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U.S., Iran Stand Down as Latest Strikes Launched by Both Sides; Crews Continue Searching for Survivors as Death Toll in Twin Venezuela Quake Logs at 1450; Canada Pushed through World Cup's Round of 16 After a Late Goal Defeating South Africa. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired June 29, 2026 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

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POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to "CNN Newsroom." I'm Polo Sandoval live in New York, and here's what's headed your way.

Stand down for now. That's what the Trump administration is saying after the U.S. and Iran exchange strikes over the weekend. We'll go live to the Gulf with the status of that fragile ceasefire that's in place.

And a rare glimmer of hope. This crying baby rescued from the rubble while the death toll rises in Venezuela's earthquake aftermath. An aid worker in Caracas will tell us what's desperately needed in the disaster zone.

Plus, follow-up from the Supreme Court ruling that could impact hundreds of thousands of people legally in the United States.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from New York, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Polo Sandoval.

SANDOVAL: A senior U.S. official says the technical talks over the memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran are still on track. That's the word following an exchange of fire over the weekend that strained the fragile truce that's currently in place between both countries.

Now, a Trump administration official says that the U.S. and Iran will, quote, "stand down for now" after the escalation near the Strait of Hormuz. That official is also saying that the vessels can move freely in the Strait. So far, though, there's been no word from Iran.

The U.S. ambassador to the U.N. had this to say about what Iran needs to do next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE WALTZ, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: Iran has a choice to make. It's going to be a responsible nation, or it can continue down this path to absolute ruin. And don't think for a second that President Trump isn't going to leave every option on the table to achieve not just our aim, the entire world's aim that Iran never has anew.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: As for Iran, it is currently making a full withdrawal of Israeli forces-- I should say that it's currently making clear that a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon must be part of a final deal with the U.S. Israel has previously rejected such a plan, and on Sunday approved continued military operations in southern Lebanon as it targets Iranian-backed Hezbollah.

Let's go now to CNN's Paula Hancocks who's following developments from Abu Dhabi. Paula, it's good to see you. What else, I should ask, are officials from the White House saying after this exchange of fire over the weekend?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Polo, it really was one of the most serious escalations in violence that we've seen between the U.S. and Iran since that memorandum of understanding was signed. It appears now, though, that the U.S. is certainly pulling back. They say that both sides are pulling back.

But we are yet to hear from Iran, suggesting that talks can continue in Doha on Tuesday. So I'll read you part of what one U.S. official has told us, saying, quote, "Nothing has been canceled. Technical talks regarding the implementation of the MOU, the memorandum, are on track for the coming days as planned, and deconfliction channels are up and running after the Lake Lucerne summit."

That was the summit just about 10 days ago now, where the U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance was there.

So as far as the U.S. is concerned, the talks are on track, which we could see this week. But we certainly saw a significant amount of tit- for-tat attacks between the U.S. and Iran. We saw attacks from Iran as well on what they said was U.S. military targets in the region.

We did see, for example, a residential building that had severe damage in Bahrain. We know in Kuwait, they were also having to intercept missiles and drones. So it was a significant escalation over recent days.

The main sticking point, it appeared to be, from Thursday was when the U.S. claimed that Iran had targeted a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz. We have seen that the numbers of vessels trying to transit that very crucial area of water have been severely lessened because of the concerns of this escalation.

In fact, Saturday there were 28 vessels, Sunday just a dozen vessels. Compare that to last Wednesday when there were more than 70. So it's certainly having a knock-on effect there.

We also have been hearing from people in Iran about what they think about the situation at this point. Let's listen. [03:05:05]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN (through translator): My belief is that they should never have halted. Even if there is a pause now, it is undoubtedly a political posture and we will soon see renewed attacks. The scale and levels are not predictable, but they will certainly continue.

UNKNOWN (through translator): In my view, it should be firmer than before. It should be done in a way that teaches them a lesson, so they do not allow themselves to come back and repeat the same actions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: And the other key sticking point, of course, Lebanon. We're hearing from Iran that they are calling for a full Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, something which Israel says it will not do.

SANDOVAL: CNN's Paula Hancocks bringing us some of those voices from Tehran. Thank you so much, Paula.

Oil futures, they are in limbo as the world weighs whether the U.S.- Iran ceasefire survives this latest round of hostilities. Brent crude, the global benchmark and WTI crude, they do continue to hover around Friday's closing prices, but are moving higher again as traders certainly reassess that risk.

So again, you see that slight uptick across the board, about 0.4 percent with Brent crude, WTI up a little over 1 percent. We'll keep following that.

Meanwhile, the search for survivors is currently becoming more desperate in Venezuela. Four days after two powerful earthquakes devastated that country, it's a scene of utter destruction in some areas, with hundreds of buildings collapsed and more heavily damaged. The death toll has gone up to at least 1450 people, with thousands still missing.

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And then, of course, some of these rescues like this, that they continue to give crews hope as they continue with their search through the rubble. They're being helped by thousands of emergency workers from really all over the world.

Some of this new video that we want to show you of a rescue worker over the weekend. Crews saved a mother and her baby from a collapsed building. That baby, just 18 days old.

Venezuela's acting president says that there has been a lot of progress with restoring utilities in some of the hardest hit areas. But survivors are saying that the country was never ready to deal with a disaster of this scale.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) HERNAN SANDOVAL, EARTHQUAKE SURVIVOR (through translator): Venezuela was not prepared for this. We were not even prepared for a flu, honestly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And let's begin our coverage now with CNN contributor Stefano Pozzebon, who's got more on the ongoing rescue efforts.

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STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: We have joined a team of rescue workers from Fairfax County in Virginia. We're in the city of La Guaira, which is one of the most affected by the Venezuelan twin earthquakes. And right now, these rescue workers have heard two distinct tap-tap when they're trying to communicate with people who are still trapped under the rubble.

This used to be several floors. It used to be a several floor building. But of course, all of those floors are now stacked up.

But they do believe that there are still people trapped alive, especially children. They try to communicate with them with sound. And this is why this is truly a race against time.

But it's a race against time that is happening in utter silence. Nobody dares to speak, nobody dares to shout because a sound could mean a life saved. And all of this is also happening as the relatives of the people trapped inside and other survivors are still here.

And this is, of course, so crucial. Everyone knows that more than 72 hours have passed since the earthquake struck. And that is the golden window where the vast majority of survivors are located and rescued in this type of situation.

Of course, miracles do happen. Overnight, for example, an 11-month-old baby was rescued from under the rubble. And this is what's giving people hope.

And the other thing that is giving people hope, of course, is the fact that they keep hearing sound from inside. But that clock is ticking and the window is definitely about to pass.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Joining me from Caracas is Susana Arroyo Barrantes. She's the Regional Communications Manager for IFRC, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Society. Thank you so much for being with us, Susana.

It's now been well over 72 hours. In fact, that 72-hour rescue window passed on Saturday and over four days since that awful tragedy. What are the priorities for your organization?

SUSANA ARROYO BARRANTES, REGIONAL COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER, INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF RED CROSS AND RED CRESCENT SOCIETIES: Well, despite the fact that the, as you well said, the search and rescue window, it's narrowing now.

Search and rescue activities continue to be our priorities. We have here teams from Mexico, Colombia, Panama, El Salvador, Colombia that are supporting the Red Cross and the national teams in search and rescue activities.

[03:10:09]

And today, it was particularly a good day. We were in an area that hasn't been in the spotlight that much, that it's called Carti Alamar. And over there, there are many collapsed structures, of course.

But we found one survivor. Actually, right now, as we speak, our teams are doing all the maneuvers to take him out of their rubbles. And I know that also a couple of other teams coming from other countries have found people alive.

It's such a good news. It's a moment of joy in the middle of a week that has given us a lot of tragedy.

SANDOVAL: Yes, we've seen similar tragedies, those tiny little moments certainly offer some light to so many people, so many loved ones who are still waiting to learn the fate of their family members. What has been the biggest need right now for your personnel?

ARROYO BARRANTES: Connecting to what you just said, there's a sense of collective grief and collective mourning. So definitely priority number one is psychosocial support, psychological first aid. People are still suffering from anguish, anxiety, panic attacks.

So standing by their side at this moment and for the long road ahead is one of the priorities. This is why we're prioritizing also the health care package as a whole. We are working hard to keep our field hospital that is in La Guaira, and we're expanding our services.

And this is one of the top priorities as well as part of our emergency appeal for 50 million Swiss friends that we have launched this week. We know that there are a collective sense of solidarity, and we hope that we could get some support as well to expand our services here in La Guaira and accompany communities, not only in health services, but also, for instance, in other areas where we are lacking a lot of support, like, for instance, access to water, sanitation and hygiene, of course. Otherwise, it would become a tragedy on top of a tragedy.

SANDOVAL: Right. And I've spoken moments after the earthquake. We've been hearing from people there on the ground and talking about just the unique nature of a tragedy like this, this kind of natural disaster hitting a country like Venezuela that was already struggling before the earthquake here. So just can you speak to some of those unique challenges for your organization, specifically because of Venezuela and its history of government mismanagement, corruption, even inflation has been an issue for the people there?

ARROYO BARRANTES: Yes. Every time that we respond to a disaster in a complex context, of course, that previous or pre-existing conditions of vulnerability increase the risk of the population to suffer in situations such as this one. For instance, in some of the communities that we have been working these days, the water service has been interrupted for almost two years now and people were relying on specific distributions, patterns that were not enough to satisfy their needs.

So, of course, now an earthquake on top of these realities increase the risk of these communities, increase the risk of the inequality, increase the risk of suffering from other illnesses. Another challenge in a situation such as this one is the one related to logistics, as you well said. Not only because the earthquakes damage or cause damage in the infrastructure, but also because there are so many help in Norway.

So we have limited capacity in airports, for instance. So organizing all the efforts and channelizing all that solidarity in a way that arrives to the people as soon as possible, it's now a shared responsibility.

SANDOVAL: Yes, Susana, our thoughts are with you, all of the members of your organization and so many teams that have literally flown in from all around the world to help the people of Venezuela. Thank you for your time and for your update, Susana Arroyo Barrantes.

ARROYO BARRANTES: Thank you.

[03:15:07]

SANDOVAL: Well, Kentucky is currently facing deadly and devastating flooding throughout the entire state. Officials are now tracking dozens of water rescues and evacuations. We'll get you the latest from there.

Plus, Europe's heat wave, not over yet. Several countries shattered more records on Sunday, including some hitting all-time highs. And wait till you see what police in Berlin are resorting to, to keep people cool.

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SANDOVAL: Rescue efforts are currently underway in the state. Battles devastating widespread flooding that left at least four people dead. Already many communities like this one, they have been dealing with these floodwaters.

Heavy rain wiping out bridges and roads, leaving many people in Kentucky stranded. The governor there says that they are currently tracking over 60 water rescues and evacuations.

To end enrichment, flash flooding destroyed a church, completely knocking over that building. You see that steeple almost sort of sticking out of the floodwater. One family nearby says that they lost everything when storm debris crashed into their home.

[03:20:07] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHANNON WEBB, HOMEOWNER: It was very devastating, it was very loud. A lot of glass breaking, a lot of I mean, of course, wood popping the church. It was very loud when it broke.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And three firefighters are dead after battling a wildfire along the Colorado-Utah border. They were helping fight the fast- growing Snyder Fire, which has already burned more than 28,000 acres.

And it's just one of a dozen brush fires that are currently burning in Utah, the largest of them known as the Cottonwood Fire. It has grown to nearly 100,000 acres as of Sunday, and that is still zero percent contained. And the fires, they have led officials to restrict fireworks over Independence Day weekend, which is coming up.

And the eastern U.S., it is experiencing its most widespread heat wave of the summer so far, and it's only going to get worse, including here in New York. A heat dome is expected to bring dangerously hot and humid conditions to the region.

Millions will be experiencing temperatures that feel like they are hitting triple digits. Several metro areas, they could potentially see temperatures climb to their highest level yet this year, including Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis, Dallas, Nashville, too. Heat alerts, they are currently in place in parts of the Midwest, Northeast, and Southeast.

Well Europe's deadly heat wave shattering more records on Sunday. You look at the map here, you can see just some of them. Lithuania, Poland, also Germany, all logging their highest temperatures on record. And the heat is expected to continue heading east over the next couple of days.

So, does that mean potential relief? Let's go now to CNN's Sebastian Shukla, who's been tracking these pretty oppressive temperatures. Seb, so as I read it, these water cannons in Berlin, where you are essentially being repurposed instead of being used for protests and crowd control, now being used to keep people cool?

SEBASTIAN SHUKLA, CNN PRODUCER: Yes, Polo, good morning. I cannot tell you how glad I am to see cloud cover in June, because over the weekend, it has been literally unbearable.

If you were outside in any form of way, it was almost impossible to walk around. The air was so thick with humidity and heat that it just felt excruciating to even take that one single step outside. And as we can see from some of this video that we've got just down the road here at the Potsdamer Platz square, we saw the German police deploying water cannon as a way to keep people cool.

It became something of a water park and water festival down there. But if you look at some of the figures from across Germany over the weekend, it's understandable why the police were out there trying to help people.

I'm just trying to read some of the figures from over the weekend. Germany broke records in three consecutive days over the last weekend. We saw 41.7 degrees, which is 107 Fahrenheit, way out on the eastern border with Poland. We saw 41.5 degrees on Saturday, just west of Berlin, and then 41.3 degrees down in the southwestern part of the country on the border with France in Saarbrucken.

And that heat dome, which we saw largely over western parts of Europe last week, has slowly gradually moved its way eastwards and very much settled over the top of us last weekend. What many of us are hoping, and I'm really hoping that those storm clouds behind me do come and that they shatter and crack through this dome so that we can get some relief of a little bit of rain.

Because the other European nations have been experiencing it too, Polo. We've seen Czechia, 41.9 degrees centigrade, that is an all-time record in Czechia; Poland as well, 40.5 degrees; Austria also recorded its highest temperature for the month of June at 40 degrees. All of those in the low 100s Fahrenheit.

And the way that this is now being described and felt across Europe, particularly by the WHO chief, he has said that, as I pull it up here, he said, "Europe is the fastest warming continent on Earth, heating at twice the global average. Around 150 million people are living under extreme heat. More than 1300 excess deaths have been recorded since the 21st of June linked to high temperatures."

Polo, I think what we're seeing, you know, it's largely viewed now as being a product of global warming more generally and that hopefully now we will see over this next couple of little few days or so a break in temperatures. But obviously, as we go deeper into the summer, Polo, there will be fears that July, August, usually the hottest month of the year in Europe, we may see more peaks. Polo?

[03:25:07]

SANDOVAL: Yes, you mentioned Czechia. First, they're scorched on the pitch by Mexico during the World Cup. Now they have to deal with those record-breaking temperatures.

But look, all kidding aside, it is just absolutely, you know, just awful, that heat and potentially deadly as well. So, so glad that some folks could get some relief there. Sebastian Shukla with that live report, thank you.

And speaking of the World Cup, the knockout stage, it is off to quite the dramatic start after Canada eliminated South Africa on Sunday, becoming the first team to secure their spot in the round of 16. A last-ditch strike from Canada's Stephen Eustaquio, delivering the 1-0 win in a 92nd minute of play. It's Canada's first ever knockout stage victory in the World Cup, by the way.

Next up from Canada will be the winner of Monday's match between the Netherlands and Morocco. Brazil, Japan, Germany and Paraguay, they will also be fighting to keep their World Cup dreams alive on Monday. A penalty shootout can define a team's World Cup performance, but the work of getting ready for them actually goes far beyond the pitch.

"World Sports'" Don Riddell spoke to a sports psychologist about how the mentality of team managers on the sidelines can possibly sway the outcome of a shootout long before that first kick is taken. Look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Football managers have to prepare for penalty shootouts, and the one thing many have learned the hard way is that it just cannot be left until the last minute.

GEIR JORDET, AUTHOR,"PRESSURE: LESSONS FROM THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE PENALTY SHOOTOUT": If this is the first time you're thinking about the penalty shootout, you're way too late, and your probability of winning with your team, in my opinion, is considerably below 50 percent.

So how do we set up a plan for a penalty shootout? What is our psychological plan? How do we win this battle with this opposing team? How do we dominate the opponents in different phases of the shootout?

RIDDELL: Of course, they'll always need to be but they need to have a plan, and the calmer they remain, the better the outcome will be.

JORDET: And the manager should definitely not leave it up to the players themselves. The manager knows better than anyone, and the manager needs to spend his attention and his time on communicating the plan. It needs to be very clear to everyone involved what they're supposed to do, and also the manager needs to provide proper psychological support for the players also at this moment.

RIDDELL: How would you stack your one to five? Where do the strongest go? Where do the weakest go?

JORDET: You want to make sure that your best penalty takers for sure will be featured in this event, and the safest way to do that is to stack your best penalty takers early. Most teams tend to put their most senior players at number one, because you really want to have a good start to a penalty shootout that can do a lot for your team, and it can do the opposite for the opponent team.

And other players, they know that they want to take a penalty shot, but they're much more comfortable with a less, let's call it high profile shot, if something like that exists in the shootout, on number two or number three. We know that shots number four, number five, these shots tend to be more critical than others, because those shots are typically the shots where if you miss, you will instantly lose the shootout, but if you score, you will instantly win the shootout.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: One exchange of fire, testing a fragile truce. Ahead, I'll be speaking with the International Crisis Group's Iran Project Director about the latest escalation, and also the plans for more talks in the coming days.

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[03:30:00]

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SANDOVAL: Thank you so much for staying with us, I'm Polo Sandoval in New York, and these are today's top stories.

Well the death toll has risen to at least 1450 people in Venezuela after two earthquakes struck that country last week. Search and rescue efforts, they have not stopped, with thousands of emergency workers from other countries on the ground helping the crews in Venezuela. Officials say nearly 13,000 people have been displaced by that disaster.

A Trump administration official says that the U.S. and Iran will, quote, stand down for now after exchanging fresh strikes over the weekend, and that escalation taking place near the Strait of Hormuz, where the official says that vessels can now move through freely. Iran is yet to weigh in on that matter.

Iran though, it is making clear that a full Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon must be part of a final deal with the U.S. in order to end the war. Israel has previously rejected such a plan, and on Sunday approved continued military operations in southern Lebanon as it targets Iranian-backed Hezbollah.

All right, let's stay on this, and joining me now from Geneva is Ali Vaez, he's a director of the Iran Project at the International Crisis Group. Ali, I always look forward to talking to you. Thank you so much for being back with us.

ALI VAEZ, DIRECTOR, IRAN PROJECT, INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP: Good to see you, Polo.

SANDOVAL: So after the escalations that we saw since Thursday, you just heard there near the Strait of Hormuz. How does that impact the talks with Iran, you think? I mean, Trump officials maintain that nothing has changed.

VAEZ: Well, look, the Iranian view is that the U.S. was in violation of Article 1 of the Memorandum of Understanding that requires the fighting in Lebanon to stop, and there's still Israeli, admittedly at lower level, but there is still Israeli exchange of fire with Hezbollah happening.

And also that the U.S. was in violation of Article 4 of the Memorandum of Understanding that allows Iran to put in place arrangements for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, whereas there was now a route much closer to the Omani territorial water that had been opened to get some of the vessels that were stuck in the Persian Gulf out of there.

And Iran saw that as eroding its leverage, therefore it fired a drone towards a vessel, and then we saw the tit-for-tat exchange of fire between the two sides. But, you know, I think both realize that they have no better alternative other than trying to keep this MOU alive and return to the negotiating table.

And that's why, with all the ups and downs, I think they are going to go back and engage in diplomacy.

SANDOVAL: Because at least I get the sense that there really are two main triggering factors here. There's the Strait of Hormuz that we just discussed, but the other one is obviously Lebanon.

[03:34:57]

Just curious, as these negotiations continue, the U.S. and Iran, just basically, what is standing in the way of Iran restraining its proxy Hezbollah, while the U.S. restrains Israel in an effort to increase the odds of any sort of success the next -- just under two months?

VAEZ: Right. So, look, for the Iranians, it's hard to restrain Hezbollah when Israel is actually occupying the southern parts of Lebanon. And for Israel, it's also hard to accept withdrawing from southern Lebanon, as long as Hezbollah is not disarmed. So it is a little bit of a zero-sum situation that neither side can really force their regional allies to stop.

So I think best case scenario is that we would see low-level conflict in Lebanon, and the benefits that the Iranians would get out of the MOU is sufficient to outweigh the small violations that you would see with the exchange of fire in Lebanon. I don't see a real solution to really get this to a stable situation so that Lebanon doesn't adversely affect these negotiations.

SANDOVAL: Yes, that's actually really interesting, is neither side, based on your assessment, would be willing to make that initial concession, be it the Israelis would agree to pull back, or of course Hezbollah would also agree to stop targeting Israel. When you look at the weekend of strikes, Ali, do you think that Iran may be thinking that it's actually winning, given that it is yet to back down on any of its core issues and demands?

VAEZ: Well, they certainly think that they have the upper hand, that the U.S., because the president really wants this trade to be fully open and for energy prices to climb down in the run-up to the midterms, that this is a moment that the Iranians have a lot of leverage, and they should use that leverage in order to extract the kind of concessions they want to in the final agreement. But one has to remember that they too are in a very difficult economic situation.

They were in dire straits economically even before this war, and now they are really struggling. So they also need the diplomatic track to remain open, but they are gambling a little bit more boldly because they do believe that President Trump doesn't want to go back into full-scale war and does need the strait to remain open. So they believe that this is a moment of opportunity for them.

SANDOVAL: Yes, with the futures of real Iranians at stake, we heard from one man in Tehran at the top of the hour who says that further escalation is potentially inevitable. So we'll see how that plays out.

Ali Vaez, as always really grateful for your perspective. Thank you for your time.

VAEZ: My pleasure. Thank you.

SANDOVAL: And after the break here on "CNN Newsroom," a live report from Johannesburg, South Africa, where thousands of migrant workers are currently attempting to flee the country over growing fears of xenophobic mass violence. Stay with us.

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[03:40:00]

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SANDOVAL: And welcome back to "CNN Newsroom." Let's give you a look at some of the pre-trading futures right now to see how things are looking ahead of the trading bell.

You see that they do appear to be up slightly. This, of course, amid some tensions and some concerns over that fragile ceasefire that's currently in place as both sides, both the U.S. and Iran, try to hatch out a deal to end the war with Iran.

Gas prices in the U.S., those are continuing to decline. According to AAA, the average price of regular gas, that fell to $3.87 a gallon on Sunday. Still, the national average for gas prices, that is still about nearly 30 percent higher than it was before the war with Iran.

South Korea's President has announced a major new push into several tech megaprojects. Earlier, he was joined by leaders from Samsung Electronics and S.K. Hynix to unveil plans that would essentially transform the country's southwest into a semiconductor hub. The quote, "Great Leap Forward," also set to include initiatives for physical A.I. and A.I. data centers, local media reporting planned investments could exceed $650 billion over the coming years.

Well Woody, Buzz, Lightyear and Jesse triumphing at the box office again this weekend, "Toy Story 5" had held onto the top spot in its second weekend in theaters, making another $70 million.

Now, some recent guidance from the U.S. State Department. It's raising some questions about the Trump administration's push to return many Haitians to their homeland. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin responding on Sunday to the guidance warning that Americans not to travel to Haiti because it's simply too dangerous.

And this comes as roughly 350,000 Haitians in the U.S. are poised to lose a form of humanitarian relief known as Temporary Protective Status or TPS. CNN's Jake Tapper asked Mullin if Haiti is a safe place right now. Mullin explained that the guidance was exclusively for U.S. citizens.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEC. MARKWAYNE MULLIN, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY: Do not travel is not for Haitians. That's do not travel for the United States because they are trying to kidnap individuals from the United States because they feel like their family has the money to pay the ransom.

We have do not travel in places in Mexico or advisory warnings. In fact, if you go through our website in the State Department, you'll see there's advisories to a lot of places that are vacation destinations that we have advisories on because of the real risk to Americans. That doesn't mean it's a risk to the individuals that live there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: A Supreme Court ruling last week, it's now clearing the way for the Department of Homeland Security to strip Haitians and Syrians of their temporary legal protections. You see, until now, they've been living and working legally in the U.S., those who have qualified for that status. Immigration advocates say that the plan would have a negative impact on American communities.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VILES DORSAINVIL, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, HAITIAN COMMUNITY HELP AND SUPPORT CENTER: We've been working in every sector. We've been helping boosting the economy of Springfield. We work at the school district, we work at the factories, we work in the hospitals, we work everywhere.

So, I know for sure that if it happens that TPS is being ended, that without hearing from the community where employers told some of the associates not to come back to work.

[03:45:06]

So, many questions are being asked by those institutions, and they do not know how to answer those questions or what to do. Because at the end of the day, it will have so much impact on our community here in Springfield. As I knew before, if TPS ended, that would be a chaos for our community, for sure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Well, happening at this hour, thousands of migrants are trying to flee South Africa. The country remains on edge after months of anti-migrant rhetoric and also growing threats of xenophobic violence.

There have been huge queues like this one that have been forming outside of consulates, repatriation centers, as well as the country's borders as foreign workers race to leave ahead of a deadline that's set by anti-immigrant groups. And that deadline, it is set to expire on Tuesday, following months of anti-immigration demonstrations.

The South African government has condemned xenophobic attacks and also says that security forces are on high alert, but that's little to calm the fears of the migrant population.

Many of them will find where CNN's correspondent Larry Madowo is at this hour, live outside the Malawi consulate in Johannesburg, South Africa. I mean, what are all those people telling you, Larry? They clearly don't feel safe staying there.

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They don't feel safe. That's why they're here. Hundreds of Malawians trying to get back home.

And they have some of their property. They've been sleeping here the past few days. You see some of the bags here, which essentially have just beddings and some clothes.

Many of them left everything else they own as they're here at the Malawi consulate, hoping that they can get on buses across the border into Zimbabwe and eventually into Malawi. So some of them have spent the past few days here. They haven't heard yet from the Malawian consulate if they will get to go home.

There was an announcement a short while ago that a few of them, the women and children especially, will get first priority to get on a bus across the border with Zimbabwe. So they're hoping that eventually they begin that long journey back home. But for many of them, they've been told they can't stay where they were staying.

Their landlords have kicked them out. Their employers have told them that they have to leave because they risk a fine if they're employing undocumented migrants. And many of them here came because South Africa is an economic magnet, the strongest economy in the region.

And so for small economies in Southern Africa, this is the only place to find work. I asked many of them, why didn't you try and get documented, become proper in the country?

And they said they couldn't afford it or it was too long. Somebody required a bribe, and so in the end, they ended up being here and documented some of them for 10, 15 years. And that's why they're in this situation where they're afraid tomorrow.

Anti-migrant groups have given a deadline for all undocumented migrants to leave South Africa, and they don't feel safe staying where they were staying. But this is the same situation for many of the migrants in other parts of the country. I want you to listen to these two voices.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMINA CHIWOKO, ZIMBABWEAN MIGRANT: I'm not happy. I leave my property and some of my money now, I didn't get paid because of this thing. We couldn't go to our bosses to collect our money.

EBRAHIM MOOSA, MALAWIAN MIGRANT (through translator): We are scared because you never know what people are planning to do to you. It's not right to wait and see what will happen as long as we know that June 30th, we must act.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MADOWO: The Malawian continent appears to be completely overwhelmed by the numbers that have been seen. There were thousands in KwaZulu- Natal, in Durban, and there's a few hundred more here in Johannesburg. Many of these people are relying on donations to survive for beddings.

It's the South African winter right now. It's been quite cold.

And what you see here, for instance, this morning is a donation from some of the neighbors in this neighborhood where the Malawian continent is providing breakfast. It's just tea and some scones, some bread to feed the hundreds of families here.

There's almost 60 kids here, more than 300 men, more than 200 women, all of them just hoping that they can finally get out of here to safety back to Malawi, Polo.

SANDOVAL:: Yes, what a sense of urgency in this remarkable phenomenon of reverse migration. These people desperate to get out. Larry Madowo, thank you so much for bringing us all that.

Some 250 years ago, America's founders, they were preparing to officially break from Great Britain. Still to come here on "CNN Newsroom," how and when England found out about the Declaration of Independence. We'll be right back.

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[03:50:00]

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SANDOVAL: Around 200 protesters in Belgium vented their dislike of the United States on Sunday as the U.S. diplomatic mission celebrated America's 250th anniversary. The protests happened outside of a park in Brussels that was closed off to the public for the event.

An environmental group said that it was unacceptable to close the park in order to celebrate the United States. A spokesperson accusing President Trump of being, quote, "one of the largest enemies of climate action."

And as the United States gets ready to celebrate 250 years since its break with Great Britain, here's a little known fact about the birth of America. While their founders were all hanging out here and essentially drafting and eventually signing the Declaration of Independence, a bit was completely in the dark. In fact, the British didn't realize what had happened until several weeks later.

CNN's James Frater brings us this history lesson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RUTH MACLEOD, ARCHIVE AND LIBRARY, NATIONAL MARITIME MUSEUM: When the Declaration of Independence was written, nobody knew how significant the language of it was going to be. Who writes a document knowing that we're going to be looking at it in 250 years' time.

JAMES FRATER, CNN PRODUCER (voice-over): When the Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence on the afternoon of Thursday, the 4th of July, 1776-- FRATER: -- it took a whole six weeks before Britain learned of what

had happened. Now that, according to historians, was a pretty quick turnaround.

FRATER (voice-over): So how did events unfold?

Overnight, on the 4th into the 5th of July, copies of the Declaration were printed at John Dunlap's print shop in Philadelphia. They were called the Dunlap Broadsides. Within days, historians say some of those copies had reached New York and into the hands of British informants.

[03:54:57]

On the evening of the 9th of July, the very same night New Yorkers were tearing down the statue of King George III, a copy had reached the British fleet blockading New York harbor, commanded by Vice Admiral Molyneaux Shuldham.

MACLEOD: They did know that this was significant. He knew that this was something that had to be reported back to London as soon as possible.

FRATER (voice-over): Vice Admiral Shuldham immediately wrote a brief letter and a handwritten replica of the Declaration was made. Both dispatched on a mail ship, the Mercury Packet.

Traveling north via Canada, the Mercury made the Atlantic crossing in just a month, arriving in Falmouth on Thursday, the 8th of August. The following day, the documents, by horse, had reached London.

FRATER: And this is Shuldham's letter, just one surprisingly short paragraph for what you might think would be a seismic bit of news. And here is that handwritten version of the Declaration of Independence, starting with the words, "A Declaration by the Representatives of the United States of America in General Congress assembled."

FRATER (voice-over): Curators here at the National Maritime Museum in London believe this is the first complete text of the Declaration to have arrived in the U.K.

FRATER: When his letter arrived at the Admiralty, what do you think the reaction was to this letter?

MACLEOD: The letter says it was long expected, so I suspect that it was a kind of, oh right, it's happened, we were kind of prepping for this, let's take our next steps, let's respond.

FRATER (voice-over): Then, on Saturday, the 10th of August, 37 days after it was first approved, the Admiralty quietly released in the state newspaper word of America's decision to split from Britain. It then took more than seven years and a revolutionary war for Britain to formally recognize America's independence.

(END VIDEOTAPE) SANDOVAL: I don't know how far we've come. Thank you so much for watching this hour, I'm Polo Sandoval in New York. I'll be right back with you in a few moments with more of your headlines here on "CNN Newsroom."

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