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CNN NEWSROOM

Stranded Migrants to Dock Soon in Spain; U.S. Immigration Separate Families at Border; Yemen Crisis; Moscow Taxi Plows through Crowd. Aired 2-2:30a ET

Aired June 17, 2018 - 02:00   ET

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


[02:00:00]

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IVAN WATSON, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello, everyone. Thanks for joining us. I'm Ivan Watson in Atlanta. CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.

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WATSON: Some of the 629 migrants rescued from the Mediterranean more than a week ago are now on Spanish soil. The first of three ships arrived a short time ago in the Spanish port of Valencia. Two other ships will dock in coming hours.

Red Cross workers, translators and police are on hand as the migrants end their grueling week at sea, after Italy and Malta turned them away last weekend. The ships are arriving at three-hour intervals to avoid overwhelming the entry process.

Now our Vera Catano is in Valencia overseeing this.

Good to see you there, Vera.

Do you have any sense of the status and the health of these migrants, who have been at sea for quite a long time and have faced quite a difficult ordeal there?

VERA CATANO, CNN ESPANOL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Ivan. That's what the doctors are checking right now. Actually behind me, you can see the Italo, this Italian boat, the first one of these three ships that will be arriving this morning to Valencia.

This boat is carrying 274 migrants and the first step is exactly to check their medical condition. This is why there are doctors, who got into the boat to check how are the conditions, if there is any emergency, because the organization is telling us that some of them may have malaria.

We have seen approximately 20 migrants who already got off the boat. We are waiting for the rest of them. Now they are checking their medical condition, as I am saying, because this is the first step. They will also have a psychological evaluation but it will also depend on the condition. As you said, they've been sailing for more than a week now. This is

the first boat. There will be a second boat around 9:00 am local time and the last boat will be arriving at 12:00 pm local time, Ivan.

WATSON: Vera, did all of the migrants who initially set out, did they all make it onto these boats?

Has there been reporting of anything that may have happened to some less fortunate passengers along the way?

CATANO: Well, actually we are not - we haven't seen that because were at a distance of 200 meters approximately. We are not allowed -- the journalists, we are not allowed to get into the concrete area, where all these migrants are disembarking.

It's very early yet to know that. But, yes, I think there will be different kinds of conditions after a week on the sea, Ivan.

WATSON: All right. That's CNN's Vera Catano, thank you so much for joining us. We'll be checking in with you as the morning progresses live from Valencia.

Now the U.S. is facing its own immigration debacle. President Donald Trump says his hands are tied when it comes to children being taken away from their parents when people are detained after illegally crossing the border into the U.S. from Mexico.

President Trump tweeted Saturday, quote, "Democrats can fix their forced family breakup at the border by working with Republicans on new legislation for a change."

While the president blames the Democrats, it's his own administration that has implemented the zero tolerance policy, prosecuting anyone crossing the border illegally, resulting in the increased family separations. President Trump is expected to meet with congressional Republicans on Tuesday to discuss immigration.

Now we're seeing the human impact of the Trump administration's hardline stance on immigration and it isn't just affecting people crossing the border illegally. This is 62-year-old Jose Luis Garcia. His family says he moved from Mexico to the U.S. nearly 50 years ago when he was a child and that he's now a legal resident.

But now Garcia sits in a detention center. He was arrested outside his California home last week by U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents and is being held for possible deportation because, nearly 18 years ago, he was convicted of a misdemeanor for a domestic violence incident.

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WATSON: Jose Luis Garcia's daughter, Natalie Garcia, joins us now from our Los Angeles bureau.

Thank you very much for coming in to speak with me, Natalie.

Can you -- I think you were there on the day that your father was detained.

Can you briefly describe what happened that day?

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NATALIE GARCIA, JOSE'S DAUGHTER: He was -- it was just a typical Sunday morning and was drinking his coffee, watering the lawn. And he started screaming out my name. And I ran out and there was eight officers or agents arresting him.

And I asked for a warrant and they didn't show me a warrant. They said that they were going to take him and it was due to a domestic dispute that he had in 2001 and he had a misdemeanor.

And they didn't tell me where he was being taken or anything. They just took him.

WATSON: Have you been able to see your father since then?

GARCIA: I just saw him today.

WATSON: How was he doing?

GARCIA: He's distraught. He's broken. My father is sick. My father has high blood pressure and diabetes. And he needs constant health care and right foods. And everything. And I just want to make sure he's OK and...

WATSON: This must be just terribly traumatizing for your family right now.

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WATSON: Can you help fill in -- what do you think your father's legal status was at the time when he was detained?

GARCIA: He's a green card holder. He's a legal resident, permanent resident. He's been here for 50 years. He's paid his taxes. He's a homeowner. He's been here. He has nine grandchildren, two great- grandchildren. He takes care of my daughter.

WATSON: He's been --

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GARCIA: He works three jobs like --

WATSON: He's been in the U.S. for half a century.

GARCIA: We have -- his grandchild is in the active military right now. He's deployed in Germany. He's distraught as well.

WATSON: All right. Natalie, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has put out a statement about your father's case, saying, quote, Databases reveal that Mr. Garcia has past criminal convictions that make him amenable to removal from the United States. Mr. Garcia is currently in ICE custody, pending removal proceedings."

Can you tell me what you know about these past criminal convictions?

GARCIA: What I can tell you is what -- they only specified this one conviction to me. They only specified this one conviction, this misdemeanor to the congressman, Tony Cardenas, to Senator Kamala Harris. They only specified this one misdemeanor.

So and it doesn't matter, because they're trying to portray something else to the media. And what they're really saying is false. And they should not even be separating families. They should not be driving people from their homes and kidnapping them.

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WATSON: If your father is deported, presumably he would go to Mexico.

Has he lived there?

Does he know anything about living in Mexico today?

GARCIA: This is his country. This is my father's country. He's been here almost his whole life. We were all born here, we all live here. He's been a model citizen. He has three jobs, like, he's paid his taxes, his home -- he came here for the American dream. And now it's a nightmare.

WATSON: Natalie, this is a terribly difficult time for you and your family.

What does what you have experienced in the last week, what does it tell you about immigration policy in the U.S. today?

GARCIA: There has to be some change. There has to be laws. There has to be reform. There has -- you cannot separate people. You cannot just come to people's homes with no warrant, with no where -- no identification. My father carried his green card in his wallet, his driver's license. They took that from him.

They took it. They said it was government property. They didn't even ask him for an identification. They just took him into a car and didn't even tell us where he was going.

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GARCIA: -- tomorrow, it's Father's Day tomorrow and I'm not going to even have my father.

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GARCIA: This it the first that I've -- would -- I'm not going to be with my father. And my daughter, that's her father. And I don't even know what to tell her.

WATSON: Natalie Garcia, thank you for speaking with CNN.

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WATSON: One wonders how many other families like the Garcias are out there in the U.S. today.

Now to Yemen. Aid workers there say it's too dangerous for them to operate in Hodeida, a strategic port on the Red Sea. That's because a Saudi-led offensive is trying to take control of the city from Iran- backed Houthi rebels. And the violence is getting close to civilian areas. On Saturday, Houthi fighters --

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WATSON: -- clashed with Saudi coalition troops near the airport. Aid groups believe nearly 250,000 people there are at risk from fighting and from lack of clean water, food and medical care.

On to Russia. But first we need to warn you about this next story. Some of the video you're about to see is graphic.

Russian officials are trying to find out why a taxi plowed through a crowd near Moscow's Red Square on Saturday. The incident injured seven people and comes as Russia hosts the World Cup.

This amateur video shown on state media appears to show the incident. A driver veers wildly onto the curb and slams into pedestrians. The driver then runs, being pursued across the street. Officials say he was detained and the situation is under control.

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WATSON: Iceland made a fierce World Cup debut on Saturday in Moscow. They went head-to-head with Argentina and superstar Lionel Messi. For that game and more, here is CNN's Kate Riley.

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KATE RILEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A busy Saturday in Russia, an unprecedented four back-to-back matches to share with you. Perhaps the biggest of the day, Iceland playing in their first-ever World Cup, held the 2014 runners World Cup Argentina to a 1-1 draw. However, Argentina's superstar Lionel Messi had a penalty save. The Iceland keeper preserved an historic draw there.

Earlier in the day, one of the pretournament favorites, France, also saw history made in their match against Australia. Video assistant referee or VAR was used for the very first time in a World Cup. It happened in the second half, after the Australian defender Joshua Risdon challenged on the French side Antoine Griezmann.

After consultation, the Uruguayan ref gives the penalty and Griezmann converts in a 2-1 France win.

Peru's 36-year wait for a World Cup match is over. But it was bittersweet as the South American side fell 1-0 to Denmark in group C. In Kaliningrad it was a nightmare start for Nigeria. They gifted the European Croatians the lead after their first (INAUDIBLE) goal. Croatia then were able to double their lead when Luka Modric converted

a penalty in the second half. That is now the fifth straight game with a penalty this tournament. Extraordinary stuff. That's your FIFA World Cup update. I'm Kate Riley.

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WATSON: Thanks, Kate.

And thanks for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Ivan Watson. "MARKETPLACE AFRICA" is next. I'll be back with the headlines at the bottom of the hour. You're with CNN, the world's news leader.