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President Trump Slaps Harsh Sanctions on Iran; U.S. Plan for Palestinian Prosperity Faces Tough Test; Bolton Speaks ahead of Trilateral Security Meeting. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired June 25, 2019 - 02:00   ET

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


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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Fresh Sanctions and fresh insults as diplomacy takes a backseat, any efforts to improve relations between the U.S. and Iran are not paying off.

Plus a perfect island vacation turns into a nightmare, we look into the mysterious deaths at resorts in the Dominican Republic and ...

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MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What used to be a nursery school for the children of Chernobyl. Now it is one of the morbid attractions for the tourist hordes.

CHURCH (voice-over): It is the site of a nuclear disaster but instead of running away, tourists are buying tickets to go visit Chernobyl.

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Hello and welcome to our viewers from all around the world, I'm Rosemary Church and this is CNN NEWSROOM.

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CHURCH: U.S. president Donald Trump is ramping up the financial pressure on Iran after attacks on oil tankers and the downing of the U.S. drone. But so far there is no sign of Iran giving in to President Trump's strategy to force negotiations on a new nuclear deal, Barbara Starr has the details from the Pentagon.

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DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The supreme leader of Iran is one who ultimately is responsible for the hostile conduct of the regime.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Trump today imposed new sanctions on the office of Iran supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, aimed at denying access to financial markets. TRUMP: These measures represent a strong and proportionate response to Iran's increasingly provocative actions.

STARR (voice-over): Actions like last week's downing of a U.S. drone by an Iranian missile.

TRUMP: They've done many other things, aside from the individual drone, you saw the tankers and we know other things that were done also which were not good and not appropriate.

STARR (voice-over): The president insisting Iran must give up its nuclear weapons program and saying he is still willing to talk to Iran's leader.

TRUMP: My only message is this, he has the potential to have a great country and quickly, very quickly.

STARR (voice-over): The administration's strategy: lock up Iran's economy in hopes of forcing it to start negotiations. Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin says foreign minister Javad Zarif is next.

STEVEN MNUCHIN, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: The president has also designated -- instructed me that we will be designating Zarif later this week.

STARR (voice-over): New sanctions are also targeting senior commanders of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps that the U.S. says had been involved in recent attacks. Keeping shipping secure is now a top Pentagon priority where it was Mark Esper's first day as the new acting Secretary of Defense.

President Trump questioning decades of U.S. naval security operations to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, tweeting he wants the U.S. to be paid for providing security.

"All of these countries should be protecting their own ships on what has always been a dangerous journey."

STARR: And in his own tweet back, Iran's foreign minister seemed to agree with the president, saying that the U.S. should not be in the Persian Gulf -- Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.

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CHURCH: According to Iranian media, a spokesman for the foreign ministry says that the latest sanctions closed the channel of diplomacy forever, Iran's ambassador for the U.N. has accused the U.S. of having no respect for international law by imposing the new sanctions, he described the current tensions as really dangerous.

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MAJID TAKHT RAVANCHI, IRAN'S AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: In dialogue with the U.S. I think that everyone agrees that dialogue has certain rules and certain regulations. You can not started a dialogue with someone who is threatening you, who is intimidating you. Today we just witnessed the United States imposed another set of sanctions against Iran, how can you start a dialogue with someone whose primary preoccupation is to put more sanctions on Iran?

So the atmosphere of such a dialogue is not ready yet.

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CHURCH: Some analysts have suggested that earlier U.S. sanctions triggered Iran's recent, more aggressive tactics but the U.S. Treasury Secretary insists the sanctions have had the desired effect.

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STEVEN MNUCHIN, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: There is no question that these sanctions have been very effective in cutting off funds going to the IRGC and other people.

And I can only presume. I'm not going to presume why they're doing things but these are highly, highly effective, in locking up the Iranian economy. As the president said, we look forward to a time in releasing --

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MNUCHIN: -- sanctions if they're willing to negotiate.

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CHURCH: The impact on Iran's economy is clear. The International Monetary Fund now predicts the country's economy will shrink 6 percent this year and that inflation could reach as high as 40 percent.

Well, any moment now, the national security advisers of the U.S., Israel and Russia are expected to speak ahead of their meeting in Jerusalem. We're monitoring these live pictures as we await that.

Now John Bolton at the U.S. had already one meeting with the Russian counterpart, as you can see in this tweet, as well as the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. This all comes ahead of a meeting later this week between president Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit in Japan.

Meanwhile Mr. Trump's son-in-law is in Bahrain to pitch the White House plan for Palestinian prosperity. It promises some $50 billion of investment in the Palestinian territories but does not include an actual peace plan. Palestinian leaders are boycotting the workshop, saying the economic plan means nothing without a political plan first.

So CNN's Oren Liebermann joins us now from Israel.

The Palestinians are rejecting this economic plan because it comes before a political peace plan is released.

Why has that been the case?

And what happens now?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Palestinians have cut off communication with the Trump administration ever since the Trump administration recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and moved the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, that hasn't changed.

When it comes to this peace to prosperity workshop, they view the economic part of the plan, putting that first, as an attempt to buy off their national aspirations instead of coming to a political solution first. Reaching a two state solution and recognizing a Palestinian state.

It's making it more difficult for the Palestinian Authority to believe the U.S. has good intentions when it comes to the Palestinians. On one hand they cut millions of dollars in aid, in funding the Palestinians and then turn around and saying these are the exact programs we are trying to help.

So the Palestinians have zero trust in the American administration, they made it clear they are boycotting the conference. Meanwhile the Israeli government has given a tepid response, saying that they will consider the peace plan open and fairly, Prime Minister Netanyahu said that with Bolton a couple of days ago.

So we will see what comes out of the workshop.

What is clear is the White House is very much hyping this as a big opportunity. The $50 billion, one of the key questions is where is the money coming from?

It is supposed to be investment from the Arab states. It would be a major victory from -- rather for the U.S. if the Arab states pledged to consists that money. But what you may end up is the Arab states simply committing to a two state solution, which are words Israel and the U.S. have not used in quite some time now -- Rosemary.

CHURCH: Of course as we speak, we are waiting for that news conference, we are going to hear from the national security advisers of the United States, Israel and Russia, we are monitoring those live pictures now and we will go to it as soon as it happens.

What can we expect to hear?

LIEBERMANN: Well, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu will certainly be speaking before they hold their trilateral meeting, that is because it is a major political victory for him, to bring two of the world superpowers, together in Jerusalem to meet with him and discuss Iran and essentially the larger Middle East. It's a major victory for Netanyahu and even if this meeting is between the national security advisers, Netanyahu wants to be seen in the pictures, he wants to be seen heading this.

We don't know who will be making statements here. It may be just Netanyahu, perhaps the U.S. national security adviser will also add a couple of words. But it is interesting to note that when the Russian national security adviser, Nikolai Patrushev, has been here, there has been no readout of any of the comments he's made, either to Netanyahu or to Bolton.

That is insightful because he has a very different position than the U.S. and Israel. Russia is much more on Iran's side, they view Iran as a legitimate presidency at the invitation of the Syrian government.

So those views are very much in opposition to Israel and the U.S. So if he says anything we will watch very closely what he says or perhaps he will keep his comments to the private meetings after these opening statements.

CHURCH: Yes, and, of course, we will go to that when it happens, our Oren Liebermann bringing us the very latest from Jerusalem, many thanks.

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CHURCH: Susan Glasser is a CNN global affairs analyst and a staff writer for "The New Yorker" and she joins us now from Washington.

Good to have you.

SUSAN GLASSER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Thank you so much.

CHURCH: So President Trump's son-in-law and his team said to present their economic plan for the Middle East in Bahrain after two years in the making. But Palestinians say that they want to see a political plan first, Trump's team says that will come later.

Why put an economic plan --

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CHURCH: -- forward before finalizing a political solution?

What would be the reason for doing that?

GLASSER: Well, that is a good question, on its face it seems like this is not destined to go down in the history of Middle East peacemaking as the moment when everything changed, it is very unlikely that you are going to make peace between Israel and Palestine when you don't have either Israelis or Palestinians at your economic peacemaking conference.

So that's one challenge on the front end but I think the other challenge, of course, is that the plan that they have laid out is essentially an aspirational document, it is filled with many proposals that have been made in different forms or another.

It is mostly entirely unclear where any actual funding to the tune of billions of dollars, would actually come from. So people who've looked at the plan find it to be an extraordinary document, the PowerPoint even has photographs of projects in the West Bank that have been canceled and its funding taken away by the Trump administration.

CHURCH: Interesting and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is attacking the Palestinians for rejecting the plan outright, could this economic plan offer some sort of starting point or are the Palestinians right in saying that this is an effort to buy them and their aspirations off?

GLASSER: Well, if it is an effort to buy them and their aspirations, off I think the key problem is there is not any actual money behind it and in fact Jared Kushner has gone out of his way to say that the United States will not be providing this money but is seeking others to do so.

There have been other forms of Middle East donors, conferences before, this is called an economic workshop in Bahrain. But it fits squarely in the tradition of the U.S. and other conveners, bringing people to the table in the past and saying, how much will you pay?

How much would you provide for a peace plan like this?

So again it is not entirely without precedent. Obviously those efforts have not succeeded in the past and it is not clear where this funding would come from for this ambitious and aspirational set of goals.

CHURCH: Of course let's break down this economic plan called peace to prosperity, as you mentioned, $50 billion to be invested in the, Middle East, half of that to the Palestinian territories. But we don't know as you mentioned where that money is coming from.

No evidence of anyone interested in putting that money forward just yet and the plan aims to halve poverty, significantly reduce unemployment and build projects for all Palestinians.

But what impact would this have on the lives of Palestinians at this particular point, do you think?

GLASSER: Well, I think most experts believe who've looked at it believe that essentially it is impossible to significantly revise the status of Palestinians through purely economic measures alone, when you are talking about the very unresolved political conditions.

Remember that life on the West Bank or Gaza means you don't even have direct access to an airport, you don't have the ability to travel freely back and forth across Israel, without that, the conditions for the kind of economic growth, envisioned for this is not possible.

So, of course, there is the issue that the Trump administration has actually gotten in the opposite direction, unilaterally cutting all funding for the main U.N. Palestinian relief organization that has existed for years.

So that worsened the situation while leaving the political status ambiguous. I think the real concern I've heard in Washington right now is that the rejection of this plan and proposal by Kushner, by the Palestinians, could help to ease the way politically for Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, to go ahead and say, well, that's it, we have no choice and I'm going to move forward with the annexation of the West Bank as he promised to do on the eve of the last election. CHURCH: Interesting, of course, Jared Kushner was given the task of bringing peace to the Middle East and it took him two years to come up with this economic plan that the Palestinians have rejected outright.

So what can we expect to come out of this peace plan workshop in Bahrain?

And how will Kushner convince investors, Palestinians in the world, that this vision of economic prosperity for Gaza in the West Bank will work without addressing the politics, the state of Jerusalem, borders, security, Israeli settlements and the return of Palestinian refugees?

All of those heavy tasks that they don't seem to want to deal with at this point.

GLASSER: I think that is exactly, right, the joke is that this plan is perpetually four to six weeks away from being released and in fact, with an election looming --

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GLASSER: -- in Israel, the plan, the political part of the plan has been put off Once again.

I thought it was incredibly telling that while John Bolton, the national security adviser, was in Jerusalem today, meeting with prime minister Netanyahu, who, when they spoke to the press, didn't even mention the economic workshop in Bahrain or Jared Kushner's peace plan.

CHURCH: We will continue to watch and see where all this goes, Susan Glasser, thank you so much for joining us and sharing your analysis and perspective on this matter.

GLASSER: Thank you for having me.

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CHURCH: And let's go live now to Jerusalem and Benjamin Netanyahu, talking ahead at that trilateral meeting with the national security advisers from Russia, the United States and Israel.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL: The relations with the United States of America has reached new heights under President Trump's leadership. And equally Israel is grateful that our friendship with Russia has gotten stronger, stronger than ever in recent years.

I had an opportunity to meet with both of you these past two days, including just now in the last few minutes, to discuss the important bilateral issues but especially the challenge of how to bring security and stability in our immediate region.

Based on our discussions, I believe that there is a wider basis for cooperation between the three of us than many believe. This summit represents a real opportunity to help advance that stability in our region and particularly in Syria.

As both of you know, Israel has acted hundreds of times to prevent Iran from encouraging itself militarily in Syria while it actively and openly calls and works for our destruction.. We have acted hundreds of times to prevent Iran from delivering increasingly sophisticated weaponry to Hezbollah or to form a second front in the north against us from the Golan Heights.

Israel will continue to prevent Iran from using neighboring territory as platforms to attack us and Israel will respond forcefully to any such attacks. I want to thank the Russian government and President Putin for working closely with Israel on a mechanism of deconfliction that helps ensure that, as we defend ourselves, we do not put Russian forces in harm's way.

And I want to think the United States and President Trump for unequivocally backing Israel's right to defend itself. Now all three of us would like to see a peaceful, stable and secure Syria. That is a common goal.

We also have a common objective, to achieve that larger goal and that is that no foreign forces that arrived in Syria after 2011 remain in Syria. We think there are also ways to achieve this common goal, which will create a more stable Middle East or at least a more stable Middle East in this part of that region.

I believe that the outcome that I've just described, the departure of all foreign forces from Syria, who entered Syria after 2011, will be good for Russia, good for the United States, good for Israel and I add good for Syria.

We look forward to discussing concrete ways to achieve this goal, which is critical for successfully implementing the U.N. Security Council Resolution 2254. And Israel hopes of this summit will help bring us closer to achieving our shared goal of peace and prosperity and security, they go together, in this region.

Again, I want to thank both of you, John and Nikolai, and your delegations to Jerusalem and (speaking Hebrew) as we say in these circumstances, next year in Jerusalem, perhaps before. Thank you, thank you very much.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ambassador John Bolton.

JOHN BOLTON, TRUMP NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Well, thank you, prime minister Netanyahu for convening in this first ever meeting among the national security advisers of Israel, Russia and the United States to discuss the security concerns and challenges in the Middle East and around the world.

It is an honor to be here in Israel's capital, Jerusalem, to participate in these discussions and it is a tribute to your leadership and a recognition of the central role that Israel does and must play in securing international peace and security. Through your --

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BOLTON: -- strong relationships with both President Putin and President Trump, there is a substantially greater prospect for coordination of our respective policies in order to achieve a secure and lasting peace throughout the region.

This meeting could not be more timely. We convene at a particularly critical moment in the Middle East as the radical regime in Iran and its terror surrogates engage in yet more rounds of violent provocations abroad, while its economy collapses and corruption at the highest levels run rampant at home.

All around the Middle East we see Iran as the source of belligerence and aggression, supporting the terrorist Hezbollah in Lebanon, aiding the Assad regime in Syria, arming and equipping Shia military groups in Iraq, weaponizing the Houthis in Yemen, supporting terrorist activities against U.S. forces in Afghanistan and threatening global oil supplies around the region.

As we speak, American diplomatic representatives are surging across the Middle East, seeking a path to peace. In response, Iran's silence has been deafening. Iran's provocations, which also include threats to and attacks upon American personnel and assets in the Middle East, are the external manifestations of the central threat that Iran poses; namely, its continued pursuit of deliverable nuclear weapons.

There is simply no evidence that Iran has made the strategic decisions to renounce nuclear weapons and open realistic discussions to demonstrate that decision. In just a few days, perhaps by the end of the week, Iran has threatened to exceed the key limits imposed by the inadequate 2015 Iran nuclear deal, exposing once again fatal deficiencies of that failed agreement.

As I indicated on Sunday, Mr. Prime Minister, President Trump yesterday imposed significant new sanctions on Iran's supreme leader and other top leadership individuals and entities.

At the same time, the president has held the door open to real negotiations, to completely and verifiably eliminate Iran's nuclear weapons program, its pursuit of ballistic missile delivery systems, its support for international terrorism and its other malign behavior worldwide.

All that Iran needs to do is to walk through that open door.

President Trump looks forward to meeting with President Putin at the upcoming G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, in the next few days, where many of these same issues will be discussed.

I believe that through our bilateral and trilateral discussions in Jerusalem, we can help lay the foundation for the Osaka summit. I welcome the opportunity to strengthen even further the deep cooperation between the United States in Israel and to engage in strategic discussions with Russia and Israel together. Delighted to be in Israel once again and look forward to our

continuing conversations, thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Nikolai Patrushev.

CHURCH: Listening there to U.S. national security adviser John Bolton, speaking ahead at this critical trilateral summit in Jerusalem, with security advisers from Russia, the U.S. and Israel.

And we want to go to Oren Liebermann, we were talking earlier -- you're in Jerusalem where this is all happening. Of course, we heard there some tough language from John Bolton, as we have always heard in the past, about Iran and this is what they are going to be discussing, all three parties here.

And, of course, we heard from the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying he believes stability in the Middle East can be advanced by efforts on the part of Russia, the, U.S. and Israel and specifically talked about that relationship with Russia getting closer.

So talk to us about where they're hoping to go with this because John Bolton made a very clear he's very hawkish on this topic.

LIEBERMANN: The most interesting statements are being made right now by the Russian secretary for the Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev. His insight here is perhaps the most critical because it is his government, the Russian government, that has most, if not all of the leverage between these three countries when it comes to what happens in Syria.

It is Russia that has allowed Iranian forces and Iranian proxies to be in Syria, with, of course, the invitation of the Syrian government. And it is the Russians that Israel and the U.S. will have to convince if prime minister Netanyahu pursues his goal, which is to make sure that there are no foreign forces that have been in the country since 2011, which would be Iran and Iranian proxies.

They will have to try to sell that to Russia and Netanyahu made that clear when he said it is a common goal of all of ours and it's good for not only for Israel, Syria and the U.S. --

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LIEBERMANN: -- but also good for Russia. That will be the angle he will have to bring to the table when discussing the future of Syria.

It is clear where Netanyahu and John Bolton stand when it comes to Iran but what is less clear is how much the Russians are on the same page, not only with Syria but the wider Middle East and to what extent will the Russians participate in the U.S. and Israel-led efforts against Iran.

Russia said that it views sanctions illegitimate, views Iran as a partner or even ally beyond that and crucially again it is Russia that has more influence than the U.S. or Israel with Middle East, with Russian forces here and a Russian presence here.

So to the extent that these countries are able to work together, it will be crucial to see what concrete steps the Russians are willing to take to work with the goals the U.S. and Israel, Bolton and Netanyahu, laid out.

CHURCH: That is what makes this trilateral summit so incredible, to see Russia at the table here because it is a monumental chasm where Russian stands compared to Israel and the U.S., it's hard to see how they all will get on the same page.

LIEBERMANN: Part of the reason why this meeting is happening, Netanyahu's personal reasons not just with Trump but Vladimir Putin, he has great relations with two of them on the personal level and it seems he leveraged that to make this happen.

You're absolutely right, Russia is in a very different page when it comes Iran than the U.S. and Israel but Netanyahu has been able to bring these three countries together here in Jerusalem. And that for him is a major accomplishment on a diplomatic and political level.

And he pointed that out multiple times to his benefit, of course, over the course of the past few days and over the past few weeks. But what we need to watch for is what concrete steps and agreements they can really come to you as opposed to private discussions and perhaps private disagreements of the future of Syria and how to go forward with Iran.

We know that Israel and the U.S. are on the same page but Russia has a different position and can the U.S. and Israel convince Russia to see it in a different way, perhaps and we will find out after the meeting when we find out what was discussed in private.

CHURCH: Yes, we will certainly be looking for it, to the conclusion of these trilateral summit and we will bring any of those details to are viewers, our Oren Liebermann with the very latest from Jerusalem, many thanks to you.

We will take a very short break and still to come, the deaths of 10 people in resorts in the Dominican Republic have prompted others to come forward.

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TINA HAMMELL, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC TOURIST: I remember my muscles -- my hands all turned in and my legs came up. I just was spasming.

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CHURCH: Her story when NEWSROOM continues.

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[02:32:16] CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. I'm Rosemary Church. I want to update you now on the main stories we've been following this hour. President Trump announced new sanctions on Iran Monday, they target supreme leader, military officials and the foreign minister denying them access to certain U.S. financial assets. The President said the sanctions follow weeks of aggressive behavior by Iran including the downing of a U.S. drone.

The U.S. will unveil its Palestinian prosperity plan in Bahrain on Tuesday. Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior advisor Jared Kushner will pitch the proposal for $50 billion of investment in the Palestinian economy as a path of peace in the region. Palestinians have boycotted it, saying without a political peace plan first, an economic deal is a nonstarter.

The Ethiopian Prime Minister's offer says that the ring leader of the failed coup in the Amhara State over the weekend has been killed and that the situation is now under control. The unrest led to four people being killed including Ethiopia's army chief of staff and the head of the Amhara State.

Well, after the deaths of at least 10 Americans in the Dominican Republic over the past year more people are coming forward to say they were sickened while on vacation in the country. CNN's Rosa Flores has the details.

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ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ten, that's the number of Americans who had died in the Dominican Republic in the past year. National police say Vittorio Caruso died last Monday after suffering from respiratory failure.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was like a nice guy, so it was sad to, you know, that happened to a neighbor.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's horrible and that the government should do something about it.

FLORES: The FBI has a team of investigators helping with toxicology tests and three of the cases. Caruso's family says the 55-year-old was vacationing in the D.R. but unlike most of the other deaths, Caruso wasn't staying at a resort. Local authorities says that the deaths are isolated cases and due to natural causes. The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino is removing liquor dispensaries from guestroom mini bars.

But says the decision was not due to the two deaths that occurred there. The CNN investigative team has heard from about a dozen tourists who say they became violently ill while on vacation in the Dominican Republic. Including this couple from Ontario.

TINA HAMMELL, POISONED IN DOMINICAN RESORT: It was so strong that I was burning and coughing.

FLORES: They say they were woken up by a powerful chemical smell in their hotel room in 2016.

T. HAMMELL: I'm on a bed and I remember --

JOHN HAMMELL, TINA HAMMELL'S HUSBAND: It's OK.

[02:35:05] T. HAMMELL: I remember my muscles, my hands, all turned in, and my legs came up, I was just spasming and I lost consciousness.

FLORES: Hospital records show she had legions in her lungs and her doctors say she could've been poisoned. Then there is this couple from Colorado who also became sick after they say they smelled a strong chemical odor in their hotel room last year.

TOM SCHWANDER, POISONED IN DOMINICAN RESORT: The abdominal cramping and the G.I. upset lasted for a couple of weeks, dizzy, nauseous.

FLORES: Doctors in Colorado believe they were exposed to toxic chemicals found in pesticides and while the growing number of American deaths is alarming, the state department maintains they are not connected. Rosa Flores, CNN, Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

CHURCH: A military trial is underway for a member of the elite U.S. Navy SEALs. Chief Petty Officer Eddie Gallagher is accused of multiple violations of military law, including killing a wounded ISIS prisoner by plunging a knife into his neck. Dan Simon has the latest.

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Testimony will resume Tuesday morning with the cross examination of Joe Warpinski, the lead investigator on the case. You can expect the defense to be quite aggressive and it's questioning the defense's bleat all along that Chief Gallagher is the victim of an overzealous and flawed investigation. Now on Monday, the jury was shown of the alleged murder weapon, Gallagher's hunting knife and also heard from forensic experts including a pathologist who could not conclusively state the cause of death for the ISIS fighter.

Now, the prosecution says it could rest its case on Tuesday or Wednesday, Gallagher has pleaded not guilty. The jury of several military members would need at least five to convict military courts do not require a unanimous verdict. Dan Simon, CNN, San Diego.

CHURCH: Well, Europe maybe only a few days into summer but already temperatures are climbing, the continent is bracing for a potentially dangerous heat wave this week. A stall of storm over the Atlantic and a higher pressure system are pulling very hot air from Africa north into Europe. It could cause temperatures to soar into the forties in some parts. So let's get more now from our meteorologist Pedram Javaheri. And those are tough temperatures certainly for that part of the world.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN INTERNATIONAL METEOROLOGIST: They are. And, you know, this early into the season as you noted, Rosemary, certainly going to take its toll on a lot of people across this region and we're talking about among the hottest weather ever observed this early in the season across portions of Europe. As you noted high pressure and control, so we're getting southerly surge of very warm air coming in and out Africa and to portions of western and to central and even northwestern Europe over the next couple of days.

So we'll see this trend potentially continue for as long as the next five to seven days. Notice this, even with the rain showers in London, we'll manage to make it up to 24 degrees, Paris at 33 and the heat certainly just getting started. Berlin also climbs up to about 33 degrees and we'll expect this to be a multi-day event. So we often watch this and see take its toll on the elderly and certainly people that are going to be impacted by this like children that are exposed to these elements.

And when you factor in lower conditions in some of these regions it does not help out, and notice the trend, 33, 34 back down to 33 in Paris. The average high for this time of years, about 22 degrees. And even in Madrid climbing from 36 eventually into the forties, keep in mind the hottest temperatures ever observed in Madrid for the month of June, about 40 degrees. So this could exceed that here in the next couple of days.

And these are the hottest temperatures observed by nation, France at 41.5 for the month of June, you see Switzerland up for 30s and that is the general trend for this time of this year. You rarely see it exceed these number and this particular heat wave has the potential to do so here in the next couple of days. So we'll watch the trend as Paris climbs up to 36 degrees. Finally about a week from right now, we see a cooling trend come back down into our forecast.

But Madrid really takes the number here to another level. We're talking about 10 to 12 degrees above average, in some cases even higher numbers there up to 42 degrees for potentially a stretch of multiple days, maybe even four days of temp succeeding 40 degrees there. So that would be a very, very dangerous pattern shaping up across this region of Europe, Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right. Thanks so much, Pedram. Appreciate it.

JAVAHERI: Thank you.

CHURCH: We'll take a short break. We're back in a moment.

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[02:40:06] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Five, four, three, two, one.

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CHURCH: There it is lift off, the SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket early Tuesday morning. CEO Elon Musk called it the rocket company's most difficult mission to date. It's carrying a batch of experimental satellites and getting them into their own orbits. Will be complicated. The devices were selected by the U.S. Defense Department that come from a range of organizations including NASA, military research labs and universalities.

An historic discovery. A giant squid has been captured on camera in U.S. waters for the first time. Special cameras captured this giant squid about 160 kilometers from Louisiana and Alabama. The crew used the same technology in 2012 to capture the first giant squid ever recorded on video in Japan. How about that?

And finally, a make-believe lion was caught on camera over the weekend, you got to see this to believe it. This one was part of a drill conducted at a zoo in Japan while patrons were there and it was supposed to simulate a lion on the loose scenario but some about it lacked real-life urgency. It's more Hello Kitty than predator on the prowl. Judge (INAUDIBLE) but was this king of the jungle really supposed to scare anyone. And he's down, lion down.

OK. That's interesting. We should get to the conclusion of how that all went. Thanks for your company this hour. I'm Rosemary Church. Remember to connect with me anytime on Twitter @rosemaryCNN. Love to hear from you. And "WORLD SPORT" is next.

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