>> swimmer: oh, we got it. that was amazing. that was incredible. >> anthony: that was unbelievable. on the campaign trail but the election is over. the u.s. president leaves washington behind for friendlier crowds. we will tell you about the rally he held in florida with diehard smotherers. >> spl also ahead, iraqi troops have gun the operation to retake western mossle from isis. we will have a live report. >> live from cnn world headquarters in atlanta. to our viewers here in the united states and around the world, i'm george howell. >> i'm lynda kincaid. "cnn newsroom" starts right now. >> it is 4:00 a.m. on the u.s. east coast. good to have you with us. >> u.s. president, donald trump,

marked his first month in office by returning to a format that helped get him elected. a free-whooeeling campaign styl rally before thousands of supporters in florida. >> he hit many of his populous themes, slamming international trade deals and defending his controversial travel ban and a bitter denunciation of the need ya. let's listen. >> so i want to speak to you without the filter of the fake news. they have become a big part of the problem. they are part of the corrupt system. they have their own agenda and their agenda is not your agenda. in fact, thomas jefferson said, nothing can be believed which is seen in a newspaper. >> indeed, our agenda is just to cover the news.

>> we are going to get more from athena jones in melbourne, florida. where it was like a flashback to campaign 2016. it was an extension, paid for by the campaign. the white house described it as a campaign rally, asked why he was doing a campaign event so early in his presidency, the president told reporters, life is a campaign, making our country great again is a campaign. what was interesting here was that here you had the president repeating a lot of the same rhetoric we heard on the campaign trail, a lot of the same arguments we heard a few days ago at that epic conference on thursday laying out some what he views as his administration's great accomplishments. he falked about the five-year ban on lob big and this travel ban and the need to keep america safe. it is not unusual to see a president go out on the road early in his press dwenidency t

something. president trump wasn't pushing one specific policy like the stimulus package in 2009 when president barack obama first took office. he did try to sell one thing. he tried to urge democrats on capitol hill to cooperate with republicans to pass his agenda. take a listen. >> it is also time for the senate democrats to take responsibility for obamacare and to work with us to replace it with new reforms that reverse this nationwide health care tragedy. it is a tragedy. it is unaffordable. it doesn't work. i said to the republicans, you want to do something great politically, don't do anything. sit back for two years, let it explode. the democrats will come and beg for us to do something but we can't do that to the american people. we have to fix it.

and we will. we need members of both parties to join hands and work with us to pass a $1 trillion infrastructu infrastructure plan to build new airports and tunnels, and highways all across our great nation. >> he was urging bipartisan cooperation to get the things done he wants to get done. the democrats have indicated they are interesting in working with republicans on an infrastructure package, one more yar where he called on democrats to cooperate with republicans was to approve his nominee to replace anton anyoin scalia, ju neal gorsuch. this was very much something he was looking forward to doing. he said early on he wanted to get around the media filter to talk directly to the people and it was clear that this crowd really ate it up. these are people who had been standing in line for hours,

very, very interesting and campaignlike event here. >> cnn's athena jones reporting there for us. >> the first lady of the united states, melania trump, has not often been seen publicly since her husband became president. on saturday, she stepped up to the presidential podium in a knee-high red dress, greeted with a rousing applause. >> the first lady led the crowd in prayer and spoke about what she and her husband hope to accomplish during his presidency. >> it gives me honor and great pleasure to stand here before you as the first lady of the united states. the america we envision is one that works for all americans and where all americans can work and succeed, a nation committed to a greater civility and unity

between people from all sides of the political divide. i will always stay true to myself and be truthful to you no matter what the opposition is saying about me. >> president trump also invited one of his supporters to join him on stage and take the microphone at the florida rally. jane hubo, wearing a donald trump t-shirt, hugged the president and spoke briefly. he told the crowd, i and other supporters are why mr. trump won the election. he said the president is keeping the promises he made during the campaign. people later spoke with pamela brown. >> i would just say, president trump, i want to thank you so much for giving me this opportunity to come on stage like that. mr. president, i have been with you for two years. you probably heard this, every single second, every day. i am with you. i have got a six-foot cardboard box of president trump in my

house. i salute that every single day. i pray and tell him, mr. president, i pray for your safety today. i am not lying. i do that every single day, to the president but it is cardboard. >> let me ask you. you said you have been with him from the very beginning. what is it about his message that has resonated with you? >> it is just way he speaks that is truth. it comes from the heart. that's the most important thing. it comes from his heart and he speaks the truth. that's what we believe and us, our movement believes. just look at this. look what president trump says. there has never been a movement like this ever, ever. i have never been into politics in my life up until president trump came down the elevator. he taught me everything. he taught me everything. >> some people very excited to

see the president. that gentleman salutes a cardboard donald trump. though, not everyone happy about the president's rally. protesters gathered outside the hangar where he was addressing supporters. one spoke to cnn. >> we view our democracy as under attack. we have a president that doesn't stand for the values that this country was founded on. we have kids at our schools that are afraid to show up because they are afraid of the government that 48% of this country elected. the power that he has and the power that the republican-controlled congress has is less than the power that we collectively v the only way to prove that is by coming out and showing up. it went very well. this is a half mile of people lined up. we made our point. we are going to stand up and demand every person be protected by the law. i did knock on door force hillary clinton. i went to rallies.

i did my part. hopefully, next time, we will be good. >> what was clear during the campaign, again clear at this particular rally after the president, now president, was holding a campaign rally. there are two different americas, one that supports the president and one that is very much against the president. we see that play out again. >> it is very passionate on both sides. political analyst, ellis hanikny joins us from new york. >> the question is, what did it achieve? >> it revved up the crowd. he has found in the first month of governing, that's pretty hard to actually get stuff done. he is criticized very energetically. there are protests greeting him when he travels about. the senate and congress are not

quite as cooperative as he hoped. some of his own appoint toees a standing there. he likes standing in front of a crowd roaring and he is pretty good at it. >> he said it was his opportunity to get around the media filter and talk to the people directly. time and time again, president trump has cited things that are not true. he calls them fact. in this rally, he mentioned something about an incident in sweden. there was no incident in sweden. >> you look at what's happening in germany, what is happening last night into sweden. sweden, who would believe this? they took in large numbers that are having problems like they never thought possible.

>> there was talk on fox need of allegations of violence committed by refugees in sweden. what can be done given be that the president will scream fake news in many cases but he seems to make up news as he goes along. >> it is a big question for those of us that work in the media, george. i think the only answer is that we have to do our jobs. we should just keep reporting it, keep checking the facts. there was no terror attack in sweden decide what the president just said. i think old-fashioned journalism may be at stake here. >> according to the latest opinion polls, donald trump has the lowest approval rating of any new president ever. monday is a public holiday, called presidents' day. this year, it is being called not my president's day by

protesters who are planning to rally. where were these people on election die? >> it is a question a lot of democrats are asking. first of all, many of them did show up, sometimes you can still feel passionate even when you lose an election. these what hoops when you don't get enough people to the polls. donald trump got about 3 million fewer votes nan hillary clinton. here he stands before us as our president. i guess we all need to get used to it. >> the president called the 9th circuit court judges, calling them so unfair for suspending his travel boon. he told the crowd that his administration would be doing something in a couple of days. trump on stage blaming the

judges. taking punches at the media, describing the media as his enemy. how does this help gain support? his approval rating is around 40%. >> you are absolutely right. >> unless he comes up with some new strategy to broaden that support, to go beyond that core base, it is very hard to imagine how he will ever be able to build a large coalition. if you just keep focusing on the folks that brought you there, eventually, they too, at least some of them, begin to peel away. i love melania's words in that introduction about appealing to all people and creating this new civil tone. maybe she can talk to her husband about that a little bit. >> maybe she will. >> good luck with that, right? >> ellis, thank you so much for being with us. >> good to see you guys.

>> the other story we are following, the u.s. department of homeland security says it will release new guidance on president trump's immigration and border security executive orders. details are contained in several memos from homeland security john kelly. the guidelines would make it more difficult to seek asylum in the united states. that would also allow for substantially more undocumented immigrants to be detained and for more of them to be deportd quickly with limited court proceedings. this is not final and could be revised before it is officially issued. the extremist muslim cleric convicted in the 1993 world trade center bombing has died. prison officials in north carolina says umar abdel ramen, also known as the blind chic, died saturday morning. he was serving a life sentence in the new york attack that killed six and wounded more than 1,000 others.

>> a prominent figure in the u.s. abortion movement has passed away, norma mccorevy was the anonymous plaintiff in the roe versus wade supreme court decision that legalized the right to an abortion. she later changed her stance becoming active in anti-abortion causes. she died of heart failure at the age of 69. the battle for mosul has intensified. we have the latest to reclaim the city from isis ahead. also, a new twist in the death of kim jong-un's brother, kim jong nam. they are searches for information in this murder mystery. stay with us. if you have medicare

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the battle for mosul is intensifying. they are trying to gain control from isis. they have recap yurd the eastern part of the city. >> iraq's prime minister called the operation a new dawn and chapter for the city's per racial. he met with u.s. vice-president, mike pence at a security

conference in munich on saturday. they discussed counter terrorism and the fight against isis. let's go to ben wedeman following developments. explain how significant in battle is. is it the final phase to drive out isis from iraq. >> reporter: there are still a variety of phases to go. it is critical in retaking the a city isis took over in 2014. the pin ish tiff came frinitiat prime minister at 7:00 from baghdad. this is what he had to say. >> translator: we are announcing the start of a renews of recovering nineveh operations. to liberate the right side as we

had liberated other areas. we call on our brave troops to start the push to liberate the rest of the city from the oppression and terrorism of daesh. >> reporter: it was clear this was coming. in western mosul as well as an intensification of artillery bombardment. overnight, the iraqi air force dropped millions of leaflets over the western part of the city calling on those duped by isis to lay down their arms and surrender and warning civilians to stay inside their homes as this operation progresses and to put white flags outside to indicate there are civilians inside. it is the civilian that is are a real cause of concern in this operation. they are anywhere between 650 and 800,000 civilians in the

western part of the city. they are already in dire circumstances given a shortage of food. only a few hours of electricity a day. there is a shortage of medicine, of safe drinking water as well and now they are in the cross fire as this battle progresses. now, we understand from the iraqi military that iraqi forces are approaching the western side of the city from four axsis from the south and the southwest. their first target is to regain control of mosul's airport and the military base nearby. this will be a very long, difficult and bloody operation. >> thank you. russia says a new cease-fire is set to begin monday in

eastern ukraine. >> russia foreign minister, sergei lavrov made that announcement on saturday after meeting with top diplomats from france, germany and ukraine. the truce follows a violent flare-up between pro-russian rebels and ukrainian troops. it came the same day the u.s. vice-president mike pence met with petra porchenko. >> the united states will continue to hold russia accountable as we search for common ground which president trump believes it be found. >> ivan watson, good to have you with us. let's talk about this particular cease-fire. will this hold or might this be like others have become before it? >> i think we will just have to

see. it was just about a week and a half ago that we were reported about another cease-fire after a really deadly flare-up in fighting that had killed scores of combatants as well as civilians. the timing is very interesting. as the cease-fire was being put out, the creme lit r lykremlin t an order that they would recognize identification cards in east ukraine where the war has been raging. reaction from the ukrainian government was swift condemnation, accusations coming from the foreign ministry, from the president that this effective effectively throws out the peace process that the ukrainians have been engaged in with european backing with the russian

government. and that this is the beginning of an official recognition by moscow of the separatists regions. we haven't heard yet of response to the russian government to that accusation. if you want to read the tea leaves here, we are looking at a stwe tweet coming from a prominent lawmaker. the translation says with the recognition of passports from donetsk and luhansk, moscow let's everybody know that the pressure on the ukrainian question won't give any results. that the u.s. vice-president and the secretary of defense have had against russia over the ukrainian issue over the course of the past week.

>>? a russia that is testing its limit with the new president and also with nato re-assessing really where it stands, how strongly it's allies will hold ground in situations like this? >> perhaps. certainly, we have heard from the russian foreign minister addressing this international security conference on saturday. he declared that the post cold war world order was over. basically, the system that's kind of been in place ever since the end of the soviet union with the u.s. as a unipolar world if you have it. he was declareing that over and it could be interpreted that this move, perhaps, is a way to task or respond certainly to some of the criticism that moscow has come under from the new trump administration, from certain new officials in recent days. george? >> ivan watson, live in moscow. thanks for the report.

>> still to come, the u.s. says an aircraft carrier, south of the china sea. >> we will show you how china is reacting. >> live from atlanta to viewers across the united states and around the world, this is "cnn newsroom." and my life is basketball.west, but that doesn't stop my afib from leaving me at a higher risk of stroke. that'd be devastating. i took warfarin for over 15 years. until i learned more about once-daily xarelto®... a latest-generation blood thinner. then i made the switch. xarelto® significantly lowers the risk of stroke in people with afib not caused by a heart valve problem. it has similar effectiveness to warfarin. warfarin interferes with vitamin k and at least six blood-clotting factors. xarelto® is selective. targeting one critical factor of your body's natural clotting function. for people with afib currently well-managed on warfarin, there is limited information on how xarelto® and warfarin compare in reducing the risk of stroke.

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welcome back to our viewers in the united states and around the world. you are watching "cnn newsroom." i'm lynda kincade. >> i'm george howell. >> the operation to retake

western mossul from isis, the iraq prime minister called it a new dawn and a new chapter in the liberation of mosul. the last p strong hold in iraq. vice-president mike pence has made a visit to the nazi concentration camp. thousands of jews and other prisoners from held there and killed during world war ii. >> several memos on president trump's immigration and border security efforts. it would mike it more difficult to seek asylum and substantially more undocumented immigrants to be detained and for them to be deported faster with limited court proceedings. u.s. president donald trump was in front of a cheering crowd

in florida. he told them that news accounts in his administration are not true. he insisted the white house is running, as i quote, so smoothly. china is not happy about a u.s. deployment to the tssouth china sea. a carrier strike group began routine operation ns ts in the . >> it includes the "u.s. carl vinson." they asked them not to challenge sovereignty and security in the area. it comes amid growing tensions between the united states and china. our cnn money emerging markets editor, john, let's talk about the u.s. commitment there. >> in fact, the u.s. is sending stronger signals when it comes

to asia, at lease the strategically and particular when it comes to the geopolitical flash point of the south china sea. note that they are taking the lead in this exercise demonstrating the capabilities that they have and continue to want to demonstrate here in asia. we know, indeed, this yair why has been a geopolitical flashback. james kirby said the u.s. looks forward to demonstrating its capabilities in the region. this is a quote again that he wants to build on stronger relations with allies and friends. in that context, george, it is worth note whing what was consid a very successful bilateral meeting between u.s. president, donald trump and his counterpart, japanese president, shinzo abe.

the u.s. will continue to back japan as they have a territorial dispute with beijing. the u.s. has recognized beijing's one china policy when it comes to the south china sea which handles some $5 trillion in annual trade. it is considered not only strategically important to the allies but also for the u.s. as well, which has backed off on a regional trade pact with ash why but is showing strategically, it wants to remain engaged. >> to push further, you rightly point out that around the same time that the president met with the japanese prime minister, shinzo abe, the united states did officially recognize, through mr. trump, the one china policy. given what has happened here, what has been the reaction, if any, that you have heard there in beijing to this situation. >> the minister of foreign

affairs has been steadfast when it comes to any territorial issues around the south china sea. we did reach out to the ministry not surprisingly not giving a response because it is a sunday but the issue did come up at a press briefing, the daily press briefing of the ministry on friday, a day before the exercise has started. china has suggested it opposes any country's attempt to undermine its sovereignty and security in the name of freedom of navigation, the right for navigation and the flow-over for airplanes as well. china sees this as a regional concern, a regional thaefrt shou effort that should be handled by its partners and without the intervention of the united states. where it does get tricky, donald trump, although he had original ove overtures to china when he had a call from china and the meeting with japanese prime minister he

did recognize the one china policy. there is an economic concern. washington, in particular, pretty has highlighted the value of the chinese currency, he sees it as undervalued right now and the bilateral trade deficit that the u.s. has with beijing remains stubbornly high. these are all very complex issues and highlighted with the military ics military exercises. >> 5:35 p.m. in beijing. john, thank you so much for the reporting. china says it will suspend all coal imports from north korea starting on sunday. they say the ban will remain in effect until the end of the year. china announced last april that it would ban the imparts to comply with u.n. sanctions connected to pyongyang's nuclear programs. exceptions were allowed for the people's well-being. eve within restrictions, north

korea was china's fourth largest supplier of coal. following the story of the death of the half brother of north korean leader, it is getting more miysterious. police in malaysia are looking for an additional four north korean suspects. they say they fled malaysia the same day that kim jong nam was killed at the airport. one person said she thought she was on a tv prank show and paid to spray a liquid on his face. >> yes, that's right. the more complicated this gets, the clearer somehow the murder mystery becomes too. four suspects who apparently left the country on the same day of the attack from the airport, the police would not say where they went to. this is in a press conference

today held by the inspector general of police there in kuala lumpur. he said the four suspects are north korean men holding civilian passports. that was because many say they were holding diplomatic passports. were they government officials. he said, we won't be called into politics but they were definitely north korean men. these were not the only people named. these were persons of interest. seven new people that they described as wanted men, all of them males. >> seven more people. they are hunting for. saima mohsin, good to have you with us. thank you. yesterday, we brought you the story of a boy who reportedly lost his legs in an air strike in northwestern syria. today, we can tell you that the ten-year-old is in turkey

receiving treatment. >> he got a visit from a young syrian activist. who exposed the autraucities in aleppo to the world. in this video, she calls for help for children still living in the midst of the brutal syrian civil war. >> our thoughts are with him and his family. five people have died in a severe sform severe storm in california. the rain has forced some to evacuate. >> we will tell you where that storm is headed next. >> the best of the showcase showcasing their talents in new orleans. at nba all-star weekend. to bring you some of the pre-game highlights. stay with us. (alarms) where's the car? it'll be here in three...uh, four minutes. are you kidding me? no, looks like he took a wrong turn. don't worry, this guy's got like a four-star rating, we're good. his name is randy. that's like one of the most trustworthy names!

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due to a severe storm. the fierce weather system has caused massive flooding, washing awhich so aaway some roads. thousands have lost power, some forced to evacuate. >> one woman was rescued after her car fell into a sinkhole. parts of northern california are preparing for potential flooding. >> if you keep watching this video, look at that. she is just coming out. that's just incredible. for the latest on this storm's progress, let's bring in our meteorologist, derrick van dam. very intense storm. >> that was a dramatic video that came to us from one of our affiliates, grip tog watch that woman being saved from a 20-foot sinkhole. we talk about nothousands of people being without electricity. late testify numbers, 60,000. this is a big storm. it is still on going for the northern parts of the state. fortunately, the southern parts of california have been released

from the grips of the major parts of the storm. we are going to start to focus our attention on the sacramento valley just outside of san francisco. this is the latest watches and warnings we have right now. by the way, that knee neon greea across central california. that is a flash flood warning valid through sunday morning. let's talk about the impacts into southern kra. there were multiple trees down and sinkhole rescues. the ground is extremely compromised. any additional rainfall could cause more concerns across this area. we will try to highlight what type of weather they can anticipate going forward in the next several days. very wet, saturated environment. in terms of rainfall totals, there were mountainous areas that received 10 inches of rain.

some of the higher population saw 5-6 inches of rain. that is a significant amount of rain since friday. this is a real drought buster. good news but maybe a bit too much too quickly. here is our latest radar across the state of california. much of the west impacted by the storm system. we are in a bit of a lull at the moment. there is more wet weather coming. today, we focus our attention, san francisco to the north near the sacramento valley. that is where we are anticipating the heaviest amounts of precipitation. another 5, perhaps upwards of 10 inches of rainfall to some of the southwest facing mountain ranges. building up that snow pack, which is good news as we head into the spring and summer months. what do we do with that snow? we melt it and use it to help fill our reservoirs for some of our fresh drinking water. look at the big difference in

the drought comparing it to february 7th, a week or so ago and now to a current drought monitor, only 24% of the state actually included within the drought. compare that to 99.7, just about two years ago. this series of storms has done a number on the long standing drought in place across california. we still have high wind advisories stretching northward. look at how much rainfall has saturated this air why for the month of february. we are talk ng soing in some l s locations, 10-15 inches. this is impacting the northern half of the state. these sirries of storms continue to move inland as they pass across central texas. listen up. if you are located across this region, perhaps dallas to the wichita falls region, tornado, large hail, damaging winds.

very active weather pattern across the united states to say the least. it looks like it is winding down in southern california, northern parts of the state and into texas. that's the big part. >> when you think back, a couple years back, the situation there so different. >> it was dire. a little bit too much too quick. >> still ahead, nba all-star weekend. >> why the big loser will be the city that once had the game in its grasp. stay with us. at if you could tun ings around? what if you could love your numbers? discover once-daily invokana®. it's the #1 prescribed sglt2 inhibitor that works to lower a1c. a pill taken just once in the morning, invokana® is used along with diet and exercise to significantly lower blood sugar in adults with

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van dam s the campaign style event before a friendly audience gave president trump a chance to reclaim his agenda. >> the first few weeks including the rolling out of the travel ban and the firing of michael flynn. >> the crowd was receptive to president trump's defiant populous message blaming a hostile press for his troubles in washington. >> we are not going to let the fake news tell us what to do, how to live or what to believe. we are free and independent

people and we will make our own choices. you want a government that keeps its promises. a great spirit of optimism is sweeping and you see it. it is sweeping all across the country. look at what's happening to the stock market. look at what's happening to every poll when it comes to optimism in our country. it is sweeping across the country. >> the two older sons of president trump inaugurated a golf course in dubai. the first project with the trump brand to be launched since their father became president. trump says he has put his businesses in a trust run by sons, donald jr. and eric. >> some say it is not enough to avoid potential conflicts of interest. mr. trump still hasn't released his tax returns the best basketball player in the world is set to put on a show at the nba all-star games

sunday night. there is more to the weekend than the games. >> always a fan favorite. a saturday night slam-dunk contest. glenn robinson, the third of the end yoon indiana pacers and derek jones of the suns battled it out and robinson walked off with the coveted trophy. >> we can, of course, wasn't it supposed to be in charlotte, north carolina, moved to new orleans, because of the controversial state law. p we have the report. >> reporter: in charlotte, the streets aren't exactly bare this weekend but the plan was for uptown to be booming, which is exactly how to describe the scene in new orleans right now. thousands of nba fans and celebrities reveling in the 2017 all-star weekend. >> the dunk contest, three-point contest, stuff like that. >> reporter: the one that was supposed to be in charlotte until the nba yanked it after state lawmakers passed the

so-called bathroom bill or h b-2. >> i was really looking forward to the all-star game being here z in the words of north carolina's governor, this could have been a different weekend. >> it would have been awesome to have been in that atmosphere. >> they estimated that the all-star game would have brought in approximately $100 billion but because of hb-2 which requires all people to use public rest rooms to match the sex on their birth certificate and excludes them from a state-wide nondiscrimination policy. >> i am not a politician. i'm a businessman. for me, i take my personal beliefs and all this stuff out of it, for me, it is just dollars and cents. >> jeff wakem owns the restaurant not far from where the game was supposed to be played. >> my guess, we probably would have quadrupled our sales.

>> in a state where basketball is a religion. for many, it is frustrating. >> i was excited to have it here. now that it has moved away, i honestly couldn't care less about it. >> others say that while they were excited about the all-star weekend, it is not worth compromising their values. >> you have to stick by what you believe in. you can't compromise your kids safety. you can't put a dollar value on that. i don't put a dollar value on that. politicians will, the mayor may. >> reporter: they have. hundreds of millions are said to have been lost because of businesses refusing to expand and relocate to north carolina. the ncaa pulling seven championship events from the state and the north carolina sports association sent aler out saying unless hb-2 is repealed, they could remove all events through 2022. >> i hear they are trying to turn it around, maybe. >> reporter: while several bill that is would repeal hb-2, none

have passed the republican controlled legislature. as far as the all-star game is concerned, this weekend belongs to the big easy. the nba says thoo if the law changes, charlotte could be hosting its own big party in 2019. >> i also want to tell you about a story that we are following in florida, florida's kennedy space center, a dramatic launch countdown. it came down to the last few seconds only to reach a disappointing conclusion. >> dragon, verify. the dragon is imported. >> definitely not the words you want to hear during a rocket launch. spacex scrubbing the planned launch because of a technical issue. the rocket was to carry a spacecraft packed with more than two tons of cargo and science experiments to the international space station but it is okay. spacex will try again on sunday. >> try again for sure. >> thanks for being with us. i'm george howell.

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u.s. president, donald trump, playing to a crowd in florida. iraqi forces launch a new offensive to take a part of mosul. new clues in the death of kim jong nam, the half brother of north korea's leader. searching for four more suspects. welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm lynda kincade. >> i'm george howell from cnn world