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One World with Zain Asher

U.S. Justice Department Disputes Federal Investigation on Hunter Biden; Florida Federal Judge Sets August 14th As Preliminary Date for Trump's Classified Documents Trial; Race Against Time Searching for a Missing Submersible While on a Titanic Wreckage Expedition; Online Influencer Andrew Tate Indicted on Human Trafficking and Rape Charges; Blinken in London for Talks on Helping Ukraine; Air Raid Sirens Ring Out Throughout Kyiv for More Than Three Hours; New Study Finds Short Naps Protect Brain's Health; Retired U.S. Marines Lee Vernon Newby, Jr. Appeals for the Purple Heart Medal. Aired 12-1p ET

Aired June 20, 2023 - 12:00:00   ET

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

[12:00:00]

ZAIN ASHER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello everyone, I'm Zain Asher in New York and this is One World. After an exhaustive five-year federal investigation, an

attorney for Hunter Biden says the criminal probe against his client is now resolved. But the U.S. Justice Department disputes that and claims that

this probe is still ongoing.

According to DOJ court filings, the President's son, Hunter Biden, will admit that he broke the law and plead guilty to two tax misdemeanors, and

he'll face a charge, but likely won't be prosecuted for illegally purchasing a handgun. This is all part of a plea deal. Sources also tell

CNN the DOJ is expected to recommend probation for the tax crimes. Top Republicans are slamming this agreement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN MCCARTHY (R), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: It continues to show the two- tier system in America. If you are the President's leading opponent, DOJ tries to literally to put you in jail and give you prison time. If you are

the President's son, you get a sweetheart deal.

Now, this does nothing to our investigation. It actually should enhance our investigation because the DOJ should not be able to withhold any

information now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: CNN's Evan Perez joins us live now from Washington. So, Evan, this agreement caps an investigation that was opened back in 2018 during the

Trump administration. What more can you tell us about the deal?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR U.S. JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is a culmination of an investigation certainly that has hung over Hunter Biden

and, by extension, his father, right, who is now running for reelection as president. And so at least for now, this resolves this matter with the U.S.

Attorney's Office in Delaware, who is a Trump appointee. He's the one who's been overseeing this investigation, has stayed on the job in order to

manage this investigation for the Justice Department.

And I'll read you just a part of what the Justice Department says this resolves. It says that Hunter Biden has agreed to plead guilty to two tax

charges. This is for failing to pay his taxes on time in 2017 and in 2018. There is a separate charge for possession of a gun while addicted to drugs.

This is something that Hunter Biden has written about in his, in a book, an autobiography that talked about his struggles with substance abuse.

And in connection with that the Justice Department is allowing him to enter into a pre-trial diversion program. This essentially is for him to seek

some counseling, again, some drug treatment and at the end of that if he satisfies the rules that he has agreed to, then this charge goes away. The

gun charge goes away.

According to his lawyer, what Hunter is trying to do here is to get past this. I'll read you just a part of what he says, I know Hunter believes it

is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life. He looks forward to continuing

his recovery and moving forward.

But in keeping with what you opened with, Zain, we expect that this is far from over, especially because Republicans in Congress have the power to do

investigations, and they have already vowed that they're going to continue to look into matters related to this. For instance, they believe that

there's still some questions to be answered about Hunter Biden's business dealings in Ukraine.

This is during the time that Joe Biden was vice president. There's also questions about what Hunter Biden did with millions of dollars that he was

paid by a Chinese energy company, again, during the same period that this plea agreement, these tax charges cover for -- cover the period for.

So, again, we expect that Republicans are gonna keep investigating especially because we are in a reelection season here in the United States

and so this is far from over as far as that's concerned. Zain.

ASHER: Yeah, I mean it's interesting just in terms of the tax misdemeanor charges. He has apparently paid the money back totaling to about $1.2

million. As you point out, this is far from over. Just walk us through the political implications of this, Evan, especially given that his dad is up

for reelection.

PEREZ: Well, the Republican members Congress say that they believe that there's evidence out there that shows that the former president, I'm sorry,

that the sitting president, then vice president, was trading favors, political favors in exchange for cash paid to members of his family.

[12:05:00]

Again, there's been nothing that they've produced to support that allegation. The FBI, by the way, looked into some of these claims that were

being made as far back as 2018, 2019, and they had not been able to corroborate them. That doesn't mean that is over, however. They're going to

continue to try to get witnesses to come before Congress to try to, again, press these claims forward.

Again, nothing in this agreement that we are discussing covers those claims. Zain.

ASHER: All right. Evan Perez, live for us, there, thank you so much. All right, we now have an idea when Donald Trump's classified documents trial

may, may possibly take place. A Florida federal judge has set August 14th as a preliminary date, though that is likely to change.

The former U.S. president pleaded not guilty last week to 37 criminal counts accusing him of mishandling classified documents and refusing

government demands to give them back. During an interview with Fox News on Monday, Trump offered yet another explanation as to why he did not return

the documents he took from the White House, claiming he was, quote, very busy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I've got a lot of things in there. I will go through those boxes. I have to go through those boxes. I take out

personal things. As far as the levels and all, everything was declassified because I had the right to declassify.

BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS HOST: You know why not just hand them over then?

TRUMP: Because I had boxes, I want to go through the boxes and get all my personal things out. I don't want to hand that over to NARAL yet. And I was

very busy as you've sort of seen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: Trump was also indicted in March, this time on state charges related to hush money payments. All right, Israel's military says two

suspects have been neutralized in the West Bank after a deadly attack on Israelis. At least four Israelis were killed when gunmen opened fire on a

restaurant and gas station near the settlement of Eli.

One of the gunmen was shot and killed by a civilian. They've just gotten word that another attacker has been killed by Israeli security forces.

Elliot Gotkine is tracking the story for us. Elliot, what more do we know at this point?

ELLIOT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: Zain, as you say, this attack took place at a gas station in the Israeli settlement of Eli, which is about 40 kilometers

north of here in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. So, that's when the attack happened. And one of the attackers, one of the gunmen, as you say, was

killed by an armed civilian and the other one fled in a vehicle.

The Israeli defense forces set up roadblocks across the West Bank and we got word, something about an hour ago or so that it had captured after a

pursuit the second Palestinian gunman, that he tried to flee and that he was shot dead at the scene, as well. They also say that they found the

weapon that was allegedly used as part of this attack, as well inside the vehicle. And just for some context, this is the worst attack on Israelis,

the deadliest attack on Israelis since January the 27th when seven were killed outside a synagogue in the -- in the eastern part of Jerusalem.

So, this is being taken very seriously by the Israeli security services. We've heard from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu already. He said all

options are open. We will continue to fight terrorism with all our strength and we will defeat it. And of course, this -- this attack on Israeli

civilians comes just a day after we were talking about this violent gunfight between Israelis and Palestinian militants in Jenin which left six

Palestinians dead. At least half of whom were militants. Zain.

ASHER: All right, Elliot Gotkine, live for us there. Thank you so much. It is a race against time to find a submersible that went missing while on an

expedition to view the Titanic wreckage. Five people have been inside the small vessel since Sunday morning. That's when they lost contact with the

boat that was guiding them down to the wreckage. Time is certainly not on their side. They only have between three and four days of oxygen left at

this point.

The U.S. Coast Guard and the Canadian Air Force have developed vessels and aircraft to assist in this search. Neither are the elements on their side

either. The search area is 1400 kilometers from the U.S. coast and nearly four kilometers down. The submersible is owned by Ocean Gate Expeditions,

which offer pricey tours to clients.

We're tracking all the angles on the story. Our Gabe Cohen has actually been inside this particular vessel. Oren Liebermann is joining us, as well,

from the Pentagon. Oren, let me start with you because from what I understand, an area the size of Connecticut is being searched. I mean, just

walk us through all the challenges with this particular rescue mission from water pressure to oxygen levels.

[12:10:00]

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: There are a tremendous number of challenges, which is part of what makes this search so difficult. A

joint effort between the U.S. Coast Guard and the Canadian Coast Guard and Canadian Armed Forces to search not only on the surface of the water, but

also below the surface of the water.

In terms of searching on the surface, there are and have been C-130s, so long-range, long-endurance patrol aircraft from both the Americans and the

Canadians that have essentially likely just been flying back and forth searching the surface of the water for any sort of debris, or perhaps if

the submersible is floating on top of the water without communications.

So, that would be likely the role of C-130s in this case. Again, they can stay up for a tremendously long amount of time, searching a large area of

the surface of the water. But of course, the far more challenging search is underneath the surface of the water. And that's where the U.S. and the

Canadians have used P-8s and our colleague Jason Carroll has reported P-3s.

Those are anti-submarine aircraft able to essentially detect the mass of an enemy submarine below the surface of the water using different means,

either detecting it magnetically or detecting the sound of it. The challenge here, of course, is that this submersible is far smaller than an

enemy submarine, even if this submersible wants to be found.

In terms of how the P-8 would search, it would drop what are called sonobuoys in different spots throughout the search area. Sound travels very

well underwater, so if there's any sound coming from the submersible itself, not only would it be able to hear it with these sonobuoys, but it

can figure out if a few of them pick up any sort of acoustic signature, where it is based on sort of a triangulation of where that sound came from.

That of course assumes that there is any sort of sound coming from the submersible itself and that just adds to the challenge here. You can also

use sonar to scan the bottom of the water. Of course, that too, comes with its own challenges because there's already the wreckage of the Titanic down

there and you'd have to somehow differentiate between that and the submersible.

So, Zain, there are a whole host of challenges presented in trying to find this submersible. Challenges that the military is here, the Coast Guards

are trying to figure out in terms of how to search as efficiently and as quickly as possible, knowing the limitations of the submersible itself.

ASHER: Okay, let me bring you in. I mean, this was supposed to be a once in a lifetime experience, you know, to be able to travel several miles down

to the bottom of the ocean and tour the Titanic wreckage. Just explain to us what it is actually like inside one of the submersibles as we try to

imagine what the five people on board this vessel must be seeing and feeling and thinking at this point in time.

GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so, Zain, I reported several stories on Ocean Gate during my time reporting in Seattle, Washington. And in 2018,

I actually did a story about Titan, about this submersible that's now missing. We went out to the Ocean Gate headquarters, and we were able not

just to interview the crew but also, as you can see, sit inside the vessel.

And I was struck first by how simple, almost rudimentary, a lot of the technology onboard really seemed. You know, this is a tiny vessel. It's

quite cramped. It can only fit five people and it's operated by a gaming controller, actually piloted with a gaming controller, what looks like a

PlayStation controller.

And yet the company Ocean Gate was confident -- extremely confident that they could safely make this journey to the Titanic inside that vessel dive

13,000 feet down in the ocean, and they said that its frame could handle the 150 million pounds of pressure that it would feel at the ocean floor.

The company CEO Stockton Rush who CNN has confirmed is one of the people on board this missing vessel, according to a source with knowledge of the

mission plan. He told me that the pressure vessel, with its carbon fiber structure, that it could handle the pressure of the ocean.

Of course, at this point, we don't know what went wrong, but a lot of work went into designing Titan. OceanGate worked with NASA, they say, and Boeing

to design the vessel and said they did not cut any corners when it came to costs or safety.

ASHER: All right, Gabe Cohen, live for us there. Oren Liebermann, thank you both so much. So many questions as to even when they find this vessel,

how on earth they bring it up to the ocean surface. Our coverage is gonna be continuing on this story in about 20 minutes from now. You'll hear from

the U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral who is heading up the search for this submersible.

Now, it's the latest drama to rock the world of sport in France, which is a year before the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics. French Financial

Police are raiding the headquarters of the Paris 2024 organizing committee and other sites, as well. Prosecutors say the searches are tied to two

investigations involving illegal conflicts of interest relating to contracts, embezzlements and other issues, as well. The International

Olympic Committee says it has taken note of the raid.

[12:15:00]

All right, still to come here on One World, his controversial comments about women brought him fame and a lot of followers. Now, Andrew Tate has

been charged with serious crimes against women. Details of his indictment, when we come back. Then, Ukraine reiterates the goal of its

counteroffensive is to liberate all occupied territories. But Kyiv's army is being met with heavy Russian resistance. We'll have a live report for

you just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ASHER: Online influencer Andrew Tate has been indicted in Romania on charges of human trafficking and rape. Tate was charged alongside his

brother and two women. They were arrested last year accused of coercing women into appearing in pornographic videos. Lawyers for the brothers say

they are eager to prove their innocence in court. Andrew Tate is a former kickboxer who gained notoriety for making misogynistic and violent comments

about women online.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is shifting his focus from China to Ukraine a day after concluding a trip to Beijing, where he took steps to

mend fences with China's leaders. Blinken is in London for talks on helping Ukraine. He's meeting with the U.K. and Ukrainian foreign ministers and

will also attend a conference focused on helping Ukraine recover from the war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We have more than 50 countries represented in London for the conference, not just to talk about the

importance of Ukraine recovering from this war, but to make sure that it is thriving as a prosperous democracy and to take concrete steps in that

direction. That's what these couple of days are all about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: Holding ground in some areas, moving forward in others. That's how President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described Ukraine's counteroffensive as it

continues to unfold. But Russia is putting up a fierce fight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: Air raid sirens rang out throughout Kyiv overnight for more than three hours. Ukraine says the capital came under intense Russian aerial

bombardment but claims most of the drones were indeed shot down. Other areas including those far away from the frontlines were also targeted

including the western Lviv region, as well as Zaporizhzhia.

[12:20:00]

CNN's Fred Pleitgen joins us live now. So, Fred, just walk us through what more you know about these airstrikes overnight in both Kyiv and Lviv,

especially as Russians continue to focus on military and infrastructure targets.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Zain. Well, that's, I think, a key point with the Russians trying to focus on

those military infrastructure installations, especially if you look at those strikes that took place in the western part of Ukraine in the Lviv

area, where, of course, a lot of that infrastructure there is key, critical infrastructure for the Ukrainians.

But then you have the situation here in the capital of Kyiv, which, of course, very often has these air raid alerts pretty much every night that

they go off. And last night, they were indeed very long, going on for several hours. And the Ukrainians are saying that they detected 35 drones

coming towards the area of the Ukrainian capital and that they were able to take down 32 of those.

So, that obviously seems to very much indicate that the air defenses here in the Ukrainian capital are very strong, but the Russians certainly trying

to bring those drones here into the city and hit targets in the city with the Russians would call command and control structures of the Ukrainian

military, but of course of the Ukrainian state, as well.

And then of course, this is also for the population, something that can also be very traumatic. Nevertheless, the Ukrainians are very confident,

they continue to take these drones down and protect the capital and protect other areas as well. Nevertheless, all this does, of course, tie in with

Ukraine's counteroffensive.

One of the things that we have seen is a lot of these aerial attacks have been even more increasing since the Ukrainians have been pushing the

Russians on several areas in the front. And one of the places that you mentioned, Zaporizhzhia, is of course fairly close to the frontline. I

would say about 40 to 45 kilometers away from the actual frontline areas and that was targeted by a barrage of missiles overnight.

The Ukrainians on those frontlines are indeed saying that they are the ones who have the initiative. The president of this country, Volodymyr

Zelenskyy, did indeed say that the Ukrainians were not losing territory anywhere but gaining territory in a lot of places and that's certainly the

main focal point where that is happening, is the south of the country where the going is pretty tough for the Ukrainians there.

It's something that they have acknowledged. They say the battles are very tough. Russian air power is very strong and the defenses are very strong,

as well. There's a lot of minefields, a lot of barriers, and of course also a lot of troops that are down there from the Russians.

Nevertheless, when we were down in that region, it certainly seemed to us that the morale of the Ukrainian troops who were fighting down there was

very hard. They acknowledged it was extremely difficult. It's very difficult for them to move forward, especially when they're being targeted

by Russian air power. But they did believe that in the end they were going to be able to make this counteroffensive a success.

So, that's certainly listening to the Ukrainian soldiers who are down there on the ground right now, they certainly seem to believe that this is

something that they can see through at the same time that is extremely difficult. And the Ukrainians also say they are under no illusions that

this is going to be something that can happen quickly. In fact, they say this counteroffensive is going to take a very long time, Zain

ASHER: All right, Fred Pleitgen, live for us, thank you.

The FBI is now assisting Kansas state agencies with an investigation into dozens of suspicious letters sent to public officials across the state.

Several Republican lawmakers who received those letters which contained white powder believe that they were targeted. CNN's Rosa Flores has the

details from Houston.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I spoke to Kansas Representative Steven Owens and he says that this experience was terrifying. He says that this

act was targeted towards Republicans. Look, he says that the return address on the envelope appeared to be a constituent. That's why he opened this

letter freely only to find the white powder inside.

Now, he shared a photo of the letter and he points to two specific sentences in that letter that say, quote, to honor your recent

accomplishments, it's important not to choke on your ambition. Now, he says this message is cryptic and it could reference Republicans' supermajority

in the Kansas House and the Kansas Senate, which recently overrode nine vetoes by the Democratic governor.

Now, those moves were very controversial. He points out the two of them were especially controversial. One of those defined a man and a woman, and

the second one stated that biological males could not participate in women's sports. Now, authorities are not saying that this is the motive

here, but this particular lawmaker is not the only one who feels targeted. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOLLY BAUMGARDNER, KANSAS STATE SENATE REPUBLICAN: There is some message. The message is somewhat unclear, but it was intended to be threatening.

Everybody has to be concerned. Everyone has to take this and any subsequent threats like this very seriously.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FLORES: Kansas authorities have tested some of the about 100 letters that have gone to public officials across the state of Kansas.

[12:25:00]

And they say that the powder has returned negative for common biological agents. But they do say that further testing is being conducted and it is

important to note that no injuries have been reported and no arrests, and that this investigation is ongoing. Rosa Flores, CNN, Houston.

ASHER: All right, still to come here on One World, imagine heading to the bottom of the ocean in a vessel that is no bigger than the size of a

minivan. We'll look at the submersible as a subject of this desperate search. We'll have more on that after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ASHER: Hello and welcome back to One World. Let's catch up on the headlines. Israel's military confirms four Israelis have been killed and

several others wounded in a mass shooting in the West Bank settlement of Eli. The IDF says two terrorists were killed, one by a civilian and the

other by Israeli security forces. Hamas claims one of the gunmen is a member of the militant group and calls a shooting a response to the Israeli

raid Monday in Jenin, where six Palestinians died.

A searing heat wave has turned deadly in India's northern Bihar state. An official says that 44 people have died because of highest temperatures in

recent days. The country's meteorological department says that some districts are recording temperatures above 113 degrees Fahrenheit or 45

degrees Celsius.

Chinese tech giant Alibaba is undergoing the biggest shake-up in its history. The company has announced that Joseph Tsai will become its new

chairman starting in September and Eddie Wu will take over as Chief Executive Officer, taking over for Daniel Zhang, who was named Executive

Chairman after Alibaba's Co-Founder Jack Ma stepped down in 2019.

[12:30:00]

With every passing moment, the situation is growing more dire for five people inside a missing submersible. They were on their way to the bottom

of the Atlantic Ocean in this tiny vessel to view the wreckage of the Titanic when they lost contact with the ship above them. Time is crucial.

They only have enough air for three to four days, and it's important to note that they've been missing since Sunday. You can see how far the vessel

went into remote waters of the Atlantic, certainly a daunting task by any measure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN MAUGER, REAR ADMIRAL, FIRST COAST GUARD DISTRICT: We're expanding our capabilities on site. And so, while a lot of the search to date has been

primarily focused on the surface of the water and our aircraft flew patterns in combination with the Canadian aircraft and New York Air

National Guard, aircraft loop patterns that roughly about the size of the state of Connecticut. But today, we now have the underwater search

capability on scene. And so, we're going to be using that to see if we can locate the submersible in the water.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: Let's take a closer look at the sub. It can only hold about five people. It's not very large. It can dive about 4000 meters. The vessel was

designed by Ocean Gate, NASA, and the University of Washington, and it was then deployed in 2018.

My next guest, Bobbie Scholley, is a retired U.S. Navy Captain and diver who's taken part in some of the biggest underwater recoveries. Bobby, thank

you so much for being with us. Walk us through what has to go wrong, right? What has to go wrong for a sub-like this to lose contact for this situation

that we're all talking about to happen?

BOBBIE SCHOLLEY, RETIRED U.S. NAVY CAPTAIN: Thanks for having me, Zain. And I just want to say my heart goes out to the crew and their families of

the submersible at this time. There's any number of things that can go wrong on a vessel that is going under the sea, especially to these depths

where the pressure is so intense when you get to these depths.

And so, we usually build redundancies into all the systems that we put on these types of vessels. We want to have redundancy in our life support, in

our propulsion, in our communications, in every system. And so, the smallest thing can go wrong. You can get water into a system which, you

know, heaven forbid, in a vessel like this that's going into the deep ocean. So, just any small thing can cause a problem.

And we don't know in this case whether it's just a communications problem, a propulsion problem that prevents them from coming up to the surface, a

ballasting problem, which is how the submersible would get up or down through the water column. So, that's something that, you know, will have to

be addressed once we get through the search and recovery phase of this operation, which is what everybody's focused on at this point.

So, just in terms of what happens next, I mean, assuming that this vessel is eventually located, hopefully within the next day or two, given just how

much oxygen they have left, what's the process of actually toeing the vessel to the ocean's surface? That's also a separate challenge, as well.

SCHOLLEY: Yes, the very first stage of the operation is the search. And that's where we are right now. And they have assets available that are

searching the surface. They have those sonobuoys that are searching in the water column.

I'm very thrilled to hear that they have the deep energy, the new ship that has arrived, that is helping in the search within the water column. And

from what I understand, it has some deep ocean capabilities on board that will help to search within the depths of the water column. I don't know all

the capabilities that they have, but probably some ROV capabilities and that sort of thing that will help with that search, you know, closer to

those deep depths.

And so, they're searching a huge area of the ocean. And as a silver, I know that the search is always the hardest phase in my opinion. Once they can

locate it, then we go into recovery. And the thing with this vessel is that they're going to have to recover the vessel to the surface, in my opinion,

to recover the crew. As far as I know, we don't have a system available where they could recover the crew in the water column out of the

submersible and move it to another vessel submersible or any other vessel while it's in the water.

[12:35:00]

So, they'll have to bring that vessel up to the surface to recover the crew. We have systems available that can do that. It could be that we have

a system on station right now. I don't know for a fact, but, you know, deep energy might have that capability, they are deep ocean-pipeline vessel.

So, they may very well be able to do that. I'm not sure, but I know a lot of very smart people are looking at how to make that happen for the next

phase once they find that. Because they know that time is of the essence.

ASHER: Yeah, I mean, as you point out though, the priority right now is just locating the thing, finding it, because, you know, you think about

what they're up against in terms of time and obviously the limited amount of oxygen, the water pressure. I understand that they're searching an area

the size of Connecticut. And then you think about not just searching the surface of the ocean, but the actual depth, as well.

Let's hope and pray that they are found within the next day or so. Bobbie Scholley, live for us there. Thank you so much.

SCHOLLEY: Thank you.

ASHER: A brand new CNN poll released just minutes ago has some concerning numbers for Donald Trump. The poll finds that even though Trump still leads

the GOP field by a comfortable margin, his support has slipped since he was indicted on numerous federal charges related to the mishandling of

classified documents.

Interestingly, Trump's decline in the poll seems to have helped some other candidates, but not his main rival Ron DeSantis. The decision to indict

Trump on federal charges has divided the country with Democrats and independents strongly backing it, but Republicans largely opposed.

All right, still to come, hundreds of people remain missing after the boat disaster off the coast of Greece. We'll focus on the plight of migrants on

this World Refugee Day.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ASHER: Every minute, 20 people leave everything they know behind to escape war, persecution or terror. Those stark statistics are from the United

Nations as it marks World Refugee Day today. Some people flee because of poverty or human rights abuses. Others flee natural or mad-made disasters

caused by climate change.

[12:40:00]

And still others gamble with their lives and make the harrowing journey in search of a better future. The recent migrant boat tragedy is one such

example. The U.N. says about 750 people were on that overcrowded boat when it sank off the coast of Greece. War and violence is another factor in

Sudan. More than 500,000 people have taken refuge in neighboring countries amid brutal conflict between two warring factions.

The U.N. refugee agency says the number of people forcibly displaced around the world has climbed to a record 110 million people, with Sudan and

Ukraine sparking much of that increase. Time now for The Exchange. I want to take a closer look at the issue of migration and the boat tragedy, in

particular. Joining me live now is Sophie Beau, she's the Co-Founder and General Director of SOS Mediterranee. She has worked at Medicins Sans

Frontieres and has directed social and humanitarian programs for 20 years.

Sophie, thank you so much for being with us. There has been so much made just in the past 24 hours or so, in terms of whether or not the Greek Coast

Guard did enough to intervene in this particular tragedy. What we know, so far, is that the Coast Guard said that they didn't intervene sooner because

people on the boat, I assume the smugglers didn't want their help. Just walk us through what you think could have and should have been done to

prevent a loss of life at such a large scale.

SOPHIE BEAU, CO-FOUNDER MEDITERRANEE: Hello. Thank you for inviting me for the day. Well, actually, we are not direct witnesses. We were not present

in this area. So, what I know, I know from media reports and that's confirmed, is that a plane from Frontex saw the boat in distress many hours

before it sank.

And therefore, we can say quite firmly now that large search and rescue operations should have been launched at that stage as soon as the boat was

spotted by this by this Frontex plane. So, definitely there should have been a large scale search and rescue operation that could have been

launched and should have been launched according to the law of the sea, because this boat was actually overloaded with people and many criteria

that are met -- were met that are calling for the definition -- that are exactly the definition of a boat in distress according to maritime law.

It was overcrowded. It was full with people with no water, no food. It was full of women and children, apparently, according to the records we know.

And these people were without any hope in the sea.

ASHER: And just in terms of, I mean, obviously you point out that, of course, you weren't there, you're not a direct witness. All we know is

really what the survivors have actually said. But just in terms of attacking this problem from the root cause, I mean, obviously there are all

sorts of issues when it comes to when neighboring ships or ships in the area need to intervene when a boat is in distress.

That's all well and good, but of course, there has to be something done in terms of minimizing the causes for people to want to get on these boats

that are run by smugglers in the first place. How do you address that aspect of it?

BEAU: What we can say also is that these people have all left Libya. That was the place of departure of that ship. And we know that for the migrants

who are in Libya, there is no hope. It's either they are leaving from there or it's a very likely death in Libya or at least torture, slavery, rape,

extortion.

So, they have absolutely no choice than by any means leaving that place, what they call the Libyan hell. And this is a point that we should really

stress now. How can we in Europe continue to fund these Libyan coast guards and to support them through the European Union when we know what is

happening and unfortunately we can only deplore the situation in Libya, we can only say that at the moment, Libyan Coast Guard are not able to

guarantee any safety for anyone there.

So, that's also something, that's also responsibility of the European Union states not to continue to support the system because the more you feed the

system with support, with the transfer of money, the more it fits that vicious circle of people who are stuck in Libya, who will by any means try

to flee as soon as they can. And they also pay a lot to the smugglers who are stuck in Libya, who will by any means try to flee as soon as they can.

[12:45:00]

And they also pay a lot to the smugglers or to the militias, or we don't know exactly who are these people. So, the money is coming from the

migrants themselves. The money is coming from the European states to support Libya, to externalize the burden of the migration. And this is

absolutely a vicious circle. And in these conditions, it will never stop. So that's also a responsibility of European states not to continue to

support the Libyan coast guards in this vicious circle.

ASHER: What is it like to actually survive a disaster and a tragedy of this scale? I mean, you think about, you know, the sort of little bit more

than 100 people who managed to survive this. Yes, by many accounts, they are extremely lucky. But there is a psychological impact that comes with

that, having lived through a disaster of this scale, especially given what they fled in their own home countries, whether it is, I mean, obviously a

lot of the migrants this time around came from Pakistan, but generally, generally when people make these treacherous journeys, they are fleeing

everything from war to hunger, to extreme poverty.

And then on top of that, you're dealing with the psychological impact of surviving a tragedy of this scale. What is the greatest need among the

survivors at this point, do you think, Sophie?

BEAU: Well, actually you can just imagine the condition of these people. They have lived such a big tragedy. First of all, experiencing this

crossing for a few days already in very, very complicated conditions, seeing people around them starting to die within the ship already after a

few hours and few days. And then this massive shock of the shipwreck.

And then, of course, they are absolutely traumatized and it's going to be very difficult for some of them to find the resources, to get over that

experience? We don't know actually, depends on the support they will get and the conditions also they will have in Europe.

Where are they going to be? Are they going to receive on the long-term, psychological support? Are they going to struggle to get some, you know,

legal capacity to stay somewhere? All of that will determine how they will manage to survive psychologically to that big tragedy. But for sure, they

will need psychological support and they will need assistance. And I think it's our duty also now to assist them in that direction.

Sophie Beau, live for us, thank you so much. All right, same-sex couples are celebrating in Estonia because of a new law legalizing same-sex

marriage. Lawmakers there just approved the measure making Estonia the first Central European country to do so. Estonia has legally recognized

same-sex relationships since 2016, but the marriage law goes into effect next year. A recent survey found that 53 percent of Estonians believe same-

sex couples should have the right to marry.

All right, still to come here on One World, he fought bravely for the U.S. Drill World War II. Now, one of the first African American Marines is

seeking recognition for his contribution. But the 100-year-old veteran is facing an uphill battle. We'll tell you his story next.

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[12:50:00]

ASHER: A new study has found that taking a short nap during the day may protect your brain's health. That study in the journal, "Sleep Health"

suggests a 30-minute nap could help reduce brain shrinkage by between two and six years. Neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia accelerate brain

shrinkage, but a nap could be a positive thing for prevention.

Lee Newby, Jr. was one of the first black Marines in the U.S. military. He fought both the enemy and discrimination during World War II, and he is the

recipient of a Congressional Gold Medal. As he marked his 100th birthday earlier this year, there was only one thing Newby wanted, a purple heart.

But despite his courageous service, he is facing an uphill fight. CNN's Jason Carroll has Newby's incredible story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 1923, the year of the Charleston, a time before televisions, FM radio, before scientists had discovered penicillin.

The year Lee Vernon Newby, Jr. was born in Jackson, Tennessee, 100 years ago.

LEE VERNON NEWBY, JR., RETIRED, U.S. MARINES: Generally, I live a pretty quiet life.

CARROLL: Hey, hey, how you doing?

CARROLL (voice-over): Not so quiet. In 1942, at the onset of America's entry into World War II, Newby made history. He was drafted into the U.S.

Marine Corps when he was 18 years old, making him one of the first African- American Marines.

NEWBY, JR.: I was nervous. Yeah. I didn't know what I was getting into, but I was -- wanted to save my country.

CARROLL: Did you feel extra pressure because you were one of a few?

NEWBY, JR.: Yes, I did. But I was thankful, you know, for the opportunity.

CARROLL: Newby was assigned to the Montford Point Marines, a segregated Negro unit in Jacksonville, North Carolina. Not long after, he headed to

the South Pacific to the Battle of Guadalcanal.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): It was time for America to take the offensive.

CARROLL (voice-over): -- to fight an enemy overseas while still coping with racial barriers from home.

NEWBY, JR.: There were blacks over here and the white was over there.

CARROLL: So, they kept you segregated.

NEWBY, JR.: Segregated, yeah.

CARROLL (voice-over): It was that mission in the Solomon Islands where Newby was badly injured during an accident when gasoline exploded in a

hole.

NEWBY, JR.: All of a sudden, something hit me right in my chest. When I hit the deck and got up, you know, all the skin was just laying out, you

know. I prayed, I said, Lord, I want to come back. Well, I want a family.

CARROLL (voice-over): Burns covered more than 60 percent of Newby's body. He was hospitalized for several weeks. Then, his family says, the Marines

sent him back into action.

ELLENA NEWBY-BANNETTE: He was ordered to go back into the war. He wasn't 100 percent healed.

NEWBY, JR.: Oh, that's just me when I was getting married and so forth.

CARROLL: I don't want to ask you what year that was.

CARROLL (voice-over): Newby received an honorable discharge in 1946 but was not treated as a war veteran back home where he struggled dealing with

racism and Jim Crow laws. He eventually found work as a janitor and chauffeur and raised a family. Years later, he received recognition for his

service and longevity.

Local news covered his birthday in April. He took us to his room at a senior living facility outside Detroit where he showed us his medals,

including the Congressional Gold Medal.

CARROLL: And this is presented by President Obama.

NEWBY, JR.: Yeah.

CARROLL: And a framed birthday letter from President Joe Biden. He says he's grateful for all of it.

[12:55:00]

But it is this letter that's causing him so much pain these days. It came last month informing Newby he's not eligible to receive the Purple Heart,

something he had been hoping for. The letter concluded, since you were not wounded at the hands of the enemy, you are not entitled to the Purple

Heart.

NEWBY, JR.: This makes me feel not good, because the government, the United States government, you know, we are in the years -- that the years

been passed back with the black, we've been getting a short deal.

CARROLL: His family, heartbroken, but planning to appeal the decision.

NEWBY-BANNETTE: He's a hundred years old, and he should have that. And that's what he's still fighting for and hoping for.

CARROLL: Well, I wish for the Pentagon to really recognize --

NEWBY-BANNETTE: Yeah.

CARROLL: --just to respect, you know, his sacrifices.

CARROLL (voice-over): Purple Heart or not, Newby has already earned his place in history.

NEWBY, JR.: I still love America. I still say that maybe someday, I hope that it will be better for my race as a whole.

CARROLL (voice-over): Jason Carroll, CNN, Detroit.

ASHER: And thank you so much for watching One World. I'm Zain Asher. Amanpour is up next. You're watching CNN.

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