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U.S. Immigration Crisis; Trump Holds Rally in Nevada; Sarah Sanders Booted from Restaurant; Farmers Hit Hard by U.S. Trade Conflicts; Saudi Arabia Lifts Ban on Women Drivers; Turkish Election; 2018 World Cup; New Zealand Prime Minister Reveals Baby Daughter's Name; Trump's Space Race. Aired 4-5a ET
Aired June 24, 2018 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Unite the families now. Unite the families now.
IVAN WATSON, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): As some Americans protest U.S. immigration policy, president Donald Trump promises to be very, very tough at the border.
It's Election Day in Turkey as President Erdogan tries to win another term.
Plus, the comeback win -- Germany scores in the 95th minute of play to defeat Sweden in dramatic fashion.
Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Ivan Watson and this is CNN NEWSROOM.
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WATSON: At this moment, more than 2,000 children affected by President Trump's zero tolerance immigration policy are still separated from their parents and being detained in facilities across the country.
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WATSON (voice-over): And this was the scene outside a migrant detention center in McAllen, Texas. Protesters blocked a bus that was leaving the facility. Through the darkened windows, our reporters could see children inside.
President Trump was at a Republican Party gathering in Las Vegas, talking tough on immigration and attacking Democrats on what he claims is their desire for open borders.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: But if we did that, everybody come, if we did that, you would have -- you're right -- the word is overrun. We will have millions and millions of people pouring through our country with all of the problems that would cause, with crime and schools and you would have millions. -- all I have to do is say, yes, we want to take care of everybody, we want everybody to come.
Do what you want to do, even if they saw weakness, if they see any weakness, they will come by the millions.
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WATSON: Some members of Congress who visited the Texas processing center on Saturday describe conditions there as "cruel and inhumane." Our Polo Sandoval was also there when the protests happened.
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POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're about two miles away from the U.S.-Mexico border after these families or unaccompanied minors are apprehended or they turn themselves in. They're brought here to this facility. We showed you what it looks like inside, the pictures of some of those holding areas.
What took place today was some of these proimmigrant groups had gathered just outside, trying to get their message heard, trying to get their message to some of these people inside. That's when one of those transport buses pulled out, from where you see the white vehicle there. And that's when this protest spilled onto the streets.
Demonstrators blocking the path of this bus. I did speak to McAllen's police chief, who had to respond out here when things got a little tense. He did tell me that there were no arrests made. Yes, some people had to be asked to get off the road at least. That bus did end up going in the other direction.
We haven't seen any other transport buses make their way in or out here. Again, remember that the president signed this executive order this week, calling for these families to remain together, even in detention.
But the question, what about the mothers and fathers who are separated from their children in the moments and the weeks after zero tolerance was put in place here so that they can place charges?
We heard from those, about 26 legislators who traveled here from across the country, trying to see firsthand exactly what it looked like. They described the scenes inside as heartbreaking, seeing women and the children in these enclosures. Many have described them, many people, many critics have described them as cages.
Lawmakers describe those chain link fences that these people are kept in and they also are calling for immigration legislation. They feel that's the ultimate fix. And at the same time, they also spoke to some of the Border Patrol agents who are inside, trying to get a handle on all this. These lawmakers saying they feel that the people who are handling
these crowds are doing the best they can with the guidance they have. But still, there is a lot of confusion and a lot of chaos happening behind the scenes, according to these lawmakers.
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WATSON: We do have some new numbers and information that came out from a U.S. government press release Saturday night and it says that more than 2,500 children were separated since the zero tolerance policy went into effect, roughly two months ago.
At least 522 children have been reunited with their families. But 2,053 children are still being held, awaiting their return to their parents. The government says it knows the location of all children in custody and is working to reunite them with their families.
But here's the thing --
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WATSON: -- those reunions are not going to happen quickly. They will only happen once the parents' legal proceedings are completed.
Now one mother still wanting to be and waiting to be reunited with her daughter is Cindy Madrid. Her daughter's cries were heard in an audio clip from inside a detention center.
And our Rosa Flores spoke to Madrid, who is still in detention and still desperate to talk to her little girl.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): At least can I go with my aunt?
I want her to come.
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Her cry has been giving a voice to the voiceless. 6-year-old Allison being pulled from her mother, Cindy Madrid, by immigration. Now about a month later, her mother still in detention. Still separated from her daughter, makes a plea.
CINDY MADRID, MOTHER OF MIGRANT CHILD ALLISON: Please help me reunite with my daughter soon. I'm desperate. I want to see her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Are you going to call my aunt so she can come pick me up?
And then, so my mom can come as soon as possible.
FLORES: That heartbreaking recording is the closest she's been with her daughter. Asking us to play it in full.
MADRID (through translator): It's very tough, because I know my daughter misses me just like I do. I never thought they would separate us like this.
FLORES: To talk to her daughter, Madrid has been dialing a number officials gave her this week but has not gotten through. We tried it twice during our interview. But it went to voicemail.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Hi. It's (INAUDIBLE) worker at (INAUDIBLE). I'm not in at the moment.
FLORES: Madrid said that when President Trump signed the executive order Wednesday, all the 40 women in her pod cried thinking they would be reunited. But nothing changed.
MADRID (through translator): Imagine, all these days without knowing anything about my daughter, without talking to her, without seeing her, without any information about anything.
FLORES: Take a look around the detention facility where Madrid is being held is in the middle of nowhere in Los Fresnos, Texas. And this is the facility that the government plans to use to reunify families.
MADRID (through translator): I love her and I that I miss her so much.
FLORES: Madrid's family tells us that the 6-year-old girl has talked to her aunt on the phone and has asked for two things, showering at home and eating cereal -- outside the Port Isabel Detention Center, Rosa Flores, CNN.
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WATSON: For families trying to locate or just communicate with a child in custody, people like that mother that we just saw, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency tells the adults to call the Detention Reporting and Information Line for assistance.
And for anyone trying to locate an adult detained by ICE, the agency has a website to search for them using their name and the country of their birth. And you can find that at locator.ice.gov.
Donald Trump weighed in on the immigration crisis while speaking at the Nevada Republican Convention. He was in Las Vegas, campaigning for Dean Heller, the state's Republican senator seeking re-election.
During his speech, the president cited several of his administration's accomplishments, including his immigration policy. Our Sarah Westwood has more.
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SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Trump addressed the Nevada Republican convention on Saturday, where he was supposed to spend his time talking about the need to expand congressional Republican majorities in November.
But President Trump touched on a number of topics, ranging from his unpopular tariffs against U.S. allies to immigration. The speech came against the backdrop of national outrage over his zero tolerance immigration policy.
President Trump, though, defiant against a wave of national outcry, blaming congressional inaction for problems with the immigration system and previous administrations for allowing the problem to get so bad.
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TRUMP: It's brutal dealing with the Democrats. They want to do nothing, just so you understand, you know what's going on. You love the world of politics. Sometimes you probably go home and say, why do I like it?
But when you think about it, we're dealing with a group of people that don't want to approve anything. If I said, as an example, if we gave them everything they wanted, they would say, don't approve it.
Because they think immigration -- I don't think being weak on the border, being pathetically weak on the border. I don't think that's a good issue.
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WESTWOOD: President Trump also talking about his meeting with Kim Jong-un, the chairman of North Korea, saying that he has made progress toward denuclearization, even though such steps haven't taken place since their historic summit, and looking ahead to his upcoming meeting with NATO members later this summer.
President Trump did --
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WESTWOOD: -- however make mention of Senator Dean Heller, a Republican, who's very vulnerable in November and warned that a vote for his opponent would be a vote for Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi's agenda -- Sarah Westwood, CNN, Las Vegas.
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WATSON: Now Scott Lucas is professor of international politics at the University of Birmingham and founder and editor of "EA Worldview." He joins us from Birmingham, England.
Thank you very much for joining, Professor Lucas. Listen, on Saturday night, the Department of Homeland Security put out this statement, about three pages, a memo, explaining how they're trying to organize reunions.
And I've been looking it over. One excerpt for example says that ICE and HHS "will coordinate a review of their custodial data to identify where each child is located."
So presumably that's more than 2,000 children separated from their families.
I can't help but feel the government is scrambling to try to implement the president's executive order from last Wednesday, where he pulled back on the separation of families, which was created by his own zero tolerance policy some two months ago.
And it doesn't seem like it's the first time that you have got the machinery of government trying to catch up with presidential policies -- the Muslim ban of January of last year, another possible example.
What are your thoughts on this?
SCOTT LUCAS, UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM: It's worse than what you just said because, in April, when the Trump administration decided to launch this separation policy and detain the children, they did so with no preparation for keeping adequate records.
So that means that children, who were taken hundreds and thousands of miles away, they didn't maintain the files to connect them back to their parents. Now here we are two months later and they're going through the files and they have got children in detention centers.
You notice their statement says we know where every child is that we detained. It doesn't say we know who their parents are. They didn't keep records to notify the parents where the children are currently held.
Of course, the children have no idea. So that means that we've got only 20 percent of children who have been reunited with their parents, despite a senior administration official saying yesterday, oh, we're going to have this all solved in 24 hours.
And, remember, it isn't just question of these 2,000 children, struggling to reunite them. Even as we discuss this, the government has announced plans -- or the Trump administration has announced plans to build detention centers for up to 20,000 people.
We don't know if it will be children on their own or children with parents. But we do know that the Trump administration, despite the chaos it has created, is not and, in spite of Trump's statement last Wednesday, backing away from this policy.
WATSON: 20,000 people believed that they would be housed at military bases. Now, Scott, take a listen to President Trump and he is arguing that immigration will be a major issue for both parties in November's midterm elections. Take a listen.
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TRUMP: We have to be very strong. I like the issue for election, too. Our issue is strong borders, no crime. Their issue is open borders, let MS-13 all over our country. That's what will happen if you listen to them.
(END VIDEO CLIP) WATSON: So, Scott, it does appear that, despite outrage from some sectors of U.S. society over the family separation, that President Trump still thinks the zero tolerance crackdown, that it will continue to resonate and work with voters from his base.
Do you agree?
LUCAS: Absolutely. I mean, that was a campaign speech in Nevada yesterday, which says, all right, we're going to proclaim we have peace with North Korea or are getting there with our friend, Kim.
We're going to proclaim how good it is to have tariffs on everybody and, perhaps, most importantly, following the lines of his adviser, Stephen Miller, we're going to declare how we are so tough on immigration that Americans will rally to us and say, this is wonderful.
No matter how much pain was caused in the past week, no matter how the policy might be illegal in seizing people before they can request asylum, they think enough Americans will support them. They will push this all the way to November's election.
So what we actually have now is battle lines being drawn. On the one hand, the reality of what their policies bring and the fact that they are bypassing the court system, bypassing Congress, and the myths that will be spread; for example, the false statement that Trump repeated on Friday, that 63,000 Americans have supposedly been killed by illegal immigrants since 2001.
Blatantly false. Blatantly untrue. But, for better or worse, this is what we get all the way now for the next few months.
WATSON: It will be a contentious issue for months to come. Scott Lucas, thanks for sharing your view from the University of Birmingham.
Now it's a question asked a lot over the past few weeks, do border agents --
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WATSON: -- rip children from the hands of their parents?
We go to the border and ask.
Plus, an historic moment in Saudi Arabia. For the first time there, women can legally get behind the wheel. Stay with CNN.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shut it down! WATSON (voice-over): That was the scene outside an immigration
facility in the U.S. state of Florida Saturday, where protesters chanted, "Shut it down."
They called President Trump's policy leading to children being separated from their parents, quote, "disgusting." Earlier this week, members of Florida's congressional delegation were denied access.
But on Saturday they were allowed inside. There were protests also outside a facility in Texas. You see it there. Congressmen allowed in there called the conditions "cruel and inhumane."
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WATSON: The U.S. southern border is already an inhospitable place of heat and bare land.
CNN's Martin Savidge traveled to the Arizona desert to spend time with the Border Patrol, whose job just got harder, as chaos and confusion grow over Mr. Trump's zero tolerance policy on immigration.
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MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the start of a deadly season: summer in Arizona's high desert. It's 107 degrees, down from 110. The land is parched and so rugged it can shatter bones. There are many dangers here.
Last week a U.S. Border Patrol agent was shot multiple times. He survived. The gunman, they say, likely a drug trafficker or human smuggler that got away. Agent Dan Hernandez, along with other members of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, watch over a 262-mile stretch of border.
DAN HERNANDEZ, U.S. BORDER PATROL: On a given day we patrol an area the size of New Jersey?
SAVIDGE: New Jersey?
HERNANDEZ: Yes, it's a massive, massive --
SAVIDGE (voice-over): Tucson is the second busiest sector in the country for drugs and illegal border crossings. Most agents here patrol alone. Constantly spied on by human traffickers just over the way.
HERNANDEZ: So as we're talking right now, there are two scouts up on the ridge top.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): The job has never been easy but the president's immigration flip-flop hasn't helped.
SAVIDGE: Have you implemented the president's executive orders? RODOLFO KARISCH, CHIEF, TUCSON SECTOR: Yes. U.S. Customs and Border Protection took steps immediately to implement the president's executive order.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): According to chief Karisch, separated family members still in Border Patrol custody are being reunited. He can't speak for those in the hands of other agencies.
SAVIDGE: A family would not be prosecuted unless one of them had a criminal record?
KARISCH: Correct.
SAVIDGE: But they would go through a deportation process?
KARISCH: Correct.
SAVIDGE: An individual coming across will be prosecuted for breaking the law?
KARISCH: Correct. Yes.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): But what about the president's argument, the heartbreaking policy was a deterrent to prevent others from crossing illegally?
SAVIDGE: With the implementation of zero tolerance, have you seen a decline in those numbers?
KARISCH: Our numbers have remained steady. But we also haven't been doing this long enough.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): Little to no impact at border crossings but the damage to the Border Patrol's public image may be immense. From the pictures of horrified children to their reported cries in detention.
SAVIDGE: When you saw those pictures and when you heard that audio, what were you thinking?
KARISCH: The picture of the children crying?
SAVIDGE: Correct.
KARISCH: It's something we've seen in the past in 32 years. I've seen a lot of those situations up and down the border. So I mean, it is something. It is something that goes at your heart.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): Rank and file agents tell me they worry the public will continue to blame them for a president's failed policy.
SAVIDGE: There were people who believe that your agents were ripping children out of the hands of their parents.
Is that true?
Did that happen? KARISCH: False narrative. At the end of the day it's a process that we have.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): Meanwhile, agent Hernandez continues to patrol in the heat in the hills of Southern Arizona. He can now keep undocumented families he finds together. But in this deadly landscape, he's more concerned with just keeping them alive -- Martin Savidge, CNN, Nogales, Arizona.
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WATSON: Now the contentious immigration issue is creating ripple effects across the U.S., for example, a top official with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is telling employees to watch their backs.
In an e-mail to all 200,000 employees, the acting deputy secretary wrote, quote, "In recent days, DHS has determined there may be a heightened threat against DHS employees in response to U.S. government actions surrounding immigration."
The agency says the threats have been specific and credible. It advises employees to take basic precautions, such as not wearing their badges in public and being alert to strangers trying to elicit information.
Public anger over the president's policies and actions is even being felt by his own staff. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders tweeted that she was kicked out of a restaurant in Virginia on Friday night, "86ed," solely because she works for Mr. Trump.
The owner of The Red Hen restaurant in Lexington defended her actions to "The Washington Post." She said she asked Sanders and her party to leave at the request of her staff and, she said, she would do it again.
And there's also this. The U.S. Homeland Security secretary Kirstjen Nielsen attracted some unwanted attention last week while dining out near the White House.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame!
WATSON (voice-over): That confrontation came two days after she held a contentious news conference with reporters to explain the administration's policy to separate children from parents at the U.S. border.
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WATSON: A couple days later, she was again confronted, this time by protesters gathered outside her home.
Now to another issue promoted by the Trump administration, many farmers in the U.S. state of Iowa, they supported Donald Trump when he ran for president.
But now they're caught in the crossfire of President Trump's trade conflicts. With retaliatory tariffs from China and Mexico already costing them, they're having second thoughts about his America first policies.
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WATSON: Nick Watt has more on that.
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NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dark clouds over an Iowan soybean field, there just might be a metaphor in that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm worried some. I'm concerned.
WATT (voice-over): What about Iowan hog farmers?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's anxious times. Yes, no doubt about it.
WATT (voice-over): Because in April, China slapped an extra 25 percent tariff on imports of American pork.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The pigs, you're probably talking $200-$300 million impact already.
WATT (voice-over): That's just Iowa. Now China threatened something similar on soybeans. The two largest economies on Earth locked in a trade war largely over intellectual property in the tech industry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We get punished, we, as agriculture, so to speak, that was a good one.
WATT (voice-over): Iowa gets hit hard, one of the country's top soybean producers and the top pork producer.
WATT: Did you vote for President Trump?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I did.
WATT: You voted for President Trump?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I did.
TRUMP: I have to come to Iowa --
WATT (voice-over): But his tariff-laden trade policies might now hit his base hard. Chinese motives are veiled. But Mexico now blatantly targeting tariffs at states like Iowa that voted Trump slapping 10 percent on pork.
Iowan congressman Rod Blum now among the most vulnerable incumbent Republicans in the midterms.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It'll get more vocal as it gets more painful. But we're going to try to be patriotic.
WATT (voice-over): So is there a point when Iowan farmers abandon Trump?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, there is a point.
WATT: There is a point?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
WATT: And where is that point?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gosh, I wish I knew. I wish I knew. We might be there.
WATT (voice-over): The president has pledged to help farmers. The details remain unclear.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of the stuff he's done that is good. Right now with the trade negotiations going on, ask me in six months because it's painful right now.
WATT (voice-over): Right now, Al Wiltkul (ph) stands to lose over half a million dollars this year alone -- Nick Watt, CNN, Iowa.
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WATSON: Coming up, until Sunday, women in Saudi Arabia couldn't get behind the wheel without fear of prosecution or even jail.
So is this the start of a new era for the kingdom?
We'll explore that. You won't want to miss this.
Plus, Mexico proves unstoppable at the World Cup. We break down all of Saturday's games ahead.
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WATSON: Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. This is CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Ivan Watson. The headlines this hour.
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WATSON: Now let's go to the Middle East, where Saudi women can do something today they never could do before now without fear of prosecution and jail.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) WATSON (voice-over): That's right. They can drive legally. Sunday, the kingdom lifted its long-standing ban on women drivers. It's part of reforms pushed by Saudi Arabia's crown prince.
But even though Saudi women can now get behind the wheel, several Saudi activists, who championed the change, remain detained as part of a crackdown on women's rights groups.
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WATSON: For more on this, let's go to my friend, Jomana Karadsheh. She is a CNN reporter in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
And look at you, Jomana, you're behind the wheel of a car with a woman who's driving. It is pretty incredible that women are celebrating this in the 21st century, Jomana. Tell me what it's like to be behind the wheel, witnessing it?
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It really is. It was really unthinkable just a few years ago. This would have been illegal 24 hours ago. But here we are today, with one of the first women to get on the road this morning in Jeddah.
This is Rosana bin Awy (ph).
So how does it feel?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Exciting. I'm overjoyed. It's -- i didn't even have breakfast. I just went out of the house.
KARADSHEH: So did you ever think this would happen?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I did. And I remember, I was in the car when I got the news. My best friend called me on the mobile. And she's like, oh, my god, you won't believed this. it's all over the news. I was yelling in the car.
KARADSHEH: How is this going to change your life?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know. It's already changing my life. I'm thinking, oh, gosh, now --
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- like on all levels, with the family, with myself, having accessibility and the option is really what it's about.
KARADSHEH: You told me you that have children and this gives you the ability to take your children out. I can see a car seat already in the back.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that's one of the nice things about driving, is that you can go with your kids and have memories and go on road trips. So it's also a bonding thing for the family. But also I think of it, driving is good for practical things but sometimes not just for practical things. It's nice to just have the freedom to go on a ride, you know, just take a drive. So I think it's both of those things.
KARADSHEH: What's next for women in Saudi Arabia?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God, like everything. It's happening. It's now, I think it's everything is now, now, now.
(LAUGHTER)
KARADSHEH: And, Ivan, the incredible thing is we were driving around this morning and just looking on the road --
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KARADSHEH: -- and we didn't see many women drivers. We bumped into Rosana (ph) here but this is really what women have been telling us, that some of them want to wait and see, they want to wait and see what kind of reaction the first wave of women drivers are going to get from the society, because this is a major change.
It's a big step, as they describe it, in the right direction. But there's still a long road ahead for equality and women's rights here in Saudi Arabia -- Ivan.
WATSON: Jomana, congratulations to your friend there. It's frankly awesome to see her behind the wheel in Saudi Arabia.
Does she know about the activists who pushed for this reform, who are now behind bars?
KARADSHEH: Rosana, I'm going to pass a question on from my colleague, Ivan Watson, at CNN in Atlanta.
The question is, do you know about the women activists, who have pushed for this day and who are currently detained?
They're not out celebrating with you on this day.
How does it feel?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know much about that.
KARADSHEH: And, Ivan, what was going on with these women is, for years, they dedicated their lives to bring about change, to see this day happen. But in recent months, there has been a crackdown, according to Amnesty International and other watchdog groups, on human rights activists in the kingdom.
So you had this change, these reforms that are coming. But at the same time there has been a crackdown on human rights activists. And several women were rounded up in recent months.
Now the Saudi government accuses them of communicating with a foreign state and they're facing changes in an anti-terror court and they could serve up to 20 years in jail.
But some organizations feel, some observers feel that this perhaps is a message, that change in this country only comes from the top down. And that only the leadership in this country will get credit on this day with the changes that we're seeing.
WATSON: Pretty chilling to consider people who advocated for women to drive in Saudi Arabia are in anti-terror courts. But, Jomana Karadsheh, again, thanks for coming to us, live from behind -- from the passenger seat of a car there. And, yes, go for a spin.
KARADSHEH: We will.
WATSON: All right. Great to talk to you.
Jomana Karadsheh live from Saudi Arabia.
Now coming up, Germany, they try to recover after a stunning loss to Mexico. Saturday's World Cup action and a look at Sunday all ahead.
Plus, what's in a name?
A lot when you're a prime minister's baby. The details next.
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WATSON: Welcome back to the program.
Voting is now underway for Turkey's landmark elections. For the first time, Turks will be voting for both a president and a new parliament. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is hoping to hold on to power but he faces several opponents. If no one gets 50 percent of the vote, a run-off will be called.
Let's get more on this from Istanbul, Turkey, where our Sam Kiley joins me now from outside a polling station.
I believe you're in Jhumgur (ph), a neighborhood I lived in for many years, Sam. Of course, this is about Recep Tayyip Erdogan in part, who has dominated politics, dictated politics in Turkey for 16 years.
But it also includes a female candidate from the nationalist right wing of politics and a Kurdish candidate, who is running from behind bars in prison.
So can you tell me more about the political landscape and the stakes in this election?
SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's an extraordinary moment in Turkish history because the assumptions has been for many years that Mr. Erdogan was almost unassailable, judging by the referendum that he drove through the political process a year ago, which would concentrate executive power in the presidency, which had been a largely ceremonial role, and the constitutional decision to effectively do away with the Turkish prime minister means that he was an entirely dominant figure in Turkey's politics, particularly after that attempted coup a couple of years ago and his gutting of so many parts of Turkish society, particularly the courts, civil servants and others of people who he alleged were involved in that coup plot.
Now given that, one might expect him to be completely dominant over the political process during this election. But the polls are pretty close, particularly against his main competitor, Mr. Ince, who represents a broad coalition of opposition parties, ranging from pretty tough hardline Islamist right through those to who inherit the traditions of Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey.
And the consequence of that, the issue really for Mr. Erdogan, is can he avoid a second run-off, a runoff race between himself and Mr. Ince in the presidential elections?
And concurrently with that, there is a good deal of speculation in very wide-ranging polls would indicate that there's everything to play for in parliament. And then interestingly, too, the HDP, which is the Kurdish-supported party, if it doesn't get more than 10 percent of the vote, ironically, because of the pious Kurds, they will actually likely swing behind Mr. Erdogan.
But if they get more than 10 percent of the vote, then the opposition looks very much stronger in parliament. So you have got this very feral and excited atmosphere, right across the country, enormous turnouts at political rallies, particularly for the opposition because they've been largely excluded from participating in any really meaningful way on the state-dominated media channels -- Ivan.
WATSON: All right, Sam. I know you'll be following this very closely as the day progresses. Sam Kiley from Istanbul.
To all my friends in Turkey, I'm hoping for a very fair and peaceful Election Day.
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WATSON: Germany's World Cup dreams came down to the wire Saturday in Russia. After a stunning loss to Mexico they faced Sweden in a must- win match. The Swedes took an early 1-0 --
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WATSON: -- lead in Sochi but the Germans fought back with two unanswered goals. This kick got the win. Germany avoid elimination and lived to fight another day.
For a wrap-up of Saturday's games and a look at Sunday's, CNN's Alex Thomas joins me live from Moscow in front of St. Basil's Cathedral.
Good to see you. Of course, the biggest news, the defending champions, Germany, managed to stay in the championship with this last-minute win. It must have been a nail-biter, huh? ALEX THOMAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ivan, you have to be over 80 years old to be old enough to be alive and see the last time Germany failed at the first hurdle at a World Cup finals. That's how consistent this nation has been at this, the pinnacle of the world's most popular sport, the FIFA World Cup.
Germany the defending champions, after winning in Brazil four years ago and strongly favored to be contenders again this time. And yet for a very nervous half-hour, after Sweden's opening goal from Ola Toivonen, there was the chance and the prospect of Germany crashing out of this World Cup.
It was Marco Reus who got the equalizer shortly after halftime. Then a sensational winning goal from Toni Kroos, the Real Madrid star, with a curling free kick from the edge of the penalty area, absolutely pinpoint perfect, great goal at any time.
But to get Germany out of trouble, it meant so much more. It was the latest ever goal, five minutes into added time at the end of the regulation 90 minutes, the World Cup has ever seen. So no wonder, for Germany fans nervously watching back home, they were delighted.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It's crazy. In the 95th minute, Toni Kroos, Toni Kroos, Toni Kroos. Nobody had counted on that. Fantastic. It was a great atmosphere. It's a great city. We're so happy. We're from Germany and are so happy to be here. Thank you, Russia. Thank you.
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THOMAS: The interesting thing is that Jerome Boateng, the Germany defender, was actually sent off eight minutes from the end of that game. And yet Sweden had only 17 percent of the possession while they had an extra man on the field.
So Germany certain deserved the win in terms of the amount of possession they had and only Brazil have tried more shots on goal throughout this whole World Cup. It's not Germany are not creating chances because, for a long time, they weren't putting the ball to the back of the net. And it almost cost them their World Cup chance.
WATSON: Alex, let's look forward to today's game.
So I hear England's playing?
THOMAS: Yes, England are playing. I might have an little eye on that one item later. Germany can now look forward to trying to win their final game against South Korea and get through to the round of 16.
England are another team that could book their place in the knockout stages and one other team from group H can as well. So Belgium and Tunisia played on Saturday. Belgium won again so they're guaranteed to go through. And England can join them. They would both have six points and Panama and Tunisia would head home. England's playing Panama, World Cup debutantes at 3 o'clock this
afternoon. That's over three hours' time Russian time.
Harry Kaine got both their goals in their opening win. And I think England will be favorites to win again, although it will be extremely hot where they are. Later in group H, it's Japan against Senegal. They're the two teams that both won their opening games in that group H.
So they can't both go through because one of them will take points off the other. But whoever wins in that game will be in a really strong position.
WATSON: Those Russian summers can be surprisingly hot, Alex. Live from Moscow, thanks very much for the update.
Now coming up, New Zealand's prime minister reveals her newborn daughter's name and the meaning behind it. And I will try to pronounce it correctly. Stay with CNN.
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WATSON: Welcome back to the broadcast.
We're learning what New Zealand's prime minister and her partner have chosen to name their newborn daughter. As she left an Auckland city hospital with her 3-day-old daughter in her arms, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told reporters the child's name is Neve Te Aroha Ardern Gayford.
Neve means radiant or bright. I believe it's Irish in original. Te Aroha means love. Ms. Ardern says she also chose it to express thanks to New Zealand's Maori people. The prime minister says she's been overwhelmed by the support she's received.
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JACINDA ARDERN, NEW ZEALAND PRIME MINISTER: It's certainly mind- blowing, receiving messages from people like the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and the queen. It's certainly not something you expect but is equally special to us.
We're just so those moment of people who took time to send a little note or a blanket or a set of booties. And once we've done with all authorities, we'll make sure we pass on that love to another family and another baby.
(END VIDEO CLIP) WATSON: The prime minister will take six weeks of parental leave. She is the first world leader to do so. Congratulations to her and her growing family.
Perhaps this is the part of the broadcast where we play the theme music from "Star Trek" or "Star Wars," maybe Darth Vader music because, after all, the president did announce an out-of-this-world plan this week. And the World Wide Web was quick to aim their phasers and fire. Here's Jeanne Moos.
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JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It made for almost too easy a target.
TRUMP: We're going to have the space force.
MOOS (voice-over): Instantly, the Internet began taking potshots at the president's order to start to establish a sixth branch of the Armed Forces.
"The president will easily qualify as the first space cadet," tweeted one critic.
"The Space Force will make The Galaxy Great Again!"
TRUMP: We are going to have the Air Force and we are going to have the Space Force. Separate but equal.
[04:55:00]
MOOS (voice-over): It reminded some of an old Dave Chappelle routine about a president trying to distract from other issues.
DAVE CHAPPELLE, COMEDIAN: The United States of Space, because I'm not stopping at the moon.
MOOS (voice-over): President Trump has been musing about this for months.
TRUMP: I said, maybe we need a new force. We'll call it the Space Force. And I was not really serious. And then I said, what a great idea.
MOOS (voice-over): Maybe not such a great idea, was how some in the Pentagon reacted.
But the president forged ahead and is now getting a spacesuit makeover on Twitter.
Read one tweet, "We're going to build a space force and the aliens are going to pay for it."
MOOS: Just the way the president pronounces it...
TRUMP: Space force. MOOS: -- makes you want to salute.
MOOS (voice-over): Delivered with such gusto, it could become the next favorite Trump word to imitate, along the lines of --
ALEC BALDWIN, ACTOR, "DONALD TRUMP": They're going to China.
TRUMP: China.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: China.
MOOS (voice-over): But members of the...
TRUMP: Space force.
MOOS (voice-over): -- would be going a lot farther than...
"TRUMP": China.
MOOS (voice-over): Jeanne Moos, CNN --
TRUMP: Space force.
MOOS (voice-over): -- New York.
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WATSON: Thank you, Jeanne.
All right. The day's top stories are just ahead. CNN NEWSROOM continues with my friend, George Howell, after the break.
