this is "cnn newsroom." in the u.s., public rage against the trump administration's immigration policy is at a fever pitch. on saturday protestors marched in hundreds of cities from coast to coast. well, they chanted families belong together denouncing the zero tolerance immigration policy that led to the separation of more than 2,000 migrant children from their parents. one of the largest rallies happened just steps away from the white house. president trump signed an executive order to reverse the separation policy last week, and the government is under a deadline to reunite the migrant families. the protesters say it's taking far too long. across the country millions of people shared emotional stories and lent their music to the marches. ♪ everybody's sorry nothing real is happening because nothing is new ♪ ♪ now when all is tragic, i just feel sedated ♪ ♪ why do i feel powerless? is that all i can do ♪ >> we must fight for the values that have made this country the beacon of hope. this cannot happen under our watch. >> even some 17 years later i still remember how it felt when i first cried out for my parents and they couldn't answer. i am here as the voice for thousands of children without one. i am here as a human being. with a beating heart who can feel pain, who understangds compassion and who can easily imagine what it must feel like to struggle the way families are struggling right now. >> we need to rebuild our immigration system from top to bottom starting by replacing i.c.e. with something that reflects our morality. >> my father came to america at age 17 with $400 in his pocket. now he has his own business, a wife, my sister and i, a nice house in a beautiful neighborhood, is a proud american citizen ♪ i'll make the american world sound with you ♪ ♪ we'll come of age with the nation ♪ ♪ we'll plead and make it right for you. we'll fight for you ♪ ♪ we lay a strong enough foundation ♪ >> in downtown los angeles protesters gathered outside a u.s. immigration and customs enforcement building. that's the organization responsible for rounding up undocument the immigrants and catching people who cross the border illegally. a rising chorus of voices is demanding that agency be abolished. california lawmakers who attended the rally took aim at the trump administration and even put themselves in the center of the immigration storm. >> we are better than this. we are better than having these detention facilities that are prisons where we house mothers who have been ripped from their breast feeding children from barbed wired. we are better than this. >> when i know that there are those who are talking about centering me, talking about kicking me out of congress, talking about shooting me, talking about hanging me, all i have to say is this, if you shoot me, you better shoot straight. there's nothing like a wounded animal. >> well, in chicago, protesters encourage each other to fight back against policies they think are unjust. senator dick durbin told cnn's ryan young that the best way for americans to do that is to exercise their democratic rights. >> i'm asking people across the united states, voters, participate. be part of this election. don't stay home and curse the television. sorry. >> yeah. yeah. >> but come on out. use your citizen's right to vote. that's the most important thing. >> besides blaming the trump administration, demonstrators lay some of the blame for the separation of migrant families on the u.s. immigration and customs enforcement agency or i.c.e. as it's known. this was the scene in mccallum, texas, the town right on the u.s. border where one of the agency processing centers red wings. they're saying the migrants are being treated worse than animals. >> for one, they're not animals because anybody who loves animals wouldn't even treat them the way the humans are being treated now. so for the president, make a difference. >> in atlanta, georgia, crowds marched with symbolic props, dolls in cages, representing the children. in portland, oregon, at least five people were injured in confrontations with police. demonstrators and federal officers have been clashing so much so that the i.c.e. agency had to temporarily shut down the office last week. protesters marched a few miles away from president trump's golf course in new jersey. the white house is keeping quiet about the immigration rallies across the u.s. president trump spent part of the day tweeting about them sticking to his zero tolerance policy. he said, when people come into our country illegally, we must immediately escort them back out without going through years of legal maneuvering. cnn's boris sanchez has more from bedminister, new jersey. >> reporter: the white house not putting out an official on the record response saturday to our questions about the nationwide protests against the president's immigration policy. president trump himself did weigh in on immigration via twitter early on saturday morning bashing democrats writing that they wanted to a polish immigration and customs enforcement suggesting at one point that they are an open borders party and drawing a line between the restructuring of i.c.e. that some democrats like new york senator kirsten gillibrand is calling for. no response to the protesters that were near his property in bedminister, new jersey. some 300 or 400 protesters gathered at a library near his property. unclear if the president knew they were there trying to send a message to him. we do know the president has kept busy this week end. he initially told reporters on friday he would spend the weekend interviewing one or two possible nominees for the supreme court following the announcement from justice anthony kennedy earlier this week that he would be retiring. the white house on saturday night put out a statement saying the president was continuing conversations with allies and with white house counsel don mcgann over that replacement but would not confirm any of those meetings took place. we should note president trump on friday told reporters that he had dwindled down an initial list of 25 niems to just five though he would be interviewing with six or seven candidates. boris sanchez, cnn, traveling with the president in bedminister, new jersey. let's get some expert analysis from a teacher of international politics at city university of london. great to have you with us. >> good morning. >> let's start with the emotional scenes we're seeing across the united states. crowds estimated from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands. people are angry. they want firstly those children who were set rated from their parents to be reunited, but they also want a more humane immigration policy. is the white house listening? >> well, i feel the white house is being forced to listen to a degree, and i think the reversal of the executive order about separating children from their mothers and so on, that reversal last weekend cates that they basically have to listen, otherwise, they're going to lose core support as well. you'll recall 40% of republicans over the age of 50 were opposed to that policy, too, so i think president trump has got to listen to those protestors, but i think he's going to try to work his way in so that he doesn't lose that edge which he has among republicans on this question. >> let's talk about the reunification of those families. obviously there was that issue by federal judge earlier this week saying that those children must be reunited with their parents within the next 30 days. the white house has said that's going to be difficult. what does that say as to the administration's plans to actually reunite these children with their parents? >> it suggests that they're going to take a very long time. they're going to drag their feet. these immigration cases can take many months, sometimes longer, and i think what they're doing is they're saying they're going to do it with all due speed or whatever. but i think they're basically going to carry on the policy of detaining children. they may be with their families if they can find them and reunite them but they're going to be detaining whole families, including babies as well. so it's really a continuation of a very, very draconian set of policies which sees all immigrants and particularly undocumented ones effectively as a security issue rather than just people who are really desperate and often applying for asylum or refugee status. >> isn't the problem also the lack of transparency about this program? i mean, you mentioned babies. more than 2,000 children, some of them babies, being separated from their parents. i mean, it doesn't make sense. >> it doesn't make sense in that if you're a human with sensibilities, but it does make sense if you look at the longer history of american immigration policy and its whole redefinition as a security issue. and president trump has ramped up entire rhetoric, but the american people haven't deeply changed their minds about immigrants. they're supportive of greater levels of immigration and those who want to increase it are 77% of the population. it does make that policy that trump is perceiving make sense from the fact that he's inheriting it from the previous administration and they've deported a lot of people. they've been integrating i.c.e. into local, state, federal law enforcement. these immigrants are a security problem, and i think in that regard then it does make kind of sense it's not humane, but it does make political sense overall. >> let me ask you this, how much of a factor, how much of an issue is this going to play at the mid terms in november? >> that's a good question. i think both parties are steering a very, very difficult course here. president trump has got to try to propose the idea that he's against illegals and so on, but without being cruel to them in any way, in order to retain the republican vote, which he probably will retain on the whole. the democrats have got an even more ambiguous position. they have been inherited from the obama administration. if you can get rid of i.c.e. or reform them, three have a victory. i think both parties are going to try to play this issue in november and both of them were trying to galvanize their electorate to come out and vote. i think it's going to be a big issue. which way it goes in the end, it's very, very difficult to say. i certainly can't say at this time. >> many thanks for your insights and thank you for joining us from london. >> thank you very much. well, across the united states, people are demanding humane treatment and even bureaucratic kindness from migrants seeking asylum. we'll have more on the rallies that swept the u.s. on saturday. plus, heavy rains triggered flash flooding and power outages in iowa. your latest forecast after this. y everywhere. so why am i hosting a dental convention after party in my vegas suite? or wearing a full-body wetsuit at this spa retreat? or sliding into this ski lodge with my mini horse kevin? because hotels.com lets me do me, right? sorry, the cold makes him a little horse. hotels.com. you do you and get rewarded. you're wearing a hat. that's funny. despite record high temperatures, protestors in chicago rallied against president trump's immigration policy. the city's fire department helped cool the crowds by spraying water from their trucks. this heat wave is expected to continue through until next week. across the central u.s. and into the northeast. the weather service is warning temperatures will be 10 to 20 degrees above normal. meanwhile, heavy rain and flash flooding devastated parts of the u.s. state iowa. our meteorologist derek van dam joins us with much more on this. derek? >> anna, actually, that floosh flood event in iowa is something that happened overnight. some of the images are first in to cnn. this is the system that's bringing heavy rainfall across the u.s. here's des moines. here's omaha. you can see the incessant rain over the past 12 hours or so. if we put on the observed rainfall totals across this region, this is called polk county where the flooding visuals came from a moment ago. we have had reports of stranded vehicles. there's no wonder because we've had six inches in the past 12 hours. some reports of eight inches in store for this area. very active weather pattern on top, amid a very excessive heat day across the eastern u.s. over 115 million americans expecting some sort of extreme heat. the fashion nal weather service has issued extreme heat warnings, advisories. some major metro poly tans, detroit, new york, philadelphia, all the way to the nation's capitol, very hot and humid day. it will be extremely sticky outside as well. you factor in the humidity levels. you step outside. your skin will start to sweat. temperatures will easily feel like they're in the triple digits. 100 degrees plus fahrenheit. we're talking just as anna mentioned a minute ago, 15 to 20 degrees above average. the big apple is an example. the nation's capital, very similar forecast and, again, it's not just the heat, it's the extreme humidity out there as well. we've had a very active day of severe weather with more rounds of storms expected across the upper midwest. you can see centered across the great lakes, damaging winds, large hail and isolated tornadoes. an update on the spring fire in colorado. over 40,000 acres burned. look at the footage coming out of this region. this is the fort garland area. police have an individual believed to be behind the spring fire. he's facing arson charges. the fire still burning being fueled by dry conditions and strong winds. lots to talk about, anna. back to you. >> derek, appreciate your update. thank you. more than a week on thailand is not get giving up the search for a missing youth football team. officials said divers are closing in on a spot where the team may have taken shelter. it's believed the 12 boys and their coach were trapped in a flooded cave system last weekend. this has sparked an international rescue effort. some of the water has receded and rescuers are pushing on. we have the story from india. we're joined from new delhi. we got word in the last hour that a helicopter has been sent up to survey an area up in the hill where it can drop heavy equipment and then we heard from the governor earlier talking about the multi-pronged approach they're going about to find this team. tell us more. >> reporter: so, anna, as you said, the cave system north of tai land in an area that has been hit by very heavy rainfall over the last week that this football team, 12 boys, football coach, that they've been missing, the rainfall has complicated efforts. the rain has receded more recently, but the kaefs themselves, there's a lot of flood water in there. it's mixed up with mud. it's very dark. they're trying a number of approaches. one is trying to enter and exit through the mouth of the cave. as you would imagine, the water has complicated that very much. that's very hard. very dark inside. concern about the availability of oxygen. the other thing they're trying to find, other ways to get inside the network by looking at chimneys. that hasn't succeeded much yet. they're trying to drill drainage channels to drain the water from the case and finally trying to see if it's possible to drill directly into the walls of the cave. now that's very hard, this is very thick rock. the letup in the rain has allowed divers to make progress towards the elevated spot known as pateo beach. this is not the tourist spot, this is the area inside the cave area. they're hoping to get to where the soccer team and coach have been seeking shelter. that's the hope. >> we know this is a massive operation. there are a thousand people involved, but it's those navy s.e.a.l.s, the divers that are trying to navigate that labyrinth of caves. tell us about the dangers that they're experiencing. >> reporter: well, the dangers, anna, are mostly to do with the water. the water means that parts of the cave, it's very dark. there's a lot of mud around so they're going in with these very heavy obvious again tanks. the divers we were talking about making the progress to this elevated area, as they go in, they go in with oxygen tanks at every 25 meters. that's to protect them. the dark conditions, the lack of oxygen, the water, all of this is making progress very hard. as you say, the rescue effort in totality has been gradually ramped up. more than 1,000 people, teams from around the world, most of them are there and we have u.k. cave experts, chinese teams there and australian teams there. everyone trying to locate the 12 boys, their coach, find out where they are and hopefully evacuate them. yesterday the rescue teams conducted evacuation drills preparing themselves for the eventuality that they find the boys and the coach. everything is moving forward. they're pressing on. it's been eight days but they're not giving up. anna. >> incredible, isn't it? the navy s.e.a.l. chief, he said they will not stop looking until they find them. many thanks. well, in less than four hours the polls will open in mexico. among those on the ballot for president, former mexico city mayor andres lopez and jose antonio meade and independent rodriguez. mexico has presidential elections every six years. the winner serves just one term. there are also 3400 state and local seats up for grabs. final results are expected late sunday night or early monday. the election comes against the backdrop of rampant violence and crime in mexico. yet another journalist was killed on friday. jose guadalupe chan is the seventh journalist killed in mexico so far this year, and that's just the tip of a bloody homicidal iceberg. according to the government's most recent report there have been more than 20,000 homicides so far in 2018. may was the deadliest month in mexico since the government has been releasing data, and it comes after the country's homicide rate last year was the highest to date indicating that 2018 is set to break another gruesome record. our raphael romo has the details. >> reporter: crime, corruption. gang violence. trails of blood stabi instainin as the country votes in the largest election ever. >> translator: worry. so much violence. so many dead. so many people dying that have nothing to do with the violence. we all worry about it. >> reporter: organized crime in mexico has become more deadly over the last few years. 2017 saw more than 29,000 homicides, the most killings recorded since officials began tracking the data. in 2018, it's on track to settle another milestone. more than 20,506 have been killed thus far in the year. others have simply gone missing. it's a gruesome trend causing some to take their chances at the border. >> translator: it's more dangerous where i live. it's more dangerous there than in comparison to what could happen here at the border. >> translator: well, in all truth, i am scared. i have come with my family to see what happens. in the end, we're going to give it a try. >> reporter: locals say widespread corruption has created a vacuum for cartels to proliferate. >> a lot of buildings are closing down. >> translator: many companies have had losses. according to our colleagues, robberies with grocery store owners, people in the food industry take place three to four times a week depending on the country. >> reporter: sunday closes a brutal campaign season. 132 candidates or politicians have been murdered since last september ahead of an election where thousands of seats are at stake. mexico security crisis is the central issue with the most high profile voices honed for more accountability. >> the stakes are pretty high. this is a moment. this is a moment to overturn things and i don't want to go into my 40s thinking that i am going to have systematic violence, systematic impunity in my country. >> reporter: raphael romo, cnn. coast to coast immigration protests take place across the united states. powerful words from a young girl who knows the fear of losing her undocumented parents all too well. plus, the u.s. president makes a big request of the saudi king and says the king agreed, but that's not quite accurate. we'll explain what's going on after the break. more "doing chores for mom" per roll. more "doing chores for dad" per roll. more "earning something you love" per roll. bounty is more absorbent, so the roll last 50% longer than the leading ordinary brand. so you get more "life" per roll. bounty, the quicker picker upper. now with new prints featuring disney pixar's incredibles 2 - now playing. yes or no?gin. do you want the same tools and seamless experience across web and tablet? do you want $4.95 commissions for stocks, $0.50 options contracts? $1.50 futures contracts? what about a dedicated service team of trading specialists? did you say yes? good, then it's time for power e*trade. the platform, 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dream gig. now more businesses, in more places, can afford to dream gig. comcast, building america's largest gig-speed network. welcome back to our viewers in the united states and around the world. you're watching "cnn newsroom." i'm anna coren. the headlines this hour. the polls will soon open in mexico. there are four main candidates on the ballot for president. the winner will serve a single six-year term. some 500 congressional seats and 128 senate seats are also up for grabs. final results are expected late sunday night or early monday. an immigration deal worked out last week in brussels may be in trouble. poland, the czech republic and hungary denied they are ready to take back some of the migrants who are now in germany. that contradicts what german chancellor angela merkel told them. a free syrian army spokesman said peace talks with russia has just resumed after breaking down on saturday. dara has been under government bombardment since earlier in the month causing tens of thousands of people to plea. jordan is extending convoys to make-shift camps. it's refusing to let anymore refugees in. on saturday protestors across the u.s. demanded an end to the trump administration's zero tolerance immigration policy. well, that's because the controversial crackdown on illegal immigration has forcibly removed thousands of migrant children from their parents. mr. trump ordered a halt to the family separations last week. protesters say it's taking too long to reunite the families. well, the families belong together rallies joined the emotional voices of millions who call them cruel. cnn's paolo sandoval reports. >> reporter: these are the rallying cries heard across the country saturday. >> where are the kids? >> reporter: protesters led by immigrant rights groups marching in masses with a message frr president trump, eliminate his zero tolerance policy calling for the prosecution of people crossing the border illegally. >> the thought that my own family would have difficulty coming across the border if they needed to seek asylum for any reason chills me to the bone. >> reporter: in new york, a mile and a half march from manhattan to brooklyn, symbolic moment ahead of the group that paused in the middle of the brooklyn bridge looking at lady liberty reciting the pledge of allegiance. speakers at podiums from coast to coast demanding children be reunited with their parents. >> we're here because there's parents right now who can't sing lull la lullabyes to their kids. >> this is here because if this can happen to their children, it can happen to any of our kids. >> reporter: a 12-year-old daughter of an undocumented immigrant is sending a message. >> i want to tell kids at the border and all over the country not to give up the fight for their families. we are all human and deserve to be loved and cared for! we are children! >> reporter: fiery democratic senator elizabeth warren spoke to the masses in massachusetts. >> this is about babies scattered all across this country. this is about mommas who want their children back. president trump seems to think that the only way to have immigration rules is to rip parents from their families, is to treat rape victims and refugees like terrorists and to put children in cages. >> reporter: trump signed an executive order last week reversing his immigration practice of separating families, but more than 2,000 children are still waiting to be reunited with their parents. though protests remain peaceful, first responders at washington treated dozens of demonstrators for heat-related injuries. >> people united will never be defeated. >> reporter: for some marchers their protest isn't over. they plan to make their voice heard in november at mid term elections. >> i want people who want to come here, who want refuge in our country, to know that there are many, many citizens in the u.s. who do not agree with what is going on now. >> paolo sandoval, cnn, new york. well, gasoline prices in the u.s. have been rising steadily since the beginning of the year. the cost of a gallon at the pump has been higher on average than any time since late 2014. if the trend continues it could become a political problem for the white house this fall so president trump is asking saudi arabia to do something about it, namely, dramatically increase its oil production by as much as 2 million barrels a day. our emerging markets editor joins us from abu dhabi to explain why this is significant. john, 2 million barrels a day. the saudis have since said that number is not correct. why would trump get this wrong? >> reporter: well, welcome to the world of oil and geopolitics and the pressure being applied to saudi arabia. let's confirm, yes, there was a phone call. yes, they did talk about oil production. there seems to be two distinct interpretations of how much saudi arabia committed to here. the president has leaned on saudi arabia to put more oil on the market because prices are rising and he suggested in a tweet that the king agreed but thereafter there was a statement from the white house suggesting that king salman said they had two million barrels of capacity. what they can do and what they will do are two different matters. first and foremost, saudi arabia has always maintained the idea of market stability. they don't want prices dropping too fast because it kills off investment to maintain production and production capacity. they're adding 2 million barrels a day to 11 million. that is a record, 11 million barrels a day to saudi arabia. industry sources said they can add half a million to perhaps 700,000 barrels in 2018. getting to a million would be a stretch and taking up all of that capacity, many don't think it's possible this year. what the president wants and what he gets from saudi arabia, they're two very different matters right now. >> john, why does the president see such an urgency to add more oil? >> reporter: well, you talked about it in your lead-in. the benchmark -- international benchmark is knocking on the door of $80 a barrel. it hit that level in may, and that was the highest level since 2014. when you get $80 as a benchmark for brent as a grade, it means $4 a gallon for americans and we have mid term elections coming up in november. the president gets very twitchy with that level, but the irony is here oil prices are higher because of the president's actions. he has put sanctions on iran and venezuela. venezuela has already lost half a million barrels a day of production in 2018. they'll lose more in the second half of the year. the president's calling for importers of iranian crude to stop those orders by november so the iranians export 2 million a day. they signed an agreement a week ago friday in vienna suggesting they will try to stabilize the market. the iranians are accusing the president of trying to break up the opec cartel. the major producers around the world. the president sent three tweets attacking opec. the last one was a week ago friday when he says opec needs to do more, and it was right at the end of the meeting when i was in vienna, extraordinary, his timing and the pressure he's putting on saudi arabia and the other oil producers, particularly iran and venezuela with those. >> who can make sense of what president trump does these days. thank you for putting that all in context for us. good to see you. well, it began as a peaceful protest in iran and then this happened. at least one person was reported killed in the southern part of the country when demonstrators clashed with police. thats according to social media posts. you can hear what sounds like gunfire. we should note cnn cannot verify the authenticity of the video. police fired tear gas and police start started. temperatures can reach 49 degrees celsius or 120 degrees fahrenheit. coming up after the break, president trump gets a second chance to fill a seat on the u.s. supreme court, but that's just icing on the cake compared to how he's already shaped the u.s. judiciary for the future. plus, don't cry for messi, argentina, or maybe do. the superstar's lackluster world cup exit. that's next. jardiance asked: when it comes to managing your type 2 diabetes, what matters to you? you got a1c, heart, diet, and exercise. slide 'em up or slide 'em down. so let's see. for most of you, it's lower a1c. but only a few of you are thinking about your heart. fact is, even though it helps to manage a1c, type 2 diabetes still increases your risk of a fatal heart attack or stroke. jardiance is the only type 2 diabetes pill with a lifesaving cardiovascular benefit for adults who have type 2 diabetes and heart disease, significantly reducing the risk of dying from a cardiovascular event and lowering a1c, along with diet and exercise. this really changes things. jardiance can cause serious side effects including dehydration. this may cause you to feel dizzy, faint, or lightheaded, or weak upon standing. ketoacidosis is a serious 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decades, he's also working overtime to reshape the lower courts that president obama swayed to the left. dana bash has more from washington. >> mr. president -- >> reporter: the whirlwind of trump news can be overwhelming. trade wars to an immigration crisis, twitter rants, russia -- >> no collusion. no nothing. >> a porn star, yet under the radar a less sexy story likely more lasting. president trump's quiet effort to fill the federal bench. >> we're appointing judges like i guess never before has anything happened like what we're doing on great conservative republican judges. >> and it's not just the supreme court. >> there's an understandable focus on a supreme court vacancy, but the real work, maybe even more important work has been done at the level just under. >> absolutely. yeah. the supreme court -- the very, very top tier of cases, they do get there. but 99% of the cases they end up at the lower courts and they're decided there. >> reporter: the trump white house and senate republican leadership are moving fast to confirm conservative judges. after just a year and a half in the office, the senate has already confirmed 20 district court judges and 21 on the appellate court level. of those 12 in 2017 alone, that is for one year more than any other president in american history. now how has this happened? something mostly missing from wat washington right now, and that's discipline. there's a very specific structure in praise to make these judicial nominees move quickly? >> absolutely. they all recognize these are people who are going to sit on the court for a generation and they're going to be the ones -- every legislative accomplishment you have, the executive orders, all of those end up being interpreted by the courts. if you don't have someone who's going to actually fairly interpret what you're doing, you're wasting your time. >> reporter: no one understands that more than senate majority leader mitch mcconnell. he's been criticized for staying silent but mcconnell is keeping his eye on this ball taking advantage of a gop president and senate to confirm as many conservative judges as possible. >> president trump's judicial nominations have reflected a keen understanding of the vital role that judges play in our constitutional order. >> reporter: the expedited pace has made for some stumbles. nominees who even gop senators don't find qualified. remember this confirmation hearing? >> have you ever tried a jury trial? >> i have not. >> civil? >> no. >> criminal? >> no. >> bench? >> no. >> reporter: but don't expect the push to fill the federal bench to let up any time soon. as we speak, there are 150 vacancies and 88 trump nominees pending. for a president who likes to tend to his base, few things make them and as a result him happier than appointing conservative judges. >> by the time we finish i think we will have the all-time record. >> reporter: dana bash, cnn, washington. coming up, messi's done. so is ronaldo, but the world cup is pushing on. a look at sunday's football action ahead. two of football's biggest stars have been ousted at the world cup. the knockout stage started saturday and lionel messi and argentina were the first to go. they ended a disappointing tournament with a 4-3 loss to france. to make matters worse, argentina once led 2-1. well, after that it was time to bid farewell to christiana ronaldo. his portuguese squad fell 2-1 to uroguay. both messi and ronaldo are in their 30s. neither ever won the tournament. there are two matches sunday. denmark takes on croatia and spain will face russia, but we also have news about the ugly side of football. fifa has just handed down fines against russia and serbia. the penalties are worth tens of thousands of dollars from fans racist and offensive banners. for more on that but also a look at sunday's games, cnn's alex thomas is in moscow. alex, tell us more. >> reporter: anna, let's start with saturday's first two round of 16 games. still got six more to go. the departure of lionel messi and christiana ronaldo. germany has crashed out of the stage. two more massive shocks. it's interesting. we've had sunny weather and suddenly the heavens have opened in the last 24 hours or so perhaps you could say mirroring all of the misery of fans of messi and ronaldo, two mega stars in the world game. it's fascinating. they will go down as two of the greatest of all time when they hang up their boots for good sometime in the future. no word from them about their futures after the games on saturday. but nonetheless, they have still got this kind of gap in their glittering list of achievements that neither have lifted a world cup with their countries. the sort of players they're compared with earlier like pele and maradona but others haven't. on the same day that we saw a french teenager shine for france, at the other end of their careers, messi and ronaldo disappointing as they crashed out and it shows football is a team game and neither one will have enough to oust france or uroguay. >> alex, what about your picks for today's games? hosts russia take on spain in moscow where you are. you've got a ticket. croatia line up against denmark. >> reporter: yeah, croatia/denmark game kicking off 9:00 in the evening. the pulse is racing amongst the neutral. denmark already conceded one goal. this he have to keep it tight against croatia, the fourth highest goal scorers. croatia littered with the better players, but there's no doubt the highlight match of the day is the one that will happen later. spain, the 2010 champions up against the host russia. they'll have huge support in that stadium. they have capacity of 77,000 people in the stadium. slightly negative news for russia on the eve of the game getting fined around 10,000 u.s. dollars for discriminatory banner. someone putting up a sort of nazi symbol on a been ner in their last group game against uruguay. there are fines handed out to mexico and morocco. very small fines, a slap on the list but worth noting. russia will have a huge task and if they can knock out spain, it will create another final for a country that has shown itself the good hosts with plenty of excitement for the national fans, particularly around the red square area. >> i'm sure there are a lot of envious people looking at you saying, i wish i had his ticket. enjoy the match. football superstars deserve super fans, so it's only fitting that spain has this guy. his name is minola. he's become an icon for his drumming. he's followed his team to ten world cups and says he's given up his business to follow them. manolo is going to be on hand for sunday's match against russia. it's not clear if he can bring his instrument. regulations have prevented him from drumming at this. spain has taken it up with fifa. thank you for watching "cnn newsroom." i'm anna coren. for u.s. viewers, "new day" is next. for everyone else, stay tuned with erin burnett, "out front." stay tuned. what's the mascara lash 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"the washington post" reports new evidence of north korea's efforts to conceal its warheads. mexico chooses a new president today who stands to inherit a bitter trade battle with the u.s. and widespread corruption at home. the world cup. a shock exit for