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Clooney Urges Biden To Drop Out Of Race; Biden's Future Overshadows Ukraine At NATO Summit; President Biden To Hold Press Conference On Thursday; NATO Official Says Russia Ramping Up Sabotage Campaign; Wife and Two Daughters of BBC Journalist Killed in Hertfordshire; Rower Surrounded by Pod of Whales in North Atlantic; Estonian Jaan Roose Walks World's Longest Slackline; Colombia to Face Argentina in Sunday's Final of Copa America 2024; Photos of Messi With Spanish Soccer Star Lamine Yamal Resurface. Aired 2-2:45a ET
Aired July 11, 2024 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[02:00:32]
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world and to everyone streaming us on CNN Max. I'm Rosemary Church. Just ahead.
Actor George Clooney is the last high-profile Biden supporter to speak out urging the U.S. President to drop out of the 2024 race and make room for a new nominee.
NATO leaders gathered in Washington bow steadfast support for Ukraine, describing the country's path to the alliance as irreversible.
Plus, from arson to vandalism to failed bomb plots. CNN visit some of Russia's closest neighbors to find out how Moscow shadow war is evolving.
ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Rosemary Church.
CHURCH: Good to have you with us. And we begin in Washington were concerns about U.S. President Joe Biden's political future are overshadowing the NATO Summit. President Biden hosted a dinner at the White House on Wednesday for leaders of the alliance but his every word and move seem to be under scrutiny. He met with the new U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer earlier in the day and after a brief back and forth reporters shouted questions that Mr. Biden refused to answer.
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CHURCH: President Biden also met with union leaders at the AFL-CIO, but calls for him to withdraw from the presidential race continue to grow. Nine House Democrats now we're asking him to stand down. They're joined by the first Senate Democrat Pete Welsh of Vermont, and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have this lukewarm endorsement.
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REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): It's up to the president to decide if he is going to run. We're all encouraging him to make that decision. Because time is running short. Let's just hold off whatever you're thinking, either tell somebody privately, but you don't have to put that out on the table until we see how we go this week.
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CHURCH: Even Hollywood heavyweights are asking the president to step aside, George Clooney who helped raise nearly $30 million for Mr. Biden last month now says he should exit the race.
More now from CNN ' Senior White House Correspondent M.J. Lee.
M.J. LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: My colleagues and I have heard from many Democrats throughout the course of the day who are just stunned at how rapidly things appear to be deteriorating for President Biden. One widely shared view had really been that everything was going to come to a head after the conclusion of the NATO Summit which the U.S. is hosting just blocks away from here from the White House.
Instead, we have seen this quick succession of really ominous and painful headlines for President Biden as he has been trying to juggle these various engagements with world leaders. You ticked through some of them, Nancy Pelosi saying that it's up to the president to decide if he's going to continue running. That really went off like a political earthquake. Senator Tim Kaine saying he is going to ultimately make the right decision.
And then of course, the George Clooney news. That comes at a moment when plenty of donors have told CNN that the money is just a pause right now. And there is the real danger of the money completely drying up for Democrats, as people try to figure out what exactly is going to happen for the future of the President and whether he really is going to stay in this race. And all of this is happening while the Biden White House and the Biden campaign have very much been digging in their message has really been,
Not only is the debate over but we are done debating the debate. The voters have spoken and there is no scenario where President Biden is going to drop out. But of course, this huge moment that everyone is looking towards the press conference that the president will be holding with reporters. A lot of Democrats have been looking forward to that moment to see whether he can use that to really prove himself in a big way.
But I think it is clear after the events of the last 24 hours, there are many Democrats that are simply wondering, are there going to be more shoes to drop before that press conference? CHURCH: Larry Sabato is the director of The University of Virginia Center for Politics.
[02:05:02]
He's also the author of Return to Normalcy: The 2020 Election That Almost Broke America. And he joins me now from Charlottesville. Always good to have you with us.
LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA CENTER FOR POLITICS: Thank you, Rosemary.
CHURCH: So, we are seeing fresh doubts as pressure continues to build on President Joe Biden to exit the 2024 race. The highest-ranking Democrat and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the decision needs to be made soon because time's running out. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer wants a frank discussion with the President on his candidacy. And now actor George Clooney wrote in a guest essay for the New York Times , "We are not going to win in November with this president."
All this coming as more elected Democrats voiced their concerns. So right now, the president is standing firm, but is the damn about to break?
SABATO: I don't think it will break because elected officials are deciding that Biden should move along because the way Biden looks at it, he's the head of the party. He's the highest elected official. And therefore, he would have the final word there. What's most significant about that list is George Clooney. It's the donors who appear to be moving in the other direction, particularly some big donors, like Clooney.
And reports are suggesting that the fundraising both big and small donors, has fallen off a cliff since the debate that. If anything, ruins, Biden's plans to continue running, it would be donors closing their wallets and pocketbooks.
CHURCH: So, the latest CNN poll of poll shows Joe Biden of 44 percent, behind Donald Trump's 49 percent. Can the president win this election but numbers like this? And what trends are you seeing in all the numbers that you're monitoring?
SABATO: Well, the trends are not good for the Democrats, and they really need to focus on the fact that things aren't going well. You know, I'm hearing a lot of happy talk from some of the Democratic leaders and also the Democratic groups that tend to lead delegates and donors. But their suggestions are not based in reality. Look, when the debate -- right before the debate was held, Biden was behind.
But he was only behind a couple of points, though that would have defeated him because of the Electoral College. Now, he's behind four or five, six points, depending on a survey. That is absolutely devastating. It would actually mean that Biden would lose every single one of the seven swing states. And that Trump would end up with a very large majority in the electoral college. That would be a disaster that would deprive the Democrats of both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
That's what Democratic leaders are trying to get across to President Biden, but I don't think he's, at least at this point, receiving the message.
CHURCH: That's why they're panicking right now. So, President Biden, he faces a big test Thursday when he holds the news conference at the end of the NATO Summit and takes questions from the media. The world will be watching everything he says and does. What needs to happen Thursday for him to convince the world that he is the right nominee to take on Trump?
SABATO: I don't think a press conference can do it. I don't think an interview with a journalist can do it. Yes, they're trying to take incremental steps that might make a difference. But even putting all of them together, it is almost impossible to wipe out the image of that debate from your mind, even if you're pro-Biden and you like him and respect what he's done. That's the fundamental problem. Biden did so poorly in the debate, that it's become an indelible memory for most people.
CHURCH: And it has to be said that these fresh doubts are not going away, are they? In fact, we're seeing them gain momentum. So, what should President Biden do? And when will it be too late to make a change at the top of the ticket if that is what ends up happening?
SABATO: President Biden obviously should listen carefully. I'm sure he's listening. And I think that also extends to his immediate family. They apparently strongly support a Biden staying in. And it's going to take a lot more donors and officeholders speaking out. They can't just tell people like me behind the scenes, how strongly they feel about it. I'm interested to hear it, but we don't have any influence on the decision.
They have to tell the president and his family and key staff what they feel and why they feel it directly.
CHURCH: And do you think it's wise for them to change the top of the ticket?
SABATO: I think we're moving in that direction. At first, I wondered whether it would really solve anything. But this has gone on so long. And it's already eaten up a good deal of support that Biden had, and he couldn't afford to lose anybody. And yet he is he continues to lose ground.
[02:10:13]
I don't agree with those who are saying it'll be a landslide for Trump. That's almost impossible to believe given the opposition that we've had to Trump really since 2016. But it could be a decisive loss. And things would have to change pretty dramatically. And also quickly, when does the grace period in? I think it's shortly after maybe a week after the Republican convention. There is a grace period next week because the Republicans are meeting and convention and the spotlight will shift to Donald Trump. But that's only going to last as long as their convention and then the spotlight comes right back to Joe Biden and is a harsh spotlight.
CHURCH: Larry Sabato, appreciate your analysis as always.
SABATO: Thank you.
CHURCH: More now on the NATO meeting in Washington. Canada has announced an additional $367 million military aid package for Ukraine on the sidelines of the summit. NATO leaders issued a declaration affirming Ukraine's future is within the alliance and its path to membership is irreversible. They also for the first time called out China expressing profound concern over its deepening partnership with Russia.
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JENS STOLTENBERG, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: As NATO Allies agreed today. In our summit declaration, China has become a decisive enabler of Russia's war against Ukraine. And China support increases the threat Russia poses to Euro-Atlantic security. Allies have stated clearly that China cannot enable the largest conflict in Europe in recent history without this negatively impacting the interests and reputation.
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CHURCH: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is making the rounds with NATO leaders. He met Wednesday with the German chancellor and the Dutch Prime Minister and Mr. Zelenskyy is thanking Denmark and the Netherlands for donating U.S.-F16 fighter jets to his military. Additional aircraft will be coming from Belgium and Norway.
In Ukraine, mourners are saying goodbye to a young doctor. Vitlana Lukianchyk was killed Monday by the Russian missile attack on the country's largest children's hospital. The 30-year-old doctor was one of 44 killed by Russian air attacks across Ukraine that day. One of the doctor's friends says she had been evacuating children to a bomb shelter but did not make it to safety herself. Her family is in shock.
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ALLA ZHEREBETSKA, SVITLANA LUKIANCHYK'S GRANDMOTHER (text): She was a golden child, I don't understand how this could have happened. How the Lord could have taken her away. I have no idea why. I don't have the strength for this, she was supposed to live a long life and just got married.
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CHURCH: Hungary's opposition leader is traveling to Ukraine's capitol to deliver aid to the Children's Hospital. His party collected medical supplies and food and raised more than $40,000 to donate to Kyiv after that Russian attack. The opposition leader's party is the main challenger to Prime Minister Viktor Orban who visited Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow last week. Orban described their trip as part of a peace mission.
New details about a deadly Israeli strike on a school complex in Gaza and how U.S.-made munitions played a role. Those details and the latest on the ceasefire, hostage release talks coming up next.
Then from arson to vandalism to failed bomb plots. Russia's so-called shadow war is evolving ahead details on what's been described as a bold sabotage operation across NATO member states.
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CHURCH: Gaza ceasefire talks are wrapped up in Doha. A diplomatic source says mediators from U.S., Israel, Qatar and Egypt were cautious but hopeful when heading into those talks.
[02:16:30]
But it's not clear if any progress was made. Israel's Prime Minister met with the top U.S. envoy for the Middle East in Jerusalem. Benjamin Netanyahu emphasized his commitment to a ceasefire deal as long as Israel's "red lines are preserved."
This comes as the Israeli military ordered Palestinians to evacuate all of Gaza City, urging more than 250,000 people to head south since Sunday amid ongoing Israeli operations. The IDF says it has opened a safe passage for civilians to reach humanitarian zones. Hamas says the evacuation threatened to return negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage release deal 2.0. But the Israeli army is defending its actions.
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HERZI HALEVI, CHIEF OF THE GENERAL STAFF, ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES (through translator): In the end it reduces Hamas's capabilities, allows us to advance with the achievements, allows us to carry out a very important pressure. We will continue operating to bring home the hostages.
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CHURCH: And we are learning more about a deadly Israeli strike in a school complex near Khan Younis. A CNN analysis of video from the scene determined that Israeli forces carried out the attack with U.S.- made munitions. The same type of munitions used in at least two other Israeli strikes in recent months. CNN's Jeremy Diamond has more. A warning though his report contains graphic images.
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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Amid the cheers and whistles of a summertime soccer match, the war seems far away in this Gazan school yard. Until another bomb jolts everyone back to reality. And the sights and sounds of war fill the air once again. People running for their lives, the cries of women and children growing louder and louder. And bodies strewn on the ground. And Israeli air strike has hit the other side of the Al-Awda School near Khan Younis where thousands of displaced Palestinians were sheltering. In the backs of pickup trucks and crowded ambulances, the dead and the injured arrive at Al-Nasir Hospital. Among them are the bodies of children. Limp, bloodied and blackened, they are rushed inside of quickly overwhelmed emergency room.
At least 27 people were killed and 53 injured in the strike according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. The Israeli military said its target was the Hamas militants who took part in the October 7th terrorist attack that provided no additional details. It said it is looking into reports that civilians were harmed. It doesn't take long to find evidence of civilian harm amid the wreckage. For these women are inconsolable over the loss of her father.
Your death broke me, father, one of them cries as she looks at a photo of him on her phone. At the site of the strike, Om Muhammad explains that everyone here was simply trying to make a living. This was Bilal's (ph) area, she says. He was operating a charging point. He had a stall here and he tried to make a living from charging batteries and cell phones. His body was torn to pieces by the blast alongside the outlets he used to make a living.
[02:20:04]
Look at what is happening in Gaza. Every country is asleep and the whole world is asleep. And we die here. The strike is part of a troubling trend. It is the fourth strike on or near a school sheltering displace Palestinians in the last four days, killing 47 people and injuring many others. There's also the latest in a series of strikes to use this American-made munition, the GBU-39 small diameter bomb, identified by two weapons experts who reviewed this footage.
It is intended to minimize casualties. This is the aftermath when it is dropped on a densely populated area. Body bag after body bag as relatives mourn. Life is gone. Muhammad is gone this mother wails. Another mother's unbearable grief.
Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Jerusalem.
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CHURCH: Let's go live now to Alon Pinkas. Former Israeli consul general in New York. And he joins me via Skype from Tel Aviv. Appreciate you being with us.
ALON PINKAS, FORMER ISRAELI CONSUL GENERAL IN NEW YORK (via Skype): Thank you. Thank you, Rosemary. Always good to be with you.
CHURCH: So, ceasefire and hostage release negotiations in Doha have just ended. It's unclear what progress was made. But what we do know is that initial optimism for those talks waned due to increased Israeli military action in Gaza and the that evacuation order. Why would Israel take this action at such a critical moment in these talks? And what progress if any was made? Do you know? PINKAS: Yes. Because the prime -- and I think we've had this discussion several times, Rosemary. The Prime Minister, Mr. Netanyahu is just not interested in a ceasefire and it has (INAUDIBLE) he likes the to create the optic that negotiations are being held to create an atmosphere according to which their, you know, their talks and there's progress. If you put it in the context of a timeline, then this leads to his weird trip to the plan to D.C. at the end of the month on the 24th of July.
So, he needs to create this false impression that negotiations are held while he does not want to deal. Now why does he not want to deal? Because it contains or entails a ceasefire that supposedly according to the plan that he himself proposed to President Biden in May, that would lead to a longer more durable ceasefire. And he's not interested in either, which is why I hope that answers your question on why the attack.
CHURCH: Are you suggesting he's sabotaging these negotiations? These efforts to come up with a ceasefire and hostage release negotiation?
PINKAS: I'm not suggesting. I'm telling you explicitly that this is what he's trying to do. And this is the --
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PINKAS: He's undermining them. He's creating caveats and prerequisites and conditions, and stipulations that make it impossible. Look, you alluded, Rosemary, a moment ago to optimism that existed before weighing, "last week or in the last two weeks." The day that the report on progress was made and that the Qatari is without who's helped this -- wouldn't even be here. But the Qatari said that they -- that they are cautiously optimistic.
He came -- he -- Mr. Netanyahu comes up with -- comes out, I'm sorry, with a list of four principles rather than highlight what we -- what can be achieved and the common ground. He highlighted Israel's conditions which mean no ceasefire, Israel retains the right to resume the war at any moment which inevitably means that there's no deal that's going to be made. So yes, but me telling you, Rosemary, that sabotaging is not just me.
The general notion amongst his negotiators is that he is sabotaging, undermining or to put it mildly creating stipulations that are impossible to live by.
CHURCH: And the IDF has extended this evacuation order to the whole of Gaza City saying military operations there help reduce Hamas capabilities. These military operations and the evacuation orders are of course impacting hundreds of thousands of Palestinians as the war rages on. But what impact has all this actually had on Netanyahu's original goal of destroying Hamas militarily and politically?
PINKAS: Well, that wasn't a goal. That was a -- that was a statement that was a cliche, that was not that -- we're nine months after he made that claim.
[02:25:03]
Victory, eradicate, obliterate. In order to do that even he knows that you need to occupy, reoccupy the entire Gaza Strip. That's not going to happen. Nine months later, Hamas is still standing. Now Hamas is, you know, he had the support of 95 percent of Israelis to do whatever needs to be done in Gaza. Not for nine months, not without clear, coherent, clearly defined political objectives.
He has none. He had none for the last nine months. And that includes and I think we're -- we've discussed this in the past. You and I, that includes a plan for the day after a political plan. Because if the military means are not aligned with political goals, then what is the point?
CHURCH: Alon Pinkas joining us live from Tel Aviv. Many thanks. Appreciate it.
PINKAS: Thank you, Rosemary.
CHURCH: And still to come. Is Russia sabotaging its neighbors? NATO says it is. CNN visit some of Russia's closest neighbors facing threats of cyberattacks and even arson.
Plus, three British women killed in an attack that authorities say involve a crossbow. Now the suspect has been found in a quiet North London neighborhood.
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CHURCH: Back now to our top story. The NATO Summit in Washington, where U.S. President Joe Biden is praising the strength of the alliance as it celebrates 75 years. He held a dinner at the White House Wednesday which was attended by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and other world leaders, but the gathering has been overshadowed by mounting questions and concerns over President Biden's reelection bid.
Earlier in the day, he sat down for talks in the Oval Office with the new British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Mr. Biden called the U.S. and the U.K. the best of allies. While NATO leaders meet in the U.S. CNN has learned that Russia has been engaged in a bold sabotage operation inside NATO member countries one that's been escalating over the past six months.
[02:30:05]
CNN's Nick Paton Walsh shows us how Russia's shadow war has evolved.
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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): U.S. bases in Europe are on the highest alert for a decade, this key American and Polish supply hub, an hour from Ukraine, peppered with air defense. This Ukrainian cargo plane from Norway, a major part of NATO's weapons supplies to Kyiv. You're watching an odd paradox. The largest loudest arming effort of our times happening in near secrecy, fences obscuring what they can. The main reason the threat of Russian sabotage, persistent, real, growing across Europe along the supply lines to the Ukrainian border here.
PATON WALSH: While supply hubs like these (inaudible) been more vital for Ukraine trying to hold the frontline, but a senior NATO official has told me of a six to nine months effort by Russia to sabotage NATO weapons supplies into Ukraine, fair bit of it going right down these tracks. Now, they described it as something that is against at times the point of production, against those making the decisions, against the storage of the weapons, or even their actual delivery, saying the operation has been bold.
PATON WALSH (voice-over): It too is something in the shadows with a huge potential for escalation. This is the moment first broadcast here, a vast saboteur operation in Poland gave itself away. Caught on camera is Maxim, a 24-year-old Ukrainian living here, recruited online by Russian agents who first just asked him to daub anti-war graffiti, filmed buying a lot of energy drinks, a move that led Polish agents to arrest him and 15 others because he dropped a receipt from here at a crime scene.
His Russian handler, Andriy, had begun asking for much more, positioning cameras, some here overlooking these tracks to Ukraine, others where Poland trained Ukrainian troops and for Maxim to commit arson. In all, it got him six years in jail.
PATON WALSH: Amazing how the Russians is recruiting people straight off Telegram who find themselves here in maximum security.
PATON WALSH (voice-over): He gave our producer a rare interview inside. We could not record, so an actor is voicing his words.
MAXIM, UKRAINIAN RECRUITED BY RUSSIAN AGENT: It was easy money. I needed money badly. I didn't think any of it could cause any harm. It seemed so insignificant. When Andriy told me to install cameras were Pols were training Ukrainian soldiers, that's when I knew it could be serious. It made me feel uneasy. That was when I decided I'd quit, but I never got a chance. I got arrested the next day.
PATON WALSH (voice-over): Put together, suspected Russian sabotage is quite widespread with arson around Poland at an ammo depot and even a shopping center. Concerns voiced over a fire at a key Berlin metals factory. Czech officials have pointed at Russia over railway hacking. France arrested a pro-Russian separatist plotting to blow up a Paris hardware store. And last month, intelligence chiefs warned on a Swedish island close to Russia, there was an increased risk of sabotage of weapons bound for Ukraine.
But it gets fiercer here, right next to Russia, in Estonia. Russia's appetite to disrupt led them at this tense border crossing, one May night, to sneak out in these thermal camera images and remove the buoys marking where Estonia ends and Russia begins, literally removing the border. Tank traps and razor wires speak of how bad it has got. Estonian GPS signals have been jammed in the skies above. Russians film us filming them.
PATON WALSH: Your job is also to filter out any of the Russian agents who might be being used to come and do hybrid attacks, right?
EERIK PURGEL, HEAD OF ESTONIAN BORDER GUARD BUREAU, EAST PERFECTURE: All the time, 24/7 and trying to filter those people out. I think the Russians now are trying to see how we will react to different things.
PATON WALSH (voice-over): Security officials say Russia was using amateurs here too, ten people arrested in February after an attack on the Estonian interior minister's car, fears the Ukraine war may, in the future, make Russians more aggressive still.
HARRYS PUUSEPP, ESTONIAN INTERNAL SECURITY SERVICE: We saw significant rise in their activity in last autumn. We have seen it moving towards physical attacks. Yes, they are at the moment were against -- more against properties. There are people who take part in the war against Ukraine. They have more experience; their mindset is more violent. They are perhaps not so patient anymore, trying to get results.
PATON WALSH (voice-over): A shadowy standoff where the unthinkable, in a matter of months, becomes reality.
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Narva, Estonia.
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CHURCH: British authorities have captured a man wanted in connection with the deaths of three women in an attack, police believe, involved a crossbow.
[02:35:00]
Officials said suspect Kyle Clifford was found in North London Wednesday afternoon, less than a day after the wife and daughters of a BBC journalist were killed. CNN's Nic Robertson has the story from London.
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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): It began Tuesday night, emergency services call to the house of a BBC horse racing commentator, John Hunt, after women's screams were heard coming from the home. Medics found Hunt's wife Carol and his two daughters, Louise aged 25 and Hannah 28, seriously injured. They had been brutally attacked. The medics were unable to save the women and a massive 24-hour manhunt began in search of their killer.
CCTV video captured near the family's house appear to show a man leaving the vicinity, carrying an object tucked under his arm, covered in a white cloth. Police believe he may have been carrying a crossbow. Police tracked the 26-year-old suspect to a North London cemetery, 45 minutes drive away. Police say the suspect, Kyle Clifford, is a British military vet and police believe he knew the victims. Police say when they captured Clifford, he was injured and taken away on a stretcher.
ROBERTSON: This is where they brought him out of the cemetery on the stretcher into the street here, put him on an ambulance, took him to a nearby hospital. And for all the neighbors around here, watching this, it was utterly shocking.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In the morning, I went to the work, is no -- it is quiet place. I didn't see anyone -- anyone. When I'll come back to the work, as the policeman everywhere. In the bus stop, I saw the policeman. In the gaps (ph) and here, I saw the policemen. I was (inaudible) people told me when (ph) they look at one man (inaudible).
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Other nearby residents describe seeing ambulances, fire trucks, and heavily armed police around the cemetery where Clifford was captured. The police believe it was a targeted incident, but aren't specifying how he knew the Clifford family, although he appears close in ages to Hunt's daughters. The BBC called the murders utterly devastating in a statement released to staff.
Late into the evening, police investigators were still searching for evidence in the cemetery. However, they are not, at this time, searching for any other suspects.
Nic Robertson, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: And we'll be right back.
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CHURCH: Some incredible video now from a rower in the North Atlantic who was surrounded by a huge pod of whales.
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TOM WADDINGTON, U.K. BASED SKI COACH: I'm two hours in now, rowing with these thousands of whales. One thing (inaudible); I don't know what to do to.
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Tom Waddington, a U.K. based ski coach was more than 100 miles off the coast of Canada's Newfoundland on Sunday, when he realized the long- finned pilot whales were all around him. He estimated there were more than 1,000 whales in the pod. Waddington said they were so close, he felt them brush his boat and he could hear them blowing bubbles, adding that the site was amazing, but "so, so scary."
Well, history has been made high above the Mediterranean Sea as one man braved the heat, wind, and heights to walk the world's longest slackline. Now, this event is definitely not for the faint of heart, but Estonian slackline athlete and Hollywood stuntman, Jaan Roose, took just under three hours to walk more than 3,600 meters across the Strait of Messina -- Wow, look at that -- which separates Sicily from mainland Italy. That surpasses the current world record distance, but a fall -- you just saw that -- in the final 80 meters kept him from officially setting a new record. Very brave indeed. Well, Colombia will fight for the title in the Copa America final after coming out on top in the semis against Uruguay. The Colombian team sealed the spot, thanks to this header in the 39th minute, which gave it a 1-0 victory on Wednesday. Colombia will play Argentina for the trophy in Miami Gardens, Florida on Sunday. But the semifinal game was testy with players getting into a shoving match in the field after the game. Some members of Uruguay scored later, entered the stands and got into a scuffle with fans.
And finally, perhaps a future addition to the soccer hall of fame, Spanish prodigy Lamine Yamal has become the youngest goal scorer in the men's European championship at just 16 years of age. Millions were watching when he made that daring strike in Tuesdays match against France; it landed Spain a spot in its first final since 2012 and it earned Yamal comparisons to the greatest, including Lionel Messi. Coincidentally, their paths have crossed already, viral images on social media show baby Yamal alongside Messi in a photo shoot for a charity calendar -- that was back in 2007. Whether it's destiny or not, the teen star will certainly be a force to be reckoned with in Sunday's final
I am Rosemary Church. "World Sport" is coming up next. Then, I'll be back in about 15 minutes with more "CNN Newsroom." Do stick around.
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(WORLD SPORT)
