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president biden wraps the final leg of his european trip, and he is wrapping a final round of his trip with the prime minister of finland's meeting. and why this is a major adva advantage. and what we are learning about a latest round of the secretary of commerce's email breached. i'm skate bolduan with sara sidner, and this is cnn "news central." all right. in less than 30 minutes we expect to hear from president biden as he is wrapping up the high stakes trip to europe with the pivotal summit in finland after the important nato summit.

he and the finisnish prime minister are to have a meeting. >> this is the first meeting with nordic leader, and finland shares an 800-mile bord weer wi russia, and the president celebrated the alliance and soon with sweden. >> i have been doing this for a long time, and i don't think that nato has ever been stronger. >> cnn's wolf blitzer is on the ground and waiting to hear the president and the finnish president take questions, but you also heard lloyd austin take question, and he has been working very hard to support

ukraine, but to hear his thoughts about ukraine's path to nato membership as well. >> you know, he was very, very blunt. and kate, he was very, very blunt in giving the assessment as to what is going to on as far as the nato alliance and the prospect that he is hoping will happen at some point and ukraine is going to become a full-scale member of nato. we talk about what ukraine has to do to become a full scale member of nato, and he was very, very blunt. he said that president zelenskyy has been pushing very, very hard for nato to allow ukraine to be admitted as a full-scale ally in this alliance very, very important for ukraine. and that is how the ukrainian president sees it. let me play a clip, and a little

bit of the explain that we had this morning here in lithuania. listen to this. >> reporter: so you have no doubt that after the war, ukraine is going to become a member of nato? >> i have no doubt that is going to happen, and we have heard all of the countries in the room say as much, and i think that is reassuring to president zelenskyy, but there are other things that have to happen as well. judicial reform, you know, things that make sure that democracies is in good shape, and so those things will take place over time. >> how much time do you think it is going to take over the war assuming that the war will end, god willing, it will end and it will take ukraine to become a full member of nato? >> i won't speculate on that,

wolf. ly say that all of the countries that i spoke with wanted to move adds quickly as possible. >> so, all of the countries want nato? >> i think 32 at that time. >> with sweden? >> yes. >> okay. >> and i believe that they will. >> and you have good analyst, and how is putin reacting to this expansion of nato? >> i am sure that he is very concerned, and something that he did not expect this to happen, but president biden warned him of this at the very beginning, but, you know, he has brought nato closer to this doorstep, and so if you were him, you would be certainly concerned about what you arelear putin is very concerned. i want to go to helsinki right

now where president biden is preparing for this news conference in helsinki, and he is going to deliver some remarks along with the finland president who is going to be there as well. it is going to be a joint news conference in helsinki and our correspondent arlette saenz is going to be there and what can we expect to hear from the president of the united states? >> president biden is here in helsinki with another show of nato unity and show right in russia's backyard. the president has spent the morning meeting with the president of finland as well as the nordic leaders including sweden. it is important that finland is the most recent addition of the alliance, and it shares an 800-mile land border with russia, and significantly expanding the nato territory, and also at the summit of the nordic leaders, the president met with the prime minister of

sweden, and turkey gave president biden a big win by dropping the objections to having sweden join the nato alliance, and they need an official parliament vote which may not happen until the false, but soon, the nato alliance is going to be looking bigger, and it is all going to be striking with the message that the president has not only been trying to drop here in finland, but as he met with the nordic leaders he said they have common challenges and values, and this is something that he has been trying to stress throughout the trip, and trying to reinvigorate the nato alliance, and that has been prior in his presidency, and also that the president came over in vilnius, where you are, and trying to strengthen and rally more support around ukraine. of course, there were some tensions at the start of the

summit with zelenskyy, but they came without a g7 declaration to give the long-term commitments to ukraine. so here in helsinki, it is a chance for us to ask him some questions about the summit, but he is also going to be likely reinforcing that he accomplished the goals that he was set to meet when he came to the summit, and that is when he told the reporters yesterday and the white house has been feeling that they are riding on a little bit of the high after that summit in nato where they strengthened the alliance and showed support for ukraine through all of the allies. >> clearly, a successful summit here in lithuania, and arlette, we will get back to you and have a news conference right when that news conference starts ahead and we will find out what the president is saying, and this is very, very important to

wrap up the visit to europe, and he is going to be joined by the finnish president. and meanwhile, back over the sara and kate in new york. >> thank you, wolf. it is great to see you on the ground there in lithuania, and we will be back to wolf soon. and so it is a highly unusual weapon, and the ukrainian president says kit radically change the battlefield. and cnn says that cluster munitions have already arrived there on the ground. and if anyone knows dangers that these bombs pose, and why they are so controversial, and so much as been made of the cluster munitions being sent over, and what is being said as they are going to be used over ukrainian soil. >> this is why the u.s. held off for so long before agreeing to send the cluster munition, and did, the biden administration

says, because of the shortage of the more artillery shells, but the general tells me when they have been used and they have not yet, they will be used within a strict framework that is a framework agreed to with the united states, and the biggest priority is to not be used around civilian s and they will not be used in area that are not heavily used by soldiers. they will be used to clear out mining operations and duds, and the general said it is not like a smaller weapon like a gun or rifle or artillery that can be used with the russian rules of engagement, and the senior officials said they don't want but these weapons are in ukraine

and ready to be used. this is what the general had to tell me earlier today. >> reporter: have you used them already, and how much do you think they will change the fight? [ speaking non-english ] >> reporter: kate, he is saying that russian forces are going to be worried about coming up against these cluster missions, and he expects them to vacate the areas where they are most effective. he also believes that the russian forces are going to, they may respond in kind. we have heard that warning from the russians they would also use cluster munitions reciprocally, and the former minister said

that it is time for russia to clear its arsenal of these inhumane munitions, but russia has been using their own since the beginning of this war. >> great point, alex, and great reporting for you to get to the general there. and now, after china-based hackers breached government attacks. we will tell you who. and a 6-year-old girl fights back against an attacker, and how she sent him off. and a strike that has not happened for 60 years, the strike of hollywood writers and actors. . we will explain the impact of thatat. oh. only pay for what yoyou need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ there arare currently more than 750,000 unfilled cybersecurity jobs in the u.s.

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new details of that security breach in the commerce department by china. it appears that the they have access to the commerce secretary's regina remando's office were attacked. do we know why they were attacked? >> well, i can make a guess that they have targeted huawei and gte has sanctioned them, the enforcement arm of the u.s. government of export controls, and it is tough on some chinese

companies and not to say it is some sort of retaliation, but more that the chinese hackers would be interested in the communication that any senior officials are having or planning a next level of sanctions of the chinese companies, and we don't know if that is happening, but set a valid reason why they would want to gather information from those officials. i would also expect that the department of commerce and other federal agencies is instruct their senior officials including the cabinet secretaries not to put sensitive information in the email, but it is not to say that you cannot extract useful information from the meetings and when they are meeting, and reason that they would target the commerce department. they went after the state department, and the state department first confirmed to cnn they were patient zero in the hack. at the time that secretary

blinken was preparing to visit china for the high-stakes meeting, they were able to get into the state department email, and they have touted the defenses and how it reported to microsoft this incident and vice versa, and so there are a number of fast-moving parts of this story and the larger challenge of dealing with the cyber espionage threat that the biden administration is facing. sara? >> we will continue to check in with you, sean lyngaas, for this reporting. thank you. and chris christie and tim scott say they have hit an important mark with enough donors to make it for the presidential debate. among the requirements put in place by the rnc that the presidential candidates must

have 40,000 individual donors. and so the former new jersey governor and south carolina senator have now met that threshold, but there is more to it, friends, and cnn director david chalian has them. and so, now there are other requirement, and where are the folks standing on the polling requi requirements? >> and the requirements are a specific window, it is july 1st to the august 23rd debate. so far, and even though we are at july 13th today, what are we at -- >> yes. >> july 13th, and only one poll has been released, so you need three national polls at 3% or higher or a mix of two national polls and two state polls at that threshold that meet the rnc requirements. so it has to be a poll of

republican participants, and you have a lot of the folks there that you mentioned who do get above 1% in the poll, kate, but they need more polls to come out to meet the requirements to meet that threshold as well. >> absolutely. has donald trump announced whether or not he is going to take to the debate stage, because the impact of that decision is going to be huge for republicans? >> no, he has not announced and in classic fashion of donald trump, will he, or won't he -- because he loves to gin up that attention of will he, won't he, and he has said why should i debate if i am 30 points out ahead of all of the other folks and let them take potshots at me, and it is not a totally

unreasonable point of view, but if he is not on the stage, and the television ratings impact, but the debate itself will still be valuable for the race of who is going to be the one to take on trump at the end of the day. >> that great, great point, david. it is good to see you. sara? >> on the radar this morning, a stranger tried to snatch her, and she fought back and won. the 6-year-old is credited for the man who tried to kidnap her outside of the home, and when a stranger tried to carry her away, and she used the only weapon available to her, her teeth, to get away from his grip. >> when he came to grab you, did you scream? >> yes. >> and then what did you have? >> grabbed the hand. >> and then what you do you do? >> he grabbed me and threw know the floor. >> i told her not to talk to

strangers and if so, grab something close to her, and hit him with it. >> the little girl learned lesson and she is safe now. and the suspect seen on the surveillance video is now being held on child abuse and attempted kidnapping. and now, the first nonprescription birth control pill is a once a day pill that is using progestrin and has been approved by the fda. >> and lebron james is not

retiring. >> and the question is not can i play or not, and it is if ki play without cheating this game. the day i can't do that without cheating the game, and lucky for you, it is not this day. >> and the crowd went wild, and he surpassed kareem abdul-jabbar to become the nba scoring leader, and this is a huge honor. >> i would love that opportunity to be like, you're welcome to the crowd of people. >> we see it everyday, kate. >> yes, you are welcome. >> and he also wants to play with his son which is really cool. from the fun to the serious, and who knew that we would have to continue to report on this. we have an update now on the investigation of the bag of cocaine found in the white house. white house west wing earlier this month. jeremy dimon is back with us, and i just left you a moment ago

and the secret service was about to brief a moment ago and what are you learning? >> well, kate, i learned with two source familiar with the investigation, they have concluded the investigation with this bag of cocaine found in the west wing two weeks agoed and they have been unable to identify a suspect. and one source said they combed through hundreds of visitor logs and footage, but they could not link this baggy of cocaine to one individual. the second source who is familiar with the investigation told me that the leading theory remains it is one of the visitors who was entering that west wing entrance where they take the west wing tour over the holiday weekend who is believed to have left that baggy of cocaine, and it is not confirmed or the conclusion, and the official conclusion of the secret service, but it is the leading theory despite the thakt that they could not identify a

suspect. as you said, kate, the secret service is currently briefing the lawmakers on capitol hill about this investigation and i suspect they are sharing many of these same details with them right now. >> thank you very much. we will check back in a moment. and now, president biden is going to have a meeting with nordic leaders, and we will bring that back to you live here in moments. stay with us. it's right there! ♪ oh, he's straight ahead. he's straight ahead. straight ahead. go g go go. ♪ cover more ground in the kia sportage turbo-hybrid. kia. movement that inspires. ♪

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all right. we have breaking news for you. just into cnn the pittsburgh shooting synagogue trial has reached a verdict as to whether or not the convicted gunman is eligible for the death penalty. can you tell us what has happened in first of the sentencing phase, danny >> well, sara, in the past 20 minutes or so, the judge read the verdict, and when it comes to the first part of the eligibility phase, robert bowers is eligible to face the death penalty, and that is the verdict handed down to this jury. it is unanimous, and i wanted to let you know what we are talking

about here. normally the conviction is for the first phase, but normally the sentencing phase is to be split up for two parts, which is a eligibility phase and then the sentence selection phase. the first part is age, and is robert bowers over the age of 18, and thus making him eligible for the death penalty, aggravating factor, and kill someone who was developally chal -- developmentally challenged or aged, and he did. and also the defense was not going to contest that robert bowers committed crimes that had the aggravating factors bush

they wanted to aim to poke holes in the intent, and they called witness over the past 11 days or so specifically arguing that he was delusional and he had abnormalities in the brain, and those were the reasons that he went into the synagogue to commit this atrocity, and they said no way did he suffer from delusions at all, but he believes repugnant thing, and so now, sara, we will be moving into the sentence selection phase. the jury has said that he is eligible for the death penalty phase, and so now more victim impact statements, and then the jury will decide to send him the death, and not over yet, but five years in the making for this first part of the

sentencing phase. >> many of us were there, and it impacted all of us there and many in the country, and anti-semitic massacre, and it was a prayerful synagogue where people were killed while they were praying. and now we go to wolf blitzer who is in vilnius, where he is awaiting remarks from the president. >> yes, the president is going to wrap up this meeting with western allies and securing a much stronger nato alliance, and very impressive measure indeed, and strong support with ukraine and the war is waging on, and it

is a brutal war, and it is clear that ukraine wants to be admitted into nato, but they have said it will happen after this war. and president biden met with the nordic leaders and that was after finland was admitted to the alliance, and sweden will now be joining after turkey dropped its objections. these are huge stakes for everyone involved. nic robertson and david chalian are with us, and military analyst, the general wesley clark, the retired allied supreme commander, and based on what we know so far, give us the assessment, general, with the possible assessment that ukraine will become a possible full-scale member. >> well, wolf, the communique and the members of the summit

show that ukraine will become a full-scale nato member. i think it is a case of the glass being half full. i know that president zelenskyy wanted more, and the ukrainian war wanted more out of this, and it is a strong showing for nato, and president biden and his team have done a really, really credible job of leadership, and globally, and it is an impressive achievement on bal balance. >> you make a very important point. nic, nato has now admitted finland, and it is on track to admitting sweden to the alliance as well. finland's membership more than double the bloc's actual border with russia, and what are the global implication, because russia is not happy about this dramatic expansion of nato especially along the border. >> that is exactly what

president putin said that he did not want to have happen, and the unity of nato if you are holding up a comparison of nato and the other side of the border with russia. russia has cracks appearing with the mutiny of prigozhin, and the mercenary boss, and the top russian general apparently relieved of duties in ukraine after criticizing military leadership in russia for the way they are fighting war, and don't have the reparation, don't have the ammunition or the artillery battery and that sort of thing, and so there is a strong juxtaposition, and there is an interesting narrative going on here that perhaps was not quite intentional, but it emerge and the tension where president zelenskyy wanted more and he did not get it, and set up president biden in a position to where he could well show and display to the world that he is not the one trying to push weapons into

ukraine, and in fact, he is the one that is slowing it up a little bit. and when the united states is sending top diplomats, and janet yellen, secretary blinken meeting with his counterpart in china, and this narrative that the united states is not forcing this war, and that the united states is not trying to rush weapons into ukraine which is what russia is saying, and the narrative in the conversation with china is hugely important as the united states is trying to build more support for its position with the global south and with china, an convince china to, sure economically, because it is a way to cut russia off from the war in ukraine. so that piece of the puzzle here is a very intriguing piece at a time when president biden is trying to deal with multiple threats around the world.

>> i think that you make very good points. and david chalian, the meeting in helsinki is happening at the same place where exactly five years ago, president trump met with president putin, and how significant is president biden's show with the nordic leaders and how significant that is, and many of us remember that meeting with trump with putin, and where trump sided with putin and rejected what the u.s. intelligence community was saying about russia's interference in the united states elections. >> it is amazing the images coming out being used for a different purpose. the president is stepping up to the podium now, and i am sure that we want to listen. >> david, they are walking in right now, and we will listen to

opening statement from the president. >> welcome in the president of finland sauli niinisto and president of the united states joe biden. >> good afternoon, and good job to have this call in the castle, plenty of you here. first of all, joe, mr. president, i want to thank you for visiting finland. we have possibilities of meeting you several times. >> i can hear you. >> and the first time i met you, you were speaker of parliament when we met. >> i remember. >> so, we have had lots of discussions in the last couple of years, and i want to once again thank you for the strong support that you have given all of the time.

>> it is my honor. >> the new era of finland's security policy has begun, and you will be one of those who drove it into history. i also want to thank you for the meeting to be touched between allies and it was greatly created by you. we had the possibilities of discussing bilaterally today i took up the negotiations of our defense cooperation agreement, and we are going to continue our security discussion bilat, and

that is vitally important to finland and at the same time sweden and denmark are having familiar discussions, and at the end, it seems that all of the five nordic countries will have a bilateral agreement with the usa. technology is one of the key words for the future. there are elements like artificial intelligence, other technology, sky technology, and all of this is leading our way to the future, and we have to make sure that it is leading our way in a very secure way, and that demands responsibility of those who know how and that is

why it is very important to coordinate and cooperate with our knowledge and resources forward in this sector. we also had to discussion on our nei neighbor. i think that we both share similar views. the war in ukraine is also discussed. we both see that we will continue support to ukraine which is defending not only ourselves, but also all of the values that we represent in the western vote. we also had a meeting with the nordic family. it is a tradition which started

during president tobarr's time, and a time to get better with technology and security there, and a lot of time and thoughts represented on the environmental issues. so, once again, it is great to have you here. >> thank you, mr. president. it is great to be here, and it is an honor be here with you and our other nordic friends, and i would suggest very productive nordic summit on the heels of the summit in vilnius where finland became our newest ally. we have always been friends with

the new ally, and i also want to thank the president of sweden and the prime minister of norway, where we have had a great relationship, and fredrickson of denmark, and the daughter of ireland, the daughteda dau daughter of ireland, and you can tell that is freudian and thinking of home, but iceland, and so i understand that we are standing at an inflection point of history, and where the decisions that we make now will determine the course of history for the next four or five or six decades and we this week have affirmeded how the united states and finland together, together will set us on a stronger, and safer and more secure path and not just for europe and not just for nato, but for the world. in vilnius, nato met with 31

nations for the first time. we showed the world that our alliance is more united than ever, and soon it is going to be 32 allies, thanks to the agreement with turkey to move sweden's alliance forward. with the unanimity of the group, we are more committed. i wanted you to know that the united states are committed to nato and committed to finland. nato defends every inch of nato allies, and that is including finland. we have defend every unwavering support of ukraine as they have

been defending themselves against russia's brutal attacks. this fight is not only a fight for the future of ukraine, but it is about sovereignty, security and freedom itself. i wanted you to think about what would happen if we didn't do anything, and what is likely to happen in the rest of europe if we did nothing. so this week, nato has elevated our relationship with ukraine. and the allies agreed to lift the membership action plan that is usually required before you can be admitted from ukraine, and it has created a path and membership for ukraine as it continues to make progress on the necessary democratic and security reforms of every nato member. we made clear to president zelenskyy that we are not waiting for the nato membership to be finalized to have a secure ukraine. the g7 issued a new debclaratio

of support for ukraine, and a declaration that the nordic nations supported. it is going to help a bilateral agreement of nations with ukraine until they are officially members of nato. it will not only ensure that ukraine can defend itself today, and deter future aggression adds well, and with the land, air and sea protection. and we will increase the power of partnership to take on the challenges that matter most to people in our lives an countries. in the united kingdom, we brought together philanthropic partners to bring together millions of dollars to fight climate change. and we also helped our indoe european partners to fight terrorism, and resilience and so

much more. and here in finland, we reaffirmed our commitment to stand together, power to power clean energy transmission, and preserve regional security, and promote democratic values, and to pioneer the technologies of the future from quantum com comp computing. and so we have done this together. from this point, the world is going to be watching to see, will we do the hard work to forge a better future? will we stand together? we will be stand with one another? this week, finland and the allies and the partners together with our partners say a resounding yes. yes, we will step up. yes, we will stay together. and yes, we will work toward a stronger and safer and strong world. so mr. president, thank you again, for having me here as partners, friends and allies, i look forward to the work in the

years ahead, and it is a real pleasure to getting to know you even better. thank you. >> now we have time for questions. >> shall we start with ilya. >> yes, the national broadcasting service, and my question is for president biden, the political volatility of the u.s. remains a big worry for the european partners and meanwhile back in washington, a bipartisan group of senators have continually failed to pass a bill to keep members from withdrawing from nato -- >> i am sorry. i did not hear the last part. >> in washington, a bipartisan group of senators have repeatedly failed to pass through senate a law to prevent future u.s. presidents from withdrawing from nato without the senate approval, and what

actions ss are you going to tao ensure finland that the united states will be a part of nato? >> i guarantee it, and there is overwhelming support from the members of american people, and from the congress and the senate, and not to withstand extreme elements of one party, we will stand together. the american people are known since the end of waorld war ii and our security rests among the unanimity of the transatlantic partnership, us. no one can guarantee the future, but this is the best bet that anyone could make.

>> so my second question on the note that to president kan niin, that because you cannot guarantee future presidents to -- >> excuse me. let me say i did not say that i cannot guarantee, i will absolutely guarantee between our partners that the united states is committed to nato. >> and that answer seems to solve your question. but the nato is quite united and quite secure of the united

states policies of the future. >> let me say one more thing. we learned a hard lesson. peace and security in europe is essential to u.s. security and peace, and the idea that there could be conflict in europe among our friends and us not engaged has not happened in modern history, and that is why we are standing together. >> next question, mr. president. >> oh, i have to call on somebody. sorry. "wall street journal," andrew. >> thank you, mr. president, you have said that ukraine should not enter nato until after the war is over, and are you concerned that those comments could encourage putin to continue the war going, and is there a risk that the war could drag on for years and that the

war could continue with putin not in power? >> first of all, no one can join nato while a war is going on, and where a nato nation is being attacked, because it guarantees that we are in a war and a third world war, so it is not about whether they should or should not join, and they will join. the issue of whether or not this is going to keep putin from fighting, and the answer is that putin has already lost the war, and how does he move from here, and what does he do from here, and the idea is what vehicle is used, and he could end the war tomorrow, and he could say, "i'm out." but what agreement is ultimately reached depends upon putin and what he decides to do.

there is no possibility of him winning the war in ukraine. he has lost that war. imagine if -- anyway, he has lost that war. >> just on the question of the concern of going on for year, is there a possibility that there is a stalemate. >> sorry? >> the question of the war going on for year, and if there is a stalemate and it could continue for some time? >> e w i don't believe that the war could go on for years for two reasons. number one, that russia could maintain the war forever in terms of their resources and capacity. number two, there is going to be a circumstance where eventually president putin is going to decide economically, politically and otherwise, he should not

continue this war. but i cannot predict when that is, but i am certain that ukraine will make progressive moves on their offensive. >> and president, i would be remiss if i did not raise my colleague evan gershvich who is being held in russia, and is there any plans to get him out of russia. >> i am not pleased with any prisoner of war. and those plans are under way.

>> [ nonaudible question ] >> and as soon as the negotiations are open, we know that our counter parties are also very open, and so let us see. >> the next question goes to president niinisto. >> thank you. to you. >> and thank you, and my question is for president biden or should i just said president biden. so you have repeatedly talked about finland becoming -- >> sorry, what nation? >> you have repeatedly talking

about finland nation becoming nato nation, and how does that change finland's place in world? >> well, the context of which i said that was that the gentleman who occupys a seat on the other side of your border in moscow said that, i said, he wanted the f findoliization of the border, and that is the context of the question. what is the second question? >> how has the relationship changed with this alliance? >> look. finland is a strong and vibrant nation. i think that what finland does joining nato and sweden as well, and all of the nordic countries when they are members of nato,

it is making world safer, and increa increasingly the prospects of war, and we would defend every inch of nato territory, and now we are on the way of getting to 32 nato nations, and that is a significant commitment, and the likelihood of any nation to voluntary decide to attack any of the nations, including finland is unlikely. and they understand that they are not attacking just finland, but it is 31 other countries. >> next question for president biden, please. >> arlette from cnn. >> we are seeing more disarray with the generals and most recently the firing of the general from the defense ministry and that rebellion of

prig prigozhin, and does this encourage more dramatic things of putin with nuclear weapons, and interference with american elections. >> well, interference with american elections is nothing new, but there is no real prospect, and you never know of putin using nuclear weapons, and not only the west, but china has said, don't go there. don't go there. number two. number three. i think that determining what happens to prigozhin and happens to vilnius, excuse me, what happened when we discussed this in vilnius, god only knows what he is likely to do. we are not even sure where he is and what relationship he has, and if i were him, i would be careful what i