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Iran Enriching Uranium Past Agreement Limits; Trump Campaigned On Withdrawing U.S. From Nuclear Deal; Small Town Moves To Higher Ground After Massive Floods; Brands Hope To Cash In On Netflix's "Stranger Things". Aired 3-4a ET

Aired July 08, 2019 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR: President Trump warns Iran to be careful after Tehran announces its boosting uranium enrichment.

Despite reports of appalling conditions inside migrant detention centers, Donald Trump says those migrants are, quote, "very happy with what's going on." Even saying he'll invite the media inside.

Plus. And there they are. Team USA extending its record of Women's World Cup titles and their exceptional play is adding more fuel to the debate over equal pay.

Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from the United States and around the world. I'm Paula Newton. And this is CNN newsroom.

The standoff between Iran and the U.S. keeps escalating. This after Tehran announced Sunday it's enriching uranium past levels allowed by the 2015 nuclear deal. Now, it says it could breach even more of the agreement in about two months. The move looks aimed to be trying to get European countries help Iran evade U.S. sanctions.

Now, the showdown started after U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from that nuclear deal. He had this warning on Sunday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: CNN's Fred Pleitgen now is tracking this story. He joins us now live from Moscow. And you've spent many times -- you've been many times to Iran and spoken recent weeks with the Iranian leadership. Kind of give us some insight into what's behind this most recent decision.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, I think you put it absolutely correctly, Paula. The Iranians are trying to put pressure on the European countries because essentially what they're saying is with the nuclear agreement that is, of course, still in place, they're saying that they have been abiding by the nuclear agreement, putting extreme curbs on their nuclear program, their civilian nuclear program.

At the same time, they've gotten nothing in return, they say, except for additional sanctions making their economic situation worse. Now the Iranians are demanding of the Europeans to try to find some way to get around those sanctions.

Of course, what the Europeans have been saying there is that there is a system in the work, and in fact, that is already at least partially operational that's supposed to allow deals between Europe and Iran at least on a humanitarian basis, on a barter basis, essentially.

And the Europeans are saying that that is taking longer than planned to get going but they are saying that it is something that's in the works that is moving forward. The Iranians are saying that for their taste it is all moving way too slow and they haven't been satisfied also with the series of recent talks that have been going on with the Europeans to try and find some sort of way forward to allow the Iranians to have some remedy for their economic woes.

Now, the move that they've made now, Paula, is indeed a significant one. What they've done in the past or in the past couple of weeks is they say they've exceeded the amount of low enriched uranium that they are allowed to stockpile.

Basically, they made the same quality of low enriched uranium, but just made more of it than they were supposed to have under the nuclear agreement. They say that's something that they are allowed to do under the nuclear agreement as part of a remedy mechanism that's in that nuclear agreement if they feel that other countries are not living up to the deal.

But what they're doing now is they're changing the quality of the low enriched uranium that they're making. Before that, their level that they were -- their ceiling level, if you will, of the quality of uranium was 3.67 percent. Now the Iranians are saying they're going to exceed that.

The talk is around 5 percent enrichment, which is of course a higher enriched uranium. But one thing that we have to put into perspective, is that it takes uranium enriched to about 90 percent to actually make a nuclear weapon.

So, the Iranians still very much away from that, a very far away from that. They continue to say obviously they don't want nuclear weapons. They say they want this for their civilian nuclear program but they are now going to make low enriched uranium as they see fit and as they need, Paula.

NEWTON: You know, clearly a tactic though on their part, and clearly, they feel that this is the hand that they have to play, and yet, I have to ask you strategically, are they likely to get to the goal that they want? I mean, look, you and I have discussed it before, right, Fred? Right?

Europe, Germany, Britain, France, they know that they need to do something for Iran in order for them to continue to adhere to this 2015 deal.

PLEITGEN: Yes.

NEWTON: What could possibly change with these next moves from Iran?

PLEITGEN: Well, I think it's going to be very difficult. And I think what the Europeans have been saying is they've been urging the Iranians to abide by their commitments, to have more patients. And the Iranians are quite frankly, saying that their patience is running out.

[03:04:59] And, of course, all of this has an international, an international aspect to it, which is, of course, very important with the Europeans wanting to keep the deal.

The Iranians knowing that the Europeans want to keep the deal because, of course, they did a lot of negotiating for it and they see it as an important security agreement for themselves as well.

But of course, the Iranians also have domestic political concerns as well where this nuclear agreement is becoming more and more unpopular. And especially the hardline forces which are very powerful in Iran are saying, look, why are we continuing to abide by this deal putting curbs on our nuclear program when in return all we're getting is additional sanctions and those sanctions are becoming tougher?

So, for the Iranians this is something that has several dimensions. Is there way out of it? It's very difficult for the European nations to make that happen. Because one of the things that I think President Trump put very bluntly, he said anybody who is going to do business with the Iranians is not going to be doing business with the United States.

So, on that level very difficult for the Europeans to be able to get around that. Obviously, they're longstanding allies of the United States so it's difficult for them, but they say it's something they want to continue to try to do and see whether or not they can come to some sort of agreement with the Iranians, but right now, it seems like it's going to be very difficult to achieve that, Paula.

NEWTON: Yes, significant here of course as you pointed out to us before, is the kind of suffering that Iranians are going on under up these sanctions and the fact that the sanctions are biting and they're also very well-enforced these days.

Our Fred Pleitgen following all of this from Moscow. I appreciate it.

Now President Trump says he's not going to bother talking about the British ambassador to the United States who had some -- we're going to call them 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, quote, "dysfunctional, clumsy and inept." President Trump responded briefly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Now, our Anna Stewart has more details from London.

ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: These memos have the potential to cause serious diplomatic damage to the U.K.'s special relationship with the United States. Scathing attacks both on the president and on the White House.

In one memo the ambassador writes, "We really don't believe that this administration is going to become substantially more normal, less dysfunctional, less unpredictable, less faction driven, less diplomatically clumsy and inept."

Other memos delve into specific policy issues, calling the administration's policy on Iran incoherent. Saying alleged links between the president and Russia could see the presidency crashing and burning.

But then also warning the British government not to underestimate the president's ability to shrug off controversy and scandal. Writing that he could, quote, "Emerge from the flames battered but in fact, like Schwarzenegger in the final scenes of the Terminator."

The U.K.'s foreign office hasn't been able to deny the veracity of the memos. They issued a statement defending the need for candid, honest assessments from their ambassadors, but they have launched a formal investigation into how these sensitive memos were leaked.

NEWTON: That was our Anna Stewart reporting.

We want to turn now to the southern U.S. border where hundreds of migrants are being held in detention centers. There has been a growing number of reports of dangerous overcrowding and unsanitary conditions. Despite that, President Trump says the latest report in the New York Times isn't true.

Natasha Chen has more.

NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The New York Times and El Paso Times worked together to interview about a dozen border patrol agents who described conditions inside. They said it was a severely crowded with the spread of disease like chicken pox and scabies. The stench of the children's clothing so strong that they went home with that stench on their own clothing.

Now we talked to Texas State Representative Mary Gonzalez who represents the Clint area where that facility is. She says patrol -- border patrol agents told her they'd been raising the alarm before to their superiors with not much being done. She said at one point there were even 700 kids packed into this space with only two showers and a microwave. The conditions she says have now improved.

But President Trump reacted to this New York Times story, saying this was a hoax, but he did say he wanted the press to go inside and take a look, which so far we have not been able to do with cameras.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: And in all cases, if you look, people that came from unbelievable poverty, that had no water, they had no anything where they came from, those are people that are very happy with what's going on because relatively speaking they're in much better shape right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: That was Natasha Chen reporting. And now Natasha Lindstaedt joins us from Colchester, England. She's a professor of government at the University of Essex.

Now, you know, we heard from the president saying that a lot of those reports are untrue, and yet these images that we're getting out of these detention centers have been incredibly alarming to Americans no matter whether if they're Democratic or Republican.

[03:10:06] I think in terms of trying to get to some sort of solution, where do we go from here when the Democrats and, of course, the president seems so divided on the issue?

NATASHA LINDSTAEDT, PROFESSOR OF GOVERNMENT, UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX: Well, I think the first step would be to provide more funding at these facilities at the border because as the reports have said, you have just inhumane conditions that people are forced to live in.

With an accusation that women were forced to drink out of toilets, that there is just not proper sanitation, that people don't have access to showers, to laundry facility, to food, to adequate health care, it's just shocking, and I think people have been shocked by the photos of everybody sort of just crammed into tiny cells that are meant for 12 people. You have almost 100 people.

These are just such shocking conditions that I think everybody is on board with the idea that they need to provide more funding for this. But, you know, the Democrats and the Republicans are so divided on this because they just completely disagree with how to deal with the immigration crisis at hand.

The Democrats have been very critical of Trump for not investing enough in the asylum system, judges, lawyers, for not investing enough in the border facilities themselves and instead focusing on some sort of wall or deterrent policy.

For in 2017 he stopped a program where Central American children could apply from home and then, of course, for implementing this family separation policy to begin with. That's what led to this crisis that you've seen these families being separated but also refusing to really acknowledge that there is a problem with these border facilities. NEWTON: And yet I think, again, Americans are looking at these

images, we were just showing some of them, they're shocked and they want some kind of a solution. How do you think that will end up shaping the 2020 campaign?

LINDSTAEDT: That's really hard to say. Because I think the Republican Party still thinks immigration is a huge problem, though actually the number apprehended is far lower than it was in the '80s, '90s and early 2000s.

It was around 1.6. million people and in 2019 there was around 400,000 people. So, they still think that immigration is a big issue where the Democrats welcome immigration and think they just need to reform the system a bit to enhance it and then also provide more foreign aid to some of these desperately impoverished countries in Central America to deal with the violence, to deal with the poverty to stem this type of immigration to some extent.

So, they're very divided on this particular policy. We noted in the Democratic debates that took place immigration was an issue, people were talking about it, and people were pointing out the fact that the U.S. as a really big Democratic country has some responsibilities to take moral high ground on this and to showcase to the world that they're able to deal with immigration in a humane manner.

That's something the Democrats will talk about. But ultimately, I don't think it's going to be the biggest issue for the Democrats. They're going to be talking about healthcare and the economy and the Republicans under Trump are going to be talking about the need for a wall.

NEWTON: Yes, it will be interesting, certainly, as many Americans said are appalled by those images and no matter how they feel about immigration don't want to see that happening.

We also then highlighted the issue of this British ambassador to the United States. Some very colorful cables there. I mean, I contend and I've had people disagree with me that the leaks weren't all that substantive. They might have been salacious. But I was hoping for something a little bit more substantial.

I want to ask you what's behind these leaks, why now, and in general, who and what were they trying to influence?

LINDSTAEDT: That's another really good question. It's not really that clear to me if they were trying to influence whoever is going to be the next prime minister to just be aware of, you know, the way Trump operates and some of the, you know, repercussions of the fact that he really is a political novice.

There have been accusations not just from the British but actually from within his own administration that he is considered to be incompetent and just not very well-informed and not interested in governing.

And these leaks also came out sort of as a warning. You need to be prepared. You need to be able to deal with this. Allegedly his own Secretary of State Rex Tillerson thought that he was completely incompetent.

So, it seems to be some kind of communication to whoever is going to be taking over next, but ironically, if it is Boris Johnson that becomes the prime minister, he seems to have a pretty good relationship with Trump and he doesn't seem to think that he is incompetent.

So possibly the ambassador was just trying to communicate to whoever might take over. I don't think anything in there is that shocking based on what had already been revealed within Trump's own administration.

NEWTON: Right. That is a very good point. Certainly, though, some colorful language and analogies. Natasha, thanks so much for joining us. I really appreciate it.

[03:15:01] LINDSTAEDT: Thanks for having me.

NEWTON: Now Greek voters have spoken and a new prime minister will take office in just a few hours from now, but will it bring the kind of change the Greeks are craving?

Plus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Goal. Team U.S.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: What a win it was. World Cup triumph. The U.S. women's team makes history once again. The drumbeat grows ever louder for equal pay.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NEWTON: U.S. Women's soccer team have made history once again. They are now World Cup champions for a record fourth time. Now they beat the Netherlands two-nil on Sunday to extend that record for most World Cup titles. Now team co-captain Megan Rapinoe was named the tournament's best player. No surprise there. She was also quick to, of course, praise her teammates.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MEGAN RAPINOE, TEAM CO-CAPTAIN, U.S. WOMEN'S SOCCER TEAM: We've done exactly what we've 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 conversations everybody is in this together.

[03:20 :04] We are such a proud and strong and defiant group of women. I don't think we have really anything to say.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: The World Cup victory comes as the women's team is, in fact, 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 title.

Now on Sunday, President Trump told reporters he needs to learn more about the pay disparity in soccer before weighing in on the debate, but he did congratulate the women on the big win.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I want to congratulate the women's soccer team on winning the World Cup. That's an incredible achievement. It was a very exciting game. I got to see a little bit of it. And they're great players and it's a great honor to have them capture it for the United States. Fourth time. That's a tremendous thing. So, congratulations to the team on the World Cup.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Now the women's team will be honored to a traditional ticker tape parade in New York City on Wednesday. But of course, many fans, yes, they are already celebrating that latest championship.

Our Polo Sandoval is in New York.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Even if you weren't watching the game, all you had to do if you were in Brooklyn was listen for the massive cheers that were echoing from this massive archway that's directly under the iconic Manhattan Bridge.

The crowd obviously has thinned out but the energy certainly remains, including from Ali Berkowitz (Ph) and Stephen Santa (Ph), two New Jersey resident who travelled all the way here to participate in this massive moment.

Ali, I'll start with you. You told me that you played soccer as a little girl. So, this was, this is adding significance for you. Tell me about the way, about today's victory.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was awesome. We were expecting it, I got to be honest with that, but nothing beats this moment. It's so much fun.

SANDOVAL: We were talking a little bit about what the other team brought to the table. We also didn't want to jinx it, though. I feel like that didn't happen.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. No, I totally didn't want to jinx it. That keeper, I mean, she killed it. (Inaudible) really awesome too. So, it was great seeing the skill on the other team.

SANDOVAL: Stephen, for you, what was that moment like when you were sharing this space with a massive crowd when they carried it all the way to victory for a fourth time? What did you feel?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, it's always awesome. We love watching it like in our living room with our dog just like yelling. But it's a totally different energy here. There's like hundreds of people here that are just yelling and screaming for the USA. And it's always a good time.

SANDOVAL: Was there ever a moment you were biting down on your nails afraid that this moment wouldn't come.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There were a couple of times. Yes. When the --

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The whole first half.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Netherlands would come and they counter. Because that's what all they were doing, they're countering. It was like a nail-biter but the U.S. prevailed.

SANDOVAL: Ali, thank you so much.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, of course.

SANDOVAL: Stephen, thank you guys so much for being here. Again, it is a level of confidence that we saw here not just from team USA, but from the fans themselves.

Reporting in Brooklyn, I'm Polo Sandoval. Back to you.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

NEWTON: Greece's brand-new prime minister will be sworn into office in just a few hours from now. Kyriakos Mitsotakis of the center-right new Democracy Party swept to victory in Sunday's snap election. Now he overtook sitting Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras whose tenure in office of course has been rocky. Now Tsipras conceded defeat while Mitsotakis vowed to ensure Greece would be heard by ear.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KYRIAKOS MITSOTAKIS, GREEK PRIME MINISTER-ELECT (through translator): 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)

NEWTON: Journalist Elinda Labropoulou is in Athens. Just let us let us know what kind of sentiment was behind this vote. Because you could clearly tell that Greece wanted a change and that they had had enough of that government.

ELINDA LABROPOULOU, JOURNALIST: Well, absolutely they did because it was a government that led them through very turbulent times. And what Greeks showed through this vote is what they want more than anything else is stability. So, what they did is they went from a radical leftist government that

had promised full-on confrontation with the European Union in order to ease Greece's bailout terms to a new government that's promising a much milder path.

What the new prime minister is saying is that, OK, we have to go ahead with the necessary reforms. We have to show the European creditors that we can deliver and then we're going to go back to them and we're going to ask for a new deal for Greece, a deal that will give Greece more fiscal space in order to reignite the economy and basically by showing this good progress report, he believes that it will be possible for Greece to achieve this.

And this right now seems to most Greeks like a better recipe, having tried and seen the government that failed to go ahead and promote the change that it said it would bring. They now want a more secure route to try to deal with the country's financial problems.

[03:25:05] NEWTON: And I have to ask you. There is different leadership in Europe now as well. How do you think Europe will receive this new government?

LABROPOULOU: Well, this is a more known quantity to them. This is a government -- this is a party that has been in government before. It has dominated Greek politics for many decades. It's also a pro-market government, a more liberal government. It's much closer to the European mainstream agenda. The markets are already responding very positively to the change and we expect that European leaders will as well.

NEWTON: Yes, it will be interesting to see how those negotiations with Europe go in the future weeks and months. Elinda, thanks so much for covering the story for us. I appreciate it.

Now, at least three people were gored in the running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain. Three others were injured Sunday in the first of eight bull runs. You see the video there. It is, of course, the traditional event that's part of the San Fermin festival drawing daredevils from all over the world. Two of those gored are American. The third is Spanish.

OK. For our international viewers, thanks for your company. I'm Paula Newton. the global energy challenge is next for you. And for our viewers in the United States, stay where you are. The news continues right here in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:30:19] NEWTON: Welcome back. This is CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Paula Newton and we're going to update you now on our top stories this hour.

(SPORTS)

Greece has a new Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis of the center right New Democracy party will be sworn into office in the coming hours, easily beat sitting Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. In his victory speech, Mitsotakis promise to make sure that Greece's voice will be heard in Europe.

Riot police carrying batons and shields charged into a crowd of protesters in Hong Kong late Sunday night. Now, the clash came hours after a mass rally in a tourist area that was aimed at reaching mainland Chinese tourists. It's the latest in a series of protests against a bill that would allow extradition to China.

Now, we want to recap you on our top story this hour. The U.S. and Iran are again trading warnings and ultimatums. This after Iran announced Sunday it is enriching uranium past levels allowed by the 2015 nuclear deal. It said it could scale back even more of its commitments after 60 days. Now, that is if other signatories don't find a way to try and protect Iran from us sanctions. President Trump had this reaction from 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 that reason is, but it's no good they better be careful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

We're joined in London by Sanam Vakil. She's a senior research fellow at the Chatham House Middle East and North Africa Programme. Thanks so much for joining us. We were just getting that wrap up from Fred in terms of what this means. Again, it seems very much to me that what they want is action from Europe at this point. That's what Iran wants.

And by extension, they believe this could also influence the U.S. Why? Why do they believe that this move in particular might actually work?

SANAM VAKIL, CHATHAM HOUSE SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW: Well, the Iranians see that any sort of breach in the JCPOA as the best vehicle for mobilizing European leaders who want to preserve the deal, who believe that the deal is of value after over a decade of negotiations. And so by pressing in this area, they know that they're going to get a response.

And exactly, this is what has happened with President Macron offering a diplomatic card to try and balance between Washington's pressure and Tehran's pressure.

NEWTON: And strategically, you'd have to look at the Iranian President, Hassan Rouhani, in saying look, he's playing the hand. He's playing as if he has a strong hand. It's a hand he quite simply does not have, because at the end, he cannot predict how the United States will react to this.

I mean, at this point in terms of them escalating these issues every 60 days, do you believe that that will have further effect and we'll continue to see those escalations?

VAKIL: Well, the escalation is calibrated, because they're very concerned that in this sort of phase of unpredictable reactions, not just from the U.S. but also from the Europeans. They don't want to see snapback sanctions coming back. They don't necessarily want to see Europe and Washington coordinating and working together against Iran.

So they're trying to be quite measured in upping the ante. But it is a bit of a dangerous game going forward, because they've also backed themselves into a corner with these 60-day deadlines. But at the same time, they don't have any other alternative, because they're not getting sanctions relief. They know that the United States is not backing down, even though President Trump wants to come to the negotiating table.

And this is the best pathway, from Iran's perspective, to get back to the negotiating table through pressure and more pressure and more pressure.

NEWTON: Help us step back a little bit here, though. I mean, it's always the issue of how you contain Iran and some might argue deal or no deal. Given that the deal was in place for more than three years that its mission accomplished on Iran, because they have been contained. You might take the opposite argument of that right now.

VAKIL: Well, the deal was working and it did address the nuclear issues. So, of course, the President has created a crisis where there wasn't one, but there were other areas that were not included in the deal specifically focusing on regional tensions and Iran's support of non-state actors beyond its borders. That is ultimately the driver of regional tensions and tensions with the United States because it's Saudi Arabia, Israel, United Arab Emirates, that have been pressuring the Trump administration to do something about Iran's behavior in the region.

[03:35:22] NEWTON: Yes.

VAKIL: So ultimately we need a bigger deal that addresses regional tensions.

NEWTON: Yes. But a bigger deal that I bet you're going to tell me is going to be much harder to get, no matter what the Europeans try to bring to the table.

VAKIL: Absolutely. The deal of the century is this deal, because it would require not just European engagement but American engagement, and the buy-in from Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, who thus far have been very obstructionist in any sort of engagement with Iran.

NEWTON: Yes, and an Iranian leadership that already feels as if they really got the short end of this deal and that they weren't putting up with whatever the conditions were. I have to ask you and as I asked Fred, as the world looks on here, do you think there is a risk, though, for a lot of those regional tensions to blow up at the moment, for lack of a better term?

And many people point to, at best, we could be looking at a spike in oil prices. But obviously, at worst, we'd be looking at violence in the region again.

VAKIL: I think there is a risk and that's why it's such a dangerous moment, because both sides are backed into a corner and so anything can emerge. We have seen moderate responses from President Trump. We have seen the Iranian leadership repeatedly say that they're not going to be direct and want military engagement in any meaningful way.

But it's all of the other actors in the region that are also involved including non-state actors that can be invoked and provoked. And so this is why diplomacy and European-led diplomacy is so important right now. The onus is on Europe to try and bridge the gap between Washington and Tehran.

NEWTON: Yes. They might be reluctant brokers there. But nonetheless, they seem to be coming to the table there. And we'll, of course, wait to see the developments in the coming days and weeks. Thanks so much for joining us. I really appreciate it.

VAKIL: Thank you.

NEWTON: Now, as we're just talking about, this is far from the first standoff between Iran and the U.S. but tensions are at their highest levels in years. CNN's Michael Holmes has this look at how we got here.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT(voice-over): It was one of Donald Trump's longtime campaign promises. In May of last year, he delivers with full force.

The U.S. unilaterally withdrawals from an Obama-era deal meant to rein in Iran's nuclear ambitions. European allies remain committed, at the time, so does Iran. Come November, crippling American sanctions that had been lifted are reimposed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVEN MNUCHIN, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: This is part of a maximum unprecedented economic pressure campaign. The United States is waging against the world's largest state sponsor of terror.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES(voice-over): Less than a year later, an unprecedented move, the U.S. names Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps an arm of its military a foreign terrorist organization. Then, the campaign of so- called maximum pressure intensifies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE POMPEO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Any nation or entity interacting with Iran should do its diligence and err on the side of caution. The risks are simply not going to be worth the benefits.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HOLMES(voice-over): The Trump administration targets Iran's

lifeblood, threatening sanctions on any nation that continues buying their oil.

In May, the U.S. sends an aircraft carrier strike group, bombers, and patriot missiles to the Middle East, citing escalatory indications by Iran, 1,500 troops follow with more to come. The next month, temperatures rise further.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POMPEO: These unprovoked attacks present a clear threat to international peace and security.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES(voice-over): The U.S. quickly blames Iran for two oil tankers attacked near the Strait of Hormuz. Iran vehemently denies involvement. But the U.S. releases video they say shows an Iranian Navy boat recovering evidence of its participation.

A week later, Iran shoots down a U.S. Navy drone they say was intruding in its air space. But the U.S. claims it was in international airspace. It sparks a major escalation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJ. GEN. HOSSEIN SALAMI, IRANIAN ISLAMIC REVOLUTIONARY GUARD CORPS(through translator): We have no intention to fight with any countries. But we are completely ready for war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES(voice-over): The next day, the U.S. nearly retaliates, Trump tweeting a military strike was, quote, cocked and loaded before he called it off.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I didn't like the idea of them knowingly shooting down an unmanned drone and then we kill 150 people. I didn't like that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[03:40:03] HOLMES(voice-over): Then, earlier this month, British Royal Marines in Gibraltar storm an Iranian supertanker believed to be carrying oil the Syria, a possible violation of European Union sanctions on Syria. A senior Iranian Foreign Ministry official says the ship was seized, quote, at the behest of the U.S., but Gibraltar denies that saying, "It acted on its own."

More than a year since the U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear deal, a cash-strapped Iran levies pressure of its own. The country's foreign minister says Iran is exceeding the pact's limit set on stockpiles of enriched uranium. Iran won't stop, officials say, until protected from American sanctions, unlikely to ease anytime soon. Michael Holmes, CNN, Atlanta.

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NEWTON: OK, next here on CNN, you'll want to see this why a U.S. town literally picked up and moved its city to another location.

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NEWTON: And Illinois town swallowed by a wall, a wall of water when the Mississippi River flooded, is now experiencing really quite an unusual rebirth. The residents decided to move their entire town to a safer spot. You can see why right there with more protection in case the Mississippi River floods again. And with record flooding, I don't have to remind you in the region this year, some are starting to wonder if the climate crisis is to blame. Our Stephanie Elam has more.

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

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

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ELAM(voice-over): Nearby, Valmeyer, Illinois, virtually disappeared under 16 feet of water.

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

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[03:45:08] ELAM(voice-over): Most of the homes, the school, the churches, all swallowed by a wall of water that spilled over the town's levy and lingered for months.

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

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ELAM(voice-over): 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.

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

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

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

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ELAM(voice-over): 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.

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 at St. Louis. I'm walking along the levy 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 levy and are seeping into the town.

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

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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.

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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.

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

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ELAM: 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.

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

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NEWTON: And I'm reminded of all that, the southeastern U.S., of course, could face its first Tropical Storm threat from the Atlantic hurricane season already that time of the year, right, Ivan?

IVAN CABRERA, METEOROLOGIST: Already. Yes. Good to see you, Paula. And here's the thing, we've already had the A storm before the season even began, that was Andrea now. We could have Barry on our hands here by late week, so let's talk about the potential threat here. I think we're certainly going to get a heavy rain out of it if nothing else, but according to a couple of our computer models here, the European GFS as well the American model showing that.

All right. How do we get tropical systems? We'll get them obviously over the Atlantic in the Gulf. But also along frontal boundaries, this time of year that happens. The jet stream goes up to the north of France, don't have enough drive to push south and so they stall out across the southeastern U.S. typically. And you can get these lows that do develop.

This one will like to go to the Gulf and as it does so, National Hurricane Center has a 60% chance of it developing. It's just too early to tell you if that's going to happen and where it's going to go. Case in point, this is a European, the last model run, I was seeing this thing going up to Louisiana now it looks like it's going to make a run for Texas. So that may not happen either.

The point is keep checking back with us, because this forecast is going to continue to change until we actually get this low in the Gulf and then we'll be able to tell you. What we can tell you is the heavy rain that's going to be impacting Florida and the rest of the southeast with heavy amounts of rain.

By the way, these are the breeding grounds for July tropical systems. And again you can get them right along a frontal boundaries and in the Gulf Coast and they typically moved to the north and west. There's the list. Andrea, look at that, May 20 to 21st. The hurricane season starts June 1 it goes through November 30 and we've already had Andre.

By the way that's happened a lot. The reason in the last few years we've got an out of season storm, but if the new one here develops that would be Barry on the list. And we are in just the early part of the season. Remember the season peaks late to mid September and so we have a ways to go before we can tell you what kind of season it's going to be. The forecast is because of a week El Nino probably average, but it only takes one, we always say that. We had Michael last year which was devastating for the folks in Florida. NEWTON: And always, obviously, remembering the late season ones can

really be absolutely terrible. Ivan, thanks so much. I really appreciate it. Now, you too can enter the Upside Down, the popular Netflix show. Stranger Things is back. We'll take a look at how the stream giant is cashing in on 1980s nostalgia.

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[03:53:49] NEWTON: So the third season of Netflix's hit TV show Stranger Things is streaming right now and Netflix has gone all out in promoting it. If you don't know what I'm talking about, stick with me. Clare Sebastian is going to explain. They are making deals with dozens of brands to get the nostalgia baked in to viewers' minds. As promised, Clare Sebastian takes a look.

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CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT(voice-over): Start with a cherry and some pecans, add whipped cream, caramel and finally a scoop of chocolate ice cream. The result? A sweet marketing opportunity.

Baskin-Robbins' Upside-Down Sundae is named after the creepy parallel universe in the Netflix hit series Stranger Things.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Upside-Down Sundae. Stranger Things are happening at Baskin-Robbins.

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SEBASTIAN(voice-over): It's one of a new line of treats the ice cream store is rolling out to cash in on the show's third season, which features a fictional ice cream parlor called Scoops Ahoy.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ahoy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ahoy.

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SEBASTIAN(voice-over): Season three sees the teenagers from Hawkins, Indiana take their fight against evil to the quintessential '80s hang out, the shopping mall.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What did you think? We're just going to sit in my basement all day, play games for the rest of your lives?

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[03:55:00] SEBASTIAN(voice-over): The real setting, though, has been happening off camera. Netflix says they're partnering with about 75 brands for the Stranger Things launch. An all-out international marketing blitz featuring everything from Nike to Burger King to the Chicago Cubs.

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PETER SHANKMAN, BRANDING AND SOCIAL MEDIA CONSULTANT: Every network, every website, everyone is looking for those two hours that you have between the time you get home, put the kid to bed, finish dinner and watch something. So anything that Netflix can do to grow that brand recognition and make you remember, "Hey, I should finish the season of Stranger Things," is a benefit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you love the TV show Stranger Things, then boy, have we got a LEGO set for you.

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SEBASTIAN(voice-over): Many of the brand tie-ins play on the 1980s nostalgia the show is known for.

Netflix even convinced Coke to re-release New Coke, a product which flopped back in 1985 after Stranger Things decided to incorporate it into its plot. Netflix says no money changed hands on the Coke deal or on many of the show's other branding deals. Instead, Netflix is allowing companies to use the Stranger Things brand in return for a commitment to spend marketing dollars and dish up buzz for the show.

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SHANKMAN: They don't necessarily care so much about revenue from these deals. They do care about brand awareness and they do care about acknowledgment.

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SEBASTIAN: Now, it's one thing to incorporate brands seamlessly into a show's narrative to give a sense of authenticity and nostalgia. That was actually part of the vision for Stranger Things from the start. Now, of course, the risk is that all of this ends up going too far and the marketing starts to overwhelm the show itself. Clare Sebastian, CNN, New York.

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NEWTON: I think Clare explained that quite well, don't you? Thanks for joining us. I'm Paula Newton. EARLY START is up next.