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Trump To Send US Patriot Missiles To Ukraine Via Allies; US Appeals Court Pauses Trump Efforts To Deport Afghans; Tuam's Painful Past; Excavation Begins at Former Mother & Baby Home in Irish Town; At Least 132 Dead, About 100 Missing Amid Texas Floods; Inside a Family's Move to Self-Deport from the U.S.; CNN Given Rare Access to Chinese Robotics Lab; Cantonese Opera Tells a Donald Trump-Inspired Story. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired July 15, 2025 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:24]
LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome. I'm Lynda Kinkade. Good to have you with us.
Ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, 50 days for a peace deal. That's Donald Trump's latest deadline for Vladimir Putin. We'll discuss whether the threat of tariffs is enough to stop the fighting in Ukraine.
In Ireland, the excavation of a mass grave at a former home for unwed mothers and their babies is underway. We'll discuss what relatives are hoping to hear and why they say this is just the beginning. Plus, Donald Trump is used to reality TV, now he's the star of a new opera in Hong Kong.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Lynda Kinkade.
KINKADE: We begin this hour in Washington where US President Donald Trump is turning up the pressure on Russia. During a meeting with NATO's secretary general, the President threatens severe tariffs and secondary sanctions if Vladimir Putin doesn't agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine in the next 50 days.
He also announced a new plan to get weapons to Kyiv. NATO countries would buy them from the US then transfer them to Ukraine. A US diplomat says the focus would be on defensive weapons, including Patriot anti-missile systems. The announcements are a marked shift in Mr. Trump's approach to Ukraine, especially after claiming he could end the war within a day, after winning a second term in office.
Ukraine's president called to express his thanks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: We are also working on major defense deals with America. Now is not the time to talk about the details publicly but we can do a lot together for security. Ukraine is absolutely ready to take all honest and effective steps for peace, lasting peace, for real security. It is Russia that is not ready.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: More now from CNN's Natasha Bertrand in Washington.
NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Trump on Monday announced that he would be selling US weapons to NATO allies that could then be sent to Ukraine amid a dramatic shift from this administration's reluctance to help arm Ukraine while trying to get Russia to the negotiating table.
Previously, the administration had been allowing weapons shipments authorized under the Biden administration to continue flowing into Ukraine, but had not pledged new weapons for Kyiv. But Trump has grown increasingly frustrated with Russian President Vladimir Putin in recent weeks, and he has said repeatedly that he essentially believes Putin has been stringing him along and isn't serious about peace negotiations.
Now, Trump says he plans to send NATO allies "a full complement with the batteries," meaning both Patriot air defense systems and their missiles so that those countries can send Ukraine their older systems and have them quickly replaced by the new ones provided by the US. Now, it's worth noting that this is also a reversal from just earlier this month when Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, without first telling the White House, paused shipment of weapons to Ukraine that included those Patriot interceptor missiles.
And at the time, the Defense Department said it was so that the Pentagon could conduct a review of US stockpiles with Chief Pentagon Spokesperson Sean Parnell saying, "We can't give weapons to everybody all around the world. We have to look out for Americans and defending our homeland and troops around the world."
But now, Trump appears confident that the US has enough of these systems to sell US allies and they could be delivered, "very quickly." Natasha Bertrand, CNN in Washington.
KINKADE: President Trump's latest announcements are not going over well in Moscow. CNN's chief global affairs correspondent Matthew Chance is in the Russian capital.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: On Kremlin- controlled television. President Trump's U turn on Ukraine was breaking news. Trump's now following in the footsteps of former US President Joe Biden, the anchor says, promising weapons to Ukraine to force Moscow to the negotiating table. But we all know, she adds, that Biden failed.
This is the Russian onslaught President Trump says he's trying to end. But amid this barrage of mass drone and missile attacks on Ukraine, Trump's threat of tariffs and secondary sanctions if there's no peace deal in 50 days seems more like a green light than a deterrent to Moscow. In 50 days, oh, how much can change on the battlefield and in the mood of the US and NATO, posted one prominent Russian lawmaker. But our mood will not be affected, he warns.
[01:05:11]
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES: Because Putin really surprised a lot of people. He talks nice and then he bombs everybody in the evening.
CHANCE: But President Trump's most recent mood change against the Kremlin and in favor of providing weapons to Ukraine is being widely criticized in Russia, with hand picked guests on state television now openly accusing the US President of fueling the conflict.
This man is deceiving you, Ukraine, warns this senior Russian politician. Trump just wants this war to continue, he adds. After months of being heralded in Russia as a potential peacemaker, a warmonger is how President Trump is now being cast. Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: I'm joined now by a CNN contributor, Jill Dougherty. She's an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University and also the author of the new book, "My Russia: What I Saw Inside the Kremlin." She joins us now. Good to have you with us, Jill.
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Thank you, Lynda. Glad to be here.
KINKADE: So for years, President Trump has praised Vladimir Putin, often in ways that contradicted US Intelligence assessments. I just want to play some sound.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I respect Putin. He's a strong leader, I can tell you that. If he says great things about me, I'm going to say great things about him.
One of my best meetings ever was with Vladimir Putin. Putin meeting was one of the best meetings I've had. I get along with President Putin.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you respect Putin?
TRUMP: I do respect him. Putin is smart. He's a very smart guy. He's a very cunning person. When I got elected, we spoke and I think we're going to have a deal.
KINKADE: Well, today Donald Trump sounded like a completely different leader. Has he had a geopolitical reality check?
DOUGHERTY: Well, certainly the past few months in Ukraine, he has. I mean, just go back, you know, six months. He comes in, he says that he can do a deal in 24 hours. He begins this kind of negotiation with Putin.
And for quite a while he actually believes. In fact, today he said, I thought we had a deal four times. Four different times I thought we had a deal with Putin. But it turned out not to be the case. And now it would appear that he's come to the realization that he doesn't have a deal and the likelihood doesn't look very great that he will very soon.
Hence these decisions, both the economic decision on the sanctions and tariffs, and then also the military part, getting weapons into Ukraine as soon as possible.
KINKADE: Yes. And speaking of those secondary tariffs and sanctions, he did announce that he's giving Russia 50 days to reach a peace deal or face those consequences. Jill, is that timeline realistic or does it give Moscow too much room to maneuver?
DOUGHERTY: You know, that's a big debate. But the way I look at it, I feel, and President Trump talked about this quite emotionally today, that every day is a very long day in Ukraine. People are dying. There have been some brutal attacks over the past week or so.
You're showing video right now. So the faster it ends, the better. But if you give Putin until essentially September, it's a long way to September. A lot can happen. Even the Russians are saying a lot can happen.
And I do think that Putin is banking on the possibility that, well, you know, President Trump has set deadlines before, especially on tariffs and sanctions, and then he has let them slide and he's changed his mind.
And this could be what Putin is thinking right now, that come September, it may be a different ball game, things have changed, and that Trump may not stick to what he was intending initially.
KINKADE: Yes. Trump also threatened 100 percent tariffs on Russia's trading partners. If this peace deal isn't reached. Would he really risk a major confrontation with China, the world's second largest economy, over Ukraine?
DOUGHERTY: You know, that's another excellent question. And I do not really have the answer to that. I mean, I think at this point, this is as one senator, Senator Blumenthal, who is the sponsor of the congressional bill that wants to impose sanctions and tariffs on Russia.
He said, you know, President Trump is using a hammer. We want to use a sledgehammer. So whatever it is, I think, you know, the question is it could really have some blowback on the economy in the United States and in other countries.
[01:10:11]
So would he actually do it, who knows? But he seems intent at this point. It seems that he feels that this is what he has to threaten Putin with and that it might bring Putin back to the table.
KINKADE: Jill Dougherty, always great to get your analysis and perspective. Thanks so much for your time.
DOUGHERTY: Thank you.
KINKADE: Still to come, a court hits pause on efforts to remove thousands of Afghans from the US but for how long? We'll hear from Afghans frustrated with the Trump administration's ever changing immigration policies.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:15:10]
KINKADE: China has reported slightly better than expected economic growth despite its ongoing trade war with the US the second quarter GDP coming in at 5.2 percent. That's slightly down from the 5.4 percent expansion in the first three months of the year.
But diversification efforts to non-US markets give China's exports a boost. Beijing has less than a month to secure a permanent trade deal with the US or face new tariffs.
To Europe now in a stern warning from the EU's trade commissioner, he says if President Trump's 30 percent tariffs are imposed on European exports, they would effectively knock out Transatlantic Trade. The tariffs are scheduled to take effect on August 1.
MAROS SEFCOVIC, EU TRADE COMMISSIONER: Thirty percent or anything about 30 percent, so eventually any additional contradiction from the United States, it has more or less the same effect. So it's practically -- it prohibits the trade. So if you're talking about 30 percent or 30 percent plus, there will be a huge impact on trade. It will be on almost impossible to continue the trading as we are used in a transatlantic relationship.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: The EU said it will push back any retaliatory tariffs until early August to give both sides more time to hammer out a deal. According to the European Council, the trading goods and services between the US and EU was worth nearly $2 trillion last year.
A US appeals court is keeping in place protections for nearly 12,000 Afghans that for now will keep them from being deported. Those protections were said to expire Monday as the Trump administration ramps up efforts to remove people with temporary protected status.
But the court says this will stay -- this stay will only last one week, and told both the government and a nonprofit immigration advocacy group to file their briefs. CNN's Dianne Gallagher spoke to Afghans in the US who feel betrayed.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Charlotte (ph) the spices (ph) of Kabul drift out of SV Afghan Marketing Kitchen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have these from Afghanistan for decorated.
GALLAGHER: Former interpreters Zia Ghafoori and Bahroz Mohmand. This is their American dream.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Over here, it's land of opportunity.
GALLAGHER: Now US citizens, they've worked to help hundreds of other Afghan allies and their families with resettlement through their nonprofit, the Interpreting Freedom Foundation.
ZIA GHAFOORI, CEO/FOUNDER, INTERPRETING FREEDOM FOUNDATION: We have to and keep our promises that we made and we need to help those who help us.
GALLAGHER: But today, the Trump administration's rapidly changing immigration policies are making the IFF mission feel impossible.
GHAFOORI: It's a big chaos right now.
GALLAGHER: New refugee admissions paused indefinitely, leaving Afghans overseas in limbo. Special Immigrant visas for interpreters and allies are still being processed, but their resettlement support programs have been suspended, altered or eliminated, and many legal avenues for Afghan already here or stalled or ending, including temporary protected status on July 14.
In her termination explanation, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem cited notable improvements in the security and economic situation in Afghanistan.
DHS says the situation in Afghanistan has improved. Has it?
GHAFOORI: No. This is funny. That's really, really funny.
GALLAGHER: Last month, President Trump included Afghanistan in his new travel ban, citing security concerns.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I scared for myself. I scared for my family
GALLAGHER: We spoke with Afghan refugees who fear retribution both back home and here, so we're protecting their identities. Mohammed, a former Afghan commando with temporary status who worked with the US Began to worry in April that his family would be deported after DHS sent an email saying it is time for you to leave the United States.
MOHAMMED, AFGHAN REFUGEE: They want to deportation us to Afghanistan. We can go to Afghanistan. They say, OK, you worked with the US government for a long time and then they killed us, they killed our family.
GALLAGHER: It was not a legal order, but it went out to thousands. Nashinus, an Afghan Christian who says he was tortured by the Taliban for his faith, got one too.
NASHINUS: If I go back to Afghanistan, it is like I sign my suicide mission.
GALLAGHER: In a statement, DHS pointed out TPS is supposed to be temporary and noted anyone who was here on temporary protected status can still apply for asylum and other programs. As more aggressive immigration enforcement tactics play out across the country, legal cases are backlogged for years.
BAHROZ MOHMAND, INTERPRETING FREEDOM FOUNDATION: Some of them, they can't even step out of their house right now to go grocery shopping because they think that the ICE is waiting there for them and as soon as they go out they will grab them and deport them.
[01:20:00]
TRUMP: Bahroz Mohmand and Zia Ghafoori.
GALLAGHER: In his first term, President Trump mentioned Mohmand and Ghafoori by name at a Medal of Honor ceremony. Last year, believing his tough talk about the way the US left Afghanistan would mean better treatment for Afghan refugees, they say they voted for Trump.
MOHMAND: We did have the assumption that when President Trump becomes the president, he might make this process even faster. You know, he might even give more support to Afghan interpreters.
GALLAGHER: They still want to believe that if the president hears their pleas.
GHAFOORI: Our president, Donald J. Trump, please help our Afghan allies.
GALLAGHER: Maybe he'll reverse course.
MOHMAND: I want US Government to fix this. You know, you promised, stand on your promise.
GALLAGHER: Dianne Gallagher, CNN, Charlotte.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Cameroon's 92-year-old president is seeking an eighth to term in office, which would put him in power until almost his 100th birthday. President Paul Biya is one of the world's longest serving heads of state, having taken office in 1982 and holding it for more than 40 years. He says, the decision to run again came after urgent appeals from across the country. The president stays largely out of the public view and talked about his health and talk -- any talk about his health has been banned in local media.
Well, in Western Ireland, a dark secret has resurfaced at the site of a so-called Mother and Baby Home. A closer look at this with our next guest from Galway. Plus, new details have emerged surrounding the Camp Mystic flooding tragedy in Central Texas. Coming up, the latest on what local officials are sharing with the public.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:25:07]
KINKADE: Welcome back. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Lynda Kincaid.
Well, a painstaking excavation process is now underway in Western Ireland at a site that's believed to contain the remains of hundreds of children who died at a so-called Mother and Baby Home. A team of Irish and international forensic experts broke ground on the two year project Monday at the mass grave site in the Irish town of Tuam.
St. Mary's Home, where pregnant women, pregnant mothers and unmarried girls were sent to give birth, was run by the nuns from 1925 until 1961. Decades later, the work of a local historian revealed that 796 children had died at St. Mary's without burial records and had been placed in a decommissioned sewage tank. Relatives are seeking answers and a proper burial for the children.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNA CORRIGAN, TUAM BABIES FAMILY GROUP: It's been an emotional roller coaster. It's not just we're almost a month into this emotional roller coaster I've been on. Today, I consider -- I said it last week as well. It's a small light at the end of a very long tunnel.
And hopefully, Tuam will be the expose. 9,000 children were listed as dead in the commission report. Tuam is only the tip of the iceberg and I always believe if we can get Tuam right, everything else should follow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Joining us now is Sarah-Anne Buckley, an Associate Professor in History at the University of Galway and a Lead Researcher for the Tuam Oral History Project. Thanks so much for your time.
SARAH-ANNE BUCKLEY, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR IN HISTORY, UNIVERSITY OF GALWAY: Hi, Lynda. Thanks for having me.
KINKADE: So at least 796 children died at the tomb site, from newborn babies to nine year olds. And their remains are now being recovered from what's believed to be a septic tank. And what's even more disturbing is this was not an isolated case, was it? This was happening across Europe. I mean, Ireland.
BUCKLEY: Yes. So, as you say, yesterday was -- Monday was a very emotional day for survivors. There's a much longer history here. Tuam is one of 14 mother and baby institutions investigating by the Commission of Inquiry into Mother and Baby Homes. And it's over a decade since Catherine Corless revealed her research, which showed neglect, which showed improper burial, which showed a very undignified burial. So, as a historian and as the lead of the Tuam Oral History Project, we have interviewed survivors and affected about their experiences in the institutions with which has shown us that they experienced a lot of difficulties searching for their identity. And we've seen this in other institutions across the country.
And now the job of the team and the excavation is identification and hopefully respectful burial and later on memorialization. But it's a very dark period in our history that affected particularly marginalized women and very vulnerable children.
KINKADE: Yes. And speaking of those children, one of my colleagues spoke to a child who had survived that. Just in terms of the history of Ireland. Until the 1980s, contraception was illegal. Abortion remained banned until 2018.
[01:29:42]
My colleague spoke to John Rodgers, who was born in a mother-and-baby home after his mother became pregnant from an assault. He was taken from her as a baby, reunited only -- 40 years later. She kept a lock of his hair.
I just want to play some sound.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN RODGERS, TUAM MOTHER AND BABY HOME SURVIVOR: The church and the state they had this thing about unmarried mothers being evil. They looked on them as dangerous because they were dangerous to men.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: How common are stories like this? How were unmarried pregnant women treated in Ireland during those decades?
SARAH-ANNE BUCKLEY, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF HISTORY, UNIVERSITY OF GALWAY: Well, as you said, women's rights when it came to their reproduction in particular, were incredibly curtailed, particularly from Irish independence in 1921.
And John, who I actually interviewed, his story and his mother's story is not as unusual as perhaps people might have liked to have thought until more recently.
So I would argue that in the hundreds of thousands of actual individuals that are affected by this story in the Tuam Institution alone, there were 2,000 women plus that were in that institution over four decades.
As we know, almost 800 infants that died. So it's a very large story and one that affects many of us. And I think in Irish society, there's still a lot of coming to terms with this and trying to address, I suppose, the social and cultural forces that allowed this to occur.
But days like Monday, where we are beginning to see an opening up of this history and acknowledgment of the survivors of their testimonies, of their stories is really critical. And I would encourage, if anyone has any interest, you know, stories like John's. We have a podcast that the actor Cillian Murphy actually narrated, which reflects, I suppose, the emotional and really the traumatic sense of how people were treated by the Irish state. And for many, the Catholic Church.
KINKADE: Yes, and it was an amateur historian, Catherine Corless, who uncovered the evidence of the mass grave at Tuam. What does that say about the way these institutions were protected?
BUCKLEY: I'm sitting now in Galway, and Tuam is 20 miles away. It's a small town. What Catherine Corless did as an individual in society was just phenomenal. But she did actually face quite a lot of opposition in different ways.
We can see historically as well times where there was some censorship of the media, where people are trying to break these stories. As with other countries where we see this historical abuse, there's advocates and survivors who are -- who are speaking for decades, like John, like Anna, trying to ensure that their story, that their family story can be heard.
But even when the Commission of Inquiry's report was published, the executive summary did not reflect what many people had given in their testimony.
So there is a sense that there is still truth, reconciliation and justice that is needed for many survivors and their families.
KINKADE: We do hope they get that and the justice that they are seeking. Sarah-Anne Buckley, we appreciate your time. Thank you.
BUCKLEY: Thank you very much, Lynda.
KINKADE: Well, at least 132 people have died amid flash flooding in central Texas. 27 of those victims were campers and counselors who were killed when raging waters swept through Camp Mystic.
As communities in Kerr County (ph) begin to grieve and try to rebuild, we're learning more about what led to the tragic loss of life there.
CNN's Julia Vargas Jones has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're now getting a fuller picture of what happened in the early hours of July 4th at Camp Mystic. Richard "Dick" Eastland, the co-director of the camp, did receive a 1:14 a.m.
flash flood alert warning of life-threatening conditions. Now, it wasn't until about 2 to 2:30 a.m. that Eastland started to evacuate campers into a different part of the camp.
That initial alert, though it did not order an evacuation. That second, more urgent alert comes in until -- not until 4:03 a.m. And that's the one that says move to higher ground now. Now, Eastland lost his life trying to save campers from the cabin
called Bubble Inn. That's where some of the youngest campers were housed at the time.
[01:34:45]
JONES: And a family spokesperson did say that camp leaders acted promptly based on the information they had at the time. And that they did not have a sense of the magnitude and the devastation that these flood waters would bring.
Now this, as there are many questions about that alert system, and if local authorities did everything they could to try and warn people of the magnitude of this disaster.
Today at a county commissioners meeting, here in Kerrville, we did speak with the county judge, Rob Kelly, who said he was not authorized to speak to the media, but who told me that he did not know the magnitude of this. And had he known, he would have acted differently.
Here in Texas, those county judges are responsible for emergency management systems. And it raises the question that if the person in charge was not aware of the magnitude of this disaster, what is it that went wrong?
This as operations had to be stopped on Sunday because of those heavy rains, but now have resumed. But those search and rescue operations are now even more challenging as those on the ground going through the debris of the river are encountering scenes like this one.
This photo shared from the Unified Cajun Navy with CNN showing an entire vehicle under gravel and debris. A lot more of those have been found, according to a Cajun Navy commander saying that this is not an uncommon scene here at this point. And that the new rains have only made that more difficult as scenes and parts of the river that had already been searched have now to be searched again.
Julia Vargas Jones, CNN -- Kerrville, Texas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Well, still to come, a family's difficult choice to self- deport from the U.S. amid the Trump administrations crackdown on undocumented immigrants.
[01:36:39]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KINKADE: The Trump administration has been pushing for undocumented migrants to self-deport, launching ad campaigns and offering financial incentives. For some families, including those with mixed citizenship status, the greatest motivation is fear.
Priscilla Alvarez speaks to one family who decided to voluntarily move to Mexico. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SASHA MENDOZA, FAMILY SELF-DEPORTING TO MEXICO: These are the main pictures from our house that we didn't want to just throw away.
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sasha Mendoza has the impossible task of packing up her family's life in Pittsburgh into a handful of suitcases.
MENDOZA: It's really hard to tell a four-year-old that they can't bring their toys or their stuffed animal. There's just not enough room. We can't put a stuffed animal and then have no pants.
I've literally never felt anxiety the way that I have in the last few years here.
ALVAREZ: So you are saying bye to the U.S. for good?
JULIO MENDOZA, FAMILY SELF-DEPORTING FOR MEXICO: For good, yes. Yes, for good.
ALVAREZ: Fearful of President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, Sasha, her husband Julio and their three kids are leaving behind the life they built together.
ALVAREZ: What are you the most excited for in Mexico?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The pool.
ALVAREZ: The pool?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the beach.
ALVAREZ: And the beach.
Julio is an undocumented immigrant from Mexico. Sasha and their three children are all U.S. citizens. They decided to make the move together only moments after Trump took office.
J. MENDOZA: There was an executive order being signed, and that was her call for like, what do you think about moving to Mexico? And I said, honestly, at this point, yes, let's do it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got to move to Mexico.
S. MENDOZA: Were going to move to Mexico. Not today.
ALVAREZ: And with that, the family began to wind down their lives, sifting through keepsakes and moving out of their home.
S. MENDOZA: Say bye to the house.
CHILDREN: Bye, house. Bless you.
ALVAREZ: When you were dating, did your status as being undocumented come up at all? S. MENDOZA: On our first date, we kind of, like, we're mentioning it
without mentioning it. And at one point, he ordered a drink and he asked for extra ice. And I said, no, we don't -- we don't do ice here.
And he was like, that was like, that was like the only thing we needed to say.
(CROSSTALKING)
J. MENDOZA: So by the way.
ALVAREZ: Julio crossed the U.S. southern border when he was 11 years old, and he's lived in Pittsburgh ever since.
S. MENDOZA: One of his first concerns when we talked about moving is like, how am I going to watch the Steelers games?
ALVAREZ: You're a Pittsburgh native for all intents and purposes.
S. MENDOZA: Oh my God. Yes.
J. MENDOZA: Yes.
ALVAREZ: What made Trump's second term more nerve wracking for you that to come to a decision that you had to leave the country?
J. MENDOZA: There are no limits. There are no limits on being a target. The only main concern is like he looks brown. He looks different. He don't speak English. He's the one. It doesn't matter.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: That's where things stand tonight in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
ALVAREZ: They were confronted with their worst nightmare when Kilmar Abrego Garcia was mistakenly deported to a notorious mega prison in El Salvador.
S. MENDOZA: I can see myself in that. And I don't want us to wait until we're in the same situation.
ALVAREZ: There are people who will say, you came to the U.S. illegally, why didn't you do it the right way? What do you say to people?
J. MENDOZA: If you were to be put in my situation at my age to tell me, do it the right way, the whole process pretty much takes about 15 to 20 years. By that time, I don't think my kids or anyone's kids who are starving or are in a dangerous situation can wait 15 - 20 years for you to come here and start working.
[01:44:51]
S. MENDOZA: What do we say that we could get when we get there? No, we did not say that.
ALVAREZ: How did you approach the conversation with your kids? S. MENDOZA: They know the realistic part of it, which is that it will
be very difficult for them to adapt to, especially -- mostly language wise.
That's like our biggest thing. They're not anywhere near fluent, and they are going to be going into a school that is Spanish speaking.
Who's that? That's you.
ALVAREZ: For Sasha, leaving the U.S. also means saying goodbye to the places she's called home.
You grew up in this house. What is it like for you to leave this house? And what it represents to you?
S. MENDOZA: It is definitely hard because, yes, there's a lot of good memories. This has always been like the kind of comeback place. As far as we know, we won't be able to do that. We've kind of all decided that today is most likely the last time that we'll all be like in the same place at the same time.
ALVAREZ: Hours of research behind them, the Mendoza family spent their final days in Pittsburgh saying goodbye to family and friends.
J. MENDOZA: I love you, too, Big Dog. Stay safe. Stay safe.
ALVAREZ: It's a decision not taken lightly, but for Julio, no other choice.
J. MENDOZA: Rolling the dice will be staying here. That will be rolling the dice.
S. MENDOZA: Yes.
J. MENDOZA: Playing with my life. Playing with my kids' life. Playing with my wife's life. That would be a gamble.
I wouldn't say it's taking a gamble. I'm taking a certain win on this one for sure.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: The next race for tech supremacy between the U.S. And China may lie in robotics. Still ahead, CNN gets rare access inside a Chinese robotics lab where machines are being built to mimic mankind.
And a traditional performance art gets a modern twist. We'll show you how President Trump's second term is being depicted in a Cantonese opera.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KINKADE: Well, bitcoin hit two new records on Monday. The cryptocurrency's value topped $120,000 for the first time. It later rose even further, touching $123,000 before falling again at the close of trading. The latest surge comes as U.S. lawmakers debate a series of bills that
would regulate the crypto industry. One of them is the Genius Act, which regulates Stablecoins, a type of crypto asset that is tied to the value of another currency, such as U.S. -- the U.S. dollar or gold. U.S. President Donald Trump has long-urged policymakers to revamp crypto rules in favor of the industry.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk says the company will hold a shareholder vote on whether to invest in another one of his companies, X.AI. Musk founded the company to compete with other artificial intelligence powerhouses like OpenAI, Meta and Google. X.AI acquired Musk's social media platform X back in March.
And "The Wall Street Journal" reports another Musk company, SpaceX, is set to invest $2 billion into the A.I. startup. But wooing Tesla shareholders may prove a difficult task, with recent worries about Musk's priorities, his political involvement and a drop in Tesla's stock valuation since the start of the year.
And tech leaders like Elon Musk now see A.I.-powered robotics is the next frontier to conquer, companies in China are racing to get there first.
[01:49:50]
KINKADE: And CNN was given rare access to the lab of Chinese Robotics where Marc Stewart filed this report.
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MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is where robots come to life. They mimic mankind, yet depend on these Chinese engineers to function.
We were given rare access to this lab by tech startup Booster Robotics on the outskirts of Beijing. We saw how robots can be built to play soccer.
Look what happens when we try to make a goal. See, it sticks its leg out. Very much like a real-life goalie would.
The robots can also play on their own, powered by A.I., as they did in a recent tournament live-streamed across China.
The technology is still a work in progress. The robots often lose balance and fall, scooped away on stretchers.
They look very much human like in their movements.
HAO CHENG, CEO, BOOSTER ROBOTICS: Yes. This is a new technology about imitation learning.
STEWART: Technology the CEO thinks, can be used in everything from food delivery to factories, even help kids learn new languages.
This whole robotic push comes at a time when the Chinese government is making technology, including A.I. a national priority. Already, China is a proven innovator, as we've seen with EVs. Now it's
looking to dominate the field of A.I.-enabled robots. And the gap with the U.S. is widening, according to Morgan Stanley research.
What does this symbolize beyond the soccer field?
ALEX CAPRI, NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE BUSINESS SCHOOL: China is really pushing the envelope in all things leading edge technology. And there are so many practical and also strategic applications of A.I. and robotics combined.
STEWART: Here in China. We've seen robotics at work during our tours of factories. And the Chinese military has shown off a robotic dog with an automatic rifle mounted on its back.
The U.S. Air Force is utilizing similar technology.
On the turf, the focus is on innovation and attention.
CHENG: We need to push the technology development so we need a real -- a real scenario to test our technology.
STEWART: Scrimmages on the soccer field that may help China to score further as a global tech leader.
Marc Stewart, CNN -- Beijing.
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KINKADE: Well, President Trump is set to announce a $70 billion investment package in A.I. and energy. That's expected at the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit in Pittsburgh in the coming hours. The White House says the initiative will create thousands of jobs.
And Donald Trump, of course, is no stranger to being on television. But a new stage show in Hong Kong aims to tell the story of the president via a Cantonese opera.
As Kristie Lu Stout reports, the show brings a modern twist to a traditional art form.
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KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: On this stage, Donald Trump sings in fluent Chinese.
And why not? He's the star of a hot new Cantonese opera.
How did you copy the body language of Donald Trump?
LOONG KOON-TIN, CANTONESE OPERA ACTOR (through translator): This is the special thing about Donald Trump. This one.
His eyes and his gestures are so unique. Every time I submerge myself in the role. I'm the Donald Trump.
STOUT: Loong is an over 40-year veteran of Cantonese opera, and he's starring in the latest version of Trump on Show, a Hong Kong production that began back in 2019.
The first opera depicted Trump's debut as U.S. President, and this one a fictionalized account of his latest presidential run, including an assassination attempt and his return to the Oval Office, including his clash with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Other characters include Ivanka Trump, Kim Jong-un, and this take on Abraham Lincoln.
Edward Lee --
EDWARD LEE, WRITER: Hello. Hello, hello.
STOUT: -- is the mastermind of the entire production, a writer and feng shui master. He has staged dozens of operas.
LEE: And I find he is a very interesting people.
STOUT: Cantonese opera is a performance art that dates back 500 years. In recent decades, its popular appeal has been on the wane, but Trump on Show has been a hit. Tickets for the latest opera have also sold out, filling the hall with audiences of all ages, including a new generation of Cantonese opera fans.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a new experience to the younger people, and then I want to know about current culture, to -- like about history and about like how they related to Hong Kong, to China, to America.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cantonese opera singing, Cantonese opera style of acting and these contemporary figures together, that's where the chemistry is.
STOUT: The potential audience is even bigger.
LEE: I hope in the future this opera can go to the United States, to have this kind of opera doing especially in Broadway.
STOUT: UNESCO recognizes Cantonese opera as an example of quote, "intangible cultural heritage of humanity". Productions like this are key to keeping a precious art form alive.
Can we say Donald Trump is helping Cantonese opera survive?
LEE: You can say that because his character is so special and everybody is being influenced by him.
STOUT: On this stage, Trump is a hero. The star of a Cantonese opera with an American twist while reviving a treasured Chinese tradition.
Kristie Lu Stout, CNN -- Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: It looks like a great show.
Well, tennis stars Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek have been busy celebrating their very first Wimbledon titles. They danced together at the champions' dinner in London Sunday night, a tradition of the famed tournament center.
Sinner is the world number one of the men's side and now the first- ever Italian Wimbledon singles champion after beating his rival Carlos Alcaraz.
Swiatek of Poland, is the women's number three in the world after easily defeating American Amanda Anisimova in the singles final.
Well, people in Poland are also celebrating Swiatek victory in the best way they know how, with a heaping serving of pasta and strawberries, the quirky Polish comfort food is quite the departure from the traditional strawberries and cream that is, of course, synonymous with Wimbledon.
But it is a childhood favorite of the new women's champion. The pasta is topped with strawberries, sugar and yogurt or sour cream, and is a nostalgic summertime treat in the country.
Well, that does it for this edition of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Lynda Kinkade.
Stay with us. CNN NEWSROOM continues in just a moment with the lovely Rosemary Church.
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