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Church Service for Jo Cox Set to Begin; Leave Campaigners to Rally in London; Egypt's Morsi Sentenced to Life in Prison; Battle to Drive ISIS From Fallujah Continues; Five More Victims Laid to Rest; Rio State Seeks Emergency Funding Ahead of Olympics. Aired 4-5a ET

Aired June 19, 2016 - 04:00   ET

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


[04:00:11] GEORGE HOWELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: The day after an emotional tribute from her family. A church service to honor the memory of murdered British MP Jo Cox is set to begin this hour.

Plus, both sides in the UK -- debate resume campaigning holding major events Sunday after a three-day suspension to mourn Jo Cox's death.

And the final stages in victory, Iraq's security forces battling remnants of ISIS in key areas of Fallujah despite government claims it has retaken that city. Live from CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm George Howell.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: And I'm Fred Pleitgen here in Birstall, England, and this is CNN NEWSROOM.

PLEITGEN: Hello, everyone, and a church service for British MP Jo Cox is set to begin any moment now. She'll be remembered at St. Peter's Church here in Birstall which you see right behind me and Cox's murder briefly halted the political back and forth that has enveloped this country for months. But now, the Leave and the Remain sides are resuming their campaigns, and we are certainly going to have a live report on that later here in this.

A little bit more about the service here. It is the latest in the constant stream of events honoring the late Jo Cox. And I was able to go inside of the church that you see behind my, St. Peter's here in Birstall. And there's an altar to honor Jo Cox there. There's also some letters that were put there by some children, between nine and 10 years old. Apparently, Jo Cox visited the school here in her district just two days before she was murdered.

And the children there writing letters saying that, even though Jo Cox had this position of superiority as they called it, of course being a member of parliament, they still felt that she was one of them, that she gave them the impression that they understood their worries, they understood where they were coming from and that she wasn't someone who was too big to understand where they were coming from.

So certainly, a lot of outpouring of emotion here from the local community, there are a lot of people who are coming here to this church service, and it's something that we have seen a lot of over the past couple of days. You have these makeshift vigils that happen in many parts of this country, first and foremost of course right here in Birstall where you had Prime Minister David Cameron coming here, you had the opposition leader, Jeremy Corbyn coming here, and then of course yesterday, you did have Jo Cox's own family with that beautiful statement by her sister.

Now, in that statement where Cox's family joined the community in mourning here in Birstall, the result was a very moving memorial as loved ones mingled with the people Cox had worked so hard to serve. Her parents laid flowers and hurt from some of the many people here to remember their daughter, together they shared stories and remember a life tragically cut short. Jo's sister spoke before the crowd. Here's what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIM LEADBEATER, JO COX'S SISTER: There's some things in life you should never have to do. Last night, I have to go and identify my sister's body. Yes, this was Jo Cox, the MP, and she was many things to many people in her too-short life. But she was my sister. My only sibling. My parents' first-born child, a wife and a mother. Our family is broken. But we will mend over time, and we will never let Jo leave our lives.

She will live on through all the people in the world, through Brendan, through us. And through her truly wonderful children, who will always know what an excellent, amazing woman their mother was. She was a human being, and she was perfect.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: So you have there an absolutely beautiful statement by Jo Cox's sister who also said that she believes that Jo Cox would be very happy to see the way that she's being remembered here. That people are coming with an outpouring of emotion. Now, what happened to her is not something that has caused more divisions here in this country but much rather has brought people together and of course also that she is being remembered in a positive way for all the positive things that she has done.

Of course, she was someone who tirelessly campaigned not just in her own district but also around the world for the people of Darfur, for the people of Syria and probably at least for refugees where she said that Britain should take in more than it is at this point in time. Now, as we've said, the entire country has put aside its politics that were vicious for the past few days to mourn Cox, but official campaigning is back under way now as Britain is just a few days away from a crucial referendum on its future within the European Union.

Still here in Birstall, the focus remains on the beloved MP murdered in a small town she meant so much too. Later in the week, the U.K. will vote on whether to leave the 28-member group it has been a part of for more than 40 years and certainly of which it has shaped the politics of as well. Campaigners the from the team Leave are getting ready to rally in London. And that's also where we find our own Becky Anderson.

And Becky, tell me, after these tragic events that have taken place, what is the mood like now at that rally?

[04:05:46] BECKY ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A very good morning to you joining us in the city of London, Fred. And, as you suggest, the first planned event for the leave campaign since the death of Jo Cox on Thursday. We are told by organizers here they have ticketed for 1,000 people and to attend this event. They say they are expecting 1600, but I have to say the mood slightly somber here as they get ready for this event. It is expected to be attended by Boris Johnson, the former mayor of London perhaps the leading voice so far as the international community is concerned for the Leave campaign, the character most people around the world perhaps would recognize. And the justice minister for the government here, Michael Gove.

But as I say, you know, things quite clearly, quite a somber environment here. People haven't arrived yet. And when they will arrive, they will have probably have seen this newspaper this morning, the Sunday Times. And this, as you see, no turning back warns Cameron, the PM swipes at rivals as remain edges ahead. Since I say most people who attend this event are likely to have read this newspaper. They will already be aware that the polls have been narrowing over the past couple of days now, a caveat here.

Fred, you and I know that the polls in recent history here in the U.K. have been less than perfect. But the poll in this newspaper today suggesting that the remain camp is actually now one percent ahead in the poll, that they have firm conducted for this newspaper with the Leave campaign at 43 percent. So it remains to be seen, really, what happens between now and Thursday, the day of the referendum, but certainly, as these events, these planned events get going once again in what is this week's lead up, a very different atmosphere perhaps I think I would suggest from that which we had last week before the death of Jo Cox -- Fred.

PLEITGEN: Yes. You're absolutely right. And, you know, it's interesting, because at the same time, of course, you have this situation where you have this awful tragedy that took place, and I think many people in this country even felt ashamed at some of the political rhetoric that was happening around the Brexit vote. But at the same time of course, we have to keep in mind, this is probably one of the most important decisions that this country will have to make over the past decades. So, have the arguments of the Leave campaign shifted as well or is it still mostly about immigration, it is about the faults of the EU, what are they telling people to try and convince them that leave is still the right way to go?

ANDERSON: Yes, and I think what you will find this week, and this is a guess at this point, but I think potentially what you'll find this week, and we'll hear from a lot of those who are leading this Leave campaign. They'll try and skew it back to the economics to a certain extent. Because you're absolutely right. The tactic of immigration, which is one that is being derided by so many people who want to remain in the EU, derided as violent, disgraceful people has said, the rhetoric really not what they would have expected to have seen from a country in 2016 and sits within the EU.

Look, at no turning back warns Cameron from page of this today. Alludes to what David Cameron has said in this article and what we are expecting to hear from him in the Sunday morning television programs today. He will say that there is no turning back if the country votes to leave, were it to try and get back into the EU going forward, it would have to join Schengen, which is the border policy. It would have to join the Euro going forward, which of course it doesn't have at the moment.

There would be a whole lot of issues were even to be allowed back in at all. And what he is saying is you don't get in a call that is already faulty. He's saying that Boris Johnson and the Leave campaign off selling, those who are looking, skid out a faulty car. He says, the mechanics have told you, it's already not working, probably alluding to the fact that the IMF so many of the economic organizations around the world who have said that the U.K. is better inside the EU.

[04:10:10] David Cameron, the prime minster here of course is campaigning on the Remain ticket, saying, why would you get in a car that is already faulty? Why would you sign up to leaving the EU when you don't really know what happens on the other side, when the economics don't necessarily stack up, although his body, although when those on the remaining side have been accused of scaremongering. So, I think it comes down to this.

So, I don't think the economic argument on either side is really being made, because there is no precedent for this. So, your question was, will we continue to see this sort of rhetoric we've seen around immigration this week? I wouldn't be surprised if we see less of that and more on the economics, but as I said, at this point, with the polls narrowing, I guess, you know, it remains to be seen exactly how these two campaigns really skew their rhetoric in the next four, five days.

PLEITGEN: Yes. And it's interesting, Becky that you say that because of course they've been talking a lot about the economic fallout, of a possible Brexit, at the same time, no one can really tell you what that fallout will be, because of course there really isn't a precedent for this ever happening before.

Thank you very much, Becky Anderson at a Leave campaign rally in London. Thank you very much for that.

And George, as we've been saying, we are at this church service, we're outside a church service for Jo Cox is really part of the many vigils and memorials that have been taking place here in her home district in Birstall but of course also in other parts of Britain as well. Many of them with prominent people coming, of course as we've noted the prime minister was here, the opposition leader was here, the speaker of parliament was here in her home district as well.

And at the same time that we see this big political context with the Brexit vote looming, of course first and foremost what most people here are talking about is remembering Jo Cox as someone who is so very important to this community, someone of course who was a wife and a mother and who of course will always be remembered here in this town in England -- George. HOWELL: And Fred, let's talk just a bit about that as we're looking

again at this live images coming from this service that is under way at this hour. Just talk to us about how Jo Cox was known in that community. She was a self-proclaimed, proud Yorkshire Lass. Very much revered in that working-class community. Talk to us just about her presence in that community, what it meant for people there.

PLEITGEN: Yes, yes, and I think that's a very important question in all of this. I think she is someone where people here will tell you that she had a lot of empathy, she was someone who in the best of ways was a local politician, someone who cared about what the people here felt, about their troubles, about their woes, who spoke to the people here in our district quite frequently but also someone who of course was a very important figure on the international and national political stage here in England and indeed around the world.

She of course worked for Oxfam and she tried to help people in Darfur. She very much campaigned to help people in Syria. One of her big things was a no-bomb zone, which of course something that's been talked about in international politics for a very long time. She was very much for allowing more refugees into the country as well. So, on the one hand, they know her as a very important local politician here in the community but also someone who didn't shy away from international issues either -- George.

HOWELL: Fred Pleitgen, co-anchoring this hour from England on this event, a church service that's under way.

Fred, thank you so much, and we'll stay in touch with you through the rest of the show. This is CNN NEWSROOM at 4:13 a.m. on the U.S. East Coast.

Still ahead, Iraq say it is has liberated Fallujah from ISIS. But as CNN saw firsthand, fighting continues in that city. The very latest from Fallujah ahead.

Plus, more families are burying their loved ones. People who were killed in last weekend's shooting at a nightclub in Orlando, Florida. How some of the victims are being honored, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:15:33] DON RIDDELL, CNN ANCHOR "WORLD SPORT": I'm Don Riddell with your CNN World Sport headlines. There is little doubt that Cristiano Renaldo is one of the best football players of his generation arguably of all time. But he's found it very difficult to repeat this success with his (INAUDIBLE) with his country Portugal. It was a historic day for CI7 (ph) on Saturday as he won his 128th. That is a new Portuguese record.

But it was a very frustrating day against Austria and Group F of the European championship as he messed the second half penalty. And also had this goalless allowed as the Portuguese had to settle for a goalless draw. Elsewhere in Group A, Iceland came within minutes of making history in the Euros. They had to make -- the point against Hungary, and they are the smallest country ever to play in this competition and they went in front with the first half penalty from Gylfi Sigurdsson and the league stood until almost a very end of the game.

Hungary were the better side and they were frustrated but they managed to force an own goal from Birkir Savarsson in the 87th minute. In Group E, one of the pre-tournament favored, Belgium have got their campaign up and running with the constable win against Ireland after losing their opening game against Italy. The Belgians bounced back with a 3-0 win. Romelu Lukaku led the way with the brace and Axle Witsel added another goal. The win puts Belgium second in the group behind Italy, who are already through to the brand of 16. That is a quick look at your Euro 2016 Sports Headlines. I'm Don Riddell.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:18:08] HOWELL: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm George Howell. The former president of Egypt, Mohammed Morsi has been sentenced to life in prison following an espionage trial. An Egyptian court convicted Morsi of passing classified documents to Qatar. Six code defendants were sentenced to death. Defense attorney says, he expects to appeal that verdict. Morsi was the nation's first democratically elected president but was overthrown by the military in 2013.

In Iraq now, in the battle to drive ISIS from Fallujah, it continues despite government claims that it has been liberated. Iraq's prime minister said on television Friday that the city had been retaken, but admitted pockets of ISIS still remain. The U.N. says an estimated 50,000 people are in grave danger, trapped in that besieged city. Our Ben Wedeman just returned from Fallujah and saw the fighting there first hand.

Ben is live in Baghdad with us this hour. Ben, I'm glad to have you with us. So, yesterday when I read that government statement to you that there are still pockets of resistance you rightly pointed out that that is quite to the contrary from what you have seen on the ground.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, George, well, it's important to keep in mind, that it is the only matter of time before Iraqi forces are able to drive ISIS out of Fallujah. At this point, we understand ISIS still only controls the northern sector of the city, but Iraqi officials obviously would like to claim victory at this point. It is a significant accomplishment, given the fact that two years ago the Iraqi army was in full collapse, and one city was falling to ISIS after another. But for Fallujah, it's clear at this point, the battle is far from over.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WEDEMAN (voice-over): To save Fallujah from ISIS, Iraqi forces have destroyed vast expanses of this city, block after block. One flattened building after another. In military parlance, the city was softened up before the push into the center of Fallujah, by days of heavy bombardment from land and air.

(on camera): So we're in this Iraqi army Humvee. Heading inside one of the neighborhoods in Southeast Fallujah. We've already heard small arms fire crackling inside and also heard the thud of the incoming artillery rounds. So we'll see what we find inside.

(voice-over): I asked the soldiers in the Humvee if Daesh, the Arabic acronym for ISIS is still inside the city. No, says Smap Jesem (ph) a 12-year Army veteran, there is no Daesh. He then qualifies his statement. There are pockets, one or two still fighting here and there. The pockets we soon discovered were many and they seemed deep.

(on camera): This is the Nazal neighborhood in Central Fallujah. It was until day before yesterday under the control of ISIS. Now we see lots of Iraqi troops in Humvees in this part of the town. What we're not seeing are any civilians.

(voice-over): This officer he asked to be called simply Avi Merium (ph) encountered civilians fleeing the fighting.

(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

They were in a bad way, exhausted he says. They were suffering from lack of food and water. Iraqi officials expected stiffer resistance in Fallujah. The first major city seized by ISIS two and a half years ago. But Iraqi forces have managed to push rapidly inside. Officers insist resistance is at best scattered.

(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

There are still a few snipers and dealing with him, he says, Yasin Badri (ph) and soon we'll finish them off. One group of fighters did manage to liberate an ISIS banner. The liberation of the city, however, is still a work in progress.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WEDEMAN: And of course, as this operation seems to be winding down in Fallujah, there's no clear idea when civilians will be able to move back into the city. At its height, the population of Fallujah was about 300,000. Now officials say those remaining in the city, in the areas under ISIS control are perhaps 30,000 -- George.

HOWELL: And Ben, do you get a sense on the ground, you say that those pockets of resistance as described by the government, you do believe that from what you've seen on the ground, the government is making major advances?

WEDEMAN: Yes, what we saw in a period of about 48 hours was that the government forces which held two neighborhoods to the south of the city made a rapid and really dramatic push all the way up to the edges of those northern neighborhoods. So there's no question that they've been able to do something much quicker than was anticipated just a week ago. It looked like the strategy of the government was simply to cut off the city and wait until ISIS simply could no longer hold out for lack of food and water.

[04:23:30] But no, in fact, they went into the city quite rapidly, and now, as I said, ISIS is cornered in the northern sector, but they don't seem to be putting up the kind of fight anybody was expected. It was expected that Fallujah, because it was the first city that ISIS conquered back in January of 2014, that this would be of important symbolic, symbolism to ISIS, but it appears that their new tactic is to avoid losing their experienced fighters and perhaps to save them to fight another day -- George.

HOWELL: The focus now on Fallujah. The focus next certainly would be on Mosul.

CNN senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman live for us in Baghdad. Ben, thank you so much for your reporting there.

On to Belgium now, authorities there say they have detained three suspects on terror-related charges after a series of police raids across that country. The raids came amid possible threats to Belgian football fans gathering to watch the Euro 2016 games. Nine other people were also arrested. They were questioned and then later released. The Belgian prime minister says football-related events will go on as planned but with extra security. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLES MICHEL, BELGIAN PRIME MINISTER (through a translator): The message that we want to pass is one of determination, a message of serenity, a message of calm. All the scheduled events in the coming days will go on, with added security measures or with adapted security measures. So the message is that the Security Council as well as the security services are extremely vigilant. We are monitoring the situation hour by hour and we will continue to conduct this battle with great determination. This battle against extremism, radicalism and terrorism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: Belgium has been on alert since the deadly terror attacks in Brussels there three months ago. The U.N. secretary-general is calling on the international community to do more for thousands of refugees trapped in Greece. On Saturday, Ban Ki-moon visited refugee camps on the Greek Island of Lesbos. He urged Europe to speed up the resettlement of migrants that are seeking asylum and also to treat refugees more humanely.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BAN KI-MOON, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: The challenge is growing every day around the world. Thousands of families continue to flee their homes. Detention is not the answer. It should immediately. Let us work together to resettle more people, provide the legal pathways and better integrate refugees.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: Ban Ki-moon also thanked the people of Lesbos for welcoming and helping the hundreds of thousands of migrants who have arrived on their shores. The family of Jo Cox is sharing their grief with the Birstall

community. You'll hear from Jo's sister on her tragic passing. Still ahead.

Plus, we'll show how Berlin is paying tribute to victims of the Orlando nightclub massacre. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:30:00] PLEITGEN: Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and around the world. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Fred Pleitgen.

HOWELL: And I'm George Howell live at CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta with the headlines we're following for you.

This hour, in Iraq, the defenses in place for ISIS collapsed in Fallujah on Friday as government forced pushed into the heart of that city. But by Saturday morning the battle was still on. Iraq's prime minister set on television Friday that the city had been liberated but added that pockets of resistance remain.

The former president of Egypt, Mohammed Morsi has been sentenced to life in prison over charges of espionage. He was convicted of passing classified documents to cut Qatar. Morsi was Egypt's first democratically elected president but was overthrown by the military in 2013.

Donald Trump at the United States is fighting back against the movement calling for, quote, "Anybody but Trump." The group made up of Republican delegates are trying to block the billionaire from becoming their party's presidential nominee, but Trump says, he is confident in the millions of votes he earned in the primaries. It appears increasingly unlikely that Russia's track and field team will compete at the Rio Olympics.

The International Olympic Committee says, it supports extending a competition ban. The world governing body for athletic says, Russia has not done enough to stop systematic doping.

PLEITGEN: Yes, thank you, George. And we're right back here in Birstall, England where over the past few days the murder of British Member of Parliament Jo Cox has overshadowed a referendum on the UK's future in the European Union. Official campaign however is set to resume soon with a lot rallies in London both for the Leave and for the Remain campaign.

Right here in Birstall, the focus is still very much on mourning, a devastating loss for this community and of course for this country as well. Jo Cox's family came out on Saturday to share their love for Jo with the community she faithfully served. St. Peter's Church is hosting a service in her honor. That's going on right now with the latest in a series of tributes paid to Cox since her death on Thursday.

And that service is of course something that is very important to the local community here in Birstall. You know, we've been coming here over the past couple of days since these awful events happening. You can see that the people here in this very small town are absolutely devastated that something like this could have happened inside their community. Of course Jo Cox is very important to them as their member of parliament. Someone who even though she obviously spent a lot of time in London also spent a lot of time campaigning for international issues, was still very much a part of local politics here.

And that's certainly something that is also reflected in that church service that is currently taking place, that's being led by Vicar Paul Knight. He said that he wanted to remember Jo as someone who's obviously a very special person, as a wife, as a mother of two children who now of course have to grow up without their mom. Certainly, a very devastating, a very difficult time for the family. And at the same time, you could see this outpouring of support inside St. Peter's Church that you see behind me and that you also see from the live pictures that we have.

There's people who paid tribute to her in letters that they placed on an altar. Many of them children between the ages of nine and 10 who wanted to express their feeling that she was a special person. That she was someone who understood them. She visited a school here in this district only a couple days ago. There were letters from children of migrants who had come here who said that she specifically helped their families to come here and to be able to blossom here in this community.

So that's the kind of outpouring of support that you're seeing here, and that is certainly also of course at the root of this church service that is happening here right now, and that really is one in a series of events that have been happening here throughout this country and indeed inside this community for the past couple of days. Of course you have that makeshift memorial that is exactly in the place where Jo Cox was murdered, where you have a lot of political prominence from around the country come.

And then also of course you had the parents and the sister of Jo Cox who made an emotional visit to this memorial here in Birstall just yesterday. Jo's sister read a statement from the family, calling Jo perfect and saying her young children will never forget how great their mother was.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEADBEATER: Yes, this was Jo Cox, MP. And she was many things to many people in her too-short life. But she was my sister. My only sibling. My parents' first-born child, a wife and mom. From a very young age, all Jo ever wanted was for everyone to be happy. We were brought to see the positive in everything and everyone. And having endeavored to do so all our lives. Our parents instilled in us a real glass-half-full mentality.

[04:35:12] And while I sometimes tend to add a large measure of Yorkshire cynicism into this, Jo generally did not, she only saw the good. We know that there are some evil people in this world. But there are awful lot of good people too. When Jo would get abuse on Facebook or Twitter, we would talk. And sometimes cry together. But she would still focus on the positive. And talk about the silent majority who didn't always shout the loudest. But oh, she knew that we were in her corner.

I am somewhat embarrassed to say that I was at times part of that silent majority. I don't do social media. I would shout at the TV at home instead. Over the past 48 hours, people have not been silent. They have been vocal and passionate and spoken from the House with genuine emotion and no hidden agendas. Jo would have loved it. We have to continue with strength and solidarity in the days, months and years to come. Part of Jo's legacy.

And focus on as one would say, that which unites us and not that which divides us. For now, our family is broken. But we will mend over time. And we will never let Jo leave our lives. She will live on through all the people in the world, through Brendan, through us. And through her truly wonderful children, who will always know what an utterly amazing woman their mother was. She was a human being, and she was perfect. Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: As you can see there, a very emotional statement that was made there by Jo Cox's sister. Of course a devastating loss for that family. Very difficult times for that family ahead. It was so interesting George because, you know, many times when something like this happens and you have a family's statement that's written it's very often a sort of scripted event. People come out, they read a statement and then they leave.

But in this case, you could tell it was completely heartfelt. And afterwards the parents of Jo Cox and her sister as well, they didn't just go away. Think actually stayed there and spoke to other members of the community. You can tell that they were getting strength from this community that has showed so much support for the family in the wake of these tragic events -- George.

HOWELL: It wasn't scripted. It was straight from the heart and her sister saying that she will live on to all the people in the world. Fred Pleitgen live for us.

Fred, thank you so much. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

Still ahead, Donald Trump, he is fighting back after a group of Republicans launched a movement to dump Trump at next month's convention. Why he says he is confident of his nomination. Still ahead.

Plus, we are less than 50 days away from the Rio Olympics, but a funding emergency could slow down preparations there. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:41:50] HOWELL: The city of Orlando is planning a candlelight vigil Sunday night, remembering the 49 people killed in last weekend's shooting at the Pulse nightclub. Five families buried their loved ones on Saturday. One victim, Cory Connell had planned to become a firefighter. So the Orange County Fire Department named the 21 year old an honorary firefighter.

From Orlando and now to Germany, people in Berlin are playing tribute to the victims of that nightclub massacre as well. Authorities there say, several thousand people as you see here gathered for a vigil at the Berlin's Brandenburg Gate to pay their respects to the victims and to show solidarity with the LGBT community. The gate was illuminated in rainbow colors you see it there to commemorate the victims.

Some Republican delegates are trying to block Donald Trump from becoming that party's presidential nominee. They are part of a coalition that wants to dumb Trump at the party's convention, but Trump doesn't seem too worried about it. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: There's an insurgent group, you know, the same group that I beat is insurgent. There are a couple guys there trying to get delegates. I thought they already tried that. I mean, I could give you names, but I won't, because it's meaningless. First of all, it's illegal, second of all, you can't do it. Third of all, we -- not me -- we, got almost 14 million votes in the primary system.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

So that's more votes than ever received in the primaries in the history of the Republican Party.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

And outside that rally in Arizona Saturday, look at that. Protesters blew up a giant inflatable mock-up of Trump. The Trump that you see here is wearing what appears to be a Ku Klux Klan-style robe standing next to a sign that says quote, "Make America Hate Again." The race for the White House has been extremely unusual when you consider the fact that neither presumptive nominee is especially popular.

CNN's chief U.S. correspondent John King explains.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Crooked Hillary.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Temperamentally unfit.

JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR, "INSIDE POLITICS": If you listen to the rhetoric on the campaign every day, it is rock-em, sock-em robots. Crooked Hillary, dangerous Don. But if you're in a battleground state, turn on your TV. Hillary Clinton is on the air, and the ads, they're pretty soft. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For Hillary, it has always been about kids. And when millions couldn't get health care, this first lady worked with Republicans and Democrats to fix it.

KING: Why is Hillary Clinton doing that? Well, here is one reason, she knows, both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have sky-high unfavorable ratings. Record high. Fifty four percent of Americans in the latest Bloomberg poll say they view Hillary Clinton the presumptive Democratic nominee unfavorably. Meaning, they don't like her. Sixty six percent, two-thirds of Americans say, they view Donald Trump unfavorably. So, if you're both of these candidates, five months to Election Day, you need to change this.

She is on the air with these soft ads saying Hillary cares about children, Hillary cares about health care. Hillary is fighting for you. And she is doing it in important places, places like Colorado, places like Nevada, places like Ohio. Interestingly, North Carolina. Romney won that in 2012. Obama won it in 2008. So, Hillary Clinton was on early advertising trying to stretch the map. We would like to show you a Donald Trump ad countering that. But he is not running any. And that has a lot of Republicans frustrated.

Fifty five percent of Americans right now say they have a favorable view of President Obama. That is pretty good. He is above water, if you will. Above 50 percent. If you put him on this chart, it would be 43 percent have an unfavorable view of President Obama. So, these are the two people who want to replace this guy. He is doing okay. That tells you, these two have a lot of work to do.

So, if you are watching this election, one of the questions you get a lot when you travel to countries, what about the libertarians? What about some third party candidacy? Is that possible? Because as we just noted, these two candidates dislikes so much. It's a problem for her, it's a crisis for him. We are in that very critical phase right now. And again, the Clinton campaign has unity in the party, has resources in the bank.

[04:46:12] He's beginning to use those resources to try to change these bad numbers. And a lot of Republicans were saying, Mr. Trump, Mr. Trump, you have to do things differently. His answer has been, I did it in this way in the primaries and it worked for me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: John King there for us now, speaking of Trump, his campaign released an emergency fund-raising e-mail on Saturday after Hillary Clinton's campaign aired its first general election attack had earlier this week. The message reads as followed, right now we're facing an emergency goal of $100,000 to help gets our ads on the air. We need your contributions by 11:59 p.m. tonight. Crooked Hillary is about to invade your TV with ads attacking Mr. Trump but we're preparing to fight back in that quote. The urgent e-mail is particularly notable since Trump has repeatedly insisted that he is self-funding his campaign.

I want to also tell you that a situation in Santa Barbara, California right now, a large wildfire that has forced mandatory evacuations with nearly 2,005 fighters called in to fight this fight. Our meteorologist Derek Van Dam joins us now to tell us more, Derek.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN INTERNATIONAL METEOROLOGIST: George, there's been a significant improvement in the containment of this Sherpa fire known locally in that area. We'll talk about the details in just one second but first get a load of this footage coming out of the region. This is new to CNN. Some of the fire ongoing overnight. And some of the firefighters battling that blaze. You can see them on TV right now.

Mandatory evacuations remain for many canyon areas north of Santa Barbara. This evacuation order includes about 270 structures. The officials around the area expects, estimates June 23rd to be the day of full containment of this fire. But it's not only the Sherpa fire. There's the cedar fire in Navajo County, California over 1200 acres burnt there. Seven hundred and seventy five personnel battling that fire.

And in New Mexico, there's also the dog hid fire. Over 1700 acres currently burning across that area and only nine percent containment. Look at this. I came across this image from Santa Barbara California of a fire tornado or a fire-nado. Unbelievable image. You can actually see the ocean here, the moonlit reflected in the distance there, but quite a sight and very rare to pick up one of those on camera. Hey, by the way, this is the details. Over 7,811 acres burn the so far in the Santa Barbara, County fire.

The Sherpa fire, 45 percent containment. This fire is so large that the smoke is visible from one of Noa's satellites overhead. You can sigh some of the smoke drifting across the Pacific Ocean just south of Santa Barbara. The Sherpa fire and the cedar fire that are still burning out of control, especially into the New Mexico region. Of course, flames being fueled by dry conditions and strong winds over this area.

This DC-10 trying to put out the fire with fire retardant, quite an image there as well, and we have had an active, active wildfire season. Over 1.8 million acres burnt. We have heat advisories and warnings in effect and we could break long-standing records for temperatures today. Especially into the Phoenix, Arizona area. One hundred and seventeen on Monday and 120 today.

HOWELL: Hot, hot, hot, hot, hot, whoof! Derek, thank you.

In Brazil, Rio is declaring a state of financial emergency organizers of the Olympics say, they aren't worried the mayor of Rio is calling it a state of calamity. How do you square that circle? We'll look at it, next.

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[04:51:07] RIDDELL: Hey, I'm Don Riddell with your CNN WORLD SPORTS headlines. It has been a miserable 24 hours for Russian track and field athletes. And on Saturday, things didn't get much better. The International Olympic Committee announced that it was supporting the strong stance taken by the world athletics governing body, the IAAF in keeping Russia out of international competition. And therefore, the Olympics in Rio. Russia stands accused of orchestrating a state- sponsored doping program, and the -- say it simply can't trust any athletes from that program.

It's a new race on an ancient and medieval city. Formula One's Grand Prix in Europe is happening in Baku. The capital of Azerbaijan this weekend. And the tough street circuit has already gotten the attention of the sport three time champion Lewis Hamilton. The Mercedes man was fastest in all three practices but it went horribly wrong in a qualifying session that was littered with mistakes and ultimately a crash. As a result he will have to start from tenth on the grid. His teammate Nico Rosberg is on poll, after a blinding qualifying round that was almost the second quicker than anyone else.

Roger Federer struggles continues with a semi-final defeat to 19-year- old Alexander Zverev. The Halle open, it's the first time the federal has failed to reach the final here in 11 consecutive appearances. Zverev dropped early four points when he was serving in the first set. That is a quick look at your sport headlines. I'm Don Riddell.

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[04:53:33] HOWELL: In less than seven weeks, the world will turn its attention to the Rio Olympics, but the host nation, Brazil, is in the middle of a political crisis. South America's largest economy is also facing its worst recession in more than 80 years.

Our senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh has more from Rio de Janeiro.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Look at many surprise late on Friday when Rio state authorities declared a state of emergency, a financial calamity, quote, when they put a declaration out in an official publication basically saying they needed special measures to be able to get loans here, to cut through red tape and at the end of the day appealing to the federal government of Brazil for extra money, potentially a billion dollars-worth according to local media report to help them out with what is already a $5 billion debt they've managed to accrue.

Now, we've already seen in the past month how that's impacting health services here. Some hospitals in crisis, universities and more importantly the police who are struggling some say to necessarily find the money they need to go through the security programs in Rio to get it ready for the games, but this declaration proved that things are significantly worse than anybody necessarily thought. It's brought a sense I think of shock to many longer-term observers here.

The broader question, where's that money going to come from? The other billion dollars may come from the federal government. Is this local officials using the Olympic games, the big international showcase event for -- leverage to get money out of federal government to improve local services here? Well, possibly, yes. We don't know if that's going to prove successful here, but it's added yet another potential hurdle or moment for concern when it comes to the Olympics. Under 50 days away from now, we know that there's a political crisis here, an economic crisis, a Zika outbreak that's got many athletes debating whether they're going to attend.

We also know the financial crisis here in Rio has gotten to the point where they're willing to make very public declarations of, quote, "calamity." The money may come through, but there is a risk here I think that it may sour the climates, the tourists comes in the gains in here, the hospitals and the police, they were in that relying upon. And possibly also too, this is the one thing we don't really know, the ability for the infrastructure for the games to be ready.

All promises are being kept that things will be there on time. But one example, the subway that is supposed to take people from the beaches behind me to the Olympic Park, so that's only going to be ready, the vital expansion four days before the games begin, a lot cutting it tight. A lot of money not in the kitty where it should be. Great concerns only mounting here in Rio.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN Rio de Janeiro.

HOWELL: Economic problems, the Zika issue and then political problems in the Olympics just around the corner in Brazil.

That wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM, I'm George Howell at the CNN Center in Atlanta. The news continues on CNN right after the break.

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[05:00:05] HOWELL: Remembering Jo Cox. People came together for a memorial service for the British MP on the same day the Brexit debate picks up again.

The final stages in a victory. Iraqi forces battling remnants of ISIS in the key areas of Fallujah despite government claims that it has retaken that city.