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Vote Counting Underway After 642M People Cast Ballots; Netanyahu: Claim Israel Agreed To Peace Plan "Not True"; Israel Defense Forces: Four More Hostages Held In Gaza Confirmed Dead; Far- Right Israeli Ministers Push Against New Peace Plan; Claudia Sheinbaum Wins Presidency in Mexico, Pledges to Protect Country's Sovereignty, Strengthen Regional Ties; Biden to Limit Asylum-seekers Entering U.S. Illegally; Nigel Farage Seeking Seat With Far-right Reform U.K. Party; Kafka's Letter Complaining of Writer's Block Up for Auction. Aired 2- 3a ET

Aired June 04, 2024 - 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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[02:00:22]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world and to everyone streaming us on CNN Max. I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead, is a third-term in store for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi? We are live in New Delhi as the votes are counted in the world's biggest election.

History made in Mexico after the country elected its first female president. We will dig deeper into her policies and the political hurdles ahead. And Donald Trump is trending in China. Images of the former U.S. president in an orange jumpsuit going viral, as state media goes all in on Trump's guilty verdict.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Rosemary Church.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Good to have you with us.

Well right now, votes are being counted in India following a general election in the world's largest democracy. Early results show Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling BJP is leading in more than 140 constituencies. And India's Election Commission says the party has secured its first seat in the city of Surat in Modi's home state of Gujarat.

Now millions of people cast their vote over seven phases from April 19th to June 1st. And Indian officials are calling the mammoth process a success. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJIV KUMAR, CHIEF ELECTION COMMISSIOONER OF INDIA: This is a historic moment for all of us, for the nation as a whole. 642 ever anywhere in the world in any of the electorate societies.

That has been the incredible power of the voters of India.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Modi, who first swept to power in 2014 by promising growth and change is seeking a rare third consecutive term if his ruling BJP led Alliance wins another five years in power.

And CNN's senior international correspondent Ivan Watson is live this hour in New Delhi. He joins us now.

So, good to see you, Ivan. Votes are being counted for the biggest election in the world. What's the latest on all of this?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, the votes is now just under four hours -- 3-1/2 hours since the ballot boxes were broken open and that the vote counting began.

And the first of the votes in this massive election. They were cast on April 19. So, this has been a six-week election. And according to the official figures, the number of people who cast ballots is much larger than the entire population of many countries, some 642 million people have voted.

Now, the question is going to be what could the results be? This is for the lower House of parliament here and there are 534 seats up for grabs. The magic number to win a majority is 272.

Of course, Narendra Modi, the prime minister and his ruling BJP, they have been in power now for some 10 years. They are seeking a third term in office. And they went into this massive election, predicting a huge victory, predicting that they would win some 400 seats out of these 534 seats.

Well, it is still early hours. We are still looking at preliminary results, but they are suggesting a much more competitive election than this massive BJP wave that had initially been predicted by the BJP itself. That actually, the races are much more competitive, for example, in the giant state, the very -- most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, that may, in fact, in these first hours, be neck and neck.

So, this is something to watch very closely. It still does look like Modi's Alliance, his electoral bloc is headed towards a victory and what would potentially be a third term in office, but it does suggest that his party has lost some ground around the country in what I think everybody agrees is a referendum on him and his decade in power.

Back to you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right. Our thanks to CNN's Ivan Watson, joining us live from New Delhi.

Pressure is mounting on Israel to accept a new ceasefire hostage released proposal laid out by the United States. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is claiming that Israel did not agree to that plan.

[02:05:05]

His spokesperson, says U.S. President Joe Biden only presented a partial outline. And Mr. Netanyahu is insisting the war will not end until Hamas is eliminated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER, ISRAEL (through translator): We are working in countless ways to return our hostages. I think about them all the time. I think about the women all the time, about their families, about their suffering. Therefore, we have gone the extra mile to bring them back.

But during this action, we have maintained the goals of war and primarily the elimination of Hamas. We insist that we complete both.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Supporters of the proposal gathered outside the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, Monday. This comes as the Israeli military confirms the deaths of four more hostages. Following the news, Israel's hostage and missing family's forum is demanding that Netanyahu approved the new peace plan. The organization says their deaths are a mark of disgrace and a sad reflection of previous proposals that went nowhere.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond has details.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, for nearly eight months, the loved ones of these four hostages have hoped and prayed that they would eventually emerge from their captivity in Gaza, come back to Israel alive and well.

But instead, the Israeli military on Monday delivering the worst possible news to these families, telling them that they believe that their loved ones are now dead, and that their bodies are still being held hostage by Hamas.

Admiral Daniel Hagari, the top spokesman for the Israeli military, saying that based on new intelligence, the military assesses that these four hostages were killed a few months ago during their Hamas captivity in Gaza, saying that the assessment is that they were killed while together in the area of Khan Yunis, during Israeli military operations there against Hamas.

Now, he doesn't explicitly say that Israeli fire was responsible for their deaths, but he acknowledged that there will be, "difficult" questions about exactly how they died.

We should note that one of these four hostages, a 51-year-old British Israeli citizen, Nadav Popplewell. Hamas last month said that he had been wounded and that -- in an Israeli airstrike, and that he subsequently died of his injuries.

The three other hostages mentioned here are Chaim Peri, 79 years old. There is 80-year-old year Yoram Metzger, and 84-year-old Amiram Cooper.

And with this news, the families of these hostages and the families of so many other hostages are now raising their voices, urging the Israeli government to stand by this proposal that is now on the table and to make a deal with Hamas.

And they are doing so at a time when we've heard the Israeli prime minister over the last couple of days, focusing on the fact that this proposal will not automatically lead to a permanent ceasefire, will not automatically lead to an end of the war in Gaza. And he's doing so, because since President Biden on Friday put this Israeli proposal out in the open for the public to see to bring a lot of public pressure to bear, two far-right members of Netanyahu's governing coalition, the finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, and the National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, had been threatening to pull the rug out from under Netanyahu, to topple the government effectively over this deal, because they believe it will lead to an end of the war.

And Netanyahu, in insisting that it will not, there is now concern that not only is he not being successful in convincing these far-right members of his government to support this deal, but also, the concern being from Israeli government officials, according to two sources familiar with the matter that Netanyahu is potentially undermining the deal itself.

Undermining the ambiguity about exactly how you get from a phase one ceasefire to a longer-term phase two ceasefire, undermining the key selling point effectively, that would be made to Hamas.

But now, the question is, will Netanyahu have to choose between the survival of his government or this hostage deal? The answer may lie in what Hamas's response will be, as we still await Hamas's official response to this latest proposal.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Jerusalem.

CHURCH: Joining us now is Alon Pinkas in Tel Aviv. He is the former Israeli consul general in New York. Appreciate you being with us.

ALON PINKAS, FORMER ISRAELI CONSUL GENERAL IN NEW YORK: Good morning, Rosemary. Always good.

CHURCH: So, U.S. President Joe Biden surprise announcement on Friday that Israel supported a peace plan with a new ceasefire and hostage proposal put intense and immediate pressure on Benjamin Netanyahu. Now, to far-right politicians are threatening to collapse his government if the proposal is accepted.

[02:10:02]

And Netanyahu now claims he never agreed to this particular peace plan. So, what is going on here?

PINKAS: I wish I know. Here is the thing. The idea that Netanyahu is rejecting Israel's proposals, as proposal -- singular -- seems strange only to people who do not know him. That is specifically on-brands for him to jettison to torpedo his own proposal.

Now, here, here is -- here is what that -- what we believe happened. Israel made a -- Israel made a proposal in the form of a list of principles and thinks it agrees. President Biden then packaged it, and fearing because, you know, Mr. Netanyahu's tendency to mendacity and manipulate him. He figured that Mr. Netanyahu would oppose to it, and then claim that it wasn't -- it was never made. So, Biden stands up last Friday and makes it public.

Israel then is in the predicament, while Netanyahu, rather, he's in a predicament, because he can't pass this, but he can't project.

So, what he's doing is procrastinating, which is his modus operandi on everything, and always.

Right now -- what -- right now what he's doing, Rosemary, is trying to stall and attach stipulations and conditions in what seems to be an effort to elicit a rejection from Hamas, you know, it's a blame game.

So, he could say, well, no, I had my reservations, but I agreed to it. They reject it. I don't think it's going to work. I think he's come to the point to this -- to this impasse where push came to shove, and he's going to have to make a decision.

CHURCH: Right. Oh, of course, so, on main street, pressure continues to mount on Netanyahu as more than 100,000 Israelis filled the streets of Tel Aviv, Saturday night, and our protest also in the streets of Jerusalem with calls for the prime minister to accept this U.S. brokered plan.

So, Netanyahu has a clear choice, doesn't he? What will he likely do in the end?

PINKAS: I don't know. Because, you know, the old -- you can fool some of the people all of the time -- you can fool all of the people some of the time, but you can fool all of the people all of the time -- attributed to Abraham Lincoln.

But Mr. Netanyahu is trying to do exactly that. And so, the -- I just don't have an answer for you, Rosemary. But let me -- let me offer -- let me submit to you the following logic that some analysts see.

He knows that he reached a point on the road where he has to, you know, fork that he can, cannot -- can no longer avoid. But he is going to take the deal with reservations, hoping something will happen. Ask the Americans to add the Saudi dimension, meaning that he will give some faint half-hearted commitment to a peace process, loses coalition, make this a caretaker interim government, which cannot be toppled, and then, stall for time until after the American election without really committing to doing anything.

That's one possibility. Looks complex and convoluted. Well, that's because it is.

CHURCH: Right. Of course, the election, five months away. So, that's a -- that's a long delay. Let's get back to that proposal revealed in that surprise announcement by President Biden, calling for a six week pause and fighting to allow for the release of hostages in phases, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and a significant boost in aid shipments to Gaza.

But the key sticking point remaining, of course, how and when the war will officially end with Israel insisting on the complete destruction of Hamas.

What do you think of the parameters of this proposal? And do you see any way for this proposal to survive and move forward?

PINKAS: Well, I'll start with the end of your question. No, I don't see a way for this to happen. I can't see this unfold. But here is -- here is my two cents as to the parameter.

In the last 48 hours, Mr. Netanyahu is drawing a distinction between fighting and between the war, meaning, the timing will end for 42 days. That is phase one of the plan that President Biden proposed, 42 days, six weeks, but the war Mr. Netanyahu says does not end. So, that way he placates his right-wing coalition members, well, the war is not over and we are on the precipice of the total victory, and we will annihilate and eradicate, and destroy Hamas. OK.

But by making that distinction, he is eliciting a rejection from Hamas, who want the war to end. In other words, he is trying to create a complexity that does not really exist because the plan is pretty simple. It's costly (INAUDIBLE), but it's pretty simple.

[02:15:03]

Phase one says 42-day ceasefire, the return of many hostages, the elderly, and the females, the women. And that would lead to phase -- Israeli withdrawal from major population centers inside the Gaza Strip, which would then lead to phase two, meaning the end of the war cessation of hostility.

Mr. Netanyahu does not want that, which is why I can't see this moving forward. Now, note one more thing, Rosemary, if I may. The plan -- the way President Biden presented it does not specify who will govern Gaza, who will manage, who will administer the humanitarian aid, who will fill the political vacuum?

Not only that, but it does not even relate to or is linked to Biden's broader plan about the, you know, when we reconfigured Middle East and the Palestinian Israeli peace process. All these two omissions indicate that it is in Israeli plan, because had Biden came up with the plan, it most likely would have included those two issues -- Palestinian negotiations and they reconfigure the region.

CHURCH: Alon Pinkas in Tel Aviv, many thanks for joining and sharing your perspective and analysis on this issue. Appreciate it.

PINKAS: Thank you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Hospitals in Gaza report at least 24 people have been killed by the latest Israeli strikes. A Gaza civil defense spokesperson says two teenage brothers and a mother and daughter are among the dead. Artillery shells hit their apartments in Gaza City. Officials say homes were also hit in Khan Yunis and a camp in central Gaza.

A U.N. analysis of satellite imagery shows 55 percent of all structures in Gaza, nearly 140,000 buildings have been destroyed or damaged since the war started.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is calling on Israel to end civilian suffering in Gaza and says Ukraine recognizes both Israel and a Palestinian State.

Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Mr. Zelenskyy said Israel has a right to defend itself against attacks on civilians, such as the October 7th Hamas terror attacks. But he also said that timeline should not be mixed with the current humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza.

Ukrainian forces say they have used Western weapons to successfully strike a Russian missile system inside Russia. It comes just days after U.S. President Joe Biden gave Ukraine permission to use U.S. weapons, the limited strikes in Russian territory near Kharkiv.

Ukraine claims the target they hit was a Russian S-300 a long round surface to air defense system, a Ukrainian minister appear to taunt the Russians, saying it "burns beautifully".

President Zelenskyy has been urging the United States to loosen restrictions on targeting Russian military sites, especially as Russia continues its bombardment of north eastern Ukraine.

The Ukrainian military released this video of some of the destruction in one town in the Kharkiv region.

Ukrainian police also released this video, showing officers evacuating an elderly civilian from a town near the Russian border. And you can see the damage around them, and the difficulty facing people trapped in the most active battle zones.

The pandemic is over, but U.S. Republicans are still going after top infectious disease expert, Dr. Fauci, and accusing him of cover ups. The takeaways from the contentious hearing.

And Chinese social media goes wild over Donald Trump's felony conviction. Why some users are calling for a U.S. civil war? That's next here on CNN.

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[02:21:11]

Welcome back, everyone. Opening statements are set to begin in the trial of Hunter Biden in the coming hours. The son of the U.S. president is facing felony gun charges for allegedly purchasing a handgun, while he was addicted to drugs.

Jury selection happened Monday in Wilmington, Delaware. Six men and six women were sworn in, including a woman who says she lost many friends to drug addiction, and a gun owner who believes people who smoke marijuana should still be allowed to own firearms.

Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty to the charges, although, he has been open about his struggles with alcohol and crack cocaine addiction. This is the first time in history that the child of a sitting U.S. president is on trial.

The renowned infectious disease expert, who many Americans saw as a guiding light during the confusion of COVID-19 was called to testify once again on Capitol Hill. This was perhaps, Dr. Anthony Fauci's final showdown with Republicans over mandates, vaccines, and the origins of the pandemic.

And even though he is retired, Dr. Fauci says he and his family are still receiving death threats to this day.

CNN's Meg Tirrell has details on the heated testimony.

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: On his first public testimony since leaving the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases at the end of 2022, Dr. Fauci was asked about the origins of the virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic, also about some COVID-era policies like vaccine mandates, travel restrictions, masking, and social distancing.

Really, though, folks expected going into this hearing today that it probably was going to be more political than really revelatory from a scientific perspective. And that's likely the takeaways that came from it.

Dr. Fauci in his own opening statements anticipated that this would be the tenor of the hearing today, focusing in on an accusation that he says he heard that he influenced scientists by bribing them with government grants, which he called, "absolutely false and simply preposterous".

He also talked about how he had kept an open mind about the origins of the virus, whether it leaked from a lab, which was a theory that a lot of Republicans were talking about here at the hearing today, versus a natural spillover event from an animal, which a lot of people in the scientific community think is the likely route.

He also was pressed a lot and addressed in his opening statements, his relationship with a staff member at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, David Morens. He had the title of an advisor to the director.

He said that in stand, this colleagues role really was to help him writing scientific papers, not to advise him on institute policies.

Fauci was also asked a lot about his use of any personal e-mail to do government business. He said to the best of his knowledge, he never did that. There was one exchange where Dr. Fauci actually got emotional, whereas, there had been a lot of previous heated exchanges with some congress people. Dr. Fauci got emotional when talking with Representative Debbie Dingell who asked him about threats that had been made to his family.

Here is that exchange.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, FORMER DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: There have been credible death threats, leading to the arrests of two individuals and credible death threats mean someone who clearly was on their way to kill me. And it's required my having protective services, essentially all the time.

It is very troublesome to me. It is much more troublesome because they've involved my wife and my three daughters.

[02:25:01]

REP. DEBBIE DINGELL (D-MI): At this moment, how do you feel? Do you (INAUDIBLE).

FAUCI: Terrible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TERRELL: Fauci said in conversation with the representative after this exchange that he was concerned that very good scientists may not want to go into public service anymore after seeing the kinds of threats that have been made to Dr. Fauci and others.

Now, there were a lot of questions, of course, about the origins of the virus, but not a lot of answers. And a lot of experts we have talked with note how difficult it is to find the answers to these questions.

And given the tensions that we have seen with China, Dr. Fauci said this in testimony behind closed doors back in January, ahead of today's hearing, that unfortunately, answers may never come.

CHURCH: In China, people are taking to social media to mock Donald Trump and the United States. After the former president's felony convictions in his hush money trial. One user on Weibo wrote, "Put Trump in jail and wait for the fuming rednecks to draw their guns."

Comments like these are getting hundreds of millions of views in China. Will Ripley has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): On China's tightly controlled Internet, A.I. generated images of Donald Trump in an orange prison jumpsuit, posts about the former president's felony convictions trending on Chinese social media, racking up hundreds of millions of views, on touch by Beijing's heavy-handed sensors.

This user asks, "Can he be put behind bars? Will this lead to civil war?"

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 19 states have succeeded.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The United States Army ramps up activity --

RIPLEY (voice over): As the movie, "Civil War", hits theatres in China this week, one of just 34 foreign films allowed all year. This comment says, "Trump's supporters, hurry up and mobilize, storm the Capitol."

And other uses Trump's popular Chinese nickname, "Comrade Nation Builder Trump should not be fighting alone."

Chinese social media users often called Trump, the Chinese nation builder, a play on his isolationist policies, dividing the U.S. and its allies, building up Beijing, and weakening Washington on the world stage.

Trump's legal troubles fueling Chinese state media's ongoing narrative of American democracy in decline, a stance summed up by this Chinese academic. "The attitudes of both parties reflect the rottenness of American politics, and the law now seems to be used as a political weapon."

Alex, from Beijing says in the United States, you can still run for president even if you have a felony or have committed a crime? This kind of thing is unimaginable in China.

Wen, a student, says, if Trump can still become president after being convicted, I think he may try to use his power to quash the charges.

Its politics says Xiao Ye (PH), the multi-party system will have such problems. China does not have such problems because of the one-party system.

The comment echoes China's larger narrative that the U.S. is a superpower in decline, a democracy marred by dysfunction, division, chaos, that ultimately benefits Beijing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIPLEY (on camera): All of it, perhaps, a welcome distraction from Tuesday's 35th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Experts say China is not just watching what's happening in the U.S. from the sidelines. The U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that influence operations are in full swing ahead of the November election, aiming to sow discord and amplify divisions within the U.S. whether it's social media campaigns or Chinese state media portraying the United States as this democracy that's falling apart. It's clear, some say, that Beijing's goal is to weaken America's standing on the global stage.

Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.

CHURCH: Still ahead, a landslide victory in Mexico's presidential election. What the outgoing president is saying about his protege?

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[02:31:48]

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Mexico's president elect is promising a government for all without corruption or impunity. Claudia Sheinbaum won a landslide victory to become the country's first female and first Jewish president. She faces a huge challenge in fighting in crime and gang violence. But her coalition appears to have won a supermajority in the Lower House and is close to one in the Senate. More now from CNN's Gustavo Valdes.

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GUSTAVO VALDES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Claudia Sheinbaum has made history as the first woman predicted to be the next president of Mexico. The 61-year-old handedly (ph) defeated her to opponents with at least 58 percent of the vote, according to the National Electoral Institute.

CLAUDIA SHEINBAUM PARDO, PRESIDENT ELECT, MEXICO (through translator): Our duty is and always will be to look after each Mexican without distinctions. Although many Mexican women and Mexican men don't agree fully with our project, we will walk in peace and harmony to build a fair and more prosperous Mexico.

VALDES (voice-over): Besides being the first woman set to become president, she would be the first one of Jewish ancestry. Her grandparents migrated from eastern Europe, fleeing Nazi persecution, although she rarely mentions her religious background. Her parents were leftists according to a biography by journalist actor Racano (ph) in which Sheinbaum says that she grew up talking about politics all day with her parents.

But her first career is academia. She has a PhD in Environmental Engineering, focused in renewable energy and climate change. Her introduction to politics happened in 2000 when she became Mexico City's environmental minister under the head of government, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. She became part of his team during his three presidential campaigns and in 2018, when he won the presidency, she was elected chief of government and of Mexico City.

She pledged to continue the policies of Lopez Obrador with a five- point plan: Increase public safety, free public education, fight poverty through social programs and higher minimum wage, better regulation of water resources, and transition to renewable energies. On foreign affairs, she has pledged to protect Mexico's sovereignty and while recognizing the importance of their relationship with the United States, she wants to focus on growing ties with central and south American nations.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VALDES (on camera): (Inaudible) of power should be an easy one since she's going to be taking over her friend and mentor on October 1st. Gustavo Valdes, CNN, Mexico City.

CHURCH: U.S. President Joe Biden is set to announce strict new limits on the number of asylum seekers crossing illegally from Mexico. He plans to issue an executive order, possibly in the day ahead. It would effectively shut down the border to those asylum seekers when a daily threshold of 2,500 is reached. Unaccompanied children would be exempt and some immigration advocates warn that could encourage families to send children to the border on their own.

[02:35:00]

Mr. Biden plans to issue the order under authority that was widely criticized by Democrats when Donald Trump used it during his presidency. A homeland security official says authorities have been apprehending about 4,000 migrants a day crossing the border illegally.

And I spoke earlier with Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera and I asked her how President Biden's executive order might impact the border situation and bilateral trade relations with Mexico?

GUADALUPE CORREA-CABRERA, PROFESSOR, GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY: The United States is going to have elections in November. Mexico is going through a political transition just in the sense that Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is going to leave the government and the presidency of Mexico. This is good for President Joe Biden.

But at the same time, we need to understand that Mexico is dependent on the United States. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has been also very pragmatic, he has collaborated very closely with the United States. And even during the Donald Trump Administration, he accepted, of course, pressured by Donald Trump, the immigration protection protocols, the 'Stay in Mexico' program.

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador as well as Claudia Sheinbaum are going to collaborate. At this point, there's a lot going on in Mexico. There's a transition of government which is going to be smooth. But at the same time, it's going to be a lot of work. So, it is a key political moment for the Biden Administration and Mexico is going to be following what the United States decides in this terms. So, it's going to be very interesting period.

CHURCH: Right. And what will President-elect Sheinbaum do when it comes to issues of concern for Mexicans like public safety, cartel violence, energy, water access and the economy?

CORREA-CABRERA: There are a lot of challenges, but the main challenge for Mexico is the problem of security, insecurity and violence. Claudia Sheinbaum has been very successful -- was very successful when she was Mayor of Mexico City in that regard. She promises to extend that success to the whole country, but the country is very complex. The criminal world in Mexico is very complex, and the presence of criminal paramilitary groups as transnational organized crime are very different in structure than the ones that we observe in Mexico City. There's a huge challenge. She promises to maintain the military overseeing public safety at the federal level, monopolizing the public safety at the federal level. That has not been a successful strategy. The -- but at the same time, she has more governors supporting her, so she can coordinate better. We'll see what happens. She has a strong a team and -- but at the same time, this team has been there and Mexico has not been able to solve its problems. So this is a big issue, the issue of water, energy.

She's going to be pragmatical. She's going to collaborate within the framework of north America. We can foresee that and the capacity that the government will have without checks and balances will probably facilitate some of the coordination problems that have been faced -- other presidents have been facing during this century.

CHURCH: And you can see my full interview with Guadalupe Correa- Cabrera next hour, right here on "CNN Newsroom."

One of the most divisive and disruptive figures in British politics has announced his running for parliament in the July 4 general election. Nigel Farage, a driving force behind Brexit and the former head of the U.K. Independence Party is now joining the hard-right Reform U.K. Party. Despite failing and his seven previous attempts to become an MP, Farage says he will seek a seat in Clacton, a coastal town that has seen better days, and take over as reform leader.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Nigel Farage, Party leader of Reform U.K.: What I'm really calling for or what I intend to lead is a political revolt, yes, a revolt, a turning of our backs on the political status quo. It doesn't work. Nothing in this country works anymore.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Farage says he is working to make Reform The U.K. as official opposition party. Last month, the former Brexiteer said he wouldn't seek offers because he was helping with a "grassroots campaign" to re- elect former U.S. President Donald Trump. And we'll be right back.

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[02:41:57]

CHURCH: It has been more than 100 years since Author Franz Kafka wrote to a friend detailing his struggle with writer's block, but that letter is still around today and you could own it. Sotheby's in London says the one-page letter was penned in the spring of 1920, around the time Kafka was being treated for tuberculosis. Kafka best known for his 1915 story, 'The Metamorphosis,' struggled with anxiety, hopelessness, and isolation for much of his life, themes that came to define his work. The letter is expected to sell for up to $115,000. The auction runs from June 26 to July 10th at Sotheby's in London, if you're interested.

Thank you so much for joining us. I am Rosemary Church. "World Sport" is coming next. And I will be back in about 15 minutes with more "CNN Newsroom." Do stick around.

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