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Congresswomen Fire Back at Trump's Racist Remarks; U.S. Markets Finish in Record Territory; South Asia's Monsoons Leave More than 100 Dead; Amazon Workers Protesting Pay and Working Conditions; Trump Enacts New Asylum Rule Limiting Eligible Migrants; Russia Sells Missile Defense System to Turkey; Bastille Day Parade Star May Inspire Trump. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired July 16, 2019 - 00:00   ET

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

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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): The outrage spreads around the world as four U.S. congresswomen, the targets of Donald Trump's racist attacks, fire back but the president digs in, sending a message about who he believes is a real American and who is not.

The deadly toll from monsoon rains across South Asia with hundreds of thousands displaced now as they flee the rising waters.

Prime Day and the biggest money spender day approaches for many of the e-commerce giant demanding higher wages and better working conditions.

Hello, everyone. I'm John Vause and you are watching CNN NEWSROOM.

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VAUSE: Four progressive U.S. lawmakers are fighting back against two days of racist attacks by the U.S. president, the four Democrats, all women of color, have rejected the president's suggestion that they simply hate America and they should go back to where they came from.

They say they simply disagree with the president's policies and they're working to make the United States a better place.

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REP. ILHAN OMAR, (D) MINNESOTA: He is launching a blatantly racist attack on four duly elected members of the United States of House of Representatives, all of whom are women of color. This is the agenda of white nationalists, whether it is happening in chat rooms or it is happening on national TV and now it has reached the White House garden.

REP. AYANNA PRESSLEY (D-MA), MAJORITY MEMBER, HOUSE COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND REFORM: Despite the occupant of the White House attempts to marginalize us and to silence us, please know that we are more than four people. And given the size of this squad and this great nation, we cannot, we

will not be silenced.

REP. RASHIDA TLAIB (D-MI), MAJORITY MEMBER, HOUSE COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND REFORM: Sadly, this is not the first nor will it be the last time we hear disgusting bigoted language from the president. We know this is who he is.

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D), NEW YORK: He can't look a child in the face and he can't look all Americans in the face and justify why this country is throwing them in cages. So instead, he tells us that I should go back to the great borough of the Bronx and make it better. And that's what I'm here to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And during that news conference the president was back on Twitter, here is part of what he put out there.

"The Dems are trying to distance themselves from the four progressives but now they are forced to embrace them. That means they are endorsing socialism, hate of Israel and the USA. Not good for the Democrats."

CNN Jim Acosta has more now reporting from the White House.

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JIM ACOSTA, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Trump is defending his racist attacks on Twitter, telling reporters he's not concerned that his tweets, aimed at four Democratic women of color in Congress, may appeal to white nationalists.

TRUMP: It doesn't concern me because many people agree with me and all I'm saying -- they want to leave, they can leave. Now it doesn't say leave forever. It says leave.

ACOSTA (voice-over): Referring to congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar and Ayanna Pressley, the president tweeted that they can go back to where they came from.

But three of them were born in the U.S. The fourth, Omar, came here as a child and became a citizen. There were no apologies from Mr. Trump as he --

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ACOSTA (voice-over): -- took his incendiary rhetoric one step further, telling the women they can leave the country.

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TRUMP: If you hate our country, if you're not happy here, you can leave. And that is what I say all the time. That is what I said in a tweet, which I guess some people think is controversial. A lot of people love it, by the way. A lot of people love it. But if

you're not happy in the U.S., if you're complaining all the time, very simply, can you leave. You can leave right now. Come back if you want. Don't come back. It's OK, too. But if you're not happy, you can leave.

ACOSTA (voice-over): The president also fired back at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who tweeted that the slogan "make America great again" has always been about making America white again.

TRUMP: Well, that is just a very racist statement, somebody that would say that. So Speaker Pelosi said make America white again, let me tell you, that is a very racist -- that is a very racist statement. I'm surprised she would say that.

ACOSTA (voice-over): But the president's race-baiting rhetoric has been a cornerstone of his rise in American politics, going back to his birther attacks on Barack Obama.

TRUMP: People are trying to figure out why isn't he giving his birth certificate. It's not a birth certificate.

ACOSTA (voice-over): That is racist: Obama was born in Hawaii.

Then there were his comments about immigrants crossing the Mexican border as he launched his campaign.

TRUMP: They're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.

ACOSTA (voice-over): That is racist, too. Then there was his equivocating over white nationalists and neo-Nazis spreading violence in Charlottesville.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Neo-Nazis started this thing. They showed up in Charlottesville to protest --

TRUMP: Excuse me. Excuse me. They didn't put themselves down as neo-Nazis. And you had some very bad people in that group but you also had people that were very fine people on both sides.

ACOSTA (voice-over): Democrats say it is all part of a pattern.

JULIAN CASTRO (D-TX), FORMER HUD SECRETARY, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Everybody knows that the president acts like a white supremacist, he is a racist, he's made that clear on so many different occasions.

ACOSTA (voice-over): Top administration officials are hardly eager to answer for the president's racist tweets.

STEVEN MNUCHIN, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: What I already said is I think the president clarified his comment. I understand what the president's comment is. I'm not concerned by the president's comment and, again, that is the last comment I'm going to make on this issue.

ACOSTA (voice-over): Yet the president still has plenty of allies inside the GOP backing him up.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): We all know that AOC and this crowd are a bunch of communists, they hate Israel, they hate our own country. They're anti-Semitic. They're anti-America.

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ACOSTA: White House officials are more than willing to defend the president in private. A senior White House official recently told me the president was not a racist but when asked if that comment could be stated on the record, the official declined -- Jim Acosta, CNN, the White House.

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VAUSE: Leaders are commenting on President Trump's tweets. British prime minister Theresa May called his comments "completely unacceptable." And here's Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau.

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JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: That is not how we do things in Canada, a Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian and the diversity of our country is actually one of our greatest strengths.

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VAUSE: Now to the U.S. economy, Wall Street will start the day at new record highs, all three indexes saw minimal games on Monday, finishing off to an all-time high. Investors will keep a close eye on the big banks and tech firms this week.

Now reports coming in from China that it had its slowest quarterly growth in at least 27 years, having little or no impact on the stock markets across the U.S.

OK, so here's a snapshot from a time long since gone and it may actually sound a bit familiar. Big tax cuts especially for the wealthiest of Americas. Easy monetary policy was fueling the U.S. economy and also the stock market as well.

It was easy to get money, it was easy to buy shares. In Washington, lawmakers had embraced this laissez-faire economy, where regulations were set aside so big businesses could grow. There was no limit essentially to what big businesses could do.

There was also very little limit to immigration. A Republican White House with a policy best described as America first, raised tariffs, claiming that would protect jobs as well as industry and when other countries responded in kind, they made the calculation that the U.S. economy was strong enough to win a trade war.

Only no one actually won the trade war because eventually the global economy, because it essentially crashed and the U.S. stock market and markets around the world quickly followed. And then came the currency wars to boost exports to countries to devalue their currencies to make their products relatively cheaper on the world markets, and then put it all together and you have this.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): On October 29th, 1929, reality finally caught up with the stock market and what went up came crashing back down.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Panicked investors sold 16 million shares in a single day, many for just pennies a share.

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VAUSE: Sure there are some differences but the echoes of the Roaring '20s are being heard as we move into 2020. On Wall Street analysts say that President Trump is going to weaken the U.S. dollar to boost the economy.

It's no secret he believes the U.S. dollar is overvalued. If it is devalued, history has taught us other nations will follow suit history and that is what is called a currency war. But when it comes to this U.S. president, history is not his strong suit.

Remember the stuff about the Republican Party and Abraham Lincoln?

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TRUMP: Great president, most people don't even know he was a Republican, right?

Does anyone know?

A lot of people don't know that, we have to build that up a little bit more. Let's take an ad. Let's use one of those PACs.

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VAUSE: Then there was Frederick Douglass, leader of the abolitionist movement, born more than 200 years ago.

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TRUMP: Frederick Douglass, Douglass is an example of somebody who has done an amazing job and is being recognized more and more, I noticed.

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VAUSE: You get the idea. Global business executive Ryan Patel joins us from Los Angeles.

Ryan, good to see you.

RYAN PATEL, GLOBAL BUSINESS EXECUTIVE: Likewise, good to see you. VAUSE: Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it. This is a president who admits he's not a big fan of book reading. To be fair what we've done is paint with some very broad brushstrokes here but on Monday CNN reported, it could trigger a currency war, Bank of America warning recently, we think direct foreign exchange intervention by the U.S. is a low but rising risk.

This from former Sachs strategist Michael Carlill (ph). The statement to clients and went on to say Trump's sudden trade moves have created a perception than anything is possible.

And that seems in play right now with this U.S. president, what was once considered simply unthinkable or crazy or absolutely lunatic, it's on the table now, whatever it is.

PATEL: Yes. And this is probably one of the few things where I think the administration has actually thought this through, truthfully.

How could they potentially get into the currency trade war?

And you have a feeling that with the trade war with the U.S. and China that this was something of a leverage.

Now you mentioned, could the U.S. government intervene, extreme intervention, into devaluing the dollar?

That to me, personally, is kind of highly unlikely. I don't really see him going to that.

But do I see him getting away from the strong dollar policy?

Putting rhetoric out there, that could easily cause 10 percent devaluation. We saw Bank of America saying they would prefer him doing that versus trying to get into and pushing the Fed and the Treasury to do certain things that, then, to your point, would lead to countries putting higher imports on companies here in the U.S., which that would lead to American consumers buying less.

VAUSE: For years major economies around the world have promised, there's been this sort of agreement, that they would not devalue the currencies for economic advantage. The U.S. president clearly believes that not everyone is keeping that commitment.

Earlier this month he tweeted China and Europe are playing big currency manipulation game and pumping money into their system in order to beat the USA. We should match or continue being the dummies, who sit back and gladly watch as other countries continue to play their games, as they have for many years.

China certainly has devalued in the past its currency but a CNN analyst noted, China is not manipulated its the currency anymore, there is no evidence that the Chinese central bank interfered with its currency.

So the White House language he went on to write has to be interpreted for a pre-election perspective. Very little in this White House is done without politics as a major factor. He's in the same boat or a different category but the president is determined to do it.

PATEL: This is definitely tying to the rhetoric, you saw the analysts, not anymore, I think most economists and global analysts are looking at how China is not doing that anymore in a way that, if Trump thought this was a big deal, he would've already brought the currency war at the forefront.

Why wait now?

To this point?

I believe this is timed -- and you and I have talked about this multiple times -- what does a trade war actually lead to?

This currency conversation that we are having is because we are in a trade war with China and the U.S. is in a trade war with others potentially, maybe France, maybe U.K. This is a tool that to me is very calculated on their part, they are showing their hands so they could go down this path again.

Not sure that the U.S. wants to do it, but this rhetoric has been going on for multiple months now, so this is not new news all of a sudden but, to your point, this is real, this is not going to go away.

VAUSE: And with regard to your history as prologue, we've seen the movie before, first come the tariffs and then you get the currency inflations, I mean, the currency wars back in the 1930s happened after the crash. It didn't cause the crash but it made the depression longer and more painful than it should be.

PATEL: Yes, and, in this case are, economy is so interconnected when interest rates --

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PATEL: -- go down that could be a Band-aid.

But when you are talking about importing, we are so tied globally in a trade perspective, just think about this, if the dollar gets weaker, what happens?

Companies can go overseas and they can increase their sales, the U.S. companies, could be more competitive. However what happens when you do that and the actual countries tariff them, your prices go up. And then all of a sudden the U.S. economy, the GDP of the U.S. will go down. And now we are back to square zero.

And this is where it will hurt more than the history in the past, this is what is scary about this, this will hit much more quicker in the pockets of the American consumer.

VAUSE: I hate to think there are institutions and there are mechanisms that would resolve these kinds of issues but they are dependent on the authority of the World Bank, this administration no faith in those institutions.

This threat of a currency war seems to be a logical conclusion to the path of the Trump administration.

PATEL: If you'd asked me this two years ago and said, is this a possibility?

I would've been very honest with you, I don't think so. But seeing what happened last year and six months with the rhetoric from the Trump administration and what they've set out to do in their rhetoric, I don't know how you would think that this is not a possibility.

And I think that's what they want you to believe and I believe it because you've seen a lot of different things in the last few years that I've never seen when it comes to how you use tactics and how you ignore even diplomacy ways in the past.

VAUSE: I'll just say this, a currency war, there are shortterm winners but in the short term, everyone loses.

PATEL: Always.

VAUSE: Thanks, mate, good to see you.

PATEL: Likewise.

VAUSE: Coming up, Nepal, Bangladesh, parts of India are ravaged by flooding and landslides, millions are in the region and they are suffering and it could get a lot worse.

And Amazon workers striking on one of Amazon's biggest sales days of the year, from the United States to Germany.

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VAUSE: The party's over at music festival in croatia. A massive fire broke out, forcing everyone to evacuate. Large plumes of smoke just behind the main stage. Organizers say that performances are now on hold and the attendees have been escorted to a nearby town. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

More than 100 people have been killed in floods and landslides which were caused by monsoon rains in nepal, Bangladesh and northeast India. Tens of thousands of people have been forced from their homes. The region could see another several days with periods of heavy rain.

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VAUSE: Joining us now from New Delhi, CNN's Nikhil Kumar.

These monsoon rains at one point they were late arriving and now they have arrived with a vengeance.

NIKHIL KUMAR, CNN NEW DELHI BUREAU CHIEF: That's right, John, only weeks ago we were talking about heat waves affecting parts of India, parts of the subcontinent and now we are talking about these floods.

And so just within weeks, the situation has changed and as you say, this is still the beginning of these rains We expect more to come but already, John, they have caused devastation for hundreds of thousands of millions of people affected in this region in Northeast India, Bangladesh and Nepal.

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KUMAR (voice-over): First came the heat, killing more than 130 people across India. In Dhar (ph) state alone, more than 100 people died. The worst ever heat related death toll ever recorded.

On the other side of the country, Maharashtra state suffered its worst drought in decades. And then came the floods, just as devastating, as the climate swung like a destructive pendulum.

In the capital of Mumbai, it was hit by the heaviest rainfall in more than a decade, bringing the city to a standstill. Building walls collapsed, railway stations and highways were overrun with water.

And now, heavy downpours in Bihar and surrounding states as well as parts of neighboring Nepal and Bangladesh, have killed scores of people in recent days. Millions face devastation. Experts say the climate crisis makes such extreme swings in the weather more and more likely.

ARUNABHA GHOSH, CLIMATE EXPERT: Between the mid 1980s and the mid- 2010s, India was hit by about 300 extreme weather events. But most of those happened after 2005. So there is an increase in the intensity and the frequency of extreme weather events.

KUMAR (voice-over): Chennai, India's sixth largest city it has become a symbol of this problem. Unusually heavy rainfall in 2015 triggered widespread flooding. And this year, it has almost run out of water, following lower than usual rainfall. The city's infrastructure was simply not prepared to deal with the swings in the weather, which money warned is a nationwide problem.

GHOSH: The infrastructure's clearly not fit for purpose. So our infrastructure, whether it's in terms of storm water drains, flood defenses, protection of communities, especially the poorer communities, our transportation systems, these have to become far more resilient.

KUMAR (voice-over): Failing to do so doesn't just have an economic cost. This extreme weather places havoc with the country's infrastructure. It also puts millions more Indians in mortal danger.

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KUMAR: So as you can see, we are now talking about more than 100 killed but the largest story here is really these extremes of the weather, from extreme heat to rain and flooding and the devastation it causes people. And it will not go away anytime soon, the authorities need to catch up

with this. Otherwise millions more people in coming years could face devastation because of this fallout from the climate crisis -- John.

VAUSE: Yes, this is the beginning of the new normal, Nikhil Kumar, thank you for the live report.

Amazon workers in the United States and Europe are on strike during the company's biggest sales days of the year. It's called Prime Day, the workers are demanding higher wages and better conditions.

Amazon claims it offers industry leading pay and a safe work experience. President and founder of Sperry Media joins us now from Los Angeles.

Scott, thank you for coming in.

SCOTT PERRY, SPERRY MEDIA: Thanks for having me, John.

VAUSE: So these industry giants, leading wages in the United States at least $15 an hour, which means an Amazon employee who puts in a 10-hour day shift, takes no vacation or sick days, takes home $59,000 a year. According to a calculation by money.com, it takes Jeff Bezos just under 9 seconds to earn what an Amazon median worker does in a year.

Is that an egregiously incredible wealth gap or a stupid comparison because Bezos wouldn't have a job?

PERRY: It's not the right comparison. It's good that Jeff Bezos makes as much money as he does for being an innovator and Amazon is paying fair market wages for warehouse workers.

But even Jeff Bezos sent off a signal last week telling people they're launching a $700 million education initiative for their employees to get out. Even at $15 an hour, these jobs will not be around in 10 years.

All the factory workers will be replaced by robots 100 percent. So it is good that people are making what they are making now even though it is not a lot of money in the big picture.

But in due time all the humans are going to be replaced anyway with artificial intelligence and robots handling all the pick package and distribution in the warehouses.

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VAUSE: So a miserable, crappy job with miserable, crappy wages isn't going to last in time to leave. So Amazon does not seem to be concerned with the industrial action and the impact on this big two- day sales event. Listen to the VP from Amazon Prime.

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CEM SIBAY, VP OF AMAZON PRIME: We have a lot of redundancy in place where we have over 175 fulfillment centers globally to make sure that Prime member experiences are not disrupted during this event as well. But we take, you know, concerns of our employees, obviously very, very serious as well. But I'm really actually proud of the working conditions --

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VAUSE: Well, one worker from an Amazon warehouse administrator told CNN, we're humans, not robots, they are treating us like machines.

And they will be in a short amount of time, I guess. These complaints of Amazon workers are not new, some said they can't sit down at work, bathroom breaks are timed. It is all very regimented.

This is just the economic reality, people want stuff delivered quickly and they want to don't pay much for it so this is the end result.

PERRY: If people want to point any fingers, we should look at ourselves for demanding these efficiencies in the marketplace to get our products right now because of that. People are being times. Their work conditions are monotonous and boring and hot and strenuous and you're on your feet all day.

And it is not the ideal situation for any type of a job to seek any fulfillment but it is a way to put money -- put food on the table for your children but it is not a way of life.

You know, we are trying to advance beyond that stage so hopefully these people can take advantage of these education programs to learn more about artificial intelligence and programming and data analysis and international drop shipping and other means making money through the systems.

But these labor jobs pay the bills in markets where there might not be other jobs available. The pay is double the minimum wage, there are 175 distribution centers around America and 300,000 employees in American, 500,000 around the world, 90-95 percent of which are the warehouse workers and the delivery people for Amazon.

But in time, these jobs will disappear.

VAUSE: And look I should say there is dignity in work, no matter what that work is and if you need to earn a wage and provide for yourself and your family, it is not to be laughed at.

Is there a cost here to Amazon's image, its reputation, is there enough consumers out there, a significant number, who look at this and decide I don't want to use Amazon because of the way they treat their staff and then ultimately (INAUDIBLE) the workers?

PERRY: Ultimately, not really. Yes, because of social media, the way we are all connected, we are much more aware of factory conditions than we were in the time of Upton Sinclair or Charles Dickens or anything like that.

But there has always been a dirty underbelly around most labor anyway and because of their size, there are going to be a lot more accidents, because of the number of people that they hire.

But it is not going to prevent people from tapping into the convenience of purchasing from Amazon to get things they want when they need at the price they want.

VAUSE: Just quickly, Tuesday all the big tech giants will be on the commercial hot seat on Capitol Hill in Washington, some people with Facebook, Apple, the question is should they be broken up in an antitrust case?

What are these companies being accused of doing?

Amazon undercutting the competition; Google and Facebook offering free services. Anti-trust cases are built on prices (INAUDIBLE) consumers. This is a law that is going to break up phone companies as well as Standard Oil (INAUDIBLE) 100 years ago or 50 years ago, the telephone companies.

This is (INAUDIBLE) in step with the 21st century.

PERRY: Yes, it's really bizarre because if you break up these companies, then you have that many more companies to manage but then again you have all this data in the hands of a handful of companies, whether it is Apple, Google, Facebook, Amazon.

And because they own the markets that they run, it is hard for any competition to come in to provide any type of real run for their money. But it is a hard thing because as Congress showed last year, they don't have a basic understanding of how the Internet works to even understand how to govern these companies to begin with.

So I'm kind of interested to see what the outcome will be from the testimony. But there needs to be some oversight, they've all said it themselves but we have to decide what that oversight is and how that information is shared between these companies and the government and how those companies are being observed for their practices.

VAUSE: It is an interesting problem for many congresspeople to really understand what these companies are doing. PERRY: Thanks, John, appreciate it.

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VAUSE (voice-over): One path for those seeking U.S. asylum has been made nearly impossible because of a new rule by the Trump administration. (INAUDIBLE) Central America migrants.

Also ahead, Turkey is raising concerns after (INAUDIBLE) from a country other than the United States. Why it is creating some heartache for NATO allies. That is next.

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JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. I'm John Vause. Update on the top our -- top news this hour. [00:32:30] A group of Democratic congresswomen are fighting back

against two days of racist attacks by Donald Trump. They're all progressives, and they say they disagree with Trump's policies, and they'll continue to speak out. But the president claims they hate America, to go back where they came, falsely implying they're not American citizens.

Millions of people in South Asia are being impacted by flooding and landslides caused by monsoon rain. More than 100 people have died across all Bangladesh and India. More rain is expected in the region over the next few days.

Britain's outgoing prime minister is celebrating the newly-crowned Cricket World Cup champions. Theresa May, who's a huge cricket fan, welcomed the English team to 10 Downing Street, calling their win one of the great sporting spectacles of our time.

The Trump administration is enacting a new rule that will drastically limit Central American migrants from claiming asylum in the U.S. The requires migrants who have lived in or traveled through a third country on the way to the U.S. to first seek asylum in that country. It means that most migrants passing through Mexico will now be blocked.

There's been a spike in the number of migrants from Guatemala and Honduras and El Salvador at the U.S.-Mexico border. Guatemala and Mexico have not agreed to the plan. The rule takes effect immediately, but the American Civil Liberties Union vouches to swiftly.

We have more now from Nick Paton Walsh, reporting in from Mexico City.

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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Trump administration has done all it can to make the journey practically of Central Americans trying to get to the United States as difficult as possible. But this is a legal move to potentially make that journey entirely pointless.

What the Trump administration will do on Tuesday is publish in the federal register a new rule that basically says if you travel through a country to get to the U.S.-Mexico border, well, it's in that country the Central Americans should be requesting asylum. That will also invalidate them from getting a request for asylum in the United States.

Now, I mean, that will face, obviously, legal challenges, certainly, and it may get knocked down. Or it may, certainly, slow the passage of people trying to get into the U.S.

We've heard from Mexico's foreign minister, a reaction saying this will not affect Mexicans. Well, that's entirely true. And pledging, of course, to stand up for the human rights of Mexicans if some of them are, in fact, caught in the ongoing ICE raids that are happening across the United States now. But this particular legal challenge is one of a number of things the

Trump administration is trying to do to slow the passage of tens of thousands of Central Americans up through Mexico towards their border. They did try and hatch an agreement with Guatemala to declare itself a third safe country, meaning that Central Americans passing through it would actually have to apply for asylum in Guatemala entirely.

[00:35:10] And of course, they've pressured the Mexican government to send troops, the National Guard, down to the Mexican-Guatemalan border to slow the illegal flow of people across that border, as well.

But this particular legal challenge is stark, as I say. It's had human rights activists and advocates saying it will face legal challenges in the court. But they've also warned that you're essentially pushing migrants, desperate so many of them, for a better life and to escape the perils of their home countries, to much more dangerous measures.

Do they potentially have to take to the sea to get around Mexico in order to not have passed through another country and invalidate themselves for U.S. asylum. Lots of questions but increasing concerns for the fate of often whole families that try and take this particular journey and the Trump administration's clear march towards making that passage as impossible as they possibly can.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Mexico City.

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VAUSE: Well, Turkey has acquired a missile defense system from Russia, a deal that's making its U.S. and NATO allies very uneasy. Nic Robertson explains why.

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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Each of these Russian-made missiles delivered to Turkey, another potential nail in NATO's coffin.

RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, TURKISH PRESIDENT (through translator): As of today, the eighth plane has arrived and has started to unload. Now our goal is to co-producing with Russia. We'll do this. We'll go even further.

ROBERTSON: NATO's response since deliveries began last week has been cautious: "It is up two allies to decide what military equipment they buy. However, we are concerned about the potential consequences of Turkey's decision to acquire the S-400 system. Interoperability in our armed forces is fundamental to NATO for the conduct of our operations and missions."

These careful words may prove an understatement of the dangers the 29- nation alliance faces. Before delivery the State Department warned of repercussions.

MORGAN ORTAGUS, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESWOMAN: Turkey, as you pointed out, will receive real and negative NATO consequences if they accept the S-400.

ROBERTSON: Yet at the G-20 in Japan a week or so earlier, and despite signing legislation in 2017 mandating U.S. sanctions for anyone doing business with parts of Russia's military, Trump was sounding soft on Turkey's leader.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's a complicated deal. We're working on it. We'll see what we can do.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can I ask you one last --

ROBERTSON: The reason the deal is so sensitive is because Turkey is also in the process of buying 100 American F-35 advanced fighter jets. And if they got both American F-35s and Russian S-400s, Turkey could hand NATO's enemies a deadly advantage.

Russia would likely be the first to benefit, giving it a backdoor boost to their arms sales, as well as creating a rift in NATO's ranks, which is what they've been trying to do for decades, believing their Soviet-era enemy NATO is spreading eastward into their backyard. Indeed the 13 newest members, all since 1999, have been Eastern European states.

At the G-20, Erdogan said he believes Trump had given Turkey a pass on sanctions.

ERDOGAN (through translator): About the sanctions, Mr. Trump already clarified the issue on his statements to the press. We heard from him that there would be no such thing.

ROBERTSON: As Trump relentlessly reminds NATO, the U.S. is the alliance's biggest payer and by far its largest player.

(on camera): For now NATO seems to be listening, holding fire on further comment until they see President Trump's next move. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says he expects the president to comply with the law. What Trump does do next will signal the durability of the 70- year-old alliance.

Nic Robertson, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Soaring above everyone's head, flying man is the envy of everyone who watched this year's Bastille Day parades. He's grabbing the attention of someone in the White House.

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[00:40:41] VAUSE: The French have something new for the U.S. president to envy. Last year's Bastille Day parade inspired this year's Fourth of July celebration. Jeanne Moose reports now Sunday's flyboard may top any military hardware.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look up in the sky. It's a bird!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a plane!

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the flyboard guy who stole the show at the Bastille Day parade in Paris.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Faster than a speeding bullet.

MOOS: Actually, the Flyboard Air's top speed is around 118 miles an hour. That's the inventor and entrepreneur, Franky Zapata, operating the fly board.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have one remote control.

French President Emmanuel Macron watched approvingly as fans compared it to everything from Marty McFly's "Back to the Future" hover board to that flying villain, the Green Goblin.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello, my dear.

MOOS (on camera): But making the Green Goblin a reality is enough to make a certain someone green with envy.

(voice-over): President Trump loves toys. At Monday's "Made in America" event, he boarded a boat and got behind the wheel of a fab missile defense vehicle.

Remember what happened last time he watched a French parade? He liked it so much he said, "I'll have what they're having." And on the Fourth of July, we had a bevy of fly-bys.

But now the French have one-upped everyone. Maybe by next Fourth of July we'll see the commander-in-chief commanding his own fly board.

Franky Zapata's next stunt will be to fly across the English Channel, since the turbine-powered engines allow for at least ten minutes' flying time. That will require mid-flight refueling. Flyboard development got a grant from the French military, though some were skeptical of its usefulness and survivability.

The parade featured everything from horses to robots and even anti- drone guns, which could probably take the fly out of a fly board, as well.

By the way, that rifle was reported to be unloaded or fake, and even the French haven't figured out how to kiss through a helmet.

Jeanne Moos, CNN --

TRUMP: It would be like a rocket ship.

MOOS: -- New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Before we go, for the past few days, the U.S. president has been blunt in his criticism of four elected members of Congress, because they disagree with his policies and because they've criticized him and his administration for an immigration policy they see as cruel and vindictive.

The president, who's notoriously thin-skinned, has seen that as un- American, even treasonous, so has made it clear these women, three born in the U.S., the other naturalized two decades ago, are something less, less than the Trump family, perhaps, who emigrated from Germany two generations ago.

Here's a reminder from the legendary journalist Edward R. Murrow of the values and ideals of the United States.

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EDWARD R. MURROW, JOURNALIST: We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must remember always that accusation is not proof, and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law.

We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine. And remember that we are not descended from fearful men, not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate, and to defend the causes that were, for the moment, unpopular.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause. Stay tuned. WORLD SPORT is next.

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[00:45:39] (WORLD SPORT)

[00:57:24] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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