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CNN NEWSROOM

Zero Tolerance Policy; Mexico Border; Illegal Immigrants; Getty Photographer Catching Heartbreaking Image; As Robert Mueller Moves to Finalize Obstruction Report, Trump's Allies Ready For Political Battle; Chinese Ivory Ban The Slaughter Continues; Fans React To Mexico's Win Versus Germany; World Cup Results. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired June 18, 2018 - 02:00   ET

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


[02:00:04]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They call it zero tolerance, but a better name for it is zero humanity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN, ANCHOR: Children taken from their parents at the U.S. border with Mexico. It has lawmakers from both parties outraged, plus this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They asked her to put down her child. And right then in that moment, the little girl broke into tears.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN, ANCHOR: The man who captured this image explains what it was like seeing this little girl separated from her mother.

HOWELL: And Germany falls flat. Mexico defeating the reigning World Cup champs. What will Monday's matches bring?

CHURCH: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I am Rosemary Church.

HOWELL: And I am George Howell from CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. Newsroom starts right now.

CHURCH: Inhumane and un-American. Those are just some of the words U.S. lawmakers are using to describe a new immigration practice that results in families being torn apart at the U.S. border with Mexico. Some 2,000 undocumented children are now being held in temporary shelters without their parents.

HOWELL: And that is just since mid-April. Since is the Trump administration implemented a zero tolerance policy to prosecute all people caught crossing the border illegally. Despite the growing outcry, the Trump administration continues to defend the policy, saying it is just doing more to enforce legislation that was already on the books. Our Dianne Gallagher toured one of the centers housing more than a thousand of these undocumented children.

CHURCH: And just take a listen to how she described it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: I am in McAllen, Texas. Behind me there, you see the Rio Grande Valley Centralized Processing Center. They have a greater intake when it comes to processing undocumented people coming into the United States than any other in Texas. And as it stands right now, under this new zero tolerance policy from the Trump administration, they -- right now since that policy went into effect, say that 1,174 children have been separated from their families while leaving this facility.

Just since that policy went into effect. Now, I went inside and I took a tour myself. Look, we should go ahead and say this is a tour that was guided by border patrol agents. So we saw what they wanted us to see in this case. But we did get a chance to talk to people who are being held in what I can really only describe as cages.

We're talking about 12-foot chain link fences here, some of them housing single adult males, others housing single adult females. Then you go into a warehouse room where you see families that are together. Younger children are with either a father in one sort of pen area, or a mother in another sort of pen area there. You see also we had a pen inside where there were so many young boys.

Now some of them are undocumented minors we're told. Others were teenagers. They were keeping out of the family units. But at this facility, they're only here for -- there is supposed to be a maximum of 72 hours. Some of the people told me they've been here four or five days. But this is a temporary facility. They move on to either federal court if you're an adult, or under the zero tolerance policy, the children move on to a government holding area or group home or some other facility to hold them until they can either A, be united back with their parents or B, figure out the next step is.

Now when I spoke to a few people in here, one woman, a 24-year-old from Guatemala, she had her 1-year-old daughter with her. She had been separated from the group that she came across the border with. She said that she was unaware of the zero tolerance policy. She started to cry, saying that it had been a very difficult journey here.

And she was worried about the people that she came with, that she felt like she had been left behind and separated. There is some high emotion in there. A lot of the children that was unaccompanied minors that I spoke to, they told me they were there by themselves. They were happy just to be out of the elements, one boy said. But they're just kind of sitting there. It is a little sad to see young children, three, four, five years old with their father or mother just sitting on a concrete floor or metal bench while they have these mattresses are piled up in these 12 foot chain link pens.

So the senators came down here as well, touring another facility on another part of Texas. They're trying to bring attention and awareness to see if they can put political pressure on the President to put an end to this policy or just to essentially say stop doing it, because it's not a written law at this point.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[02:04:58] CHURCH: Dianne Gallagher there. And of course, we can't show you even a fraction of the human agony unfolding in American border towns, but we can show you this, a little girl screaming in fear in the dead of night as a crisis envelopes her.

HOWELL: And around the world, people are looking at that image right now. This is happening in the United States of America, just one image that speaks to the untold stories of thousands of people, children. Getty Photographer John Moore took this photo. And he told my colleague Ana Cabrera what he could say about her story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I was able to speak with the mother very briefly. I had photographed her and her daughter and several other children, other families. The mom told me that they had been traveling for a month. And coming from Honduras through Mexico over the course of a whole month is a very difficult journey for these folks, often very dangerous. And so by the time they had reached the U.S. side, they had probably been through a lot already.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What was going through your mind when you took the picture?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, they had been body searching people as they were loaded into vans to be taken to a processing center where they were possibly separated, parents and children. And one of the last people to get on the bus was the mother of this child and her daughter together. And when they went to body search her against the vehicle, they asked her to put down her child.

And right then in that moment, the little girl broke into tears, and you know it's not unusual for toddlers in any circumstance to have separation anxiety. But I think this particular situation with the separation of families leads and gives a new meaning to that phrase.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Gosh, I mean that picture makes us all get tears in our eyes. It's so hard to see her crying and seeming so desperate. When you took that picture, did you know it was something special that it could become a defining image of this moment in history?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I had photographed families trying to seek asylum many times on different visits to the U.S.-Mexico border. What it looked like in many ways was similar to what I had seen before. And I think the families there they had no idea that they would soon be separated from their children. I could tell they weren't up on the recent news. They'd been traveling in difficult conditions, but I knew what was

going to happen next. And for me to take these pictures, scenes that I had seen before, but with the knowledge that these parents and their children would soon be in separate detention facilities made it hard for me personally as a journalist, as a human being, and especially as a father.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: The images simply heart breaking.

CHURCH: Yeah. And the world is reacting to those sorts of images, particularly coming from America.

HOWELL: Yes. One U.S. lawmaker is trying to drum up public pressure to change the policy. It is the Texas representative and U.S. senate candidate Beto O'Rourke.

CHURCH: Yeah. He marched to a tent city where the U.S. government is holding unaccompanied immigrant children. Speaking to CNN earlier, he said all Americans bear responsibility for what's happening.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Things have to be really bad for you to leave Honduras, travel 2,000 miles if you're lucky on top of not inside of a train known as the beast or La Bestia with your child, to literally take your and your child's life into your own hands and hope that you'll make it here. Once you get here to try to request asylum only to find that your child will be taken from you. This is inhumane. I'd like to say it's un-American, but it's happening right now in America, and it is on all of us, not just the Trump administration. This is on all of us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And First Lady Melania Trump made a rare statement on policy to weigh in on the immigration crack down. Her spokeswoman tells CNN Mrs. Trump hates to see children separated from their families and hopes both sides of the aisle can finally come together to achieve successful immigration reform. She believes we need to be a country that follows all laws but also a country that governs with heart.

HOWELL: The Former First Lady Laura Bush also blasted the practice of separating families. In a scathing column in the Washington Post, she compared it to the Japanese-American internment camps that happened during World War II. She wrote this. This zero tolerance policy is cruel. It is immoral and it breaks my heart. Our government should not be in the business of warehousing children in converted botch stores or making plans to place them in tent cities in the desert outside of El Paso.

[02:10:01] CHURCH: So let's discuss this further with Amy Greene. She is an American political science researcher and professor at Sciences Po in Paris. Amy, thank you so much for being with us. So this zero tolerance policy, it has enraged and upset so many people, both Democrats and Republicans, people in America, people overseas. But President Trump insists this policy was forced on him by the Democrats. So if he truly believes that, why doesn't he change it, given he's in charge? What's the strategy here?

AMY GREENE, SCIENCES PO, PROFESSOR: President Trump is using this as a leverage in order to get Democrats to come to the table to agree on legislation that they are as opposed to. There are basically two Republican house versions of immigration to fix legislation on the table.

There's a very conservative version and then there is the more moderate version that Paul Ryan supports. Even as the Democrats they don't agree, but they weren't associated in the discussion to help bring about this legislation. And it doesn't fix the question of separation. So essentially what you see is a President who has decided unilaterally to enact this zero tolerance policy in order to bring Democrats to the table, in order to enact leverage to get his wall.

But essentially to bring the immigration debate further right and to force the Democrats to the table to accept potentially a list of options that they are you know politically ideologically opposed to. And in any case, the question of the legal status of you know asylum seeks are doesn't necessarily get fixed by the Republican proposition on the table right now.

So essentially, this is the policy that the President of the United States himself has condoned, has implemented unilaterally, and has the unilateral opportunity to undo. And that's the question of separating families at the border.

CHURCH: Will his strategy work?

GREENE: It's not certain that this strategy you know could potentially work. You know the Democrats are firmly opposed to the two house proposals on the table, which are much too far to the right, which don't you know address a number of issues that they're particularly concerned about. So I think that you have a Democratic party who is beginning to mobilize, who is standing firm on the issue, which has you know a basic minimal set of values that it's trying to you know move forward, and the question of how to fix the problem.

You know nobody left or right agrees that the immigration issue is particularly simple. Neither Democrats nor Republicans you know would disagree with the fact that there has to be some solution, perhaps to reduce the numbers at the border. But this is where you get the division between a Democratic Party that cannot morally accept what's happening and the Republican Party for the moment, which has stood in lock step behind the President of the United States. The question really becomes what will voters do.

CHURCH: Right. And as we just reported, even the First Lady Melania Trump says she hates to see children separated from their families and she believes the country should govern with heart. Now it doesn't sound like she supports her husband's zero tolerance immigration policy, does it? What does her message signal and would her statement have been approved by the White House, do you think? Has she gone a little rogue here?

GREENE: It's difficult to say what you know has been approved by the White House or not. But listening to her statement you could argue perhaps she was in disagreement with her husband's zero tolerance policy. You could also interpret it in another way, which is much more ambiguous, which would be to say that even she despises the image, the optics, and the idea of families being separated.

But yet again, it's the Democrats' fault that nothing's moving forward. So it's not certain in this statement by Melania Trump that she is in disagreement with her husband's policy. So you know I don't think you could definitively say that by releasing a statement she opens a fracture within the heart of the White House.

CHURCH: And Trump supporters blame the parents for bringing their children across the U.S. border, but most of them of course, are fleeing desperate circumstances and have very little choice in the matter. So who is at fault here and what's the solution to these family separations that the Trump administration had hoped would deter immigrants crossing the border? That hasn't worked, has it?

GREENE: No. What you see is a Presidential administration, the American government you know inflicting harm and trauma on children who didn't make the choice to come, who accompanied their parents as a way to impact violence on the parents. So you know it is a potential deterrent tactic. Clearly, that's what the President was seeking when implementing this policy.

But what you see is that you know there are still such dire circumstances in other parts of the world that the United States is the best and potentially in the eyes of these people coming the only hope. And so what you have are a group of people who you know many of them there have been reports on this, you know many of them don't show up at the appointed asylum centers because they don't know where they are.

[02:15:04] So they cross the border where they can and they ask for asylum when they're apprehended. So you have you know a U.S. government impacting -- sorry implementing this policy without the resources, the coordination, and the process to do it in a humane way. So clearly a deterrent tactic, but it's not working because you know circumstances in other parts of the word mean that the risk of potentially coming and getting apprehended is more luxurious than life where the people start out from.

CHURCH: Indeed. Amy Greene, thank you so much for your analysis. We appreciate it.

GREENE: Thank you, rosemary.

HOWELL: Now to the immigration challenges seen in Europe. Hundreds of rescued migrants there will have their asylum requests considered after arriving in Spain.

CHURCH: They endured a grueling journey across the Mediterranean where they were turned away by Italy and Malta. Lynda Kinkade has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: Jubilation at the Spanish port of Valencia as 630 migrants saved from the Mediterranean last week dock. The rescue ship Aquarius was held for two days between Malta and the Italian island of Sicily, after Italy's Interior Minister Matteo Salvini refused to give the refugees safe harbor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In moments like this, it is important not to have (Inaudible) action like Spain did in welcoming people in need when others were rejecting them.

KINKADE: After Spain agreed to take them, the migrants were divided into three boats, the Aquarius and two Italian coast guard ships. The migrants represent a wide range of people trying to get to Europe.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And just to emphasize, we have more than 20 nationalities on the ship. We have people from Afghanistan, people from Bangladesh, people from Algeria. It's a wide variety of people. This is not just migrants from Africa. There are actually many people who left conflict and are looking for asylum.

KINKADE: Now the migrants will figure out their next steps.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Spanish authorities will provide everyone, my grandson and refugees with the documents that is valid for 45 days. They will also inform them about the possibility of applying for asylum.

KINKADE: France has offered to allow some of the migrants to settle there. Italy's Interior Minister remains defiant, however, saying he hopes Spain takes in tens of thousands more. Lynda Kinkade, CNN.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: I want to thank you. It turns out another Trump ally met with a Russian during the 2016 campaign to get dirt on Hillary Clinton. Find out how Roger Stone was reminded of that meeting still ahead.

CHURCH: Plus, Mexico defeats the reigning World Cup champions, Germany's loss and other Sunday surprises still to come. Stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:20:00] HOWELL: All right. More now on the World Cup, day five is kicking off in Russia, and so far, no team appears safe from an upset. Football giant Brazil got an early lead Sunday with this shot against Switzerland, but the Swiss fought back, holding the Brazilians to a 1-1 draw.

CHURCH: And that game wasn't even the biggest surprise of the day. Reigning World Cup champion Germany suffered a loss to Mexico. HOWELL: That's such a big surprise. Let's bring in Kate Riley to

talk about this. And you know fans around the world had to be stunned by this.

KATE RILEY, CNN, SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think everyone's bracket in the office is now broken. So yeah, you've asked us our opinion. We've given it. So fingers crossed. We don't get it wrong for the rest of the tournament. Yeah, the Brazil result was huge. It was the first time in 40 years that they didn't win their opener. What a huge setback for the reigning world champions, Germany.

They were beaten in their very first game at Russia, 2018 by Mexico in the tournament's biggest shock so far we'd say. The four-time winners had won their first game at the last seven World Cups, but fair to say they really did meet their match this time against (Inaudible) on Sunday. Moscow, Germany's fans expect success from their team. Of course, but here they faced a passionate Mexican team desperate to me their mark on the tournament after years of underachievement.

When (Inaudible) Lozano put them ahead, they then started to believe. It was a roller coaster of emotions. (Inaudible) free kick brilliantly kept out by the Mexican keeper. (Inaudible) Germany peppered the opponent's goal relentlessly to no avail. Since USA '94, the Mexican has actually gone out in the last 16 stage in every World Cup. You have to wonder to what extent (Inaudible) has eroded (Inaudible) and they were held firm here and then their all time leading scorer, most famous player Javier Hernandez reacting like that at the final whistle.

(Inaudible) all over their faces, you can see the raw emotion all over German faces. This is what it means to beat the world champions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Emotional, very emotional. We felt a lot of positivity and basically a lot of happiness. Also, what I felt and what the majority felt is that this is simply a step. We're not going to feel like we deserve the World Cup. We must be very calm, keep an even keel and starting to tomorrow we have to get back to work.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They defended very well today. Normally, they try to attack earlier. But today, they were waiting a little bit for us. And I think it was clever because after that, they had a few good counterattacks. So that's why they scored the 1-0 in the first half.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[02:24:52] RILEY: Well, Mexico's victory was ground breaking for their fans almost literally. Moments after the team scored, sensors reportedly picked up a small earthquake in Mexico City. And with scenes like this, it's easy to see why. Mexico's Institute for Geologic and Atmospheric Investigation says it may have been due to "mass jumping", while at least two sensors picked up the activity. I am glad I made you laugh there.

HOWELL: An earthquake. CHURCH: How many times has that happened?

RILEY: It's pretty wild. Apparently, it happened in Peru and Lima when they qualified. Yeah, so it's the first time Peru has been in the World Cup since 1982. For 36 years, it really is a huge deal for them. Apparently, it happened in qualification for that.

CHURCH: So the power of the fans, right.

RILEY: Clearly.

CHURCH: So let's look ahead for Monday, there are three matches. Who are the favorites? We know who your favorites are, right?

RILEY: Right. I don't know if it's everyone's favorite. Obviously, Belgium is playing. They are the dark horses of the tournament. Lots of people excited about them. Lots of Brits in the office, a lot of them will be rooting for England I am afraid. Three matches on the slate for you on Monday, trying not to show any bias here. We can take on those games later.

The actual semifinalist, the South Korea in action against Sweden, as I mentioned, Belgium the dark horses will play against tournament first-timers Panama, while England will make its much anticipated debut in Russia when they face Tunisia in Group G. England comes into this tournament with a whole new set of expectations.

Harry Kaine, of course, you all know him as the toughest striker in the English Premier League. He will be leading out his country as the youngest captain that England has ever seen. The three lions open their World Cup campaign against Tunisia. It's the last game on Monday. This is Gareth Southgate's first tournament as manager.

And the England boss played two games at the World Cup back in 1998, including one against Tunisia. He will be aiming to repeat that 2-nil victory that day. Goals back then were from Alan (Inaudible) and Paul Skoals, who won it that day. But honestly, who knows, after what went on this weekend.

HOWELL: All bets are off.

RILEY: All brackets are broken. We'll talk this time tomorrow.

CHURCH: We'll see if there are any more upsets -- incredible.

(CROSSTALK)

HOWELL: Earthquakes in Mexico.

(CROSSTALK)

HOWELL: Kate, thank you.

RILEY: Thank you.

CHURCH: All right. Well, another Trump ally admits to a meeting with Russians. Was the campaign meeting a setup? We'll take a look.

HOWELL: And growing fears of a global trade war. The latest trade action planned in response. The U.S. steel tariffs, tariffs I should say on steel and aluminum.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:31:05] CHURCH: A very warm welcome back to our viewers joining us from all around the world. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Rosemary Church.

HOWELL: And I'm George Howell with the headlines we're following for you this hour. U.S. Democrats are calling on the Trump administration to end its practice of separating undocumented families at the border with Mexico. A group of senators and representatives toured several processing centers in South Texas on Sunday. The one that you see there is an example. Children have been separated from their parents as a result of the Trump administration's zero tolerance crackdown on illegal immigration.

CHURCH: Hundreds of rescued migrants celebrated their arrival in Valencia, Spain on Sunday. About 630 migrants mainly from sub-Saharan Africa had been turned away from ports in Malta and Italy. Spain says all the migrants will have 45-day permits to stay and their asylum request will be reviewed.

HOWELL: In Colombia, the conservative candidate Ivan Duque is projected to be the next president of that nation. He won Sunday's presidential runoff by a landslide clinching about 54 percent of the vote there. His opponent Gustavo Petro won about 41 percent. Duque opposes a peace deal with FARC rebels aimed at ending Colombia's long civil war.

CHURCH: Well, two more Trump advisers admit to a meeting during the 2016 campaign with a Russian who promised dirt on Hillary Clinton. Those advisers long-time confidante Roger Stone and former campaign communications official Michael Caputo.

HOWELL: The two said they forgot about the meeting. Our Boris Sanchez has more.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Though Michael Caputo and Roger Stone have long denied having any contact with Russian nationals during the 2016 campaign, in separate letters they both sent to the House Intelligence Committee over the weekend, they acknowledged that there was this May 2016 meeting between Roger Stone and a Russian national Henry Greenberg. He was apparently promising dirt on Hillary Clinton in exchange for $2 million. Both men claimed that they had forgotten all about this meeting until they were reminded by the special counsel. Michael Caputo acknowledging that he was shown text messages exchanged between he and Stone following this meeting. That's what apparently jogged his memory and then he reminded Roger Stone and now you have both of them sending off these letters.

Notably, Stone says that no information was exchanged between he and Greenberg. He says that he turned down the offer and that he never spoke to Greenberg again. Further, he says that he never contacted anyone on the Trump campaign including the candidate himself about this meeting. We should point out that both men are now accusing Greenberg of being an FBI informant someone that was planted to try to entrap them. And I've asked White House officials if the president has been made aware of this admission by Roger Stone and Michael Caputo, and further if he agrees with their assessment that Greenberg may have been a plant for the FBI. But we have yet to hear back from the White House.

HOWELL: Boris Sanchez, thank you. In the meantime, President Trump's supporters are stepping up their attack on the Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe.

CHURCH: Mr. Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani is now calling for an investigation into the investigation, even suggesting without evidence that it may be illegal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUDY GIULIANI, LEGAL COUNSEL TO DONALD TRUMP: If you fail to recognize the crimes unethical behavior of federal law enforcement officials, you are undermining our system of justice. If you call them out, and you do something about it which the Justice Department hasn't done yet but has to then you're -- then you are reaffirming that no one is above the law and that's all we want here. We want the -- we want the Muller probe to be investigated the way the Trump administration has been investigated, and we'd like to see a report with the conclusions and we'll find out then is it as bad as some people think or is it what I think or is it nothing?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[02:35:07] CHURCH: Well, meanwhile, a former high level FBI agent says he is willing to speak to U.S. lawmakers about the 2016 election.

HOWELL: The man Peter Strzok who you see here was on Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team but was removed for allegedly sending anti-Trump text messages. Those messages came to light in a government report on the FBI's handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton.

CHURCH: Trump supporters say those texts messages prove the entire Muller probe is biased against the administration. President Trump weighed in on Twitter calling Strzok a, "Sick loser." Well, Major trading partners are planning to hit back at the U.S. Coming up, the latest fallout from President Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: At least three people were killed when a strong earthquake hit the Japanese City of Osaka. The 5.3 magnitude quake struck during the Monday morning rush hour. Government officials say two of the victims died when walls collapsed on them. One was an adult man, the other a 9-year-old girl on her way to school. At least 75 people suffered injuries.

HOWELL: China and India are taking action in response to U.S. tariffs.

CHURCH: CNN's Nikhil Kumar is in New Delhi and then Matt Rivers joins from us Beijing. Good to see you both. So Matt, let's start with you. Are we in the midst of a trade war here? What's China saying about this?

MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: On Friday evening right after the Trump administration made those $50 billion in tariffs on Chinese imports official, that is exactly what the commerce ministry said when they retaliated with their own $50 billion worth of tariffs on American imports. It kind of a tit-for-tat situation and China's commerce ministry said that the U.S. has started a trade war. So in the eyes of the Chinese government, yes, they are smack out in the middle of a trade war that many thought at some point could actually be avoided.

[02:40:10] But then it was, you know, very on again, off again, on again, off again. But this is where we are at this point and it appears that these tariffs from both sides are going forward, the details of this $34 billion from each side in terms of tariffs will go into effect on July 6th. The remaining $16 billion will go into effect at some later date but they mirror each other because the Chinese have said they will retaliate in kind to anything the United States has done. And there are no signs at less to this point, Rosemary that either side is willing to back down from this. Yes, July 6th is a couple weeks away but at this point, there is no sign that either country is going to back down from this and it does look like those tariffs are going to go into effect.

CHURCH: And global markets will not like this one bit. Matt Rivers, thanks so much for joining us. Appreciate it.

HOWELL: All right. Let's now bring in Nikhil Kumar, CNN's Bureau Chief in New Delhi following the story there. And Nikhil, put this into focus for us. Are India's planned tariffs equal to or more than the U.S. action?

NIKHIL KUMAR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Exactly, the same, George. So India says -- said last week in a filing with the World Trade Organization that it is proposing to impose tariffs on 30 American products things like walnuts, apples, some U.S. made motorbikes, some chemical products, some metal products. It all adds up to $241 million U.S. Now, that's exactly the amount that India says it faces in terms of penalties as a result of the U.S. So this is very much a very straightforward tit-for-tat move. The U.S. is hitting India by this much, so India is hitting back. That very same document contains a warning. Now, the U.S. raises its duties further, India would do the same. So it's exactly the same amount. It's a direct response to U.S. move, George.

HOWELL: And it is a nation that the United States is growing closer to, so it is interesting to see, you know, this possible trade war. It looks like a duck quacks like a duck and the U.S., the administration would rather not call it a trade war, but maybe it's a trade war. Nikhil Kumar, thank you so much for your time. One target of the U.S. tariffs is Chinese steel. The move is aimed at protecting U.S. manufacturers.

CHURCH: But one business owner says since those tariffs don't include his Chinese competitor, his business is actually being ignored and could go under. CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich spoke to him.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: How much of your business have you lost to China?

GARRY HARTMAN, PRESIDENT, CHEETAH CHASSIS: On large scale orders, we've lost a hundred percent of our business.

YURKEVICH: Hundred percent to all of it?

HARTMAN: Hundred percent, yes.

YURKEVICH: Garry Hartman has spent most of his life working at Cheetah Chassis, and says he's watched the company go from one of the world's biggest manufacturers of chassis for shipping containers to barely breaking even.

HARTMAN: There are not a lot of heavy steel manufacturers left in this country. And we've been able to survive. It's difficult but we're still here.

YURKEVICH: So Hartman took tens of thousands of dollars from his own company for one trip to Washington, D.C.

HARTMAN: We talk to the people that actually work in our factory and we said, you know, should we go after this or should we just, you know, let it go and not get on the tariff listing?

YURKEVICH: That trip to Washington had had the full support of his employees. The tens of thousands of dollars was for a lawyer who helped him testify in front of the U.S. trade office about President Trump's proposed 25 percent tariff on nearly 1300 goods from China. While most companies were trying to get their products off the tariff list, Hartman was trying to get chassis on it.

HARTMAN: On a list of products to be subject to additional duties.

YURKEVICH: It's a last ditch effort for the company. In the last two decades, Cheetah has laid off 65 percent of its employees. The company also only buys U.S. steel and prices are up about 40 percent this year in anticipation of the tariffs put on Chinese steel and aluminum. But its biggest threat has been a Chinese chassis maker, CIMC which has engulfed more than 80 percent of the North American chassis market.

HARTMAN: Well, we're not in the same playing field because we're a U.S. company privately held and the United States just doesn't subsidize manufacturers like China does.

YURKEVICH: You know that there's always going to be competition domestic or abroad? HARTMAN: Right. You know, we can compete on a level playing field.

We've done it with a manufacturer in Mexico. But it's not a level playing field. So you really can't compete.

FRANK SONZALA, PRESIDENT, CIMC INTERMODAL EQUIPMENT: I'm sorry they feel that way.

YURKEVICH: Frank Sonzala is the president of the Chinese competitor CIMC. And argues that even with the 25 percent tariff, Cheetah couldn't make enough products to support U.S. demand.

SONZALA: And if we are hurt by the so-called tariffs, we'll find a way to continue to manufacture chassis and we'll still get the market share because we are the innovators in this industry.

[02:44:59] YURKEVICH: Is getting on this tariff make-or-break for this company?

HARTMAN: It's going to be a lot harder to stay in business if we don't.

YURKEVICH: Hartman hasn't forgotten that he and many of his employees here in Pennsylvania helped elect President Trump, for the promise he made them to keep the doors open at businesses like Cheetah.

HARTMAN: He sold us on. I mean, to help you with that trade issue. And people remember, people in this factory remember it, you know. If we can't do something whether it's this tariffs or for something else to help us have a fair playing field -- level field with China. You know, I'm not sure people are going to buy into it for four years.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Vanessa Yurkevich, with that report. Well, China's ban on all elephant ivory has not stopped the slaughter of the animals. The Wildlife Conservation Society reports that the world's elephant population dropped 62 percent between 2002 and 2011.

HOWELL: In a CNN exclusive, David McKenzie travels to Mozambique, the new epicenter of poaching on the continent.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In this comes from, I think, they have bought their way in here, and they're like they have protection.

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This investigator is actively tracking poaching syndicates.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They know how to get things out.

MCKENZIE: So, we are protecting his identity. Despite the ban, he says the Chinese continue to control the market.

What does that mean for conservation?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very, very bad -- very bad. If it continues like that, in the (INAUDIBLE) there'll be nothing left.

MCKENZIE: And other Chinese to blame for this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, 100 percent -- 100 percent.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Tune in, Tuesday to watch the rest of David's exclusive report from Mozambique. Starting at 5:00 a.m. in London, and noon in Hong Kong, only here on CNN.

HOWELL: Awkward, doesn't even begin to describe a question that the British Prime Minister Theresa May faced in Parliament. The question was, can you pick between these two? More on that ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

IVAN CABRERA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm CNN Meteorologist Ivan Cabrera, checking in there with your "WEATHER WATCH" here across North America. Looking at severe weather potential across midsection of the U.S., along a frontal boundary here. But really, the big story not just the isolated storms will be the heat. It is summer but the temperatures well, above average even for this time of year and we'll have heat indices so well into the 40s. So it's going to be a quite something here.

You want cool air, well, it's rain cool there and it's tropically rain-cooled air. We're talking about a disturbance across the Western Gulf of Mexico. Of course, this time of year also hurricane season. So, we monitor these quite carefully here, but even if this doesn't get a name and it looks like it won't get its act together for that as far as organization, we don't really need it.

Look at the rain that's just going to get pumped in here, and you can appreciate some spin there as well. Looks like a broad low-pressure area as opposed to something more concentrated, right?

There would have some wind with it but it will have plenty of rain from Corpus Christi heading up into Houston. If you're for traveling across that part of the United States, keep in mind, they have some delays there. Certainly, could be bumpy once you get on the road.

Montreal, looking at thunderstorms because you are impacted by the frontal boundary that's kind of stalled out. So, some of the thunderstorms, especially during the afternoon and evening could be on the heavier side with some hail and damaging wind potential there.

If you're stepping out to New York, look at that temps in the mid-30s, but nice and much cooler by the end of the week.

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[02:51:11] CHURCH: More now on the impact of Germany's shocking loss to Mexico in the World Cup.

HOWELL: Fans from Mexico are surely making their presence known on the streets of Moscow.

CHURCH: Yes, they are in heaven, of course, after their team's World Cup win. But German fans not surprisingly disappointed. CNN's Fred Pleitgen caught up with both sides in the Russian capital.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It was an absolutely electric atmosphere inside the stadium as the Mexican team put on quite a showing defeating the defending World Champions, Germany.

It was certainly Mexico's strong defense, but then, also their counter attacks that did the trick. And the Mexican ban even coming up to the game, seemed absolutely confident that their team could win. Afterwards, however, they told us they think it is a miracle.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Excited, 100 percent. We love Russia, we love Russia.

PLEITGEN: Did you expect Mexico to win a minute?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no, I wanted a -- I wanted at least a tie. So, it went is unbelievable. First time we ever beaten Germany in the World Cup. So --

PLEITGEN: You love at party now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE).

PLEITGEN: How happy are you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Happy. I'm happy, we are happy. Mexico (INAUDIBLE).

PLEITGEN: And while the Mexican fans are elated and some even dreaming about their team reaching the World Cup final. On the other hand, the German fans, obviously, very sad at the showing of their team. We spoke to some German fans afterwards, who were pretty angry at their team, but at the same time, also during the game you could see that they are blocked, was pretty quiet as Mexico went ahead fairly quickly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Disappointed but saw after we cancel and we'll prepare man, so, and expected anything else.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very, very, bad match from Germany and to Mexico win this, OK. Very OK.

PLEITGEN: What do you think was the problem?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, it's hard to say.

PLEITGEN: The sign of this evening, Mexico fans cheering, dreaming of possibly winning the World Cup as a German chance are quite sad. But for both teams, the good news is it's not going to get any harder than match that they had today.

The two obviously have South Korea and the speeds in their group. So, the Germans are hoping they still -- can still advance to the next round. While the Mexicans now feel for them, the sky is the limit. Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.

CHURCH: And of course, the World Cup is attracting a lot of visitors. Especially, from a country who seemed didn't even qualified at the tournament, the United States. And Americans are the biggest group of foreign ticket buyers purchasing more than 88 thousand tickets.

HOWELL: Well, I think, its FIFA says people in the host country, though, Russia, they bought the most tickets overall, but fans from Brazil, from Colombia, and Germany are also topping the sales charts. The top 10 has another country with no team in the running that would be China.

CHURCH: And tickets for the World Cup went on sale last September. Sales will continue until the tournament ends on July 15th.

HOWELL: All right, the battle of words between the United States and Canada has acquired another twist.

CHURCH: Yes, it has. It popped up in the House of Commons in London, in the form of a rather provocative choice for the British prime minister. Jeanne Moos, explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: The question came out of left field in the House of Commons, who would Britain's prime minister pick?

CRISPIN BLUNT, CHAIR, FOREIGN AFFAIRS SELECT COMMITTEE: Trudeau or Trump?

THERESA MAY, PRIME MINISTER OF THE UNITED KINGDOM: I'm not sure what activity he's asking me to undertake with either.

MOOS: Prime Minister Theresa May, may have laughed off the question, but singer Paul Simon, apologized the Canadian at the Toronto concert.

[02:55:02] PAUL SIMON, SINGER-SONGWRITER AND ACTOR: That doesn't -- does not speak from the heart and soul of Americans.

MOOS: We will always be family, Simon, said.

JUSTIN TRUDEAU, PRIME MINISTER OF CANADA: But we will also will not be pushed around.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He will not be pushed around by the United States. He learned that's going to cost a lot of money to the people of Canada. STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT, CBS: Wow, he is mad. It's like Trudeau stole his girlfriend. Oh, wait, he kind of did.

MOOS: Critics say, President Trump is treating friends like enemies and enemies like friends. Captioned one cartoonist, "I'm sorry I called you Little Rocket Man. I already like you better than crooked Canadian backstabber, Justin Trudeau.

Americans who are embarrassed by the rift have been sending good vibes to their northern neighbors. Using the #thankscanada. "Thanks for everything from hockey to maple syrup."

Canadians responded with tweets like this maple leaf thumbs up, pumping someone to wonder did anyone else think this was a maple leaf with boobs?

SETH MEYERS, HOST, LATE NIGHT WITH SETH MEYERS: How do you getting a fight with Canada? That's like holding a grudge against a golden retriever puppy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's like picking a fight with Nilla Wafers.

MOOS: But Nilla Wafers can't fight back with jokes. If Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un were both drowning and you only had time to save one of them, where would you and Justin Trudeau go for lunch instead? And speaking of lunch.

COLBERT: Our relations have not been this bad with Canada since they stole the word bacon.

MOOS: Jeanne Moos.

COLBERT: Canadian bacon is just around ham, you monsters.

MOOS: CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: All right, well today's top stories just ahead.

HOWELL: CNN NEWSROOM right back, top of the hour.

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