text listen5 to 500500 today. ♪ ♪ the u.s. president weighs in on british politics just hours before he heads to the united kingdom. the president's trip includes a rare state visit with the queen. the last time the two met, mr. trump broke royal protocol. we'll talk with a royal expert about what is and what is not accepted. also ahead this hour, liverpool football club kings of europe for a sixth time. the reds dominated tottenham in all english champions league final. live from cnn world headquarters in atlanta, we want to welcome your viewers from here in the united states and all around the world. i'm george howell. cnn "newsroom" starts right now.

just hours before the u.s. president heads to the united kingdom, the mayor of london is lashing out against donald trump, sadiq khan never held back his criticism of mr. trump and in the new op-ed in the observer he says the following -- donald trump is one of the most egregious examples of a growing global threat. the far right is on the right around the world, threatening our hard-won rights and freedoms and the values that we have defined our liberal democratic societies for more than 70 years. khan also says mr. trump's divisive behavior flies in the face of the ideas which america was founded and said it would be unbritish to roll out the red carpet for him ncht in the meantime, the president kicked off his own controversy by comments he made to a british newspaper on british politics especially that issue of brexit. mr. trump's interview with the

sunday times he again praised the foreign secretary boris johnson on his bid to become prime minister. he criticized the outgoing prime minister theresa may and her negotiations on brexit and as a matter of advice, mr. trump insisted he would never pay the $50 billion price tag to leave the european union. listen. well, if i were them, i wouldn't pay $50 billion. that's a big number. i wouldn't pay $50 billion. that's me. i'm only saying this from my stand point, i would not pay that. that's a tremendous number. >> some of these candidates are saying they would walk away if they don't get what they want. others are disagreeing. presumably you think -- >> if they don't get what they want, i would walk away, yes. this is their decision. you're just asking my opinion. i would not -- if you don't get the deal you want, if you don't get a fair deal, when you walk away. >> let's go live to london, our phil black following the story. phil, it is common knowledge the president of the united states

is no fan of the mayor of london and vice versa. sadiq khan is making his feelings quite plain and clear in this new op-ed. >> that's right. sadiq khan has disagreed with donald trump on his politics for some time. they began feuding in twitter in 2016. sadiq khan says this state visit should not be happening. there should be no red carpet treatment because he argues that donald trump's views, his policies, while he says they are not compatible with british values. he says the president deliberately uses an aphobia, racism and others as a tactic and describes him as the figure head of a global far right movement which he says is a growing threat around the world built on using the same tropes as fascists used in the 20th century. now, there's no doubt this is a divisive visit, a controversial visit because sadiq khan is not

the only senior politician in this country that believes and argues strongly it shouldn't be happening. the leaders of main opposition party, they made it clear they will deliberately stay away from the state bank wet at donald trump where he'll be the honored guest. >> president trump also made his feelings known about british politics, including the outgoing prime minister and those who he sees as strong contenders to lead the uk through brexit. tell us how those comments are being received. >> tradition dictates, george, that the tone for these state visits should be polite, respectful and without controversy and tradition dictates that the host does not get involved in the domestic affairs of -- the guest does not get involved in the domestic affairs of the host country. as you touched that president trump has defied that tradition

by getting involved, injecting himself into the biggest political issues in the uk at this time. criticizining teresheresa may's handling of the brexit and endorsing one of the contenders, boris johnson. in terms of how they're being received, i wouldn't say with a great deal of surprise because he did the same thing when he was here on a working visit just last year, but this is a different time, a more sensitive time. britain is truly in a state of political turmoil. the coming conservative leadership contest is not just about who will lead the conservative party, it is choosing the next prime minister of this country. there is enormous potential here for president trump to not just further upset convention but create controversy and risk creating something of a difficult moment for the british government as this state visit unfolds, george. >> phil black with the reporting.

phil, thank you. let's talk more about it now and get perspective with scott lucas, scott, a professor founder and editor of ea world view. good to have you with us, scott. >> good morning, george. >> good to be with you. president trump will undoubtedly be a welcome figure for some who support him there and in this op-ed it appears that mayor sadiq khan is engaging those who oppose president trump's politics, this quote says this -- rather than bestowing trump with a grand platform of acceptability to the world we should be speaking out and saying this behavior is unacceptable and poses a grave threat to the values and principles we have fought hard to defend often together for decades. so scott, sleerly this will be a divisive state visit in a politically divided country. >> oh, absolutely. let's talk about sadiq khan's comments and go to the wider issue, which is that donald

trump and his inner circle are interfering in british domestic politics in a way we have not seen that is unprecedented. the mayor of london, i prefer to stick with the facts or the views he put out rather than sort of the big hyperbolic headlines. what he said is look, donald trump has certain views of ethnic, race but religious minorities. these are not views where he has insulted them. he has pursued certain politics, putting a ban on muslims from entering the united states, absolving white supree ining su. he's called our country here a no-go zone, trying to whip up islam phobia and what sadiq khan is saying this isn't just views. these have links to some of the policies being pursued by hard right you might say far right

policies in europe from hungary to france to italy. is this the type of future that we want? what he said is this is not a criticism of the united states. america is our friend. but sometimes you have to speak honestly to friends. i think that's the starting point. but beyond that which we can talk about is donald trump and his inner circle are trying to get boris johnson in as the next british prime minister because they see johnson as a lever for their views not only to influence britain but possibly to break up the european union. >> president trump does praise boris johnson and see him as many other conservatives see him as the next prime minister. he is supportive of nigel firaj. so will his presence there, scott, will it give a shot of energy to that side? >> it might give a shot of energy but it's going to do so in escalating a battle which

could further polarize this country. let's be clear, this wasn't just off the cuff comments from donald trump. this wasn't one of his spontaneous thought bubbles. ten months ago he and his advisers launched a campaign to undermine the british prime minister and put boris johnson into office. i say that baz of the headquarters set up in london with steve bannon. he met with representatives of nigel firah and boris johnson. this campaign was launched then which is what can we do to promote our people? and why are they doing that? steve bannon is explicit, he does not believe there should be a european union and donald trump has tried to point advisers who openly called for the breakup of the 28 countries. and beyond that, why? because if there is a hard

brexit, if we crash out of europe, trump and his advisers think they can get a u.s./uk trade deal not because they want to be nice to us because they can use it as leverage to get the terms they want. >> and scott, just pointing out, we do not have that reporting about the office that's allegedly been set up there in the united kingdom. but certainly steve bannon has been vocal about his candidates across europe. theresa may, you'll remember these comments that president trump made the day that she announced that she was to resign the prime minister. let's listen. >> i feel badly for mrs. may. she worked very hard. she's very strong. she decided to do something that some people were surprised at. some people weren't. it's for the good of her country. but i like her very much. in fact, i'll be seeing her in two weeks. >> all right. now, that meeting much closer and mr. trump in these comments

to the newspaper he criticized theresa may. so what's it got to be like for theresa may to welcome this president as one of her last duties as prime minister? >> she'll have a very forced smile on her face. she will be cordial. but she is a lame duck prime minister. she's out on friday. she knows that. donald trump knows that. and the hope for theresa may is, look, there's nothing more she can do. her time is over. and the real question is whether this trip passes with a minimum of controversy, hi, donald, good to see you. let's send you off to portsmouth for the d-day celebrations. or whether trump goes off script. if he goes off script, theresa may will have to work very hard to maintain that forced smile but more importantly there will be a lot of people beyond her will be unsettled for what that means for our fooch. >> scott lucas, thank you.

>> thank you. ♪ now to virginia beach, virginia, where grief and heart break in this community certainly apparent as people struggle to understand why a long-time city worker went on a deadly shooting spree. a memorial service is set up thursday for the 12 victims, all but 1 were city employees. four other people remain in hospital. the gunman also died, his family posted a note of condolence to the victims. but they told cnn that they were not aware their son had any work-related problems. without clear-cut answers, the city can only mourn at this point. virginia's governor ordered state flags to be lowered to half-staff. president trump ordered all u.s. flags lowered as well. the city's mayor vowed to help virginia beach to move past the

tragedy. >> we will not be defined by this horror. we are a city of resell yensy and resolve. the true character of our city is going to rest with our public, our citizens and our neighbors, that we share borders with. >> dozens of fbi agents have now taken over collecting evidence in the case. federal investigators say the shooter used two handguns in the crime. >> working with virginia beach police department we identified two weapons used in the shooting yesterday. both weapons are 45 caliber pistols. one was purchased in 2016, one was purchased in 2018. both pistols were purchased by the shooter and all indications are they were purchased legally. >> if police know the motive, they're not saying at this point. we do know the shooter was a certified engineer in the public utilities department and had been with the city for about 15 years.

co-workers say he was generally a quiet person who revealed no clues about what he was about to do. historic flooding bearing down on the state of arkansas. a town in that state and flood levels are still rising. plus, redemption time for liverpool. we're live in madrid with details on their victory in the champions league final and what makes it extra sweet for the reds. stay with us. termites. we're on the move. hey rick, all good? oh yeah, we're good. we're good. terminix. defenders of home.

♪ for the sixth time in its history, liverpool has won the champions league final. the reds beat the european league rivals tottenham, 2-0, saturday in madrid. mohammed salah converted an early penalty and they scored in the final few minutes of the match to steal the victory there. now headed to a victory parade in their hometown later on sunday. let's bring in amanda davis joining us in madrid with the very latest. amanda, liverpool were the favorites and surely the fans were over the moon about that big win? >> reporter: yeah, absolutely, george. well deserved just deserved reward really for all those tens of thousands of fans we had been

talking about this week who traveled here to madrid. the majority of them without a ticket. they just wanted to be here because they felt that this was liverpool's year to win their first champions league trophy since 2005. really make amends for that disappointment 12 months ago when they were beaten in the decider. >> i think we may have just lost amanda there. but again a big win for liverpool. fans certainly arrived there from around the world from madrid. some arrived without tickets. tickets costing anywhere around $30,000, but certainly worth it for a lot of people who got to experience that big moment. arkansas now, trying to hold on after great flooding that took place there. you see the images here. a levy near the town breached after weeks of storms. residents are being asked to get out, get out of the way, just to be safe.

cnn's natasha chen says hundreds of homes are in jeopardy. >> reporter: it took about a week for the water to rise to this level and now we're seeing barricades all along the arkansas river warning people not to go in. this, however, is typically a part where people tell me they come here on sundays after church to eat their lunch. now you can't see where a play set or the swing set is supposed to be. and if you pan over to the right a little bit, you'll see a lot more light poles. those are supposed to shine down on basketball courts and we can't even see the top of those hoops right now. this is an unprecedented, historic event for the local officials to try and figure out how to mitigate the disaster. we spoke to senator tom cotton earlier who told us this is a devastating thing to see in his hometown. >> you can see the volume of water that's flowing through this damn, the immense flooding of this historic flood just south of garden we had a levy breech unfortunately which may flood some of southern gardenel.

gives you a sense of the scale of this natural disaster we had here in the arkansas river valley. >> reporter: we took a helicopter tour earlier to take a look at that levy breach. that opening was larger than it was a day ago and right now the water is covering the farm fields. a lot of farmers are looking at their financial future with a lot of concern. people are helping each other out here, but a lot of folks have also voluntarily evacuated their homes. there are hundreds of homes threatened not just by flooding but some of them are inaccessible because of road closure closures. this water could take weeks to recede. natasha chen, cnn. >> natasha on the ground. derek van damme here to tell us about what's going on and what's to come. >> there are 70 river gauges

reporting major flooding from north dakota all the way to louisiana, touching ten different states, that's the entire mississippi and arkansas river valley and that's an area that has just been seeing this unprecedented flooding, which you saw just a moment ago on your tv screens. i want to show you what a broken levy looks like because this is quite incredible. ominous to also see, you can imagine this is creating an inland sea, an inland ocean almost where the water is now seeking areas across outside of that levy. the arkansas river alone has had five different locations set all time record crests. in fact, in st. louis, the mississippi river expected to crest next week around 46 feet, the second highest level on record. some areas of northern oklahoma through central kansas have received 300 to 400% of their average may monthly rain fall totals. this is incredible amounts of rainfall. so, check out these predicted crest dates over the next few days. you can see how as we head into

the first week of june, just like we have been expecting, we have a crest at several different locations which will set additional records. now, all these little plots you see across the mississippi and arkansas river valley, these are river gauges. we highlighted the colors with purple, red and orange to indicate major, moderate and minor flooding. look at that. you can trace it across the north, all the way to the gulf of mexico where eventually the water spills out. take, for example, the arkansas river at van buren, for instance. it's been at such a high level for so many days now, over 40 feet. it is expected to drop, but you can see that it's still under major flooding at the moment, well above its flood stage. unfortunately there's a bit of bad news here. we had a lull in the rainfall. there is additional rainfall today and then as we head into the second half of next week, this is when it really starts to pick up in intensity, some of the hardest hit areas from flooding will see more rain bringing us the potential for

more flooding, eventually as that water starts to filter right downstream to the mississippi river again. this is from the weather prediction center. that area of yellow, southern kansas, texas to oklahoma panhandle is a slight risk of flash flooding valid from sunday into monday across that area. and as we see more thunderstorms build up through the course of the week, you better believe that will get continued as well. i want to talk about something else, this is the atlantic basin hurricane season. we have 60% chance from a tropical wave moving off the yucatan peninsula. look how this thing moves, ominous to see that rotation, right? we don't like to see that. kind of similar to what a tropical system would look like. this is where we would expect tropical development across the gulf of mexico and unfortunately all of our rainfall totals here showing our heaviest of rainfall anywhere from tompiko.

our interest in the southern sections of texas, the united states we have to pay attention to this because exactly where this goes, time will tell. the potential exists for this to impact the u.s. let's talk about what noaa put out for their forecast for hurricanes because they do this prior to the hurricane season. they are expecting an average season but still six hurricanes, three could be major that's what they believe will happen and they take a lot of considerations into play how warm the ocean water is, the water currents, et cetera. and so that means we could have ourselves a busy, active hurricane season, even if it is average, we don't want to see six hurricanes. right? >> i think that's the cue for you and i to grab the raincoats. >> get them ready. >> thank you. still ahead here on news room, promp, ceremony and blunders. we look at the hits and miss when u.s. presidents meet with the queen. to go to the post office they have businesses to grow customers to care for lives to get home to

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♪ welcome back to viewers here in the united states and around the world, you're watching cnn "newsroom" mm i'm george howell. the u.s. president donald trump is making waves ahead of his trip to the united kingdom. in an interview with the "sunday times" he said the uk should not pay the $50 billion price tag to leave the eu. he praised the brexit party leader nigel firaj. london's mayor is lashing out against president in the new op-ed calling him one of the most egregious examples of a growing global threat. emmet flood will leave his post later this month. he was brought to help president trump on issues tied to the

mueller report and represented bill clinton during his impeachment process in the 1990s. israel says this video shows its strike saturday against syrian targets including artillery and air defense. three soldiers were killed in another strike. exchange started when israel says rockets were fired from syrian territory towards the golan heights. the city of virginia beach, virginia, will hold a memorial service thursday remembering the 12 people who were killed in friday's mass shooting. all but one were city employees. four other victims remain in hospital, three in critical condition. a police officer injured in the shooting with the gunmen is back home and said to be doing well. gun violence is emerging as a major issue in the 2020 presidential race. so is impeaching president trump, another issue, democrats have been taking on both topics this weekend at their california state convention.

cnn is at that gathering of presidential contenders in san francisco. >> reporter: the day after the virginia beach shooting, many of the 2020 presidential candidates did speak to reporters sharing their thoughts about the shooting and gun violence. but it was senator cory booker that made gun violence the centerpiece of his speech that he delivered to california democrats. >> it is time for us as a nation not to normalize the violence and the carnage of gun violence. >> reporter: the candidate who received perhaps the longest and most sustained applause from this crowd was elizabeth warren, as she said, that the party needed to steer away from small steps forward. she made the argument for a push for progressive values. >> about how you should settle for little bits and pieces instead of real change. they're telling you something important. they're telling you they will not fight for you.

not me, i'm here to fight. >> reporter: this convention is unabashed, progressive politics on display, it sauchb more to the left than the voters of california. so when speaker nancy pelosi began to deliver her remarks and talked about the president and the mueller report, every time she paused there were cries of the word impeach. john hickenlooper was booed by this progressive crowd as he warned democrats that if they move too far to the left, they would not defeat trump. there was an alarming moment for senator kamala harris at the move-on event happening at the same time as the california party convention. a protester jumping the stage as she spoke. >> hey, hey, hey. hey, hey, hey. >> harris's campaign says she is fine. she was able to continue with her remarks. that protester was led away. now most of the 2020 candidates

did already speak on saturday. the big name on sunday bernie sanders. kyung lah, san francisco. president trump heads to europe late sunday evening. his first stop will be the uk and a rare state visit there. the queen will welcome the president and first lady. there will be pomp, there will be ceremony and of course there will be the highest level of protocol during the visit. or will there? you'll remember mr. trump's last visit there, that was the time that he walked in front of the queen as protocol goes, that's a big no-no. but he's not the only person to run into blunders. for instance, in 2009, there was that moment when michelle obama put her arm around the queen. also, the time when former president obama started delivering a toast while the british national anthem was playing. and you'll remember that moment at the white house when president bush implied that the

queen was much older than she was. listen. >> the american people are proud to welcome your majesty back to the united states. a nation you've come to know very well. after all you've dined with ten u.s. presidents. you helped our nation celebrate its by centennial in 1976. she gave me a look that only a mother could give a child. >> no one better to get insight about what's proper and what's not than royal commentator richard fitzwilliams. good to have you. >> interesting to see george w. correct himself. apparently went at the queen after his gaffe. now, that is certainly not etiquette. >> don't wink at the queen. i'm writing that down.

yes, not etiquette. richard, look, previous mistakes by previous presidents, previous first ladies, how would you advise this white house, this president to prepare for a visit with the queen? >> well, absolutely impossible to give donald trump advice because firstly he never takes it and secondly he doesn't do a rehearsal or you wouldn't have had -- you just shown the clip of the embarrassing moment when he strayed in front of the queen when at windsor. he was inspecting the cold stream guards, the guard of honor. the facts are that he simply isn't interested in what one would call the elements of diplomacy and protocol. if he was, he wouldn't have given in last year's july official visit, interview to the son, which was savaging the then prime minister theresa may and this time he's given two interviews, one to the sun, the

other to the sunday times. one interferes with the conservative leadership race as theresa may is about to bow out. she's a lame duck prime minister. and the other deals with a snow deal which he says he would have had regarding brexit. it couldn't pass parliament for one thing. but for another thing, these visits are about goodwill. and this visit surely is about more than donald trump's ego. it's about the commemoration on the fifth, the third day of the visit and of course subsequently when he goes to norman day of the greatish sea born invasion in history, d day 6 oth june 1944 when allied troops began the of europe. >> the president will be taking his family with him to london. richard, will this be an opportunity for them to meet the wider royal family?

>> well, one doubtedly at the state banquet, the duke and duchess of cambridge will be there and prince harry will be at the lunch which the queen is hosting tomorrow for the president. so, the idea that -- because of his mother being scottish, she has a special connection with the united kingdom, i think this is true. of course there is the special relationship. and there's no doubt that he regards this visit as being highly significant. but so far as the initial invitation was given when theresa may rather ill advisedly i thought offered a state visit. it's important to remember that woodrow wilson was the first president to visit in 1918. and he met george the fifth. from that time, there have only been two state visits, george w. bush in 2003 and barack obama in 2011. theresa may offered a state visit in exchange, i think, she

expected trade deal and she thought she would get brexit through. that hasn't happened. so there's a huge question mark in british politics at the moment, but so far as the president is concerned, i think it would be very, very advisable, although he won't take this advice, not to tweet. that is another piece of etiquette that i would recommend. >> not to tweet. we'll see how that fairs, richard. you mentioned the lunch that the president will attend. let's talk a bit more about that. the president's comments to the sun newspaper. mr. trump did say that he thought meghan markle would do excellently, that she would be very good but when told that meghan markle said in 2016 that she would move to canada if president trump became president mr. trump said i didn't know she was nasty. so how do you think that might factor into this meeting, this lunch with mr. trump and prince harry? >> well, i'm happy to say that

there won't be diplomatic difficulty here because, of course; with baby archie born on the 6th of may, meghan is on maternity leave. harry, the duke of sussex will be at the lunch. it's worthwhile remembering that meghan's father thomas markle mentioned that harry said give trump a chance. so, that won't offend him. i mean, obviously he doesn't seem to appreciate the fact that there are those who have very, very strong views about him. look at the mayor of london today in an attack in the observer. and there's no question at all that interfering in british politics has its dangers, so far as the royal family concerned, there's no doubt at all the queen has dealt with -- this will impact her 113th state visit as a host. now, that 13 may well be an

unlucky 13 when it comes to matters dealing with etiquette. you're certainly in uncharted waters when you're dealing with donald trump, but there's no question it has a cachet for him because of course there's the lunch tomorrow and then there is the visit to westminster abby where he lays a wreath on the tomb of the unknown warrior and then of course the state banquet. that he will encourage. he won't get the carriage procession that's normal because of protesters. he also will have a boycott of opposition leaders and won't be addressing parliament, that's very unusual for a state visitor. and also there won't be a banquet in the city, but there will be a business meeting tomorrow on tuesday in sir james' palace. so it will be a different sort of visit. obviously it's being handled so that he doesn't meet or see many protesters. there are likely to be a large number of protests. the royal family will know how to handle this. the queen has seen everybody

from nikola and there's no question nothing will phase her, but so far as the press conference on tuesday is concerned, i think that it will be overshadowed by his interviews, which i think are extremely ill judged from both the sun and the sunday times before he's even set foot here. >> richard fitzwilliams, thank you again for the perspective. we'll see how this plays out. >> thank you. india is racing to find a team of climbers moving in the himalayas. we'll have the latest on the search live from new delhi. stay with us.

♪ search teams headed up one of india's highest peaks are hoping to find eight mountaineers missing in the himalayas. two americans, australian,

indian guide failed to return to base camp a week ago. from new delhi, this is the latest incident coming during a disastrous season for himalayan hikers. >> reporter: a search is under way for eight climbers, four britains, all strustralian and guide. the climbers were attempting to scale the east which stands just over 24,000 feet. in comparison the tallest peak in the world mount everest is 29,000 feet. the eight climbers have been missing since the 25th of may when they isn't show up at the base camp. part of a larger group of 12 people who left for the mountain on the 13th of may. a local official says the trekking company behind the expedition waited a few days before alerting indian authorities who now dispatched multiple search teams to look for the missing climbers. a military aircraft is also expected to be sent up on sunday

to help with the search effort. the news comes on the heels of tragic developments over the border in nepal in recent weeks with the death of 11 climbers on everest this year amid extraordinary images of cues of people waiting to get to the summit. here in india, we don't know yet exactly what happened. we're still waiting to find out whether the climbers went missing during the ascent or descent and what caused their disappearance. >> nikhil, thank you. june is pride month. and it's starting with musician elton john blasting russian film distributors i should say for editing the gay relationship scenes from his buyopic rocket man. ♪ it's a little bit funny, this feeling inside ♪ >> local distributors say the gay sex scenes were cut to

comply with russian legislation that bans so-called gay propaganda in the country. elton john is condemning the censorship and as a gay rights activist himself, he has previously criticized that law. back in 2013, when it was passed, human rights activists called it dangerous and discriminatory. decades after the end of world war ii, biracial children with african-american g-i fathers and white mothers want their stories to be told. details ahead. do you want me to go first or do you want to go first, brea?

you can go first.

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to save 30% on all the medications we carry. so go directly to petmeds.com now. ♪ as countries mark the 75th anniversary of d-day, this coming week, it is important to remember the toll world war ii took on so many lives, including the lives of biracial gi babies. the children fathered by african-american servicewomen and white british mothers were scarred by institutionalized racism. isa soares says they still feel the pain decades later. ♪ >> reporter: when african-american soldiers arrived in britain the second world war, their bravery was instrumental in the war effort. but it was also the start of a story of love, loss and the life

time of searching. >> that is the first one that i can remember my mom showing me of this handsome chap she was so in love with. >> around 2,000 mixed race babies were born between black gis and white british woman. it was torn apart by peace. >> she always spoke with great fondness of my father. she told me that she would have loved to have gone to the states. >> reporter: the u.s. army refused black gis permission to marry their white british girlfriends or make paternity claims. >> reporter: she loved your father, you said. >> yeah, no doubt about it. no doubt about it. i don't think she ever got over him. >> after growing up in a white family, more than 50 years passed before gi baby dave green tracked down and met his black father for the first time in brooklyn.

♪ but many gi babies have never known the love of either of their parents. hundreds of the mixed race and so-called illegitimate babies were put into children's homes. the stigma too much for many mothers to cope in what was then a very white britain. in somerset west england, around 20 mixed race gi babies were raised until they reached the age of 5, at which point they were sent to other homes or adopted. their identity struggles began when they were sent away from other children that looked like them. deborah prior and carol edwards were given up as babies by their mothers and lived together. they both remember their time there fondly. >> there was a group of us that all about the same age. >> yeah. >> all born '44, '45, we were in the cots together. we shared potties together. we played together. that was our family. >> yeah. >> reporter: the pain of never really knowing their birth

parents has defined their lives. >> yet we weren't black. >> as a teenager, i did question who was i? who am i? >> it's like a missing piece. >> reporter: new research for the brook "britain's brown babies" only found one child successfully adopted by his american father. >> this is after their picked me up from the airport and brought me home. i felt very lucky and very fortunate. it was really hard for them to find me. so, that's another unfortunate. >> leon's mother gave up rights to him as a baby, but at the age of 3, his father tracked him down in a children's home and flew him to the united states. he still bears the scars of his mother's choice. >> there's always kind of like a void. and that void will always be there because i never got to meet her. i know as a kid it really hurt me when she left because i have a distant memory of standing in

the corner of a crib crying real hard. >> reporter: leon's questions remain, did she want to give him up or was she forced? many years later he found out where his mother was. she had tragically died two years previously. her gravestone was all he got to see. >> there is just a lot of questions that i wanted to ask her. my sister, you know, gave me this picture. and she also gave me her wedding ring which i wear all the time. and it was one of the best gifts i have ever gotten in my life. ♪ >> reporter: for hundreds of britain's gi babies, distant memories of love offer some comfort. but they will never quench the desire for answers. isa soares, cnn, somerset, england. >> isa, thank you. we end the show this hour with an interesting story of a woman who had a rude wakeup call

early friday morning. she found herself staring at an alligator, 10 feet long that's more than 3 meters complete with a mouth full of fangs and it smashed a window to get inside her home. while the woman was in her bedroom, she hid. she called police who brought in a trapper to drag the creature away. the alligator is now headed to a private alligator farm. how would you feel waking up to something like that in your house? my goodness. thank you so much for being with us for cnn "newsroom," i'm george howell at the cnn center in atlanta. the news continues right after the break. stay with us.

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it's just another way we're working to make your life simple, easy, awesome. go to xfinity.com/moving to get started. london's mayor lashes out at the u.s. president donald trump comparing the rhetoric used by mr. trump to fascists of the 20th century. ahead of the president's visit to the uk. plus, officials in the state of arkansas work to save hundreds of homes there as floodwaters along the arkansas river. trash dumped without permission are being returned to where they came from. the problem with growing trash around the world. live cnn world headquarters in atlanta, welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm george howell,