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Russian President Vladimir Putin On Rare Visit To North Korea; Heavy Seas Force Temporary Dismantling Of U.S. Pier In Gaza; President Joe Biden's Executive Action Plan Protects Undocumented Spouses And Kids Of U.S. Citizens; Dangerously High Temperatures Gripping Southern Europe; "Post Fire" Near L.A. Grows Slightly, 31 Percent Contained; Boeing CEO Faces Senators And Victim's Families At Safety Hearing; Hundreds of Migrants Killed in the Mediterranean This Week; Justin Timberlake Charged With Driving While Intoxicated; Thai Senate Votes to Legalize Same-sex Marriage; Mysterious Monolith Appears in Desert Near Las Vegas; U.S.A. Olympic Team Uniforms Revealed. Aired 2-2:45a ET

Aired June 19, 2024 - 02:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:00:37]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN 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, North Korea's Kim Jong-un rolls out the red carpet for Russia's Vladimir Putin, as the two leaders look to send a signal to the West about their deepening ties.

Plus, a new front, Israel radius troops in the north, preparing for a potential offensive in Lebanon.

And a scorching heatwave bakes Southern Europe, forcing popular attractions to shut down and creating dangerous conditions as the summer tourism season kicks off.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, This is CNN NEWSROOM with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Thanks for joining us and we begin this hour in Pyongyang where North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin is sitting down for talks during a rare visit to the country by the Russian leader.

A short time ago, Mr. Putin said relations between the two countries were based on, "Equality and mutual respect." Those comments reported by the Russian state news agency task, which added that Mr. Putin has invited Kim to visit Moscow.

Earlier, cheering crowds holding Russian flags and chanting welcome Putin line Kim Il Sung Square for a lavish ceremony. It's the Russian leader's first visit to North Korea in 24 years, building on the growing partnership between the two countries.

TASS also reports that Kim expressed his support and solidarity for Russia's military operation in Ukraine.

So, let's go live out to CNN's Ivan Watson, who's following developments for us from Hong Kong. Good to see you again, Ivan.

So, what is the latest on Vladimir Putin's visit to North Korea? And of course, what is likely to come out of his upcoming meeting with Kim Jong-un?

IVAN WATSON, CNN, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know that the Kremlin went into this visit, saying that they expect Russia and North Korea to sign a new strategic partnership.

So, we'll be trying to understand what lengths that new partnership would go to. In the face-to-face meeting, we've picked up some lines there. I think one that jumps out is hearing the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un basically asserting his government support for, as he put it, Russia's special military operation in Ukraine.

Just a full throated kind of show of support for Vladimir Putin's full scale invasion of Ukraine more than two years ago, and that has been echoed by the Kremlin and by Putin himself, who have said thank you multiple times to Pyongyang for its support when it comes to this ongoing war in Ukraine.

And if you look at it, it is that war that has, in many ways, pushed Putin into Kim Jong-un's embrace as Putin was isolated from his traditional trading partners in Europe and isolated by sanctions in the West. He has had to look elsewhere, not only for trade, but also we're hearing for weapons.

It is the White House that accuses the White House and South Korea's government that accused North Korea of supplying Vladimir Putin's military with ammunition that is being used allegedly on the battlefields in Ukraine. That's an accusation that the North Korean government denies.

But that is one of the areas where we're looking closely to see what kind of potential further cooperation could be developed between these two leaders during this meeting.

CHURCH: Ivan Watson with his live report from Hong Kong, many Thanks, as always.

Israel is warning Hezbollah there could potentially be an all-out war after the Iran backed militant group published a nine minute long video of military and civilian sites in Israel.

The video appears to show sites in highly populated Israeli cities close to the Lebanese border, hinting that Hezbollah could strike major targets there.

[02:05:04] Now, this comes after months of cross border strikes between Hezbollah and Israel since the October 7th Hamas attacks and Israel's military campaign in Gaza, but the attacks have ramped up this past week, after an Israeli strike killed a high ranking Hezbollah commander in Lebanon.

Israel says it's preparing for the possibility of an offensive in Lebanon if diplomatic efforts to reduce hostilities with Hezbollah fail.

America's top diplomat is confirming an ongoing pause of a heavy bomb shipment to Israel as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tries to ramp up pressure on the U.S. Antony Blinken says the Biden administration is reviewing the 2,000 pound bombs shipment that was paused last month over concerns they may be used in densely populated areas in Gaza.

In a video message, Netanyahu says it's, "inconceivable," the U.S. has been withholding weapons and ammunitions from Israel, and added that Blinken had assured him the restrictions would be lifted, but Blinken declined to say if he made such a promise.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I'm not going to -- I'm not going to talk about what we said in diplomatic conversations. I can just say -- I can just say, again, that we have a commitment to make sure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself against a whole variety of threats. Gaza is part of it. But it far surpasses Gaza in terms of the threats they face.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Meantime, efforts to bring humanitarian aid into Gaza have hit yet another setback, a mobile pier constructed by the U.S. is out of service once again due to bad weather and heavy seas.

Now, officials say they're not sure how long it will be until it's back up and running. CNN's Oren Liebermann has details.

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OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the waters off southern Israel, these U.S. Army vessels wait for work. They are part of the operation for the U.S.-built temporary pier to Gaza. But the pier is here some 30 miles from the war-torn strip in the Israeli port city of Ashdod, tucked behind this power plant.

From these satellite images, you can see its sheltering at the port unable, once again, to operate in heavy seas.

The pier began with a major promise from President Joe Biden.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm directing the U.S. military to lead an emergency admission to establish a temporary pier in the Mediterranean. A temporary pier will enable a massive increase the amount of humanitarian assistance getting into Gaza every day. LIEBERMANN (VOICE-OVER): Two months after the State of the Union, the pier known as JLOTS, did begin delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza. USAID said this nautical option would one day be able to feed half a million people a month as critical supplies on the grounds stalled checkpoints and airdrops can only do so much.

But a week after it began operations in May, the pier broke in heavy seas, repairs took more than a week. And the small Army vessels that are part of the system also needed work after four of them ran aground in high waves and winds. The Pentagon set a rare weather pattern knocked the $230 million pier out of commission.

SABRINA SINGH, DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: What happened was something that was quite unprecedented. It was the high seas states and then that storm that changed direction and created an untenable environment for JLOTS to operate in.

LIEBERMANN (VOICE-OVER): The last time the pier was used operationally was the Haiti earthquake in 2010. Since then, it has repeatedly struggled and exercises with rough weather.

The pier was back up and running again on June 8th, but soon hit another snag when there was no one to handle aid coming off the pier.

CINDY MCCAIN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME: Well, right now, we're paused.

LIEBERMANN (VOICE-OVER): An Israeli rescue mission which freed four hostages and killed scores of Palestinians forced the World Food Programme to pause its distribution effort and re-evaluate the safety of the area.

MCCAIN: So, we've stepped back just for the moment and to make sure that we're on safe terms and on safe ground.

LIEBERMANN (VOICE-OVER): Aid still came off the pier, but it didn't get to the people who needed it without the U.N.'s World Food Programme to lead distribution, it's unclear how viable the pier is in future.

SINGH: The good news is, is that it's on the beach, so it's a step closer to getting to the people who need it most but I just don't have an update on when that will be further distributed.

LIEBERMANN (VOICE-OVER): But even the latest effort didn't last long. The pier which can only handle three-foot seas, was knocked out of commission once again moved back to Ashdod out of an abundance of caution to wait for calmer seas.

Oren Liebermann, CNN in Ashdod, Israel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Tuesday was primary election day in three states across the U.S. In Virginia's fifth congressional district state, Senator John McGuire, who's backed by former President Donald Trump has claimed victory against Bob Good even though the race is still too early to call.

[02:10:03]

CNN projects Democrat Eugene Vindman, a high profile figure during Trump's first impeachment will win the Democratic primary in Virginia's seventh district.

In the Republican runoff race in Georgia's second district, former education department official Wayne Johnson has a good lead over Chuck Hand who was convicted of a misdemeanor of illegally demonstrating in the Capitol during the January 6th, 2021 riots.

And in Oklahoma, Republican Congressman Tom Cole has won the primary race in the Fourth Congressional district with 65 percent of the vote.

U.S. presidential candidates have less than 24 hours to qualify to participate in the first debate on CNN. So far, two candidates President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have met the qualifications outlined in the U.S. Constitution and the parameters set by CNN. That 90 minute debate in Atlanta will be hosted by CNN's Jake Tapper and Danna Bash, and the candidate's microphones will be muted except when it's their turn to speak.

So, you can tune in to see the CNN presidential debate right here on CNN, coming up on June 27th at 9:00 p.m. Eastern, and we will replay the debate in its entirety a few different times.

You can watch it at 7:00 a.m. London time, that is 2:00 p.m. in Hong Kong, or 12 hours later at 7:00 pm in London, or 10:00 p.m. in Abu Dhabi.

Well, U.S. President Joe Biden has announced a new executive action that will allow some undocumented immigrants to seek permanent legal status without being forced to leave the United States. The new policy would affect about 500,000 families and about 50,000 children.

CNN's Kayla Tausche has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, getting later this summer, hundreds of thousands of spouses of citizens and undocumented children can start applying for legal residents in the U.S.

Previously, they would have had to do so from outside the U.S. and in some cases, stay outside the U.S. for up to 10 years.

But after today's executive action by President Biden, those individuals can stay in the country during that application process as long as those couples have been married for at least 10 years and they were married before yesterday. Here's what President Biden said this afternoon.

BIDEN: These couples have been raising families, sending their kids to church and school, paying taxes, contributing to our country, living in the United States all this time with fear and uncertainty. We can fix that. And that's what I'm going to do today.

TAUSCHE: Politically, the White House under pressure from advocacy groups frustrated with an attempted crackdown at the border and stricter asylum rules as of just a few weeks ago. And the campaign also trying to pit today's move against the policy of former President Donald Trump whom Biden will be facing on the debate stage in just a week.

A statement out today from Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez says, families belong together.

Now, with 550,000 people impacted by today's move. It's the most sweeping executive action since DACA, which in 2012 allowed some 832,000 young people whose immigrant parents brought them here to live and work freely in the U.S., but like DACA, this is also expected to face legal challenges.

But the Biden camp believes that because these individuals were eligible for green cards already, that they should be able to prevail.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Still to come, a deadly dangerous heatwave is gripping Southern Europe, forcing residents to take precautions and tourists to change their plans. We'll see how countries across the region are coping.

Plus, parts of New Mexico are under a state of emergency with two large wildfires burning near communities, back with that and more in just a moment.

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[02:16:10]

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone.

A relentless heatwave across southern Europe is creating dangerous conditions leading to high temperature alerts in a number of countries and forcing many schools and tourist attractions to shut down.

A severe warning has been issued for parts of southern Italy where some areas on the Balkan peninsula under an extreme warning with temperatures hovering around 40 degrees Celsius.

In Greece, authorities are concerned several recent tourist deaths may be connected to the unusually high temperatures there. One official says it's not uncommon to see tourists unprepared for the heat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SPYROS ARGYROS, MATHRAKI, GREECE DEPUTY MAYOR (through translator): We have a lot of footpaths here and we often see people come here to go walking. Often couples will come and groups but we also see people alone on the footpaths. Unfortunately, during some days in the summer, we have heat waves and

we see them walking on the footpaths without supplies, without water, without a towel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: CNN's Barbie Nadeau joins me now from Rome. So, Barbie, what is the latest on Southern Europe's first heatwave of the year?

BARBIE NADEAU, CNN REPORTER: Yes, you know, Rosemary, when we think about these heat waves, a lot of people actually already changed their plans after last year's deadly heatwave here in Europe, they came to Europe earlier, we're seeing these heat waves now, this one that's coming, we're expecting in Italy 10 degrees higher than the normal, it's actually a month earlier than the extreme heat we saw last year.

And when you think about these tourists whose deaths may be attributed to these heat waves, you know, it really underscores the level of unpreparedness people have when they go out to think that, you know, you'd go out without water or a hat or something like that. And it turns deadly so quickly.

And I think that one of the things we're seeing in Greece is just that people come in June, they think it's not going to be as hot, they are completely unprepared and then taken by surprise.

And you know, there's no -- so not much that authorities can do beyond warn people that they need to take precautions, they need to stay out of the sun.

But you know, we were talking about this a year ago, I remember that it was a month later and the deadly heatwave starting so far early this year is very, very concerning to authorities, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So, tourists, of course are understandably not prepared for this sort of heat. What about the locals across southern Europe? How are they coping?

NADEAU: You know, one of the things about locals here in southern Europe is that they are more prepared, they are much smarter than the tourists in the sense that they don't go out during the heat of the day. They take advantage of the free water in places like Italy and they do everything they can to protect themselves from the -- from the heat.

The problem with the tourists of course is they are here for a limited period of time in Greece, especially in Italy, especially in Spain as well.

And so, they take advantage of that, try to, you know, squeeze it as much as they can.

Local authorities here are warning that the next few days in southern Italy are going to be very, very, very hot. And you know, the locals will be smarter than the tourists. That is for sure, Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right, our Barbie Nadeau joining us live from Rome with that update. Appreciate it.

Well, two devastating fast moving wildfires are burning near communities in New Mexico leading to a state of emergency. Officials say at least one person has been killed and two others injured. The fires have also forced thousands of residents to evacuate.

A 66-year-old man says he spent hours trying to put out fires near his vacation home in the community of Alto but finally evacuated when he ran out of water.

The fires broke out on Monday and quickly exploded in size. They've now burned more than 7,500 hectares combined. But crews are hopeful for more favorable conditions with rain in the forecast for the next few days.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[02:20:06]

LAURA MCCARTHY, STATE FORESTER, NEW MEXICO FORESTRY DIVISION: This fire is dangerous and fast moving, the winds are strong. This fire is going to be dynamic, at least until we see what rainfall amounts materialize and what the effect of any rainfall is at modifying, decreasing the fire behavior.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Meantime, a wildfire burning near Los Angeles has only grown slightly over the past day. The post fire is more than 30 percent contained. But crews say high winds and low humidities still pose a challenge and they're having trouble reaching some areas.

CNN's Natasha Chen has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NATASHA CHEN, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the post fire has burned more than 15,000 acres, just one of about 10 wildfires burning throughout California right now. The post fire on the north side is pretty well secure at this point.

But on the south side, there is a lot of work to be done especially along the south eastern perimeter where there was very rough and rugged steep terrain.

The Los Angeles County Fire Department says they are for the first time employing sheriff's department boats to take fire crews across the lake to get to that southern perimeter. We watched as several hotshot crews were brought to that perimeter, taking everything they can with them.

They have all of that medical equipment, basic life support so that if something should happen, they can take care of themselves and basically, do the best they can in the middle of nowhere.

Now, this fire caused evacuations for more than a thousand people from a state park over the weekend. It grew very quickly. The difficult conditions include high wind gusts and high heat.

There should be a little bit better wind and weather conditions as the day progresses. However, there is expected to be more heat coming by the next weekend, and so, the work that needs to be done now is really containing what they can.

As fires continue to grow larger more quickly, the fire -- Public Information Officer here tells me that their strategy is really to bring in more crews to work on attacking the fire more quickly, so that they can wrap this and hopefully be ready for the next fire.

Natasha Chen, CNN, Castaic, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: The head of Boeing faced a bipartisan grilling over his company's safety record at a Senate hearing on Tuesday. It's the first time CEO Dave Calhoun has answered to lawmakers over the plane maker's recent safety failures, including a door plug that blew off a plane midflight in January.

Calhoun took responsibility for that incident. He also acknowledged Boeing's development of a software system linked to deadly crashes of its 737 Max planes in Indonesia and Ethiopia, which killed a combined 346 people in 2018 and 2019.

As the hearing began, Calhoun apologized directly to the families of some of those victims, some of whom held up pictures of their loved ones.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVE CALHOUN, CEO, BOEING: I apologize for the grief that we have caused. And I want you to know, we are totally committed in their memory, to work and focus on safety for as long -- as long as we're employed by Boeing. Again, I'm sorry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And earlier, I spoke with CNN Safety Analyst David Soucie about -- and asked him what changes Boeing should make?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST: Well, I think the most critical thing that needs to be done at Boeing is to start creating their line of sight between what those people do on the floor, what everyone does to manufacture the aircraft and how that relates to their line of sight towards safety and towards what they're trying to do.

I don't think that Boeing has done a good job of making sure that they understand that the management is communicating with each other, they're listening, they're growing, they're getting better, but they're not doing a good job of getting that message down to the people who really care, the people who are doing that work. I don't think it's getting to them. And I think that they're feel so insecure about coming forward.

That's what leads to these whistleblowers is when they can't -- they're not being heard. They're -- they don't just -- somebody doesn't throw up their career and become a whistleblower without having already tried to get that message across.

So, that's where it needs to happen. That's why they're talking about it. But I'm not sure they know how to do what I'm talking about right now. What are you going to do tomorrow different than you did yesterday?

CHURCH: Let's talk about the whistleblowers whose Calhoun acknowledged that Boeing retaliated against employees who have previously raised safety concerns, or what did you make of that admission, and a new whistleblower claiming Boeing 737 Max assembly line lost hundreds of substandard parts, apparently, that may have ended up in plants?

[02:25:04]

SOUCIE: Well, what surprises me is the fact that he said that he had not spoken to any of these whistleblowers himself.

Now, the safety management system itself within Boeing says that if you don't get satisfaction with your supervisor, you go to the next, you go to the next. And you have that right to continue to go.

Before it became a whistleblower, before it was written to Congress or the Senate say this is a problem, it certainly should have gotten up through the chain all the way to Calhoun if he was not satisfied with the answers that he got. And that's what the safety management system is about.

So, the fact that that did not happen concerns me a bit. If it gets that far and the CEO hasn't spoken with anybody, that's where the breakdown is.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Our thanks to David Soucie for his perspective.

A commercial submarine operator wants to travel to the wreckage of the Titanic despite last year's trip ending in tragedy. The sunken ship lies deep in the Atlantic Ocean of Newfoundland, in Canada after hitting an iceberg in 1912.

A year ago, OceanGate tried to send its Titan sub and five passengers to the site, but the vessel imploded on its way down. Now, Triton Submarines is planning its own journey to the wreckage. Triton says it's in the early planning stages and does not have a timeline for the trip.

There's endless danger in the Mediterranean Sea, but thousands of migrants are risking it all to find safety on European shores.

Up next, how lawmakers are making the migration process even more deadly. And lawmakers in Thailand vote overwhelmingly in favor of a landmark

bill for marriage equality. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Well, the U.K. and France are holding snap elections in the coming weeks. And as we've already seen in the latest round of European Parliament elections, immigration is a key issue that's driving voters to the polls. Far right candidates are gaining more popularity and more government seats with their conservative stances on asylum seekers and migrants.

[02:30:00]

But nothing is stopping desperate people from trying to reach European shores, not even that threat of death. In just the past few days, hundreds of people have died after overcrowded ships capsized in the Mediterranean Sea.

This month marks the anniversary of the deadliest migrant shipwreck ever in the Mediterranean. Last year up to 700 people from Pakistan, Syria, and Egypt were killed when their fishing boat capsized, even though the Greek coast guard had been monitoring the situation for hours.

Caroline Willeman is the Project Coordinator for 'Doctors Without Borders Search and Rescue' operations in the Mediterranean Sea and she joins me now from Marseille in France. Thank you so much for being with us.

CAROLINE WILLEMAN, PROJECT COORDINATOR, MSF SEARCH AND RESCUE: Hi, thanks for having me.

CHURCH: So, two migrant boats were shipwrecked and sank off the coast of Italy in the Mediterranean, just in the last couple of days. Your organization is familiar with the kinds of operations that happen after these disasters. What more can you tell us about how these search and rescues play out?

WILLEMAN: Indeed. So, we've seen in the last few days, another few disasters in the Mediterranean, as you mentioned, very correctly, this is nothing new. And so, as (inaudible), we are both involved in actual rescue operations, so ourselves last week, when I was on board, we also had to recover 11 bodies that were spotted at sea. They were spotted by a humanitarian aircraft who saw the bodies floating at sea and this also really shows how many unknown deaths there are in the Mediterranean. Some of these disasters we hear about; some of these disasters people never know, people disappearing.

And then I have colleagues as well who are present on the shores in Italy who have been providing psychological care to the survivors of one of the shipwrecks that happened this week, where there were 11 survivors, but up to 60 people reported missing and which is indeed reliving the nightmare of last year, the huge shipwreck off the coast of Greece where again, the only thing at that point we can do as a humanitarian organization is provide some psychological relief, psychological support for people who are going through these horrendous, horrendous losses while actually, of course, the real support should come before these disasters happen. These are not natural disasters. These are the result of European policies that make people choose the most dangerous routes because it is the only option they have.

CHURCH: And of course, the numbers are horrifying. According to the UNHCR, more than 600 refugees and migrants are estimated to have died or gone missing while making the journey to Europe in 2024 so far and that's out of more than 70,000 total arrivals. What do those numbers tell you about what more needs to be done to avoid these types of drowning deaths? And the current state of legislation in Italy preventing rescues in the Mediterranean.

WILLEMAN: Yes, indeed, so it seems that we've reached a very unfortunate mark of 1,000 deaths now this week in the Mediterranean for the year 2024. As you said so, very correctly, desperate people will not be stopped from making this journey. And so, if there are no safe ways for them to make take this journey, they will make whatever dangerous journey is available to them. I have met so many people who have fled the hell of Libya and who will tell us again and again, I would rather die at sea than go back to Libya, which unfortunately still happens because the European Union does continue to support the Libyan coast guard who intercepts people, bring some back to detention centers in Libya.

So, if we are asking what needs to be done, that is one thing that needs to stop. What is needed as well is stateless search and rescue capacity. I think from our side, we are so enraged and desperate with the fact that these deaths just continue to happen. It is not necessary. There are other ways and indeed, what we have seen is nothing new, unfortunately, that search and rescue ships are being blocked. So I mean, (inaudible) NGO search and rescue ships, we have been blocked for many years in different ways in the work that we do. But indeed, since last one year and a half under the new government in Italy, there are specific rules that prevent us from doing more than one rescue and also, that send us to ports that are very far away.

So I last disembarked 165 survivors in the northern part of Genoa, which is about as far north as it gets in Italy. And of course, this -- sending us to these far away ports is taking us away from time spent in the search and rescue area, doing rescue. So, since this new legislation and these new practices in place, we have been spending an exorbitant amount of time just sailing up and down the Italian coast basically to deliver people who then very often are actually brought by bus to places south of where we delivered them by boat.

[02:35:00]

And even if they would need to travel north in the country, they will be much faster by bus, so really this is a measure that aims at blocking the work of NGOs, NGOs including ourselves, 'Medecins Sans Frontieres'. We have been detained now twice for 20 days, a. gain, those are twice 20 days that we are not out at sea to do the rescues that are so desperately needed and as the latest numbers of deaths highlight, time and again. CHURCH: Caroline Willeman in Marseille in France. Thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate it.

WILLEMAN: Thank you.

CHURCH: And we'll be right back.

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CHURCH: That is pop star Justin Timberlake, who is in some legal trouble in New York. He was charged with driving while intoxicated early Tuesday, after being pulled over by police in the Hamptons, an upscale community on Long Island. The officer said Timberlake's eyes were bloodshot and glassy, and there was a strong odor of alcohol on his breath. Timberlake told police he had one drink with friends and was following them home. He has since been released and has a court date set for next month.

It's a very special pride month in Thailand; the nation is set to become the first in Southeast Asia to legalize same-sex marriage. The senate overwhelmingly approved a Marriage Equality Bill on Tuesday. Thailand's king is expected to sign off on the measure, the last step before it becomes law. Taiwan and Nepal also allow same-sex marriage and activists hope the step will encourage other countries to approve marriage equality.

CNN's Anna Coren has more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Watit and Pokponk are professional wedding singers. When they're not writing songs for one another, they help to celebrate other people's love. Soon, they too will be able to marry.

WATIT BENJAMONGKOLCHAI, PROFESSIONAL WEDDING SINGER (through translator): I am surprised, but at the same time, I am very happy. Ten years ago, we had the bottle our feelings. And now, I can freely say that I am gay.

COREN (voice-over): On Tuesday, the Thai senate voted to legalize same-sex marriage, a first for Southeast Asia. That success has been hard won.

POKPONK JITJAIYAI, PROFESSIONAL WEDDING SINGER (through translator): This should have happened in Thailand a longtime ago. After our success, I hope that will be like a domino and start that affect to nearby countries.

COREN (voice-over): Pokponk was once forced to abandon a career as a martial arts coach after he says a student outed him as gay.

[02:40:00]

JITJAIYAI (through translator): My life was shattered. My male students were afraid of me. My female students mocked me saying, I was not a real man.

COREN (voice-over): Last year, several mainstream political parties, including ruling 'Phuea Thai', took same-sex marriage to the general election. And now, people across the country are celebrating.

WOODY MILINTACHINDA, THAI TV HOST: Will you marry me?

OAT AKKARAPOL, WOODY'S PARTNER: You know I will.

COREN (voice-over): Including TV host Woody and his partner Oat.

MILINTACHINDA: We've been waiting for this moment almost all of our lives and it is finally happening. This is it. I was out of words. I called him. We messaged each other. Baby, did you see the news?

COREN (voice-over): For so many Thais, relief and joy. Politics and the law has finally caught up and there is no looking back.

Anna Coren, CNN.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Police in Nevada have a real mystery on their hands, officials share two photos on X of a reflective monolith. The structure appeared over the weekend on a hiking trail just north of Las Vegas. Online sleuths are working to solve the mystery. Las Vegas police are reminding the public to stay safe while enjoying the area's trails. The mysterious structures have appeared across the U.S. and Europe. This one appeared in California, halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco in December of 2020.

Well, the Paris Olympics are just over a month away. And on Tuesday, we got this reveal. Members of Team U.S.A. will be sporting these red, white, and blue uniforms at the opening and closing ceremonies. Ralph Lauren has been dressing U.S. athletes for the game since 2008. The company says the collection draws inspiration from the dynamic and vibrant host city and embraces a patriotic spirit reflected in a signature palette of red, white, and blue.

I want to thank you so much for joining us. I am Rosemary Church. "World Sport" is coming up next. Then, "CNN Newsroom" will continue with Eleni Giokos in Dubai.

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[02:45:00]

(WORLD SPORT)