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Biden Imposed Major Asylum Restrictions in Southern Border; Sunak, Starmer Spar over Major Issues in a Heated Televised Debate; European Union Member Countries to Begin Second Largest Elections in the World in Choosing Parliamentary Members. Amanda Knox Returns to Italy for her Slander Charges; CNN's David Culver Traveled the Southern U.S. Border Ahead of a Major Asylum Restriction. Aired 3- 3:45a ET
Aired June 05, 2024 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world and everyone streaming us on CNN Max. I'm Rosemary Church.
Just ahead, Joe Biden's border crackdown, the U.S. President imposing sweeping new restrictions on the southern border, even as he comes under fire from fellow Democrats who say he's taking a page out of the Trump playbook.
Temper's flair on the debate stage in the U.K. as the top two contenders for Prime Minister square off in their first televised debate.
And Amanda Knox is back in Italy looking to clear her name. We're live in Rome with the latest.
ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Rosemary Church.
CHURCH: Thanks for joining us. And we begin this hour in the Middle East, where senior officials from the U.S., Egypt and Qatar are expected to resume working today on a possible ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
The White House says CIA Director Bill Burns is expected to get an update on Qatar's extensive discussions with Hamas. The U.S. is urging Israel and Hamas to accept the latest proposal outlined by President Joe Biden on Friday. A Hamas official says any deal must include a permanent ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military launched a new ground and air assault in central Gaza on Tuesday, going after what it says were Hamas targets. Gaza's Ministry of Health says the operation killed 15 Palestinians, including a 12-year-old boy and wounded dozens of others. Well joining us live from London is CNN's Nada Bashir. Good morning to
you, Nada. So, Israelis mark Jerusalem Day today. What's expected and what measures are in place to prepare for the march?
NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, typically this is a day which is marked by violence in the holy city. This is a day where we are expecting to see thousands of Jewish nationalists marching through the Old City to mark the capture and occupation of East Jerusalem and its holy sites during the 1967 war. It is an event that is marked annually.
And as I mentioned, we have typically seen violence. And of course, we are expecting thousands of marchers today to not only march the old city, but also to march through Muslim quarters of the Old City. And what we have seen in past instances are some protesters using anti- Palestinian, anti-Arab slurs, acts of violence and harassment. And typically, there is a heavy police presence at these events.
In fact, last year, our teams on the ground witnessed journalists as well being targeted by some protesters gathered around Damascus gates with some protesters and marchers, rather throwing rocks and other objects towards the journalists gathered there. So, there is real concern around the potential for violence during this march.
Of course, this comes at a time of heightened tensions between Israelis and Palestinians, in particular heightened tensions in Jerusalem. There is already an increased police presence around the old city. Last year, we saw Israel's far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, taking part in this march. He is someone who has been very vocal, of course, when it comes to the war in Gaza in opposing the current peace plan that is on the table, as announced by the United States last week.
He is someone who has expressed his wish for the war in Gaza to continue until Hamas is completely destroyed, and also has called for the expansion of settlements, which are considered illegal by many in the international community, across the occupied West Bank.
It's unclear whether he will be taking part in today's march, but given the ongoing war in Gaza, given the rising tensions that we are seeing in the occupied West Bank, there is an expectation that there may well be further rounds of violence today, despite that increased police presence, but, of course, that all remains to be seen. Rosemary.
CHURCH: Nada Bashir bringing us that live report from London. Many thanks.
Large fires in northern Israel are under control after first responders spent all of Tuesday battling the flames. Nearly two dozen teams, including an air squadron, were deployed amid changing winds and high temperatures. Israeli officials blamed Hezbollah rocket attacks from across the border in southern Lebanon for causing the fires, which burned 400 hectares and prompted evacuations.
[03:05:10]
Thousands of people in northern Israel have been displaced since the cross-border fighting erupted in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel. During a tour of some of the most heavily damaged areas, the Israel Defense Force's chief of staff said the military is prepared to ramp up its operations if called upon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAJ. GEN. HERZI HALEVI, ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES CHIEF OF STAFF (through translator): The IDF is prepared and very ready for this decision. We have been striking here for eight months, and Hezbollah is paying a very, very high price. Hezbollah has increased its attacks in recent days, and we are prepared to move to an offensive in the north.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Iran is accusing Israel of killing one of its military advisers in Syria. Syrian state media says Israel launched missile strikes on several areas near the city of Aleppo after midnight on Monday. And according to Iranian state media, an adviser to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps died in the attack. Now this comes just two months after Iran and Israel came dangerously close to war after a suspected Israeli attack in Damascus killed several top Iranian military commanders and Iran and Israel launched aerial attacks on each other's soil.
Just a few hours ago, the U.S. president's sweeping new immigration restrictions went into effect, cutting off access to asylum for many migrants who illegally crossed the southern U.S. border. The executive action is aimed at tackling the immigration crisis, a major issue in this year's U.S. presidential race.
Joe Biden said the goodwill of the American people is wearing thin right now and doing nothing is not an option. He also reminded critics he would have preferred a bipartisan border deal, but congressional Republicans torpedoed those efforts because Donald Trump told them to so he could run on immigration issues. President Biden's action has angered progressives who argue he's using the same executive authority Trump once used to ban people from mostly Muslim countries from entering the U.S. in 2017 and to bar most asylum seekers a year later.
During his announcement, President Biden suggested this action was really his only choice.
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JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: We must face the simple truth to protect America as a land that welcomes immigrants. We must first secure the border and secure it now. The simple truth is there is a worldwide migrant crisis, and if the United States doesn't secure our border, there's no limit to the number of people may try to come here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: These new restrictions come just ahead of summertime in North America, when the number of border crossings tends to increase more now from CNN's Priscilla Alvarez.
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PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Joe Biden took his most dramatic move yet on the U.S. southern border Tuesday as he tries to address one of his biggest political vulnerabilities head on before November.
BIDEN: I'm moving past Republican obstruction and using the executive authorities available to me as president to do what I can on my own to address the border.
ALVAREZ (voice-over): The sweeping executive action announced by the president shuts off access to asylum to migrants crossing the border illegally when a daily threshold of 2,500 is met, resulting in people turned back to Mexico or removed to their origin country. Unaccompanied children and select others will be exempt. The order amounts to the most restrictive border policy from the Biden White House.
REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D-WA): I don't think it is the right direction.
ALVAREZ (voice-over): Sparking swift backlash from members of Biden's own party, who blasted the move as similar to steps taken by Trump.
JAYAPAL: I'm disappointed that the president has, you know, sort of gone into the same frame as Donald Trump at a very time when we need to make a distinction between Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
ALVAREZ (voice-over): Other Democrats, including Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, struck a more optimistic tone.
SEN .MARK KELLY (D-AZ): Now with my Republican colleagues not wanting to take action on this, we're at this point where the White House is taking some steps that I truly believe is going to make a big difference.
ALVAREZ (voice-over): The American Civil Liberties Union already announced that it plans to challenge the move in court, just as they did for the Trump era asylum restrictions.
LEE GELERNT, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION- IMMIGRANTS' RIGHTS PROJECT: We said that that was illegal when he tried an asylum ban that we think is very similar to the one that President Biden is doing. We think it remains illegal, and so we will challenge that in court.
ALVAREZ (voice-over): Officials maintain the move is necessary to stem the flow of migration and say Congress needs to act. But Republicans argue the action is too little, too late.
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): The only question anyone should ask is, why didn't you do this in 2021? Why didn't you do this in 2022? Why didn't you do this in 2023? Why didn't you do this last month or the month before or the month before?
ALVAREZ (voice-over): Priscilla Alvarez, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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CHURCH: Eight people in central Ukraine were wounded by a Russian attack early Tuesday. The Ukrainian Air Force shot down two cruise missiles over the city of Dnipro and the debris landed on civilian infrastructure. Ukrainian officials say two children were among the injured, including a one-month-old baby. Meanwhile, Ukraine's president says Russian forces are turning their main firepower toward the eastern Donetsk region and easing their offensive on northeastern Kharkiv region.
U.S. President Joe Biden will arrive in France very soon for ceremonies marking the 80th anniversary of D-Day. He will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy twice in the coming days while both leaders are in Normandy. The White House says they will discuss the state of play in Ukraine and how the U.S. can continue to support Kyiv. The two leaders are also expected to meet during the G7 summit in Italy next week. Mr. Zelenskyy will also be meeting French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday.
So let's go live now to Paris and CNN Senior White House Correspondent Kayla Tausche. Good to see you, Kayla. So what do we know about President Biden's expected meeting with Ukraine's President Zelenskyy in Normandy and what's on the agenda?
KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Rosemary. We know that President Biden and President Zelenskyy will be meeting on the sidelines in Normandy for a broad conversation that National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan says will go into great detail about exactly what is happening on the ground and in the air in Ukraine, where the U.S. has recently authorized Ukrainians to use U.S. weapons to strike just over the border inside Russia, Sullivan telling reporters overnight on Air Force One that he believes that's fair considering that Russians have been striking Ukraine from those positions and that Ukraine needs to be able to defend itself.
The two will also discuss a novel plan in the works for European nations, the G7 more broadly, to redirect some proceeds on frozen Russian investments to continue funding Ukraine's war and its defense and its financial aid needed to keep the country running budgetarily.
And that's going to come to pass in the next week or so when the G7 meets. And Sullivan notes that Biden and Zelenskyy will actually have two opportunities to meet face to face in just the space of one week. Of course, the dark irony is that Zelenskyy finds himself defending Europe on the front lines in the largest military theater in this region since World War II, just as leaders are convening to praise the bravery of the Allied forces that brought about a swifter end to World War II 80 years ago.
President Biden is going to be participating in some of those ceremonies, commemorating D-Day. He'll be delivering a speech on the power of democracy from Pointe du Hoc, which is the land that juts out separating two of the beaches where U.S. and U.K. forces descended during that invasion and where Army Rangers scaled the 100-foot cliffs to destroy the lookout positions where German soldiers had been stationed.
John Kirby, who's the spokesman for the National Security Council, says that President Biden there will have an opportunity to talk about the real men who made real sacrifices and spilled real blood for something bigger than themselves. It's a message that we hear President Biden delivering often, but the administration believes that it will have more visceral imagery and more power behind it delivered from this location.
Of course, the visit is also going to conclude with a state visit, an official visit at the Elysee Palace hosted by President Macron, where they'll have an opportunity to discuss a number of items on the agenda, including and not limited to Ukraine and some of the details that President Biden will have learned from President Zelenskyy. That will take place on Saturday. So it will be a very packed schedule for the next few days with some very critical conversations taking place. Rosemary.
CHURCH: All right. Many thanks to Kayla Tausche bringing us that live report from Paris. I Appreciate it.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer went head to head in their first TV debate on Tuesday. A look at their plans to revive the U.K.'s economy. That's next.
Plus, a pivotal moment in the European Union as 27 countries are set to vote for lawmakers in the parliament. We will outline the key issues back with that and more in just a moment.
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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. With less than a month before the U.K.'s July 4th general election, the British Prime Minister took on his Labour Party challenger in their first debate. Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer went head to head on who's best equipped to handle some of the biggest issues, including the economy, immigration, health care and the war in the Middle East. And they stuck to party lines, trading blame on the economy and taxes. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RISHI SUNAK, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Inflation is back to normal. Wages are growing. Taxes are now being cut. Keir Starmer would put all that progress at risk. He would put up everyone's taxes by 2,000, 2,000 in higher taxes for every working family in our country. After all the hard work and sacrifice we've been through, that's not the right course of action. I don't know why you want to put up people's taxes.
JULIE ETCHINGHAM, ITV DEBATE MODERATOR: Keir Starmer.
KEIR STARMER, BRITISH LABOR PARTY LEADER: Paul, I just don't know how you feel when you hear a prime minister say, having heard what you're going through, that the plan is working, it's all -- alright. This is the prime minister who's been part of a government that has put up tax 26 times.
The last manifesto that they had in 2019 said we won't put up national insurance. This man then put up national insurance. He's the British expert on tax rises. They're at the highest level for 70 years.
SUNAK: The waiting lists are coming down, but what Keir Starmer didn't mention to you, which you did, Julie.
STARMER: 7.2 million, they're now 7.5 million, he says they're coming down and this is the guy who says he's good at maths.
SUNAK: They are now coming down. They are now coming down.
STATRMER: 7.2 when you said you'd get them down, 7.2 million, they're now 7.5 million. I'd like you to explain how they're coming down.
SUNAK: Because they were coming down from where they were when they were hired.
STARMER: 7.2.
SUNAK: And they're now on their way down. They are down. Yes, because the NHS was impacted by industrial action. And if it wasn't for that, half a million appointments would have been saved.
STARMER: It's somebody else's fault.
SUNAK: We got the numbers down last year by a third and now we have a deterrent ready to go. Migrants have been detained. The flights will go in July, but only if I'm your prime minister. If Keir Starmer's elected, all those people will be released. The flights will be canceled and we will have no deterrent to stop the unfairness of people crossing in boats.
STARMER: We need to smash the gangs that are running this vile trade, making a huge amount of money, putting some of the most vulnerable people in boats across the Channel. They're making a fortune. Before I was a politician, Stephen, I was the director of public prosecutions and I worked with the police and prosecutors in other countries to bring down terrorist gangs who were running across borders.
I do not believe it's impossible to bring down these gangs. What I won't do is engage in an expensive gimmick, the Rwanda scheme.
SUNAK: You say one thing here, but your track record says something completely different and you can't be trusted to tackle immigration.
STARMER: So why are the numbers, why are the numbers this year 10,000 record numbers? Why is that? SUNAK: Because this is a challenge. This is a growing challenge, but
I've got a plan to deal with it because I'm going to put people on planes. What are you going to do with them? I can tell everyone what I'm going to do. You might not like it, but I've got a plan because we've got to have a deterrent. What are you going to do? Just tell everybody. What are you going to do with illegal migrants who arrive?
ETCHINGHAM: Rishi Sunak, please, can we just, please, gentlemen, we will lower our voices.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[03:20:01]
CHURCH: And last hour, I spoke with the director of U.K. in a Changing Europe about the debate and asked who he thought came out on top.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANAND MENON, CIRECTOR, U.K. IN A CHANGING EUROPE: In a curious way, both sides will be quite happy. Sunak will be happy because he managed to get that line across about tax. It's not a strictly accurate line, but he hammered home this line that Labour are going to raise taxes. There was a snap poll done by one of our big polling companies immediately afterwards that said by 51 percent to 49 percent that Sunak had won.
But of course, Starmer will be quite reassured, too, because the bottom line is Keir Starmer is 20 points ahead in the polls. So a slight perceived victory for Sunak in one of these debates really isn't going to change the overall picture.
CHURCH: So what are they each proposing to revive the U.K.'s economy and deal with all the other challenges currently facing the U.K.?
MENON: Well, it's interesting because in part, the answer is very little. It is very hard to know.
Both parties talk about growth. Both parties say we're going to get the economy growing again. There's very little that's been announced so far that speaks to that problem directly or gives an indication as to how they intend to go about it. I mean, the lack of growth has been a longstanding problem in the U.K. economy.
It's been something that's plagued us for over a decade. So what we're doing at the moment, I think, is waiting for the two party manifestos when they lay out their policy offer to see precisely what it is they're saying on the economics. Because for the moment, the prime minister is coming out with all sorts of initiatives about protecting pensioners, about introducing some form of national service.
And Labour is saying very, very little indeed, partly, again, because if you're 20 points ahead, you play defense, don't you? You try and make sure that you've got nothing that can be, that there's nothing, no way you can be attacked rather than coming out with ambitious policies. CHURCH: So what about potential spoiler and New Reform U.K. leader
Nigel Farage, who a day before the TV debate revealed he's seeking election to parliament? Many critics saying that was a gut punch to the prime minister. What impact might the Brexit architect have ultimately on the Conservative Party's chances here, do you think?
MENON: Well, when it comes to Reform U.K., the party for which Nigel Farage is standing, a couple of things. Firstly, I think most people in the U.K. thought he was in charge of the party anyway when he announced that he was taking over. So I'm not sure it'll make a lot of difference.
It is conceivable, because Nigel Farage is a very gifted campaigner, that he will increase their vote share by a few percent. And the crucial thing is, the more votes that Reform U.K. get, the more they take away from the Conservatives, because it is the Conservative vote they eat into. So it can only be bad news for Rishi Sunak that Nigel Farage has said he's going to stand, because chances are, if there's any effect at all, it'll be a negative one for the Conservatives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: And that was Anand Menon speaking to me last hour.
We are just a day away from the second largest election in the world. Starting tomorrow, 27 European member states will choose lawmakers for the European Parliament. CNN's Barbie Nadeau has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBIE NADEAU, CNN REPORTER (voice-over): The world is a very different place since European parliamentary elections were held back in 2019. A global pandemic, two major wars, including one in Europe, and the subsequent rise in energy costs. Farmers frustrated by E.U. red tape and cheap imports are dumping manure in Brussels. A worsening climate, with activists attacking cultural gems from Paris to Venice. And a cost-of-living crisis are all among the issues facing Europe's 373 million eligible voters.
These elections are the second largest in the world after India, and considerably bigger than the upcoming American vote.
Between June 6th and 9th, voters in 27 European countries will choose the 720 lawmakers to shape an increasingly splintered Europe for the next five years.
LORENZO DE SIO, PROF. OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, LUISS UNIVERSITY, ROME: European elections are important because in E.U. member countries nowadays a lot of important strategic decisions are taken at the European level. This is why the election of the European Parliament, which is the only directly elected body of Europe, is so important. Policymaking in Europe is more complex and the election of the European Parliament is only part of that. As a result, usually we record lower turnout than in national elections.
NADEAU (voice-over): Creating a functioning parliament when Europe is making a hard rightward shift won't be easy.
The first difficult task of the parliament is choosing the president of the European Commission.
[03:25:01]
With the current president, center-right German Ursula von der Leyen, leading most polls. For the incumbent to win, she has to slalom between her center-right European People's Party and the increasingly popular far-right parties of Giorgia Meloni and Marine Le Pen to secure the newly elected parliament's support.
ANNELIES BECK, EUROVISION DEBATE MODERATOR: You are preparing to work together with the ECR.
URSULA VON DER LEYEN, EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT: That's not what I've said. I want to be very clear, this is not what I've said. I'm speaking about members of the European Parliament. I want to see where they group themselves. And then we work with the groups that are clearly, clearly pro-European, pro-Ukraine, against Putin and for the rule of law.
NADEAU (voice-over): A far-right with more members could greatly influence how Europe deals with political priorities.
Like how to share the burden of a regular migration and what exactly to do about artificial intelligence and regulating big tech.
Against a more assertive China and United States. The European Union will need the parliament to set a clear path. But with balancing the wide-ranging needs of voters against the goals of divergent parties.
Approving legislation with a fractured parliament will be complex. The stakes for Europe and beyond couldn't be higher.
Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN, Rome.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Still to come, Amanda Knox is back in Italy looking to clear her name. The accusations of slander she's facing in connection with the murder of Meredith Kercher.
Plus more on President Biden's sweeping immigration reforms and why a California man has made patrolling the U.S.-Mexico border his personal mission. Back with that in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: Welcome back everyone. Amanda Knox is in an Italian court today in a slander case against her. The 36-year-old American served four years in jail for the 2007 murder of her roommate Meredith Kercher. This is video of her arriving last hour. Her conviction was overturned on appeal. The slander accusation was brought by Patrick Lumumba, a bar owner, who Knox accused of murdering Kercher. She later tried to recant that claim. So let's bring in CNN's Ben Wedeman. His following developments for us
live from Rome. Good morning to you, Ben. So what can we expect from this trial as Amanda Knox apparently tries to clear her name?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we're not expecting is any jail time for her. Really, this is only designed to clear her name.
This was after a European court found that the slander charge, which she was found guilty in Italian courts for, was based on an unfair system, that apparently she was interrogated overnight by the Italian police without a lawyer present, without a proper translator.
The interrogation was not recorded, and therefore out of that interrogation came the claim by the Italian police claimed she made that Patrick Lumumba, who was the owner of a bar where she worked part-time, she accused him of murdering Meredith Kercher back in 2007.
Later, she recanted. She said that these statements were not accurate. Nonetheless, she was found guilty by an Italian court. She was acquitted of the murder of Meredith Kercher twice after twice being convicted by the somewhat rusty Italian justice system.
So now she has, basically, there are claims against her by Patrick Lumumba's lawyers of 18,400 euro in damages. Now she's appealing that. She has not, obviously, paid any damages to Patrick Lumumba.
But she's already served four years in Italian prison, so she's not going to be serving any jail time. The question is, will her name be cleared? Now she's accompanied in the courtroom by her husband, Patrick Lumumba, no longer lives in Italy. He went out of business as a result of the legal complications that went along with his trial.
He now lives in Poland. But we shall see. But this is not anything to do with the actual murder itself. It only relates to slander charges relating to Patrick Lumumba. Rosemary.
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Our thanks to Ben Wedeman bringing us that live report from Rome.
I want to go back now to one of our top stories. These strict new measures are now in place to curb the flow of illegal asylum seekers at the U.S. southern border, part of a sweeping executive action announced by President Joe Biden on Tuesday. The restrictions come into effect when illegal crossings exceed a daily average threshold of 2,500. But some migrants already en route to the border don't seem too concerned.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNKNOWN (through translator): Well, you know, this news has already been given before. They've been saying the same thing for a long time since Trump was there. They are saying that the border is going to be closed. They built a fence. They built the wall. But still, the amount of people that come from our countries is too large.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: CNN's David Culver traveled to San Diego, California, to meet a man who's made patrolling the southern border his personal mission.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID CULVER, CNN SR. U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Keeping up with Cory Gautereaux is a challenge, especially on dirt roads as the sun sets on the California-Mexico border. He's gotten word migrants have just crossed.
CULVER: We're watching this. You can actually see if you've been. They just brought up a Border Patrol van, and they'll load them up on that van and continue on to processing centers. I mean, you see this pretty regularly, I assume, too, because this is your community.
CORY GAUTEREAUX, U.S. ARMY VETERAN: New people that come out and see this firsthand, it's a shock to them. It's very confusing. It's still confusing to me, but it's not necessarily a shock. This is just everyday life here now.
CULVER (voice-over): Here is San Diego County, and Cory is not Border Patrol, but an Army veteran who admits he's become obsessed with understanding this migration surge.
GAUTEREAUX: And it's very frustrating to watch this stuff happen in my backyard when we have veterans in our country who don't have homes, who don't have health care. I feel like we should prioritize some things.
Cell phone.
CULVER: A cell phone?
CULVER (voice-over): Cory's begun collecting what migrants leave behind. Most surprisingly, passports and IDs.
CULVER: It's Mexican immigration. Altogether, you said hundreds of IDs?
GAUTEREAUX: Yeah.
CULVER: Where do you keep them?
GAUTEREAUX: Secret location.
CULVER: Can we see it?
GAUTEREAUX: Yeah.
CULVER (voice-over): On the way there -- Cory stops and points out vulnerabilities in the border wall, places he says smugglers direct migrants to cross, and he shows us remnants of recent campsites.
CULVER: So this is, as you see it, a collection that represents the migration crisis impacting the U.S. right now? GAUTEREAUX: Yep. In the San Diego sector specifically.
CULVER: So you've got a group from China, got other parts of South America, Central America, South America here, credit cards as well. What do you make of all this?
[03:35:06]
GAUTEREAUX: I don't know what you make of it. It's just kind of insanity that people would leave these personal documents behind.
CULVER: And why collect them?
GAUTEREAUX: Each one of these people has a story. Whether that story is coming here for asylum, or coming here to have a better life, or coming here for nefarious reasons. They've all got a story.
CULVER (voice-over): In recent weeks, Cory, along with friends who don't want to be on camera, have documented what they've seen. This thermal camera video, appearing to capture a smuggler dropping off a large group, then taking off.
Here, the desert nightfall brings freezing temps. Migrants often burn whatever might bring them some warmth.
We join Cory after just a few hours of sleep. He's heading out at 4 a.m. to see what might happen in the hours leading up to Biden's executive action aimed to limit border crossings.
GAUTEREAUX: I'm trying to keep my finger on the pulse, because it changes so rapidly.
CULVER (voice-over): With the sun up, Cory drives us to a path where most migrants are now believed to be entering here, through Brian Silvis' property.
BRIAN SILVIS, PROPERTY OWNER: On the weekends, just like two or three big, big groups come through.
CULVER: Which way are you going? Still the same way.
He's even pointed out to us signs that have gone up in recent weeks. You can see in different languages. Asylum, and the arrow pointing this way. And then along the way, there are these ribbons, you can see one in this bush, that then give migrants an indication of which direction they should keep going.
CULVER (voice-over): Just after we part ways with Cory, we see one migrant who's taken that path walking alone.
CULVER: Where are you from? From Turkey.
CULVER (voice-over): He tells us the direction he's going.
CULVER: Here we see a group that's now pulled over there by this truck. They're getting in this real quick. CULVER (voice-over): We drive on and find dozens more staggered along
the dirt road.
UNKNOWN: Egypt. Egypt. Egypt. Welcome to USA.
CULVER: Egypt, Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil.
UNKNOWN: China.
CULVER: China.
CULVER (voice-over): This mom and her young daughters waving us down, hoping we might be border patrol.
UNKNOWN: Turkish.
CULVER: Turkey. From Turkey.
CULVER (voice-over): They're all headed the same direction.
CULVER: He says he's going to walk up here. He acknowledges it's hot, but he says he's got to hurry along because he's going to then continue on to an immigration official to start the process for asylum.
CULVER (voice-over): Brian says life in Ecuador was becoming unbearable. Instability, which we've seen firsthand, driving him northward. He and the others joined several dozen more migrants, lined up and following instructions from CBP agents.
They fill the van, which drives off as more migrants march in.
CULVER: So what's next for most of those migrants, especially with this executive action now in place? Remains to be seen. In theory, those who are above that threshold limit would then be put on vans or buses and sent back over the border to Mexico.
I wondered if a lot of the folks that we caught up with were even aware of the executive action. Most told us they had no clue about it. And similar to what we heard last year with the lifting of Title 42, people saying they can't determine their journeys based on the U.S. president, Congress or the U.S. courts. All of it as they portray it.
Too unpredictable. David Culver, CNN, San Diego.
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CHURCH: All right. I want to take you to live pictures now from southern Paris, where U.S. President Joe Biden has just arrived. We've got those pictures there of Air Force One on the tarmac. He's kicking off a five-day trip where he will attend ceremonies marking the 80th anniversary of D-Day.
He and French President Emmanuel Macron will both give speeches on Thursday, as well as attend a wreath-laying ceremony and a 21-gun salute at Omaha Beach. Now, that's where some of the bloodiest battles, of course, took place in the allied invasion of Normandy during World War II.
And President Biden and President Macron will also hold talks during this visit. And a state dinner will be held on Saturday. So we're just awaiting there the president of the United States of America, Joe Biden, about to disembark from that plane. We'll keep a very close eye on all of that. They arrived in France.
All right. We'll be back in just a moment.
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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone.
The Food and Drug Administration Advisory Committee has voted overwhelmingly against the use of MDMA to treat post-traumatic stress disorder. Commonly known as ecstasy, MDMA is a schedule one controlled substance. FDA advisers were shown positive data from two late-stage clinical trials. But they had concerns about the trial's integrity.
About 13 million Americans experience PTSD in any given year. Current treatments, including antidepressants and cognitive behavioral therapy, are limited in scope and effectiveness.
I want to thank you so much for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. "Marketplace Middle East" is coming up next. Then in 15 minutes, CNN NEWSROOM will continue with our Max Foster in London.
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