Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Greece Can't Pay Back Debt; Arrests Made in Tunisia Beach Attack; Britain Remembers Tunisian Victims; Volcano Erupts in Japan; What Led to David Sweat's Capture; Greeks Line Up for ATMs for Cash Fearing a Greek Default; NBC Cuts Ties with Donald Trump; U.S., Iran Continue Talks on Nuclear Deal; Why Israel Opposes Iran Nuclear Deal. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired June 29, 2015 - 02:00   ET

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


[02:00:12] ERROL BARNETT, CNN ANCHOR: Right now, Greece faces the deadline to pay off its massive debt. This could be the biggest default in the country's history. And --

ZAIN ASHER, CNN ANCHOR: New information about the man who went on a shooting rampage in Tunisia, killing dozens. Plus --

BARNETT: Breaking news coming into CNN. On a bullet train in Japan, an apparent suicide has led to a deadly fire. That story coming up.

Hello, everyone. I'm Errol Barnett. A welcome to our viewers in the U.S. and those of you tuned in around the world.

ASHER: I'm Zain Asher. Thank you for joining us. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

BARNETT: At this moment, is it 9:00 a.m. in Greece where the government admits it doesn't have the $1.7 billion that it needs to make its latest loan payment.

ASHER: Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras says he cannot accept a loan from European lenders because it would mean too much hardship for the Greek people. Instead he is calling for a referendum on Sunday to let the people to decide for themselves. If Greeks vote no in that referendum, Greece could be forced out of the Eurozone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEAN-CLAUDE JUNCKER, PRESIDENT, E.U. COMMISSION (through translation): This isn't a game of liar's poker. There isn't one winner and another one who loses. Either we are all winners or we are all losers.

They have to know that, on our side, the door is still open.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: Now tens of thousands of Greeks rallied outside parliament in Athens in support of the government's position. People are tired of the harsh austerity message. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): Everybody's messages are a large and powerful no against all these measures Europe wants to improve on Greece. Why? So they can give us some pocket change?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): For me, this is war. We must resist and fight against the siege we are under as a country and as a democracy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: For more, let's bring in CNN's Isa Soares, live in Athens.

Isa, it is a second bizarre day for Athenians with only this dead end referendum to look forward to how has it been there?

ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's an odd place to be because emotions are so differing, and when you are speaking to people, they are divided and split on this referendum. The majority of people telling me they want to be in Europe. They want to be part of the E.U. But at the same time, they don't want to face the harsh austerity measures.

I took to the street, Errol, to get a sense of the mood given the fact that they now have those imposed capital controls they can only take 60 Euros a day. I thought that would sway people towards voting against what the president is saying but before the E.U. proposals. But it didn't seem that way.

Listen to what they had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES (voice-over): In the harsh light of day, Greeks take shelter, having to queue for a daily sum of 60 Euros. Across Athens, these are scenes of despair.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): This is one of the worst days as long as I remember. This is the worst day in Greece. Last night was the most dramatic night. There was never such a thing as no money in the ATMs or anything and people are very confused about what to do.

SOARES: It's this confusion that has many running to ATMs fearing they may soon run out of cash. This is, after all, a country that relies more on cash than cards.

(on camera): Despite the rain, Greeks continue to queue. That queue going further down. Many people sheltering from the rain. The majority of people we've seen have been able to take out the limit of 60 Euros but we have spoken to several pensioners who have not been able to take out a single Euro.

While today people may be somewhat optimistic today the reality of the crisis may set in, in the next couple of days.

(voice-over): This woman has been queuing for some time as she tries and fails to get some of her pension money withdrawn.

(on camera): How frustrated were you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): I've tried 10 times in two ATMs and, in both, I got nothing back. I will now borrow money from a friend to survive for the day.

[02:05:09] SOARES (voice-over): Those who need more than 60 Euros are searching for every cubby hole and travel bag for dollars, British sterling or cash from their last holidays.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Greeks want to trade their leftover foreign exchange that they have had at home or whatever, to get Euros, because they are in need of Euros right now.

SOARES: For those not in a state of panic, there is a reminder in every corner of the referendum and a call for the government for a no to the E.U. proposals.

But for some, any vote now is too little, too late.

"I don't trust anyone, nothing. Everything is over for us," says Sylvia, "We have paid taxes and gone bankrupt. Everything we known is gone," she says.

SOARES: In the upcoming referendum, Greeks have a choice of choosing between extremely bad or extremely worse.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: And, Errol, many Greeks are saying this is an economics asphyxia. They want their dignity back. But at the same time they worry about the consequences of saying no to these promises of leaving the Euro. And I think the next couple days we'll get a better sense of how people react as the crisis unfolds.

But before I toss back to you, we have news coming into us. An E.U. source has told CNN that a last-minute offer was put -- given to Greece from the E.U. Commission and that's what we're being told. We do not know as of yet what was in that offer. We heard yesterday from E.U. commissioner, Jean-Claude Juncker, who said very clearly in an impassioned speech he said there were no pension cuts and no cuts to wages, at least when he put the last proposal on the table. As of yet, we don't know what that last-minute offer was put forward to Greeks late last night -- Errol?

BARNETT: Twists and turns in this final week. We had a demonstration with people voting against the referendum yesterday. And today we will see a demonstration of those who will support the referendum. It's a complicated picture where you are.

Isa Soares, live for us this morning in Athens.

And indeed, the Greek debt crisis has sent financial markets in the U.S. and Europe in negative territory. Check this out. The Dow Jones Industrial Average in the U.S. dropped 350 points on Monday to close 17,596. That is the worst single-day loss for the Dow so far this year.

ASHER: And European investors are bracing themselves. European markets open in the next hour or so. But as expected, Monday saw stocks falling in London, Paris, Frankfurt and Zurich. You can see the red arrows all over there.

BARNETT: For the moment, we move the focus to Tunisia. The interior ministry says the man who gunned down 38 people on the beach last week had ties to a Libyan terror group. But it's unclear if the man had traveled to Libya. Tunisian authorities say they have made their first arrest in the attack.

ASHER: In a show of solidarity, the interior ministers of Britain, France, Germany laid flowers at the scene of the attack. The British Prime Minister David Cameron says a major counterterrorism training exercise will take place in London over the next few days. Most of the victims killed in the attack were British.

For the latest, we'll go to our senior international correspondent, Nick Paton Walsh, who joins us live from Sousse.

Nick, a number of people have been arrested in connection with this attack, including the gunman's roommate. What sort of assistance, if any, they provided to the gunman?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We don't know what they are accused of. But in the past 24 hours, the government has been giving a clear message they are rounding up accomplices. The prime ministering saying there are suspicions at six or seven university school mates and how he made that journey from a small town in 2011 and considered punctual and a hard worker to transform into a gunman who brutally murdered 38 people in their swimwear on the beach not far from where I'm standing.

But details from his terrorist connections have emerged today. They are saying they're not sure which group he is affiliated with. It may be al Sharia or ISIS who are in control of coastal territory inside Libya. That is key because it begins to paint a picture of how he may have been assisted and radicalized.

Interestingly, the prime minister said yesterday they believe the radicalization occurred online and the Internet provided the fuel for his transformation rather than a trip to a foreign country. They are still working on that premise.

His three roommates are being questioned still and, at the same time, authorities have made their first arrests. Unclear how these different groups of people overlap, if you like, in a diagram. They insist that he acted alone. Video from the scene pretty much confirms that. But there are a lot of eyewitness reports that suggest other gunmen were involved. But it's hard to tell and hard to see evidence that corroborates that notion.

But also today, a coincidence, perhaps, you might say, but a troubling one. The authorities at the interior ministry have posted on their Facebook page two images of two men they seek in questioning. It is not clear if they're related to Sousse, but it's clear they are considered dangerous.

Back to you

[02:11:13] And after the attacks, we saw, at the Bardo Museum in March, people are wondering why didn't this place have the appropriate security measures in place.

Nick Paton Walsh, we appreciate your report.

Errol?

BARNETT: Zain, Britain is remembering its citizens killed in the Tunisia beach massacre.

Michael Holmes has more on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Small shrines, places of remembrance are popping up in places around the country, places that meant something to those who lost their lives. A football club in the English midlands, the team fouled by 19-year-old Joel Richards. One family, three generations. Only Joel's 16-year-old brother, Owen, on the left, survived. A flag on the council building where Adrian Evans worked is at half staff. People here remembering a work colleague, trying to take it all in.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I saw the picture on the TV. I said to my husband, I'm like that is Adrian. I worked with him. He was a nice, funny chap. The guys always got on with him.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People care deeply about this family and they really want to show how much this family means to them.

HOLMES: For others in Britain, the anguish of waiting and knowing nothing. The family of a family of John and Janet Stocker, near London, have heard nothing for four days. The son called the Imperial Hotel to ask employees to check on his father and stepmother. Their luggage, passports and money were in their room but there was no sign of the couple. He has called every hospital in the area, to no avail.

MARK STOCKER, SON OF JOHN & JANET STOCKER: Where are they, then? If they are not on the injured list, where can they be? It leads you to one conclusion. But it's not one you want to hear or believe.

HOLMES: There is a human urge to connect and come together in moments of tragedy. These were ordinary folk enjoying a summer holiday like anyone else. Taking time out to mark their passing, to pay respect is what people up and down the country simply feel a need to do.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were just on holiday and getting killed while they were on holiday, it's terrible. I thought it was the right thing to do to pay our respects. We are family. It's the right thing to do.

HOLMES: Michael Holmes, CNN. (END VIDEOTAPE)

BARNETT: Now despite the massacre in Tunisia, the British government has made it clear it is not advising against all travel to that country. It is keeping the policy under close review.

ASHER: In an exclusive interview, Tunisia's prime minister, Habib Essid, told CNN's Becky Anderson that the attack has been devastating for the country's tourism industry.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HABIB ESSID, TUNISIA PRIME MINISTER: Very damaging. Heavy damaging. More than one million people are affected from the sectors and we should do everything in order to save the situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: Members of the Arab League met in an emergency session in Cairo, Egypt, on Monday. They are urging unity in the wake of the attack in Tunisia and the mosque bombing in Kuwait.

ASHER: It appears a fire on board a bullet train in Japan was caused by a suicide. The bullet train was forced to stop on its way to Osaka from Tokyo. A man set himself on fire in a bathroom of the first car and died. Now two people were found without heartbeats. More on that as it comes into us.

Now Japanese officials have raised the warning level around a Hakone Volcano southwest of Tokyo. The country's weather agency says the volcano appears to have erupted.

Our Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins us with more -- Pedram?

[02:15:20] PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We know Japan has active volcanoes. And Hakone, one of 18 active volcano in Japan. That makes for 10 percent of volcanoes in the world. This is a level three, as far as a scale of one to five in severity. It's an hour's drive from Tokyo and not far from Mt. Fuji. There are lakeside resorts there, hot springs there, so people --

(CROSSTALK)

ASHER: They warned there could be activity?

JAVAHERI: Yes, on the 15th of May we had 471 quakes in a 24-hour period. And this one elevating the risk. We'll show you this. Very, very active part of the world. One of the more active places in the world when you go in for a close look. 90 kilometers southwest of Tokyo. The perspective is here. We have had major eruptions going back to 3,000 years ago where this lake was formed because there was a massive collapse of an explosive eruption that dammed up the lake and filled up with water over time. That is the concern if this sort of event takes place in a close proximity to Tokyo becomes an issue. But right now, a level three on a one to five, saying don't approach the volcano in the immediate future. But a quick glance here. The temperatures in the northwestern U.S.

record territory yet again. There is a fire threat around the northwest corner of the U.S. But we are also watching the volcano across Japan.

BARNETT: A busy world, indeed.

Pedram Javaheri, thanks very much. See you later.

A captured convict is talking about his dramatic escape from a New York prison. Coming up, what he is telling authorities about who helped him and why he ditched his fellow fugitive.

ASHER: And later this hour, a closer look at what could happen if Greece defaults and exits the Euro. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): I don't know what to do. I couldn't fall asleep for the past two days and I don't think I can fall asleep in the future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[02:21:30] ASHER: On Monday, a 20-year-old woman with burns on 90 percent of her body was the first to die in the disaster. Her 12- year-old brother was also badly burned. That was their mother speaking out about the tragedy.

BARNETT: This incident happened on Saturday when a colored powder that was sprayed over the crowd ignited, injuring over 500 people. The water park in Taiwan will remain closed while investigators try to determine what caused the deadly fire.

ASHER: The CEO of the water park issued a tearful apology on Monday. She is asking for a fund to be set up for the victims.

BARNETT: We have this story just in to CNN. About 115 Indian school children have fallen ill after eating a mid-day meal. This happened in the eastern state of Behar. The students complained of headaches, uneasiness and a burning sensation in their throats. They're investigating claims of some students of a dead lizard in the meal. A district official says that the children were treated at a nearby hospital. You see some of the footage. All of them at this hour are out of danger.

In the U.S., the man who led police in the U.S. on a three-week manhunt is now talking about his escape from a maximum security prison.

ASHER: New York's governor says that David Sweat and Richard Matt planned to go to Mexico but had to improvise after the prison seamstress, Joyce Mitchell, accused of helping them, backed out. Now Sweat was caught on Sunday just a couple of miles south of the Canadian border.

BARNETT: He apparently told police that this prison guard, Gene Palmer, did not help them break out. Palmer appeared in court on Monday and has been charged in the escape.

ASHER: Meanwhile, the FBI is looking into possible corruption and drug trafficking at the prison involving both inmates and prison guards as well.

BARNETT: So what exactly led to David Sweat's capture after hundreds of officers searching for hundreds of hours? It all came down to one.

Gary Tuchman has the time line.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The word came over police radios around 3:20 p.m., gunshots fired. As scores of police raced to the town of Constable on the Canadian border, there was hope that David Sweat had been captured and fear that police officers and civilians had been hurt. But only one officer was at the scene, New York State Trooper Sergeant Jay Cook.

JOSEPH D'AMICO, NEW YORK STATE POLICE COMMISSIONER: As he was driving down the road, he spotted a male who was basically jogging along the side of the road. He approached him. As he exited the car, the male turned to him, he says, hey, come over here.

TUCHMAN: The male was David Sweat, two miles from the Canadian border.

D'AMICO: The male ignored him. He called out again at which time and the male turned around, like what do you want from me? And he recognized him to be David Sweat.

TUCHMAN (on camera): Sergeant Cook says that Sweat took off from the street into this field and the sergeant chased after him. He was afraid Sweat would run into the woods and disappear. He fired two shots and the manhunt was over.

(voice-over): This very rural area has many Amish residents. In the aftermath vehicles were being searched by police to make sure only residents were allowed back in the area.

Jean and Paul were visiting an Amish family whose home and barn were adjacent to where Sweat was caught.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You see this barn here, about 600 feet on the other side is where they apprehended him. If he made it to the end of the field, there is nothing but forest from there to the Canadian border.

TUCHMAN: Across the street from the field lives a family with two children. Michael Doyle heard the gunshots.

MICHAEL DOYLE, WITNESS: When I heard the two gunshots, I didn't know if one was him and one was them, or back and forth or not.

[02:25:13] TUCHMAN: He said within three or four minutes, swarms of police arrived. He took these pictures, estimating 40 to 50 vehicles on the rural road with two officers in most of the cars.

DOYLE: They threw the cars into park and run out of the cars and they were running through the field and the ambulance came into the field and headed down to where he was shot.

TUCHMAN: You can see the tire tracks of the vehicles in the wet field. Also crime tape remains where the field turns into forest which would have been Sweat's route to Canada.

DOYLE: This was very overwhelming.

TUCHMAN: Two ambulances accompanied by police vehicles raced to a nearby hospital, leading to fears that more than one person had been shot, but Sweat was the only person who had been hurt.

(CHEERING)

TUCHMAN: In Franklin County, where most of the manhunt was centered, there was great relief and about 200 residents gathered in front of the courthouse to show their appreciation to the law enforcement agents who risked their lives to find the two escapees.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They did an amazing job tracking these guys and getting them.

TUCHMAN: 1300 men and women looking for these killers. But it came down to one man, Sergeant Jay Cook, whose alert patrolling on this quiet road put an end to the fears of a region.

Gary Tuchman, CNN, Constable, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ASHER: We'll take a quick break here on CNN. When we come back, NBC dumps Donald Trump over his immigration comments and now he might sue over their jointly owned beauty pageant.

BARNETT: Also coming up, Greeks lining up at ATMs to get their money. We'll bring you the latest on the debt crisis there after this short break. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:30:26] ERROL BARNETT, CNN ANCHOR: A warm welcome back to viewers in the U.S. and all around the world. I'm Errol Barnett.

ZAIN ASHER, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Zain Asher. Let's give you the headlines.

An apparent suicide ended up starting a fire on a bullet train in Japan. This video shows the train after it was forced to stop on its way to Osaka from Tokyo. Japan's public broadcaster, NHK, says a man set himself on fire in the bathroom of the first car and died. Two people were found unconscious and without a pulse. Two other people were seriously injured and at least 20 others are hurt. Details are coming into us and we'll bring you information as we get it.

Tunisia's foreign ministry tells CNN the man who gunned down 38 people at a beach resort in Tunisia had a connection to a Libyan terror group. It's unclear whether he travelled to Libya. Authorities say they have made their first arrests in connection with this attack.

ASHER: Captured convict, David Sweat, is talking about his escape from a New York prison. He was shot and captured after three weeks on the run. Sweat and Richard Matt had plans to go to Mexico but switched to Canada when their ride backed out.

BARNETT: For a second day in a row, Greeks are lining up at ATMs around the country hoping to get their hands on their own cash before the country goes into default. Greece owes its European creditors $1.7 billion today. The country's economic minister says it will be impossible to make that payment.

John Defterios joins us now from Abu Dhabi to talk more now about what it means if Greece defaults and exits the Euro, which seems more likely today.

John, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras remains defiant on Greek TV last night, no last-minute deals according to the information at this stage. What is the real final sticking point here?

JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING NATIONS EDITOR: Well, it's amazing, Errol, what is transpiring in Greece and Brussels as we speak. It's abundantly clear in the last 24 hours that the European Union and European Union leaders of Greece have ideological differences on pension reforms and tax rates or VAT rates and, most importantly, on long-term debt. Moments ago, we have had confirmation from an E.U. source that the Euro Commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, had tabled an offer to the Greeks at the very last minute. It has also been reported that the offer included consideration of stretching out the terms of Greece's long-term debt. This is a sticking point with Alexis Tsipras. No discussion about cutting the principle and the Greeks live with a debt of 1.77 percent of GDP. And this has caused the austerity. And this is why Alexis Tsipras, in his interview with Greek television last night, said he would be voting no on Sunday and leave it to the Greek people and live with the consequences. And that means perhaps if it goes the other way, and there is a yes vote from the Greeks that he would consider stepping down or there could be a call for him to step down and a call for new elections. That's the potential over the next three, four weeks, depending on that vote on Sunday.

BARNETT: It's not the first time that Greece has been down this road. For five years the country has been unable to balance its books. What could the implications of a debt default be and what about the outcome of the referendum? No matter which way it goes, this is uncharted territory.

DEFTERIOS: Uncharted territory and a test to the Euro group overall. The Greeks have been a member for the last 13 years. If the Greeks decided to vote against the proposal on the table and a selection not for austerity and to get out of the Euro, that doesn't say a lot about an experiment 15 years after founding it and 13 years with Greece as a member. The biggest concern is contagion. We saw the Dow Industrial fall 350 points and we saw interest rats go up in Spain, Italy and Portugal, slightly. We don't see a huge contagion so far. Oil prices are falling. But the point is, Errol, Greece is a very small country but, at times, it can pack a pretty strong punch.

Let's take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEFTERIOS (voice-over): Greece represents only 2 percent of the European economy and 0.3 percent of the global economy but it's this country could have an oversized impact on global financial markets, potentially defaulting on $382 billion of debt.

The key questions right now, if Greece can't make its payments, would it default and then exit the single European currency in Europe after 13 years as a member? It is the equivalent of, say, a state of the union deciding to opt out of the U.S. dollar. That would be a shock.

But what does it mean to you? Greece is a member of European Union and a key tourist destination. Around half a million Americans go there on vacation every year. And if you are planning your summer holiday there, you could face issues. You may not be able to get spending money out of ATMs or you could stumble across protests on the streets or strike actions if the country leaves the Euro. If you are heading to one of the islands, you may not be able to get a ferry back to the mainland due to a lack of fuel. And the country may not have enough money for jet fuel for planes on the ground as well.

After six years struggling to stay in the Euro, a question mark remains over the future of the country and potentially the single European currency.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[02:36:03]DEFTERIOS: So you can see, Errol, while people are watching the outcome of the default potentially today of $1.7 billion. A referendum on Sunday. And it may get more complicated. We are getting word out of Greece from the finance ministry that the Greeks may exercise some legal rights and challenge the exiting of the Euro. That's the call from the European leaders in the Euro group going forward. This drama is not near its completion -- Errol?

BARNETT: That's right. And you covered the ups and downs of Greece for a long time.

John Defterios joining us from Abu Dhabi.

Get your rest this week. It is sure to be a busy one. We'll check in with you later. Thanks very much.

ASHER: Greece is not alone in facing a debt crisis. Puerto Rico may also be in default as well.

BARNETT: That's right. The governor is demanding the U.S. government allow the commonwealth bankruptcy. Currently, only cities, towns and other municipalities can do that. The island owes $73 billion that it cannot pay.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEJANDRO GARCIA PADILLA, GOVERNOR OF PUERTO RICO (through translation): Puerto Rico needs and I propose today a complete and comprehensive reinstructing and development plan that is long-term and definitive for the immense problem today we face. Not to achieve it, the alternative would be a unilateral and unplanned nonpayment of our obligations. With all the negative consequences which would have implications for each one of us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: Puerto Rico faces its first debt hurdle on Wednesday. The government-run energy company has a debt payment due then, and it's expected to default. We turn to politics. In an already crowded field, the U.S.

presidential race may be getting its 14th Republican candidate. In a few hours, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is expected to officially jump into the race. The campaign launch is set to happen at his high school alma mater where he once served as class president.

Errol?

BARNETT: Billionaire businessman, Donald Trump, and now U.S. presidential hopeful, continues to court controversy. NBCUniversal just cut all ties with him after he said Mexican immigrants were rapist and brought crime to the U.S. Trump and NBC co-own the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants which the network now says it won't air. Trump defends his comments and says that NBC is just weak.

Athena Jones has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, CEO, TRUMP GROUP & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Am I so bad?

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): NBCUniversal has cut ties with Donald Trump, citing his derogatory statements, calling Mexican immigrants rapists, drug dealers and criminals.

TRUMP: Somebody has to come out and tell it like it is.

JONES: The real estate mogul stood by those comments before a packed house in Chicago, quoting a report by "Fusion," owned by Spanish language channel, Univision and ABC.

TRUMP: They think it's like Mother Teresa is coming across the border. OK? This was says, "80 percent of Central American women and girls are raped crossing into the United States." Well, I said drug dealers, I said killers and I said rapists. JONES: NBC says it will no longer air the Miss USA or Miss Universe

pageants, partly owned by Trump, following a similar step by Univision, which also dumped the event.

Trump is threatening to sue.

TRUMP: I'll be suing Univision and maybe NBC, too.

JONES: NBC was facing growing pressure to respond, with more than 200,000 people signing a petition on change.org calling on the company to dump Trump. And angry protesters denouncing him outside the Chicago event.

The reality star and now presidential candidate had already planned to give up his show "The Apprentice."

Amid the controversy, Trump is up to second place in the first primary state of New Hampshire.

Oozing confidence, he touted the latest CNN/WMUR poll.

[02:40:11] TRUMP: There's a CNN poll that just came out. They have interesting categories. Who is the best on terrorism? That is a pretty important subject. Trump right at the top. Who is the best on handling international trade? Like not even close. Trump is like almost double anybody else, right? That's incredible.

JONES: As for the man besting him in that poll, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Trump says he is a nice guy who can't win in 2016.

TRUMP: He will never, ever, in a million years, bring it home.

JONES: Athena Jones, CNN, Chicago.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BARNETT: More of the world's biggest stories coming up. Iranian officials are watching negotiations closely as the U.S. and Iran try to hammer out a nuclear deal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALAEDDIN BOROUJERDI, CHAIRMAN, IRANIAN FOREIGN POLICY COMMITTEE (through translation): And even though this was just about the nuclear issue, Iran considers this a historical test for the United States, because we still do not trust the U.S.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: The details on what Tehran wants as the deadline inches closer. That is coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ASHER: Welcome back, everyone. Iran's nuclear negotiator is heading back to Vienna for more talks as the deadline looms. The U.S. and Iran both admit they probably won't have a deal worked out but they are willing to continue talking past the time limit. If no deal is reached, both sides can keep talking for a few days longer, extend by a few months, or simply, if they want to, give up and go home. However, both sides do hope to reach a final comprehensive deal on Iran's nuclear program. That is the goal.

BARNETT: A senior Iranian official says Tehran wants all sanctions lifted if a nuclear deal is reached.

He sat down with our international correspondent, Fred Pleitgen, to talk about this possible deal.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[02:45:04] FRED PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Obviously, the nuclear negotiations are in a very decisive phase right now. How good do you think it is right now that a deal will be reached? And what does Iran want to achieve.

BOROUJERDI (through translation): I believe the sanctions must be lifted at once. This is a necessary condition. Of course, when it comes to executing the sanction relief, that might take more time. Both the implementation of restrictions and the execution of lifting the sanctions may take longer. But from day one, it must be declared that the sanctions will be lifted. And inspecting our military facilities is a definite red line.

PLEITGEN: Presumably, you've already spoken to Foreign Minister Zarif about how the negotiations are going. How confident are you that an agreement can be reached?

BOROUJERDI (through translation): Both sides must show serious will for an agreement. And considering the fact that we have accepted restrictions on our program, we believe the Islamic Republic of Iran has done its part. Now it's the other side that has to make a decision. And the other side, especially the United States, wants to put on a show as they have done in the past when they reneged on previous agreements with Iran.

PLEITGEN: If these negotiations go well, if there is an agreement, could that lead to better relations with the United States, for instance, also better cooperation in fighting terrorism, fighting ISIS? And what do you think will be the consequences if this fails?

BOROUJERDI (through translation): We are witnessing a new atmosphere, which includes long-term discussions, longer than ever before. The two foreign ministers talked for countless hours. And even though this was just about the nuclear issue, Iran considers this a historical test for the United States, because we still do not trust the U.S. At this sensitive juncture, the U.S. must show it wants to bring down this wall of distrust between us.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ASHER: An agreement between the U.S. and Iran would be a victory for Iran but not everybody is pleased about it. CNN's Jake Tapper spoke with the former Israeli ambassador to the U.S.

to explain why Israel is pushing back against this deal. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL OREN, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO ISRAEL: It's pretty much a national consensus issue in Israel. Even the opposition to Netanyahu agrees that the deal on the table is bad deal, a bad deal for Israel.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT & CNN ANCHOR, STATE OF THE UNION: What do you want that you are not getting in this deal?

OREN: A couple of things. One is a dismantling of a much bigger part of Iran's nuclear program. Right now, part of the program is frozen but not dismantled, the keep the centrifuges though they aren't plugged in, but they're not being taken apart, the facilities not taken apart. But the bigger part for Israel is that the deal is not attached in any way to Iranian behavior. Iran is the world's largest state sponsor of terror. It is complicit in the murder of 200,000 Syrians. It is trying to undermine pro-Western governments in the Middle East. And it ultimately declares its intention to destroy us, to destroy Israel. We want the nuclear deal linked to a change of Iranian behavior.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: And the ambassador says the Iranian nuclear deal also poses threats to Israel because it is a situated in a profoundly unstable nuclear neighborhood.

ASHER: With that, we'll take a quick break here on CNN. When we come back, the Great Wall of China is disappearing. Coming up after the break, we'll explain why vast parts of this wall are fading away.

BARNETT: And the Wimbledon tradition as big as tennis-whites and rackets are strawberries and cream, after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)