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Russia Investigation; California Wildfires; European Heat Wave; U.S. Economy; World Leaders Gather in South Africa; Pakistan Election; U.S. Immigration Crisis; Trump Threatens Turkey; Trump on Secret Tape. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired July 28, 2018 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Former Trump fixer and personal attorney Michael Cohen says Mr. Trump did know about that infamous 2016 Trump Tower meeting with Russian officials beforehand.
But the president says, that is a lie. That is ahead here.
Plus, Russian president Vladimir Putin invites Mr. Trump to Moscow but with necessary conditions.
Also ahead this hour:
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My dad and I and everyone else that helped us put so much work into this house, I can't believe it's gone.
ALLEN (voice-over): People in some Northern California neighborhoods describe the devastation they saw after a wildfire destroyed their home. Look at that. We will have more on that in a moment.
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ALLEN (voice-over): Live from CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. Welcome to our viewers here in the U.S. and around the world. I'm Natalie Allen. And this is CNN NEWSROOM.
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ALLEN: Our top story, U.S. president Donald Trump is at his golf resort in New Jersey for the weekend, probably glad to be out of Washington. For the past few days, reporters have peppered him with questions he clearly is not interested in answering.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, sir, (INAUDIBLE)?
Sir, is your son lying?
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ALLEN: Mr. Trump has his former attorney to thank for all this. Michael Cohen this week threw his old boss under the bus, claiming, according to sources, that then candidate Trump did know and approved of that 2000 meeting with Russians at Trump Tower.
As he often does, the president chose to express himself on Twitter, once again denying about knowing about the meeting ahead of time and suggesting Cohen made up the claim because of his own legal problems.
If Cohen is telling the truth, it could be politically devastating for this White House. For more on that, CNN's Sara Murray is in Washington.
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SARA MURRAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Michael Cohen now claiming that Donald Trump knew in advance about the June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower where Russians were expected to offer dirt on Hillary Clinton, sources tell CNN.
And sources say Cohen is prepared to tell special counsel Robert Mueller just what candidate Trump knew and when.
REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA), RANKING MEMBER, INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: It is quite a bombshell. If it's true and if it can be corroborated, it would mean that the president was willing personally to accept Russian help during the campaign. So it effectively brings the issue of collusion or conspiracy right to the president's feet.
MURRAY: Cohen, Trump's former attorney, who is currently under criminal investigation in New York, claims he was present when Trump Jr. informed his father and several others of the Russians' offer, sources say. Cohen even alleges Trump gave a nod of approval for the meeting to go forward.
The president, his attorneys, the White House and others involved in the meeting have repeatedly denied that Trump had any knowledge of it before it took place.
TRUMP: I just heard there was an e-mail, requesting a meeting or something.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you know at the time that they had the meeting?
TRUMP: No. I didn't know anything about the meeting. Must have been a very unimportant meeting, because I never even heard about it.
JAY SEKULOW, ATTORNEY FOR DONALD TRUMP: This is not a situation where the president was involved in this meeting. Was not aware of the meeting. Did not attend this meeting.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He did.
SEKULOW: And he didn't know about this meeting -- UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He didn't really -- he didn't know about this meeting until a few days ago?
SEKULOW: Yes. That's correct.
SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: Did you tell your father anything about this?
DONALD TRUMP JR., SON OF PRESIDENT TRUMP: No. It was such a nothing. There was nothing to tell.
MURRAY: Trump Jr. even testifying under oath before the Senate Judiciary Committee in September that he never told his father about the meeting. When asked, "Did you inform your father about the meeting or the underlying offer prior to the meeting," Trump Jr. responded, "No. I did not."
When Trump Jr. was later asked why he didn't share news of the possible meeting, he responded, "Because I wouldn't bring him anything that's unsubstantiated before I knew what it was actually about myself."
Last year Cohen testified before two congressional committees regarding Russian election interference. But a source familiar with Cohen's testimony tells CNN he did not testify that Trump had any advanced knowledge of the Trump Tower meeting. Now the president's attorney, Rudy Giuliani, is attacking Cohen's credibility.
GIULIANI: The man is a liar. A proven liar. There's no way you're going to bring down the president of the United States on the testimony, uncorroborated, of a proven liar. I guarantee you this guy is a proven liar.
MURRAY: When just a few weeks ago Giuliani seemed to have plenty of faith in Cohen's truthfulness.
GIULIANI: If he believes it's in his best interest to cooperate, God bless him. He should cooperate. I do not expect that Michael Cohen is going to lie. I think he's going to tell the truth, as best he can given his recollection. And if he does that, we're home free.
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MURRAY: Now even though Michael Cohen was an avid taper of his conversations, sources say he doesn't necessarily have any evidence, no tapes, for instance, to corroborate his version of events.
So this could end up being his word against President Trump's -- Sara Murray, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: Well, Russian president Vladimir Putin says he is ready to visit Washington. He informally invited the U.S. president to Moscow. But he says any meeting between them must be under the right conditions. So interesting to follow the Russian investigation at the same time these two leaders are working to meet up with each other again.
Let's talk about it with Sam Kiley. He's from our Moscow bureau.
Sam, is it known what these necessary conditions might be to a former potential meeting?
SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No, they're not. But I think that in this sort of lexicon of international diplomacy, which Mr. Putin, who is usually a stickler for these sorts of things usually, is referring to there is he wants to see progress perhaps on what was or wasn't agreed. And we don't know what was fully discussed at Helsinki.
He wants to see progress made, negotiations at official levels on, for example, Syria, on perhaps cooperation over counterterrorism efforts. Ironically, over cooperation over counter cyber espionage operations. He said that without irony, of course, and a number of other areas that were touched on at Helsinki, possibly more people getting into the long grass and starting to work out so that when they did have a future summit, there would be something substantive to talk about.
That is just my interpretation of what those conditions may mean. That really is the Russian way of doing things. Of course, that was done in the run-up to Helsinki. But once they went freelancing at that nearly two-hour secret meeting between the two presidents, vigilated (ph) only by their translators. Nobody fully knows what is happening or happened, Natalie, and since then the Russians have been making all the running on that and also coming to the defense of Donald Trump during the same moment when he was making the statement about possible future meetings.
He also praised Donald Trump as being a rare politician that made good to his constituents on his campaign promises. Not the sort of thing you normally hear from the heads of state of two superpowers that are supposedly rivals, sometimes almost at the point of being enemies -- Natalie.
ALLEN: Yes, absolutely. They seem to want to come together. We hope it's for the right reasons for the world, for sure, but a very interesting development indeed, Sam Kiley, for us, thank you.
Now here's another one involving Russia. A U.S. Senate Democrat says she's the victim of a cyber hack and guess who she blames?
Russia. Senator Claire McCaskill who says the attempt was not successful had some strong words for the Russian president.
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SEN. CLAIRE MCCASKILL (D), MO.: We discovered it because Microsoft contacted the Senate and then the Senate personnel let us know. So we have been aware of this effort for some months.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So is everybody in your office changing their passwords at this point? MCCASKILL: We've taken all kinds of steps. I will not be intimidated. I've said many times that Putin is a thug and a bully and he is somebody who does not allow the people of Russia to have freedom.
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ALLEN: Incidents like that are why U.S. President Trump held a meeting of the National Security Council. He received updates about the NSC's measures no safeguard the nation's elections, including voting machines.
The White House released a statement saying the president has made it clear that his administration will not tolerate foreign interference in our elections from any nation state or malicious actors.
Let's talk about recent developments with Inderjeet Parmar, joining us from London. He teaches international politics at City University of London.
Always good to have with you us and have your insights. So let's talk about that meeting in Moscow or Washington.
What good would it serve right now for Presidents Putin and Trump to arrange a meeting in the throes of the Russia investigation and after the Helsinki summit?
INDERJEET PARMAR, CITY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON: I think there are two levels of everything. One is the optics. I think to some extent the optics played badly, obviously, there is a very large amount of criticism from both main political parties and across the media -- or large parts of it -- about the relationship between Trump and Putin.
But on the other hand, I think, to some extent, President Trump looks at other optics, which are to do with his political base as well. So there's those two sort of sets --
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PARMAR: -- of optics. But I think there is a broader geopolitical move going on as well. I think we should try to keep an eye on that, too, because I think U-S. Russia relations seen in a broader context then bring in other challenges or peer competitors to the United States, like China. I think that may be an area we need to explore somewhat more.
ALLEN: President Trump talks about the importance of closer ties to Russia.
Do you get a sense -- you mentioned a geopolitical move.
Do you get a sense of what he is really wanting to achieve with a closer tie?
PARMAR: It was a very interesting interview with Henry Kissinger in the "Financial Times" about a week ago. President Trump a particular style and particular sets of skills and other areas where he probably could do with some more work. I think there is an underlying instinct or a strategy.
But I think President Trump ability to explain it in a manner that might build up a broader constituency for it is probably lacking. But I do think there is a desire to drive a wedge between Russia and China in order to ensure that the Eurasian land mass running from China all the way through to Europe isn't, if you like, a kind of a unified bloc, which effectively then gives transportation, trading and other links a kind of land route from the Far East right to what you could call the Far West.
I think that may be -- it's a schism, I think, which wants to be exploited. And I suspect the discussions are about, what is the price that President Putin may want to extract, in order to be able to sort of cut loose a bit from China and throw in his lot a little bit with the United States.
ALLEN: It's so interesting, isn't it?
The tracks that we are seeing. You've got this track that we are discussing and the track about the Russian investigation ongoing and the latest news that Trump's former lawyer may be flipping and have some information, that perhaps Mr. Trump did know about that infamous meeting involving Russians. And that could turn this significantly.
Could it not?
If it is true?
PARMAR: Well, absolutely. I think the amount of pressure which is coming from within the kind of beltway politics and this is largely where this remains. I'm not sure how farther the mass public in the United States is moved too much by these things.
But it is keeping that administration under pressure. And each side, the Republicans and the Democrats, are trying to manage the optics of it as well. Neither wants to be seen to be obstructing justice or trying to impeach President Trump.
But at the same time, each one is trying to keep the other unstable. But I think there is a geopolitical schism there, too. And I think there is a disagreement about this broader geopolitical strategy and the degree to which Russia is let off the hook in Ukraine, Georgia and elsewhere. And I think there is a disagreement there.
And I think the other thing is, of course, 2016 and the election and the defeat of the Democrats. I think there is still a kind of a desire to continue the strategy of that election by the Democrats going into 2018, 2020 and blaming external interference for the result plays a domestic function as well.
ALLEN: We always appreciate your insights. My goodness, we'll have an opportunity to talk with you again for sure. Inderjeet Parmar, thank you so much.
PARMAR: Thank you very much.
ALLEN: Well, massive wildfires rage in California, reducing entire neighborhoods to piles of ash. We'll show and we'll talk about where this is happening, coming up here.
Also, U.S. President Trump is excited about the latest economic indicators. Some think his excitement might be short-lived. We'll go beyond the numbers, coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's unbelievable. You know, my parents bought this house when they moved up from San Jose right before I was born. My dad and I and everyone else that helped us put so much work into this house, I can't believe it's gone. You know, all those memories, you know, childhood memories.
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ALLEN: A victim there of the massive Carr fire in Northern California. Since erupting Monday, it has consumed nearly 20,000 hectares, about 48,000 acres. Two people have died, 500 structures destroyed.
Authorities believe a malfunctioning vehicle started this still out- of-control fire. California's governor has asked President Trump to send federal assistance for the communities impacted by the fire. That's just one of several burning in California and elsewhere all around the world.
For more about it, here's Dan Simon.
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DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The devastation is beginning to set in for people in Redding, California. The aptly named Carr fire which officials say was first sparked by a vehicle has ravaged the region since Monday and doubled in size in just the last 12 hours.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's taken out alive.
SIMON: Deadly and out of control, it is charged some 45,000 acres as firefighters try to contain it. In some neighborhoods, the difference between a home spared and a home scorched is just a few feet.
DOMINIC GALVIN, LOST HOME IN FIRE: I have no idea what we're going to do tomorrow. Hell, we don't know we're going to do tonight.
SIMON: Dominic Galvin and his wife Sylvia never imagined they'd see their house like this. We didn't think the fire was going to come here so we didn't really take things out like everybody else that was scrambling at the last minute to get out when we saw the fire on the ridge.
SIMON: Officials say extreme temperatures and strong winds make this fire all the more fierce. It is one of three major blazes burning across the state and one of 88 across the country.
JONATHAN COX, CALFIRE: This is that new normal, that unpredictability, the large explosive growth fires.
SIMON: Sadly, it seems like this are becoming the new normal worldwide as temperatures rise due to climate change. In Greece, experts say extreme summer heat accelerated the suspected arson fire that turned these iconic whitewashed hillsides black with ash. The flames rose so quickly some families ran into the sea for relief.
DORIS KOUNTOURIOTIS, SURVIVED GREEK FIRE: The temperature was so high so nobody could do anything. As you can see houses, cars, everything destroyed.
SIMON: The Greek fires have claimed more than 80 lives so far. In just the last few weeks, more than 3,400 daily high-temperature records have been broken or tied including unprecedented numbers in the North.
Montreal, Canada at 92 and in the Sahara Desert thermometers peaked at a deadly 124 degrees this month.
So are we ready for triple-digit temperatures and their consequences to go from extreme to expected?
Here in Redding, the answer is no.
SYLVIA GALVIN, LOST HOME IN FIRE: It seems like part of my life is gone.
SIMON: As can you see, the fire --
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SIMON: -- continues to smolder faces and folks are bracing for more potential problems as the area remains under a red flag warning -- Dan Simon, CNN, Redding, California.
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ALLEN: Euro Tunnel says extreme heat in Southeast England is causing very long delays for people traveling under the Channel to France. Yet another way the brutal heat wave is making life miserable for people in Western Europe and it's not letting up. Erin McLaughlin takes a look at how it also fueled the devastating wildfires in Greece and Sweden.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The fires have gone but the devastation remains. An eerie silence has fallen in this Greek village, where houses once stood, now they're just charred remains. Nothing was spared. Authorities believe arson is to blame.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the first time in 38 years of my service seeing so much catastrophe from a fire.
MCLAUGHLIN (voice-over): As the blaze tore through the coastal village of Raffina (ph), many sought refuge in the water. But many didn't make it. Dozens died, almost 200 were injured.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I feel a pain in my heart, a very heavy load, a very big burden.
MCLAUGHLIN (voice-over): Greece is not alone. Across Europe, tinder dry conditions, combined with a scorching heat wave, are stretching emergency services to the limit.
In Sweden, a fire front continues to burn out of control. Even the country's air force has been deployed to help, dropping a bomb to try to starve a nearby fire of oxygen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It is not something we've done before. So we've been working closely with the rescue leader and we have done meticulous calculations.
MCLAUGHLIN (voice-over): Germany, too, is dealing with its own fires, including one which forced the closure of a major motorway. But its emergency services are also being deployed in other ways.
Amid sweltering temperatures, firefighters in Cologne are being used to --
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MCLAUGHLIN (voice-over): -- water the trees, while in Berlin, the water cannon usually reserved for riot control has been brought out, this time, though, to keep the heat at bay -- Erin McLaughlin, CNN, London.
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ALLEN: We are moving from one extreme to another. Japan is bracing for a powerful typhoon that could dump up to 500 millimeters of rain. That's more than 1.5 feet in 24 hours. The storm is threatening to unleash its heaviest rainfall on the region around Tokyo.
Officials warn it could also hit the western parts of the country where more than 200 people were killed by deadly flooding and landslides earlier this month. All of this comes while a heat wave grips Japan with record breaking temperatures.
Well, the U.S. economy is skyrocketing. The U.S. president is claiming victory. But economists warn what goes up must come down. We'll tell you about their warning, why they think those new numbers may come down in the future.
Plus, one of the most powerful men in American television is being accused of sexual misconduct. The head of CBS responds to the allegations.
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ALLEN: Welcome back to our viewers here in the U.S. and around the world. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Atlanta. I'm Natalie Allen.
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ALLEN: The U.S. economy is firing on all cylinders. The president on Friday was very happy to take credit for that. But overshadowing the event was Donald Trump's denial again that he had advanced knowledge of a 2016 meeting at Trump Tower between his top campaign advisers and Russians. Here's more about it from CNN's Jeff Zeleny.
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JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On a sun-splashed morning at the White House, a cause for celebration.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I am thrilled to announce that in the second quarter of this year, the United States economy grew at the amazing rate of 4.1 percent.
ZELENY: The president trumpeting the soaring economy, growing at its fastest pace since 2014.
TRUMP: These numbers are very, very sustainable. This isn't a one- time shot.
ZELENY: For a few moments at least, the clouds of controversy hanging over the Trump administration swept aside. The president also hailing North Korea for handing over what are believed to be remains of U.S. troops killed in the Korean War.
TRUMP: At this moment, a plane is carrying the remains of some great fallen heroes from America back from the Korean War. They're coming to the United States.
ZELENY: In most presidencies it would be a better way to end the week, but in this one so many other questions are looming. For the third straight day the president not answering questions about his longtime protector Michael Cohen turning against him.
The White House also still grappling with fallout from the Helsinki summit where the president sided with Vladimir Putin over the U.S. intelligence Community that believes Russia interfered in the 2016 election.
The president convening a meeting today of his National Security Council to discuss election security after downplaying the threat only a week ago.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is Russia still targeting the U.S., Mr. President?
TRUMP: Thank you very much. No.
SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, PRESS SECRETARY, WHITE HOUSE: All right, let's go. Make your way out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, you don't believe that to be the case?
ZELENY: Meanwhile, the diplomatic dance over the next potential Trump- Putin meeting continued. After the White House delayed until next year its invitation for the Russian president to visit Washington, Putin extended an invitation of his own today.
VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT, RUSSIA (through translator): We are ready for such meetings. We are ready to invite president Trump to Moscow to be my guest. He has such an invitation, I told him that and I'm ready to go to Washington. I repeat once again, if the right conditions for work are created.
ZELENY: White House press secretary Sarah Sanders saying the president is open to visiting Moscow upon receiving a formal invitation. All this as questions about the president's mood hung over the White House. We asked his chief economic adviser and longtime friend Larry Kudlow.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's his mood like at the end of such a week like this?
LARRY KUDLOW, DIRECTOR, UNITED STATES NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: Very positive, upbeat.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you going to answer questions --
ZELENY (voice-over): Jeff Zeleny, CNN, the White House.
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ALLEN: Jeff just mentioned the new economic numbers. They show the U.S. economy grew at its fastest rate since 2014. In the last three months, the annualized GDP was 4.1 percent. That surge is a result of several factors. Business investment rose as companies invested some of the money they saved from tax cuts.
Consumer spending and government spending both increased and concern over a trade war helped, too. U.S. exports rose as foreign buyers stocked up on American products before they were hit with tariffs.
If the economy grows at 3 percent for the entire year, it will be the highest growth since 2005. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: During each of the two previous administrations we averaged just over 1.8 percent GDP growth. By contrast with on track to hit an average GDP annual growth of over 3 percent and it could be substantially over 3 percent. Each point, by the way, means, approximately --
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TRUMP: -- $3 trillion and 10 million jobs.
ALLEN: Here's how these numbers stack up against the last three administrations. George W. Bush hit a 6.9 percent growth rate in 2003. And then the Obama administration reached 5.2 percent.
And Bill Clinton's economy back in 2000 hit a 7.8 percent growth rate.
Earlier we spoke with financial expert Monica Mehta about how to look at the current economy.
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MONICA MEHTA, ECONOMIST: I think there are two big things that people should be looking at. One is what is going to happen with these tariffs and what will happen with trade wars. I think that is actually the biggest risk factor that we're facing for the markets and for the economy.
And it can just be as little as the threat of a trade war that can make people and businesses pull back.
The second thing is interest rates. So what will happen to interest rates, are they going to continue to go up?
And at what point do short term rates get higher than long term rates?
That is what we call interest rate inversion. When that happens, almost for the last 40 years, you see this very predictable pattern of the stock market hitting its peak within six months and then another six months after that, bottoming out. It's almost like clockwork.
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ALLEN: More women are making accusations regarding the #MeToo movement. "The New Yorker" magazine is reporting sexual misconduct allegations against one of the most powerful men in U.S. television. That would be CBS chairman and CEO Les Moonves.
The article sites incidents of unwanted advances, intimidation and retaliation involving six women. CNN has not independently confirmed the allegations. Our Dylan Byers has more about them.
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DYLAN BYERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Guys, it's been likened to a nuclear bomb ripping through Hollywood. Six women now accuse CBS chairman and chief executive Leslie Moonves of sexual misconduct.
The allegations laid out in a new story from "The New Yorker" magazine by journalist Ronan Farrow. The allegations go back decades, as they all follow a similar pattern. These woman say Moonves invited them into his office at one point and forced himself upon them.
When they rebuffed his advances, these women say he used his position of power to effectively harm their careers. One allegation coming from the actress, Illeana Douglas. She says she was fired from a CBS project because she did not agree to Moonves' advances.
Now both Moonves and CBS itself are casting doubt on the nature of "The New Yorker" story. But Moonves does acknowledge he made some advances decades ago that may have made women feel uncomfortable. I want to read you a portion of his statement.
He says, "I recognize there were times decades ago when I may have made some women uncomfortable by making advances. Those were mistakes and I regret them immensely.
"But I always understood and respected and abided by the principle that no means no and I have never misused my position to harm or hinder anyone's career."
CBS trying to cast even more doubt on the story, saying, "CBS is very mindful of all workplace issues and takes each report of misconduct very seriously. We do not believe, however, that the picture of our company created in 'The New Yorker' represents a larger organization that does its best to treat its tens of thousands of employees with dignity and respect."
Now the CBS board of directors, even before this story came out and were aware of the allegations, said that they would be looking into the charges. They would take every allegation seriously and they would come back and respond once they had had a chance to review all of the details.
That is a response we will likely not get until next week. Meanwhile, Moonves' own wife, Julie Chen, is standing by him, calling him, "a good man, a caring father and an inspiring corporate leader."
Guys, back to you.
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ALLEN: We are going to turn now to Pakistan. There is still no final vote count but Imran Khan and his Movement for Justice Party have declared victory in Pakistan's disputed election.
But every other major party says the election was rigged. Some are threatening protests unless there is a new vote. Khan is a national hero from his days as a cricket star. He also seen as the military's favored candidate.
Here's what some of his opponents, though, are saying. UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The all parties conference has unanimously and totally rejected the election held on July 25. We do not consider this election to be the mandate of the public but a robbery of the people's mandate.
We reject the claims of those people who are claiming victory as a result of this election. And we do not want to give them the right of governance.
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ALLEN: The European Union has also cast doubt on Wednesday's vote. E.U. observers say there are signs of a systematic effort to undermine the governing party. They urge any challenge to the election be done legally.
An outspoken critic of this election knows Khan right well. Her name is Reham Khan and she's a journalist and also one of Imran Khan's ex- wives. Here's what she is telling CNN about the man who would be prime minister.
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REHAM KHAN, JOURNALIST: He is the ideal puppet because when he wants something so desperately and when you have been repeatedly in public compromising on ideology. And this was the thing with us as well. A lot of people say, why the breakup, what happened?
And I keep telling them that it was I couldn't compromise on principles. So I couldn't compromise that you talk about anti- corruption but there are corrupt people in your party.
You talk about cronyism in other parties but what is happening -- this Johangi Hontarin (ph), who was disqualified. The Supreme Court has taken the decision. You saw him even in the speech that happened yesterday. So cronyism, status quo, corruption, he's let us down on so many occasions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: We'll continue to follow developments in that disputed election in Pakistan.
More than 30 migrants made it to shore in Spain, but what happened to them afterwards is still unknown. With the police boat in hot pursuit, the migrants, as you see right there, jumped off their packed dinghy onto a beach on Friday and scattered into the sand dunes and forests.
Curious sun bathers looking on. The beach is near the Strait of Gibraltar, a key route for migrants.
The deadline for the U.S. to reunite migrant children with their families on the border has come and gone. But tell that to the hundreds of children still waiting to be brought back to their parents. What the government has to say, coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM.
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ALLEN: Thursday's deadline has come and gone for the U.S. government to reunite migrant children with their families but it is unclear what will happen to some 700 children still in custody.
The Department of Homeland Security claims it has reunited all eligible parents in ICE custody with their children. It also says it is complying in good faith with the court order. The American Civil Liberties Union is demanding families be allowed to stay in the U.S.
Here's what an ACLU attorney said Friday.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To not have these parents and children go the rest of their lives, thinking they have been separated solely because the parent didn't understand a form. What we are hearing is that the forms were often given to them in English. Sometimes it was a group presentation, where the parent had one to four minutes to figure out, didn't believe they could ask questions.
That would be outrageous if parents are sent back to their country and their kids are left here because they could not understand a form. It's remarkable that the United States government is going to hold people to losing their child based on confusion or that, after all these months of keeping these children separated, they are unwilling to give seven days to allow these parents to make a decision that's literally life-altering.
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ALLEN: My goodness.
Philadelphia's mayor said Friday his city will not renew its agreement with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to share a key city law enforcement database known as PARS.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They admitted that their use of PARS during ICE enforcement operations could result if immigration enforcement against Philadelphia residents, who have not been accused of nor convicted of a crime.
Such practices sow fear and distrust in Philadelphia's great immigrant community and make it more difficult for our police department to solve crimes because people go underground and they don't want to report crimes; they don't want to be witnesses and they don't want any involvement with the police at all.
We cannot in good conscience allow the agreement to continue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: We are learning about a growing number of police calls over several years at migrant shelters. This is according to the investigative non-profit ProPublica. We need to know their numbers go back to 2014. That's before the Trump administration took office.
The group looked at 70 immigrant youth shelters run by U.S. Health and Human Services and the Office of Refugee Settlement and here's what they found. Police responded to at least 125 calls in the past five years, alleging sex offenses at shelters.
Police reports and call logs also document allegations of fights and children missing. CNN was not able to obtain the data ProPublica used in its report independently. We also reached out to some of the shelters but with no response.
Some responded to ProPublica, though, and Health and Human Services gave this statement, quote, "Our focus is always on the safety and best interests of each child. These are vulnerable children in difficult circumstances and HHS treats its responsibility for each child with the utmost care.
"Any allegation of abuse or neglect is taken seriously and invested by or and appropriate action is taken."
A supersonic flight. It could take passengers into space. We'll tell you how Virgin Galactic got one step closer recently for one giant leap for space tourism. Pack your bags. That's next.
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ALLEN: Well, this is the Virgin VSS Unity, part of Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic project to send you and me, tourists, into space. It made a rocket-powered test flight Thursday, reaching nearly two-and-a- half times the speed of sound.
It flew into the mesosphere nearly halfway to the edge of space before gliding back down to Earth. Virgin Galactic says this test is its most successful yet. They say it puts the company firmly on track to making commercial space flights by the end of the year if passengers can afford to pay the $250,000 ticket price.
And we're not sure if it's more for extra legroom.
Ha ha.
We've just had the longest total lunar eclipse of the century. It's called a blood moon because when the sun, the Earth and the moon line up, sunlight reflects through the Earth's atmosphere and makes the moon appear red.
Did you see it?
Unlike a solar eclipse, no special glass is required. The eclipse was visible nearly everywhere except right here in North America. Photographers had a field day, as you can see there. The eclipse lasted four hours with totality taking one hour and 43 minutes. The Red Planet, Mars, was also closer to us than it's been in -- oh, look at that shot.
How cool was that?
Wouldn't you have liked to have been in that airplane?
OK. So it's not exactly Watergate when Donald Trump gets caught on tape ordering a soda, in this case a Coke. CNN's Jeanne Moos reports on why this secretly recorded conversation is so popular.
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JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Talk about grasping at straws, have you heard the juiciest part of the Trump-Cohen tape?
TRUMP: Get me a Coke, please.
MOOS (voice-over): Incontrovertible evidence of a thirsty president.
TRUMP: Get me a Coke, please.
MOOS: Living up to his reputation for daily consumption of...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Twelve Diet Cokes, right?
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's 144 ounces of president fuel.
MOOS (voice-over): You'd be surprised how many commenters tweeted, "My favorite part is when he yells, 'Get me a Coke, please.'"
Others ranked it up there with Mom, the meat loaf, from "Wedding Crashers."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, Mom, could we get some meat loaf?
MOOS: There were comparisons to JFK, my fellow Americans --
JOHN F. KENNEDY, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Ask not what your country can do for you, ask --
TRUMP: Get me a Coke, please. MOOS: But there was one thing that got the most comments, that even critics found pleasing.
MOOS (voice-over): Wow, he said please.
He said please?
Must be a fake. Trump says please to the help. That's my president.
He hasn't always been complimentary about his favorite beverage, tweeting, "I have never seen a thin person drinking Diet Coke" "And I'll still keep drinking that garbage."
Jimmy Fallon once chronicled the president's behavior as he downed his daily dozen.
TRUMP: The American dream is dead. Bing, bing, bong and bam. And God bless the United States.
MOOS (voice-over): Now he has a red button on his Oval Office desk to push when he wants a Coke. But when he was a candidate, he actually had to speak.
TRUMP: Get me a Coke, please.
MOOS (voice-over): As one commenter noted, "Things, including hush money, go better with Coke."
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Things go better with Coca-Cola.
MOOS (voice-over): Jeanne Moos --
TRUMP: Get me a Coke, please.
MOOS (voice-over): -- CNN, New York.
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ALLEN: Well, I imagine Coca-Cola likes that free advertising.
That is NEWSROOM. For everyone else, stay with us for "AMANPOUR." Thanks for watching.
