ICE Has Begun Raids To Round Up Undocumented Immigrants, Official Says; Former S. African President Faces Corruption Inquiry; President Donald Trump's Latest Social Media Rant; A Crackdown on Undocumented Immigrants; Backlash from a One-Sided Perspective
PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR: President Trump's latest Twitter tirade drawing scorn and criticism. He lashes out at several Democratic congresswomen, telling them "go back to their countries."</s>GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Plus, a crackdown on undocumented immigrants. The Trump administration saying its targeted roundup is underway, though it seems a far cry from the major blitz the administration had promised.</s>NEWTON: And birthright has brought millions of young Jews to visit Israel. But it's also faced major backlash from a one-sided perspective. Now, one organization is offering a different view.</s>HOWELL: We are live from CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. And we want to welcome our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I am George Howell.</s>NEWTON: And I am Paula Newton. CNN Newsroom starts right now. Now, the U.S. president escalated his anti-immigration rhetoric Sunday with an attack on four minority congresswomen using language widely condemned as racist. Now, it came on the same day Donald Trump's administration says it launched raids targeting thousands of undocumented immigrants.</s>HOWELL: A series of tweets. Here's what he said, so interesting to see progressive Democrat congresswomen who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe. Remember, again, these are Americans. But the president added they should leave and go back to where they came from. Again, three out of the four women were actually born in the United States. The fourth, Ilhan Omar, came to the states as a child and became a U.S. citizen in 2000.</s>NEWTON: And this was their comeback. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez responded, Mr. President, the country I come from and the country we all swear to is the United States. But given how you've destroyed our border with inhumane camps, all at a benefit to you and the corporations who profit off them. You are absolutely right about the corruption laid at your feet. And Ilhan Omar tweeted, you are stoking white nationalism because you are angry that people like us are serving in Congress and fighting against your hate-filled agenda. And she quotes Robert F. Kennedy, saying America's answer to the intolerant man is diversity, the very diversity which our heritage of religious freedom has inspired. Now, the president's tweets come during, of course, a lingering dispute among Democrats of border aid bill.</s>HOWELL: Boris Sanchez reports the president's attempts to broaden that divide appear to have failed.</s>BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Trump on Sunday launching new attacks against key progressive Democrats, suggesting that some members of Congress should go back to their countries. He doesn't reference them by name. But the president was apparently referring to Representative Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, and Ayanna Pressley. They have had a rift with House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi. And the president writes that they can't leave fast enough. I am sure that Nancy Pelosi would be very happy to quickly work out free travel arrangements. The president trying to exploit this rift caused by their opposition to a bill on immigration funding that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi helped to pass and Pelosi's criticism of their social media use. The president, though, may have had these tweets backfire, though, because these four congresswomen have launched attacks at him, and how House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has tweeted out in solidarity with them. The House Speaker writing, "I reject Donald Trump's xenophobic comments meant to divide our nation. Rather than attack members of Congress, he should work with us for humane immigration policy that reflects American values." The president, yet again, using the language of white nationalist to court supporters who feel uncomfortable about immigration and it is something that this president has frequently has used before, something that he is obviously very comfortable doing. Boris Sanchez, CNN, at the White House.</s>NEWTON: And for more on this, James Davis is the Dean of the School of Economics and Political Science at the University of St. Gallen. He joins us now from Munich, Germany. You know, of course, we've heard the outrage and the contempt, and yet we shouldn't just dismiss it as that, should we? I mean, this is the president's political currency right now. It has to be said, you know, some argue even that this has actually gone much further than other things that he has said or tweeted. What do you think?</s>JAMES DAVIS, UNIVERSITY OF ST. GALLEN: Well, I think there are two aspects to these tweets that we need to focus on. I think the first is, of course, the attack on women. And I stress women of color in an attempt to sort of drive a wedge between Americans who may have a history, family history from Europe or other places, and these women who may, you know, three of them born in the United States. But, you know, some family history that comes from other parts of the world. So there is a sort of racist element to this. But there is also, I think, a very calculated effort to distract us from a debate over the content of his immigration policies and redirect our attention to the identities of those who are making the criticisms. And I want to remind you. There are a lot of white male members of Congress. There are a lot of African-American members of Congress, male, who are also criticizing these very policies. There are a lot of middle of the road Americans who are criticizing these policies. But the president has chosen to focus on four women of color. And I think there's something to that. But again, it's a distraction from the content of the policies that have many critics and a focus on the identity of just four of those critics.</s>NEWTON: Yeah. And that is a good point to remember, of course. You know, there's been a big debate as to whether or not you can just call it out as racist. Let's remember the definition here. Racism is a person who shows or feels discrimination or prejudice against people of other races. You could also perhaps say he was xenophobic. I mean, do those who support the president understand this and agree with it, or do they just choose to ignore it? Which do you think it is?</s>DAVIS: Well, I think it's probably both. I think there is a portion of the president's base that feels that the America that they remember or they like to idealize is under attack. That's an America that probably never was the way they like to think of it. But it was a white America. It was a Christian America. It was an America of the 1950s. And now, we have a much more diverse society, a society that has people coming from all parts of the world. And many of them are now sitting in Congress. And that makes some of these people uncomfortable. When -- I think there is also an interesting fact that all four of these women that are being attacked represent multicultural cities. And there is sort of a city land dimension to this. You know, a lot of the base of the president comes from the countryside, from small town America, not from the cities where diversity is lived everyday and where people actually have come to appreciate the strengths of diversity. It's rather parts of the country that probably had very little interaction with people who look like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or Ilhan Omar. And therefore, it's easy to stoke these fears of the other when it seems that the America you think you want to preserve is disappearing.</s>NEWTON: You know we'll get to some of that reaction as well from his base. I want to remind you, though, of Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker's reaction. And she makes a very fine point that she's taken up in the last few weeks. She says he reaffirms his plan to make America white again, in contrast to his slogan about making America great again. In terms of how this will frame the 2020 campaign for Republicans, again, it took Kellyanne Conway's husband -- she is an adviser in the Trumps' inner circle and happens to be married to a man who loves trolling the president. And he said what would likely happen if anyone, even a CEO, made such a racist statement in any workplace in America? Where are the Republicans? And let's put a fine point on it, right? Where are the Republicans from a place from, oh, I don't know, Florida?</s>DAVIS: Yeah, Paula, you're right. The Republicans are hiding under a rock, because they understand that they're between a rock and a hard place. If they go out and criticize the president for this, the president's going to unleash a tweet campaign against them. The Republican members of Congress are fearful of anything that might resemble anything of a primary challenge from the right. But by the same token, I think most Republicans realize that the base of the country, not the base of Trump's America, but the base of the country is nowhere near this kind of racist language. Most Americans, I think, understand that the promise of the United States is the promise of inclusion. We haven't made it there yet. We're still working on it. It's an imperfect union, but we're trying to get there. And this kind of racially-tinged rhetoric, I think, in the end I think will drive away the voters that the president needs. And that's -- you know, the kind of moderate American voters in the suburbs who this time -- I should say last time were willing to take a risk or take a chance on Donald Trump. But I think are increasingly wondering whether that was the wrong choice to make.</s>NEWTON: We shall see. Certainly, the president believes this is going to work for the campaign. James, thanks so much, really appreciate it.</s>DAVIS: Thanks, Paula.</s>HOWELL: Now to those raids that the Trump administration says are targeting undocumented immigrants across the country. Immigration officials say they are looking to track down some 2,000 immigrants ordered by the courts to be removed from the country in nearly a dozen major U.S. cities.</s>NEWTON: OK. But so far, CNN has not been able to confirm any arrests. The New York Times reports the plans for the raids had to change. Instead of one large simultaneous sweep, they're actually going to be doing smaller raids over the course of this week. Now, since news reports tipped off immigrant communities about what to expect, that apparently was the change of plane.</s>HOWELL: In Los Angeles our Paul Vercammen is watching for any immigration raid activity taking place. Here's his report.</s>PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We were outside a detention center. We did not see any sort of targeted raids or anything unusual. The activists telling us that they decided they would not even put on any rallies or protests. They have been extremely vocal in their outright contempt and cynicism over Trump and the threatened raids. They basically have said that they accuse the U.S. president of trying to whip up his base by threatening these raids and trying to scare people, one even using the term poltergeist from the scary movie. What developed today was nothing. They have lawyers on the standby. And now, these activists say they are now crossing their fingers and hoping they don't see any such sweeps or raids in the coming days. But they're taking a very, very calm view of all this. They say, look, ICE raids in Los Angeles are common. There are some 500- something arrests per month. So that would equal 16 or 18 arrests per day. So they say this is all just routine.</s>HOWELL: Paul Vercammen there. Thank you so much. And later this hour, we will speak with an immigration attorney about these raids and the rights of those immigrants who are being targeted.</s>NEWTON: OK, moving on now. Iran's foreign minister says the United States is at risk of becoming a global pariah if it keeps making decisions that benefit only America. Javad Zarif spoke to reporters on Sunday. Take a listen.</s>JAVAD ZARIF, IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: The Trump administration is isolated. In the global community, we've seen that in the meetings of the Security Council, in the meetings of -- including the meeting of Board of Governors of the IAEA. All of them called by the United States, all of them ended up condemning the policies, unilateral policies of the United States. So it is time for the United States to begin to return to the international consensus that we can only reach our goals through multilateralism.</s>HOWELL: Javad Zarif there in meeting in New York for a U.N. meeting this week after having his visa personally approved by the U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo. It all comes as tensions between the two countries are getting worse, although Zarif's visit could open the door to possible sideline talks.</s>NEWTON: Now, earlier Sunday, President Hassan Rouhani said he's willing to hold talks with the United States, but there's one big condition.</s>HASSAN ROUHANI, IRANIAN PRESIDENT: We are always ready for negotiations. This -- in this very hour, in this moment, we are ready for talks, provided that you stop your act of aggression, stop your sanctions, and return to the negotiation table and return to logic.</s>NEWTON: Now, Mr. Rouhani says that because the Trump administration abandoned the 2015 nuclear deal last year, Iran is not violating it, even though they're enriching more uranium. France, Germany, and the U.K. are warning that the deal is at risk of total collapse. They're urging the U.S. and Iran to come back to the negotiating table as soon as possible. At the Cricket World Cup, England has made history. George, when I lived there, I have to tell you this was unimaginable. The team lifted that elusive championship trophy for the first time ever on Sunday. Who could believe it? Certainly not New Zealand, they beat New Zealand in front of a very passionate home crowd.</s>HOWELL: It's a big deal. It was a nail-biting final that saw the first super-over tiebreaker in World Cup history. In the end, the English captured the title by scoring more boundaries over the course of the match. So it was interesting to watch, for sure.</s>NEWTON: And who could forget what else was going on in London today? Another major sporting event, the men's Wimbledon final. And it was another win for tennis star, Novak Djokovic.</s>HOWELL: The world number one earned his fifth Wimbledon title after beating Roger Federer in an epic match. He got the win by saving two match points in the fifth set tiebreaker. Djokovic now has 16 major titles, 4 away from tying Federer's on the men's side.</s>NEWTON: I don't get the chance (Inaudible) -- it was truly epic. I've run out of superlatives.</s>HOWELL: Great to watch.</s>NEWTON: Coming up, the hurricane that hit the southern U.S. has thankfully weakened, but the threat from the slow-moving system is (Inaudible).</s>HOWELL: It is something to watch, for sure. And, of course, trade pressure from the U.S. that appears to be taking a toll on China as its economy sees new signs of trouble. We have a live report ahead as CNN Newsroom pushes on.