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CNN NEWSROOM

Europe Fears It Occupies Special Place in "Trump Hell"; Trump Reportedly Tells Macron to Quite the E.U.; Trump's Pick for Top Immigration Job Voted Down; Trump Considers Pulling U.S. out of WTO; Migrants Continue to Risk All to Enter U.S.; Immigrant Mother Reunites with Son After Month-Long Separation; "American Jail" Premiers Sunday at 8:00 P.M. Eastern. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired June 29, 2018 - 14:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:32:34] ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: Europe now fears that it occupies a special place in, quote, "Trump hell." That comes from a senior European official after we learned President Trump has again trashed NATO, telling other leaders at the G-7 NATO was quote, "as bad as NAFTA," the North American Free Tarde Agreement the U.S. president openly loathes.

This comes as the days tick down to July, a big month for President Trump on the global calendar. The NATO summit, his meeting with Putin of Russia. Concerns are mounting over the president's potential move in the runup to that meeting.

I want to bring in Elise Labott, CNN global affairs correspondent, as well, Andelman, a CNN opinion commentator and formerly the "New York Times" bureau chief for southeast Asia and eastern Europe.

Let me start with you, Elise.

What did this European official say, the official that says they're part of the Trump hell of sorts, and are the fears founded?

ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ana, this came after President Trump said this to G-7 leaders that NAFTA -- NATO is as bad as NAFTA. This official was saying we're in a special kind of Trump hell, the Europeans, where not only is NATO as bad as NAFTA, but E.U. is worse than China. What the official was really saying is that President Trump is looking to all these alliances, not as these bedrocks of U.S. leadership and foreign policy, but in transactional terms.

And President Trump's narrative is that these NATO countries, European countries not only are fleecing America in terms of trade but they're free riders in terms of defense spending. You know President Trump's beef about NATO is a lot of the countries are not paying their fair share of the burden. So this official says we're in a crisis now, not only NATO but the E.U. in terms of President Trump's feelings about the Europeans, that this Trans-Atlantic alliance that the U.S. has looked to for 70 years is no longer a given anymore. CABRERA: It's the alliance, it's the deals that the U.S. was once part of that the president has sort of thrown up in the air, ripped into pieces.

David, new reports that the president is also trying to sew divisions of sorts between European countries with him encouraging the French President Macron to withdraw from the E.U., is that likely?

DAVID ANDELMAN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR AND COMMENTATOR: Not only is it not likely, but people are telling me after he told Macron that, Macron told Merkel that, Merkel hit the roof. That set up the whole confrontation. That famous photo where you see Merkel glaring at Trump at the G-7, that's what all of that -- that's the back story of a lot of that.

[14:35:16] CABRERA: Instead of separating, he may be bringing them together.

(CROSSTALK)

ANDELMAN: He's really bringing them together. I spent the morning with one of the last great Nazi hunters of Europe, the Clarsdales (ph). They told me they're very concerned about Trump and his helping a lot of the Neo-Nazis in Europe. At the same time, he's helping those particular forces there in what may ultimately force other European leaders like Macron, Merkel and May, closer together.

CABRERA: Why do they feel he is helping Neo-Nazis?

ANDELMAN: Not in specific terms, the talk he is involved in.

(CROSSTAKL)

ANDELMAN: Remember, his ambassador to Germany came to Germany, the first thing he said is, I want to go meet some of your more nationalist leaders. That's code name for basically Neo-Nazis, the extreme right. This upset a lot of European leaders, and that in turn could draw them more closely together.

CABRERA: When you talk about extremist rhetoric or rhetoric outside the mainstream at the least, Elise, we know the Trump administration candidate to lead the International Organization for Migration has been voted down, leaving it without an American at the helm since 1951. And this is an individual who also had made some pretty outlandish comments. What happened with this vote?

LABOTT: That's right. Americans proposed candidate, Ken Isaacs, was voted down in a secret vote in Geneva in the second round. There were several rounds of voting. It is because of some of the incendiary tweets he has made. CNN's "K FILE" examined more than more than 100 tweets, about 140 tweets by Ken Isaacs. One of them I want to read to you, Ana. "Immigration, wall, Austria, Switzerland, consider building a wall in the Alps to control their borders from refugees."

And this organization, the IOM, International Organization for Migration, is really the U.N.'s agency for helping migrants and dealing with these issues in not just a safe but compassionate way. Certainly, the U.S. has contributed a lot to the IOM, has been the leader of this agency since 1951, since its inception, as it has donated a lot of resources to the organization. But the members found that this is not the kind of attitude that they're looking for in terms of their leader. It is unclear if it was just the tweets by Ken Isaacs, but also just the general kind of tone that the administration has set towards migrants.

So the new leader will be a Portuguese Socialist, Antonio Vitorino, and that's who is going to be leading the organization and going forward on it.

CABRERA: Quickly, David, I want your take and thoughts on other reporting from Axios. The president considering contemplating, even privately speaking about pulling the U.S. out of the World Trade Organization.

ANDELSON: A total catastrophe. What this would set up is a complete fragmentation of the world order in trade and, particularly, fragmentation in Europe. You don't want Europe to fragment, you want them to come closer together. You want a united Europe. It is important to American security and American financial security as well. So that would be really a total catastrophe. So many Europeans I have been talking with many on the phone, e-mail, they tell me they cannot believe this is even being contemplated. Really, the results would be not only catastrophic economically, which it would be, a total breakdown in the world trade system and world financial system, but also politically as well. It would continue to fragment areas that need to come closer together.

CABRERA: David Andelman and Elise Labott, thank you both.

Up next, an emotional reunion. CNN on the scene as a mother and herself 7-year-old son are reunited a whole month after being separated at the border. I'll talk with the family's attorney next.

[14:39:14] Also, former President Barack Obama speaking out for the first time in months, dishing tough love to Democrats, quote, "Enough moping."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: We still don't know how many kids have been separated from their parents since the Trump administration's zero-tolerance policy went into effect. It is unclear when and how families will be reunited. Still, more migrants are coming. And they tell CNN they're willing to risk it all because the danger they face in their homeland is too great.

CNN's Nick Valencia was on the U.S.-Mexico border when our cameras caught smugglers bringing a group of migrants across the Rio Grande. Once border agents arrested them, Nick spoke to one mother and father that tearfully explained why they risked everything to come to America.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) NICK VALENCIA, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What we captured was a tense sequence from start to finish. Mexican smugglers staging as they prepared to load migrants in a raft destined for the United States. What we saw with our cameras nothing short of dramatic.

(voice-over): Through the tree brush, Border Patrol Agent Robert Rodriguez spots what he says are three smugglers preparing to launch a raft filled with migrants.

(SHOUTING)

AGENT ROBERT RODRIQUEZ, BORDER PATROL AGENT: He says, they're filming us. He says.

VALENCIA: Along with Agent Rodriguez, we follow the raft downstream. It's there we see this. Six Central American migrants, some that are on the raft. One of them traveling with his father is just three years old.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

VALENCIA (on camera): What are you looking for here?

(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE) What are you --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

[14:45:12] VALENCIA (on camera): He is asking for asylum.

Strangers would show up to his house, ask for money, and threaten him in front of his child. Kept threatening to kill him. They were even - (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGAUGE). He said they would even kill the three-year-old.

You know there's people that are very much against illegal immigration, they don't want people like you in the United States. What do you say to them?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

VALENCIA: He says --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

VALENCIA: -- those people don't know what I have been through, they don't know what I go through nightly, they don't know what it is like to fear death.

(voice-over): This mother and her 13-year-old were in the group. Holding back tears, she says she never wanted to leave Honduras. If it wasn't for M.S.-13, her son says, they would have never left.

(on camera): (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE) Why are you trying?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

VALENCIA: He said he didn't want to leave Honduras. That's why he's crying. He is sorry for putting his mom in this position.

She said, of course I would never let my son be captured there. She is saying even though the zero-tolerance still in place, she would still cross. That's how much fear they have.

(voice-over): From here, the group will be taken to a processing center, joining hundreds of others just like them. Even still, they're the lucky ones. Had they crossed last week, parents and children would have assuredly been torn apart by the U.S. government.

(on camera): The scenes show us what families from Central America, migrating to the United States, what they're willing to put themselves through, they say, to keep from being killed in their homeland.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: Nick Valencia, thank you for sharing that story.

There's another mother and her story we want to share with you. She's from El Salvador. She risked it all. She came to the U.S. only to have her 7-year-old son taken away. She finally has her child back in her arms. She and her son crossed the border in Arizona last month. She was sent to a detention center in Colorado. Her son sent to Miami. Today, more than a month later, the mother, Brenda, was reunited with her son at Washington's Dulles International Airport. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED BOY: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKIG FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED BOY: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKIG FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Joining me now is, Astrid Lockwood, the mom's attorney.

Thank you, Astrid.

ASTRID LOCKWOOD, ATTORNEY: Thank you.

CABRERA: What can you tell us about their story? Why did they come to the U.S. and how did they get separated?

LOCKWOOD: Thank you for having me today.

Brenda made the journey through Mexico, through Guatemala and Mexico, a journey most people decide to make because of the fear that they have to live with in their country. In her case, in El Salvador. She was under threat so decided it was essentially her life, her son's life, or risk it all. The decision was made to risk it all. And she made that journey, at 25 years old with her seven-year-old. Once they reached the United States, they turned themselves into Customs and Border Patrol. It was at that point, a day after they were detained, he was taken from her.

CABRERA: And there's been a lot of discussion in recent days about trauma of separating families, how it impacts the children especially. What has that been like for Kevin, that young boy. How is he doing?

LOCKWOOD: I think he is a seven-year-old boy, resilient. He's like any other typical seven-year-old boy today, too shy to say I love you, mom, I miss you, mom, but from Brenda, she had only been able to speak to him a handful of times. The first time was June 21st, was the first time she got to speak to him since they were separated, and she would say that you could hear it in his voice. He would ask her, when are you going to come get me, that he missed her. But he's seven. I mean, I think he didn't quite understand what was happening. All he knew is that he had to be taken away from his mom, and he wanted to know when his mom would come back for him.

CABRERA: And he was in Miami.

LOCKWOOD: Correct.

CABRERA: She was in Colorado as we have learned. What have you learned about his time at that child center in Miami, what was it like, what was his experience there?

[14:50:08] LOCKWOOD: Unfortunately, we know very little about his experience there. We know that it was a children's home. We know that he was doing school activities. He did get to play with other little kids. He would often tell his mom I'm going to go outside and play with another little friend, but, unfortunately, there's very little besides that that we know. All we were told is he was not sick and he's learning, but there were no other details provided to the family or to myself, so there's very little known about that time.

CABRERA: It took a month, but they are back together.

LOCKWOOD: Yes.

CABRERA: Kevin was just the seventh child reunited with his parents after being separated the past month. How did they get to this moment?

LOCKWOOD: It was a long journey. We knew where Kevin was before we knew where Brenda was. She was not showing up in ICE custody or federal custody. We were lucky she called and let us know. From there --

(CROSSTALK)

CABRERA: Did you know, were you already representing her in some way? How did you get linked up with her?

LOCKWOOD: I was representing family members, so the moment she got detained, I was contacted. So I have been able to be on this case from the ground up, from the moment she was detained, and obviously will continue this through the end. But I have been able to see this case progress from the very first moments, a day or two after her detention, all the way up to this point.

CABRERA: So we don't have a lot of time, but you said you were able to figure out first where the child was, then where Brenda was. Once you figured out where they were located, how long did it take to get them back together?

LOCKWOOD: Well, we just had Brenda released. We had bond granted June 21st. She just came home about two days ago. So it was, from the moment I found out where she was, it was still early weeks of June, maybe first week of June. From then until now is when we were finally able to reunite them. And she didn't have the first phone call until after we got the bond granted.

CABRERA: So nice to see that the mother and child are back together.

(CROSSTALK)

CABRERA: And keep us posted on their story --

LOCKWOOD: Thank you.

CABRERA: -- and the process they continue to go through.

LOCKWOOD: Yes. Thank you.

CABRERA: I know they're seeking asylum here.

Thank you very much --

LOCKWOOD: Yes, thank you.

CABRERA: -- Astrid Lockwood.

Breaking news, chilling details about the deadly shooting at the "Capital Gazette" newspaper. The gunman blocking an exit to prevent victims from escaping. We're also learning why the suspect was fired from his government job back in 2014, next.

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[14:57:20] CABRERA: The United States makes up less than 5 percent of the world's population, but accounts for almost 25 percent of the world's entire prison population. We explore this issue on CNN this Sunday. The new CNN film "American Jail" examines the reasons behind the staggering rates of incarceration in the United States.

And our Ryan Young has a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FORMER INMATE: You first get incarcerated, you remember this number the rest of your life. For the rest of your life. Why? Because it follows you.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Each of these three former inmates spent decades in and out of prison and jail. They currently live in a Chicago transition home where they find a job and place to live as they re-enter society.

They say avoiding returning to jail is a full-time job.

UNIDENTIFIED FORMER INMATE: My warden tells me you have to walk around with these papers for the next 10 or 13 years. I say why? And the word she used are these are your traveling papers. We know what traveling papers are, where it originated from. I said, I'm not a slave.

YOUNG: The United States incarcerates rates more its citizens more than any other country in the world. More than two million men and women are locked up. Once out, former inmates face a parole system that puts them in jail for violations other citizens would never be arrested for. Many face large fees from time spent in jail, fees they struggle to pay off.

UNIDENTIFIED FORMER INMATE: Although I knew the statistics --

YOUNG: The CNN film "American Jail" documents the reasons behind the explosion in U.S. prison and jail rates.

ALAN SCHULTZ, FORMER INMATE: I have been in MSDF on a transfer when I was going upstate.

YOUNG: Alan Schultz, of Milwaukee, spent nine years in and out of jail, mostly on drug related charges. He now works for a group that advocates for prison reform.

Schultz believes the drive to privatize parts of the prison system gives companies financial incentives to not reduce the prison population.

SCHULTZ: Starting to now invest in electronic monitoring, collection of probation fees, and then you can talk about, like, who is selling these people goods, like minutes on the phone they get to use. A lot of us are being charged $5 and upwards for a call that would cost somebody 50 cents out here.

UNIDENTIFIED FORMER INMATE: I believe this is another trap. When you did your time, incarcerated, you shouldn't have to wear something like this.

YOUNG: In a prison system where $265 billion is spent every year to keep millions locked up, some don't expect to see major changes anytime soon.

UNIDENTIFIED FORMER INMATE: Business is booming. If there's no crime, they will create crime, create methods to lock you up anyway, because it's business. And they're good at it.