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Rescue Mission Commander Hopes Boys in Thailand Will Be Out In The Next Few Hours; US Supreme Court Confirmation Battle Is Underway; The Widow Of A Chinese Democracy Advocate And Nobel Peace Prize Winner Appears To Have Been Released After Eight Years Under House Arrest; Even Before He Was Elected, Trump Was Blasting NATO; Trump Picks Brett Kavanaugh for Supreme Court; At Least 134 People Killed In Severe Weather; Search Continues For Those Missing After Storms; The Battle Royale At The World Cup. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired July 10, 2018 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LYNDA KINKADE, HOST, CNN NEWSROOM: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Lynda Kinkade and this is "CNN Newsroom." It is one in the afternoon in Chiang Rai, Thailand where the Commander of the mission to rescue those boys from a flooded cave says he hopes everyone will be out in the next few hours.
Four boys and their coach is still inside the cave along with a diving team of 19 people. Eight boys have been rescued so far and doctors say they are recovering well and they are in good spirits.
CNN's Ivan Watson is live in Northern Thailand and, Ivan, I first want to start on the operation to rescue the remaining four boys and the coach. I understand it's been raining and therefore, it's likely that the water in the cave is rising?
IVAN WATSON, CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Yes, and we don't have details just yet, but there was pretty heavy rain throughout the first part of the day here up in Northern Thailand, and we'll bring you details as soon as we learn what effect that could have on the rescue operation, which has been underway again for a number of hours ahead of schedule since Monday night. We were told by the Chief of the Rescue Operation that there needs to be a 20-hour pause and clearly, it resumed before that.
We've also been given a lot more details on the health of the eight boys who have been rescued thus far, and the good news according to Thai officials is they're healthy, they're mentally fit. They did come out - there were two groups of four that came out Sunday evening and Monday afternoon. Their body temperatures were lower, understandable considering that they were underwater for long periods of time for the rescue operation even though they had wet suits on, that it could have lowered their core temperature, but he says they are mentally fit, they are healthy, they are asking for food. They've asked for chocolate for example, and some of them were given some chocolate.
But food is being rationed because they haven't had solid food for more than two weeks. Their access to television is being rationed because it's wall to wall coverage of the Thai cave rescue here, so understandably, you don't want to deluge these boys with that kind of thing, and there were some family visitations that took place after the Thai Prime Minister visited the hospital on Monday, family members were allowed up to the hospital ward, but they were only able to look through a glass at their sons because they're trying to keep the area stabilized, sterilized for fear of potential infection.
They are monitoring the boys' fluids. They've sent samples to Bangkok for more testing. They're worried about potential exposure to viruses and perhaps in the coming days, they will allow family members into the actual hospital ward wearing hospital gowns, masks and things like that to avoid possibly infecting children whose immune systems have been weakened. They have vitamin B1 deficiency, for example, we're told, after more than two weeks underground, Lynda?
KINKADE: Incredible, yes, no doubt the parents are very happy and elated to see their boys. But it must be incredibly tough for them not being able to huge them, seeing them through a glass window.
WATSON: Yes, I mean, but those are some of the precautions that are being taken here for the health of the boys that frankly, Thailand has invested a great deal in to try to rescue them and even lost the life of one former Navy Thai SEAL diver who died in this perilous rescue effort last week. So, they don't want to take any chances here.
As for the community here, in this rural part of Northern Thailand, they are still kind of trying to come to grips with both the rescue effort, the disappearance of these boys from the Wild Boar Soccer Club more than two weeks ago, and just the international attention that has descended on this border region of Thailand. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
WATSON: Young athletes back on the field. This is the first time that the Wild Boars have played since their team mates went missing last month. The team from rural Thailand now famous around the world because not far from this game, rescuers labor to free their teammates from the deep dark cave where they've been trapped for more than two weeks.
[02:05:16]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (Through an interpreter): I'm sure and believe all of them will be safe and come back to play soccer together again.
WATSON: The subterranean drama has sent a tremor through this sporting community.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (Through an interpreter): The first day, I and other 19-year-old team members went to the cave entrance to wait for them until 4:00 a.m. the next day.
WATSON: When they first learned 13 of their teammates went missing, these boys rushed to the cave where they found their friends' abandoned bicycles. Weeks later, soccer fields in this scruffy border town had been converted into make shift landing pads for emergency helicopters. This just one part of a massive multinational operation that successfully brought out eight of the trapped team members in just two days.
But the race to rescue these boys is far from over. Five remain trapped in the cave including the coach, a 25-year-old who became a Buddhist monk and turned to community service after his own childhood tragedy.
He was orphaned by the age of 10, his cousin tells me. She shows a childhood photo of the coach before the rest of his family passed away. "He loves those kids very much," she says. The children's parents trust him. She predicts Coach Ek as his players call him will be the last to emerge from the cave. She insists he will always put his players first.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
WATSON: And so as the rescue operation is underway, Lynda, and we've seen nearly two thirds of the group escape and successfully rescued, we have to avoid euphoria because again, this multinational effort has already claimed the life of one professional diver, this is still dangerous difficult stuff, Lynda.
KINKADE: Yes, still a lot of risks there. Good to have you with us, Ivan Watson. We will check in with you very soon. Thank you.
The US Supreme Court confirmation battle is underway. President Donald Trump announced his choice to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy after days of consultation. His nominee is a Washington insider who may not accept Mr. Trump's anti-establishment bait. At the same time, he has the conservative credentials to spark Democratic opposition.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Tonight, it is my honor and privilege to announce that I will nominate Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the United States Supreme Court.
BRETT KAVANAUGH, US SUPREME COURT NOMINEE: I believe that an independent judiciary is the crown jewel of our constitutional republic. If confirmed by the Senate, I will keep an open mind in every case. And I will always strive to preserve the Constitution of the United States and the American rule of law. Thank you, Mr. President.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Well, Boris Sanchez reports that Kavanaugh was an early favorite of President Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
BORIS SANCHEZ, CORRESPONDENT, CNN: "There is no one more qualified or deserving of the position," that's how President Trump described Brett Kavanaugh, his choice to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy after he announced that he was retiring from the Supreme Court. Two sources close to the decision making process indicated that the President sort of favored Judge Brett Kavanaugh even before the announcement of Justice Kennedy's retirement and after the Justice and the President had a conversation in the Oval Office about Brett Kavanaugh.
Sources indicate that the President favored him even more. We should point out that the sources also say that after several key conservative voices like Anne Coulter and some of the writers at Breitbart defended Kavanaugh, the President was further inclined to name him as the nominee. President Trump spoke openly about his criteria for making this decision during his speech. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: What matters is not a judge's political views, but whether they can set aside those views to do what the law and the Constitution require. I am pleased to say that I have found, without doubt such a person.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Now, some Democrats have already come out in total opposition to this nomination, but it is still possible for Kavanaugh to draw on votes from some red state Democrats considering he has previously suggested that he may respect legal precedent in upholding Roe versus Wade. Abortion is going to be a key issue in this nomination process, and the margin for error for Republicans is razor thin.
So, that fact alone may court him some important votes, potentially from Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, Republicans who favor abortion rights. If he is in fact confirmed, it would be a major win for President Trump, two Supreme Court confirmations in ...
[02:10:16]
SANCHEZ: ... two years, it just goes to show that the President is going to have his fingerprints on the leanings of this Supreme Court potentially for generations. Boris Sanchez, CNN, at the White House.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
KINKADE: Gloria Browne Marshall is a Constitutional Law Professor from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and author of "The Voting Rights War: The NAACP And The Ongoing Struggle For Justice." She joins me now to talk more about President Trump's Supreme Court selection. Good to have you with us, Gloria.
GLORIA BROWNE MARSHALL, CONSTITUTIONAL LAW PROFESSOR FROM THE JOHN JAY COLLEGE OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE: Thank you.
KINKADE: Brett Kavanaugh, 53 years old. He has worked amongst Republican administrations in the past including under George W. Bush, what is your reaction?
MARSHALL: Well, he is the likely candidate who will get through the Senate. The Republicans will support him because he's not as conservative in his stance against Roe versus Wade, which is the abortion case, as was Judge Barrett or the other nominees or potential nominees.
My concern is that he is also one who has already ruled when it comes to big business, in favor of big business, against the employee. He has ruled to expand Presidential powers. He has also ruled in other ways that would affect affirmative action and issues involving voting rights, so he is not the best person for social justice, but for conservatives, he is their guy.
KINKADE: There are concerns as you mentioned, one of the cases, on abortion rights, and also same sex marriage, which was ruled legal under the Constitution in 2015, what's the likelihood that those sort of decisions will be overturned?
MARSHALL: The likelihood is very high. I mean, even though Anthony Kennedy, Justice Kennedy who just retired and is being replaced voted for - and wrote the opinions for same sex marriage and other opinions supporting gay rights, we don't know if he had a personal issue that's why because he was conservative in everything else. So, now that he's no longer on the bench, there's nothing that says that they are going to continue to uphold gay rights or issues involved in abortion.
I mean, I think that conservatives gave Donald Trump a list and that list was one where they said, "These are the most conservative people. These are the ones you are to choose from, and this person is going to be pushed through no matter what before the midterm elections." And they would not have put Kavanaugh's name on that list if he wasn't guaranteed to uphold very conservative view points.
KINKADE: He has suggested that it would be a good thing to enhance the President's power to block any sort of criminal or civil action against the President. How concerned are you there given that US President Trump is under investigation or his campaign is under investigation right now?
MARSHALL: That's very concerning and I think as the foothold that the Democrats need, they need to look at that and look at the facts that here is this so-called populist President who has done nothing for the working class, nothing for the poor. The other potential nominee was Hardeman - Judge Hardeman who was the first person in his family to go to college and he did drive a cab and worked his way up, and each time that Donald Trump was being given an opportunity to do something that shows that he is going to be fair when it comes to judiciary and not try to be self serving as it is with selecting somebody who is going to support Presidential expansion of powers and clear the rug in many ways when it comes to his ability to do what he has to do without being investigated.
He has chosen an elitist and he has chosen self service, and that's really sad, and I think if the Democrats get a foothold in this issue, that's where they could possibly stop this nomination, at least, slow it down until the midterm elections in November.
KINKADE: So do you think that's likely? Is it possible that this vetting process could drag on that long that there could be potentially this might not go through after the midterms? MARSHALL: It comes down to the numbers. It really does, and even
with Senator McCain being out with his cancer diagnosis, the Republicans still have one vote ahead of the Democrats in the Senate and it's unlikely that the two women and that's the two female Senators who have said that they are unsure about whoever this nominee is, if this nominee is going to say that he or she is against supporting Roe versus Wade and they said it will, that nominee is going to come out and say they're not going to support abortion rights, then we're going to vote against him.
But no nominee in this hearing process is going to come out and say that. They're all going to tow the lines and this is someone who is very well versed in politics. He is a White House Washington insider. He has been through this process enough not to say anything that's going to stop those two ...
[02:15:16]
MARSHALL: ... women from supporting his nomination.
KINKADE: All right, when he meets with senators tomorrow, so we'll see how this all plays out. Gloria Browne Marshall, good to have your perspective. Thanks so much.
MARSHALL: Thank you.
KINKADE: The widow of a Chinese democracy advocate and Nobel Peace Prize winner appears to have been released after eight years under house arrest. Liu Xia left Beijing to Berlin on Tuesday according to her brother. She's never been accused of any crimes, but is being prevented from leaving China even for medical treatment. Her husband, Liu Xiaobo died of lung cancer last July. He had been serving an 11- year prison sentence for inciting subversion of state power.
The US President Trump famously confronted NATO leaders to their status. Yes, some anxious allies are wondering if there will be a repeat performance. We'll have the preview of the NATO Summit. Also, Boris Johnson is out as Britain's Foreign Secretary leaving Theresa May with a political mess. The Prime Minister if fighting back over Brexit. And we will get an update on the devastating floods and landslides in Japan where crews are searching for survivors from those deadly storms.
Welcome back, US President Trump began his week with the announcement of the Supreme Court nominee, but he's got much more on the agenda this week. In the coming hours, he will arrive in Belgium for the NATO Summit. On Thursday, he will visit the UK and on July 16th, he will sit down with Russian President Putin in Finland. Our international diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson looks at the agenda.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
TRUMP: Folks, we're getting ripped by everybody. We're getting ripped in NATO. The countries in NATO are not paying their fair share.
NIC ROBERTSON, INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR, CNN: Even before he was elected, Trump was blasting NATO.
TRUMP: Many of them are not paying what they're supposed to be paying, in our businesses, we call it, they are delinquent.
ROBERTSON: Once in office, he said it to their face.
TRUMP: I have been very, very direct with Secretary Stoltenberg and members of the alliance in saying that NATO members must finally contribute their fair share.
ROBERTSON: It was a speech which left other leaders of the 29 nation military alliance ...
[02:20:16]
ROBERTSON: ... stony faced.
TRUMP: This is not fair to the people and taxpayers of the United States.
ROBERTSON: Now, on the eve of his next NATO Summit, leaders are bracing for an even bumpier encounter. In the past months, the White House has sent letters demanding all NATO countries meet the target of spending 2% of GDP on defense. Germany for one pushing back.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have a very clear path going up to more investment in the defense budget.
ROBERTSON: Coming just weeks after the divisive G-7 Summit in Canada where he split with other leaders over trade, concerns are rising Trump could fall out with his allies yet again.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our opponents would love to see a division in NATO, therefore, we have to show unity. There is a lot to defend.
ROBERTSON: The challenge facing NATO's leaders, Angela say is getting Trump to see the bigger picture and the importance of working together.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think he understands what alliances are. Everything is "What are you going to give me and what am I going to get out of it?" I don't think he understands all the other things that come with alliances.
ROBERTSON: Amplifying those concerns, reports that Trump may shift at least some US troops from Germany to Poland, a potential threat for Russia and NATO.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What the President is trying to do is to work bilaterally and it seen as dividing the basic norm that underpins now which is that you work collectively, you work multilaterally, you don't strike bilateral deals within this multilateral alliance.
ROBERTSON: No one expects Trump to pull out of NATO as he has with some multilateral arrangements, but Europe is on notice. America may no longer be the leader they have long relied on. Nic Robertson, CNN, London.
(VIDEO TAPE ENDS)
KINKADE: Joining me now to talk about the President's upcoming NATO Summit and much more is Annie Linskey, national political reporter for the "Boston Globe." Good to have you with us, Annie.
ANNIE LINSKEY, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, BOSTON GLOBE: Hi, good to be here.
KINKADE: The President arrives in Brussels tomorrow for this NATO Summit and ahead of that, he's sent these scathing letters to many of the allies calling for them to increase their military spending, how is this meeting going to play out?
LINSKEY: Well, it's always hard to make predictions about this President. If his previous meeting in Canada was any indication, I think he's going to be playing as tough. I mean, one of his key goals is this America first mantra that he has, and you know, he likes to take it to foreign allies for some reason, and I think when you see him abroad, he's absolutely going to be pushing that message really hard. I mean, one thing he does not seem to mind doing is embarrassing leaders who have long been US allies. So, I think we'll just see him picking on somebody and I think the question is who is that going to be?
KINKADE: Well, he has gotten out of his way it seems to pick on Germany more than most.
LINSKEY: That's right.
KINKADE: Germany has said they will increase their spending, but not to the 2% level which is what he wants. How much leverage does he have and how will he use it?
LINSKEY: I've always been a bit confused about why the Germans don't just come up with some sort of number that sounds reasonable to the United States. I mean, he is going to just - he hones in on numbers and he wants to have that two percentage points and he's not going to back off of that. I've always been wondering why Germany doesn't just sort of finesse their GDP a little bit so they can get to the number that Trump is looking for because I can tell you one thing for certain, he is not at all going to back off of it and he likes to hammer it over and over again and he'll absolutely bring that up with Chancellor Merkel and I think he'll probably do it in a very public way.
KINKADE: Yes, no doubt and after that summit, he is going to meet with the Russian President Vladimir Putin. Talk to us about the optics about it. What sort of message does that send to his allies in NATO?
LINSKEY: Right, so I think one thing that we can guess is the leader who Trump is not going to be embarrassing, the one that he will be going out of his way to flatter will be Vladimir Putin. I mean, the optics of that, particularly the United States are rough. I mean, he is - the Senate Intelligence Committee recently released a report just last week that showed they agreed with the assessment of the intelligence community that Russia played a key role, supporting Trump and they were quite active in the 2016 election.
So on the heels of that report to come out, for him to go in, sit down with Putin, those are very awkward optics to say the least in the United States and how it plays in the international community I think is quite interesting ...
[02:25:16]
LINSKEY: ... because I am sure it will be coming after him being quite tough on who our traditional allies really are in NATO.
KINKADE: Yes, it's interesting you mentioned that given that Russia has denied all along that they had any interference in the 2016 election and President Trump has said, well, he - why don't he believe them? But moving on to the next part of this trip, he goes on to England and Scotland and one police constable there has said that they've got so many police that they are going to have to deploy, as many as the 2011 London riots because they're protesting against President Trump coming there. How unusual is that for a US President to get that sort of reception?
LINSKEY: It's extraordinarily unusual. I mean, the UK has been the United States' closest ally for - certainly, since the birth of the nation. I mean, there's always been a special relationship between these two countries and so the notion of widespread protests in the streets of London and elsewhere for the United States President is a completely foreign concept and I've been - I'm also quite interested in how this meeting will go with the Queen. I mean, this is a President who has a strange obsession with the British Royal Family. He has always talked quite a bit about Princess Diana and his sort of affection for her, so I think that will be another moment that will be fascinating to watch.
I mean, talking about body language, putting the two of them in a room together is something that the world will be looking at quite carefully, but yes, absolutely, the notion of widespread riots - or excuse me, widespread protests and that kind of reception for a US President is something that we're not at all used to and it's going to be another oddity of the Trump White House.
KINKADE: Yes, so there will be a lot to watch this week. Annie LInskey, good to have your perspective on all of that. Thanks so much.
LINSKEY: Thank you.
KINKADE: Well, still to come, the Trump administration loses a round in the US Special Court trying to change the rules for detaining migrant children. Plus, we're live in Thailand where we are provided an update on the rescued boys' condition recovering from their cave ordeal while we're waiting for those who are still trapped.
[02:30:02] Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Lynda Kinkade. Let's give you an update on the top story this hour. U.S. President Trump has nominated Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. The 53-year-old Appeals Court Judge is a conservative who served in both Bush administrations. Republicans are pushing for a speedy confirmation process to end before the midterm elections. The U.S. Secretary of State has made an unannounced visit to Afghanistan. Mike Pompeo met with President Ashraf Ghani and the U.S. forces there. Pompeo got a progress report on the fight against the Taliban and promised U.S. support for peace talks with the militant groups.
Rescue crews are hoping to get the last four boys and their football coach out of a flooded cave in Thailand within the next few hours. The local hospital has eight boys were brought out so far in a healthy condition and are in good spirits. The team got trapped in the flooded cave 17 days ago. CNN's Matt Rivers is at the hospital in Northern Thailand and joins us now live. And Matt, it sounds like the boys are doing well, but they're still in isolation and haven't even had a chance to hug their parents yet.
MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's exactly right. And we're told from Thai officials that, look, that is out of an abundance of caution and there is a threat because their immune systems are weaker that they could contract illness and they're not willing to take that risk, so they're going to be in isolation for up to seven days we're told at this point. Let's give you an update though more specifically on their conditions. The first four boys that were brought out on Sunday were actually in worst shape than the second four boys. Of those first four boys, all four had low body temperatures and two of them had lung problems. We don't know more specific than that. But they all responded well to treatment. In the second group of four boys, only one had a low body temperature because they were in the cave for so long that was cold. They went swimming in cold water. But all those temperatures have come up. The lung issues have apparently been dialed back and so all eight boys are doing OK.
They've been placed on a restricted diet, so they're being introduced to solid food slowly but surely. They are hungry and they want more. They asked for the -- asked for chocolate. But their -- the doctor are saying you have to eat slowly. You have to get back to normal in an -- in a very incremental way, so that's what's going on in terms of the parents being able to visit. We know the parents of the first four boys that came out on Sunday, they were able to come visit with their children Monday evening, but they had to stay behind glass. They couldn't go and actually hug their children. They could only wave. And so on the one hand, of course, you know, they want to give their kids a hug. But on the other hand, you don't want to get them sick. And so I think the parents are going to be OK at least for now was just bad. They are trying to set up a phone line today so that way the kids can actually get on the phone and their parents can hear their kids voice for the first time in well over two weeks.
KINKADE: Wow. Yes. That would be amazing. And those are obviously there' an operation underway right now to rescue the remaining four boys and the coach. How is that progressing? I understand 19 dives as a part of that rescue effort? RIVERS: Correct. And it is progressing. They went in earlier today
and so if they follow a similar timeline then we will see those kids, the remaining four kids plus the coach. We would imagine follow the same protocol, come out of that cave, get put in a helicopter, flown to an airport south of here driven by ambulance down this road, and right into the emergency room. That is a big if though, Lynda, because as amazing as it has been that we have had two successful rescue attempts, there is no guarantees that this will go just as well, the attempt today, and we would be remiss if we weren't talking about how dangerous this remains. So we are still waiting on baited breath here waiting to see if the remaining five people on that cave can be taken out safely and hopefully by the end of this day join their teammates in that hospital behind me in the isolation unit.
KINKADE: Yes, wishing and hoping. Matt Rivers, good to have you there with us on that story. Thanks so much. The British Prime Minister is facing a cabinet revolt at the house she proposed Britain leaves the European Union. Theresa May wants to keep close economic ties with the E.U. on goods and agriculture. The two senior ministers have resigned in protest just eight months before Britain is due to leave the block, deal or no deal. We get the details now from Nina dos Santos in London.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The prime minister.
NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Faced with the resignation of her Brexit secretary and foreign secretary, Theresa May didn't flinch.
THERESA MAY, PRIME MINISTER OF THE UNITED KINGDOM: I want to pay tribute to my right honorable friends.
DOS SANTOS: Half an hour earlier, Downing Street had announced that Boris Johnson had quit throwing the British government into turmoil. He followed the path of David Davis who had been leading the U.K.'s Brexit negotiations.
MAY: We do not agree about the best way of delivering our share commitment to honor the result of the referendum.
DOS SANTOS: It was only a few days ago that the prime minister thought she secured cabinet support for her Brexit plan. Any pretense of that vote has now been blown away.
[02:35:04] MAY: In the two years since the referendum, we have had a spirited national debate. With robust views echoing around the cabinet tables they have at breakfast tables up and down the country.
JEREMY CORBYN, UNITED KINGDOM LEADER OF THE LABOUR PARTY: The check has compromised. It took two years to reach and just two days to unravel.
(END VIDEOTAPE) DOS SANTOS: The high profile resignation is once again shine a
spotlight on Theresa May's leadership and unlike the warring divisions within the government over the issue of Brexit. And if one thing has become clear due in this chaos, is that neither side seems willing to back down.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DOS SANTOS: Those pushing for a hard Brexit say the prime minister's plan amounts to a broken promise.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's your advice to the prime minister in all this?
JACOB REES-MOGG, MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT OF THE UNITED KINGDOM: Change the policy. Get back to what she said before. Get back to her (INAUDIBLE) her speech, deliver on her commitments to the British exit.
DOS SANTOS: A cabinet minister speaking before Johnson's sudden departure were publicly backing the P.M.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the last chance to deliver a clean Brexit.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think she has set a path which we can all legitimately follow.
DOS SANTOS: It's an approach the prime minister appears determined to stick to.
MAY: What we are proposing is challenging for the E.U. It requires them --
CORBYN: How can anyone have faith in the Prime Minister getting a good deal with 27 European Union governments when she can't even broker a deal within her own cabinet?
DOS SANTOS: In Europe, officials are watching on with a mixture of disbelief and dismay.
DONALD TUSK, PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL: Politicians come and go. The problems they have created for their people remain and the math caused by Brexit is the biggest problem in the history of E.U.- U.K. relations.
DOS SANTOS: With less than nine months to go until the U.K. leaves the E.U., officials on both sides are hoping that this is a mess that can quickly be cleaned up. Nina dos Santos, CNN London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: And Max Foster is following the political upheaval over Brexit from London and joins us now live. Max, we have the Brexit Secretary and the Foreign Minister resigning, quitting within hours of each other over this watered down exit from the E.U. How is that playing out that news in both the U.K. and the E.U.? MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're watching
last night here in Westminster to see if there be any more resignations following those two and it didn't actually transpire. It does seem as though Theresa May, the great survivor has managed to certainly give herself some sort of reprieve at least for now because the cabinet hasn't collapsed around her. She has replaced those senior ministers and she is powering ahead with this plan that she said the cabinet agreed on Friday. Some questions being asked as to why Boris Johnson agreed to that plan on Friday and then resigned on Monday. People questioning why he did that, why he didn't stick up for his convictions on Friday, go on Friday didn't want to sign up to it.
So Theresa May managing to get through this for now, Lynda. But, you know, lots of questions being asked how long she can focus on this. Really, I think what the Brexiters are doing now realizing they probably haven't got the numbers for a vote of no confidence in the prime minister really looking to see if they can get rid of this plan that was agreed on Friday. It's being viewed as a soft Brexit plan. But she's planning to publish as a white paper on Thursday, so don't have very long to do that.
KINKADE: No, not at all. Very quickly, so essentially going into negotiations going forward, does this weaken her hand or is it a win for her given that two of her critics is now gone?
FOSTER: Well, I think she'll be seen as very strong leader in many ways if she does get this white paper out on Thursday, so that's the big test. And if the Brexiters focus their efforts on destroying that plan then obviously it will weaken her. But they haven't very long to do it. Obviously, people are questioning her leadership and arguing often is to her back that just, well, you know, if you want to trigger the leadership contest then you risk Jeremy Corbyn of the opposition party coming in as prime minister. And there isn't really anyone in a strong position to follow her. So Jeremy Hunt now people talking about as a potential leader that needs to spend some time as foreign minister. First, you can't take that post either and then immediately come back and trying to challenge his prime minister. So she has to survive this again. She moved the pieces very cleverly. She hasn't had any major senior ministers going off the back of Boris Johnson, so we wait and see.
KINKADE: Well, we certainly will. Max Foster, good to have you with us. Thanks so much. Well, a setback for the Trump administration on Monday regarding those immigrant children detained at the U.S.-Mexico border. A federal judge rejected the government's request to change the rules on detaining minors dismissing the effort as completely without merit.
[02:40:07] The government wanted to modify an existing court order so migrant families could be detained together for longer periods of time. The Justice Department says it is reviewing the decision. Meanwhile, a different federal judge got an update on how the U.S. government is doing in reuniting separated parents and their children as ordered by the court. Sarah Sidner reports. SARAH SIDNER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Federal Court Judge
Sabraw making very clear that he wanted very detailed numbers from the government as to what they have done to further trying to reunify children with their parents who were separated at the border. Now, in particular, there's a deadline coming Tuesday that all of the children who are under the age of five are supposed to be reunited with their family numbers. The government said there's about a hundred and two children that need to be reunified with family members. To their account, the ACLU disputes that thing. There could be an additional 10 more. But what we heard in court is basically that 59 of those children have been reunified with their family members.
The others the government says they may not be able to reunify all of them by the deadline and so the judge ask for the ACLU and the DOJ to get together and try to figure this out, but it is become very clear that the government won't likely be able to reunify all of them including a little boy the ACLU says a three years old who they can't seem to figure out who his parents actually are, so that will be a very difficult to get that child reunited if they can't figure out who his parents are. And the question a lot of folks had is what would actually happen if the government really can't meet the deadline?
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LEE GELERNT, ATTORNEY, AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION: Well, it's clear the government will not comply fully with the deadline. I think what the court now realizes that it needs to stay on top of this and give the government much shorter deadlines almost daily deadlines to meet very specific requirements and set maybe even shorter deadlines. I think we're a long way from the court saying I'm going to sanction the government. I think now he feels like the government is working in good faith finally working to get this reunification done. We're hoping that's right and it moves forward. I mean we're both disappointed and pleased with what happened today in court. We're thrilled that more than 50 little children are going to be reunited by tomorrow. We're disappointed it's not more, but we're hopeful that we're now on track to get all the kids reunified. At the end of the day, this injunction is working. Before this ruling, before this injunction, kids were not getting reunified in anywhere near the numbers that we expect tomorrow. So at the end of the day by July 26th, the final deadline, we're hoping that all 2,000 plus children are reunited.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: Now, let me give you some examples as to why the DOJ says that they could not reunify some of these family members. They said, look, six of them are not going to reunify because three of those children's parents had criminal histories, another three of those children's parents didn't actually -- weren't their actual biological parents, and so they're not going to put those families together. But they also talked about nine children whose parents have already been deported and so they're going to have a more difficult time trying to bring those families together. And lastly, the ACLU says, look, what really is a problem here is that the DOJ and the government trying to reunify these families are trying to say, look, we have to do all these background checks now on the parents before we can put the kids and them together. That being a major problem because it takes weeks and weeks to do that. They do background checks. They do DNA tests. They do fingerprinting. The ACLU says, look, you created this problem by separating the families. You need to streamline the process and bring them together. That is what is going to be ask of the judge on Tuesday. Sarah Sidner, CNN San Diego.
KINKADE: Well, those cases in San Diego and Los Angeles are being closely watched because they will help establish the circumstances under which families can be reunited. Well, the long road to recovery has begun in Japan. Coming up, we'll go live to Tokyo for an update on the aftermath of those deadly storms. And the first match of the World Cup semi-final is an all-European affair. After the break, we'll get a preview of the French-Belgium match-up.
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[02:47:04] KINKADE: Welcome back with the deaths tolls in the devastating flooding and mudslides in Japan has now risen to 134. Thousands more people are still unaccounted for and thousands of homes have been damaged or destroyed. Journalist Kaori Enjoji joins me now live from Tokyo.
And the death toll obviously is horrific. The dozens are still missing. And yet, the cleanup is starting to take place.
KAORI ENJOJI, TOKYO BUREAU CHIEF, CNBC: That's right, Lynda. This has been a very harrowing few days for everyone involved in this disaster. And as you pointed out, the death toll has exceeded 130 and continue to mount this morning, and there are dozens more missing.
And on top of that, you have thousands still in evacuation shelters, a tens of thousands really being told that they should evacuate because the land still is still very, very weak after the torrential rains that happened across the country four days ago. So, this is day four in what's turning out to be the worst rain-
related disaster that Japan has seen in 30 years. You are seeing signs of rescue efforts being successful. But at the same time, earlier today you heard communities being washed over by a fresh wave of water from rivers that were being overrun. As debris has flowed more downstream in some of these areas. And it compounding the rescue efforts has been the incredible heat.
You're looking at temperatures of 35 degrees in some of these areas. So, people are cautioning towards -- cautioning against dehydration. A lot of families are trying to get back to their homes to try and salvage what's left. But they're saying that this could this heat, and still the lack of infrastructure. Some of the roads are still closed and some towards some of these areas is making that process extremely difficult.
The government has mobilized the self-defense force which is basically the military, firefighters from across the country, police, as well to try and rest to find more people -- bring more people to safe but -- safety. But, this is covering a lot of -- is a wide area not only from the southwestern part Japan but central Japan, as well. So, fairly difficult things playing out throughout the country on day four of this disaster. Lynda.
KINKADE: Yes, certainly, Kaori Enjoji. Good to have you on the story. So much devastation and thanks so much. I want to go to meteorologist Pedram Javaheri. He joins me now the latest on the situation. Pedram, the rain has now stopped, right?
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN INTERNATIONAL METEOROLOGIST: Yes.
KINKADE: But, could that the water dry up, what's going to happen in the coming days and weeks?
JAVAHERI: Yes, you know, it's going to be a multi-week sort of a setup before we finally see conditions really improve across this streets. And of course, when are you're talking about Japan, one of the most prone areas for natural disasters, but at the same time one of the most prepared areas for natural disasters, and you see images like this. You know, this was a very serious situation, we had, of course, a typhoon property ruin come across this area in last week or so.
As it came with it, heavy rainfall followed. We had these season, all rain set up shot. A semi-permanent front across this region that brought in tremendous rainfall on top of already saturated soils. So, all of this resulting in about a half a meter of rainfall.
What is in store? Well, we do have some heavy rains in store but most of this north of Tokyo, some of the areas that have not been as hard as hit getting some of the additional heavy rains, but areas to the south, southwest, south-central, remaining a little quieter some better news, I guess, again across this region for the recovery, at least, over the next several days.
We're watching this Typhoon Maria. This is the storm system sitting there at a strong Category 3 equivalent system pushing right towards Herrera, Ishigaki, across the southern prefectures, and of course, Ryukyu Islands. And it could even impact indirectly parts of northern Taiwan, around Taipei. Certainly, could see the impacts of this but the concern is the storm is slated to make landfall in the next 24 to -- about 30 or so hours.
As it pushes ashore around Fuzhou, areas just to the north, this region home to about 10 million people. And this is slated to come in with a strong system. We thinking to week just a little bit. But, again, tremendous volume of water moving over a very densely populated area which, unfortunately, could result in something what we saw similar to what has occurred in Japan.
So, we'll follow this carefully with the amount of rain in store here, potentially 250-300 millimeters across portions of Eastern China.
Now, want to take you out towards the Caribbean, because speaking of Typhoon Maria, of course, we had Hurricane Maria that was retired in the Pacific -- in the Atlantic. And you take a look, what is now happening across this region, we're having one of her first storms this season remnant said this is Beryl that moved to shore across the Caribbean in the last couple of days. It has brought tremendous rainfall, in fact, gusty winds with the system, Lynda, have brought power down to about 24,000 customers across Puerto Rico.
And we know folks in this region certainly, of course on edge from everything they've gone through from last season. Certainly, not what you want to see but again, some heavy rain across this area as well. Lynda.
KINKADE: Yes. Certainly, a lot of flood threats to keep you around. Pedram Javaheri, good to have you with us. Thanks so much.
JAVAHERI: Thanks, Lynda.
KINKADE: Well, it is a mad job that could be as exciting as any World Cup final. To the France-Belgium match is just a semi-final. We'll have a preview of that battle coming up next.
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KINKADE: Welcome back. The World Cup semi-finals get underway in just a few hours. France and Belgium go head-to-head in St. Petersburg. Belgium just beat the highly favorite, Brazil. But they've lost the previous two times they played at the French at the World Cup. "WORLD SPORT's" Alex Thomas takes a look at just where this game could be won and lost.
ALEX THOMAS, CNN INTERNATIONAL SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Neither France nor Belgium played any of their previous five matches here at this impressive modern stadium. And France will be the only ones to have trained in it before kickoff because Belgium have decided to practice at their Moscow base before traveling here.
Yet, historic St. Petersburg is a fitting venue for this game between two impressive teams but could well change football history this week.
The former Windsor Palace, birthplace of the Russian Revolution. France also know about kicking out the monarchy, but these days prefer to kick around a football. And two decades after their first World Cup triumph, Leibler, I just one win away from a chance to do it again.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HUGO LLORIS, GOALKEEPER, FRANCE NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM (through translator): I think, Belgium are the most complete team in all the possible aspects of the game during this tournament, because they have defense, they have attacked, counter-attack, they defend in the air, they are strong in everything, they have everything they need to be a great team, and they are a great team. It is a fantastic generation. And to beat them, we will have to play a great match.
THOMAS: In the heart of the original city center is the some Peter and Paul Fortress. And defense is often seen as a key priority to French coach Didier Deschamps.
His dilemma, stay cautious against prolific Belgium or free of his own potential match winner, Kylian Mbappe. DIDIER DESCHAMPS, MANAGER, FRANCE NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM (through translator): I have made sure, my players are prepared for any scenarios for the beginning of the match. Any composition and during the match as well if that changes.
This is not specifically to Belgium, it can happen with any opponents. Belgium's golden generation of players is as eye-catching as the dome above Saint Isaac's Cathedral. Lukaku, De Bruyne, and Hazard, in particular. Living up to their pre-tournament feeling.
They've gone a step further here than the quarterfinal defeats of Brazil 2014, and Euro 2016 with the possibility of more to come.
ROBERTO MARTINEZ, BELGIUM NATIONAL TEAM: With respect immensely, the quality of France, thing they understanding between the two squads are clear. Many players play against each other. And the leagues, regularly, some of the players shared dressing rooms. So, I think this is the perfect game in order to be focused and on as good as you can be for the semifinal.
THOMAS: This city's collection of islands divides the Neva River as it flows out to sea. The water can't choose which path to take, the France and Belgium can. Alex Thomas, CNN, St. Petersburg.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Well, the semi-final action continues on Wednesday with Croatia taking on England, that game is in Moscow. And, of course, you can count on "WORLD SPORT" for our live coverage of the games in Russia, beginning at 9:00 a.m. in London, 11:00 a.m. in Moscow, right here on CNN. Thanks so much for joining at this hour. I'm Lynda Kinkade. I'll be back with another hour of news in just a moment. You're watching CNN.
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