[Joined In Progress Anna Coren, Cnn News Stream Show:] Hello, I'm Anna Coren in Hongkong. Welcome to "News Stream." Well, CNN goes inside western Mosul as only pockets of ISIS resistance remain in what was once the stronghold in Iraq. Donald Trump Jr., admits he met a Russian lawyer during the presidential campaign but his father knew nothing about it. And why refugees struggle to find acceptance in Japan which rejects almost every asylum application it gets. For three years, it was the largest ISIS stronghold in Iraq, but now it looks like Mosul is closer than ever to be being free from terrorist rule. The Iraqis prime minister walked through the city declaring victory but also saying pockets of resistance remain. Still the mood is celebratory for troops who have fought for months to reach this point. Mosul is Iraq's largest metropolis after Baghdad. CNN's Nick Payton Walsh is the only western journalist in the part of Mosul known as the old city. Intense fighting is still going on there and he was embedded with the Iraqi troops.
[Nick Payton Walsh, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] About 100 yards until they hit the symbolic river that runs through the heart of Mosul. What was once the capital in Iraq of ISIS caliphate, now reduced to a tiny number of buildings simply and snipers picking up the tiny remnants of ISIS. Many of them have been emerging from the rubble seemingly wanting to give themselves up. Today's forces are led by Brigadier General Assadi from the Iraqi Special Forces, American trained, American equipment and we've seen ourselves from a vast amount of air strikes that have come in here to support this advance. Startling to see the rubble around us here, the devastation of this city, but they are so close to their final goal here. Talk of political announcements being made possibly from this particular area. But minute by minute, ISIS appear to be running out of ammunition, handing themselves in, fear is filled of potentially human shields trapped inside there. The occasional snipers rounds fired at them here but the territory is so small now and so they're here together and that is the point in which the declared their victory. Nick Paytn Walsh, about 100 yards from the Tigris River in the old city of Mosul, Iraq.
[Coren:] Well the fighting to retake Mosul has driven hundreds of thousands of people out of their homes. Many are living in displacement camps with the need for clean water, food and medicine. We have links on our website to organizations working on the ground. Just go to CNN.comimpact. Well some of the people fleeing conflict in the Middle East are seeking safety in Japan. Immigration is a controversial topic there. While the country donates billions of dollars to international refugee programs, it rejects almost every asylum application it gets. CNN's Will Ripley met Kurds living in limbo outside Tokyo.
[Will Ripley, Cnn Correspondent:] A rare taste of Kurdish hospitality in Japan. This family of refugees welcomes us into their home their home at least for now. About 2,000 ethnic Kurds live in Japan most seeking refuge from sectarian violence. This family fled the Turkish-Syrian border more than a decade ago. They've learned Japanese, local customs and live quietly in a small Kurdish enclave north of Tokyo. But they don't have a permanent home. Japan can deport them at any time because of a strict policy that only gives refugee status to a select few and leaves everyone else in limbo. Misut Gul has been living temporarily in Japan for 11 years. He re- applies at the immigration bureau every two months. When he tried to re- apply in December, something he's done more than 60 times, immigration workers told him he was being deported. His requests for refugee status finally denied. Locked in detention for five months, Gul became seriously ill. Officers took him to the hospital in shackles. It sounds to me like you're describing a prison. Did you feel like you were in prison? Yes, it is he says. I was living faithfully and honestly, following Japanese laws. I believe I'd be accepted but I ended up being detained. Gul is appealing his deportation order. He says even this life is better than what he'd faced back home. Japan's justice ministry says nearly 11,000 people applied for asylum last year, a record. The immigration bureau accepted just 28 refugees. The government tells CNN people abuse the system that many seeking refugee status are actually economic migrants and that Japan is the world's third largest economy already donates billions of dollars to refugee programs. But this homogenous insular society is fiercely reluctant to take in migrants. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says Japan needs to focus on restarting its economy before considering changes to its refugee policy. Is Japan's immigration system designed to grind people down to make them want to leave? "From my 35 years of experience in immigration, I would say Japan wants to send them back," says Hidenori Sakanaka The former head of Tokyo's immigration bureau is trying to change the system. "The time has come for us to accept more refugee and immigrants," he says. Not one Turkish Kurd has ever been granted refugee status in Japan. Instead, they get temporary permits, renewed every few months. Many cannot work legally, don't qualify for health care and can't even leave their city without permission What's it like to live without residency here?
[Unidentified Male:] This means you are not officially not exist in here.
[Ripley:] You just don't exist.
[Unidentified Male:] Yes, that is the main problem.
[Ripley:] A constant state of uncertainty even for students like the 19- year-old Ramazan Durzon. His parents brought him here as a child. "I dream about having a future in Japan," he says. "But If I am deported, everything I learned, everything I built here will disappear." In Japan, he and other refugees find safe harbor but no home. Their lives, their futures in limbo. Will Ripley, CNN, Kawaguchi, Japan.
[Coren:] We're shifting now to an admission by the eldest son of U.S. president Donald Trump. He says he met with a Russian lawyer after being promised information about Hillary Clinton and that individuals connected to Russia were funding her Democratic National Committee. CNN's Suzanne Malveaux has the details.
[Suzanne Malveaux, Cnn Correspondent:] The "New York Times" reporting that Donald Trump Jr. was promised damaging information about Hillary Clinton before agreeing to meet with a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin at Trump Tower on June 9th, two weeks before his father became the Republican nominee. Trump Jr. admitting on a statement that potentially helpful information was a pretext for the meeting, but insisting that nothing meaningful was provided, noting the woman stated that she had information that individuals connected to Russia were funding the Democratic National Committee an supporting Ms. Clinton. Her statements were vague, ambiguous and made no sense. The president's son insisting that his father knew nothing about the meeting. A statement reiterated by Trump's legal team.
[Reince Priebus, White House Chief Of Staff:] It was a nothing meeting.
[Malveaux:] In Donald Jr.'s initial statement released Saturday, he gave a different explanation for the meeting, explaining that they primarly discussed a program about the adoption of Russian children and making no mention of Hillary Clinton. Both statements noting that the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner and then campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, were also in attendance.
[Rep. Adam Schiff , California:] I think we're going to want to question everyone that was at the meeting about what was discussed.
[Malveaux:] This is as President Trump is facing scrutiny over his response to Russia's election hacks after meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump walking back a tweet about forming an impenetrable cyber security unit with Russia to guard against the threat.
[Sen. John Mccain , Arizona:] I am sure that Vladimir Putin could be of an enormous assistance in that effort since he's doing the hacking.
[Malveaux:] Facing backlash, President Trump reversing course 12 hours later, tweeting, "the fact that President Putin and I discussed a cyber unit doesn't mean I think it can happen. It can't but a ceasefire can and did."
[Sen. Lindsey Graham , South Carolina:] It's not the dumbest idea I've ever heard but it's pretty close.
[Malveaux:] President Trump insisting on Sunday that he strongly pressed President Putin about Russian meddling during Friday's meeting. But not indicating if he accepted Putin's vehement denial, saying only, "I've already given my opinion."
[Donald Trump, President Of The United States:] I think it was Russia but I think it was probably other people and to our countries and I see nothing wrong with that statement. Nobody really knows.
[Malbveaux:] This is after the Russian foreign minister said Friday that President Trump heard and accepts Putin's denial, a claim that president's aides denied on Sunday after initially declining to answer questions about the matter during a gaggle aboard Air Force One.
[Priebus:] The president absolutely did not believe the denial of President Putin.
[Coren:] Well now Suzanne Malveaux now joins us from the White House, and Suzanne obviously a lot to discuss. Let's start with Donald Trump Jr. changing his story over the weekend, that's why he met with this Russian lawyer, how is this going down Washington D.C.?
[Malveaux:] Well, Anna, there is a lot of criticisms and a lot of skepticisms about this, that the fact that the story had change or at least the emphasis behind that meeting, that story changing just within a day or so. We have heard from numerous lawmakers, Democrats and some Republicans who are really wondering whether or not this damages in fact the president's credibility and his team's credibility when it comes to whether or not there was close associations or ties with these Russian officials and what was behind it. We have heard from the Democrat who is the ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff, saying that he wants to talk to all of those people who were in that meeting with that particular Russian lawyer. So don't be surprised if we do see some formal request going to those members. We'll see if that actually happens or not, but there is a lot of curiosity about this. Also, the White House hitting back very hard this morning, Kellyanne Conway an adviser, close adviser to the president, saying a couple of things. First of all, pleading ignorance saying that Don Jr. didn't even know the name of this woman, this female lawyer who he was meeting with prior. Secondly, making the point that the White House or at least not the White House but Don Jr. has made it right and that they have added to the disclosure forms these statements that they fill out, adding these additional conversations that they've had with this particular Russian lawyers so that that box has been checked so to speak. And then finally, she's down playing this, this morning, saying look, there is no real significance coming out of these meetings, nothing that really happened. No information that was useful to them that rather that this was something that came up in the beginning of the conversation, quickly turn to the issue of Russian adoption and going on to say look, we have all these different kinds of meetings and some of them are not fruitful or helpful. So, that is the line that the White House is taking this morning and trying to explain this. But there are still a lot of questions and it really does go to the heart of some of those federal investigation just how close were the Trump's team to some of these Russian officials or Russian actors if you will and just how willing were they to cooperate with them, potentially collude with them to benefit Donald Trump.
[Coren:] Yes, questions investigators will no doubt be looking into. Suzanne Malveaux, good to see you. Thank you for that. Well for the Russia perspective on the story, let's turn to our Matthew Chance in Moscow. Matthew, tell us, what is the reaction to these latest scandal involving Russians and the Trump camp.
[Matthew Chance, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Well, in terms of this meeting in Trump Tower with Donald Trump, Jr., the Russians are trying to distance themselves from it as much as possible. We spoke to the Kremlin's spokesperson earlier on today within the last hour and we said, look, was this woman, this lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, was she sent by the Kremlin to advocate the repeal of the Magnistky Act, which was the act which was imposed by the United States to punish people involved in a massive tax fraud here. And Dmitry Peskov who's the spokesperson for the Kremlin said, look, we don't even know who this person is. We certainly didn't send her and we can't monitor the meeting that Russian lawyers have both in Russia and abroad. And so the Kremlin is trying as much as they can to distance themselves from this. And so that's the situation here and again, the Russians dismissing these continuing allegations of collusions as absurd and as nonsense, Anna.
[Coren:] Well, the Russians trying to distance themselves and is this lawyer. She told the "New York Times" the she wasn't there doing business on behalf of the Kremlin and yet she has very close ties to the Kremlin. What more do we know about her?
[Chance:] She certainly has close ties to companies that do big business in this country and in fact she's been the lawyer for a company that has been based in Cypress, a Russian company that's based in Cypress that's been implicated in trying to launder the proceeds of the Magnitsky fraud $230 million were allegedly taken as part of that fraud by corrupt Russian officials. And this company she represented was trying allegedly to launder it. So, it may be in that capacity that she went to New York and lobbied for the repeal of this law because it would have affected her clients directly rather than the Kremlin. It just happens that her client and the Kremlin have a similar aim and a similar interest in this act being lifted. But certainly, she's been linked she's a high profile lawyer here in Russia and she's been linked with repeated attacks on this Magnitsky Act and she's become quite a prominent advocate for the repeal, for the drive to repeal the act by the United States.
[Coren:] Matthew Chance in Moscow, we appreciate the insight. Thank you. Meanwhile, the top U.S. diplomat heads to Kuwait to play peacemaker in Qatar's dispute with its neighbors. Rex Tillerson stopped in Istanbul to meet the Turkish president who has criticized the isolation. Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called the move a death sentence on Qatar. And there's another conflict on Tillerson's agenda. Violence in eastern Ukraine. He met with Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko in Kiev and said Russia must do more to aid the fighting. The latest twist in the case of a terminally ill infant as the British high court is set to hear that a new medical option that could prolong his life. Stay with us. And it's the competition before the competition. Paris and Los Angeles are making their final Olympic bids. Paris lost to London in 2012, but can it prove that it has what it takes to host in 2024. That's ahead. A beautiful evening here in Hong Kong as we look out over Victoria Harbor. Welcome back to "News Stream." Well a huge fire broke out over night in London's popular tourist attraction Camden Market. Emergency services say they have put out the flames but a crew remains on the scene to make sure it doesn't reignite. Phil Black has more.
[Phil Black, Cnn Correspondent:] Authorities said the emergency calls started coming in around midnight local time, and there were lots of them because the fire was so visible across a wide area. Images and videos posted to social media give a sense of just how dramatic it looked on the nighttime London skylight. The authorities responded with some force around 70 firefighters, 10 fire engines. They battled the fire for about three hours before declaring that it was out and then working through the morning to ensure there were no issues with any of the smoldering ruins and showing there was no risk the fire could take hold once again. Crucially, there were no reported injuries as a result of this fire. Camden Market is without a doubt one of London's best known market areas. It's very busy during the day but at that time of the night, there would have been very few people around. The human cost here will be in the businesses and livelihood that are affected as a result of the damage that has been caused. There was another large fire, bigger than this, in this same area back in 2008. It took many months for the businesses in this area to recover from the fire on that occasion. The authorities here say it's too early to know precisely what the cause of this fire was. Phil Black. CNN, London.
[Coren:] Well, Paris wants to host the Olympics and in 2024 it may have a chance if it conveys its only competitor, Los Angeles. Well the city has been spending tens of millions of dollars on elaborate shows and promotional events to convince the International Olympic Committee that Paris has the infrastructure, finances and enthusiasm to host the games. Just today, both committees will make their final bid of presentations. Well the French president Emmanuel Macron is throwing his weight behind the Paris bid. Melissa Bell is in Paris with much more, and Melissa, what are Paris' chances of winning the bid?
[Melissa Bell, Cnn Paris Correspondent:] They're actually looking pretty strong, Anna. Of course, we're going to have to wait not just until tomorrow. This will be a crucial phase happening in
[Coren:] Melissa, it has been 100 years since Paris hosted the games so, it seems likely or timely I should say that it goes to them. But, I have to say security must be an issue that perhaps could hamper the bid.
[Bell:] Clearly security will be an issue in France and it could remain in a state of emergency for the time being, will be until autumn. So there are particular set of security concerns that will have to be considered certainly. One of the facts that you mentioned a moment ago, Anna, was enthusiasm. That's one of the crucial things that perhaps give the lady advantage. More people in L.A. backed the L.A. bid that do
[Coren:] Melissa Bell, joining us from Paris. Thank you. Well the British High Court's will hear a new evidence today in the case of the terminally ill infant Charlie Gard. His parents are seeking permission to take their son to the United States for medical care. It comes after a group of doctors say there is an experimental treatment that might help prolong the Charlie's life. Erin McLaughlin joins us from outside the High Court in London. Tell us, the family had exhausted all legal avenues in the U.K. but then late last week, the Great Ormond Street Hospital asked England's High Court to review the case, why the change in heart?
[Erin Mclaughlin, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, the hospital says that there has been a claim of new evidence put forward by two international hospitals not saying the nature of the evidence put forward or the hospitals involved, but clearly they're thinking that this claim is significant enough to want the high court to weigh in on this matter. At the same time though, the hospital is saying that it is not changing its views on this case and a statement that it put out saying, "our doctors have explored every medical treatment including experimental nucleoside therapies. Independent medical experts agreed with our clinical team that this treatment would be unjustified. Not only that, but they and it would be futile and would prolong Charlie's suffering... our view has not changed. We believe it is right to seek the High Court's view in light of the claimed new evidence." And its preliminary hearing that we expect to begin here at the Royal Courts of Justice in some 30 minutes time really comes as the hospital is under increasing international pressure even thought really it's not up to the hospital to decide this case. At this point, this is a legal matter. Nevertheless, over the weekend, the parents of Charlie Gard delivered a petition signed by over 350,000 people calling for Charlie to be able to travel to the United States for treatments. Take a listen to what Charlie Gard's mother had to say.
[Connie Yates, Charlie Gard's Mother:] He's our son. He's our flesh and blood. We feel that we have the right as parents to decide to give him a chance of life. For medication, it's just all medicine, no known negative side effects, you know, there is nothing to lose. He deserves the chance. [END VIDEO CLIP]
[Bell:] And Charlie Gard's parents have received support and help from outside organizations especially coming from the United States. A pro-life organization has helped the family organized that petition that delivered over the weekend. Also U.S. lawmakers weighing in, two Republicans expected to propose legislation that will grant Charlie Gard and his family permanent residency status inside the U.S. Although British legal experts tell me that that would have absolutely no bearing on this case but it does give you the sense, Anna, of the kind of international interests we are seeing and what happens to this baby.
[Coren:] Absolute worldwide attention on this case and we can only try and imagine what those parents must be going through. Erin McLaughlin, joining us from London. Thank you for the update. Still ahead on "News Stream," President Trump's eldest son admits to meeting a Russian lawyer to get information on Hillary Clinton. We'll hear from members of both presidential campaigns. That's after the break.