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Acting Defense Secretary Withdraws from Nomination; U.S. and Iran Calculating Every Single Move; Trump Officially Launches 2020 Campaign Trailing Six Democrats; Dominic Raab Is Out, Boris Johnson Still on Top; Hong Kong Chief Says Bill Suspended but Not Out; The Legacy of Mohammed Morsi. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired June 19, 2019 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hostilities are dying down even though the U.S. president called recent attacks minor. The tense standoff continues between Tehran and Washington.
All that as Mr. Trump officially launches his reelection campaign and right off the bat is slamming Democrats and reigniting his push against illegal immigration.
And Boaty McBoatface. It's got a really strange name but this underwater vessel made a major discovery about climate change on its very first mission.
Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world, I'm Rosemary Church and this is CNN NEWSROOM.
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CHURCH: The Trump administration is sending out mixed signals on its policy toward Iran while leadership at the Pentagon is once again in turmoil. Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan withdrew his name for the top job Tuesday.
A day earlier, Shanahan announced the deployment of 1,000 more troops to the Middle East, raising concerns of a military confrontation with Tehran.
But President Trump appeared to contradict his senior security officials, when he downplayed the recent attacks in the Gulf of Oman as very minor.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: CNN global affairs analyst David Rohde joins me now. He's executive editor for "The New Yorker" website.
Good to have you with us.
DAVID ROHDE, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Thank you.
CHURCH: So in response to the Iranian command boasting about Iran's ability to strike American warships, President Trump said the U.S. is very prepared to deal with Iran, what does he mean by that?
Where is this all going, do you think?
ROHDE: Well, right now it's sort of tough talk with the problems at each side as sort of backing itself into a corner. If there is an incident or if there is a mistake, you know, each side would need to respond with lethal force and you know, this is a -- as the rhetoric heats up this gets increasingly dangerous.
CHURCH: Yes. And according to that same Iranian commander his country has been testing ballistic missiles at sea what does that signal to you?
ROHDE: It's a clear sign that they would, you know, try to sink American warships in the gulf. You know, that is part of the minds that had gone off on these oil tankers. It shows that Iranians, you know, think that they can threaten American ships but they are not intimidated and that they are not going to back down to the threats from President Trump.
CHURCH: Right and of course, as were being reporting for the last couple days, 1000 additional U.S. troops and military assets are being sent to the Middle East but the Pentagon says, this is purely for defensive purposes. Is that to take some of the heat out of this?
I mean, what are the optics of that?
Is it believable?
ROHDE: It's not. And again, you know, if you're the Iranians and a thousand more troops are coming up, your under, you know, pressure domestically, hardliners are trying to appeal to hardliners inside Iran to respond to this increased in American force. So adding troops does not de-escalate the situation that is not really credible.
CHURCH: And the U.S. says that this is a maximum pressure campaign to bring Iran back to the negotiating table.
Do you see any signs that that strategy is working at this juncture?
ROHDE: I don't. I think it's, you know, I think the hardliners and Iran are trying to push back but the most dangerous thing and the most confusing is, I think, the mixed messages that are coming out of the Trump White House.
The president himself, you know, sort of downplays the importance of these instances in the Gulf that tankers being damaged. One day and then the next day there's an increase in troop levels, there isn't really a policy debate at the Trump White House and that's what people are complaining about.
There's was a really strong op-ed in "The Washington Post" about, you know, no meetings where, you know, the State Department running its views, the Defense Department is presenting its views, the president is isolated on this.
And John Bolton, his very hawkish national security adviser, sort of dominating Iran policy. So all of this, I'm not sure that there, you know, will be a conflict but it increases the chances for misunderstanding and an accident.
CHURCH: That is of course, the big worry here is any miscalculations but Iran seems to take some comfort --
[02:05:00]
CHURCH: -- in knowing or certainly thinking that President Trump is not all the same page as John Bolton.
Are they right to do that?
ROHDE: They are but again, this is the president who doesn't like to lose face and if he is put in a corner, you know, if there is an incident or if there's any kind of I think, you know, deaths to any American service members, this president will retaliate militarily.
And you know, then the Iranians will then push back and then, you know, you would have rising in all prices and it would impact the economy worldwide. So it's that kind of, you know, mistaken escalation that's a real danger here.
CHURCH: And as you're saying, at the start, both sides the United States and Iran have backed themselves into a corner.
Do you see an off-ramp envisioned here?
ROHDE: I don't. At this point, I think the president is trying to offer one. I think the president wants a new and better Iran nuclear deal. He wants to show up Barack Obama but you don't get there by, you know, browbeating the Iranians.
I've said this many times, all politics is local. So you can expect a foreign rival to sort of just capitulate publicly to your demands.
You know, the demands coming from President Trump. He need to create an opportunity for them to save face and while engaging negotiations and that is not happening here. It's just sort of belittlement and threats and, you know, Iranians, you know, have to stand up for themselves. Their politicians can't, you know, heckle yes to Trump's demands that hurts them at home, politically.
CHURCH: Right. And of course, for the Iranians, that their problem is they are really feeling it when it comes to the sanctions and they're making threats regarding the uranium upgrades because they need some help.
So what's going to happen in that particular department, do you think?
ROHDE: I was surprised to be honest by that threat to increase enrichment of uranium that frankly puts Europe in a difficult position if they do start that increase in enrichment, they are violating the nuclear agreement that Europe and other countries say stone forced.
So you know that is a sign of any hard liners are gaining the upper hand in Iran but that escalations surprised me and that, you know, that's a violation in the agreement and you know, Europe should push back, if that increase in enriching uranium actual occurs.
CHURCH: All right. We will watch to see where all of this goes. David Rohde, thank you; as always, we always appreciate your analysis on this matters.
ROHDE: Thank you.
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CHURCH: More now on acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan. He stepped down from the job on Tuesday, citing a painful family situation. Our Kaitlan Collins has our report.
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TRUMP: Our friend Shanahan is a good man and he's done a great job. And he's a good buyer.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Trump announcing his pick to lead the Pentagon will withdraw before he's even been formally nominated, writing on Twitter that: "Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, who has done a wonderful job, has decided not to go forward with his confirmation process, so that he can devote more time to his family."
Trump said he will name Army Secretary Mark Esper as the new acting Defense Secretary, but declined to say whether that would become permanent. Shanahan is the former Boeing executive who had been running the Defense Department since James Mattis resigned in protest in December, but only in an acting capacity, until Trump announced last month he would make things official.
But the paperwork was never filed, raising eyebrows inside the White House about why.
PATRICK SHANAHAN, ACTING U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: I can't tell you how long the process is supposed to work.
COLLINS: Now CNN has learned his resignation came amid details of a contentious divorce, including an allegation from Shanahan's ex-wife that he hit her during a dispute nine years ago, an allegation Shanahan has denied. His ex-wife was arrested and charged with assault, but those charges were later dropped.
In a statement today, Shanahan said he was resigning to protect his children, writing, "I would welcome the opportunity to be secretary of defense, but not at the expense of being a good father."
The sudden withdrawal leaves the Pentagon without a permanent leader amid escalating tensions with Iran.
MIKE POMPEO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: President Trump has said very clearly he doesn't want to go to war.
COLLINS (voice-over): Kaitlan Collins, CNN, traveling with the president in Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
President Trump has been running for reelection since the inauguration day, January 2017 but on Tuesday, he made the campaign official. He held a rally in Florida, a swing state where he's had strong support.
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TRUMP: Remember the only thing these corrupt politicians will understand is an earthquake at the ballot box, that's what they will understand and they're going to see it. We did it once and now we will do it again and this time we're going to finish the job.
Our radical Democrat opponents are driven by hatred, prejudice --
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TRUMP: -- and rage. They want to destroy you and they want to destroy our country as we know it. Not acceptable, it's not going to happen. It's not going to happen.
They would strip Americans of their constitutional rights while flooding the country with illegal immigrants in the hopes it will expand their political base.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: So let's take a closer look at all of this with political analyst Michael Genovese. He is president of the Global Policy Institute at Loyola Marymount University.
Thank you so much.
MICHAEL GENOVESE, POLITICAL ANALYST: My pleasure.
CHURCH: Let's start with President Trump's official 2020 campaign on Tuesday, where he appealed to his base on illegal immigration and the Democratic rivals, calling them socialists. We'll get to immigration issue in just a moment.
But big picture, how did this go?
And was there anything there that would appeal to a voter currently outside his base?
GENOVESE: It was vintage Trump. It was a masterful performance and you have to give him credit, he connects to his base. He is at one with his base, he made the joke during the campaign that I could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue I wouldn't lose support. We thought it was a joke but it might almost be true. His fans are
loyal, they are devoted, they cheer for him, he basically represents their prejudices and their hatreds. He is their voice. They think that they are put upon. They think that they're criticized, that they're not counted. s
So he says that I think that you are valuable, I care for you, we are together and it's us against them. Them can be immigrants, Democrats. It was a masterful performance tonight. He does it often, his base loves him and he can guarantee that 40 percent mark during the election. The question is, can he pass 40 percent.
CHURCH: Exactly. Of course immigration was one of his central messages there because Trump tweeted this, we wanted to bring this up. He tweeted this before he headed off to his official launch in Florida, saying next week, ICE will begin the process of removing the millions of illegal aliens who have illicitly found their way into the United States. They will be removed as fast as they come in.
How realistic is it for the president to oppose the deportation of millions of illegal immigrants?
Or is this about energizing and satisfying his base?
GENOVESE: Shh, it's supposed to be a secret. You don't announce that you're going to round up these people and that's what he did. He announced next week there will be millions of people.
Why do you announce it?
You're only giving them a chance to move away or hide. That's probably a implausible position to take. Maybe more implausible that the immigration officials are saying there is no plan, we don't have any program and I don't think we have the resources to do it anyway.
This was again the president acting tough, acting macho so his base knows that I'm fighting for you, I've got your back, were going to get rid of those people taking your jobs and that are raping people and committing crimes.
Some of that does take place but you create an enemy and unify yourself against that enemy; that enemy is trying to destroy you, you will destroy them. So it works for the base.
But again, Donald Trump's terrific at solidifying his base. But he can't add numbers, so his strategy for 2020 is going to be solidifying that base, get to 40 percent or 42 percent and then suppress the votes of my opponents. Attack, attack, attack, create, raise doubts so that I know that there are more of them -- anti-Trump voters -- than there are of us but if I can keep them down from the polls, persuade them not to show up, it doesn't matter, that their person can't win or has some flaws. That's the strategy.
CHURCH: Of course before Mr. Trump headed for Florida, the "Orlando Sentinel" wrote this about the president.
"Enough of the chaos, the division the, school yard insults, the self- aggrandizement, the corruption and especially the lies."
The paper also declined to endorse the president for reelection after that.
How significant is this?
And what difference does a newspaper make?
Does it ever have any impact on the public?
GENOVESE: It rarely does. But what is surprising about this is that it happened so early and so unequivocal in a state that has gone where Republicans are pretty consistent. The governor and the lieutenant governor voted for Republicans presidential candidates. The fact that "The Sentinel" said before the campaign even got started anyone but Trump essentially --
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GENOVESE: -- that's pretty shocking. Florida's not a blue state, a blue state, you can get away with it or expect it. But that was a surprise.
Will it matter?
Probably very little.
CHURCH: And a new Quinnipiac University poll shows that if an election was held right now in Florida, voters will choose Democrats over Trump with the top main rivals, with Joe Biden beating the president by 9 points. But how reliable are the polls at this juncture?
And what about the shy Trump vote element, that intend to vote for him but are reluctant to say so?
GENOVESE: Polls are indicative, not determinative and they just give you a sense that it's entirely possible that Trump is in trouble, that he have work to do, that is not going to be automatic for him.
But if I were Donald Trump I would be concerned but wouldn't be alarmed. The Democrats right now, because they are the other party, they're the out party, they have some energy. But all their candidates are polling well against Trump. I guarantee you that in the general election it will be much closer to that and it might even flip.
CHURCH: Interesting. Michael Genovese, thank you so much for your analysis and for joining us we appreciate it.
GENOVESE: Thank you, Rosemary.
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CHURCH: And still to come here on CNN NEWSROOM. The opposition in Hong Kong's legislature lets the world know where they stand in the controversial extradition bill.
Plus, questions over the death of the late president of Egypt.
Could it have been prevented?
We'll take a look at that. Stay with us.
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CHURCH: German chancellor Angela Merkel says she's doing fine after a troubling incident in Berlin. She began to shake uncontrollably while standing next to Ukraine's president as the band played both countries' national anthems. It was fairly hot in the German capital, about 30 degrees Celsius.
Ms. Merkel later said she was just dehydrated and needed some water. We wish her the best.
And then there were five in the race for the Tory Party leadership in the U.K., which in essence, is the race for the next British prime minister. After a second round of voting by Conservative MPs, former Brexit minister Dominic Raab is out of the race.
The front-runner and former mayor of London, Boris Johnson, won with 40 percent of the vote. The remaining five candidates --
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CHURCH: -- faced off in a lively televised debate.
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BORIS JOHNSON, FORMER BRITISH FOREIGN MINISTER: I share --
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you just give me that guarantee that it's October 31st?
JOHNSON: Michael was guaranteeing to get out by the end of December. I think that October 31st is eminently feasible.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, that's not a guarantee.
Is that your date?
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can I ask you a question?
JOHNSON: If we now say that we have a deadline that is not a deadline. And we allow October the 31st to come and go as March came and went and April came and went, I think the public will look upon us with increasing mystification.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Boris, Boris --
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Anyone, anyone on this stage guarantee it?
Can you raise your hand if you can guarantee to leave by October 31st?
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CHURCH: The list of contenders will be reduced to two finalists, Tory Party members then will select a winner and will become the next prime minister by the end of July.
Hong Kong's legislature is meeting for the first time since protests by millions against a controversial extradition bill brought the city to a standstill. Some legislators held up signs, saying no China extradition. Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam apologized for the turmoil the bill caused and postponed it.
But is that enough for the opposition?
CNN's Andrew Stevens joins us now from Hong Kong with more on all this.
Andrew, good to see you. Hong Kong's opposition is letting the world know where it stands on the issue of this extradition bill.
What are they saying?
What are they planning to do?
ANDREW STEVENS, CNN ASIA PACIFIC EDITOR: What they are saying very clearly, Rosemary, is they want Carrie Lam to step down and they want this bill not just shelved but completely scrapped.
The Hong Kong government has been saying that this bill will not be brought back until there is a broad agreement in Hong Kong society which will suggest the bill will be killed anyway. But the opposition, they want Carrie Lam to say quite clearly that it is being scrapped and then they want her to stand down.
As far as the government is concerned, they are not buying into. What we are seeing today is no action on the streets in Hong Kong but the legislative council, just behind me here, the debate today has been so far not about the bill itself but the police response to the clearing out of the protesters last Wednesday.
Eighty protesters were injured, 22 police were also injured. There were arrests as well but there has been a very strong backlash against police saying that they used excessive force. The pro democracy council in that building behind me was pushing back hard on the security secretary that's been defending the police.
There were calls within that chamber for Carrie Lam to step down, for the bill to be scrapped. But for the moment it seems to be very much focused on this police action.
As far as what they do next, it's fragmenting somewhat. The protesters behind the last two consecutive Sundays of protests brought millions of people out on the streets in Hong Kong are currently debating whether to call out protesters once again this Sunday for a third week in a row.
Meanwhile the students are saying that they're issuing a separate set of demands that doesn't have Carrie Lam stepping down but scrapping the bill, getting the police to be charged for offenses and releasing all the protesters.
They say if their demands aren't met they will gather here outside the parliament on Friday to demand their conditions being met. The broader protests we've seen of Hong Kong supporting the protesters and the students in having this bill reversed and effectively killed off -- Rosemary.
CHURCH: Andrew, we've seen legislators and protesters working together on this.
Are they on the same page as far as wanting to see Carrie Lam step down?
Also wanting to see a complete end to this bill?
STEVENS: Broadly, yes. The opposition here in parliament pro democracy activists, pro democracy legislators have been very vocal all the way through. They have been joined by the protesters in this.
Which was interesting and remarkable about this protest was not just the fact that the sheer number of people in the streets, 2 million people according to protest organizers, that was the biggest demonstration in Hong Kong's history. But also the fact that it is so broadbased against --
[02:25:00]
STEVENS: -- this bill introduced by Carrie Lam. She continues to say that it's all her own work, she has apologized not once but twice now. The most recent was yesterday. She said now she will consult with the people of Hong Kong. She's humbled by the experience but is she is not backing down, which means the opposition and the protesters still have a very strong issue, which is, she is not scrapping the bill, it could theoretically could come back -- not likely -- and she said she will remain in power -- Rosemary.
CHURCH: We shall watch to see what happens next. Andrew Stevens reporting there from the streets of Hong Kong, coming up to 2:30 in the afternoon, many thanks.
The son of former Egyptian president, Mohamed Morsi, is accusing the government of slowly murdering his father. The official report says he died of a heart attack in his espionage trial. Human Rights Watch has called for an investigation into what he calls his mistreatment in jail. Chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour takes a look at
the legacy of the first democratically elected president of Egypt.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN HOST (voice-over): Like so much of the Arab Spring history, Mohamed Morsi's tenure was punctuated by massive crowds in Egypt's famous Tahrir Square. The road to his presidency began in 2011 when these masses helped topple the three- decade rule of the strong man, Hosni Mubarak, who would then himself spend years in prison.
In 2012, Morsi was put forward as the Muslim Brotherhood candidate for president. Trained as an engineer, he was a complete unknown outside the country. I spoke to him at the time and I asked him whether democracy and the rights of women would be respected.
MOHAMED MORSI, FORMER PRESIDENT OF EGYPT: Of course.
AMANPOUR: All right. Well, thank you for saying that in English. I hear you loud and clear. And all the Egyptian women are hoping that they will be respected and their rights guaranteed.
MORSI: Thank you.
AMANPOUR: So I guess, now that I have you here, I just want you to say it loud and clear.
MORSI: Yes, loudly and clearly. All Egyptian women have the same rights like the men. They are all my sisters, my daughters, my wife and my mother. They are all Egyptians. There is no differences whatsoever among the people in Egypt, the people of Egypt, based on anything like belief or sex or whatever you call or you name.
AMANPOUR: Egyptians then cast their votes. For the first time, it was a truly democratic election.
Mohamed Morsi will be and is the next president of Egypt.
And I was there in Tahrir Square with my colleague, Ben Wedeman, to witness that. He immediately resigned from the Muslim Brotherhood and yet suspicions persisted.
His critics say he did not maintain enough distance from the brotherhood but he also didn't fulfill some of the worst fears. He kept decent relations with the United States and with Israel, honoring the peace treaties signed at Camp David.
But he presided over a chaotic and, at times, authoritarian administration. A year later, frustrated Egyptians again took to Tahrir Square, this time protesting against him. And that's when the military, led by his own defense secretary, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, intervened.
At a Muslim Brotherhood rally, the military fired into the crowd and left at least 800 people dead. Morsi spent the rest of his life in prison.
Abdel Fattah el-Sisi remains the president of Egypt.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: We'll take a short break here. Still to come, the unmanned submarine that won its name in a public poll is making strides in a scientific arena. What Boaty McBoatface discovered after its maiden voyage.
And also ahead, the battle of the aerospace giants at the Paris Air Show. Why Boeing has been cleared for takeoff. We'll explain.
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[02:31:33] CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. I'm Rosemary Church. I want to update you now on the main stories we've been following this hour. U.S. President Donald Trump is contradicting his senior officials by downplaying the tanker attacks in the Gulf of Oman. He says the attacks which his administration blames on Iran were very minor.
But just days ago, America's top diplomat said that U.S. was considering military options against Tehran. President Trump says U.S. and Chinese negotiations will resume trade talks in the coming hours. And he says he's optimistic about a trade deal despite talks breaking down last month. He's to meet with President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the upcoming G20 summit next week.
Facebook has announced its plan to reinvent money. The company formally unveiled its new cryptocurrency called Libra. The Facebook is hoping this global currency can usher in a new era of financial services and bring access to people with phones but no banks.
British submarine Boaty McBoatface might have a fun name. But it has a serious job measuring the ocean depths. And on its first mission, the unmanned submarine made a significant climate change discovery. Take a look.
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CHURCH: I hope you were reading all that. So let's discuss all this with Eleanor Frajka-Williams. A principal research scientist with the U.K.'s National Oceanography Center and she joins us now from Bergen, Norway via Skype. Good to have you with us.
ELEANOR FRAJKA-WILLIAMS, PRINCIPAL RESEARCH SCIENTIST, NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHY CENTRE (via Skype): Good morning, Rosemary.
CHURCH: So on its main voyage's, Boaty McBoatface made the discovery regarding (INAUDIBLE) climate change. Why is that so significant?
FRAJKA-WILLIAMS: Yes. So Boaty McBoatface was starting the deep current around the Antarctica, deep currents replenish the deep ocean with very cold and very dense water.
[02:35:01] But what we found with that -- in fact, there's a strong lateral mixing of this deep warm water -- deep cold waters with warm waters nearby and it's very efficient process spreading the effects of warming into the world's oceans.
CHURCH: So how does this discovery help better understand climate change? In layman's terms.
FRAJKA-WILLIAMS: Yes, yes. Sorry. So, we're very interested in the sea level rise and we know that sea level rise is a growing problem. And the warming of the deep oceans in particular is one of the causes of sea level rise that we can see currently happening in the world. And trying to understand (INAUDIBLE) by which that warming is expanding throughout the world oceans, it's a difficult task because the kinds of things that are occurring in the ocean that cause this deep warming are occurring at centimeters scale.
And so trying to map those centimeter scale prophecies into the broader picture is what we knew Boaty McBoatface to do.
CHURCH: And so then how does the significant discovery help the world deal with climate change or perhaps delay the impact? Does it only help us understand what's going on and nothing more than that?
FRAJKA-WILLIAMS: The main aim really was understanding the physical prophecies happening. If we can understand how that warming is spreading and then maybe see that there are prophecies that we aren't capturing in the state of the art climate model that we're currently using we can improve are climate projections. But it doesn't necessary help us stop climate change.
CHURCH: Right. OK. So what's Boaty McBoatface's next mission? And what makes this unmanned submarine so special?
FRAJKA-WILLIAMS: So there are couple of future options for Boaty McBoatface. One of the -- one of the tasks ahead is trying to cross the arctic under the sea ice and this is going to be an important place to make measurements. We have very few measurements in the arctic because of the sea ice there. And an unmanned submarine and go underneath the ice in ways that we can't do with research vessel.
Boaty McBoatface is a unique submarine because it's capable of doing an unmanned mission for multiple days, week, or possibly even month. Making small-scale measurements in the deep ocean.
CHURCH: yes. Because of course it's been underwater what? Since 2017, that's a long time for its maiden mission.
FRAJKA-WILLIAMS: So we didn't actually leave it underwater, we centered on a multi-day mission and then recovered it so that we can download the data. It -- you can't -- you can't get a large volume of data from a deep ocean without bringing it back up. The acoustic communication links are just too slow.
CHURCH: All right. Well, none of us here of course can say Boaty McBoatface enough. We really enjoy saying the name. It is quite unique, isn't it? Eleanor Frajka-Williams, thank you so much for joining us and explaining a lot of these details to us. Appreciate it.
FRAJKA-WILLIAMS: Thank you.
CHURCH: Well, a day after a shaky start at the Paris Air Show, Boeing got a huge boost picking up its first new commercial order in months for its trouble 737 Max jets. Meanwhile Airbus orders are coming in strong. Melissa Bell gives us the latest on the rival plane makers.
MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT: It is traditionally a sort of battle of the titans whenever the aviation industry meets here at Le Bourget between Airbus and Boeing. You can see it here on the tarmac, Airbuses and Boeings lined up as far as the eye can see. Now, the thinking had been as we went into this air show that given Boeing's woes, given that crisis over the crashing not just of one but two of its 737 Maxs these last few months.
It was going in at a distinct disadvantage indeed. The week began with a note of attrition from Boeing and an awful lot of sales being announced by Airbus. That will change today, Boeing not only ending a sales drought that had lasted since late March by announcing the sale of 37 87 Dreamliners to Korean Air. But also announcing, the cautionally the sale 200 373 Maxs, the very aircraft implicated in those crashes and the subject of so much scrutiny at the moment.
200 of those aircrafts to the group IAG. A blow also of course to Airbus in that battle since it will be replacing some of Airbus's A320s. I spoke earlier on to the CEO of Airbus, he wouldn't be drawn of that leisure of intense that Boeing had announced earlier on. But I did ask him about the strength of his position going into the air show vis-a-vis of Boeing that has been substantially damage but all that has happened these last few months.
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GUILLAUME FAURY, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, AIRBUS GROUP: We were very successful, we're the only single line at the moment. We have a lot of orders and we see the future very positive. We have announced the XLR at the show, it's very successful as well. So we keep going our own way and we see what the other guys are doing.
BELL: You're in a particularly favorable position given the troubles of Boeing's spacing.
[02:35:04] FAURY: We are in a position where we were last year, it's a positive one. We keep going after 2019 will be 2020, we have (INAUDIBLE) and we keep putting planes, even the single -- the new XLR. So, yes, we're in a positive situation and we're working to stay positive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BELL: The CEO of Airbus there speaking to us and this week ticks off. I asked him whether he believe that Airbus would come out on top in the end in terms of numbers or orders, he said, the both companies will be keeping a very close eye on that figure especially in the context of a competition made perhaps all the harsher by woes being faced by Boeing by the particular crisis that it faces. Melissa Bell, CNN, Le Bourget.
CHURCH: Still to come, the list of suspects in the shooting of former Red Sox Baseball Star David Ortiz continues to grow. We'll have the details for you next. Plus, a convicted criminal with ties to President Trump gets a break. That's coming your way here on CNN NEWSROOM.
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CHURCH: Police in the Dominican Republic have made another arrest in the shooting of former Boston Red Sox All Star David Ortiz. Authorities have determined Ortiz was the target of a murder for hire scheme. CNN's Patrick Oppman has the latest now from Santo Domingo.
PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A Dominican law enforcement source tells CNN that an 11th suspect has been arrested in the still expanding investigation and who shot baseball legend David Ortiz. According to court documents, the plot to kill Ortiz went on for at least a week. It was a very carefully planned if not particularly well executed. And involved a man named Alberto Miguel Rodriguez Mota hiring a group of "sicarios." That's Spanish for assassins.
Street thugs who were then shown a photo shortly before Ortiz was shot of the baseball great and sent to shoot him. He did not die though, he was shot once and both the alleged gunman and the getaway driver were captured, and that set off a string of other arrest which led other suspects talking, mobile phones being seized by police, and this plot slowly unraveling.
On Wednesday, police said that they are going to present a much more on this case. We expect to learn more about this 11th suspect, what the role he played in the shooting of David Ortiz. And still yet to be explained is the motive. Why did these suspects, people with ties to the underworld here in the Dominican Republic with ties to the drug trade, why do they so desperately want to kill David Ortiz? Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Santo Domingo.
[02:45:37] CHURCH: Well, the year 2022 Qatar World Cup has faced corruption allegations since the small but wealthy Middle Eastern country, was appointed host in 2010.
Investigators in France detained former UEFA President, Michel Platini. Over that decision, he has now been released without charge. Platini was once a major figure in world football serving as head of European football's governing body, but he was swept out of the sport in 2015 after accusations of corruption rocked FIFA.
So, you are about to see some amazing images from what could have been a terrifying tragedy. Have a look at this video. As a man armed with a high-powered rifle and hundreds of bullets began shooting at a federal office building in Dallas, Texas. And the gunman was shot and killed by police. Remarkably, no one else was hurt. But look in the bottom corner of the screen, hiding behind a pillar is a man named, Tom Fox. He is a photographer. And when he saw a man with a gun approaching, his first instinct was to take this picture, then he hid and prayed.
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TOM FOX, PHOTOJOURNALIST, THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS: I just prayed -- just pray that he didn't walk past me. Because I'm in -- well, I'm in -- I'm in plain sight. And if he saw me sitting there with a camera, he would -- I have no doubt, he would have shot me. Instead, all I heard was the sound of breaking glass and repeat gunfire into the building. And he was literally just around the corner, eight to 10 feet.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Investigators are looking at the gunman social media history to try to figure out why he attacked the Federal Building.
Well, critics are asking questions about why Donald Trump's former campaign chairman has been spared from a notorious jail in the U.S. as ordered? CNN's Brian Todd reports convicted felon, Paul Manafort may have had help from friends in high places.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Mr. Manafort, did you commit a crime?
Paul Manafort seemed destined to be heading to one of America's most feared lockups, Rikers Island Jail in New York, known for its brutal conditions and accusations of excessive force by guards.
For a man used to million-dollar homes in the Hamptons in Florida, who wore python and ostrich skin jackets, and whose health is a concern with his lawyers, it would have been daunting.
But now, Donald Trump's former campaign chairman is instead currently being housed at a federal prison in Manhattan. The Metropolitan Correctional Center. That's after Attorney General William Barr's deputy, Jeffrey Rosen intervened.
Rosen wrote to the Manhattan district attorney, seeking his input on where Manafort should be held.
ELIE HONIG, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: It is extraordinarily unusual and perhaps even entirely unprecedented for somebody as high-ranking as the deputy attorney general to get personally involved in the designation of one particular inmate.
TODD: Another former prosecutor says the risk here is the optic of special treatment for Manafort.
SHAN WU, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: If I were Manafort's attorneys, I would read this as a very hopeful message that the president and by extension, the A.G. may still be looking out for us -- they haven't forgotten about us.
TODD: Two weeks ago, a source told CNN, prosecutors in New York were trying to move Manafort from the federal prison where he was being held in Pennsylvania to New York, possibly, Rikers.
Now, Manhattan D.A. Cy Vance, says he never took a position on whether manna fort should be at Rikers. This federal prison in New York where Manafort's being held now is the same facility where a convicted drug cartel chief Joaquin El Chapo Guzman is being held. Experts say while MCC is not Rikers, it's no picnic for the 70-year-old Manafort.
ED GAVIN, FORMER DEPUTY WARDEN, NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS: It's a small jail, it's overcrowded, and it is cramped. And I don't know that they have a wing for protective custody individuals like Paul Manafort. Because we don't have a lot of prisoners like Paul Manafort.
TODD: Manafort is serving a 7-1/2-year sentence after being convicted on federal charges of bank fraud, tax fraud, and lobbying violations. He is now awaiting trial on several New York state charges including mortgage fraud.
President Trump can't pardon Manafort on those state charges. But could pardon him for the federal conviction.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you ruling out a pardon for Manafort?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't even discuss it. I have -- the only one discussing it is you.
[02:50:03] TODD: On the question of whether political optics played a role in where Paul Manafort is jailed, a senior Justice Department official tells CNN, the department decided to err on the side of caution and keep Manafort at that federal jail in New York because New York state prosecutors didn't object to that proposal from Manafort's lawyers.
The official tells CNN that the reason that the Justice Department contacted New York state prosecutors about that, was because Manafort's lawyers worried about his health, told the Bureau of Prisons, they were concerned about him being transferred to Rikers. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: A record heat wave is scorching India. Dozens of people have been killed, hospitals are full, schools are closed. After the break, we will find out when the country can expect some relief.
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CHURCH: A deadly heat wave is causing suffering for millions of people in India. Two-thirds of the country is affected by one of the longest stretches of high temperatures ever. CNN's Amara Walker has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AMARA WALKER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hospitals are fueling the heat in India. In Bihar, dozens of people have died since Saturday from heat-related conditions. With temperatures hovering at 40 degrees Celsius and higher, it's so hot the government has imposed a curfew to prevent people from going outdoors, and closed schools until the temperatures drop.
Officials, say about two-thirds of India has been affected by severe heat this summer. In one of the longest heat waves, the country has ever experienced. The high temperatures are also adding to the misery in Chennai, where water sources have run dry. Women have to line up in the scorching heat to wait their turn at the pump.
"We depend almost completely on this water as all the nearby reservoirs have gone dry. After 30 people in the line, we get our turn to fill water. There is no water in this entire area. We are suffering a lot without water."
Many restaurants and businesses have shut down temporarily. Until the monsoon rains come and replenish the water supply. Weather forecasters say those rains have been delayed. So, relief from the drought and heat is still, at least, a week away. Amara Walker, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: All right. So, let's get more on all of this with our meteorologist Pedram Javaheri. So, what are you seeing, Pedram?
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN INTERNATIONAL METEOROLOGIST: Yes, Rosemary. You know, we've seen this in the works at the last couple of years as far as the writing being on the wall with water shortages is something certainly that has been, of course, on the horizon for a lot of people across this region.
But what could happen across this area? We know studies have come out in the past. 12 months that we've got broken down here on CNN weather where they kind of referenced that by 2020, so within the next year, over 20 cities across the Indian subcontinent could have entirely run out of groundwater supply.
That would include Delhi to the north, Hyderabad across the south- central region, and, of course, the area of concern right now, Chennai, being another one of these cities that would run potentially entirely out of groundwater supplies. So, certainly, something that has been in the works again in recent years.
The study also references that by the year 2030, 40 percent of India's population could be at risk of not having access to clean water if everything remains as it is right now, the way they're approaching the use of the water across the agricultural industry, and also for their infrastructure as well.
And we know, according to the global water quality index, India sits at 120th out of 122 countries that are monitored on our planet with as it relates to water quality. So, again, a lot of areas here pointing at the issues I've been at hand in recent years. We know a decline in average rainfall days has been part of the problem across this region, and of course, we know an increase in the dry days during the monsoon season, which are precisely what is happening right now playing a large role in all of this as well.
And, in fact, when you look at the numbers break it down in the past decade and a half or so, the water levels across this region, the groundwater levels have been depleting by about 10 to 25 millimeters every single year. So, again, this has been in the works for many, many years across this region.
Now, look at this way here. When you look at rainfall amounts that has also been depleting since the 1970s. Rainfall in the monsoon season -- in the wet -- in the summer growing season there, about a thousand 50 millimeters in 1970 is what they were averaging.
And you see how that drops by 2015 to about a thousand millimeters. And then, in the winter also, a drop -- a noticeable drop there in how much water and how much rainfall has been coming down across these areas. So, a lot of things have to do with climate change, a lot of it have to do with the infrastructure across this region, and certainly some changes need to be made, Rosemary.
[02:56:06] CHURCH: Climate change and infrastructure, but we keep hearing climate change with all of this, don't we?
JAVAHERI: Yes.
CHURCH: Pedram, many thanks to you. Appreciate it.
JAVAHERI: Thanks, Rosemary.
CHURCH: Well, the devastating impact of a warming planet has been captured in a stunning image of Greenland's melting ice sheet. This photo was taken just a few days ago by scientist Steffen Olsen. His sled dogs would normally be running on ice but instead, they are knee- deep in a wide expanse of light blue water.
An incredible image but it tells quite the story, doesn't it? Greenland's melt season runs from June to August but on this one day, June 13th, 40 percent of the island's ice sheet experienced melting. Here is Olsen talking to CNN about the image.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEFFEN OLSEN, DANISH CLIMATOLOGIST: I was perhaps like, like many others. Now, a bit -- a bit overwhelmed by the -- by the impressive melting we saw during the day, and the -- and the situation were somehow getting a little bit out of hand, or we were getting out of our comfort zone working on the ice.
So, yes, I wanted to document the situation and likely also had an idea that it would be some kind of a scientific evidence of the situation.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CHURCH: Just extraordinary. And thank you so much for joining us this hour. I'm Rosemary Church. I'll be back with another hour of news in just a moment. You're watching CNN, do stick around.
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