Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Hamas Responds to Latest Gaza Ceasefire Proposal; Humanitarian Crisis Grows In Gaza Amid Push For Ceasefire; U.S. President's Son Found Guilty on All Counts in Gun Case; Leaders, Guests Heading to Italy Ahead of Annual Talks; U.S. Tracks Russian Warships En Route to Cuba; Russia Stages Tactical Nuclear Drills With Belarus; Suspect Arrested In Attack On 4 U.S. College Instructors; Malawi Begins Three Weeks Of Mourning For VP Chilima; Chiquita Liable for Financing Terrorist Organization in Colombia. Chiquita Liable for Financing Terrorist Organization in Colombia; Migrants Struggle Along Deadliest Route on U.S.-Mexico Border. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired June 12, 2024 - 12:00   ET

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

[00:00:00]

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Here on CNN NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have the Israelis right where we want them, Sinwar allegedly said in recent messages.

VAUSE: With the fate of a ceasefire in Gaza hanging in the balance, intercepted messages revealed the leader of Hamas, apparently believes he has the upper hand right now over Israel.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The 12 jurors agreed that they had no choice but to convict.

VAUSE: A jury of his peers finds Hunter Biden guilty on all the 3 federal gun charges. The first child of a sitting president convicted of a crime.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They've been walking for 3 days. Obviously, she's very emotional. She says there's no food. There's no anything.

VAUSE: On the U.S. southern border, asylum seekers just keep coming, undeterred, it seems, by President Biden's executive action intended to stop them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with John Vause.

VAUSE: What Hamas says was a response showing commitment to a ceasefire, Israel has called a rejection. Sources say that in that response the militant group is asking for a timeline on when all Israeli forces withdraw from Gaza and a permanent end to the fighting comes into effect, both possible deal breakers for Israel. Hamas officials say a negotiated agreement on a ceasefire is still possible, but there have been mixed signals as well from Israel, which appeared ready to formally accept the plan, but at the same time maintaining the right to continue on with military operations in Gaza.

U.S. Secretary said Antony Blinken remains in the region. On Tuesday, he again said the only obstacle to a ceasefire is Hamas. And Blinken called out the senior leader of Hamas in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, as having the power to end this war and the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza, or allow the war to continue.

According to U.S. intelligence, Sinwar believes, Hamas has the upper hand in negotiations right now with the Israelis. CNN's has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN U.S. SECURITY REPORTER (voice-over): A high stakes life and death waiting game heats up in the Middle East. Hamas has responded to the latest ceasefire proposal from Israel, but more talks are now expected as an effort to set peace into motion.

ANTONY BLINKEN, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE: I don't think anyone other than the Hamas leadership in Gaza actually are the ones who can make decisions. That's what we're waiting on.

ATWOOD (voice-over): Secretary of state Antony Blinken, who's traveling in the region, said that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu reaffirmed his commitment to the current deal on the table that was detailed in his speech 11 days ago by president Biden.

The pressure now increasingly on one man alone who started this war and could end it, Yahya Sinwar, the military leader of Hamas. Sinwar helped mastermind the horrific October 7th attacks and is suspected to be hiding out in the tunnels under Gaza. Exactly where is unknown.

A fresh report out today from The Wall Street Journal details messages between Sinwar and Hamas officials participating in the ceasefire talks in Doha. The exchanges show that the terrorist leader thinks he may have the upper hand in the current negotiations.

Quote, "We have the Israelis right where we want them," Sinwar allegedly said in recent messages. These stunning messages, which CNN cannot independently verify, reveal his frame of mind as his war drags into its 9th month. With the Palestinian death toll climbing, Sinwar wrote, quote, "These are necessary sacrifices."

And this is why U.S. officials believe Sinwar has had little incentive to broker a deal. Not only will Israel refuse to stop fighting, but the pressure will continue to mount on Israel daily, which Sinwar believes is to his benefit.

The Israeli military responded to these messages saying, quote, "Hamas leaders don't care about Gazans. How many times do they have to say it for themselves before the world believes them?" And as Blinken continues to push for a deal that could eventually end the war, he took aim at Sinwar. BLINKEN: Are they looking after one guy who may be, for now, safe, buried, I don't know, 10 stories underground somewhere in Gaza, while the people that he purports to represent continue to suffer in a crossfire of his own making? Or will he do what's necessary to actually move this to a better place?

ATWOOD (voice-over): Kylie Atwood, CNN Tel Aviv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: With us out from Central Gaza is UNICEF spokesperson James Elder. James, thank you for taking the time to speak with us.

JAMES ELDER, GLOBAL SPOKESPERSON, UNICEF: Hi there. Hi. John, Hi.

VAUSE: Hey. So according to the latest estimate from the World Food Program, over 1 million people, half the population of Gaza, are expected to face death and starvation by mid-July. I mean, I think all of this is being lost in this talk of ceasefires and, you know, hostage negotiations. That is just over a month from now.

And phase 1 of this ceasefire plan specifically makes mention of a significant increase in humanitarian assistance allowed to enter Gaza. And just to make the obvious connection here, every day this plan is not in place, every day delay is a day closer to starvation and death for tens of thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza?

ELDER: Yeah. Absolutely correct. And every day that this ceasefire is not implemented is another day that children are killed from bombs in the sky. So UNICEF, the United Nations, has been warning sadly, John, for 6, 7 months now that we will get to this point where we risk deaths on the ground from disease, from this lethal lack of sanitation, from people being moved 4, 5 times, and their coping capacity. Their psychology just smashed.

[00:05:00]

Those deaths may start to match those that we hear from the skies. This is a real fear. This is why the Gaza Strip needs so, so much more aid, but it does come under a ceasefire. When I was at a hospital yesterday, John, and I'm seeing scenes, I'm walking over children with missing limbs, with head wounds, with horrendous, horrendous burns. It looked like day 1 of this war.

The people of Gaza are on a precipice. I just don't know how much longer any mom, any dad, any child, any civilian can last whilst those in power still discuss this ceasefire. Those in power who seemingly are very disconnected from the suffering of those people actually on the ground in Gaza.

VAUSE: Well, the suffering in the south has increased in the last couple of weeks when it comes to food assistance. Aid crossing from the border into Egypt has fallen by two-thirds according to UN officials. I want you to listen to the UN Under Secretary General for Emergency Relief, Martin Griffiths. Here he is. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARTIN GRIFFITHS, UN UNDER SECRETARY GENERAL FOR HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS: The Rafah operation that we all predicted was going to be the nightmare that it is, and it is almost worse than we predicted, as we know from this last weekend.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Last weekend, he's referring to the Israeli hostage rescue operation, which Gaza officials say killed, almost 300 people, a number which Israel disputes. But according to the UN, more than 10 times that number of malnourished kids are now at risk of dying in Rafah. And saving those children, it's a lot more complicated than just giving them something to eat. It's going to take weeks of proper medical attention, which isn't there right now.

ELDER: No. Absolutely. When I was at that hospital yesterday, al-Aqsa Hospital, that took the great bulk of people from Sunday's hostage release operation massacre, call it what you will. Doctors I spoke to about the supplies they need said, there is no hospital in the world that could cope with what we are dealing with here. Again, they only pointed to a cease fire.

I was speaking to doctors who were without bandages, anesthetics, the most basic. Obviously, you know, we are talking now, John, about a handful of hospitals in the Gaza Strip that are partially functioning. A handful from what was 36. This has been a systematic devastation of a health system. It has -- we have to go beyond all the words that are shared around the world, and we have to look at evidence on the ground.

Evidence on the ground is devastation of homes, of livelihoods, of agriculture, of the economy, of education, of learning, and very much of hospitals. So as soon as there is a ceasefire, we will remain in a crisis for these children. But whilst we're not there, children go to bed at night, there are bombs at night. They wake in the morning. They maybe get one meal a day. Hospitals were overcrowded. And I know we've been talking about this for 8 months, John, and I know a lot of people want to turn off.

They have to understand the average child, mother, father, grandparent, they cannot turn off in Gaza. So we do finally need those with power to do, as they say, finally, the right thing.

VAUSE: And right now, given this sort of shortage of food, especially in in Rafah in the south, is it a case now that aid workers are facing a choice of, you know, taking food from the hungry to try and feed the starving?

ELDER: It's a case that I think aid workers haven't really seen before. It's an operating environment that's as dangerous as anything we've seen, and that's -- I think that's most clearly evidenced by the fact that we've had more United Nations workers killed in this conflict in 8 months than in the entire 70 year history of the United Nations. So aid workers are making horrendous choices. You know, yesterday, John, in the most simple sense, when I was outside a hospital, a woman was in tears at me -- in tears begging for a tent for a tent. Her family home had been destroyed. Her husband had been killed when the family home was hit by a missile. Her two children -- now they were homeless.

The idea that someone would have to plea so they can sleep in a tent on rubble or so someone have to plea so they can get medicine for their father or a meal for their children, that's what people have been reduced to, a very proud people. My sense being here now is I just don't think their pleas are being heard, and I don't think they've got much more energy to keep going.

VAUSE: Yeah. As these negotiations sort of go back and forth from hope to despair and then make to hope, it must be incredibly difficult for so many people there right now as they wait for any kind of official word on this.

James Elder in Gaza. Thank you, sir. Please stay safe.

ELDER: Sure.

VAUSE: Well, Hunter Biden, the son of Joe Biden, is now the first child of a sitting U.S. President to be found guilty of a crime after his conviction on three federal felony gun charges.

The president embraced his son after landing in Delaware hours after Tuesday's verdict. The jury deliberated less than 3 hours, decided Hunter Biden violated laws meant to prevent those suffering from substance abuse from buying or owning a firearm.

And it created an awkward political moment for the U.S. president who, just hours after his son's conviction, was speaking at a previously scheduled gun safety event, heralding his efforts to strengthen gun laws and enhancing the penalties for those who violate them.

But despite the historic nature of the verdict, members of the jury told CNN, politics never came into play in their deliberations. Details now from CNN's Paula Reid.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just 90 minutes after Hunter Biden's guilty verdict, CNN got incredible insight into the case from juror number 10.

One big mistake from the defense, calling Hunter's daughter Naomi to testify.

[00:10:00]

Juror #10: I felt -- I felt bad that they put Naomi as witness. I think that was probably a strategy that should not have been done. No daughter should ever have to testify against her dad. REID (voice-over): Despite feeling badly for Hunter and his battles with addiction, the 12 jurors agreed that they had no choice but to convict.

Juror #10: All 12 jurors did agree that, yes, he knowingly bought a gun when he was in the addict or he was addicted to drugs.

REID (voice-over): Although they all voted guilty, another juror CNN spoke to off camera questioned whether the case should have been brought in the first place, saying, quote, "It seemed like a waste of taxpayer dollars."

And the jurors interviewed by CNN said, Politics played no role in their decision.

Juror #10: President Biden, never really even came in to play for me. His name was only brought up once during the trial, and that's when I -- that's when it kind of sunk in a little bit, but you kind of put that out of your mind.

REID (voice-over): President Biden released a statement after his son's verdict saying, in part, "I am the president, but I am also a dad. Jill and I love our son, and we are so proud of the man he is today. And I will accept the outcome of this case and will continue to respect the judicial process as Hunter considers an appeal."

Hunter also issued a statement after court, thanking his wife and supporters, saying, "I am more grateful today for the love and support I experienced this last week from Melissa, my family, my friends, and my community than I am disappointed by the outcome."

And Special Counsel David Weiss made a rare statement defending the case.

DAVID WEISS, SPECIAL COUNSEL & U.S. ATTORNEY FOR DISTRICT OF DELAWARE: Ultimately, this case was not just about addiction, a disease that haunts families across the United States, including Hunter Biden's family. This case was about the illegal choices defendant made while in the throes of addiction, his choice to lie on a government form when he bought a gun and the choice to then possess that gun.

REID (voice-over): Paula Reid, CNN, Wilmington, Delaware.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Despite Hunter Biden being found guilty by a jury of his peers with no apparent favor as a son of a president, Trump supporters and talking heads on right-wing media have dismissed the outcome of this trial, instead pushing conspiracy theory. It's just all cover up for other alleged Biden family crimes, none of which have actually been proven true.

In a statement, the Trump campaign said in part, "This trial has been nothing more than a distraction from the real crimes of the Biden crime family, which is raked in tens of millions of dollars from China, Russia, and Ukraine." None of that is true. Then there's right-wing talk show host Charlie Kirk who wrote this, "The true crimes of the Biden crime family remain untouched. This is a fake trial trying to make the justice system appear balanced. Don't fall for it."

And ever the voice of reason, Republican Representative, Matt Gaetz, posted, quote, "The Hunter Biden gun conviction is kind of dumb." How true is that?

VAUSE: In a move reminiscent of the Cold War, Vladimir Putin flexes his naval muscle in the Atlantic, sending three navy warships and one submarine to Cuba for military drills. Along the way, coming very close to Florida's coast. Details on that in a moment.

Also, Chinese authorities arrested a man, they say, stabbed several American educators at a popular park. How the violent incident could impact relations between Beijing and Washington.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:15:00]

VAUSE: The leaders of G7 nations are arriving in Italy on the eve of their annual summit, which this year will include Ukraine's president, as well as Pope Francis. Top priorities in the talks will be global development as well as the war between Israel and Hamas and Russia's war in Ukraine.

U.S. officials say President Joe Biden will hold a news conference with the Ukrainian president in Italy. U.S. is pushing fellow G7 members who are in agreement to provide $50 billion in loans to Ukraine, using profits from frozen Russian assets.

The three Russian warships and a nuclear powered submarine en route to Cuba for drills have been spotted by the U.S. Navy less than 50 kilometers off the coast of Florida. The Russian Navy's newest frigate capable of launching hypersonic missiles is part of this Atlantic show of force by Vladimir Putin, and it comes just days after he threatened to supply high-tech weapons to enemies of NATO amid heightened tensions over Ukraine.

Our man in Moscow is Matthew Chance.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These are the first images of the Russian flotilla steaming towards Cuba, just 90 miles off the U.S. coast. The Russian Defense Ministry says the strike group, including a nuclear powered submarine, the Kazan, armed with modern Kalibr cruise missiles, is practicing the use of high precision weapons, but it's really about Putin flexing his muscles on the international stage.

Led by the flagship of Russia's northern fleet, the Admiral Gorshkov, which Russia's defense ministry says is normally equipped with latest Zircon hypersonic missiles. This is meant to deliver a powerful message to Washington.

Russian state television has been celebrating the naval deployment, placing some of Russia's most powerful vessels in Cuban waters. The American media has been discussing the event, reports the Russian news anchor, claiming the Pentagon has no idea where our submarine is positioned.

In fact, U.S. officials are downplaying any threat that Moscow has been signaling displeasure that Washington recently greenlighting Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory with US supplied weapons.

Speaking ahead of the Cuba naval visit, Vladimir Putin warned of a possible Russian response.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA (via translator): If they in the west supply weapons to the zone of combat operations and call for the use of these weapons against our territory, then why do we not have the right to do the same to mirror these actions? I'm not ready to say that we will do it tomorrow, but we, of course, should think about it.

CHANCE (voice-over): Elsewhere, Moscow has been stepping up tactical nuclear drills too, staging exercises with neighboring Belarus near the Ukrainian border. Russian tactical nukes delivered from either ground or air can level entire cities, although the Kremlin insists it has no plans at this stage to use them.

Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: New details on the stabbing of four American college instructors on an exchange program in Northeast China.

Police have arrested a 55 year old man who is believed to have collided with one of the foreigners while walking in a popular park in the city of Jilin on Monday, and stabbed the instructors at a Chinese tourist who tried to intervene.

More now from CNN's Mark Stewart.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARC STEWART, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Four college educators from America lie on the ground covered in blood in a popular park on a public holiday in Jilin City in Northeastern China. All conscious able to use their phones to say they've just been stabbed by an attacker with a knife. A 5th person, a Chinese tourist, was injured while trying to protect them, police said.

One man is in custody. Police say, he lashed out with the knife after colliding with a foreigner. The three American citizens and one permanent resident of Iowa are from the state's Cornell College in China on a teaching program. One of those hurt, David Zabner, his brother, Iowa state representative Adam Zabner, said David was doing well.

[00:20:00]

His three unnamed colleagues and the Chinese tourists were also receiving medical care according to the Chinese government. CNN's Steven Jiang asked about the delay in the government to acknowledge the attack not getting a direct response.

LIN JIAN, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON (via translator): All of the injured were sent to the hospital immediately and received proper treatment. None of their lives were in danger.

STEWART (voice-over): China is a powerful security state. Its authorities constantly working to keep a lid on crime. Guns are tightly controlled. So when a mass casualty incident does happen, it's almost always a knife attack. In May, a man wielding a knife killed two and injured 21 at a hospital in China's southwest.

Stabbing attacks at kindergartens in 2023 and 2022 left nine dead. Monday's attack may have been sudden, violent, and chaotic, but could this incident have a lasting impact on the already strained relationship between the U.S. and China?

JIAN (via translator): Carrying out people to people and cultural exchanges between China and the United States is in the common interests of both sides and has received active support and response from all walks of life in both countries.

STEWART (voice-over): Chinese president Xi Jinping himself has a personal attachment to Iowa, having first visited the state as a young official in 1985. During his most recent trip to the U.S. late last year, Xi invited 50,000 U.S. students to his country to help grow academic and cultural ties. And that may be damaged by this one violent attack on a summer day.

Marc Stewart, CNN, Jilin City, China.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: After the break, we'll travel to one of the deadliest stretches on the U.S. - Mexico border where migrants are still coming, still seeking asylum despite executive action taken by President Biden.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Welcome back, everyone. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. Malawi will begin a 21 day mourning period for Vice President Saulos Chilima, who died in a plane crash Monday along with nine others.

Chilima served as vice president for 10 years. Malawi's president calls his sudden death heartbreaking. More now from CNN's Larry Madowo.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This Malawi Air Force aircraft was missing for about 24 hours before what many people feared was confirmed. It had crashed on a hill in the middle of a forest, and all on board had perished.

Vice President Saulos Chilima and the nine other occupants had died on impact according to a statement from President Lazarus Chakwera. He said he himself had flown on the same aircraft before with no issues.

[00:25:00]

LAZARUS CHAKWERA, MALAWI PRESIDENT: That aircraft is an aircraft I have myself used on similar trips, an aircraft that others had used just the day before, and on an aircraft that the crew had just operated successfully just hours before.

And yet despite the track record of the aircraft and the experience of the crew, something terrible went wrong with that aircraft on its flight back to Lilongwe, sending it crashing down and killing everyone on board.

MADOWO: President Chakwera described Saulos Chilima as a good man, a devoted husband, and a patriot. And he said it had been one of the greatest honors of his life to have Chilima as his deputy and counsel this past 4 years. This should have been a quick hour long flight from the Capital Lilongwe on Tuesday to Mzuzu in the north.

But just before landing, air traffic control told them due to bad weather and poor visibility, they should turn back. Shortly after that, they lost contact with the radar and the search began. Many people had hope, including President Chakwera, that it could be found alive, that it could be survivors. But as the hours went on, those hopes dimmed.

Saulos Chilima was a party leader in his own right. He formed a coalition with President Chakwera that brought them into power, and now his story ending in this tragic way. Larry Madowo, CNN, Nairobi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Well, murder, kidnapping, violence for years, a paramilitary group terrorized Colombia. Now U.S. jury will decide if the banana company, Chiquita, is liable for funding it. We'll have those details in a moment. You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: 17 year long legal battle has ended with the U.S. banana giant, Chiquita, liable for financing a Colombian paramilitary group, AUC. The company must now pay more than $38 million in compensation to the families of eight of its victims.

Stefano Pozzebon has details now reporting in from Bogota.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEFANO POZZEBON, JOURNALIST: The ruling in a Florida federal court on Monday that found banana company, Chiquita Brands International, liable for financing a Colombia right wing paramilitary group that committed extensive human rights violations over 20 years ago is a groundbreaking case of international litigation according to the team of attorneys that won the argument in West Palm Beach.

[00:30:21]

Chiquita was ordered to pay the relatives of victims of the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia or AUC, a criminal group connected to landowners and corporate interests in northern Colombia that the United States declared a foreign terrorist organization in 2001.

Some details of the cases that were read in court were brutal, talk of extrajudicial executions, forced displacements and gratuitous displays of violence. But the ruling on Monday was celebrated as a victory for justice.

MARCO SIMONS, GENERAL COUNSEL, EARTHRIGHTS INTERNATIONAL: This money is not going to replace what's been lost. We're still talking about horrific abuses that these families have suffered. But the money is important because unfortunately the language that corporations understand the best is money. And so sometimes it takes a significant monetary penalty to change corporate behavior.

POZZEBON: The Colombian president Gustavo Petro celebrated the ruling on his social media channels. Chiquita is also facing litigation in Colombia according to local media. And in a statement to CNN, Chiquita confirmed its intention to appeal.

Throughout the last 20 years, the company maintained that he had been a victim of extortion by the AUC. But the U.S. justice previously found that Chiquita paid the AUC over 100 times between 1997 and 2004 for $1.7 million in total. Monday's verdicts ruled that the money was instrumental in propping up the AUC and that Chiquita was liable for the human rights abuse committed by the group.

The cases heard in Florida are only a small portion of the total number of plaintiffs against the company. And a team of attorneys that brought successfully forward these cases intend to follow with further and further suits against Chiquita.

For CNN, this is Stefano Pozzebon, Bogota.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Eight Tajikistan nationals with possible ties to ISIS have been arrested by U.S. federal agents. All eight now face expulsion on immigration charges. All of this just as U.S. President Joe Biden's new asylum restrictions go into effect.

CNN's David Culver traveled to one of the deadliest stretches on the U.S.-Mexico border, spoke with migrants left stranded there, many unaware of the new U.S. policy on asylum.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID CULVER, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wow, this is a larger group here. Let's see. She's asking us if it's much longer to reach asylum.

Documents in hand, this family desperate to find border patrol. They've been walking for three days. And obviously, she's very emotional, says there's no food, there's no anything. We're in a

remote part of the Arizona-Mexico border.

Getting here, not easy. Took us about two and a half hours from Tucson, much of the drive off-road with no cell signal. And yet, as desolate as this part of the border might seem, the trash and clothes littering the gravel tell a different story. We find makeshift encampments where migrants shield themselves from the scorching sun and wait for border patrol to pick them up.

She said three border patrol passed about a little more than three hours ago, and they assumed they'd be coming back, but they haven't seen them yet.

This family fleeing cartel death threats and kidnappings were surprised hearing where they're from. Mexico. And as we drive on, we meet another. He points us towards an encampment farther down. He's saying there's a bunch more that are coming from Mexico. And he said after the election in particular, he felt the motivation to leave, fearing the corruption and the lack of work.

Let's just see what we end up seeing, because it's late and getting near sunset. There's a huge encampment, mostly children.

A nonprofit set this camp up for migrants who've just crossed. They're saying, please wait here. Immigration is going to come and get you here. And they actually have Wi-Fi set up. Most everyone we meet here, Mexican.

Said that they've been getting a lot of threats, and they said it was for the reason of the election. They didn't vote for, as they put it, the candidate who ended up winning.

[00:35:07]

On June 2nd, Mexicans voted in local state and presidential elections. The campaign season proved violent and deadly.

She says that the reason they left is for reasons of security, which she says, as of now, everybody that we see here is from Mexico.

But they might not be in the U.S. for long. Just days after Mexico's elections, the Biden administration took executive action on the border, allowing for swift deportation of most migrants after a daily cap is reached. In Nogales, Arizona, we see those deportations up close.

We counted probably a dozen people altogether, most of them kids, about eight kids, from what we could see, getting off that bus and Border Patrol agents then escorting them directly to the border. And they'll continue walking them over right into Mexico.

What do you think this executive order, is that going to do anything?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, it only took him what, three years and seven months? CULVER (voice-over): In a rare encounter, we meet a Border Patrol agent eager to vent. He asks us to mask his identity, worried he'll be fired for talking so openly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a job you did take pride in. secure the border we didn't have to babysit.

CULVER (on camera): Does it frustrate you when you hear That, when you hear the narrative, like why border patrol

doing anything?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our hands are tried. If I don't allow them to cross they call and complain, now I'm in trouble. Now, I'm going to lose my job.

CULVER (voice-over): He blames the current administration, but isn't any more hopeful with the alternative.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I really don't like our two candidates.

CULVER (voice-over): We meet others also frustrated by border policy, though for more personal reasons.

(On camera): Is -- is this the only way that you can get face-to-face?

KARLA PACHECO, WAITING FOR GREEN CARD: Yeah, literary. Yeah.

CULVER (voice-over): Karla Pacheco crossed illegally nearly 30 years ago. She's recently gotten her work permit, but is still waiting on a green card.

PACHECO: I can be within the U.S.

CULVER: On the Mexico side, that's her dad, Freddy, who crossed illegally and was deported more than a decade back. They and other families meet here every couple of months to catch up.

CULVER (On camera): When's the last time you got to hug your dad?

PACHECO: Oh 15, 16 years ago.

CULVER: When you think about what's happening at the border now, what goes through your mind?

PACHECO: Yeah, well, it's unfair because we've been waiting, what has been 20 years, 26 years, and nothing, you know, nothing was done. Being here, paying my taxes, and not owing anything, no tickets, no nothing. And yet, you know, there's -- I don't get anything out of it.

CULVER: While Washington focuses on illegal crossings and asylum claims, cases like Karla's have been put on the back burner for decades. Still, Freddy wants his next crossing to be done lawfully.

FREDDY PACHECO, MEXICAN NATIONAL: I want to take it right, everything, you know, with my passport, you know, with everything legal.

CULVER: Even if it means waiting years?

F. PACHECO: Don't worry.

K. PACHECO: It'll happen to you.

(CROSSTALK)

F. PACHECO: I can wait -- I can wait.

CULVER: The wait for Border Patrol at this remote section of the Arizona-Mexico border? Unbearable for some.

(On camera): And so you're going to keep walking, where?

(Voice-over): Cartel-backed smugglers often mislead migrants to think that once they've crossed, the hard part's over. It's not. They struggle to push on in triple-digit heat, clinging to the border wall for balance and shade. Ahead of them, a seemingly endless stretch of hills to climb.

(On camera): We asked that Border Patrol agent who you saw in that piece if he was concerned about some of the people who were coming over the border.

He said, look, the vast majority are women and children. But he said that in turn can distract them from folks who he says are likely here for more nefarious reasons. And it's concerning enough for him that he wants no part in signing their release. He said for him, any signature that potentially releases somebody who then in turn does bad things could come back to hurt him.

David Culver, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Unusual times make for unusual bedfellows, and so it is these days in France. After President Emmanuel Macron called a snap election for later this month, parties from the left and right have been forming unlikely coalitions. Several left-wing groups are now in bed with the popular front.

While France's biggest right-wing party, the Republicans, has announced a deal to partnership with Marine Le Pen's far-right party, the National Rally, sparking outrage among members of the Republican Party. And France remained concerned about the extreme right.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ISABELLE BREMOND, HOSPITAL CONTRACT NEGOTIATOR: It is unfortunately becoming a normality, but we must not get used to this type of normality because we need to remember that before World War II, in fact, it was populism which led to Nazism. So there are things that we need to remember.

(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: Well, for the second time in a week, far-right British politician Nigel Farage has been the target of something at a campaign event. The Brexit here is seen on video waving at supporters from an open-top double-decker bus. Then a man throws objects at Farage from a construction site.

[00:40:03]

Farage was not hit, and police caught the man after a brief chase. Farage posted on X, he will not be bullied or cowed by a violent left- wing mob. How does he know he's left-wing?

Last Tuesday, a woman in South East England was arrested and charged for throwing a milkshake at Farage outside a pub, also at a campaign stop.

Protesters are lashing out against Britain's King Charles over allegations of severe animal cruelty at a charity he supports. As CNN's Max Foster reports, they took aim at his new royal portrait.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: So this was King Charles' first official portrait since his coronation. It went viral on social media because so many people just didn't like it. It did have its defenders too, though, and lots of people have gone to visit it as it hung in a gallery in London, including some protesters who used the opportunity to deface it. They put or they pasted a cartoon over the front of it.

This was a protest against the Royal Society for the Protection of Animals. King Charles is patron of that animal welfare group. The protesters claim that the RSPCA are covering up cruelty on farms, something the RSPCA denies, though they will look into any allegations, they say.

The painting, luckily, wasn't harmed. It was covered in perspex. No comment from Buckingham Palace, I suspect, or I get the feeling that they don't want to give this story any more publicity than it's already getting.

Max Foster, CNN London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Finally, a mystery solved after six months. A group calling themselves the Breakfast Club has come forward to claim Powerball's $842 million prize. The names of the actual members have not been made public, but their attorney says they have chosen a lump sum payout for a grand total of $305 million, that's after taxes, and they plan to travel, prepare for retirement, maybe be a little more charitable.

The owner of the convenience store where the ticket was bought received a $50,000 commission.

Thank you for watching CNN Newsroom. I'm John Vause. Back with more news at the top of the hour. In the meantime, please stay with us. World Sport is up next after a short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WORLD SPORT)