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Teenaged Boy Has Been Reported Missing From A Detainee Facility In Brownsville, Texas; Donald Trump Administration Releases A General Plan To Reunite Separated Families; Demonstrators Take To The Streets For A Fourth Night To Protest The Death Of An Unarmed Teenager Killed By Police; The Viewing for Antwon Rose; Final Week of the U.S. Supreme Court's Term; CNN Heroes; Historic Day in Saudi Arabia; CNN Heroes; Donald Trump on Space Travel. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired June 24, 2018 - 16:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:00:00] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: We begin with breaking news, a teenaged boy has been reported missing from a detainee facility in Brownsville, Texas.

CNN's Dianne Gallagher joining me now with much more.

Dianne, what do we know?

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So Fred, we don't know a whole lot at this point. Right now, my colleague Polo Sandoval is working to get more information right as we speak on the ground. But police in Brownsville tell Polo that a 15-year-old has now been entered into the missing children database after police were called to the Casa Padre facility there in Brownsville.

Now, this is owned by southwest team (ph). You have a lot about them. They say that he ran away from the facility. I want to read a statement that southwest key gave to CNN just a few moments ago.

As a licensed child care center, if a child attempts to leave any of our facilities, we cannot restrain them. We are not a detention center. We talk to them and try to get them to stay. If they leave a property, we talk to law enforcement. A 15-year-old bot left the Casa Padre child care center in Brownsville yesterday. We called local law enforcement and continued to work with them.

Now police did tell Polo that they have searched some of the stream and the lakes around area. They have been looking for that 15-year- old boy but have not found him since, Fred. Again, we don't know much else beyond this. And that they put him in that missing child data base.

Now, I'm in Tornillo, Texas. I'm going to be going on a tour of a facility similar to that tomorrow morning. We are going to go and look inside of the sort of a tent city you have heard them talk about to see what it is like inside one of these facilities. This will be the third one that I have been on at this point. And look, there was a protest here this morning. Lots of people

coming out, trying to put pressure in the Trump administration to speed up these reunifications and stop this process.

WHITFIELD: All right. Dianne Gallagher, thank you so much.

In the meantime, the chaos continues to unfold at the U.S.-Mexico border. Right now, more than 2,000 children are in U.S. custody still waiting to be reunited with their parents as politicians battle out what will happen next. And that includes Senator Elizabeth Warren who visited a border patrol facility in Texas a little while ago. She was at a central processing center. Warren left that facility and this is what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D), MASSACHUSETTS: There are children by themselves. I saw a 6-month-old baby. Little girls, little boys. There are mothers, with their babies and with small children, family units are together if it's a very small child. But little girls who are 12 years old are taken away from the rest of their families and held separately or little boys. And they are all on concrete floors in cages. There's just no other way to describe it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All of this coming after the Donald Trump administration releases a general plan to reunite separated families. Major pieces are missing including a clear timeline on just how long it would take and exactly how it would get done.

White House correspondent Boris Sanchez is at the White House with the latest from the President on this.

So there is some mixed messaging still. On one hand the President reversing the practice of separating families, but then intensifying rhetoric.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Fred. And the President yesterday in his speech in Nevada to the Republican Nevada convention specifically mentioned a hint as to why he is continuing with his rhetoric. He said that his tough talk on immigration is part of the reason that he was elected. Perhaps not a surprise then.

And today on twitter, he called on all immigrants to be deported without any sort of legal proceeding, a step we have not seen from this President before.

You know, previously, he has used divisive rhetoric on immigration. Last week, he talked about this idea that if you showed mercy to these immigrants, they would take advantage of you. On the other hand, if you were tough, then you would be criticized for not having a heart.

Again on twitter this morning, the President made very clear where he stood. Here's some of his tweets. He writes quote "we cannot allow all of these people to invade our

country. When somebody comes in, we must immediately with no judges or court cases bring them back from where they came. Our system is a mockery to good immigration policy and law and order. Most children come without parents. Our immigration policy like that all over the world is very unfair to all of those people who have come through the system legally or have been waiting online for years."

And the President then made the argument that the immigration system should be based on merit, something that we have heard before.

But two quick notes, Fred. I did want to point out the language of the President is using here calling these immigrants invaders, essentially. Last week we heard him talk about immigrants infesting the country. Certainly not something that we have heard from other officials, the way that he is characterizing them, not as people fleeing. A fresh in the economic and political turmoil but as a nuisance to the United States.

And secondly, the idea that he is not really sending a clear signal to Congress as to what he wants them to do. Just a few days ago, he said that Republicans should punt and wait until after the midterms to pass anything on immigration.

This morning, he is tweeting that Democrats should be resisting that they have to fix this. So not exactly clear how the President wants House Republicans specifically to move forward. Remember that last week the White House had to clean up some contradictory statements of whether he supported two bills that had long been worked on by Republicans in the House. One of them is going to come up for a vote this week that is, if it's not postponed for a third time, Fred.

[16:05:48] WHITFIELD: Boris Sanchez at the White House, thank you so much.

So the Trump administration says it's working on a better database to link parents with their children. One Republican senator says he is confident the government has a handle on the situation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JAMES LANKFORD (R), OKLAHOMA: We know where every single child is. This is an issue that's gone out there, somewhat in some of the other media, that's not been responsible to this. It would be the assumption that the administration has lost track of that.

So let me clarify couple of things. These are career professionals that work with the HHS and had worked with DHS and customs and border patrol and ICE. These are not political appointees. These are career folks. They know where every child is to be able to connect them to the parent or the relative that came. Many of these children that came, we don't know if there was a parents or not. And so trying to be able make sure that we are connecting the dots on this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So what exactly is the Trump administration's plan to reunite families?

CNN politics reporter Tal Kopan joining me now. So walk us through what has been released about this plan.

TAL KOPAN, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Yes, Fred. So let's start from the beginning. When the decision was made to separate these families which came as a result of the prosecution referrals that we have talked about now for weeks, what happened was once the parent was sent to the department of justice custody, the child was basically re- designated as an unaccompanied minor, for the purposes of the government system. And that's why they were handed over to HHS.

So when that decision was made, basically they were subjected to the same procedures and policies as a child who came here by themselves even though they were parent was in fact with them and is now in government custody. So now that that's happened these kids are in the care of HHS, their parents once they come back from those criminal charges are in the care of immigration and customs enforcement which puts them in an adult detention center. And now it is the government trying to figure out how did they get those parents and children back together? And you can see that that's not really going to be easy given that they can't release that child to the adult detention center.

So the adults are continuing to wait for the end of their immigration court cases which will decide what they will be deported or stay in the country. If they are about to be deported, the government is working on a facility where they can then bring the children to the parents before they are deported. They also say it is up to the parent whether they want to be deported with or without their child.

Now, if the parent is released, they can apply to HHS as what is known as a sponsor for those children. But they have to go through that whole process of being checked out by HHS verified, of course, that that is the parent. That process can take weeks.

So there is not a clear way, I think in a lot of Americans minds that was sort of, you know, as if the parents would go off for criminal charges and then, you know, the families would be detained together. That's not what's going to happen. They either going to have to be reunited before the parent is deported or after the parent is somehow granted release.

WHITFIELD: And so, there are no promises being made in the release of these planning as to how long it would take too say, you know, process, or, you know, deliver on the court case of any number of these adults, right?

KOPAN: Well, it does happen faster if the adult is continually detained. There is, you know, it is getting into the weed here. But there are court dockets for immigrants who are in detention, and there are court dockets for those who are out. So as long as the government keep those adult in detention, it does speed up their court proceedings a little bit. But there are of course --

WHITFIELD: Weeks? Months? KOPAN: Well, that is the question. It's probably more on the side of

weeks than months and months than it would be if they were out. But, you know, there is also paper work that immigrants can sign that says they are voluntarily sort of waving that they will be deported. And it's easy to imagine that some of these immigrants are at least being offered the opportunity if they want to speed things up to go ahead and sign those papers to be sot of voluntarily deported as well.

WHITFIELD: OK. You know, there is a pretty compelling article on "Washington Post" about a gentleman, El Salvadorian, who did sign to go ahead and voluntarily are those who voluntarily be deported. But then now he doesn't have access to his 6-year-old child. And one has to wonder how many cases are there like are there that remain.

Tal Kopan, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

KOPAN: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. So will immigration be the defining issue for both parties heading into the midterm election. My political panel weighs in on that.

Plus, demonstrators take to the streets for a fourth night to protest the death of an unarmed teenager killed by police. This as the community gathers this hour to pay final respects.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:14:27] WHITFIELD: Mixed messages coming from the White House. President Trump continuing to lash out on immigration, even after signing an executive order ending force separation of families at the border. But that order only happened after weeks of mounting pressure and a few misdirections from the White House. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The children can be taken care of quickly, beautifully and immediately. The Democrats forced that law upon our nation. I hate it. I hate to see separation of parents and children.

JEFF SESSIONS, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: If you're smuggling a child, then we're going to prosecute you. And that child will be separated from you probably as required by law. If you don't want your child to be separated, then don't bring him across the border illegally.

[16:15:14] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you intending for parents to be separated from their children, are you intending to send a message?

KIRSTJEN NIELSEN, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: I find that offense. No. Because why would I ever create a policy that purposely does that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).

NIELSEN: No. TRUMP: And when you prosecute the parent for coming in illegally,

which should happen, you have to take the children away.

We want to keep families together. It is very important. I will be signing something in a little while that's going to do that. But we are going to keep the families together. I didn't like the sight or the feeling of families being separated.

SESSIONS: The American people don't like the idea that we're separating families. We never really intended to do that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: So intentions are clear or are they not? Where will the Trump administration immigration policy go this week?

Here now to discuss, CNN political analyst Julian Zelizer and Washington bureau chief for the Chicago Sun Times, Lynn Sweet. Good to see you both.

All right. So Julian, what does this demonstrate that there are so many different messages and inferences from a policy practice, not a policy, not a practice, the back peddling all that from this administration in one week?

JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, there's been a lot of zigging and zagging, but overall, I think the administration's position is actually pretty consistent. They want to take a hard line on immigration, undocumented immigration. They are also pushing to curtail legal immigration. This has been a theme since the start of Trump as politician. And I think they are continuing to follow- through. All they did was pull back from the family separation policy. The rest right now remains intact. And I don't think he's moving away from that, just listen to the speeches.

WHITFIELD: In fact, you know, Lynn, while the President had the executive order which said ending the separation of families, there's still isn't that much clarity as it pertains to bringing those who have been separated back together again.

LYNN SWEET, WASHINGTON BUREAU, CHICAGO SUN-TIMES: Well, this is a point I would like make, I think this is gotten lost in the discussion where people have a lot of views. But I think where people agree is that the Trump administration has a big question and the competency in which they even carried out their own policies. Just think, this administration could not even devise a system, once it wanted to start the stepped up zero tolerance policy, making sure that if you separated children from parents, that you got the equivalent of a receipt and a chain of information so that each child is tagged with something, with proper information so that no matter where they go, they could easily be put together with their parents and vice versa. You don't even see this essential a bit of record keeping. There is just no competency in that.

And one other thing, and this is why I think there's some of the uproar. And it is spilling over so much in to Republicans is you can't really have the leisure of debating this policy, like it or not, when you see that there weren't proper preparations for taking care of the children if indeed you wanted to separate them.

WHITFIELD: And it is confusing because it strike similarities to the travel ban. When it was announcement and executed, it was clear that there wasn't, you know, a clear procedure. Everyone wasn't on board and so it was a mess. And here we are again and it's a year and a half later.

SWEET: With the difference that you have children in these facilities that don't seem properly fit to take them or their devices. Or we are spending taxpayer money to send children in the northern states, New York, Chicago and other places to put kids here and that's certainly not the kind of thrifty approach even to government administration that you would expect from an administration and a President who brags about his administrative competency.

WHITFIELD: Lots of observations coming from lawmakers and even those in the entertainment industry. Actor George Takei was, you know, on CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES" comparing the immigration situation to the internment camps that his family was put into in the United States during World War II. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE TAKEI, ACTOR: It is repeating itself, but it has gone to a new low with Donald Trump. When we were incarcerated, our families were intact. My parents were with me. But in this case, it's come to a chilling low where babies are torn away from their mothers and placed in separate internment camps. And now that Donald Trump has rescinded his zero tolerance policy, the children are being scattered throughout the country making it even more complicated to reunite the families. So this is a new low in American history.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[16:20:07] WHITFIELD: Julian, will it be recorded as a new low for American history?

ZELIZER: I think it will certainly be one of the low. This will fall in the basket of things the country has done that don't really sit well with our democratic values and which people look back on and say I can't believe we allowed that to happen. And I think you are seeing that reaction right now. This is part of what's energizing many Democrats.

At the same time, we have to remember, the overall policy is still in place in terms of cracking down at the border and it has a lot of support from Republicans. So I don't know if we are moving away from this moment as dramatically as some think.

WHITFIELD: And Lynn, you know, President Trump is, you know, continuing to bash Democrats, you know, despite his backtracking on the immigration issue, separation of families, et cetera, tweeting this morning, Democrats, fix the laws, don't resist. We are doing a far better job than Bush and Obama, but we need strength and security at the border. Cannot accept all of the people trying to break into our country, strong borders, no crime.

So this is the mantra leading up to midterms or, you know, a consistent mantra with what we heard from President Trump on the campaign trail?

SWEET: It is, unfortunately, it is not true. It is not true. Democrats and Republicans, I think it was in 2013, had a -- came close -- they had a deal in the Senate. They couldn't get it in the House. So when you hear the word compromise in this discussion, take a weary step before you buy it, because what the compromise is right now is just trying to find agreement on Republicans. If you truly wanted a solution, like it or not, you need to bring enough Democrats in the House to the table to make up for the various factions in the republic -- among the Republicans in the House that you will lose no matter what the deal is. And the same goes in the Senate where you need the support of the minority party. This is true no matter who is in control of the senate in order to get anything pass. That's a true compromise.

He is negotiating in a sense with himself. He is not recognizing that there are people, if you want the votes, to do it. There's only two numbers that count in this discussion, 218 in the House, 60 in the Senate, get to those numbers you have a bill.

WHITFIELD: And Julian, president's legacy is shaped by highs and lows.

ZELIZER: Yes. And I think this will certainly be part of his legacy. I think many people will put in this a category of issues like the ban early in his administration which really reflect some of the animosity that exist in the oval office to certain parts of the population, an attempt to appeal to very hard elements in the Republican electorate.

But Republicans own this. They control Congress. They control the White house. And to blame Democrats right now is just not really accurate. This is part of President Trump's legacy and no one else can claim it.

WHITFIELD: Julian Zelizer and Lynn Sweet, good to see both of you. Thank you.

ZELIZER: Thank you.

SWEET: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. The immigration crisis also has Hollywood stars speaking out and also getting involved. Last hour, I spoke with west world star Evan Rachel Wood about what she is seeing in Texas.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: You had an opportunity to visit a shelter. What were your observations of were there children, were there parents inside that shelter? What did you see?

EVAN RACHEL WOOD, ACTRESS: I haven't been able to get into one of the detention centers, but I did visit a shelter where families are resting while they are being processed and sort of waiting to hear what their fate will be. And there were families there. There were children, some as young as two years old, probably the oldest is around eight.

I played with them for hours. They were smart and funny and intelligence and creative and very desperate to play. But the parents seem were very scared. I didn't notice any -- there was only one mother around, and it was mainly men and boys. So I don't know where the women are. But they were scared and tired and they need supplies, so we dropped off supplies to them this morning.

WHITFIELD: And of those that you spoke to, what did they tell you they anticipate is next? What did they know what was around the corner or what are their worries about what they don't know that's around the corner after this processing?

WOOD: Well, I really wasn't able to communicate with them because I don't speak the language. I mean we really just communicated through our eyes and with gestures and I really spent most of the time playing with the children. I mean, it seemed like that's what they need in that moment and the parents needed a little bit of relief. So that's how I spent my morning. And then giving them supplies. They definitely need medicine, a couple of children were sick, and so anybody that can donate shoes, socks, underwear, medicines, you know, basic human needs that you and I need on a daily basis is what they are needing right now so that's what we did this morning.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[16:25:29] WHITFIELD: Evan Rachel Wood.

All right. Still ahead, services under way at this hour for Antwan Rose, the unarmed teen who was shot and killed by police earlier this week. After demonstrators took to the streets for a fourth night protesting Rose's death, things are getting even more heated, we will take you there live next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:30:15] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, NEWSROOM ANCHOR, CNN: The viewing for Antwon Rose is under way right now in Homestead, Pennsylvania. Rose is the 17-year-old who was unarmed when he was shot and killed by east Pittsburgh police last week. His death sparked several nights of protests in Pittsburgh, including last night where roughly 250 demonstrators walked through the city's entertainment district. Among those protesters was Lamont Wade.

He is a sophomore and football player at Penn State University. Lamont, you've been tweeting about the protests. Tell me about you know your experience last night.

LAMONT WADE, FOOTBALL PLAYER, PENN STATE UNIVERSITY: Last night, I had a real good experience of protesting. Just being there and being on the front line, just (Inaudible) deep down inside, I had a great feeling about myself. The rain came down. I didn't think about stopping. (Inaudible) It was just a real good experience going out there and being able to do that.

WHITFIELD: So as a football player, you know, with Penn State, you are the face of, a face of the campus, of the football program. Do you feel like you are taking a risk by also being an outspoken activist?

WADE: Yes. I do agree with that, because not a lot of people have the same perspective I have. A lot of people would think that I (Inaudible) everybody has their feelings and everything. I do think that (Inaudible) I do speak out, but I do have a voice and I won't be silent. But I stand up. There is that part of people who (Inaudible) under the video outpost (Inaudible).

WHITFIELD: You've taken an active stance you know against police brutality as a whole, you know putting out a YouTube video, in fact, in support of NFL players kneeling during the national anthem. We want to play a portion of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This isn't just a flag protest or a national anthem ban. This is just to shed light on what our country was born on, something the President has lost sight of. I am with Cap -- sit for injustices.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And this shooting of Antwon Rose and so many other occurrences across the country were really the impetus of the taking to the knee. But we know that it's also been you know misconstrued, the intention has been misconstrued. It has been applied to different circumstances across the country. Why have you made it a point to try to underscore what you believe the meaning behind the taking to the knee is all about?

WADE: Because what our country was born on, (Inaudible) on the flag (Inaudible) vigilance, perseverance, (Inaudible) and I don't understand how you can say the justice part, we're not getting all the time. (Inaudible) the worst thing that has happened, the people who are killing these innocent people are on paid leave instead are getting fired. I feel like something needs to change. (Inaudible) I feel like -- that's why I am out there (Inaudible) that's why I try to do what I can do.

WHITFIELD: Lamont Wade, thank you so much for being with us.

WADE: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Still to come, as the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to rule on several key cases including the controversial travel ban, one looming question could change the future of the court. Will there be a retirement? We'll discuss next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:35:01] WHITFIELD: It's the final week of the U.S. Supreme Court's term before summer break. But some big decisions are still on the docket before the recess, including the Trump administration's travel ban. Joining me right now, Ariane de Vogue, so Arian, another busy week for the Justices. What's on tap?

ARIANE DE VOGUE, SUPREME COURT REPORTER, CNN: Well, you're right, they take the bench Monday. It's the last week of the term and their six remaining cases. The most anticipated case is the travel ban. It's been the central piece of the President's immigration policy. It's the third version of the ban and it ricocheted through the lower courts.

It is currently in a set of the Supreme Court allowed it to go into effect pending this appeal. And its bans travel to varying degrees from these countries, Iran and Libya, Yemen, Somalia, Venezuela, North Korea and Syria. The challenges, Fred, they say it's illegal, and the President was motivated by animus in putting it into effect. But the government said look, it's meant to protect national security. It came after this multi-agency review.

And they say, Fred that the President was within his authority to put it through.

[16:40:12] WHITFIELD: And then there's been a lot of talk about Justice Anthony Kennedy, possibly retiring. He's 81 years old. But you know that doesn't necessarily mean anything right away. But what are you learning about what he's feeling about staying or going?

DE VOGUE: That's true. It's the looming question over this term, will Anthony Kennedy retire? He's been on the bench for some 30 years, and the impact here, Fred, would be really significant, because if President Trump got the chance to put on a younger, more conservative Justice, he would be able to move the court significantly to the right.

Because keep in mind, Anthony Kennedy is the swing vote, he has voted with the liberals before a couple of terms ago. He voted with them on issues concerning abortion and affirmative action. So if President Trump got a chance to replace Anthony Kennedy with a conservative Justice, that could change the court really for decades and cement a conservative majority for maybe years to come, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Ariane De Vogue, thank you so much.

DE VOGUE: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, coming up, North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un reportedly taking down anti-American propaganda. We'll tell you what's going up in its place, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:45:01] WHITFIELD: The U.S. is getting ready to receive remains of troops from North Korea. About 100 wooden transport cases are being sent to the DMZ in preparation for the exchange. Most of the remains are believed to be U.S. service members who died in the Korean War. CNN's Global Affairs Correspondent Elise Labott joining me now from Washington. So Elise, President Trump has been talking about the return of these remains. So is this part of the agreement made with Kim Jong-Un?

ELISE LABOTT, GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT, CNN: That's right, Fred. That came out of that joint statement between President Trump and Kim Jong-Un on their June 12th summit. And it's really one of -- once we see those remains, it will one of the tangible sides of the agreement between President Trump and Kim Jong-Un. There are a lot of principles in that statement, but we really haven't seen any concrete actions in terms of the denuclearization that President Trump and Kim Jong-Un had talked about in that statement.

So you have about 200 sets of remains set to be turned over first to the United Nations, then to the U.S. as you said. The U.S. believes that a lot of those could be the remains of U.S. soldiers. They could also be some of the allies that fought along the U.S. during the Korean War. And really the U.S. will know until they test those remains -- think North Korean even knows, who they are in the U.S. believes as many as 5,000 missing remains from the Korean War could be U.S. servicemen.

So that could be in the coming hours. There hasn't been an official time, but the equipment is ready on the DMZ, the demilitarized zone, the border village of Panmunjom for those remains to be repatriated, Fred.

WHITFIELD: And something else that appears to have come from that summit. Reports said North Korea is removing much of its anti-U.S. propaganda. But then something else is going up in its place?

LABOTT: That's right. You know there has been all these U.S. anti propaganda. Over the years you could see it in the tourist shops and the gift shops in Pyongyang and throughout the country along the DMZ, and now we understand that a lot of those trinkets that had anti-U.S. propaganda are gone. They're replaced by signs of unification between the north and south, that summit between Kim Jong-Un and South Korean President Moon, a more positive message.

We also understand some of the anti-U.S. posters that have been throughout the country also being down, taken out by a more positive message about the future of North Korea and it's relations with South Korea, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Elise Labott, thanks so much. It was a historic day in Saudi Arabia, where for the first time in the kingdom's history, women are now officially allowed to drive. The end of the controversial ban comes after years of campaigning by civil rights groups. And our Jomana Karadsheh was there as women slid into the driver's seat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CORRESPONDENT, CNN: As the clock struck midnight here in Saudi Arabia, and that ban on women driving officially ended, some who waited their entire lives for this moment couldn't wait any longer. One of these women is (Inaudible) you are one of the first women to drive tonight. And you invited CNN to come along. How does it feel?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Great. Awesome, you know, unbelievable. So I feel like I am making history in this country so it's really good and actually I really enjoyed it, you know, having the freedom many my own country.

KARADSHEH: Did you ever think this would happen?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, actually never. I never thought of it. I thought of anything else except this. I didn't even have a dream of it.

KARADSHEH: And also tonight, (Inaudible) friends showed up. They wanted to witness this moment. They told us and here they are. Ladies, I wanted to ask you you've been with us for the past couple of hours, witnessing the (Inaudible) driving, how do you feel?

[16:50:03] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have been waiting for this moment for such a long time and finally it's here. It's history in the making.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am so optimistic for the future of Saudi women.

KARADSHEH: Congratulations that (Inaudible). The sky is the limit.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can't believe that I am just part of this great change. It's -- on so many levels it's amazing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tomorrow's a different day.

KARADSHEH: Some of the women, who for years fought hard for their right to drive are absent on this day, detained recently as part of an ongoing crackdown on human rights activists. We have probably haven't seen a very large number of women drivers on the roads in Saudi Arabia just yet. Some of the women we have spoken with said they're going to wait and see what kind of reaction the first wave of female drivers are going to get from the society.

And a lot of the women that we've spoken to say this is a big step for women's rights in the kingdom, but they acknowledge that there's still a long road ahead to equality, Jomana Karadsheh, CNN Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Our Jomana, thank you so much and congrats to the women there. And a quick programming note for you, tonight, CNN is shedding light on a national crisis that touches millions of lives every day. Join Anderson Cooper and guests Glen Close, Karl Rove, David Axelrod, Robin Williams' son, Zach Williams, and others bore an important discussion on death by suicide and what we can do to help prevent it.

Watch Finding Hope, battling America's suicide crisis. That's tonight right 7 o'clock eastern right here on CNN.

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[16:55:00] WHITFIELD: Running a marathon is a feat in itself, but Richard Niero is a CNN Hero in 2013 is running the equivalent of 65 marathons. So it's 1,700 miles from Seattle to San Diego. And along the way, he's hoping to raise a quarter of a million dollars to give children with cancer free rides to their chemotherapy treatments.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Say good morning, Dave. My son Amelio was diagnosed with leukemia. We were fortunate we had rides to the hospital to bring Amelio, and many families don't have that support.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You want to blow a kiss to the camera?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can't start the fight without getting to the hospital. We get them here in a nice, clean environment and on time. No child should miss their treatment due to lack of transportation.

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WHITFIELD: You can learn more about Richard's run and donate if you wish at CNNheroes.com, and while you're there, you can also nominate someone you think should be a CNN hero.

Despite pushback from the Pentagon, the President is calling for a new branch of the military to patrol space, what might be motivating this galaxy quest? Our Jake Tapper has that in this week's State of the Cartoonian.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Trump's going intergalactic, launching a new space force to dominate the skies.

PRES. DONALD TRUMP (R), UNITED STATES PRESIDENT: We have reinvigorated our space program to a level nobody thought possible in this short period of time. NASA is back and Mars is waiting for us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But conquering the outer reaches takes some out of this world financing, and in this case President Trump is happy to work with the competition.

TRUMP: I always said that rich guys like rockets. Just go ahead, if you beat us Mars will be very happy and you'll be even more famous.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have been crazy about rockets since I was a little boy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm afraid that nothing about his presidency has let me change my views on it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of course, with the Trump team in charge, the possibilities for intergalactic branding are endless, picture Trump Tower Mars. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To be able to take the level of service within the

market to the next level is truly one of the most beautiful places and it's so fitting for the Trump brand.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And now others will try to get in on the act. Picture Michael Cohen buying a space taxi medallion.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible) He's a problem solver.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And access to the material within Saturn's rings could create a whole new line of Ivanka Trump perfume.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's the classic feminine element of rose and then we mix that with a little bit of apple sparkle and a little bit of amber.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After all, there's no corner in the universe where the Trumps will not try to make money.

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WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much for that, Jake. Thanks for joining this Sunday. I am Fredericka Whitfield. The next hour of the Newsroom starts right now.

ANNA CABRERA, NEWSROOM ANCHOR, CNN: You are in the CNN Newsroom. I am Anna Cabrera in New York. Thank you for being with me on this Sunday afternoon. Breaking news right now, the unprecedented chaos on the U.S. southern border, the logistical mess, the (Inaudible) lack of compassion, questions about human rights, legality and political finger pointing, all of that has to wait for a moment because we're seeing something far more urgent right now.