life from cnn world headquarters in atlanta, welcome to all of you watching us here in the united states, canada, and all around the world. i'm kim brunhuber. ahead this hour, hundreds of ukrainian civilians stuck in a key city in eastern ukraine. i'll speak with an american who lived there for years about what makes severodonetsk so crucial. plus -- >> the greatest danger to america is the destruction of our nation from the people from within.

>> donald trump there doing what he can to flip the script in response to the recent january 6th hearings. we'll have more from his first public appearance since they began, and what we can expect next in the next round. and colombia is poised to lead latin america's green energy initiative. we'll tell you how politics are getting in the way of that. we begin in ukraine, which has just cleared the first hurdle on a path to join the european union. ukrainian and eu flags flew side by side after recommending they be given candidate status. vladimir putin is okay with that because the eu isn't a military alliance like nato. boris johnson made a surprise visit. he offered ukraine a major military training program he said would fundamentally change the equation of the war. and new videos of the wars

appeared on pro-russian sites that appear to show two u.s. volunteers missing in ukraine. this is a photo posted earlier. cnn isn't showing the new videos because the men appear to be under duress. the kremlin claims it knows nothing about their fate, but joe biden has a message for any american who might want to go to ukraine. here he is. >> i want to reiterate, americans should not be going to ukraine now. >> ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy is praising the decision on the eu candidate status, despite the fact that the move doesn't guarantee membership any time soon. but as salma dabdelaziz explain, it still has symbolic significance. >> reporter: one small step of ukraine's major goal of joining the european union. the president of the european commission on friday recommending ukraine for cadsy status. the president of the european commission saying that ukrainians are willing to die for european ideals and

welcoming them into this next step. we'll wait to find out more next week from the european commission. but president zelenskyy of course welcomed the news and said it would make ukraine safer and stronger. take a listen. >> translator: ukraine deserves this positive. ukrainian values are european values. ukrainian institutions maintain resilience, even in conditions of war. ukrainian democratic habits have not lost their power, even now, and our approach mod well the european union is not only positive for us, this is the greatest contribution to the future of europe in many years. >> this past week has been very important in healing divisions in the european alliance. president zelenskyy has been vocal in particular against two european leader, the german chancellor and the french president. he said he believes they in the past were soft on president putin, soft on moscow, in particular his grievance with german chancellor olaf scholz is

around sanctions. germany has yet to ban oil and gas from russia and instead say they're going to phase it out by the end of the year. when it comes to president macron, zelenskyy feels he strikes too conciliatory of a tone. that's why there was this very important visit a couple of days ago in kyiv. three european leaders, the leaders of france, germany and italy arriving by train, making their way to president zelenskyy's bunker, standing alongside him. the very important photo opportunity. and of course this recommendation for candidacy status from the eu. all of that to try to bridge the divide. try to make clear that ukraine's commitment, ukraine's fight europe at large is recognized. and president zelenskyy has repeated this over and over again. he believes that those fighting on the front lines, ukraine soldiers dieing on the front lines are dying for europe at large. so a real recognition that the security, the stability and the sovereignty of ukraine matters

to the larger region. salma abdelaziz, cnn, ukraine. an effort to evacuate civilians stranded at a plant in severodonetsk. that's from a ukrainian regional officer who says the talks include possible regional ceasefire, including brutal street by street battles between ukrainian and russian forces. we're now joined by an economic expert who lived in the city for years to talk about why se severodonetsk is so crucial. he is speaking to us from riga, latvia. thank you so much for being here with us. before we talk ababout importan of the city, you and your wife and 5-month-old fled the city. you've been in touch with folks there. what have they been telling you about the situation there? >> it's incredibly dire. i was also involved in fundraising and coordinating with local volunteers to

civilians evacuated from the city. and the conditions have become just absolutely hellish. people are afraid to even get out of their bomb shelters at this point. perhaps 10% of the city's population is still there, despite urgent pleas from local government for people to use official and volunteer evacuation opportunities. so unfortunately, there is just total war in our little city right now. >> total war, and total destruction almost. seeing what's happening now to the city that you spent so much time in. it must be heartbreaking to see what's happened there. >> i spent six years in severodonetsk and the surrounding luhansk region, the government-controlled areas. and for me, it's intensely difficult to watch. everything that i knew there be destroyed or occupied and placed under a regime of intense

ideological pressure and terror by russian occupying forces. i can only imagine how difficult it is for people who spent their entire life there. >> yeah. that seems to be the russian mo with these cities where there is resistance, they go and destroy as much of it as possible. so explain to us why russia has spent so much capital trying to take the city. is it vital from a military point of view? >> it really isn't. that's what's very interesting here. it's entirely important for them from a symbolic point of view. they've already damaged the city so badly that its economic potential is largely wrecked. they also have a terrible track record of managing the economy in their occupied territories of the donbas over the last eight years. even if they haven't wrecked it, they would have done so by other means. but it really is symbolic. strategically, taking the city doesn't open new paths, to new territories for them. it doesn't -- it places them

across the river from an excellent ukrainian position in the city of lysychansk which is up on a high hill that's historically in many different wars been very hard to take. so it's about them being able to claim that they quote, unquote liberated the entirety of luh luhansk where in their view they are welcome, though there is very poor objective evidence of that during this war, and it's really part of their russian world. and ukraine in response also has to take consideration for the symbolic value of severodonetsk now. it wants to prevent russia from that triumphalist victory which will be followed perhaps by annexation. that's where a lot of the signals are pointing right now. and ukraine also wants to simply force russia to expend the maximum number of soldiers and arms on taking what is already

unfortunately a largely wrecked city so that that force can't be thrown on other cities like kramatorsk aslov slovensk. given the situation we saw in mariupol, and what do you think it would mean for the folks to evacuate, but russia is only allowing them to go to russian controlled territory to the north? >> well, i mean, for many of them at this point, of course, it's a life-saving question. i wish so sincerely that they had taken earlier opportunities to evacuate on to ukrainian-controlled territory there was an enormous sincere, and very well-organized attempt by ukrainian government and volunteers to get people out. and they got hundreds of thousands of people out of luhansk oblask war zone. now people make this choice because they need it to save their lives. but it will mean they are

subjected to intense propaganda push by russians. i was speaking yesterday to mayors of cities up north that have been in the occupied territories who are now in exile, and they said people evacuated from war-torn cities right now to the occupied areas are really worked over to try to convince them that it's entirely ukraine's fault that their cities were destroyed. and then they're basically stuck in those territories unless they have the money, which many don't, to make an enormous arc through russia into the baltic states back down through poland and back into ukraine, even though there may be 25, 30 kilometer, 50 kilometers away from government-controlled territory. >> it's just a tragic situation for so many people there. we're out of time. but thank you so much for talking to us about this, brian. >> thank you. >> russia's president stuck a

defiant tone friday as vladimir putin aired his grievances against the west in what was build as major speech. and as fred pleitgen reports, the russian leader also vowing to press on with his invasion of ukraine. >> reporter: vladimir putin laid out his plans to counter sanctions. putin making clear russia will not back down from what they call the special military operation. "all goals of the military operation will be accomplished," he said. putin also claiming russia was forced to invade because the u.s. was bringing ukraine into its orbit. russia's decision to conduct a special military operation was forced, he said, difficult, of course, but forced and necessary. putin then threatening the u.s. moment as the world's top power is coming to an end.

"when they won the cold war, the u.s. declared themselves god's own representatives on earth," he says, "people who have no responsibilities, only interests. they have declared those interests sacred." the u.s. and its allies reject any notion of fuelling the conflict in ukraine and have hit moscow with massive economic sanctions. but putin says the measures aren't working. the calculation was clear, to crush the russian economy with a swoop, he says. obviously it didn't work. the u.s. accuses russia of worsening world hunger by blockading ukrainian ports and causing a massive spike in gas prices. putin again blaming the west. "even higher prices threatening famine in the poorest country, and this will be entirely on the conscience of the u.s. administration and the euro bureaucracy," he said. as western companies pull out of russia in droves, moscow is

trying to reorient its economy. a top russian senator saying he believes russia's invasion of ukraine prevented a larger war with nato, even as russia's own losses mount. >> we are all aware about the losses which take place now. but i'm absolutely sure that we have managed to prevent a huge war, probably a third world war. >> reporter: and vladimir putin says the operation in ukraine will continue until russia feels it has achieved its aims. fred will pleitgen, nbc. former president donald trump is speaking out against the january 6th hearing. friday was his first public aexperience since they began. despite bombshell evidence in the hearings donald trump committed numerous crimes, he appeared unconcerned and defiant as ever. here is cnn's jessica schneider. >> i never called mike pence a wimp. i never called him a wimp. mike pence had a chance to be great.

he had a chance to be, frankly, historic. but just like bill barr and the rest of these weak people, mike -- and i say it sadly because i like him. but mike did not have the courage to act. >> reporter: former president trump using his platform at a conservative political conference to deny the evidence against him and blast the january 6th committee. >> they con people. they're con artists. >> reporter: trump's attacks come as the committee is gearing up for several more hearing. cnn has learned georgia's secretary of state brad raffensperger will be at tuesday's hearing with his deputy. >> all i want to do is this. i just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. >> reporter: they'll testify about trump's efforts to pressure them to change the election results. the committee also wants to talk to ginni thomas, the wife of supreme court justice clarence

thomas about her communications with trump attorney john eastman. eastman devised the scheme to pressure then vice president mike pence to block the certification of biden's 2020 electoral win. >> the teller is verified. appears to be regular in form and authentic. >> reporter: something pence ultimately refused to do. >> we have sent ms. thomas a letter asking us to come and talk to the committee. >> we look forward to her coming. >> reporter: ginni thomas issued a short response to the committee via the conservative publication "daily caller," saying she can't wait to clear up misconceptions. "i look forward to talking to them." eastman denying he ever discussed election litigation that might come before the supreme court with ginni thomas or with justice clarence thomas. eastman writing we have never engaged in such discussions, would not engage in such discussions and did not do so in december 2020 or any time else. why the committee has requested cooperation for outstanding witnesses, it has so far refused to share full transcripts with

all of its interviews with the justice department. but the committee said it will not be an obstacle to justice department executions. >> we are not going to stop what we're doing to share the information that we've gotten so far with the department of justice. we have to do our work. >> reporter: cnn has learned the panel is running into problems securing witnesses for an upcoming hearing about trump's efforts to pressure the justice department to support and promote his false election fraud claims. while jeffrey rosen and richard donoghue, the top two officials at doj in the final weeks of the trump administration are expected to appear, the committee is so far striking out with pat cipollone. cipollone is the former white house lawyer credited with talking some sense into trump by threatening to resign. sources say cipollone is not expected to join the hearing in person, despite already talking to the committee privately. and "the new york times" is also reporting that the committee

could start sharing transcripts of those witness interviews with the justice department as soon as next month. jessica schneider, cnn, washington. colombia was once intent on being a green energy leader, and now it's rethinking that strategy. coming up, why the country is considering old energy ideas as the price of fossil fuel soars. stay with us. up to 20 gallons of water every time. let's end ththis habit. skip the rinse... with finish quantum. its activelift technology has the power to tackle 24 hour dried on food stains-- without pre-rinsing- for r an unbeatable clean. together we can help save america 150 billion gallons of water in just one year. skip the rinse with finish to save our water.

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hernandez. some of the key issues the country's economy, income inequality, corruption, and a rapidly degrading security situation. colombia sets its sights on being a green player, hoping to phase out fossil fuels. but with energy prices soaring, colombia's income from coal has doubled. it's sure to factor into sunday's election. >> reporter: deep in the bushlands of northeastern colombia, something of a gold rush is taking place. its prospects are not mineral, but energy. clean power to lead the country's transition towards a sustainable future. the desert, swept by sea breeze every hour of the day is optimal condition for wind turbine, and investors are moving in. this park is made up of 15 towers and should start producing power soon. at least a dozen more are on the way.

the target is to increase renewables production 100 fold. colombia has invested millions over the last four years to try to become a leader in clean allergy production in south america. but that was of course before the price of fossil fuels spiked up due to the war in ukraine. as a consequence of the conflict in europe and the energy crunch that has followed, colombia's coal and oil export revenues are up, almost double compared to last year. while phasing out fossil fuels doesn't seem so inevitable any, he also reneged on a campaign pledge for fracking in march. the choice between renewables and fossil fuels will play out at the ballot. left wing candidate is leading the polls on a decisively anti-driven campaign. >> they are three poisons. the ulgly one is coal is coal

taken out of our caribbean coast. thets it's oil and the third one is cocaine. >> his opponent has other plans. >> to produce renewable energies cannot take less than ten years. we must do it step by step. >> reporter: the war in ukraine has already had an impact here. not far from the turbines, the largest of coal mines in south america. although its owner pledged to wind down production by 2034 as part of its climate commitment, it also requested permission to partially deviate a stream to expand the mine. when germany announced it was banning imports of coal to russia, colombia quickly offered to increase production. activists oppose the expansion of the mine, believe the colombian government will pay the price for germany's decision. the germans said they were not going to use coal anymore, lead

this clean transition. but now there is a war up there and they want to buy coal here. so where does that leave us? what we may be seeing the so-called butterfly effect. when a minor action in one place leads to enormous consequences on the other side of the globe. stefan know posobn. for our international viewers, african voices change makers is next. when you find your reason to go on. let it pull you. past the doubt. past the pain.n. and past your limits.. no matteter what, we go on. biofreeze.

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welcome back to all of you watching us here in the united states and canada. i'm kim brunhuber. this is "cnn newsroom." another january 6th rioter has pleaded guilty. 57-year-old mark mazza carried a revolver into the capital that day. during the riot he is seen hitting the police officer with the officer's own baton. he could face up to 20 years in prison for assaulting the officer. now over the course of three public hearings so far, the select committee has laid out vivid new details about what

happened that day. on thursday, the panel presented chilling testimony of how rioters came dangerously close to finding vice president mike pence while chanting that they wanted to hang him. donald trump continues to deny the evidence building against him. on friday, he appeared at his first public event since the hearings began and lashed out at the committee members as, quote, con artists. meanwhile, two prominent election officials in georgia are expected to testify at the next hearing on tuesday. trump is heard on tape pressuring them to find nonexistent votes after he lost the election. steve bannon is heading to trial for contempt of congress after defying a congressional subpoena for documents. bannon's defense team and the justice department are already trying to set the groundrules for that trial. bannon's lawyers say any testimony or other evidence of the january 6th riot should be excluded. federal prosecutor says they want to keep bannon from turning his trial into a circus. they've asked to bar bannon from

talking about his personal politics or claiming executive privilege as justification for defying the subpoena. markets were rattled again on wall street after the u.s. federal reserve announced its largest interest rate hike in decades in an attempt to get inflation under control. stocks tried to stage a comeback on friday, but failed to offset the effects of the prior day's sell-off. the s&p closed marginally higher but still wound up with its worst week since 2020. this comes as the u.s. president says he is confident about the economy. joe biden told the associated press that america is in a stronger position than any other nation to overcome inflation. he also addressed rising fuel costs. here he is. >> in the united states, i'm using every lever available to me to bring down prices for the american people. and our nations are working together to stabilize global energy markets, including coordinating the largest release from the global reserve -- from global oil reserves in history.

>> meanwhile, american home buyers are already feeling the pinch of the fed's latest interest rate hike. mortgage rates jumped to nearly 6% this week, the largest one-week increase in decades. cnn's brian todd has the story. >> look at this. 500,000? i think so. >> reporter: dana is certainly not alone in navigating higher home prices and steeper mortgages. at the end of 2021, 30-year fixed rate mortgages in the u.s. had interest rates of only about 3%. now the rate is approaching about 6%, and with the fed's interest rate hikes just announced, getting a mortgage could cost some home buyers hundreds of thousands of dollars more. >> for an average home buyer, it could cost upwards of six figures, more than $100,000 over the course of a 30-year loan today versus if they had purchased perhaps six to seven months ago.

>> reporter: what's the first thing a perspective home buyer should do right now as interest rates climb? >> the first thing you ought to do is sit down and look at all your debts. before you go look at the house, before you fall in love with that house, look to make sure you can handle that payment. and here's something else that i'm going to tell you that a lot of people don't tell you. don't go by what the bank says that you can afford, because they're going to look at your gross income. they're going to look at all your debts and your gross income. but guess what? you don't take your gross income home. >> reporter: most financial experts advise put as much money down for your home as you can. one key component home buyers have to navigate, whether to get a fixed rate mortgage of 15 to 30 years with an interest rate that never changes or a so-called a.r.m., an adjusted rate mortgage with interest rates that go up and down depending on the markets and when the government raises or lowers rates. >> if you think that you'll be there for less than five years, an adjustable rate mortgage would definitely be the way to go, because it's a lower monthly

payment. if you think you're going to be staying longer than five years, a 15-year, or 30-year mortgage would be great. it just depends on what monthly payment you're able to carry. >> reporter: with mortgage interest rates climbing, is now even a good time to buy? our experts are torn. >> renting does not mean that you are a financial failure. renting in an environment where we might have a recession will allow you to pick up and move maybe where the jobs are. >> if you are able to make a down payment and qualify for a mortgage, it will cost you less to own that home than it would be to rent the same property. >> reporter: now what's a common mistake people make when taking on a new mortgage, buying a new home? one expert we spoke to said many people simply buy too much house, overestimating the affordability of their mortgage, not factoring in the maintenance costs of the house.

brian todd, cnn, washington. the uk clears the way for julian assange to be extradited to the u.s., but the wikileaks founder isn't out of options yet. the charges he is facing and his next steps, after the break. plus, a dangerous heatwave is affecting much of the u.s. this weekend. we'll get the details from the cnn weather center later in the show. stay with us.

lawyers for wikileaks founder julian assange say they will fight plans to extradite him to the u.s. he has been in a british prison for the last three years. he is accused of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion which can carry a five-year prison sentence. on top of that, there are 17 chargeses under the espionage act, each of which has a maximum ten-year sentence. these relate to the release of thousands of documents and diplomatic cables. nic robertson has more. >> reporter: the british government is saying julian assange's extradition can good ahead because it's not oppressive because it's not unjust, because it's not going to lead to an abuse of power, and that it's not going to violate his human rights. now there has been an earlier judgment by a judge some time ago, many months saying that assange shouldn't be extradited because his mental well-being cannot be guaranteed. the british government is saying

they believe he will get fairly and properly looked after, that his health and welfare will be looked after and he will have the freedom of expression. they also have a bar set on extradition that the subject cannot be exposed to the depth, and in case that would not happen to assange. and also that the extradition charges would be the charges that he would face in the united states. and that also is a given in this case. but assange's family is calling this a very dark day for journalism. his wife is saying that she will fight for him in every way she can. >> we're not at the end of the road here. we're going to fight. this we're going use every appeal avenue. and we're going to fight. i'm going spend every weeks hour fighting for julian until he is free, until justice. is served. >> well, assange ace wife and

lawyers have freezer days to appeal. they can appeal through the british high court, the magistrate appeals, but if they run out of all possibilities in the uk, then they'll turn to european courts for help, and that could indeed slow down the process. they're also appealing to the australian government, reminding the australian government that julian assange is an australian citizen, and they'd like to australian government to stop his extradition and get him freed as well. but the moment, though, 14 days for the appeal, this process has been run ning along time, and i looks like it continues to run longer. nic robertson, cnn, london. flooding is devastating beloved u.s. national park. but where was the state's governor as the high water caused serious damage? we'll answer that question after the break. stay with us. so you both stay comfortable and can help you get 30 minutes more restful sleep per night. saveve 50% on the sleep number 360 limited edition smart bebed.

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caused rivers to destroy bridges and sweep away entire sections of roadway. it suppose forced more than 10,000 visitors out of the park. so as historic flooding devastated parts of montana, many residents around yellowstone national park were wondering where the state's governor was. cnn's nick watt explains. >> we're open for business. we want you to come. >> reporter: finally the governor is here. >> we have basements filled with mud. we've had homes washed away. we've had bridges that have been washed away. we're committed to rebuild this. >> reporter: he's here, days after the floodwaters that slam his state, well, they've already left. no one knew where the governor was all week while his people wrestled with the aftermath. tj briton's house sailed away. >> i spent 16 years of my life there in that place. >> reporter: governor greg gianforte wouldn't say where he was. he was all over social media during the destructive high

waters along the yellowstone river that closed the national park. we are closely monitoring the flooding in south central montana, he tweeted monday. didn't say where he was monitoring the flooding from. it turns out it wasn't anywhere inside montana. questions started tuesday morning when the lieutenant governor, not the governor, signed the state's disaster declaration. gianforte's office told local media he left the country saturday with his wife on a personal trip. so the day before the waters rose. and he'd be back asap. they wouldn't say where he was, citing security protocols. a federal disaster declaration came thursday, but still no sign of the governor in the flesh. these floods are a big deal for montana. millions of dollars worth of damage, the state's north entrance to the national park will be closed for months, leaving residents of the gateway town gardner fearing for their future. >> it became this ghost town. i mean, there is nobody here.

>> reporter: the last time the national spotlight was so on the treasure state might have been in 2017 when gianforte body slammed a reporter during his congressional campaign. >> i'm sick and tired of you guys! >> reporter: this week's game of governor's where's waldo has echoes of senator ted cruz heading to cancun last year during a cold snap and power outages in his home state of texas. cruz caught heat. today in montana, the post delouvrian governor is in trouble. >> we're going get this rebuilt. >> reporter: so the governor was in italy on vacation. the office says he handed over authority to the lieutenant governor who he worked closely over the last four days to take swift, decisive action. there is an eight-hour time difference between italy and montana. many people have been caught on vacation when something big

happens. maybe just be a bit more honest about it. maybe come home a little sooner. and full disclosure, i am reporting tonight on montana politics from california. i flew out of montana this morning not long after the governor flew back in. nick watt, cnn, los angeles. a dangerous heatwave is impacting much of the u.s. authorities in the tennessee valley announced a new june record for electricity demand was set on thursday. in texas, homeland security says they're investigating whether a possible human smuggling attempt was behind the deaths of two migrants from heat exposure or dehydration. cnn meteorologist derek van dam joins us now. i'm here in the studio with a little fan. it's so hot, i could probably use two or three more of them. just a symbol of what's going on across the country here. >> wow, getting clever there. >> got the props. >> i need that. you know, i just got back myself from ohio, talking about the

heatwave combining with a power outage from severe weather earlier this week. so this is a concern that's been building for several, several days. the heat that's impacted many of the states across the central and southeastern u.s., it equally has abated across the northeast. and they're actually cooler than average. and other locations from atlanta to omaha all the way to houston and dallas. these areas have the potential to break records this week once again as our heat dome builds across the nation's heartland and shifts eastward. potential temperatures broken or tied. 130 plus. that's not a typo. heat advisories really confined to the gulf coast states. at the moment just over 25 million americans under heat advisories or heat watches. that will likely build through the course of the weekend and into early next week. and you can see parts of the dakotas into nebraska under that heat watch at the moment. it's thanks to this heat dome. what is this? it's basically an area of high

pressure that traps the radiation from the sun. any time it tries to escape right back into the atmosphere, it is contained and it literally starts to heat that surface back up again as the sun continues to penetrate this area and brings in more and more heat. well, with this kink in upper-level winds or the jet stream that drives our weather systems across north america, that is where we look for the heat dome to develop this time of year. and you can clearly see mitt the four-day forecast. seeing our temperatures drive up into des moines, for instance, st. louis, and then indianapolis by the first parts of next week. in fact, we're going flirt with the 100-degree mark with the windy city di bituesday. that's major heat. you factor in the heat, the number of people who live there, the potential exists for some serious problems. look at this. into atlanta, you won't be spared from the heat as well. you have the humidity to concern yourselves with. that's going to make your real feel temperature or the heat index, what it feels like on your skin to be much higher. we'll break the 100-degree mark

on wednesday and thursday, but it will more than likely feel like the temperatures will reach about 110 in some instances. now it's not just the u.s. that's hot. it's france. we had two all-time record high temperatures set on friday. in the month of june, there were nine record high temperatures set. that broke june record highs. and it was the earliest time that temperatures soared to the lower 90s across that area. heat is building across many locations and will continue to do so before a gradual cooling trend settles in for the middle parts of next week. kim, back to you. >> yeah, can't wait for that cooling. thank you so much, derek van dam. appreciate it. that wraps this hour of "cnn newsroom." i'm kim brunhuber. thanks for watching. i'll be back with more news in just a few minutes. please do stay with us.

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. welcome to all of you watching us here in the united states, canada and around the world. i'm kim brunhuber in "cnn newsroom." >> translator: our soldiers in donbas are fighting to defend their people. all the aims of the special operation will be achieved. >> vladimir putin doubles down on his