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Iran Enriching Uranium Past Agreement Limits; Greek-Center- Right New Democracy Party Wins Election; U.S. Women Win Record Fourth World Cup Title; U.S. Female Players Demand To Be Paid As Equal To Men; President Plans To Open Detention Centers To Media. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired July 08, 2019 - 01:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:00:00] CYRIL VANIER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: The U.S. President warns Iran to be careful after Tehran announces it has crossed a line set by the nuclear deal.

NATALIE ALLEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Greece moves to the right. The country's conservative party regains power as voters ousted the left-wing prime minister. Also --

VANIER: The U.S. women win their fourth title at the World Cup as the conversation now more than ever leads back to the team's fight for equal pay.

ALLEN: How about that one? It's pretty impressive, wasn't it?

VANIER: Absolutely a very impressive win, a very impressive run for them at the World Cup. Thank you so much for joining us. We're live from the CNN center here in Atlanta. I'm Cyril Vanier.

ALLEN: I'm Natalie Allen, this is CNN NEWSROOM. Our top story, the U.S. and Iran are locked in another round of threats and ultimatums this after the Islamic Republic announced Sunday it is enriching uranium past levels allowed by the 2015 nuclear deal. Here was U.S. President Trump in New Jersey.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Iran better be careful because you enrich for one reason and I won't tell you what the reason is but it's no good. They better be careful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VANIER: The U.S. Secretary of State's also weighed in. Mike Pompeo tweeted this. Iran's latest expansion of its nuclear program will lead to further isolation and sanctions. Nations should restore the long-standing standard of no enrichment for Iran's nuclear program.

Iran's regime armed with nuclear weapons would pose an even greater danger to the world. This latest standoff puts Europe in a bind. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh explains that from London.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is the second announcement from Iran. That means they're violating some of the terms of the nuclear deal and it's the most dangerous one of the two frankly. A week ago they said they're going to exceed the limits they're allowed on low-grade enriched uranium, and this time they said they were going to increase the purity to which they do the enriching.

Now currently they do 3.67 percent and that's pretty useless and certainly very far away from the ninety percent needed for nuclear weapons. Today though they left out a key piece of information, to what purity are they going to do enriching.

And they suggested in the last sort of 48 hours or so that it would be round about five percent and that's still very far away from kind of the danger level of 20 percent from which it's easy to get to 90 percent. But still, it is quite clear that they are increasing the purity of the uranium that they are enriching.

Now that sort of void and information was filled by many of Iran's opponents. Israel came forward very quickly and said that is obviously just them pursuing an atomic bomb. What really it seems though Tehran are looking to do by violating the terms of the deal ever so slightly but in this case, a little more dangerously. It's put pressure on the signatories of the deal who are from Europe.

Now, we know that the United States many weeks and months ago has imposed the sanctions that were taken off as part of the nuclear deal. In Tehran eyes, Washington has long been violating the deal they signed together.

Now Iran are violating little bits in the hoping this will pressure the Europeans signatories to find some kind of way to alleviate sanctions pressure against Iran. Iran ideally hopes the European companies will decide to take the risk of losing their business in the United States and then continue business in Iran. That's unlikely to happen frankly.

So now we have this troubling moment where Iran is clearly trying to step out of certain parts of that particular deal mostly symbolically, in some areas quite threateningly, and the question, of course, moving forwards is what next.

Now, they've said they won't announce what their next violation is for about another two months or so. But there's plenty of space there for escalatory rhetoric. Remember in just the last fortnight Donald Trump almost launched strikes against Iran for downing a U.S. drone. It's a very tense time indeed.

And when you're playing around frankly with adherence to a nuclear deal, and the Europeans have said very clearly they want Iran to get back within the terms it just makes situation even more dangerous indeed. Nick Paton Walsh CNN London. (END VIDEOTAPE)

VANIER: Joining us is Trita Parsi, Executive Vice President to the Quincy Institute and author of Losing an Enemy. So Trita, Iran currently is inching away from the nuclear deal in order to put pressure on European countries and they want European countries to help them avoid American sanctions. That's the strategy. What do you think of it?

TRITA PARSI, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, QUINCY INSTITUTE: It is a strategy. I think what -- I think is very good at you mentioned inching away because the steps that they are taking are not radical violations or breaks of the agreement. They are testing the limits. And all of these steps that they are taking are very easily reversible.

[01:05:09] And they're making it very clear. As long as the Europeans come back into the deal in a sense that they offer and provide Iranians the economic benefits that they were promised, then the Iranians will reverse and get rid of the extra mass and go back to only 3.7 -- sex or six-seven enrichment.

So they're putting counter pressure on the Europeans because in their perspective, the Europeans have only been under pressure from Trump and they have been very sensitive to that pressure and frankly have adhered to that pressure and done more less what Trump has wanted them to do.

And the Iranians have been patient for a year hoping that the Europeans would never less continued to trade with Iran, that has not happened. So now, they're essentially using this strategy as Trump is used but perhaps a little bit more measure than what Trump did.

VANIER: And can the Europeans deliver? I mean, are they actually capable of shielding Iran from U.S. sanctions? Because everything I'm reading is that European companies are afraid of being themselves punished by American sanctions?

PARSI: There are things the Europeans can do. This is about political will. The Chinese show that they have the political will. They decided to continue to buy Iranian oil despite of the U.S. sanctions pointing out something that the Europeans agree with which is that these sanctions are illegal. So the Europeans can do this but it will come to a cost to them because it will mean that they will increase their tensions with Trump. And this --

VANIER: Do you think -- do you think they will?

PARSI: Sorry?

VANIER: Do you think they will because they're -- OK, so you say they're capable of doing it. Do you think they will?

PARSI: The Europeans are going to have to make a tough decision. They cannot continue to say that they want to keep the deal but not actually have any skin in the game and essentially make sure that they are doing things in order to keep the deal. Because the strategy they had had so far is essentially that they are saying they want to keep the deal but are much more adamant on making sure that they adhere to Trump's sanctions rather than to adhere to the obligations they have on the Nuclear Deal.

I think it's possible but it's risky and it essentially means that the Europeans will have to show a degree of independence from the United States that we have not seen thus far.

VANIER: Yes, exactly. It will be a departure from what they've been doing over the last few months. Emmanuel Macron reached out to the Iranian President. He's trying to patch things up and he's trying to kick start negotiations with everyone, presumably, that means with the U.S. as well by the middle of this month, by July 15th. Do you think he can do that?

PARSI: I don't think there's going to be any negotiations that the Iranians participate with the Trump administration unless the Trump administration starts adhering to the deal, meaning that they lift some of these sanctions. And probably also until he gets rid of John Bolton and Pompeo because the Iranians have the experience that as long as those individuals are there, even if Trump were to make promises, those promises would not be acted upon because Pompeo and Bolton will sabotage the diplomacy.

And the Iranians simply cannot afford another negotiation with the United States, in which the U.S. actually does not live up to its end of the bargain. Then we have to remind ourselves that this is a very, very bad situation because the Iranians can be looking towards the North Koreans and see that the North Koreans are getting much better treatment from the United States than the Iranians are and the big difference there is that the North Koreans actually have nuclear weapons.

What the Trump administration is doing with its policies is signalling to the rest of the world that the United States is under liable, that it is dangerous, that it is somewhat trigger-happy, and that you need to protect yourself from the United States. And the only way to do so is try to get nuclear weapons. That's the last thing they should want the Iranians to conclude.

VANIER: Trita Parsi, thank you so much for your analysis today. Thanks for joining us on the show.

PARSI: Thank you.

ALLEN: Now we look at Greece and the brand-new prime minister who will be sworn into office in just a few hours. Kyriakos Mitsotakis of the center-right New Democracy Party swept to victory in Sunday's snap election.

VANIER: He overtook sitting Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras who's tenure in office has been rocky. Tsipras conceded defeat while Mitsotakis vowed to ensured that Greece will be heard by Europe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ALEXIS TSIPRAS, PRIME MINISTER, GREECE: We fought and achieve a lot always with our head held high. And today, again, with our head held high, we accept the people's verdict.

KYRIAKOS MITSOTAKIS, PRIME MINISTER-ELECT, GREECE: I want a strong Greece with self-confidence that will claim in Europe what it deserves, not be a beggar or a poor relative.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Let's talk about this outcome and where Greece is headed with journalist Elinda Lambropoulou. She's in Athens for us. Elinda, thank you for being with us. Well, the prime minister is out and Greece have elected a pro-business Conservative. What's the significance of this outcome?

ELINDA LAMBROPOULOU, JOURNALIST: It's supposed to be a very different message to the markets. This is a person who is a reformist. He said that he's a very pro-business. His aim is to re-brand Greece, he said. He wants to bring it out of the old era. The difference with previous administration which has very anti-bailout, went into office saying that it's going go against those charity, change the bailout terms for Greece.

It's Mr. Mitsotakis promises to bring a new stability to Greece. This man is quite specific. He's going to go ahead with reforms, with much-needed reform such as privatizations and tax cuts in order to create this pro-business environment.

And he says that once he brings in foreign investment into Greece, what he's going to do is go back to Greece's lenders, say that we have delivered and now it's time to see if we can get some fiscal space in order to help the economy grow. So this man is very solid but it does very much depend on what the predators will do next.

ALLEN: Right. Does this show desperation on the part of Greek voters who are wary about what happened many years ago with the economy tanking during austerity and where they want to see their future go?

LAMBROPOULOU: I think he rise above that. It shows exactly that, that Greek speaks stability now and they voted for somebody who's pro- reforms and also has a very solid plan. What they saw last time is empty promises, populism, and now they're saying that this is not what they want to do again.

Overall what we've seen in this election is basically a correction in the system. There was a lot of panic during the crisis years, a lot of extremism in Greece. All of that seems to have significantly subsided. Greece seems to have a new maturity as the election results have shown and they're really being much more pragmatic about what their next leader will deliver.

It is the reason why they chose a conservative leader, a party that is not a stranger in Greek politics. It's one of the most established parties in Greece that has dominated political life for a long time. And they feel that this is the best way in order for the economy to move forward nicely.

ALLEN: Right. And you are with us many years ago when the economy tanked and tourism died in Greece. There was a run on the banks. The older people were so worried about getting their money and it's really no better for young people right now who are leaving the country still right, for jobs elsewhere. What's it like there for everyday life?

LAMBROPOULOU: The truth is that people have been leaving Greece for a number of years as a result of the crisis and there is a huge (INAUDIBLE). So the challenge for the new prime minister, the new administration is to show that he can recreate the kind of environment that will draw people back.

The economy is growing slowly. It's about an annual growth of about two percent a year. But the idea is that if Mr. Mitsotakis can deliver, once people see results, they will be more ways to return to Greece, to invest in Greece, and altogether this will bring more money into the real economy and improve people's lives. That is still a very difficult, Natalie.

ALLEN: I can imagine. We will have to wait and see what he can do and if he stays true to his promise. Thank you so much. Elinda Lambropoulou for us, thank you.

VANIER: That's one of the last times you see that animation. The U.S. Women soccer team has made history once again. They are now World Cup champions for a fourth time.

ALLEN: They beat the Netherlands in case you don't know, 2-0 on Sunday to extend their record for most World Cup titles.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Coming, shooting, goal! A goal put out by U.S.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: A young lady there from Cincinnati, Ohio who made that goal. Team co-captain Megan Rapinoe won the Golden Ball Award presented to the tournament's best player. Our Amanda Davies has more on team USA's victory from Lyon, France.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN INTERNATIONAL SPORTS ANCHOR: Don't let the quiet calm here by the stadium for you. Just a few hours ago, this was the scene of celebrations worthy of history-making World Cup finals. The near 60,000 capacity stadium had witnessed the USA become the second time in history defend their crown after defeating the Netherlands 2- 0.

The fans have now made their way back into the center of the city dubs itself the home of women's football as the USA's goal-scoring camp in Megan Rapinoe put it sunglasses season is well underway.

[01:15:09] The party is getting started. And you've got to say, it's a very well-deserved party after what was an impressive performance even if they did have to dig deeper than maybe previous games, and more so than people had predicted (INAUDIBLE) the Dutch side-playing in just their second World Cup.

But, at this point, they won't mind how they got there. What an achievement, particularly off the back of that early exit at the Olympics just three years ago when serious questions were being asked, and in this, the year being talked about as the best standard of the women's game in history.

The U.S. women have now won the World Cup four times in eight additions of this tournament. They are deservedly the team that the rest use as their benchmark, and it could've been written in the stars, Megan Rapinoe, who's written so many of the headlines off the pitch, over the last few weeks, in terms of her comments over the equal pay battle, her verbal sparring with Donald Trump.

Though, she would be the one to so calmly step up and score the penalty that broke the deadlock. Rose Lavelle did follow up with the second, but Rapinoe said afterwards, her side were just doing what they had to do both on and off the pitch.

MEGAN RAPINOE, TEAM CO-CAPTAIN, U.S. WOMEN'S SOCCER TEAM: We've done exactly what we have set out to do. We've done exactly what we want to do. We say what we feel, all of us, really. I know that my, you know, voice sometimes is louder, but, you know, in (INAUDIBLE) and in conversations and everybody is in this together.

We are such a proud and strong and defiant group of women. I don't think we have, really, anything to say.

DAVIES: This tournament built as the biggest and best women's World Cup yet, has undoubtedly been a springboard for the women's game. For the last 20 years, it's been the U.S. winning side from 1999, hailed as the role models for the next generation.

Now, the team of 2019 has stepped up to raise the bar once again, Amanda Davies, CNN, Lyon, France.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Now, she pointed they had a tough go of it getting here. You were at the World Cup match.

VANIER: I was indeed.

ALLEN: In your hometown.

VANIER: I was indeed, the quarterfinal, great game.

ALLEN: And did you have a favorite American player?

VANIER: I mean, look, you know, I went with my son, you know my son, he's 9, loves football, and he's all about Alex Morgan. And, you know, and in fact, that was one of the interesting things to me, that these -- that these players have really broken out, it looks to me, broken out of the -- it's not just a niche --

ALLEN: It's not a gender --

VANIER: -- women's sport anymore. I have a son who just absolutely adores her.

ALLEN: Loves women soccer. Love it. All right, well, the World Cup victory comes as this team is suing the U.S. Soccer Federation for gender discrimination. They say they deserve to be paid as much as the men who have yet to win a single World Cup.

VANIER: Nike is one of the groups backing the women's fight for equal play -- the equal pay. The company released a powerful ad just moments after Sunday's victory.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I believe that we will make our voices heard and T.V. shows will be talking about us every single day and not just once every four years, and that women will conquer more than just the soccer field like breaking every single glass ceiling and having their faces carved on Mount Rushmore. And that we'll keep fighting not just to make history, but to change it forever.

CROWD: I believe that we will win.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: The team wins, everybody wins.

VANIER: Everybody wins.

ALLEN: -- is what they said there. Team USA star Megan Rapinoe has been at the forefront as we heard from her a moment ago, of the equality debate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAPINOE: I think everyone is ready for this conversation to move to the next step. I think we are done with, are we worth it, should we have equal pay, is it, you know -- is the market the same? Yes, yes, everyone is done with that, I mean, we put on as all players, I'm saying. Every player at this World Cup put on the most incredible show that you could ever ask for. We can't do anything more.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VANIER: President Trump told reporters that he needs to learn more about the pay disparity in soccer before weighing in on the debate.

ALLEN: It's time to move to that, as we heard Megan say. Well, still to come here, speaking of President Trump, inept, insecure, incompetent, a scathing review of the U.S. President by Britain's ambassador to the U.S. We'll tell you what Mr. Trump had to say about it.

[01:20:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WORLD SPORT HEADLINES)

VANIER: U.S. President Donald Trump says he is not going to bother talking about the British ambassador to the U.S. who had some less than flattering things to say about him, in a series of leaked memos back to London. The ambassador wrote, President Donald Trump radiates insecurity and his administration is dysfunctional, clumsy and also inept.

ALLEN: Kim Darroch also wrote that to deal with President Trump effectively, points need to simple, even blunt. President Trump spoke briefly about the ambassador on Sunday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TEXT: The ambassador has not served the U.K. well. I can tell you that. We're not big fans of that man.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: And he moved on from there. OK, another major story we're following, of course, is a situation at the border. President Trump promising the world we'll see a clearer picture of conditions inside the migrant processing facilities along the U.S.-Mexico border. He told reporters, the doors to some of those centers will soon be open to the media.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I'm going to start showing some of these detention centers because of the press. I want the press to go in and see them. And I just spoke to (INAUDIBLE) Morgan, and I just spoke with, as you know, Kevin.

So, we're going to send people in. We're going to have some of the press go in (INAUDIBLE) you know, crowded, and we're the ones who are complaining about there, crowded.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[01:25:08] VANIER: So far, reporters have been granted only sporadic and limited access to the facilities and never with cameras. It's unknown which facilities and to what extent the media will be able to see inside. The President accuses the New York Times of exaggerating their description of conditions inside a Clint Texas facility.

ALLEN: The report which was on the front page said this, outbreaks of scabies, shingles and chickenpox were spreading among the hundreds of children who were being held in cramped cells, that's according to agents. The stench of the children's dirty clothing was so strong it spread to the agents' own clothing - people in town would scrunch their noses when they left for work.

The children cried constantly. One girl seemed likely enough to try to kill herself that the agents made her sleep on a cot in front of them, so they could watch her as they were processing new arrivals.

VANIER: The President called the account, phony, and the acting head of the Department of Homeland Security agreed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN MCALEENAN, ACTING SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: Because there's adequate food and water, because the facility is cleaned every day, because I know what our standards are, and I know they're being followed because we have tremendous levels of oversight, fine levels of oversight.

MARTHA RADDATZ, CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT, ABC NEWS: So you don't believe the New York Times report?

MCALEENAN: So, you're asking --

RADDATZ: The stench of the children's dirty clothing was so strong it spread to the agent. They have scabies, chickenpox. Why did you say unsubstantiated?

MCALEENAN: You just referenced three things that were unsubstantiated, inadequate food, inadequate water, and unclean cells, none of those have been substantiated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VANIER: And McAleenan, as that 350 migrant children remain in custody. Several border agents have been placed on administrative duty after the discovery of a private Facebook group last week.

ALLEN: About 1,000 current and former agents were members of what's called The Real CBP Nation page. The page had post mocking the separation of migrant families, several sexist photos of congresswoman there, and mocking photos of minorities. McAleenan says the investigation is continuing.

Next here, a commercial whaling in Japan, underway for the first time, in decades, is it a return to the past or part of the future? We'll have Japan's story on why they're doing this, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:30:57] VANIER: Welcome back to the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Cyril Vanier.

ALLEN: I'm Natalie Allen.

And here are our top stories.

The U.S. women's soccer team wins a record fourth World Cup title, beating the Netherlands two nil in France on Sunday. This is the team's second consecutive World Cup title. They will be honored with a ticker tape parade in New York city on Wednesday.

VANIER: Greece has a new prime minister. Kyriakos Mitsotakis of the center right New Democracy Party will be sworn into office in the coming hours. He easily beat sitting Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. And in his victory speech, Mitsotakis promised to make Greece's voice that will be heard in Europe.

ALLEN: U.S. President Donald Trump says he Iran quote "better be careful", his words there. The warning comes after Tehran announced Sunday it is enriching uranium passed levels allowed by the 2015 nuclear deal. It says it will scale back even more of its commitments after 60 days. That's if others don't find a way to protect Iran from U.S. sanctions.

VANIER: The U.S. has long accused Iran of driving terrorism and conflict across the Middle East. At the heart of those accusations are four letters -- IRGC.

ALLEN: That's Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. It is a military unit viewed as a terrorist organization by the U.S.

As CNN's Becky Anderson reports, they also play a major role in Iran's economy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The defenders of Iran's borders will get strong and firm responses against any invasion.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They're Iran's most elite fighters. 150,000 battle-ready troops across air, land, and sea. All to keep this safe -- the country's Islamic Revolution set up by its ultimate power its original Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini to protect the regime from the inside out against threats like western- inspired coups that they've seen before.

But the war with Iraq, changing everything. The grueling, eight-year, intransient, blood soaked battle transforming the IRGC into a much more conventional outward looking forces.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have no territorial ambitions. Not even inside Iraq.

ANDERSON: That is not exactly true. The guards, now stomping around the region, with simple goals -- resist, survive, expand. Sending weapons and people to combatants in Syria, Yemen and Lebanon, too.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have received moral, political and material support in all its forms from Iran since 1982.

ANDERSON: The war with Iraq rippling out in other ways. After it, the IRBC helping rebuild the country. And from there, entangling itself across every part of the economy -- banking, shipping, farming, oil -- a multi billion dollar conglomerate, embedded within one third of the economy.

MIKE POMPEO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I'm announcing our intend to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a foreign terrorist organization. DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's a regime of great

terror.

ANDERSON: The Americans call them terrorists, blaming them for years of bombings.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Iran recognizes the United States as its worst enemy.

ANDERSON: But they consider themselves freedom fighters, who are, in many ways, a law unto themselves.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Now to a story that has a lot of environmental groups in some countries quite disturbed. Japan's first commercial whale hunt in more than three decades got underway on Monday.

VANIER: As CNN's Ivan Watson reports, the controversy whaling has caused in the past is raising questions about its future.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[01:34:57] IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): For the hunters, this has been a success. Just hours into Japan's first commercial whaling expedition in more than 30 years, the team harpooned not one, but two minke wales.

WATSON (on-camera): For some in Japan, this is a moment of national pride.

WATSON (voice-over): Japan's relationship with whales is controversial. To better understand, we head out to sea with Captain Mitsuhiko Maeda. He and his brother lead whale watches for Japanese tourists.

WATSON (on camera): Oh, it's cold, it's windy, and it's wet, but people are paying money because they want to see these whales out in the wild.

WATSON (voice over): They're delighted when we spot a minke whale.

WATSON (on camera): Here's the thing about the Maeda brothers, more than 30 years ago, they weren't whale watchers, they were whale hunters.

WATSON (voice over): This is Captain Maeda back in the 1960s when he worked with a team harpooning whales. That hunt came to an end in 1986 when the International Whaling Commission, of which Japan was a member, imposed a worldwide ban on commercial whaling.

"That decision was unacceptable," he tells me, "because suddenly we lost our jobs."

But, in fact, some Japanese whalers continued killing hundreds of whales every year, mostly in the Antarctic, under a special permit classifying the hunt as scientific research.

Animal rights groups and some western governments condemned the practice.

Last year, Japan announced its abrupt withdrawal from the International Whaling Commission declaring it would resume commercial whaling again within its own coastal waters.

KIYOSHI EJIMA, JAPANESE UPPER HOUSE MEMBER: I was waiting for the day for the commercial whaling to restart again.

WATSON: Kiyoshi Ejima, a lawmaker and passionate supporter of the whaling industry, applauds the decision.

EJIMA: I shouldn't say victory. It's a start-off kickoff point.

WATSON (on camera): Do you eat whale meat?

EJIMA: Sure. Of course.

WATSON (voice over): They're also celebrating the new whale hunt here at Taruichi, a Tokyo restaurant that specializes in dishes like whale sashimi, whale steak, and fried whale. The owner inherited this whale meat restaurant from his father.

SHINTARO SATO, OWNER, TARUICHI RESTAURANT (through translator): I hope the young generation that do not eat whale meat, will inherit this culture, and learn to eat it again.

WATSON: After World War II, whale meat was a vital source of protein in Japan, but government statistics show these days, very few Japanese eat any whale meat at all.

PATRICK RAMAGE, DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL FUND FOR ANIMAL WELFARE: There are fragile whale populations around Japan that cannot sustain commercial hunting, that cannot feed a meaningful Japanese market, even if there were one, for whale meat.

WATSON: Japanese supporters of whaling include Captain Maeda, the whale hunter turned whale watcher.

MITSUHIKO MAEDA, ABASHIRI NATURE CRUISE (through translator): I will continue whale-watching tourists, but the whale hunters should catch the whales. I want both to coexist.

WATSON: One wonders how long these two completely contradictory impulses can coexist in the waters around Japan.

Ivan Watson, CNN -- in the sea of Okhotsk off the coast of Japan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VANIER: All right. Stay with us. We'll be right back.

[01:37:27] (COMMERCIAL BREAK) ALLEN: An Illinois town swallowed by a wall of water when the Mississippi River flooded is now experiencing an unusual rebirth of sorts.

VANIER: The residents decided to move their entire town to a safer spot with more protection in case the Mississippi River floods again. And with record flooding in the region this year, some are starting to wonder if the climate crisis is to blame.

Our Stephanie Elam reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the defining image of the great flood of 1993. A home washing away in southern Illinois.

DENNIS KNOBLOCH, FORMER MAYOR OF VALMEYER, ILLINOIS: I didn't think that we would ever flood.

ELAM: Nearby Valmeyer, Illinois, virtually disappeared under 16 feet of water.

KNOBLOCH: Standing here on the driveway, I can remember teaching the kids to ride their bikes. There's a lot of good family memories.

ELAM: Most of the homes -- the school, the churches, all swallowed by a wall of water that spilled over the town's levee and lingered for months.

KNOBLOCH: Everybody was kind of like punched in the stomach.

ELAM: Almost immediately Dennis Knobloch, who was mayor at the time, and most of the nearly 1,000 people in the town decided to do something drastic -- erase the community that was their home for generations.

KNOBLOCH: I saw how the people suffered in '93. I didn't want to see future generations have to go through that.

ELAM: Fleeing the wrath of the mighty Mississippi, Valmeyer moved on to a bluff just a couple miles behind it.

MAYOR HOWARD HEAVNER, VALMEYER, ILLINOIS: We have the opportunity to grow here, where in the old town, we did not.

ELAM: After leaving the floodplain, Valmeyer found ways to prosper. Developing a quarry underneath the bluff into a warehouse now used by the National Archives to store records. And turning the old town from ghost town into corn fields that are earning the town money.

(on camera): This is the Mississippi River. A source of livelihood and anxiety for the village of Valmeyer. Swollen past its banks the river just broke a record set in '93 of 104 days above flood stage in St. Louis. I'm walking along the levee that protects the town from those rising flood waters, but as you can see, on the other side, the water is hard to tame, as the flood waters have found their way underneath the levee and are seeping into the town.

HEAVNER: The river is going down now, but you never really know whether it's going to go all the way down.

ELAM (voice-over): After the record-breaking flooding in the Midwest this year, other communities are looking to Valmeyer as a template. Researchers are studying its progress.

NICHOLAS PINTER, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA DAVIS: A third of U.S. communities will face increased risk of flooding by the middle of the century. Worldwide the numbers are really big. On the order of 100 million people, it's estimated are going to be displaced by rising sea levels alone by the end of the century.

ELAM: Is climate change affecting Valmeyer? There's no consensus here. They just knew they needed to change to survive.

(on camera): You still feel better at night sleeping knowing you're not down here?

KNOBLOCH: I don't have to look over my shoulder and wonder if the river is sneaking up on me, that's for sure.

ELAM (voice over): Stephanie Elam, CNN -- Valmeyer, Illinois.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Yes. it is all about building back with resilience, considering if you live that close to the Mississippi, too.

IVAN CABRERA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, no question. And one of the other things that happens with climate change -- hi, everybody -- as we get --

ALLEN: Hi -- Ivan.

VANIER: I'm still waiting to say your name.

CABRERA: -- more hurricanes, more tropical cyclones.

VANIER: I'm remiss. Ivan Cabrera -- everybody, from the CNN Weather Center.

CABRERA: Thank you very much. Yes. Yes. Here we are.

VANIER: I'm sorry.

CABRERA: So we get longer seasons. You know, the Atlantic season starts June 1st. I guess we've already had the (INAUDIBLE) -- and that happened before June first.

And that's been happening more often here. So we can't distribute every event to climate change. That's one of the things that happens.

Come on down, as we check in here with our area of low pressure. Now, what happens this time of year, certainly you can get a tropical cyclone developing in the gulf through the western Atlantic. But one of the ways they tend to develop as well, is we get these areas of low pressure, they hang up with these frontal boundaries here.

[01:45:00[ And as the front kind of sagged down into the gulf, once that low taps into either the gulf, or the western Atlantic, you could get development.

And so we're talking about this because the National Hurricane Center has now put this development, right, this potential development at 60 percent which is obviously significant. And that will be towards the later part of the week and heading into next weekend.

So something you want to watch for not just not just if you live right along the Gulf Coast here, but the rest of the southeast, and the U.S. as well. Perhaps you're flying in from New York, committee visiting family in Atlanta, well, it is going to be a rainy time.

And watch this now -- by the time we get into Wednesday, that is when we start getting something going, potentially here in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. We don't like to see that spin and watch what happens as I put this into motion.

Now, the caveat here is this is a longer term forecast here. So don't bet on that position, with that intensity, next Saturday. But that is certainly something that we could have develop.

What I am certain about is this very heavy rainfall that's going to be with us and that's going to be a flood spread over the next several days. By the way, the breeding ground for tropical cyclone system here is in that part of the world. Right on the gulf, and along the western Atlantic, along those fronts, they tend to develop here.

So we'll watch it.

The next name on the list is Barry -- so maybe we'll have that next weekend.

VANIER: All right. We hope Barry is (INAUDIBLE).

CABRERA: Yes with the U.S.

VANIER: Ivan Cabrera joining us from the CNN Weather Center. Thank you.

Always appreciate it, thanks.

And getting a driver's license in the state of Georgia, right here, is not usually an issue. I got one. But a lawsuit contends that it is, if the applicants are from Puerto Rico. CNN's Dianne Gallagher reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Fruits, frogs, flags -- those are just some of the topics the lawsuit claims the Georgia Department of Drivers Services ask Puerto Ricans about in order to get a driver's license.

Attorneys with the Latino Justice Organization and Southern Center for Human Rights, filed the class action suit this week accusing the state DDS of violating the civil rights act by engaging in quote, race based stereotyping, or implicit bias against Puerto Ricans.

JORGE VASQUEZ, PLAINTIFF'S ATTORNEY: If you're from Puerto Rico, you're scrutinized. They determined, that only, and solely because you're born in Puerto Rico, and you have a Puerto Rico drivers license, a Puerto Rico birth certificate that they need to investigate your file.

GALLAGHER: Latino justice says is representing at least 40 plaintiffs, who say they were quizzed on random Puerto Rican topics. CNN has reviewed, a document provided by Latino Justice that is labeled Puerto Rican interview guide that. And it includes the trivia style questions, described in the lawsuit. About baseball players, geography, popular dishes, slang, and politics. Some, appear to be tricky questions.

The only named plaintiff, (INAUDIBLE) Gonzalez, says he's been trying to get a Georgia license since October 2017. Attorneys say his documents have still not been returned, and he can't work, since he can't drive.

VASQUEZ: Why would a state single out, simply, individuals who are born in Puerto Rico? Simply because, they are born in Puerto Rico, as if they're not U.S. citizens, as if they are less than, as if they are second class citizens.

GALLAGHER: The DDS says it has not yet received a lawsuit, and can't comment on it. But noted that the department process is all drivers license applications, in accordance with state and federal law. When asked about the origins of that guide, spokesperson told CNN, the document was not sanctioned, and/or authorized by DDS administration. And Ricardo Rossello the governor of Puerto Rico released a statement on Wednesday, asking Georgia governor Brian Kemp to look into the allegations. Saying, "This is absurd. Puerto Ricans are U.S. Citizens, and cannot be treated unequally in any U.S. jurisdiction."

Now Georgia governor Brian Kemp's office did respond to our request for comment on this, saying that this is pending litigation, so they can't comment on the specifics of the claims, but did say that the governor had asked for the DDS commissioner to look into what's being alleged here. And also said that they do expect all state employees to treat everyone with dignity, and respect.

Dianne Gallagher, CNN -- Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: All right. Well, the World Cup is a wrap but at Wimbledon it is the halfway point. We preview the coming week and get some predictions about who is likely to survive. How about the name Coco? That's next -- Sunday (INAUDIBLE).

[01:49:26] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALLEN: All right. Week two is about to begin at Wimbledon. Everyone still left in the tournament plays Monday. That's today.

CNN's Christina Macfarlane talks to fans about who is still standing, and who will be there at the end.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTINA MACFARLAINE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wimbledon village. It's just a stone's throw from the All England Club, and where tennis fans share a pint after a full day of matches.

I found that they're some of the best people to talk to you when you're going in search of Wimbledon predictions.

Who do you think is going to win men's this year.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The men -- Roger Federer,

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Rafael Nadal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know.

Oh God yes. Maybe Federer, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nadal will push him, but I think it will be Djokovic.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rafa.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Definitely Djokovic, all the way.

MACFARLANE: You're a Djokovic fan then.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. 100 percent.

MACFARLANE: We've heard from tennis' die hard fans. Now, we're going to hear from one of the world's best coaches to find out who his top pics for this year's Wimbledon.

Darren Cahill has coached three of the biggest names in tennis to world number one -- Lleyton Hewitt, Andre Agassi, and Simona Halep. We caught up with him before Wimbledon started to ask him to name the three men who could win this tournament.

DARREN CAHILL, COACH: Roger Federer.

Roger, if he's healthy going into Wimbledon it's like his backyard court, Wimbledon's court. So no question that age doesn't agent matter as much on grass. He can find ways to finish points on any particular shot. He can work his way into the net. So I think that Roger is going to be a massive threat at Wimbledon. And I also think playing on the clay is going to help him because you have to hit so many balls, that when you do that, you're going for the grass.

[01:55:05] You're not looking for the timing, you already have it. So he'll be tough.

Novak Djokovic -- how will he respond to that French Open loss, after everything building up to winning this second Novak slam? So that will be on him, if he handles it well. Incredibly difficult to beat and a great chance of defending his title.

Stefanos Tsitispas -- he's got this eclectic unusual game that a lot of players don't play these days. He's not scared or transitioning forward. He's got different spins, different styles. He'd frozen a lot of drop shots. He doesn't mind moving to the net. So I think you've got a game really well suited to the grass. I'm looking forward to seeing how he goes there.

Most importantly with Stefanos is that he struts stretch across the court like he owns it.

So how is Darren Cahill doing with his pace? Well, he is two for three after Tsitsipas exited the tournament early in round one. However, Federer and Djokovic, of course, are still in it to win it, and they're on opposite sides of the draw, which means they could play each other still come the final here on Sunday. It would certainly be a matchup fit for center court.

Christina Macfarlane, CNN -- Wimbledon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VANIER: All right. Right. That's it from us.

I'm Cyril Vanier.

ALLEN: I'm Natalie Allen.

More news ahead with Paula Newton. Thanks for watching.

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