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Julian Assange Agrees To Plea Deal, Avoids Prison In U.S.; Residents In Southern Lebanon Fear War As Tensions Flare; Biden, Trump Preparing For High-Stakes CNN Debate Thursday; Arizona Community Dealing with Influx of Migrants; Julian Assange Agrees to Plea Deal, Avoids Prison in U.S.; Campaigning Underway in Iran Ahead of Friday's Vote; Officials: At Least 20 Killed in Dagestan Attacks; Five More Teams Secure Spots in Round of 16; Chinese Lunar Probe to Return from Far Side of the Moon. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired June 25, 2024 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[01:00:32]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm John Vause. Ahead here on CNN Newsroom.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: WikiLeaks leaks founder Julian Assange has agreed to plead guilty.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Bringing to an end his decade long flight against extradition to the United States and 18 felony charges for leaking classified material.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): After the intense phase is finished, we will have the possibility to move part of the forces north.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Preparing for a second war for Israel every day without a ceasefire in Gaza is a day closer to an all-out confrontation with Hezbollah militants in neighboring Lebanon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The question is -- the question --
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: -- radical left --
BIDEN: Will you shut up, man. (END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Will grumpy old man from 2020 return as grumpier old man in 2024? The first presidential debate of this year's election now just three days away.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN Newsroom with John Vause.
VAUSE: To many he was a champion of a free press revealing classified U.S. national security documents on a scale never seen before or since. To others, he was a hacker with an agenda who endanger the lives of U.S. servicemen. But now Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks will soon be a free man. Nearly filed court documents reveal Assange will not face extradition back to the U.S. under a deal reached with the U.S. Justice Department. Assange was seen leaving in a black van from London to Belmarsh Prison, his home for the past five years.
From there, he boarded a flight and left the U.K. Assange is scheduled to appear at a U.S. court in the northern Marina Islands on Wednesday. And as part of his deal with U.S. prosecutors, he'll plead guilty to one felony count for his role in publishing hundreds of thousands of leaked U.S. military documents and diplomatic cables in 2010, revealing sensitive data on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
After the hearing, Assange is then expected to return to the country of his birth, Australia. His mother says she's grateful her son's ordeal is finally coming to an end. She went on to say, many have used my son's situation to push their own agendas, so I'm grateful to those unseen, hardworking people who put Julian's welfare first.
CNN's senior international correspondent Ivan Watson following developments live for us from Hong Kong. So just play this out. So he's got this deal, which came as kind of a surprise. He will land shortly -- he appears shortly rather in what 9:00 a.m. on a Wednesday on the Northern Mariana Islands. So what happens between now and then, and what happens once he gets there?
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right, well, he's on this long journey right now from London, where he's been for more than a decade really, to the Western Pacific, to an American territory, the Northern Mariana Islands, where we're learning he is expected to appear in court on Wednesday morning and the island of Saipan.
Now, we're learning a lot of this from public documents a letter filed by U.S. federal prosecutors to a federal judge on the island of Saipan, in which we're learning that effectively, they're expecting Assange to plead guilty to one count, quote, we anticipate that the defendant will plead guilty to the charge in the information of conspiring to unlawfully obtained and disseminate classified information relating to the national defense of the United States.
And the letter goes on to say that both parties that Assange and the prosecutors are requesting for the plea, the guilty plea and the sentencing to be conducted in a single day, in light of the defendant's opposition to traveling to the continental U.S. So that is what Assange has been fighting against for years, extradition to the U.S. and it is presumed that he would then after this be allowed to return to Australia.
The prosecutors, we understand, are requesting more than five years jail sentence for Assange. He just happens to have completed more than five years at a Belmarsh Prison in London. So presumably he would get credit for that time incarcerated and he would become a free man and that is exactly what WikiLeaks is now saying they're trumpeting Julian Assange is free, as his wife, Stella Assange, who issued this statement on camera. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STELLA ASSANGE, WIFE OF JULIAN ASSANGE: Throughout the years of Julian's imprisonment, and persecution, an incredible movement has been formed, a movement of people from all walks of life from around the world who support not just Julian and not just us and our family, but what Julian stands for, truth and justice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[01:05:17]
WATSON: So unless there any last minute hiccups here, John, it does look like Julian Assange will soon be a free man. John?
VAUSE: Well, the Australian Prime Minister apparently wants Assange home as soon as possible. But the former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence says, this plea deal is a miscarriage of justice. It would seem there has been a mixed reaction to say the least to Assange's release.
WATSON: Sure, I mean, he is a polarizing figure. But it is worth noting that the Australian Prime Minister, he's issued a statement to CNN, and he'd been -- the Australian government had been lobbying for the release of Assange. So look at this statement, they say quote, Prime Minister Albanese has been clear Mr. Assange's case has dragged on for too long, and there is nothing to be gained by his continued incarceration.
The Australian Government says it's providing consular support to Assange. We've had other statements from world leaders celebrating his release the Colombian President, the Mexican president, the former President of Ecuador. Recall that Ecuador provided asylum to Assange for some six years in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, and then it rescinded that asylum status. And that's when he was dragged from the embassy and taken to prison in London.
The Committee to Protect Journalists has also welcomed this they say, quote, the U.S.'s pursuit of Assange has set a harmful legal precedent. On the other side of the argument are those that say that accused him of dumping classified documents that endangered U.S. Armed Forces personnel and endangered sources as well.
There were -- there was no kind of -- these were huge document dumps and names were released in these dumps. So that sources to the U.S. government to the U.S. military, were released and could put them in harm's way. And that's been at the heart of this disagreement that has gone on now for more than a decade, a disagreement that appears to be nearing its end. John?
VAUSE: Ivan, thank you. Ivan Watson live for us with the very latest in Hong Kong.
To Israel's northern border now with a steady drumbeat towards war with Hezbollah was growing louder. And while both sides ramp up the threats as well as the cross border military strikes, U.S. diplomats are working to prevent the outbreak of a second war in the region. In Washington Monday, the Israeli Defense Minister was told by the Secretary of State, a ceasefire in Gaza with Hamas was crucial to avoid a major confrontation with Hezbollah in Lebanon.
And the Israeli prime minister has given mixed messages about that ceasefire. On Sunday, saying he would support a partial deal, a pause in fighting in return for the release of some of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas. But he said the war would continue with the ultimate goal of eliminating the militant group, putting him at odds with the U.S. back deal, which calls for a permanent and to the fighting in Gaza.
By Monday though Netanyahu wanted all of the hostages home before ending the war. Insisting, there'd be no change in his position.
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NETANYAHU (through translator): We will not in the war until we return all the hostages, 120 hostages, both the living and the dead. We are committed to the Israeli proposal that President Biden endorsed. Our position has not changed.
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VAUSE: Well, the families of Israeli hostages, Netanyahu support on Sunday for a partial deal in return for some hostages, sparked outrage. As a reminder of how all this began, 262 days ago, they released disturbing new images of three Israelis being taken hostage by Hamas Jihadist, October 7th. This was the moment when Or Levy, Hersh Goldberg-Polin and Alia Cohen were kidnapped. All three can be seen driven away in the back of a pickup truck along a road in southern Israel. More details now from CNN's Paula Hancocks reporting in from Jerusalem.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Israel appears to be showing commitment to the ceasefire hostage deal on the table at the moment following a weekend interview where the Israeli Prime Minister raised questions as to his commitments.
Now according to an Israeli source familiar with the situation, Israel has sent a message to the mediators in this hostage deal. So that's Qatar and Egypt, to tell Hamas that they are committed to this three stage hostage deal that was an Israeli proposal and the U.S. President Joe Biden has very vocally supported. Now this interview that happened over the weekend, the Israeli Prime Minister had said that he was willing to agree to a partial deal with Hamas that would see some of the hostages be released. Also pointing out that after the ceasefire he would want to go back into Gaza to try and eliminate the group completely saying he hasn't given up on the hope of destroying Hamas.
[01:10:16]
Now that did raise that fury from some of the hostage families saying that it needed to be all of the hostages. And we did see a statement from Hamas, saying that it appeared that Netanyahu was rejecting both the U.N. Security Council resolution for a ceasefire and also the deal which President Biden had supported.
So at this point, it appears as though Mr. Netanyahu has tried to walk back some of those comments saying he is committed to the deal. We have an Israeli source close to the matter, saying that they are passing that message on to Hamas as well saying, Israel is committed to this deal. It is worth pointing out though, that at this point, these talks are very much stalled, and in limbo.
Paula Hancocks, CNN, Jerusalem.
VAUSE: Now, with war looming and fighting escalating, while the 150,000 people have been forced to leave their homes in both Israel and Lebanon, close to the border, and in southern Lebanon, on the surface at least, life appears to go on as normal. But as CNN's Ben Wedeman reports, just below the surface, many did not support this war with both Hezbollah -- between Hezbollah, I should say, and Israel.
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BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a day of joy and celebration here in South Lebanon.
WEDEMAN: Israeli forces are just about five miles away from here but nonetheless here in the town of Hasbaiyya, there's a wedding going on.
WEDEMAN (voice-over): It didn't seem right to spoil this special day for newlyweds Temor (ph) and Fatin (ph) with questions but the dark clouds covering over Lebanon. But one guest told us off camera we're celebrating here world war is around the corner. Hasbaiyya has been spared the worst of the barrages and counter barrages between Israel and Hezbollah. Here they stop anyone from firing towards Israel. Parliament Member Elias Jarade was elected to represent Christians in this area.
ELIAS JARADE, MEMBER OF LEBANESE PARLIAMENT: Majority of the Southern people, majority of the Lebanese people from all sects, all religions, all parties. They are in one way or another they are committed with a Palestinian.
WEDEMAN (voice-over): Everyone we spoke with had a completely contrary opinion. Few people wanted to speak on camera about the looming danger of war for fear of repercussions. Off camera we got an earful. There is zero appetite for escalation, little support for Hezbollah. Eighty- five-year-old Abu Nabil has seen it all, war and Civil War, invasions and occupation.
War is ruination, he says. In war everyone loses even the winner Abu Nabil knows of what he speaks.
WEDEMAN: Since October, Israel and Hezbollah and its allies have been engaged in low intensity warfare, largely limited to the border if full scale war breaks out, that war will spread well beyond the frontier on both sides.
WEDEMAN (voice-over): Last week, Israeli generals approved a plan to attack Lebanon. While Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah recently warned if it comes to war, the group will fight Israel on land, sea and air and also inside Israel itself. The Iranian-backed groups sophisticated attacks have surprised Israeli officials, including precision strikes on surveillance posts on the border, shooting down high flying Israeli drones, and knocking out anti-missile and anti- drone defenses. And posting online, more than nine minutes of what it claimed was drone footage of sensitive military and civilian infrastructure in and around the City of Haifa.
The bell summons the faithful to mass in the predominantly Christian town of Marjaayoun. More than 90,000 people have already left the south for safer ground. Amal says she's determined to stay, but adds, if things escalate to war and it reaches here like it did before with some shelling, of course, like others we'll have to leave. For now they can only pray for peace and hope those prayers are heard.
Ben Wedeman, CNN, South Lebanon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[01:14:53]
VAUSE: Well, America loves the sequel. And then a few days right here on CNN comes the sequel four years in the making. In a moment, what to expect when Joe Biden and Donald Trump come face to face for their first presidential debate in 2024?
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VAUSE: It's the rematch which brings the grumpy old man of 2020 together again in 2024. Will they be grumpier older men this time round, well, definitely older. President Joe Biden has been prepping with senior aides at Camp David, while Donald Trump infamous for his lack of preparation is talking a lot about the debate during his political rallies this week. CNN MJ Lee has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BIDEN: Everybody knows he's a liar.
TRUMP: But you agree --
BIDEN: I just want to make sure -- TRUMP: Hey, Joe, you're the liar.
BIDEN: I want to make sure --
TRUMP: You graduated last in your class, not first in your class.
MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Four years after this contentious debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump featuring a torrent of insults, name calling and interruptions.
TRUMP: Why won't you answer that question?
BIDEN: Because the question is -- the question is --
TRUMP: -- radical left--
BIDEN: Will you shut up, man.
LEE (voice-over): President Biden is again preparing to face off against his unpredictable predecessor on the debate stage. CNN is learning that Biden is preparing for whatever version of Donald Trump might show up Thursday night, including a potentially disciplined Donald Trump recreating the experience of going up against Trump a key feature of the mock debates.
BOB BAUER, FORMER WHITE HOUSE COUNSEL, OBAMA ADMINISTRATION: You want to find some balance between recreating the experience and not attempting to if you will audition for Saturday Night Live.
LEE (voice-over): Top campaign aides insisting that regardless of whether the ex-president is unhinged, or more demure on Thursday, there's simply no altering his record.
MITCH LANDRIEU, BIDEN CAMPAIGN NATIONAL CO-CHAIR: People are going to know that he's a twice impeached convicted felon who has been found to have defamed somebody, sexually abused somebody and gone bankrupt six times. They will always know that.
LEE (voice-over): Ahead of the high stakes debate set to unfold inside CNN Atlanta studio, Biden hunkering down with more than a dozen of his top aides at Camp David. The campaign hoping to showcase two starkly different visions on a whole host of issues, the economy, Democratic institutions and reproductive rights.
BIDEN: Decades of progress shattered just because the last guy got four years in the White House, you know what will happened when he gets another four. MAGA Republicans, Roe is just the beginning.
LEE (voice-over): Democrats on Monday seizing on the two year anniversary of the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade and placing blame squarely at Trump's feet. A new Biden campaign ad featuring testimonial from one Louisiana woman who says she was turned away from two emergency rooms after a dangerous miscarriage at 11 weeks of pregnancy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's now a convicted felon. Trump thinks he should not be held accountable for his own criminal actions, but he will let women and doctors be punished.
LEE (voice-over): Vice President Kamala Harris who has emerged the administration's leading voice on the issue, one of many top Democrats blanketing the country today.
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In the case of the stealing of reproductive freedom from the women of America. Donald Trump is guilty.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[01:20:00]
LEE (on camera): Now if it's impossible to predict how former President Donald Trump might behave on Thursday, even Biden allies would acknowledge that President Biden's performance can be mixed. There are days and events where the President is very focused and sharp and other times when he is simply less on his game. So there's no question that the President and his group of aides that are huddled right now at Camp David are also going to be working on the performance aspects. And they're certainly hoping that the President Biden that gave his State of the Union remarks back in March, that that is going to be the version that shows up to the debate stage on Thursday night.
MJ Lee, CNN at the White House.
VAUSE: Frank Luntz is a focus group moderator, a pollster, professor, and communications strategist who's worked for a number of Republican candidates in a lot of the previous elections. He joins us now. Frank, thank you so much for being with us.
FRANK LUNTZ, POLLSTER AND COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGIST: Well, it's an interesting time. There's -- I'm trying to find ways and vehicles to communicate to people that this, we've heard it so many times before, that this is the most important election in modern times. And yet, I think this actually is I think this is the biggest debate that we've had since 1960, when JFK went after Richard Nixon and beat him and won the White House as a result, that our single worst debate in American history was between Joe Biden and Donald Trump four years ago. And I am rather nervous about where we are as a country where democracy sits and where we're headed.
VAUSE: And you raised this issue with ABC News. I want to play part of it as you did over the weekend. And you raised a specific concern. And this debate, in particular, here you are speaking over the weekend. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LUNTZ: A lot of people are going to watch. A lot of people have made up their minds about the two candidates but haven't made up their minds whether or not our democracy still works. If we have another reaction like that first 2020 debate with the two candidates just go at each other, at some point our system breaks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: So explain the link is between the interaction between Donald Trump and Joe Biden on the debate stage. And this threat, which is being posed to American democracy.
LUNTZ: Well, I'm hoping that they read the full story. I wrote about this in today's "New York Times." You can get it online. And I'm hoping that people read the entire story because every debate has a tough moment. Every debate has a candidate with a gaffe or somebody else with a really sharp retort. This time, however, we have two candidates who did not respect each other, do not respect the office of the presidency. Joe Biden famously said to Donald Trump, will you shut up. Donald Trump famously interrupted Joe Biden, every moment of that first presidential debate in 2020.
And Americans looked at this and said, what the hell is wrong with our democracy? Well, it's been four years since then, we're much more divided, much more polarized, and it's toxic. You see this in the behavior of young people in classrooms across the country. You see the reaction to it on college campuses. There's a coarseness to America that reflects what's happening in politics. And I'm just nervous that a really bad, ugly, vicious debate is almost like the icing on the cake. The proof that our country really has lost its democratic spirit, its respect, its stability, its decency and it's dignity. And I do think that this matters.
VAUSE: Well, the debate on Thursday will be different from previous ones, both candidates have agreed to no studio audience, muted microphones except for the candidate who is allowed to be speaking, no props or pre-written notes on stage, that's pretty standard. And the moderators, quote, will use all tools at their disposal to enforce timing and to ensure a civilized discussion.
Now, to your point, a civilized political discussion in this country doesn't seem possible between opposing sides right now. Is there any political incentive here for either candidate to actually be civil, you know, the MAGA base, especially, they love that stuff that comes out of Trump. They love it when he owns the lib so to speak.
LUNTZ: You're right. But that takes you up to 46, maybe 47 percent of the vote. And we have a third candidate, Robert Kennedy, Jr. That's been attracting six, eight, 10 percent. You have to do better than for Donald Trump to actually beat Joe Biden. And by the way, the national polling really doesn't matter. What matters is what's happening in three key states, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. But that being said, the only way that you're going to win in this election is to win your base and then win those few others that can't decide.
VAUSE: Well the latest "Fox News" poll isn't exactly great news for Donald Trump. Biden now in the lead nationally and, you know, national polls are totally separate thing in and of themselves. But this "Fox" poll did record a seven point swing towards Biden and bringing this reaction from Donald Trump. He posted on Truth Social, "Fox News" polls are always the worst for me. They have been from the beginning and they always will be. So as pollster, is that true, all "Fox News" polls always bad for Donald Trump? And given the other polls are showing Biden now has a similar narrow lead? Is this "Fox" poll and outliner? Was, you know, Biden really in front?
[01:25:28]
LUNTZ: The fact is, when you're found guilty of 34 felonies unanimously, everyone in that jury said guilty, and every one of those counts is going to have an impact, not necessarily a lasting impact, not necessarily a huge impact. But we shouldn't be surprised that the numbers got more narrow, but that Joe Biden potentially is taking the lead. Donald Trump has 268 votes, electoral votes.
Right now, if you take the states where he's winning by at least four points, but you need 270. So he has to win one of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, if he fails, and Joe Biden is the next president. And I think we're making too much of these movements when the election is five months away. There's so much that's going to happen between now and then to debates, to conventions, and who knows what kind of legalities are going to become an issue? I would rather have voters focus on the policies than the politics.
VAUSE: Yes. When it comes to national polls, we're going to ask Hillary Clinton, how reliable they are at the end of the day. Frank Luntz, it's good to have you with us. Thank you, sir.
LUNTZ: It's a privilege. Thanks for having me.
VAUSE: And you can watch the CNN presidential debate right here on CNN.
Coming up June 27th at 9:00 p.m. Eastern will replay the entire debate throughout the day. You can watch it at 7:00 a.m. London, no, I'm laughing. That's 2:00 p.m. in Hong Kong, tune in 12 hours later on that for a third time. That's 7:00 p.m. in London, 10:00 p.m. in Abu Dhabi. Set your DVRs all that kind of stuff.
Well, for many voters in the U.S., immigration is now their number one concern. So expect plenty of back and forth on that Thursday night. And almost a dug in either for or against, a Native American community on the border between the United States and Mexico is struggling with sympathy for migrants and a desire to help while at the same time concerned about rising crime. More details now from CNN's David Culver.
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VERION JOSE, TOHONO O'ODHAM NATION CHAIRMAN: From here of a mile, you're going to start to see a lot of debris, a lot of trash.
DAVID CULVER, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. What is all these.
JOSE: This is the migrants. The migrants because they're --
CULVER: They just leave all day. I see clothes. I see trash.
CULVER (voice-over): The Tohono O'odham nation's sacred land is bearing the brunt of migration. JOSE: Your heart builds for the migrants and so forth like that. But then other parts just the destruction that they're causing us. Look at the trash that they're leaving.
CULVER (voice-over): About 30 miles west of Tucson, Arizona, the reservation essentially straddles the U.S. southern border, which is marked by a simple cattle fence.
JOSE: This is the San Miguel gate, traditional crossing.
CULVER (voice-over): The tribe's chairman, Verion Jose, says a border wall here would ruin their traditional land.
JOSE: This is where the Creator have put us.
CULVER: You don't see a boundary.
JOSE: We don't see a boundary.
CULVER (voice-over): But migrants do and so do cartels which use the Tohono O'odham's land as a profitable crossing ground.
JOSE: There's an area right up here where they just turn around, drop Tohono O'odham, just go across there.
CULVER (voice-over): We see that for ourselves.
CULVER: Oh, look, crossing right here. You see this right there.
JOSE: (Speaking in Foreign Language).
CULVER: (Speaking in Foreign Language).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking in Foreign Language).
CULVER: (Speaking in Foreign Language).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking in Foreign Language).
CULVER: (Speaking in Foreign Language).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking in Foreign Language).
CULVER: To request asylum. They're from Mexico.
CULVER (voice-over): Dropped off with her three kids. Norma (ph) says she was told to walk towards a makeshift camp. Even in the scorching desert heat. She believes where she's headed will be better than what she's left behind.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking in Foreign Language).
CULVER: She works for political party directly in Mexico and she says her political party lost. She said the surge in violence and danger is so much so that she and her (Speaking in Foreign Language).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking in Foreign Language).
CULVER: Her kids have decided to cross into the U.S. So the tribe allowed Border Patrol to set up a structure for the folks who do come over until their processed.
CULVER (voice-over): Everyone we meet here mostly families from the same country.
CULVER: (Speaking in Foreign Language).
CULVER (voice-over): Even the chairman intrigued with how they ended up in such a remote part of the border.
JOSE: -- where exactly they --
CULVER: I asked them. That's the thing. I said, do you know where we are? She didn't even know. (Speaking in Foreign Language). She has no idea we're where we are right now.
[01:30:03]
CULVER (voice-over): Chairman Jose believes cartels are behind it.
JOSE: It's a business. It's a business that doesn't play by the rules.
CULVER: It's in part why the tribe coordinates with Customs and Border Protection, allowing them to set up substations on Tohono O'odham land along with several towers armed with far-reaching high-definition cameras.
So they're searching from the air as well as the grounds here.
The border patrol often deploying to stop threats or to rescue stranded migrants.
Members of the tribe have noticed an increase in violence and crime, motivating some to turn to their Catholic faith. Prayers for safety and security echoed more than a thousand miles south of tribal territory in the outskirts of Mexico City.
It's here we again meet Norma, days after we watched her and her kids cross the border.
It's really emotional for her the Virgin of Guadalupe and she carries this card with her and her constant prayer to the Virgin was to protect her kids more than anything else.
Forty-eight hours after crossing into the U.S., Border Patrols sent Norma and her kids back to Mexico just days after the Biden administration took executive action on the border, allowing for swift deportation of most migrants after a daily cap is reached.
And it wasn't until they were physically at the border that she realized they were going to be sent back to Mexico.
The sixth day journey cost Norma more than $8,000 and ended where it started, back in the neighborhood where she still feels the threats of political oppression.
She says she feels ok going out right now because we're here and we're together, but if she was by herself like normally she would only go out on Saturday in the middle of the day.
She says that her recommendation for others who may want to try to cross the way that she did is don't try it.
While Norma has no plans to cross again, back on Tohono O'odham land --
JOSE: Sometimes I'll come up here by myself just going to need a little solitude.
CULVER: Chairman Jose fears without Congress coming together across party lines, migrants and drugs will continue to cross his sacred land.
JOSE: It has a major impact on us. We're not here to lay blame on who's -- who's responsible for this because I think we all do whatever it is to protect this land, yes.
That's all I got. My blood, sweat and tears, I got nothing more.
CULVER: David Culver, CNN -- on Tohono O'odham nation.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: When we come back free at last and heading home. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange strikes a plea deal with prosecutors avoiding extradition to the United States.
[01:33:31]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: More now on our top story, let's make a deal.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, notorious hacker or champion of a free press will not be extradited to the U.S. to face 18 felony charges. Under a plea deal with the U.S. Justice Department, all but one of those charges will be dropped.
Assange is scheduled to appear in a U.S. court in the Northern Mariana Islands Wednesday, where he'll plead guilty, or expected to on that one charge for his role in the largest ever breach of classified U.S. government material.
In return for the guilty plea, U.S. prosecutors have agreed he will be sentenced to time already served in a London prison.
Here's more now from CNN's Clare Sebastian.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Australian computer programmer and WikiLeaks founder first grabbed headlines in 2010 when WikiLeaks released highly-classified information.
First, a U.S. military videos showing an Apache helicopter mistakenly gunning down two journalists and several Iraqi civilians in 2007.
Next, the release of tens of thousands of classified military documents related to the war in Afghanistan. Documents on the Iraq war followed. Then the leak of cables from U.S. embassies and diplomatic missions around the world.
Assange claimed his mission was to shine a light on evidence of war crimes and abuses of power.
JULIAN ASSANGE, FOUNDER, WIKILEAKS: And that's how people can really understand what is actually going on and whether they choose to (INAUDIBLE).
SEBASTIAN: As the world watched for WikiLeaks' move, in November 2010, Sweden opened an investigation into allegations of sexual assault against Assange and issued an international arrest warrant for his extradition.
Assange denied the allegations, claiming it was retribution for his political work and orchestrated to pave the way for his extradition to the U.S.
He downed (ph) himself in to London police and was later released on strict bail conditions.
Then in an unexpected twist, he entered the Ecuadorian embassy in London in 2012 and was granted political asylum. The start of a seven- year diplomatic row.
ASSANGE: A courageous Latin American nation took a stand for justice.
SEBASTIAN: Still Assange was able to reveal details that rocked the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: WikiLeaks, I love WikiLeaks.
SEBASTIAN: WikiLeaks published hacked emails from DNC staffers and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's campaign. Over time, his relationship with his host soured.
Ecuador revoked his asylum in 2019 and London police arrested him on an extradition warrant from the U.S. Justice Department to face a conspiracy charge.
17 new counts under the Espionage Act followed. Assange was sentenced to prison for violating his 2010 bail conditions and spent five years fighting extradition to the U.S. mostly isolated at Belmarsh high security prison.
Two years ago, he married his lawyer and mother of his two children, Stella Maris inside jail.
Clare Sebastian, CNN -- London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Lawmakers in Kenya will debate changes to a controversial finance bill, which will hike taxes on incomes, fuel and vegetable oil, and has sparked nationwide protests. With many already struggling with the soaring cost of living, they've taken to the streets to protest these proposed tax increases.
The International Monetary Fund insists it's all necessary to reduce Kenya's budget deficit and government borrowing. Protesters though have declared days of rage and total shutdown of the country Tuesday with plans to occupy parliament in Nairobi.
Officials have ordered the protests to be finished by sunset or 6:30 p.m. whichever happens first.
Well, the final stretch of campaigning underway in Iran ahead of Friday's presidential election. Six candidates are running in snap elections after the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash last month.
Details now from CNN's Fred Pleitgen reporting in from Tehran.
[01:39:50]
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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: After the helicopter crash that killed Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi, the foreign minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, as well as several others, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed that there would be a continuation of the functioning of government.
Now, a little more than a month after that helicopter crash, Iran is moving to what could be a pivotal presidential election for this country coming this Friday.
And after a vetting process of candidates, there are six who remain in the race, and there are a couple of who could be considered frontrunners in all of this.
On the conservative side, there are two. One of them is called Mohammad Ghalibaf. He is the current speaker of Iran's parliament and the other one is a gentleman named Saeed Jalili. Now people in the West might remember him as having once been Iran's chief nuclear negotiator.
On the moderate side, there is a candidate who many believe could have possible chances as what people would call a dark horse in this race. His name is Masoud Pezeshkian. He is the former health minister of Iran and also a heart surgeon by training.
Several things that the Iranians are going to be looking for, one of them is of course, turnout at presidential elections -- always a big factor here in this country. The main issues are going to be of course, the economy, which is once again suffering under those massive sanctions imposed by the U.S. and its allies.
But then of course, foreign policy also as well with a difficult situation here in the Middle East with Iran and Israel recently coming to the brink of a possible war.
Fred Pleitgen. CNN -- Tehran.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Ukrainian officials urging evacuations of the Eastern Donetsk region after another deadly Russian attack Monday, which killed at least five people, wounded dozens more according to police.
Russian forces hit a residential neighborhood with what's called a double-tap missile strike. And first responders were called out to the initial strike. They were then hit with a second strike. Three officers and three children among the wounded.
Russia is warning of retaliation for a deadly Ukrainian strike on a beach in Crimea Sunday, which killed at least five people, including children.
The Kremlin summoned the U.S. ambassador blaming the United States who are supplying the missiles accusing Washington of waging a hybrid war against Russia. The State Department says Russia is to blame for the fighting, Ukraine simply defending its sovereign territory.
And the death toll from Sundays attacks on churches and synagogues in Russia's southern Dagestan province is now up to 20, with almost 50 others wounded.
Russian authorities have identified five of the attackers, including a mixed martial arts fighter, as well as relatives of a regional official.
We get new details now from CNN's Nick Paton Walsh. A warning: some images in his report are disturbing.
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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: It's the horror Putin rose to power pledging to eradicate, but still nearly a quarter of a century later haunts him now.
Pitched battles in the southern region of Dagestan, where likely Islamist militants attacked Jews and Christians in synagogues and churches over hours in which police struggled into the night to gain control.
We still have an incomplete picture of what sent security services into a frenzy Sunday as evening prayers began. But it is clear, the flames spread along Dagestan's coast down to this synagogue in Southern Derbent. And the police were also targeted. Their ranks stripped thin by
mobilization to Putin's other war in Ukraine.
Russia's security services keen to emphasize their swift reaction, releasing this video of them securing the Assumption of Our Lady Cathedral in Makhachkala.
Dagestan used over two decades to scenes of mangled metal and police hunting militants, but this time absorbing whether Putin's war in Ukraine had taken away the security forces from their own home streets.
And the disturbing news that three of the gunmen were related to a local official, one his son, another a nephew, and a third a cousin, a local MMA fighter.
A key victim, Father Nikolai (ph), pictured here, apparently having his throat slit amid reports there was a hostage standoff for a while.
The deaths announced so far, mostly police. Leaving questions as to whether more civilians had been killed when they came to evening worship.
And the main suspect here, ISIS-K, yet to claim the attack, and officials slow to name them.
"Of course, we understand who is behind the organization of these terrorist attacks," he says, "we understand what the organizers were trying to achieve."
Extremism has long cursed Dagestan. The Boston Bombers partially linked back to here and its militants in 2013. And police have long been ferocious in their response, fueling yet more extremism, analysts say.
[01:44:51]
WALSH: Yet in 2022, protests erupted when so many Dagestani men were sent off to Ukraine. And so now, the old agony of terror, perhaps made worse by police being thinned out for Putin's long war of choice.
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN -- London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: A fire in a Moscow office building is now the focus of a criminal investigation. At least eight people died in the blaze according to the TASS news agency. That includes two men who died jumping from a window to escape the fire.
The cause remains unknown, but deadly fires have become increasingly common in Russia with lax safety standards and dated equipment in some older buildings.
And investigation in China sent -- a probe rather sent by Chinas to the far side of the moon is about to come back to earth. The story behind this historic mission, that's next.
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VAUSE: Another five teams have spots in the knockout round of the Euros. Three without even kicking a ball. Defending champions Italy didn't qualify until the final kick of their match.
World Sport's Patrick Snell has the highlights.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: Ahead of Monday night's kicks (ph) just four countries had already booked their place in the last 16 at the European football championships in Germany. The host Switzerland, Christian Ronaldo's Portugal, and three-time winner Spain who were in Group B action against Albania.
Big night for defending champions Italy who face Croatia on Monday night in Leipzig.
The Azzurri knowing that they'd be through as group runners up if they could avoid defeat. Things though never easy, are they, against Croatia. And early in the second half, high drama as the Croatians are awarded a penalty and the veteran Luka Modric takes it but its saved -- very well saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma, who keeps game score a huge frustration for Modric there.
But just 30 seconds later he makes up for it by showing great tenacity to turn the ball into the back of the net for 1-nil, Croatia. Modric at 38 now the oldest player, for the score at the Euros, but the Italians never gave up and check that out in the eighth minute of stoppage time, they're rewarded when the ball drops to Mattia Zaccagni, finish it in style.
Wonderful strike just curled into the top corner. That was the last kick of the match. Massive relief for Italy. Checkout those celebrations there through to the next round. Heartbreak for the Croatian players and their fans are like they're left absolutely devastated. Their hopes of reaching the last 16 now hanging by an absolute thread.
A night of high drama there yes, that is the pain of the beautiful game.
Now, Spain had already qualified as Group B winner La Roja into the last 16 ahead of their match with Albania. And it was certainly no surprise when the Spaniard who made numerous changes for this match takes the lead after just 30 minutes.
Ferran Torres, the Barcelona man showing class and composure and a lovely curled finished there in Dusseldorf to put his country ahead.
[01:49:51]
SNELL: That was the only goal of the night. Albania did put up a good fight. They had a couple of chances, but won (ph) no say in the final. While the Albanians eliminated from the tournament, another three points for Spain.
What a finish that Croatia - Italy match. The Italian advance to Group 1 is (ph) up, but they've been far from convincing, haven't they?
They'll face Switzerland next. Croatia on just two points, they retain a tiny chance of advancing as one of the best third-placed teams. But their hopes are hanging by a thread. But that loss for Albania was good news for England, France and the Netherlands who are assured of progressing now to the knockout stages.
Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Patrick Snell, thank you.
Now, the Florida Panthers are raising the Stanley Cup, with its first ever NHL title. They beat the Edmonton Oilers 2 to 1 in Game 7, Monday night. The Panthers won the first three games of the series. No team has come back from that deficit to win the cup since the 1940s.
The Oilers' Connor McDavid was awarded the Conn Smythe trophy as the most valuable player throughout the Stanley Cup play-off (ph).
With that, well take a short break. You're watching CNN. We'll be back in a moment.
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VAUSE: The Chinese probe sent to the moon is now returning to earth Tuesday. The lunar probe has completed its historic mission to the far side of the moon. It went up back in May, China's most complex robotic lunar missions so far.
The probe is bringing back the first ever samples of dust and rock from the far side of the moon. It's a milestone in China's efforts to become a leader in space exploration. And the Chinese are planning to land astronauts on the moon by 2030, which was 1968 -- 2030. That's a long time.
CNN's Steven Jiang joins us now live from Beijing with more.
So when are we expecting touchdown and where are we expecting touchdown?
STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: John thanks. I'm watching the live feed as you guys are and it's probably going to be landing in Inner Mongolia fairly soon. Now this, of course, is a historic moment, as you mentioned, making this another major step forward in this country's ambitious space program and realizing the goal stated by Chinese leader Xi Jinping to establish China as dominant space power.
But this, of course, is very much a moment of celebration, jubilation nationwide and state media covering this in breathless fashion.
But it does warrant all the attention and excitement it gets not only from within China, but around the world because scientifically, as we mentioned, this is the first time ever rocks and dust collected from the far side moon will be returned to earth.
Now, this process itself is very fascinating and intricate involving a drill and a robotic arm. And upon collection, an ascender then basically scooped up the samples from the moon surface and transferred them into lunar orbit.
And to a re-entry vehicle. That is what we are expecting to land very soon. That re-entry vehicle obviously has already separated from its lunar orbit.
But this is important scientifically because these samples are collected from the moon's south pole Aitken Basin. That is an impact crater formed some 4 billion years ago on the side of the moon, that is never visible to earth.
So by analyzing these sample once they returned, now, we should -- we should emphasize here, the Chinese will have the first dip (ph) to this. They're going to study these samples before the government allows access to these samples by international scientists.
But all of them will be looking at the results very carefully to study -- to get -- to gain better understanding of the evolution of not only the moon, but also of the earth and the solar system.
[01:54:53]
JIANG: Because unlike the earth, where a lot of these evolutionary evidence has been -- has been destroyed by movements of plate tectonics the moon's far side is described by many experts as a frozen record of what it was like in the early solar system. So scientifically this is extremely important and very exciting.
And of course, strategically speaking, practically these analyses, the results of the analysis, these samples could also help China further explore, potentially utilizing resources on the moon, not to mention every step they make the progress they make in these sample return missions will help them hone and improve their command-and-control aspects of these missions as well, and make them a step closer to sending their astronauts to the moon and return them to earth as well.
So that perhaps gives them another leg up in this increasingly heated space race with the United States as well, not to mention John, as you can imagine this is very much a nationalistic fervor kind of moment.
Remember, earlier this month, images of this lunar lander displaying a Chinese flag. And then apparently drilling the character of drone, which means China in Chinese on the moon's surface really going viral here on social media platforms, John.
VAUSE: Really (ph) seem that India and China are having some success with their lunar missions of late.
If you're just joining us now, we're watching live images from CCTV. This is the Chinese probe which landed on the far side of the moon, returning back to earth with samples of dust and rock, as Steven's been telling us, for analysis by scientists there in China.
So we've got about a minute left, Steven. Can you just tell us, we're watching this probe come in. That's the small dot there, right in the middle of the screen. When it does actually land or touched down or with a parachute, I imagine there in Inner Mongolia, then what are you expecting to see? What happens after that?
JIANG: After that is they will basically collect these samples from the far side of the moon and have them available to Chinese researchers first, as I mentioned.
But of course international scientists are also expected have access later. But the studies of these samples scientifically speaking, is extremely important to study the evolution of the moon, the earth, and the solar system.
But also of course, down the road, we have the strategic importance for them potentially utilizing resources on the moon as well, John.
VAUSE: Steven, thank you very much. Steven Jiang there live in Beijing.
We'll wrap it up here, watching these live images of the lunar probe from China touching down there somewhere in Mongolia. We'll continue to follow the story.
And we thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm John Vause.
Anna Coren, my friend and colleague, picks up our coverage after a short break from Hong Kong.
See you tomorrow.
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