CNN.com - Transcripts (2024)

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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and all around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

Both U.S. presidential candidates are back on the campaign trail after Thursday's CNN debate but all eyes were on Joe Biden as questions swirl around his ability to stay in the race.

In light of that debate, many in Ukraine are now wondering what's in store for them in the war with Russia. We will speak to a Ukrainian member of Parliament about how the country is reacting.

And we're expecting results from Iran's presidential election this hour. We'll go live to Tehran for the latest.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber.

BRUNHUBER: U.S. President Joe Biden says he isn't going to drop out of the race for the White House, despite his performance at Thursday's presidential debate. There are a number of people calling for him to step down, including "The New York Times" editorial board.

They wrote, "To serve his country. Biden should leave the race," saying, he "appeared on Thursday night as the shadow of a great public servant."

But on Friday, Biden was animated and enthusiastic as he spoke at a rally in North Carolina. He told the crowd that he doesn't debate as well as he used to. But he said he does have the energy and experience to run the country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm here in North Carolina for one reason because I intend to win this state in November.

(APPLAUSE)

BIDEN (voice-over): And we're going to see that (INAUDIBLE). I think -- I think we are. Roy's right. We win here, we win the election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Donald Trump didn't escape criticism for his debate performance. Democrats say he lied throughout the event. But at a rally in Virginia, the former president put focus on Biden.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Many people are saying that after last night's performance that Joe Biden is leaving the race. But the fact is, I don't really believe that because he does better in polls than any of the Democrats they're talking about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: We'll have more from Trump's rally ahead in this hour. CNN White House correspondent Arlette Saenz has more on the fallout from the debate and Biden's attempt to bounce back.

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BIDEN: When you get knocked down, you get back up.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Joe Biden in North Carolina, attempting a major reset after his debate against former president Donald Trump. One Democratic lawmaker telling CNN, Biden's performance was a disaster.

BIDEN: I know I'm not a young man. Say the obvious. I don't debate as well as I used to.

But I know what I do know. I know how to tell the truth.

SAENZ (voice-over): On the campaign trail, the president fiery in his attacks against his rival.

BIDEN: Donald Trump will destroy democracy, I will defend it.

SAENZ (voice-over): A stark contrast from Biden's showing at CNN's presidential debate, which has sent Biden's advisers scrambling behind the scenes to calm Democratic panic after moments like this.

BIDEN: Making sure that we're able to make every single solitary person eligible for what I've been able to do with the -- with the COVID -- excuse me -- with dealing with everything we had to do with -- look, if -- we finally beat Medicare.

TRUMP: Boy, he's right. He did beat Medicare, he beat it to death.

SAENZ (voice-over): Donald Trump seizing on Biden's struggles. TRUMP: I really don't know what he said at the end of that sentence. I

don't think he knows what he said, either.

SAENZ (voice-over): Even as he made multiple false claims and hedged yet again when asked directly if he would accept the results of this year's election.

TRUMP: If it's a fair and legal and good election, absolutely. I would have much rather accepted these but the fraud.

BIDEN: I doubt whether you'll accept it because you're such a whiner.

SAENZ (voice-over): But those moments overshadowed by Biden's shaky demeanor and delivery. Midway through the debate, aides explaining his hoarse voice was the result of a cold. Now the campaign facing questions about what comes next for the 81-year-old president.

PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Are they going to stick by him or are they going to come with pitchforks?

SAENZ (voice-over): Despite the slip-ups, many top Democrats defending Biden.

KAMALA HARRIS (D), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Yes, there was a slow start but it was a strong finish.

This election and who is the President of the United States has to be about substance. And the contrast is clear.

SAENZ (voice-over): Former President Barack Obama writing, "Bad debate nights happen. Trust me, I know. But this election is still a choice between someone who has fought for ordinary folks his entire life and someone who only cares about himself."

[04:05:04]

But in private, some Democrats less assured, questioning whether Biden should remain at the top of the ticket. Biden's team spent part of the day calling donors and lawmakers trying to ease concerns.

One adviser telling CNN, quote, "We are in a dark place but we're moving forward."

That path forward is ultimately up to Biden himself, who so far has shown no signs of backing down.

BIDEN: I give you my word as a Biden, I would not be running again if I didn't believe with all my heart and soul, I can do this job.

SAENZ: The president continued his campaign swing here in New York City, where he attended a fundraiser with LGBTQ+ supporters. A source familiar with the event told me the president was expected to raise $3 million for that event.

It comes on the heels of the campaign saying that they brought in $14 million around the debate, saying that that is the largest investment grassroots fundraising day since their campaign launch.

Now the president is expected to have three more fundraisers over the weekend.

But it all comes at a time when Democratic and Biden advisers spent a portion of the day on Friday on the phones, calling not just Democratic lawmakers but also Democratic donors who have expressed concerns about his campaign -- Arlette Saenz, CNN, traveling with the president in New York.

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BRUNHUBER: Natasha Lindstaedt is a professor of government at the University of Essex and she joins us live from Colchester, England.

Thanks so much for being here with us. So for all the build-up and the hype, studies suggest these presidential debates don't actually have that much influence on the outcome of elections. But this one might be different. I mean, this one could literally change the race.

NATASHA LINDSTAEDT, UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX: This was really bad. This was a test for Biden to allay concerns about his age. I think the debate was really all about Biden and showing that he was mentally and physically fit. And the bar was actually pretty low but the stakes were really high.

You had 70 percent of the American public that was going to be watching the debate and 16 percent of that public was undecided. And he just didn't do well. He fumbled quite a bit.

Meanwhile, Trump, who lied all the time, didn't directly answer any questions. He did a little bit better with this mic button feature because it made him less obnoxious and he was a little bit more measured. So the Democrats are reeling and they are in crisis mode.

We've had people remind everyone, well, you do have bad debates and there have been a history of incumbents having really bad first debates, whether it be Reagan in '84 or Bush in '92, Bush Jr. 200r, Obama in 2012.

But one of the things that I can't understand of what the Democrats were doing, I mean, I understand that they were reeling, that they were upset, that they were in crisis mode. Of course.

But why they were allowing to leak so much information to the press about the fact that they want to just jump ship and change candidates. These discussions should have been happening earlier. Of course. But they didn't seem to have a plan in place of who they're going to put, if they decide to drop Biden.

Why share all this information within 24 hours?

BRUNHUBER: Yes, it's a good question, of course, the Biden loyalists are saying all of this as a hysterical overreaction, to paraphrase Senator John Fetterman, "chill the heck (sic) out," -- my word there to replace his.

You've referenced President Obama, who had a rocky debate as an incumbent. He posted on social media, as we saw, "Bad debate nights happen. Trust me, I know."

But this seems like a bit of gaslighting, doesn't it?

It's not that Biden had a bad debate. It's that he seemed incapable of debate.

LINDSTAEDT: He did. He didn't come across very well, but there were pretty striking differences to the way he performed on Friday night at his rally in North Carolina, where he had a lot of energy, versus Thursday, where he wasn't feeling particularly well.

I mean, I don't know why they even allowed him to debate on Thursday if he was feeling that poorly. And his Friday performance, people could say, well, you know, he was he had a teleprompter. That's a lot easier, of course, than debating Donald Trump.

But the key thing was he just had more energy. So I think the Democrats are mishandling, yet again, the whole issue of the age, which, of course, is a big issue but they're mishandling it, because if you look at the other side, which is something I find much more disturbing, Republicans have a candidate who is a convicted felon.

A con man, a compulsive liar, he's convicted of rape by the civil trial. He slept with a p*rn star while his wife was married. He tried to stage a coup, put a bounty on his own vice president's head.

Says he's going to be dictator for the day. And in the debate, as your clip mentioned, he doubled down on answering the question, would he accept the election results?

And he said, well, only if it's free and fair. And that's code for only if I win.

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He poses a massive threat to U.S. democracy. And this is the most important election in our lifetime because he is such a major threat. And yet again, we're focusing on Biden's age, which is understandable in some ways, but also disturbing that we're not looking at the big picture and the bigger issues.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. I mean, I think certainly people are looking at both of those things but many Democrats aren't enthused going into this as poll numbers weren't very good. And certainly I can imagine they won't be helped by this performance.

And now as we've heard, there are calls that he should be replaced as the nominee.

I mean, is replacing him a delusional fantasy?

Do you think I mean, it would seem a much clearer path if he were to step down, then they could just nominate someone at the convention.

But if he doesn't what then?

What do you see happening?

LINDSTAEDT: I think the Democrats are in a rock and a hard place here because this idea of replacing him should have come much earlier. Should have come two years ago.

And it didn't. They didn't do enough to try to promote Kamala Harris and improve her approval rating. Her approval rating is worse than Biden's and that's a concern because people are thinking, well, if he doesn't do well, then Kamala Harris will be in place.

And they put her in portfolios that weren't particularly great, like the issue of immigration. Still would have been better had she had a better approval rating. They haven't been discussing who the alternative is going to be.

And when mentioning the names, none of the names look good. If you look at some of the governors from, let's say, Pennsylvania or Michigan or Colorado or Illinois, they won in 2022 by a 10 point margin but they're not nationwide names.

You have Gavin Newsom, who most people know, but his approval rating is 52 percent in California. So I don't know what it would be nationally. So there are a lot of good options for the Democrats.

And it's really unlikely that Biden is going to step down. I think he is committed to running. And it's really he alone that is going to make this decision. He has to agree that he's going to step aside and I don't see him doing that.

BRUNHUBER: We'll have to leave it there but always appreciate your expertise. Natasha Lindstaedt, thanks so much.

LINDSTAEDT: Thanks for having me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: So as we mentioned earlier, Trump took a debate night victory lap at a campaign rally in Virginia.

He framed the election as a choice between strength and weakness. And he also called Joe Biden's competency into question following the president's shaky debate night performance. CNN's Kristen Holmes was there.

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KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In his first rally post debate in Chesapeake, Virginia, Donald Trump addressed Thursday night's performance.

He talked about what happened on that stage and he said that he believed he was victorious. Now this is something that we had heard from his senior advisors. They had been almost giddy after Donald Trump left the stage on Thursday.

But Donald Trump stopped short of some of the vicious personal attacks that we had heard from those top campaign advisers. Take a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Despite the fact that crooked Joe Biden spent the entire week at Camp David, resting, working, studying, he studied very hard.

He studied so hard that he didn't know what the hell he was doing.

He got the debate rules that he wanted, he got the date that he wanted. He got the network that he wanted with the moderators he wanted. No amount of rest or reeking (ph) could help him defend his atrocious record.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now obviously, Donald Trump agreed to the same format, rules and network that Joe Biden did. The other thing that was interesting was that Donald Trump never addressed Joe Biden's age.

In fact, he said he didn't believe his performance was about age, that he thought it was about incompetency. Obviously, as we know, Donald Trump himself is a little bit self conscious when talking about Joe Biden's age as he is just not far behind him.

The other thing Trump said, he doesn't believe Biden is going to drop out of the race, actually saying it's because he thinks he polls higher than the other Democrats, whose names are being floated -- Kristen Holmes, CNN, Chesapeake, Virginia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: All right. After the break, European media have harsh words for Joe Biden after his halting debate performance. That and more international reaction next.

Plus reactions to the debate from a Ukrainian member of parliament and what he thinks about a possible Trump presidency next. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: U.S. President Joe Biden is battling calls for him to abandon his candidacy after his unsteady debate performance with Donald Trump on Thursday. But his campaign says he's staying in the race. Biden stressing on the campaign trail as he has the energy and

experience for a second term, even as his dismal showing resonates around the world. Have a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: I'm Nic Robertson in London, where British newspapers unanimously declared, "Democrats Panic."

It was the same across Europe. Meanwhile, in Moscow, state media lampooned Biden's frailty, saying at times he didn't know where he was or even what he was saying.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: I'm Jeremy Diamond in Jerusalem, where the U.S. presidential debate is the number two news story tonight, right after the prospect of war in Lebanon.

And like in the U.S., political analysts here calling this debate a Trump knockout and wondering whether Democrats will replace Biden at the top of the ticket.

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Patrick Oppmann in Havana, where many Cubans say they are worried about President Joe Biden's chances for reelection. During his presidency, Donald Trump placed some of the toughest sanctions on Cuba in decades.

And some Cubans say they are fearful of what a second Trump administration could mean for their island.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: There's a lot online for Ukraine in the upcoming U.S. election. During the debate, the two candidates battled over the war and blamed each other for Russia's invasion.

Biden slammed Trump for encouraging Russian president Vladimir Putin to do whatever he wants and warned that Putin won't stop if he takes Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Trump questioned the amount of U.S. aid going to Kyiv while claiming he will end the war before he takes office.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: He's given $200 billion.

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That's a lot of money. I don't think there's ever been anything like it. Every time that Zelenskyy comes to this country, he walks away with $60 billion. He's the greatest salesman ever. And I'm not knocking him. I'm not knocking anything.

I'm only saying the money that we're spending on this war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: Putin is a war criminal. He's killed thousands and thousands of people. And he has made one thing clear. He wants to reestablish what was part of the Soviet empire. Not just a piece. He wants all of Ukraine. That's what he wants. And then you think he'll stop there?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: I'd like to bring in Ukrainian member of parliament, Oleksiy Goncharenko. He's joining us via Skype from (INAUDIBLE), France.

Thank you so much for being here with us. So with the stakes so high, many Ukrainians must have been watching this with bated breath. I want to quote something from the editor of the "Kyiv Independent," who posted this on social media.

"After this debate, it feels like we're lying on the railroad tracks, a freight train coming at us with no brakes and the guy who could have switched the tracks just turned and walked away. And between us and the train is only the possibility of a miracle."

Now does that reflect the way many Ukrainians feel today, do you think?

OLEKSIY GONCHARENKO, UKRAINIAN MP: I think -- hello, first of all. And I think it's a little bit exaggerated.

Definitely Ukrainians are following what's happening in the United States. And we are following U.S. election. And people are following debate of the candidates to the president in the United States.

We're not so desperate like it could sound from the comment to you quoted. But definitely we're very concerned because we more or less understand what means for Ukraine a Biden presidency.

And we really don't know what means for Ukraine a Trump presidency. It can be very good. It can be very bad. We just don't know. And that's definitely concerning.

But I want to react on what was said because I think we don't respect Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump. The most important is American people. They should understand why the United States support Ukraine. And I just want to tell them ,that thinking about these $200 billion, first of all, it's not the right number.

Secondly, it just a tiny portion of this was sent to Ukraine with bare (ph) money. The majority, big majority of this money, that is weaponry which was produced on Ukraine or house on American factories, giving jobs to American people.

Great in Texas, in the United States of America. And Ukraine never seen this as money but as a weaponry. Sure, it's important to understand. And with this weaponry, we're fighting against Russian Federation, which openly holds the United States is the biggest enemy. And they are one of the biggest rival of the United States.

BRUNHUBER: I want to ask you, Ukrainian politicians like yourselves, they promised to work with whoever wins in terms of the presidential you know contest. But obviously I would be easier to work with someone who declared their support for your country rather than Trump, who seems so sure that Putin will win.

Now I want to play you something from the debate, talking, when he says "he," he means Putin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: And he's going to take Ukraine and you asked me a question before, would you do this with -- he's got us in such a bad position right now with Ukraine and Russia because Ukraine's not winning that war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: "Ukraine's not winning that war," he says.

I mean, how, how do you react to that?

GONCHARENKO: We are winning this war because Putin wanted to eliminate Ukraine from the map of the world and to go further and he couldn't.

So we've already won the war for independence. But yes, we have problems we in the world with (INAUDIBLE) territorial integrity. But I think it was speaking about Mr. Trump. He likes to be winner. He likes to be praised.

And I think he can win in Ukraine and that's something we will explain to Mr. Trump, if he will be elected president, that Ukraine can be his story of success. And I think that every president looks for such stories.

So again, definitely what Mr. Trump is saying, some of his moves are very worrying for us.

BRUNHUBER: Yes.

GONCHARENKO: But it's not equal what he says and what he will do, I think.

BRUNHUBER: Well, let's talk about what he will do, because he has been consistently critical about giving support to Ukraine.

His language around President Zelenskyy in this debate wasn't particularly flattering. He promised to settle the war before his first day in office, essentially. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Every time that Zelenskyy comes to this country, he walks away with $60 billion. He's the greatest salesman ever. And I'm not knocking him. I'm not knocking anything. I'm only saying the money that we're spending on this war and we shouldn't be spending, it should have never happened.

[04:25:00]

I will have that war settled between Putin and Zelenskyy as president- elect before I take office on January 20th, I'll have that war settled.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: So to the how that he's -- would plan to do that,

I mean, Reuters is reporting that two Trump advisers have given him a plan to end the war in Ukraine and it involves telling Ukraine it will only get more U.S. weapons if it enters into peace talks and then telling Moscow that, if it doesn't negotiate, then the U.S. would increase support for Ukraine.

Obviously, we don't know whether that's what Trump would actually do if he were to win. But it's not the first time we've heard that kind of ultimatum coming from some right-wing circles.

So how would the government react to that kind of ultimatum?

GONCHARENKO: The question is, we also want peace as soon as possible. We don't want the war. We are suffering from these word of mouth. But the question is worth the price and what are conditions.

So if Mr. Trump means that if he will become president he will make Putin leave Ukraine, just applauds from me. If he means that if he will win the election, he will abandon Ukraine and Putin could take Ukraine, that I just want to tell you that will be the worst thing, not just for Ukraine but for U.S. security.

Because it will mean that United States lost the war, lost this big money and weaponry which was sent, lost its position of a world leader and all other dictators, like Chairman Xi, Kim Jong-un and others will decide that United States are weak.

So they will attack and they will attack everywhere. So that will be a disaster. So that's why I mean we don't know what really president Trump means when he's saying what he says.

BRUNHUBER: Listen, really great to get your perspective on this. Alexia Goncharenko in sizable (ph) France, thank you so much for being here with us.

GONCHARENKO: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Russia says at least five people are dead, including two children, after a new wave of Ukrainian drone strikes overnight. Now the statement says one drone struck a residential building in the Western Kursk region, leaving two more people injured.

Officials say it was part of a larger barrage of strikes across Russia and say most of the drones were shot down by air defenses.

All right, after the break, calls for Biden to step aside continue. But how simple is it to replace him as nominee?

We will have more on that next. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Breaking news coming out of Tehran. We now know the results of Iran's presidential election. The country's election headquarters announced moments ago that no candidate received more than 50 percent of the votes.

That means the top two contenders, reformist lawmaker Masoud Pezeshkian and hardline, former nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, will face each other in a run-off on July 5th.

Now the election follows the death of Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash in late May and comes amid heightened tensions in the Middle East. Domestically, the country faces a struggling economy with inflation over 36 percent.

Now this is also the first presidential election since the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the country's notorious morality police, following her arrest for wearing her hijab improperly.

That sparked the largest protests since the regime's founding in 1979. More on election results in a live report from Tehran coming up shortly.

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BRUNHUBER: Joe Biden is grappling with calls for him to exit the presidential race after his controversial debate showing. But the U.S. President says he isn't going anywhere. Meanwhile, his Republican rival is being criticized for his own false and misleading statements.

During the showdown, Donald Trump incorrectly claimed again that everyone wanted Roe v. Wade overturned, with the power to set abortion policy punted back to the U.S. states. Repeated polls have shown most Americans want a landmark court decision preserved.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: He said we'll put the baby aside and we'll determine what we do with the baby, meaning we'll kill the baby. What happened is we brought it back to the states and the country is now coming together on this issue. It's been a great thing.

BIDEN: A terrible thing what you're doing. The fact is that the vast majority of constitutional scholars supported Roe when it was decided, supported Roe. And that was, that's this idea that they were all against it, it is just ridiculous. The idea that states are able to do this is a little like saying, we're going to turn civil rights back to the states.

Let each state have a different rule.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: So as President Biden fights to save his campaign, there's said to be panic among Democrats at the highest levels.

And some may be asking the question, what are the options to replace Biden now?

CNN's Jason Carroll reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BIDEN: When you get knocked down, you get back out.

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Joe Biden tried to tamp down concerns during his speech in North Carolina today, after his dismal debate performance last night, so disappointing some members of his own party founded hard to spin their way out of it.

REP. GREGORY MEEKS (D-NY): Did Joe Biden have a bad night in my opinion?

Yes, he absolutely did.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He had a bad debate and we move on.

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Yes. There was a slow start.

CARROLL: Biden made it clear he is not dropping out of the race. But post-debate, there are questions about whether he should and what would happen if he did.

TIM NAFTALI, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Messy, chaotic, will there be debates?

CARROLL: If Biden were to bow out, it would be unprecedented in modern times. The simple version of what could happen is this -- if it did happen, the upcoming Democratic National Convention, which begins August 19th, is where their party could select a new nominee.

NAFTALI: There will be enormous pressure on the DNC to make it Kamala Harris, to just say, well, she's the number two. If the number one can't do it, the number two should do it.

CARROLL: Despite that potential political pressure, the vice president does not automatically become the new nominee. Individual delegates -- and there are more than 4,000 of them -- would be the ones tasked with selecting a new nominee by a majority vote on the convention floor, based on whichever candidates decide to run.

Already, in Democratic political circles, notables such as Governors Gavin Newsom of California, Gretchen Whitmer or Michigan and JB Pritzker of Illinois have been floated. Whoever those candidates may be, they would have to win over those delegates one-by-one.

LARRY SABATO, FOUNDER & DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Would give speeches to the convention, speeches to individual delegations and that would go on for a week, maybe more.

[04:35:00]

The delegates would have to choose and they would have to keep voting until somebody got a majority.

CARROLL: And sources telling CNN, at the moment, Democratic leaders are not planning a direct intervention to pressure Biden to step down.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the Department of Justice overstepped its authority when it charged hundreds of January 6 rioters with felony obstruction charges. The ruling has forced prosecutors to reopen cases against dozens of the rioters. We have more now from CNN's Katelyn Polantz in Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday decided that the way that the Justice Department charges January 6 rioters has to be limited.

That there has to be specific intent and language that the Justice Department uses when it brings cases against these rioters for felony obstruction. Many rioters, hundreds even, were charged with obstruction of the congressional proceeding on January 6th of 2021 and they were taken to trial.

Some of them pled guilty and many have been sentenced. There's only a couple remaining cases in the system where those people continue to serve those sentences. And so now with this Supreme Court ruling, there's going to be a lot more work for the Justice Department to do.

These cases are very likely to go back to the trial judges now and be revisited in different ways. Within two hours after the Supreme Court ruled on Friday about these January 6th rioter cases, a federal judge in D.C., who sits at the trial level, told the defendants under her, rioters, that they would need to be resentenced.

So she's going to put those on the calendar, resentencing dates for some of these people who are serving prison time.

And then in another case, a very well-known case, against Jacob Chansley, the so-called QAnon shaman, the man with the horns and the sphere with the American flag and the bull horn, urging rioters to come inside the building. He, Jacob Chansley, may have to be retried. He's one of the only

rioters to only face that obstruction felony count. And so the Justice Department may need to revisit how it deals with that charge against this man who's already completed his prison time.

So a lot, a long way ahead on that. There's also the Trump case. Donald Trump faces this same charge that the Supreme Court is ruling on.

But the Justice Department tried to get ahead of things here and say that Donald Trump's case is much different than the rioters, that he was trying to obstruct the proceedings of Congress in a lot of ways.

Including with that fake elector scheme and with a lot of actions that didn't just occur on January 6th -- Katelyn Polantz, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: All right. Still ahead, the results in Iran's snap presidential election, we will take you live to Tehran for the very latest when we come back.

Plus political uncertainty in France as voters prepare to go to the polls to decide whether to go to the far right or the far left or stay in the center. We'll have a report from Paris. That's all coming up. Please stay with us.

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[04:40:00]

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BRUNHUBER: Iran's presidential election is heading to a runoff since no candidate won more than 50 percent plus one in Friday's vote. Moderate lawmaker Masoud Pezeshkian and hardline, former nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili will be going on to the second round on July 5th.

The results must still be reviewed by the influential guardian council before the two candidates can start campaigning again. CNN's Fred Pleitgen joins us now, live from Tehran.

So Fred, they go to a runoff; tell us about the two candidates and where things go from here.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there, Kim. First of all, I think it's a bit of a surprise that Masoud Pezeshkian, the moderate lawmaker, seen as a reformer, that he did so strong in this election.

One of the things that we have to point out is that the voter turnout around 40 percent, maybe even less than 40 percent, that's a lot lower than the authorities had hoped for. But one of the things that the reformers had said before the vote took

place is that they needed a strong showing, a strong voter turnout for Masoud Pezeshkian to have a chance to advance the second round.

Now even with this low voter turnout, it appears as though he is the one who's now the front-runner. He's currently at 42.6 percent, whereas Saeed Jalili, the conservative opponent, that he will have in the runoff around, he's 38.8 percent.

Now Masoud Pezeshkian has said that he wants better relations with countries here in the region but, in general, better relations with countries around the world. Now that's, of course, something that he wants to push for.

Interesting also, he does have Javad Zarif, the former Iranian foreign minister, in his corner as well. He was instrumental at negotiating the Iran nuclear agreement with the U.S. and with others that then president Trump later pulled out of.

So certainly they want a detente with the West, a detente with the United States and that's something that, even before this election took place, the supreme leader has said that he was very skeptical of.

It's going to interesting to see how all of that plays out. Saeed Jalili, a lot more conservative. His big message was in the campaigning, running up to the election, that he was going to follow the path of Ebrahim Raisi, the president, who of course was killed in that helicopter crash a little over a month ago.

That would mean a hard line toward the United States, a hard line toward Israel because, of course, all of this, Kim, is taking place in a very volatile security environment here in the Middle East, with Iran and Israel very close to full-on war just a couple of weeks ago.

BRUNHUBER: I want to delve a bit more into sort of what's at stake for the U.S. in terms of who wins. You painted the broad strokes there and as well Israel with the change, would there be a change in the conflict with Israel, in terms of Iran's support for its proxies; notably, Hezbollah?

PLEITGEN: First of all, I don't think there's any sort of change as far as Iran's position toward Israel is concerned. That position has been very much defined by the clerical leadership here in this country, by Iran's supreme leader but also by the military leadership and especially the Revolutionary Guard Corps here in this country.

They have said they will continue a hard line. In fact, just today, the Iranians have said that, if Israel were to start a war in Lebanon, that there would be a massive response coming from Iranian proxies and from other forces around the region, possibly even Iran itself.

So I don't see any scenario where that were to change. However, as far as the United States is concerned, if there was a president Masoud Pezeshkian, certainly they would attempt some sort of improvement of relations between the two countries. They would certainly also attempt a sort of improvement with the

countries here in the region as well, maybe some sort of diplomatic offensive. But one of the things that we always have to keep in mind, that all of that always happens in the framework of the Islamic Republic.

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They would have to get Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on board to at least say, look, you can try this, even if he's skeptical of it. And of course, the military leadership and the Revolutionary Guard as well.

If you look back when the Iran nuclear agreement, for instance, was being negotiated, the supreme leader of Iran was always very skeptical of those negotiations. However, he told the administration back in the day, yes, you can try this even though I am skeptical.

However, when president Trump then pulled out of the nuclear agreement, he said, look, I told you all along that the United States cannot be trusted. And it certainly hurt the moderates a great deal. And they really have been marginalized for a long period of time.

Now it appears as though the moderate candidate, once again, has a chance to at least be very strong in a runoff election that would take place about a week or would take place in a week from now, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: Excellent analysis as always. Great to have you there in Tehran, Fred Pleitgen.

Thank you so much.

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BRUNHUBER: French voters go to the polls on Sunday to choose between President Emmanuel Macron's centrist alliance and far right or far left parties in the first round of voting. CNN's Saskya Vandoorne has details from Paris.

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SASKYA VANDOORNE, CNN PRODUCER (voice-over): He's known for bold moves.

But nobody saw this bombshell coming.

French president Emmanuel Macron's surprise call for snap elections after his party's defeat at the hands of the French far right in the E.U. elections caught everyone off guard, even his prime minister.

KEVIN ARCENAUX, POLITICAL SCIENTIST, CENTRE FOR POLITICAL RESEARCH, SCIENCES PO: If his bet pays off, he'll go down as a brilliant statistician who, when everybody else thought that he was doing something ridiculous, he had really done something that was amazing for his party.

If not, I think he will go down in history as somebody who essentially exploded the traditional party system in France.

VANDOORNE (voice-over): So why did Macron do it with a centrist coalition lacking the majority and already struggling to get laws through parliament?

Observers say a no confidence vote loomed. Voting happens over two rounds with the French electorate heading to the ballot boxes to send 577 MPs to the national assembly.

Macron's announcement sent parties and politicians scrambling to form coalitions. His biggest threat, France's far-right national rally. Seen as Russia friendly and skeptical of the E.U., the party is led by Marine Le Pen's acolyte, 28-year-old, Jordan Bardella.

He's a strong contender for France's next prime minister, a role that the president appoints from the party that wins a majority. Other challenges include the new Popular Front, a new coalition of socialists, Communists, Greens and the far left who want to officially recognize the state of Palestine.

And this man, current prime minister, Gabriel Attal, who's only been in the job five months, now back on the campaign trail for Ensemble, peddling a message of economic stability.

Whoever France's new prime minister is, they will stand shoulder to shoulder with Macron on the world stage in less than a month's time as Paris hosts the Olympic Games.

This political uncertainty has spilled onto the streets. A quarter of 1 million people marched throughout France in recent weeks to oppose the national rally. Emmanuel Macron's political gamble in dissolving the parliament hurts his legacy in serious jeopardy.

His last years in office could be plagued by political uncertainty or worse. He could be remembered as the French president who paved the way to the far right -- Saskya Vandoorne, CNN, Paris.

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BRUNHUBER: For the third time in six weeks, the U.S. humanitarian pier in Gaza is out of commission. The U.S. military says the structure has been temporarily moved to a port in Israel, because of anticipated heavy seas. The pier has been used to unload close to 9,000 metric tons of aid, according to the military.

But much of that aid is sitting unused after the U.N. World Food Programme paused its distribution to review the security situation. Some U.S. lawmakers want the White House to pull the plug on the operation, calling it a waste of taxpayer dollars.

The Glastonbury Music Festival is in full swing in England. We'll find out how some nontraditional talents are making themselves heard. That's when we come back. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: All right, have a look at this. These are the frozen waves of coastal Chile's southernmost region. A series of videos shot by Claudio Diaz earlier this month shows the frozen sea against different backdrops.

Cold temperatures are normal during winters there. But Diaz says this was the first time in several years seeing the ocean freeze over. It's gorgeous there. In recent weeks, heavy rain and snowfall have hit Chile as winter sets in.

A pocket watch that Teddy Roosevelt carried during his charge up San Juan Hill and his travels down the Amazon River is finally back in his home in New York after it was stolen.

Now the adventurous U.S. president got it as a gift from his sister and brother-in-law just before he left to fight in the Spanish- American War in 1898.

After his death, the timepiece was displayed at Roosevelt's home and eventually loaned out before it was stolen in 1987. It wasn't until last year when the watch reappeared in an auction in Florida. It's now back on public display at Roosevelt's home for the next three months.

The Glastonbury Festival in England is known for both tradition and innovation. Well, this year, for the first time in its 53 year history, the Somerset farm, famous for its musical gathering, hosts a K-pop band sensation and a female thrash metal trio from Indonesia. Mike Valerio has the story from Seoul.

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MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From shattering album records to the biggest music festival in the U.K., these swift dance moves are from Seventeen, one of the biggest K-pop groups at the moment.

[04:55:03]

The 13- member boy group debuted in 2015. Their "FML" album sold over 6 million copies worldwide, making it the bestselling album of 2023. They also broke the record for the most pre-orders ever for an album in South Korea.

VERNON, SEVENTEEN GROUP MEMBER: It's an amazing cultural way, cultural change we're witnessing and we're just so happy to be a part of it.

VALERIO (voice-over): If you think that's an impressive feat for these young men, this weekend, Seventeen will perform at Glastonbury 2024, making them the first K-pop group to sing at the music festival. And sharing the stage with the likes of Dua Lipa, Coldplay and Shania Twain this weekend at Glastonbury is another Asian pacific bass group, Voice of Baceprot or VOB.

Singing heavy metal in hijabs, these impressive young women are making history as the first Indonesian band to play at Glastonbury.

WIDI RAHMAWATI, BASSIST, VOICE OF BACEPROT (through translator): We perform metal music. In our village, metal is considered satanic music, not suitable for women, especially women wearing hijabs like us.

FIRDA MARSYA KURNIA, VOCALIST AND GUITARIST (through translator): Music is like a diary to me and the other girls. It's a place for us to be happy and share happiness with other people. If the audience can get something out of our music, like a message, then we are grateful.

VALERIO (voice-over): The Voice of Baceprot members met in junior high school in their small West Java village and gained the attention of international rock stars, like former Rage Against the Machine guitarist, Tom Morello. This weekend will be filled with accomplishments for these young Asian Pacific performers -- Mike Valerio, CNN, Seoul.

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BRUNHUBER: All right, that wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. I'll be back with more news in just a moment. Please stay with us.