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Family and Friends Say Farewell to John McCain; Russia Investigation; U.S. Pulls Palestinian Aid; Immigration Fight in Germany; Stewart Detention Center AKA The Black Hole; Coalition Admits "Mistakes" in Attack on Yemeni Bus; Brexit Concerns; McCain's Sense of Humor is Part of His Legacy. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired September 02, 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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GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Family, friends and politicians from both sides of the political aisle honor legacy of the late senator, John McCain.
Plus a disturbing admission by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, that mistakes were made in last month's strike on a school bus using a precision weapon.
And later this hour, Israel commends the United States as the Trump administration cuts humanitarian aid to Palestinian refugees. CNN following the story live in Jerusalem ahead.
Live from CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, we want to welcome our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm George Howell, the CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.
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HOWELL: 5:01 on the U.S. East Coast.
After four days of memorials, the late U.S. Senator John McCain will be laid to rest in the coming hours. It comes after Saturday's display of unity in McCain's honor.
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HOWELL: I'm told McCain played an active role in planning the service, from asking his former political rivals, Presidents Obama and George W. Bush, to eulogize him to having a reading of his favorite poem, one he recited at his own father's funeral.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES MCCAIN, JOHN MCCAIN'S SON: Under the wide and starry sky,
Dig the grave and let me lie. Glad did I live and gladly die, And I laid me down with a will.
This be the verse you 'grave for me: Here he lies where he long'd to be;
Home is the sailor, home from the sea, And the hunter home from the hill.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: Our Jeff Zeleny has more on Saturday's ceremony.
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JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Washington paid tribute and bid farewell to John McCain, an American patriot and politician.
At the Washington National Cathedral, a living tableau of history, a who's who of leaders of all stripes, assembling to say goodbye to a war hero and veteran Republican senator.
McCain's daughter, Meghan, overcome with grief and emotion throughout the week, spoke passionately about her father with a poignant and pointed message.
M. MCCAIN: We gather here to mourn the passing of American greatness, the real thing, not cheap rhetoric from men who will never come near the sacrifice he gave so willingly nor the opportunistic appropriation of those who live lives of comfort and privilege.
ZELENY (voice-over): Inside the soaring cathedral, it was the first of several references to President Trump and his own brand of politics her father reviled.
M. MCCAIN: The America of John McCain has no need to be made great again because America was always great.
ZELENY (voice-over): The funeral unfolded as a parting lesson in civility from McCain himself. To eulogize him, he invited two men who extinguished his own dreams for the White House, George W. Bush, who won a bitter primary fight in 2000, and Barack Obama, who prevailed in 2008.
Amid moments of humor...
GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: From trouble- making plebe to presidential candidate --
ZELENY (voice-over): -- praise for McCain's core beliefs.
BUSH: At various points throughout his long career John confronted policies and practices that he believed were unworthy of his country. To the face of those in authority, John McCain would insist, we are better than this. America is better than this.
ZELENY (voice-over): But the personal tributes came with a sharp critique of today's tribal politics. BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Trafficking in bombast and insult and phony controversies and manufactured outrage, it's a politics that pretends to be brave and tough but, in fact, is born of fear.
John called on us to be bigger than that. He called on us to be better than that.
ZELENY (voice-over): Despite deep differences over politics and policy -- and Obama said there were many with McCain -- he still fostered a sense of American unity.
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OBAMA: When all was said and done, we were on the same team. We never doubted we were on the same team.
ZELENY (voice-over): While President Trump's name was never spoken, his absence was an unmistakable undercurrent. McCain made clear he didn't want him there. The two men's strained relationship goes back to the 2016 campaign, when Trump insulted McCain's military service, saying "real American heroes aren't shot down."
Yet several of the president's advisers were on hand, including his daughter, Ivanka; son-in-law, Jared Kushner; chief of staff, John Kelly, and Defense Secretary James Mattis. The senator was sent off in scripture and song, with opera star Renee Fleming's gripping rendition of "Danny Boy."
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ZELENY (voice-over): He'll be laid to rest Sunday in a private ceremony at his alma mater, the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
ZELENY: The senator's final resting place will be on a grassy hill at the U.S. Naval Academy Cemetery, next to lifelong friend, Chuck Larson, another veteran of the Vietnam War.
He selected this out of the way spot in the shadow of Navy midshipmen like he once was, rather than at Arlington National Cemetery, where his father and grandfather, both admirals, are buried -- Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: Jeff, thank you.
While most of the Washington mourned John McCain's loss, President Trump played golf at one of his courses in the U.S. state of Virginia and he was on Twitter as well.
The president started his day at 6:19 in the morning, attacking the media, as he often does. Through 16 tweets on Saturday, Mr. Trump assailed NAFTA, Canada, the Justice Department, the Russia investigation and he cited a number of FOX News commentators and even retweeted himself, saying just that.
The cloud of the Russia investigation looms large over this president and now a convicted former Trump campaign adviser is back in the news. Contradicting the attorney general of the United States, his sworn testimony before Congress. Our Sarah Westwood has details.
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SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: A former advisor to President Trump's campaign is adding another wrinkle to the Russia controversy by sharing new details about a proposed meeting between then candidate Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin.
George Papadopoulos, the former foreign policy adviser to Trump's campaign, pleaded guilty to lying to investigators in October of last year. But on Friday his legal team told the courts that, during a March 2016 campaign meeting, Papadopoulos suggested a summit between Putin and Trump.
And then candidate Trump nodded his head approvingly at the idea and deferred to attorney general Jeff Sessions, who was at that time an Alabama senator and powerful surrogate for the Trump campaign.
And Jeff Sessions, contrary to what he has said publicly in the past, reacted favorably to that suggestion and suggested that perhaps they should look into the proposal.
Now attorney general Jeff Sessions said in testimony to the House Judiciary Committee that he had pushed back on the proposed meeting between Trump and Putin when it was brought to his attention in March 2016. Take a listen to what he had to say in November of last year about this proposal.
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SEN. JEFF SESSIONS (R), ALA.: I have no clear recollection of the details of what he said at that meeting. After reading his account and to the best of my recollection, I believe that I wanted to make clear to him that he was not authorized to represent the campaign with the Russian government or any other foreign government for that matter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WESTWOOD: Now the Department of Justice is not commenting on Papadopoulos' new revelations. They're directing reporters to Sessions' testimony before the House Judiciary Committee.
And this is all coming against the backdrop of tensions between President Trump and attorney general Jeff Sessions. The two have been feuding for more than a year now. But President Trump has recently said that attorney general Jeff Sessions is safe in his position at least until the November elections -- Sarah Westwood, CNN, at the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE) HOWELL: Let's talk more about this now with Scott Lucas, Scott a professor of international politics at the University of Birmingham, also the founder and editor of "EA WorldView," joining us from Birmingham, England.
Thank you for your time. Let's start with this contradiction coming from the former campaign adviser, George Papadopoulos, and the attorney general of the United States, Jeff Sessions. Sessions said under oath that he had pushed back on Mr. Trump meeting with Vladimir Putin.
But, again, according to Papadopoulos, Sessions seemed to support that idea.
Where does this leave the attorney general, who is already facing a great deal of heat from his boss?
SCOTT LUCAS, UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM: Well, I think the attorney general, after the November elections, may well become the sacrificial lamb thrown up --
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LUCAS: -- by the Trump administration in part because of Trump's animosity towards him but in part because of revelations like these. On the surface, this is a he said/he said thing. And I'm sure that Jeff Sessions, if forced to, will just say, well, Mr. Papadopoulos is not recounting what happened.
The problem is, is that we've known for some time that Trump campaign officials, like campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, deputy campaign manager Sam Clovis, encouraged Papadopoulos' contacts with Kremlin linked officials.
Indeed they did so all the way through August of 2016, which is more than four months after this was raised at the Trump campaign meeting.
So I think this statement by Papadopoulos ,who's trying to negotiate a lenient sentence on his conviction, just simply reinforces the idea that, yes, all the way up to President Trump they were authorizing exploratory talks, which linked back to Vladimir Putin, on the surface about a meeting between Putin and Trump.
But George, the real question, Papadopoulos still says in the filing yesterday that he did not tell the Trump officials about the Russian offer of emails damaging to Hillary Clinton.
Does he maintain that line?
Or do we at some point find out that not only were the Trump officials encouraging Papadopoulos to set up a possible meeting but they're actually encouraging Papadopoulos to find out more about the possibilities of those emails being provided?
HOWELL: I want to transition also and talk about what the nation saw the other day, remembering the life of the U.S. Senator John McCain. The service that focused entirely on his life as a politician, as an American hero, a man, a father, a husband, a son, it never deviated from that focus while, at the same time, the messages from this service seemed in direct contrast to the current commander in chief without calling his name, without saying his name, like this from Meghan McCain. Listen.
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MEGHAN MCCAIN, ABC NEWS HOST: The America of John McCain is generous and welcoming and bold. She is resourceful and confident and secure. She meets her responsibilities. She speaks quietly because she is strong. America does not boast because she has no need to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: And I want to put this tweet into context. A moment ago, we showed it to you, if we could pull it back to screen, the tweet from the U.S. president, "Make America great again," that tweet came out after Meghan McCain said of the America of John McCain, has no need to be made great again because America was already great.
LUCAS: That was Donald Trump's pushback, George. You've got it exactly right, which is I don't want John McCain's family, I don't want John McCain to hold the headlines. He was frustrated yesterday that all news outlets were covering the memorial.
So last night he tries to reclaim "Make America great again" for himself. But in doing so he only highlights what happened yesterday and that is, I've got a great deal of disagreement with maybe the policies pursued by John McCain.
But I think you're seeing a claim for the fact that this was a man who tried to promote honor and decency. And honor and decency not only amongst politician but honor and decency for America. And we're seeing a question now in the response to what happened yesterday.
And indeed for weeks before that, which is, do we want an America which gets back to values and decency and respect?
Or do we want an America which is one which is effectively a captive to one man's tweets?
Which sometimes, in my opinion, are far from decent and far from respectful.
HOWELL: Scott Lucas with perspective in Birmingham, thank you so much for your time.
LUCAS: Thank you.
HOWELL: The Saudi-led coalition may be changing its story about an airstrike on a school bus in Yemen three weeks ago. The latest on this massacre that killed dozens of children -- ahead.
Plus, CNN goes inside one of the largest immigration detention centers in the United States. Some human rights advocates call it the black hole. You'll hear from a detainee there. Stay with us.
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HOWELL: A far right rally in Eastern Germany ended peacefully on Saturday. Riot police stopped some 6,000 anti-immigrant protesters from marching into the city of Chemnitz.
Over the past week, angry mobs and racist groups have blasted police and lawmakers there after a Syrian and an Iraqi were identified as suspects in the killing of a German man. The demonstrations are spurred on by growing anti-immigrant and anti-Islam sentiment in Germany.
It's been almost a year since the U.S. president tried to end a federal program that protects young, undocumented immigrants from deportation. Since then, nearly 700,000 immigrants brought to the U.S. as children have been in limbo.
They fear that, at any moment, a court could end the temporary status that allows them to work or even to go to college.
Now a federal judge in the U.S. state of Texas has ruled not to stop the Obama-era program known as DACA. But that's a temporary victory for DACA advocates.
The judge also made it clear he believes the program could ultimately be declared unconstitutional. In the last year alone, the U.S. Congress has failed twice to pass legislation on the future of DACA and three federal judges have kept it in place for the time being.
In the meantime, nearly 500 immigrant children have not been reunited with their parents after being separated at the border with Mexico, at least 22 of those children under the age of 5 years old.
All this comes as activists are condemning the conditions immigrants face when detained. Authorities finally granted our Nick Valencia access, permission to visit a detention center a human rights advocate calls the black hole. Take a look.
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NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is rural Georgia, home of the Stewart Detention Facility, one of the largest immigration detention centers in the country with over 1,900 detainees.
We were given rare access inside the facility but, for security reasons, on the outside, we're not allowed to film beyond this point, only inside the interview room, where we're about to meet a detainee.
VALENCIA (voice-over): Death followed 28-year-old Hector nearly his whole life in Honduras. Now in the United States, is he still so scared of being killed, he asked not to be shown on camera. He says, back home, his sister was raped and later murdered. One day after witnessing a random murder himself, he feared he would be next.
HECTOR, IMMIGRANT DETAINEE: (Speaking Spanish).
VALENCIA (voice-over): Hector fled north, crossing through Mexico into San Diego, where he asked for asylum. He was detained and sent to Philadelphia. Once released, he settled in North Carolina with his family.
Fitted with an ankle monitor, Hector was told he would have regular home visits from ICE agents. But he missed a visit. In January, he landed back in detention, this time at Stewart. Conditions here have broken his spirit.
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VALENCIA (voice-over): He says he's lost close to 10 pounds because of the poor diet at the medium security facility. According to him, not only are his basic needs not met, he alleges the guards discriminate against the mostly Latino detainees.
HECTOR: (Speaking Spanish).
VALENCIA (voice-over): While Hector navigates the daily challenges of life inside detention, on the outside he has advocates.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is working in the trenches.
VALENCIA (voice-over): Dan Warner is with the Southern Poverty Law Center and provides pro bono legal work. But it's an uphill battle. The approval rate of asylum claims at Stewart is in the single digits.
DAN WARNER, SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER: People are just churned through the system and spit out the other end as quickly as possible.
VALENCIA (voice-over): Unfortunately for him, Hector's future has already been decided. A judge at Stewart denied his asylum request. Soon he will be deported.
HECTOR: (Speaking Spanish).
VALENCIA: The detainee that you heard from this in that report made a lot of claims. So we went to Core Civic, the organization that runs the Stewart Detention Center, to ask them to respond. And here's what they said in part.
"Any claim of a detainee being denied food at Stewart is patently false. There is no circumstance where food would be withheld from a detainee. We take such allegations seriously and we are not aware of any information, such as a detainee grievance, to support that claim."
They go on to say, "Core Civic cares deeply about every person in our care and we work hard to ensure those in our facility are treated respectfully and humanely. We do not tolerate discrimination of any kind. And cultural and ethnic sensitivity education is part of every employee's training."
But for Hector, the detainee you heard from, he says, at Stewart, he was treated like an animal -- Nick Valencia, CNN, Atlanta.
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HOWELL: Nick, thank you.
In Japan, that nation bracing for another powerful storm in a season that just won't let up on severe weather.
Now Typhoon Jebi is on the way. The storm packing winds of 250 kilometers per hour. That's about 155 miles per hour. And even though it's weakening, it is still going to hit parts of Japan hard. And in parts of the southern U.S., the tropics are showing signs of becoming more active.
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HOWELL: I want to be show you this. On the shores of the Dominican Republic, take a look at what's coming up there. More trash, massive piles of plastic garbage, covering the beach of Santa Domingo.
Heavy rains and quick currents dragged the waste ashore. In July, volunteers removed more than 1,000 tons of garbage from the beach in just 20 days. Officials say they're looking at fining people who throw trash into the streets.
It's just a sad thing to see.
Still ahead, after nearly seven decades, the U.S. pulls the plug on a lifeline for many Palestinian refugees. Why critics say that is a dangerous move.
Plus, a solemn day in Washington, D.C. Family and friends remember the life, the legacy of the U.S. Senator John McCain.
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HOWELL: On our network here in the United States and our network around the world, you're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Atlanta. I'm George Howell with the headlines we're following for you.
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HOWELL: The Saudi-led coalition now says mistakes were made last month on an airstrike on a school bus in Yemen. Houthi officials say 51 people, 40 of the people, children, were killed in that attack. Witnesses say it was a direct hit and CNN has learned the attack used
a U.S.-supplied laser-guided bomb. Civilians are frequently victims of the conflicts there. On Tuesday a U.N. panel said parties fighting in Yemen had conducted disproportionate attacks, potentially war crimes.
Following this story, CNN's Salma Abdelaziz in our London bureau.
Salma, with what appears to have been the targeting of a school bus with a precision weapon, how's the Saudi-led coalition explaining this as a mistake?
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN PRODUCER: George, this is a significant departure from what we heard earlier from Saudi officials in the immediate aftermath of the strike. At the time, they called it a legitimate military operation. They even praised their high military standards for targeting.
Now we have the statement, saying there issues when it comes to compliance with the rules of engagement. One legal adviser to the joint assessment team said in a press conference yesterday that it might have been an issue of timing; meaning, that the call to carry out the airstrike was made but there was a significant delay in the actual strike happening.
Regardless, the images we saw coming out of this airstrike that killed dozens of children are some of the worst we've seen in the more than three-year civil war and they've caused international outrage.
And remember, it's not just Saudi Arabia that's implicated in this. We have, of course, the U.S.-supplied weapon that was used in this attack. And, of course, this coalition is backed by a range of partners, including the U.S. and the U.K.
So the question for them will be, can we see concrete actions taken on the ground to ensure that reparations are made to those families that lost children?
Can we ensure that those who made mistakes are held accountable?
And will the rules of engagement be held to a higher standard in the future?
HOWELL: The Saudi-led coalition has been accused by the international community, by human rights groups of causing civilian deaths in the past.
What's the difference this time?
Could there be a change?
ABDELAZIZ: That's right. This same body, the joint incidents assessment team, has in the past found the Saudi-led coalition to have made faults during airstrikes. In 2016, a funeral hall was struck; more than 150 people were killed. Later that joint incidents assessment team found under investigation
that there was faulty intelligence that led to the large civilian casualties. However, a year later Human Rights Watch published a report in 2017, saying no concrete steps had been taken to hold those accountable who might be guilty of war crimes.
And the families have yet to be paid or given compensation for those loved ones that they lost. So again, the question is going to be, are we going to see these words on paper actually translate to some changes on the ground?
HOWELL: Salma Abdelaziz, live in our London bureau, thank you for the reporting. We'll keep in touch with you and follow the story.
The well-being of more than 5 million Palestinian refugees is now on the line after the United States decided to end all funding for the U.N. agency that protects them. That includes more than half a million children, who go to schools run by the agency known as UNRWA.
The U.S. has been the single biggest donor since the agency was created seven decades ago. Now UNRWA is looking for new donors. The U.S. calls the agency "irredeemably flawed," but Palestinian leaders warn cutting its funding could destabilize an already volatile region.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So now this is an American political decision, added to their decision (INAUDIBLE) capital. United States may have the right to say we don't want to give the taxpayers' money.
But who give the U.S. the right to approve the stealing of my land, my future, my aspiration, my capital, my Aqsa Mosque, my Holy Sepulchre Church?
They have no right whatsoever.
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HOWELL: And in the meantime, Israel is welcoming the --
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HOWELL: -- funding cut. Our correspondent Ian Lee following the story live for us in Jerusalem.
Ian, clearly as we heard from that senior official, this adds insult to injury to Palestinians.
IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And it could make the situation right now between Israel and Gaza more tense because we've seen just ongoing clashes in this early spring and early summer. And that was around that embassy move and declaration of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel by the United States.
And now this move by the U.S. You could see, George, changes on the ground in these areas where Palestinian refugees reside, because the UNWRA does play a significant role in providing health care, providing education, social services, employment. And so cutting that immediately could destabilize an already fragile situation.
We know with Egypt and the U.N. working very hard to keep the calm right now between Gaza and Israel, potentially why this announcement came out on Friday night after the protests on Friday to give it a full week to subside any anger.
But, again, that's up in the air. We did hear from the head of the PLO delegation to the United States. He also said that this just shows that the United States isn't a viable peacemaker.
HOWELL: Let's talk more about this money that goes to education, to basic needs. Politically it is celebrated by Israel with this change of position.
But is there greater concern just about destabilization from this move?
LEE: Yes. We've got to remember that it's not just Palestinians in the West Bank in Gaza and East Jerusalem in these refugee camps that benefit from UNRWA. You also have Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. And especially in Syria, during the civil war, UNRWA has been instrumental in helping them. Also in Lebanon.
In Lebanon and Syria, these were two countries where Palestinians can't have citizenship of the country in which they reside. So they do depend heavily on UNRWA for a lot of basic services.
So when you take away over $300 million out of the budget, a third of their budget, that is going to be very difficult to make up. But, for Israel on its part, they see UNRWA has an organization that perpetuates the conflict. We've heard that from the prime minister. And he said that it's time for UNRWA to be disbanded. Take a listen.
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BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL: I suggest a gradual conversion of all funds going to UNRWA to other agencies that deal with the question of refugees and actually have criteria.
This will not -- this will not have negative effects, it will have positive effects because the perpetuation of the dream of bringing the descendants of refugees back to Jaffa is what sustains this conflict.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEE: OK, George, so let's just look at UNRWA as an agency right now. It gets its mandate from the U.N. General Assembly. Only the U.N. General Assembly can disband UNRWA; the United States can't, even though it's a member of the U.N. Security Council.
This hit going to be hard. UNRWA is looking for other donors to make up this shortfall. We heard from Chris Gunness (ph), who's the UNRWA spokesman. He rejects basically what the prime minister is saying, that essentially UNRWA is around because of the conflict, the conflict isn't around because UNRWA. UNRWA has a mandate to help these refugees and until the U.N. General
Assembly sees otherwise, that they will continue their mission. Although it's going to be hard with the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars -- George.
HOWELL: Ian Lee live for us in Jerusalem. Thank you.
In London and in the United Kingdom, fears over Brexit.
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ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You didn't honestly think you'd have to give your son up?
PAUL, FOOD BANK PATRON: Yes, because I wouldn't want him to starve.
HOWELL (voice-over): Why many in Wales say they are concerned the cost of change could be too much to bear.
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HOWELL: In less than seven months, the United Kingdom will leave the E.U. and Prime Minister Theresa May has a message for her fellow Brits. Writing in the Sunday "Telegraph," May says there will be no second referendum on Brexit, saying it would be a gross betrayal of the country's democracy.
May also said that she would not be pushed into compromises that aren't in the national interest. Parliament will vote on the final Brexit deal next month.
Nearly one in four people in Wales live below the poverty line. And some there hoped that Brexit would make their lives better. But with the U.K.'s exit from the E.U. on the horizon, that might actually make things worse, they feel. CNN's Erin McLaughlin looks into that.
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MCLAUGHLIN (voice over): Summer in the Welsh countryside -- a serene scene that belies an ugly truth.
While Wales is a land of abundance, it is also the land of the hungry. Over 20 percent of people here live in poverty, according to a study by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, more than anywhere else in the U.K.
At the Conwy Food Bank, as Britain barrels towards Brexit, they are concerned the situation could get even worse. A progressive think tank and a private consultancy both published reports saying the cost of food as basic as this could go up -- unimaginable scenarios for these volunteers.
They remember when food banks were unheard of in a country that prides itself on taking care of its own.
Arwel Jones runs the bank which in the last year alone saw a 10 percent increase in demand.
ARWEL JONES, MANAGER, CONWY FOOD BANK: The situation is already very, very serious. I mean let's be honest. You know, you think about things like food kitchens and stuff like that with the depression.
MCLAUGHLIN (on camera): Did you ever think you'd see a day in which you would be running a food bank in Wales?
JONES: Never. Never.
MCLAUGHLIN: We've been asked to turns the cameras off as soon as people start to arrive for this food. That moment when you can --
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MCLAUGHLIN: -- no longer feed yourself or your family for many, is a point of shame.
MCLAUGHLIN (voice-over): That holds true for people like Paul. We meet him outside, too embarrassed to show his face, his suitcase packed with food for his 6-year-old son.
PAUL, FOOD BANK USER: I never (INAUDIBLE). That night, you'd probably ask me if (INAUDIBLE), you know, because it's (INAUDIBLE).
MCLAUGHLIN: You don't have it if you think you'd have to give your son up.
PAUL: Yes, because I wouldn't want him to starve, you know.
MCLAUGHLIN (voice over): Paul says he's struggling with sickness and changes to the U.K. benefits system. What happens with Brexit perhaps the furthest thing from his mind.
MCLAUGHLIN: What did you vote?
PAUL: Brexit.
MCLAUGHLIN: You voted to leave.
PAUL: Yes. I just don't think the E.U. should govern us. I just don't like a foreign country deciding what Britain does.
It's just our identity, isn't it?
MCLAUGHLIN (voice over): Identity is something people cling to when poverty bites. In 2016 the majority of Wales voted to leave the European Union even though some argued Brexit could hit the poorest the hardest. A 2018 study by the consultancy Oliver Wyman found that, for all main Brexit scenarios, prices will go up between 200 pounds to over 900 pounds per year, extra money 19-year-old Llinos (ph) says she doesn't have.
A single mom, too young to vote at the time of the referendum, now sitting in an E.U. funded cafe created to help the poor. She barely has enough to feed her baby.
MCLAUGHLIN: Are you familiar with Brexit? The cost of things --
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LLINOS THOMAS, UNEMPLOYED SINGLE MOTHER: Yes.
MCLAUGHLIN: -- that it all could go up --
THOMAS: Go up, yes.
MCLAUGHLIN: -- by hundreds of pounds a year, potentially.
THOMAS: Yes.
MCLAUGHLIN: Are you worried about that?
THOMAS: Yes. That would be massive issue. I'm only on (INAUDIBLE) I can just afford (INAUDIBLE) the day before that is (INAUDIBLE).
MCLAUGHLIN (voice over): Nevertheless Llinos (ph) says she has hope. Once her baby's in school she plans to get a job.
For Paul it's different.
MCLAUGHLIN: Do you see a way out for yourself?
PAUL: For me, no.
MCLAUGHLIN: There's no way out because your life --
PAUL: Yes. It's sad.
MCLAUGHLIN: In Wales, there's worry, worry that, when it comes to Brexit, the highest price might ultimately be paid by those who can least afford it -- Erin McLaughlin, CNN, Northwestern Wales.
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HOWELL: Erin, thank you.
The rock band U2 canceled its Berlin show on Saturday after the lead singer, Bono, lost his voice. Bono sang a few songs before suffering, quote, "a complete loss of voice." This according to the band.
Concertgoers say that Bono on stage said he thought it was the smoke from the smoke machines. U2 is next set to perform a sold-out show in Cologne, Germany, on Tuesday. Remembering the late John McCain, a war hero, politician and a funny guy, had a sense of humor.
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BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Throughout my presidency John never hesitated to tell me when he thought I was screwing up, which, by his calculation, was about once a day.
HOWELL (voice-over): More on the lighter side of John McCain. Stay with us.
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HOWELL: Remembering the late U.S. Senator John McCain. He will be buried following a private ceremony in the coming hours. Saturday was the final public memorial.
Family, friends, dignitaries all came together at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., to pay their respects. McCain's one- time political rivals, former presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, brought levity to the solemn day by reminding everyone how funny John McCain was in life.
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OBAMA: His sense of humor, a little bit of a mischievous streak. After all, what better way to get a last laugh than to make George and I say nice things about him to a national audience.
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GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I got to enjoy one of life's great gifts, the friendship of John McCain. And I'll miss him.
Moments before my last debate ever, with Senator John Kerry in Phoenix, I was trying to gather some thoughts in the holding room. I felt a presence, opened my eyes and, six inches from my face, was McCain, who yelled, "Relax, relax!"
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HOWELL: John McCain may have been a serious man but, as we just heard, he seriously knew how to laugh. Our Randi Kaye takes a look back at the senator, known for both his wisdom and for his wit. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
J. MCCAIN: Good evening, my fellow Americans. I ask you what should we be looking for in our next president? Certainly someone who is very, very, very old.
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Senator John McCain two months after winning the 2008 Republican Party nomination cracking jokes on "Saturday Night Live." One of countless opportunities the senator took to poke fun at himself.
J. MCCAIN: I've also opposed federal water projects, even when they benefited my state. That's why thanks to me, 15 percent of Arizona citizens must get their drinking water from cactus.
KAYE: He was the first sitting senator to host "Saturday Night Live" and returned to the show many times. His comic timing always impressive. McCain played everything from a creepy husband --
MCCAIN, "DAVID PEMBERTON": You're so lovely.
AMY POEHLER, COMEDIAN, "GILLIAN WOODWARD": Oh, oh.
"PEMBERTON": I could watch you for hours.
"WOODWARD": Oh my god, David, how did you get in here?
"PEMBERTON": The door was open, angel.
Shall I loofah your back?
KAYE: -- to a character he called Bad Grandpa.
J. MCCAIN: That's where I get on TV and go come on, Obama is going to have plenty of chances to be president. It's my turn.
KAYE: McCain's humor wasn't always self deprecating. He could be cutting too, like when someone asked him back in 2007 if --
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KAYE (voice-over): -- he's too old to be president.
J. MCCAIN: And thanks for the question, you little jerk. You're drafted.
KAYE: And at times, his jokes were spur of the moment, like when he did this to a CNN reporter while he was on live TV.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The department laying out a series --
KAYE: McCain got such a kick out of himself, he tweeted about it later, calling it revenge. He liked to joke with the media, even our own Anderson Cooper during this interview in Washington, D.C.
J. MCCAIN: It's always good to see you here and trying to do the Lord's work in the city of Satan.
KAYE: While not everyone appreciated his sarcasm, those who did often enjoyed being part of the joke, like Senator Chris Coons who fondly remembers McCain teasing him when he was junior senator.
SEN. CHRIS COONS, (D) DELAWARE: And he spots me and he says, "Coons, you get off my plane."
And I said, "What?"
And Lindsey comes over and grabs my arm and says, "That's how you know he likes you."
KAYE: Whatever inspired his sense of humor, Senator John McCain left us all laughing and smiling in his memory -- Randi Kaye, CNN, Florida.
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HOWELL: Thank you for being with us this day for CNN NEWSROOM. I'm George Howell at the CNN Center in Atlanta. For our viewers in the United States, new day is next. For viewers around the world, "AMANPOUR" is ahead. You're watching CNN, the world's news leader.
