings at a school or a movie theater or a place of worship has now become part of
life since it's happened so often. Stephen Collinson joins me now from Washington. Stephen, there's something else that you wrote you said the
result of America's incessant mass shootings will likely now see Republicans to try to point to other factors.
Besides the availability of guns, I want to talk about the gun safety legislation that Adrienne Broaddus spoke of that was just signed into law.
I want you to explain to me why that wouldn't have helped prevent this attack?
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: Right. So that gun safety legislation was pretty modest when you look at the scale of the problem,
but it was what was able to get through the Congress because of course, Republicans see any infringement on gun.
And the type of guns people can use as an infringement on the constitutional right to bear arms, that legislation made it a little bit
more difficult and a longer process for someone between the ages of 18 and 21 to get a gun.
It poured more resources around the country into mental health facilities, it encourage states to make it harder for people who have a diagnosed
mental illness or some kind of condition or who are considered a threat to get a gun, but it didn't mandate it. But it did nothing to take the kind of
assault weapons which appears to have been used, in this case off the streets.
And those are the weapons that are generally used in these mass shootings, in places like that elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, in a supermarket
shooting in Buffalo, New York, which killed 10 people recently. There's a majority of support in the United States to get those guns off the street. But the fact that the Republican Party and conservatives see
this almost as an article of faith that people should be allowed these weapons means you cannot get legislation through the Congress to actually
do that.
GIOKOS: Yes, exactly. I mean, you mentioned Uvalde, and that was absolutely harrowing, you know, international community watching on and you're calling
this sort of the ritual of gun violence because that would it feels like.
I want us to bring up that map, again, with the dots of all the mass shootings around the U.S. You mentioned the grocery store, bars, parties,
church, school, hospitals, subways, hotels, car shows, it seems that no way in the U.S. you're immune, or you have to think twice about going out.
You mentioned the Republican Party, are they going to be hiding behind mental illness and saying there are other symptoms that we need to fix here
because I think about some of the most dangerous areas in the world and you don't see mass shootings at this scale, which are so random, which it makes
us a uniquely American issue?
COLLINSON: Right. And of course, this was a July the fourth shooting a quintessentially American holiday, and a quintessentially American tragedy
that brought that home. You know the problem for people who want to see more gun reform is that it is almost impossible for a Republican lawmaker
who wants to have a political career, to put their necks out and say we have to get rid of high powered rifles that are causing these issues
because they are so popular and people in the Republican voting base believe that's a quintessential part of being an American, as well.
So that's where the problem comes in. You know, gun rights, and gun safety campaigners have basically decided that you have to do it incrementally.
That's the way reform has always been done in America because of the political system.
But it's very, very difficult to see how the political calculation changes? You know, the biggest threat to Republican lawmakers is being primary
losing their seat to run for the party nomination before they get to a general election and the political incentives are just not there.
[11:10:00]
GIOKOS: Yes.
COLLINSON: So while privately some of them may say that, you know, this isn't just a mental health problem, obviously, the fact there are millions
of assault rifles on American streets makes this worse. Publicly, that's a very difficult position for them to sustainably have. And until Democrats
get massive majorities in the Congress, which seems very, very unlikely, the political equation here isn't going to change.
GIOKOS: Stephen Collinson thank you so much for that analysis. And please go online and read Stephens' "Meanwhile in America" newsletter, he talks
more about America's epidemic of gun violence and you can follow his essays on the State of American Affairs.
Now applause for Sweden and Finland today from NATO, both countries have now taken a step closer to officially becoming members of the military
alliance. A short time ago NATO signed what's known as the session protocols for both nations, Finland and Sweden will now be able to take
part in meetings but won't be able to vote on decisions.
And that's because the next step in the ratification process involves gaining parliamentary approval in each NATO member nation. And the sense of
urgency is Kyiv because of Russia's war against Ukraine.
Alright there is not a single safe city in Donetsk region where there is no shelling now that's according to Ukrainian military official on the ground
in Donetsk, after effectively taking Luhansk. Russia is now focusing on Donetsk in its goal of capturing the entire Eastern Donbas region heavy
shelling is reported there.
Now pro-Russian separatists say Ukraine is heading back this unverified video is set to show the aftermath of a Ukrainian striker in Donetsk, CNN's
Phil Black is following the developments from Ukraine. Phil, good to see you!
You've been on the ground nearly Lysychansk the city that's just fallen could you give me a sense of what is going on the ground and also Russia's
aggression to now move closer to the Donetsk region?
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Eleni, the reality on the ground is that Ukraine has no way of stopping Russia's study of that not yet. Ukraine is
defending fiercely. It's not giving up ground easily. But in every defensive line, there has inevitably come the point where Russia's use of
artillery becomes so intense Ukrainians had no choice but to fall back.
We got a sense of what they're up against when we visited Siversk a small but important town now even closer to Russia's advancing lines. And as with
the rest of the region that Ukraine is desperately trying to defend there it is already within range of Russia's heavy weapons. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLACK (voice over): There is no easy safe way to the most eastern front lines at the Donbas. Russia has kept the highways so soldier's weapons
locals and deliveries must all take the back roads. This Red Cross operation is to Siversk the small town closest to the region's most intense
fighting.
The team unloads and very quickly families arrive to load up. The noise of war close and loud no one reacts. Natalia is collecting food for her
husband and two children. She says they can't leave the town because they fear losing their house and the vegetable garden they rely on to survive.
Only a fool isn't scared she says but there is no way out. We cannot leave our place.
Lyubov arrives with her young children. She says they have stayed as the Russians approach because she doesn't want to risk being separated from her
eldest daughter who lives in a nearby village. She says I called her once she told me they're not leaving. Then we lost connection. I don't even know
if she's OK.
Lyubov agrees to show us the home where she hopes they can safely wait out the war. It's a war to the other side of town. But we soon realize that
won't be possible. Their neighborhood is under fire, incoming artillery from somewhere close. So close you hear the artillery piece of fire and the
projectiles flight before impact?
[11:15:00]
BLACK (voice over): The shells fall within the same tight area again and again we saw all of this while only a little further to the east Russian
forces were claiming an important win taking the city of Lysychansk.
BLACK (on camera): Yes come to us. Good to go? The battlefield in Lysychansk is only a relatively short distance from here. This is likely to
be the front line very soon but already Russia has heavy weapons are falling among these people's homes in this town.
BLACK (voice over): It's not safe to stay close. But all of these people remain scared, confused, hoping beyond reason the violence to come will
pass them by.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLACK: What we saw in Siversk is really only a small sample of Russia's firepower of what it can use and is using across the frontlines of the
Donbas. It gives a powerful sense of why it is such an unequal fight.
And that's because Ukraine has few weapons that can project the same sort of impact upon Russian forces. But they hope to have more very soon. They
hope that more powerful modern weapons will be coming from Western allies.
And that will even the fight give them the chances perhaps they say to even take back some of that lost ground. But for the moment, their strategy is
holding on slowing down the Russian advance as best they can. And it looks like they are now set to hold on as best they can to the city of Sloviansk
one of the few remaining cities in the Donbas that Russia does not yet control but was to its northern edges.
The Ukrainian military says Russia is preparing forces for a new push and where Russian rockets and are falling over that city across his residential
areas on pretty much a daily basis. It is now so dangerous there those officials are telling civilians to get out as quickly as they can because
the Russians are getting closer and it is just too dangerous to stay, Eleni.
GIOKOS: Yes, Phil Black thank you so much! Now coming up next, what will Russia do next after gaining control of a key region in Eastern Ukraine?
We'll speak to CNN Military Analyst, General Wesley Clark about that in just a moment. And a little later, I'll be talking live to the Spokesperson
for just stop oil about why the Climate Group is targeting the oil world, stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:20:00]
GIOKOS: So as we've been mentioning the war in Ukraine appears to be entering a new phase after Russia's takeover of Luhansk in eastern Ukraine
with Donetsk, the other half of the Donbas region squarely in Vladimir Putin cites.
Russian strikes are being reported across Donetsk, the Russian president turning up the heat in his offensive there and sending a very public
message to his troops making advances in eastern Ukraine.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT: The units that took part in the active military operation and achieved success and victory on the Luhansk
direction will decidedly have to rest grow their combat capabilities.
Other units, including the east and west formations will have to continue their mission according to the previously suggested plan. \
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Right, it's time to bring in CNN Military Analyst, General Wesley Clark, he's the former NATO Supreme Allied Commander and he joins me now
from Little Rock, Arkansas.
General, really good to see you, what is your assessment what Putin just said, success and victory. And you know people need to take rest, because
clearly he's got more planned. And do you think it's going to be to take over the Donbas region?
GEN. WESLEY CLARK, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: I think, first of all, Mr. Putin believes he's winning. He's also using psychological warfare against the
West. So he wants to make sure we feel like Ukraine is losing, and especially wants Ukraine to feel like its losing.
Now, here's the awful truth. Ukraine has not received sufficient weapons and munitions from the west to be able to stop this Russian offensive. And
the way it works in artillery battles, there's a sort of law of large numbers.
So if you start with a 50 percent advantage in numbers of tubes, after a few days, you'll end up with much larger than a 50 percent advantage after
you're destroyed the other side's artillery.
And in this case, the Russians began with more than a 50 percent advantage. They had, in some cases, three, four times as much artillery. So if we
don't surge, weaponry in there, this Ukrainian defense is going into fall pretty rapidly.
And this is the real danger to the west; Mr. Putin's ambitions are not limited to Donbas. Now, he may be projecting that to the Russian people
just as a safe side, but he said up front, he wants all of Ukraine, he wants to eradicate Ukraine, he wants the land.
He wants to see himself as a new Peter the Great. This means taking back the Baltic States. This means a conflict with NATO. And I would just say to
our European friends who might be watching this program, that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said, we've got to get these weapons to Ukraine with
the speed of war. Well, that hasn't happened.
GIOKOS: Why do you think that hasn't happened, General because our reporter just said and he said this to me, there was just no way could Ukraine find
back. And that's why they had to give up Lysychansk.
He said it's an unequal fight, and they just don't have the weaponry that could match what the Russians are using. So the question is, despite
because you've seen commitments coming through, why hasn't it gone through quick enough? Where do you think it is being delayed?
GEN. CLARK: Well, as I was saying, they don't have the weapons, and we haven't given them the sufficient weapons, and it's not gotten there fast
enough now, why not? I think every national leader needs to ask him that question.
In every case, there's some explanation and there's a law, there's a parliament, there's concerns there, Russia might, Ukraine might shoot into
Russia, we have to get a pledge bah, bah, bah.
But the truth is this is war. And you can look at the faces of these people on CNN and see what this tragedy is. This is the largest ethnic cleansing
in Europe since World War Two.
And there's nothing to assure us that Putin is going to stop with Donbas. In fact, the basic laws of warfare are that if you have a big breakthrough,
and you're rolling, don't stop. So all this talk - let's get a ceasefire. Let's have peace.
So how is this going to end? It's not going to end well. And it's not going to be a ceasefire. - Putin believes he can't win. And that's the simple
truth or is it Macrone last week, got to deliver the goods to Ukraine.
GIOKOS: General, thank you for reminding us of some of the messaging that Putin has shared with the world and perhaps we have to take more literally.
I want to ask you a question because you've done that you know, you've been in conflict before and you were NATO's Alliance Supreme Allied Commander in
1997.
And your decisions as Commander helped and the conflict in Kosovo, what would your recommendations be?
[11:25:00]
GIOKOS: What would your suggestions be to NATO right now having being in a position where you're, you know, heading up against the strong man?
GEN. CLARK: You have to achieve escalation dominance that is you have to persuade your opponent, that no matter how many resources he throws into
it, he's going to lose. And in this case, it should be relatively easy to do.
The Russian military is 85 percent committed right now in Ukraine. But you can't rely on 18 artillery pieces coming from Germany or France, to turn
the tide. Ukraine needs several 100 artillery pieces, several 100 tanks, they need fighter aircraft.
They need long range - not four systems, but 40 or 100. So we're pecking at the edges of this. It's just Oh, we were trying to say, well, look, we're
trying to help but we don't want to help too much. We better help a lot right now because it's much better to defeat Russia and Ukraine, to have to
rearm all of NATO and be prepared for an attack on the Baltic.
GIOKOS: Are you saying that NATO should be directly involved in some way? Are you just saying the weaponry needs, you need to just see a more
aggressive push on weaponry into Ukraine?
GEN. CLARK: Right now, it's just weaponry. But if there's a big breakthrough, and Putin's armies are rolling across Western Ukraine, and
you've got a nation of 40 million people about to be subjugated and destroyed.
NATO, we'll have to think about this, because this will change the threat to NATO. You know, in the 1990s, we recognized you could not provide
security for NATO, if you allowed instability in the rest of Europe. So we went out of --that's a tough decision to make. It may be forced on NATO.
GIOKOS: General Wesley Clark, always good to see you. Thank you so much.
GEN. CLARK: Thank you.
GIOKOS: Now ahead on the show, the U.S. staff has yet another gun massacre as it celebrated Independence Day, more on the cool attack on a Chicago
area parade. And what's been called a bitter journey for crisis hit Sri Lanka with fuel on the verge of running up, that's all coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:30:00]
GIOKOS: On the day after yet another mass shooting in the U.S. many people are asking themselves will anything ever really be done about gun control,
terrifying witness account so emerging from families who would gather just outside Chicago for a parade celebrating American Independence Day.
They are describing how hundreds of people ran for cover as a gunman killed parade goers with a high powered rifle from a rooftop. Six people died over
two dozen were sent to hospitals.
CNN's John Berman spoke with the local obstetrician who stepped in to help victims at the scene.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN BERMAN, CNN REPORTER: The people who were killed were killed instantly.
DR. DAVID BAUM, HELPED TREAT SHOOTING VICTIMS AT HIGHLAND PARK PARADE: There were - when the paramedics finally arrived because it took a couple
minutes. Obviously they weren't ready for a mass casualty situation.
But the people who were gone were blown up by that gunfire, blown up blown up. The horrific scene of some of the baddies is unspeakable for the
average person. I mean, having been a physician, I've seen things in ERs and, you know, you do see lots of blood.
But the bodies were literally some of the bodies where there was an evisceration injury from the power of this gun and the bullets. There was
another person who had an unspeakable head injury unspeakable, unspeakable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
So these are the bullets and guns that 18 year olds have a right to shoot down on a parade in a sleepy little community July fourth parade.
GIOKOS: Well, the 22 year old suspect is in custody. Josh Campbell joins me now live from Highland Park, Illinois near Chicago. Josh, to give me a
sense of where they are with the investigation, what more do we know about the suspects?
JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Eleni, there are two parts of this investigation that are underway that there's what's happening behind
us the forensic side. And we just saw a team of FBI agents and analysts coming through what's called the Evidence Response Team, walking
methodically through this crime scene looking for any potential evidence, such as rounds of ammunition, shell casings, anything else that they can
use to build this case against this suspect that we know have been taken into custody.
So there will presumably be a prosecution, the FBI, obviously gathering as much evidence as they can from the carnage that happened behind me, one
witness described this as a battlefield.
Now as that is happening, there's also what's happening behind the scenes. We know that investigators are looking into the suspects digital footprint,
I'm told from law enforcement sources that he had a very robust online presence to include some very troubling videos that are raising questions
about whether there were potentially warning signs here that were missed.
In one video, one of many, you see what's being described as an animation where there's this figure in this cartoon that resembles the suspect who
goes about conducting an attack using a weapon.
There's also a lot more graphic scenes involving blood and the like. So again, the suspects online social media presents very troubling, but key
focus for law enforcement officers as they tried to piece together exactly what happened here and why the shooter came to an independent state parade,
opening fire killing six and ruining dozens of others, Eleni.
GIOKOS: Yes, it's tragic and just hearing some of the eyewitness accounts. From what we understand, could you take us through this? It was from a
Windows, so he wasn't actually on the ground. He was firing shots from above. Could you tell us what we know on that front?
CAMPBELL: That's right. One of these buildings behind me was what law enforcement officers are describing a snipers masks whereas this parade was
going on the suspect was up on the roof, firing down indiscriminately into this crowd.
Now we're learning about the type of weapon that was used. Authorities say that this was a high powered rifle, of course, and so many mass shootings
across the country, we've seen this same type of weapon use, which is easy to obtain in the United States of America.
The mayor of this city is speaking out on how easy it is to access these weapons, take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NANCY ROTERING, HIGHLAND PARK, ILLINOIS MAYOR: So I think it's important to note that our assault weapons ban and large capacity magazine ban is
reflective of the values of our community. And what I would love for people to hear from all of this is obviously, obviously we have a problem in this
country if we have weekly mass shootings involving these weapons of war, and it's important for us to talk about how to provide that protection on a
broader scale.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMPBELL: So that firearm obviously a key focus of the investigation. And it's also becoming a focus of lawmakers who are saying look yet again, in
the United States of America; we are seeing the same type of weapon being used to slaughter innocent people.
Of course we've seen over 300 mass shootings here in the United States this year alone. This attack at this festival here yesterday on July 4 showing
that in the United States sadly there are no holidays from mass shootings, Eleni.
[11:35:00]
GIOKOS: Josh Campbell, thank you very much for that update. Now let's get you up to speed on some other stories that are on our radar. A Turkish
official say security forces fired on a vehicle carrying migrants when it failed to stop.
A child was killed and 12 people were injured. One report says the victim was a four year old boy from Afghanistan. It happened in Turkey's Eastern
van Province, which borders Iran, and that's a common migrant route.
In Australia, more than 50,000 people across New South Wales are being told to evacuate their homes more having rain is battering the region and
raising the risk of flash flooding.
The Australian government has declared the floods and natural disaster to help free up emergency funds. Italy meanwhile declaring a state of
emergency and five northern states the region has been hit by the worst drought in 70 years.
The effects can be seen most dramatically here at the river Pope. Whole regions rely on it for hydropower drinking water, transportation and
irrigation.
The death toll is rising from the unprecedented torrential rains in northeastern India. Indian officials say at least 47 people were killed
when landslides hit the state of money for last week.
It happened at a construction camp set up to build a local railway station. Dozens of people are still missing. Cash strapped and facing its worst
financial crisis in decades.
Sri Lanka says it's struggling to pay for fuel shipments on Sunday, the energy minister told reporters the country had less than a day's worth of
fuel left. And the Prime Minister is warning of what he calls a difficult and bitter journey. CNN's Vedika Sud shows us what Sri Lankans are facing.
VEDIKA SUD, CNN REPORTER: The island nation of Sri Lanka continues to real under severe economic crisis. Speaking on the roadmap for recovery Sri
Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who address Parliament Tuesday said that ongoing talks with the International Monetary Fund is a more
difficult and complicated situation. Previous discussions with the IMF are as a developing country, but now Sri Lanka is negotiating as a bankrupt
country. He said the government will present a debt restructuring program to the IMF by August to secure a bailout package.
Foreign exchange reserves to bring food medicine petrol and diesel into the island for its roughly 22 million residents have nearly run out.
According to the prime minister by the end of this year, inflation will rise to 60 percent. Facing an unprecedented fuel and food crisis, the
country's power and energy minister on Sunday said Sri Lanka had less than a day's worth of fuel.
The minister also said authorities are struggling to pay for future fuel shipments. Amid the unprecedented fuel shortage schools have been closed on
the 10th of July fuel supplies have been limited to essential services.
The Salvation nation needs at least 5 billion U.S. dollars to pull itself out of its worst economic crisis since independence. Months of street
demonstrations forced a change in government in May this year. Vedika Sud, CNN, New Delhi.
GIOKOS: U.S. President Joe Biden is nearing a decision on a lifting tariffs on certain goods from China. Sources familiar with his thinking say he has
not made a final decision as yet and the timing of any announcement remains uncertain.
In recent internal White House meetings, he's implied he favors lifting tariffs and some consumer goods.
Now if it does happen, it's expected to have a limited impact on curbing high inflation. Now, American WNBA star Brittney Griner is making a
personal plea to President Biden to help get her back home. She's on trial in Russia and drug smuggling charges.
The basketball player was arrested at a Moscow airport a week before Russia invaded Ukraine. Here's part of her letters to the U.S. president writing
as I sit here in a Russian prison alone with my thoughts and without the protection of my wife, family, friends, Olympic jersey or any
accomplishments.
I'm terrified, I might be here forever. I realize you're dealing with so much but please don't forget about me and the other American detainees,
please do all you can to bring us home.
Now many a woman use apps to track their periods but in the U.S. some fear that could be risky. Now that Roe vs. Wade is gone, that story just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:40:00]
GIOKOS: The July 4th holiday was bittersweet for some Americans who celebrated freedom while seeing some rights erode. In several cities
supporters of abortion rights use the day to protest the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe vs. Wade.
In the wake of that decision, some American women are afraid information they store infertility and period tracking apps could be used against them.
CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
INDIA MCKINNEY, DIR, OF FEDERAL AFFAIRS, ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION: Any data related to reproduction is profitable.
VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Our data is everywhere, and it's for sale. Now that Roe v. Wade is overturned. Law enforcement
could use a woman's personal data to bring criminal charges if they suspect she's received any legal abortion.
MCKINNEY: There is no difference in the data from your reproductive choices than the pair of shoes you looked at online. It's treated exactly the same
in the law right now. And that's what the problem is.
YURKEVICH (voice over): As states tighten their abortion laws, prosecutors could go after people seeking an abortion or those helping them by
subpoenaing data linked on fertility apps, period trackers and on internet searches.
Companies currently sell that kind of data mainly to advertisers because it's profitable.
DANIELLE CITRON, LAW PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Data brokers, law enforcement buy information from them all of the time, it could be used to
incriminate us, for women and girls who obtain abortions in violation of state laws. And it can be used to let people in jail.
YURKEVICH (voice over): Fertility and period tracking apps have some of the most sensitive reproductive information. But since Roe v. Wade was
overturned flow a period tracking app which says they have 240 million users announced an anonymous mode where users will be able to limit their
personal information.
But members are encouraged to reach out to the company if they want their historical data removed.
YURKEVICH (on camera): How can you fully protect against a member's data not being revealed?
ELINA BERGLUND SCHERWITZI, FOUNDER & CEO, NATURAL CYCLES: We are making sure that's our anonymous mode that natural cycles will be impossible for
us to connect the personal data and the sensitive data.
YURKEVICH (voice over): Elina Berglund Scherwitzl is the co-founder of Natural Cycles, who has access to that key that could only connect the
data. Natural Cycles is a subscription FDA approved birth control app that also helps those who want to get pregnant.
SCHERWITZI: We have very sensitive data on unintended pregnancies. But we are very much in control of that analysis and of that data.
YURKEVICH (voice over): CNN reached out to nearly a dozen big tech companies about how they would handle data requests through subpoenas and
warrants from law enforcement targeting abortion seekers. Some did not respond at all or directly to the question. Apple responded saying health
data is encrypted when two factor authentication is enabled.
[11:45:00]
YURKEVICH (voice over): While Meta says, "We comply with government requests for user information only where we have a good-faith belief that
the law requires us to do so.
CITRON: They could fight warrants in court. But if the warrants are upheld, they're going to be ordered to comply.
YURKEVICH (voice over): Some legal experts don't believe even anonymous mode data is fully protected, and say the only way to fully protect privacy
is through federal law, eliminate the data companies can collect, store and sell.
CITRON: There's a lot of panic right now. And I think rightfully so about the feeling and the ability to trust and expect that the information about
most sensitive information about our bodies and our relationships and our health is ours.
YURKEVICH (voice over): Vanessa Yurkevich, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GIOKOS: And just ahead targeting some of the world's most famous artworks I'll be asking a climate activist from the Just Stop Oil group, why they're
protesting in art galleries. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladies and gentlemen, we are sorry for the disruption. Leonardo da Vinci said out of all the sciences, art is the queen of
communication.
GIOKOS: And climate activists from the Just Stop Oil group are sending their own message through the art world. Earlier today, they targeted an
16th century copy of Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper, thought to have been painted by one of his students.
They made their presence known at London's Royal Academy. And this comes one day after they glued themselves to a masterpiece in the nearby National
Gallery. We've got James Skeet, the spokesperson for Just Stop Oil joining us now he's in Manchester, England, James, thank you so very much for
joining us.
Look, your protests have created a lot of global headlines and some of those headlines are talking about just what kind of damage has been done to
the artwork. Do you think that people are more concerned about that as opposed to the actual message you're trying to send?
JAMES SKEET, SPOKESPERSON, JUST STOP OIL: Hi Eleni, lovely to speak to you. Well, first up the justifier coalition is demanding that we no new
investment in fossil fuel projects. And this is entirely in line with what the International Energy Agency are telling us what the United Nations are
telling us.
And in fact, the entire scientific consensus is telling us that there can be no new investment in fossil fuel projects if we want to ensure a Livable
Future. And what we're seeing is a result of the people terrified that, frankly, that their government is not taking any meaningful action on the
climate crisis.
GIOKOS: OK, but who are you actually speaking to through, you know, this protest action? Are you talking to the organizations? Are you talking to
the policymakers?
Are you trying to get people aware because it has been said that your actions are not really going to shift and move the needle when it comes to
the oil companies watching this and saying, well, you know, maybe we should not invest further in oil projects.
SKEET: Well I think that's a little historically illiterate time and again history shown that civil resistance is the most effective means of bringing
about the kind of societal shift that we need to see in a sort of timeframe that we have left.
[11:50:00]
SKEET: The fact of the matter is, is that we're out of time on this issue. Three weeks ago, 125 million Americans were under high heat warning. 122 it
was so hot in March in India is the hottest March and record in 122 years.
Birds were literally dropping out the sky, we are seeing crops fail worldwide and when crops fail, people - and - organizations collapse.
GIOKOS: Yes, so James, we've been covering so much of these stories, you know, we were covering so much of the climate catastrophes that are
happening in around the world.
But my question is, so that so I know you're saying civil disobedience sends a message. But do you think that corporates right now are watching
you saying you know what we've got to move, we've got to change our status.
We've got to change the way we think, because of the --you know, the statements you're making in art galleries and the statements you're making
at the Grand Prix. SKEET: The fact is, is that we're not going to get the required change from within the current economic and political paradigm. I
am calling on every able American, if you care about your community, you need it is your moral and civic duty to step into civil resistance at this
time.
Every future generation is dependent on what we do right now step into civil resistance and defend your children's future from this corporate
tyranny.
GIOKOS: Yes. And I get your sense of urgency. And I know we're in code red, and the climate agenda is absolutely a vital one. I was looking at sort of
your past, you know, even just this year, what you've been doing, you were blocking an oil rig.
At one point, you were saying that you're willing to all get arrested until your message hits home. And again, I asked you this, you know, our
policymakers calling up and saying, OK, how we can work together.
Oil companies calling you up and saying this is our plan going forward. You know, is it changing anything by you getting arrested at this point?
SKEET: Well, the fact of the matter is, is I'm on your program talking to 250 million people. With regards to changing policy, well, I think that
really highlights the criminality of at least the UK Government and I would say governments worldwide.
At the current time, at least in the UK, they are funneling 236 million pounds a week of taxpayers' money, subsidizing the most profitable industry
on Earth. This is when the Chief Executive of BP says he's got more money than he knows what to do with.
BP made 9.5 billion in profit last year, shell made 14 billion last year. The current political class exists as a mechanism to transfer wealth from
those that don't have it to those that do.
And that's why people are suffering with the cost of living crisis at the moment with our over dependence on fossil fuels.
GIOKOS: Yes, and I get that because there's also this argument, right, that industrialization is important. So that, you know, we don't increase the
inequality gap.
There's a fear that if you remove oil out of the market, what that would mean, it would mean a total collapse of systems as we know it. Are you and
your team understanding that there needs to be a transition?
And do you believe when policymakers are talking about a transition, then you know, through gas or LNG, and that is the way forward because there has
been a commitment. You know, during cop, there was a commitment.
You've got countries saying they want to bring down carbon emissions. Is that not something you believe in at this point?
SKEET: I think everything that said at COP was demonstratively false. The fact of the matter is our dependence on fossil fuels that leaves us
vulnerable to the fluctuations on the international energy market.
If we want to ensure energy security, we should be transitioning to renewables as fast as possible. They're faster, cheaper. We have every
technological capability to make this happen today, anyone telling you anything different is lying to you. GIOKOS: James, thank you very much.
Climate is something we're very passionate about. I certainly am good to speak to you. And thank you so much.
SKEET: Thank you very much Eleni.
GIOKOS: Now to a new movie, people are going - it established dominion over the theaters since it's released for the U.S. Independence Day weekend,
have a look. I'm so excited about this. OK. "Millions: The Rise of Gru" achieved the biggest ever opening over the long July 4 weekend bringing in,
wait for it $125 million in the U.S. alone. Whoever wrote the script is amazing.
The latest movie and the Despicable Me franchise shows Gru's origin story. Now while the movie boasts an all-star cast of voices its success is also
credited to a new trend on you guessed it, TikTok.
[11:55:00]
GIOKOS: Meet the gentle minions, the latest TikTok trend where the teenage boys get dressed in formal attire to watch the movie. Sporting ties, shirts
and blazers, the Minion mania is viral, and it's buzzing.
And to be honest, I can't blame them. Those pen sized overalls wearing millions really grew on me. OK, that's really exciting. I can't wait to get
to the movies to watch this one. It is absolutely fantastic.
We have more "Connect the World" coming for you tomorrow. I'll be joining you for that. Thank you so much for being with us today. Stay well and take
care.
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END
