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Biden Unveils Plan B for Student Loan Debt Forgiveness; Marseille Mayor Reports Violence and Looting; Kyiv Laid Out Its War Timeline to CIA; Russian Antiwar Activist Reacts to Prigozhin's Mutiny; Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro Barred from Office for Eight Years; U.S. Coast Guard Scandal; Sriracha Selling Online for $124 amid Shortage; "Sultan of Space" on Life Aboard ISS. Aired 4-5a ET
Aired July 01, 2023 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world, I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
President Biden searches for next steps after the U.S. Supreme Court slaps down his student loan forgiveness program. Where the administration goes from here.
Nearly 1,000 people detained in France amid another night of protests stemming from the death of a teenager at the hands of police. His funeral is later this morning. We'll go live to Paris.
And tens of millions of people, from one end of the U.S. to another, coping with extreme heat as the country gets ready for a long holiday weekend.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber.
BRUNHUBER: President Biden says he won't back away from his pledge to get relief for millions of Americans struggling to repay student loans. This after the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday struck down his debt forgiveness plan 6-3.
In the majority opinion, chief justice John Roberts said only Congress had the authority to erase those debts on such a massive scale. President Biden called that ruling a mistake and immediately announced a plan B. Here he is.
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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will ground this new approach in a different law than my original plan, the so-called Higher Education Act, that will allow Secretary Cardona, who was with me today, to compromise, waive or release loans under certain circumstances.
This new path is legally sound. It is going to take longer, and, in my view, it is the best path that remains to providing for as many borrowers as possible with debt relief.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: In the meantime, the loan repayments are set to resume in October.
Now the other big decisions handed down on Friday, also 6-3, is seen as a major setback for gay rights. A website designer in Colorado can legally refuse her services to same-sex couples because of her Christian beliefs. One activist warned this will only lead to more discrimination on larger scale.
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SARAH KATE ELLIS, CEO AND PRESIDENT, GLAAD: I'm hearing from my members today what I've been hearing since -- for months now, honestly, that there feels like there's a coordinated attack against the LGBTQ community. There's a lot of disappointment, a lot of sadness about this ruling.
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BRUNHUBER: Joining me is Jessica Levinson, a professor of law at Loyola Law School and the host of the podcast, "Passing Judgment."
Thanks so much for being here with us. I'd like to start with your reaction to the LGBTQ ruling.
Is it possible or likely, as Justice Sotomayor said, the majority were giving businesses a new license to discriminate?
JESSICA LEVINSON, LOYOLA UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL: I think it's absolutely possible that other businesses will say, I refuse to serve people on the basis of not liking their message, which really means I refuse to serve people because they want me to, in this case, design a website for a same-sex couple.
Or the next time it will be take pictures for a couple or make a cake. And so in that way, it provides a significant exception to Colorado's antidiscrimination law and to antidiscrimination laws throughout the country, because this is a First Amendment decision.
And that means it applies to all state laws and any federal laws that might come in the future.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. That could have huge implications across the country.
Then the student loan decision, the wider ramifications of that ruling, the conservative justices argued that the federal agencies who weren't directly accountable to the public are becoming too powerful, upsetting the separation of power.
So if their aim is to limit federal powers, what do you think is next?
LEVINSON: I don't know what is next because what we see is kind of a similar pattern, where presidents will try to go to Congress to implement a policy -- maybe it was DACA; in this case, it was student loans.
Congress will balk and then try to do something by executive order. And the Supreme Court will push back. I think the conservative justices are worried that there's this enlargement of executive power.
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LEVINSON: And if executives want to make, quote, "major decisions," then they need explicit authorization from Congress.
So I think what comes next is, really, what's the next thing potentially that a president wants to implement, can't get it through Congress and tries to go it alone through an executive order?
BRUNHUBER: Seems to be their longer term strategy to try and limit those powers. And then widening the lens further, these latest decisions -- and I'm including affirmative action earlier this week, not to mention Dobbs.
They point to the conservative agenda to remake the country through the courts. You have to say, so far it's working. It's really proving to be transformational.
LEVINSON: It is. Looking back at this term -- and last term is a difficult barometer. You had the momentous case, where the court overturned Roe v Wade. Then you had a case dealing with increasing gun rights, decreasing our ability to implement gun control. That was a very conservative term.
And this term while, yes, the affirmative action decision was conservative, the decision about the religious objector who doesn't want to make a website for same sex couples, that was a conservative decision.
There were other places where, in comparison to last term, I think you saw the justices really pull back. There was a voting rights decision, where they didn't change the law. There was a big election law decision, dealing with the independent state legislature doctrine, where they kind of pulled back, didn't really change the law.
Other cases dealing with social media companies and when there -- would be liable for things posted online. The court pulled back, kept the status quo. Yes, it's a conservative court. They want to move the country in a more conservative direction.
But there are also places where they've kind of pulled back and said let's just keep things where they are, which is interesting, considering they decided to take those cases at all.
BRUNHUBER: Still, on balance, even though there has been a bit of a moderation, on balance, conservatives will be ecstatic. And Democrats will point to the fact that this court, broadly speaking, is on the wrong side of general public opinion on most of these issues -- Dobbs, abortion; LGBTQ issues; gun safety; student loans.
I think 60 percent of Americans agreed with the forgiveness plan.
What does this say about the growing divide between the public and this right wing court and the perception of its legitimacy?
LEVINSON: Yes, the court is moving in a more conservative direction but there's touchstones where there's more moderate decisions. In my view that's an acknowledgement they don't want to be seen as so grossly out of step that we question their legitimacy.
BRUNHUBER: We'll be watching the ballot box and the elections. Jessica, appreciate having you on, thank you so much for being here with us.
LEVINSON: Thank you.
BRUNHUBER: In France, nearly 1,000 people have been detained after a fourth night of protests sparked by the fatal police shooting of a 17- year-old boy. In several cities, demonstrators set things on fire and throwing fireworks at police. Officials are condemning it, saying it won't bring justice to the teenager.
Nahel was fatally shot during a traffic stop. In the day ahead, his funeral will be held in Paris. The U.N. weighed in for the first time, saying France must address what it calls deep issues of racism in the police force. Let's get more from CNN's Nic Robertson in Paris.
First of all, what's the latest on all those protests?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Number of arrests were up, 994, but the number of incidents of violence across the country as a total down about 2,500 fires set, 1,350 vehicles torched.
Compare that to 1,990 the previous night; 1,919 the previous night. You can see the figures are down a bit. The attacks on police stations down, attacks on government buildings down.
But there were more police. There were 45,000 police out there, where heavier armored vehicles were available to the police. Some areas had curfews. There was a ban on big public gatherings. Buses and trams across the country were taken off the streets at 9:00 pm last night.
Whatever the government could do to try to mitigate the violence, they put in place. But actually, Paris slightly calmer. But Lyon, in the center of the country, Marseille in the south, a lot of violence there. Gunfire even heard in Lyon. And the interior ministry is saying three police officers near Lyon have had gunshot injuries.
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ROBERTSON: So it's a mixed picture. But generally less violence and it seems the authorities more able to respond. The funeral expected later today. The spot here where Nahel actually
died, the funeral taking place in the suburb, Nanterre, of Paris. The family have asked for calm. The family has said everyone is welcome.
But they're asking journalists to stay back. Particularly during this, journalists have become something of a focus for crowds to attack. But the expectation here is the funeral will be an emotional day for everyone involved, for his family and all the people in his community. So a large number expected here later today
BRUNHUBER: Nic, what do you make of President Macron's response so far, trying to show empathy for the protesters while also trying to suppress riots?
Any idea what might happen next?
ROBERTSON: Yes. He has said that there's no justification for continued violence. It only damages the utilities, the buses, the town halls, the trams that everyone in all these communities use. That's the government's point.
They've said they will arrest people, that they will, you know, use all the tools of the law available. I think that's what we saw last night and also yesterday. Interestingly, we heard the French president appeal to families to keep their young children in.
He said, of all the people arrested on Thursday night, a third of them, he said, were young children, some very young. We have accounts from French authorities of children young as 13 detained by the police.
So it's an appeal to families to take responsibility for their younger children. But by and large, the message seems to miss its target. It doesn't address the underlying core issue. There is a sense of, as the U.N. is putting it, of racism within the police, that the communities here are unfairly treated, unfairly singled out.
Violent actions against the police against them are higher than against other French citizens. So what the French president has said, when he addresses the security side of things rather than the underlying complex issues around all of this.
BRUNHUBER: We'll stay on top of this important story. Nic Robertson in Paris. Thanks so much.
Start of the July 4th holiday weekend here in the United States. But typical barbecue and beach celebrations may not be quite as enjoyable this year. Many parts of the U.S. are facing an extreme and unpleasant mix of weather for the next few days.
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BRUNHUBER: Ukrainian intelligence claims Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin has a target on his back. Allegations of a Russian plot to take his life on the heels of a short lived mutiny.
Plus the tale of two legal standards in Russia, one for Prigozhin, the other for opponents of the war. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Ukraine's military intelligence chief claims Yevgeny Prigozhin is a marked man following his mutiny in Russia. The intelligence chief told a military magazine that Russian security services have been ordered to assassinate the Wagner leader.
He didn't say how he knew this. The Kremlin hasn't said anything.
Meanwhile "The Washington Post" said Ukraine spelled out its timeline for winning the war to CIA director William Burns. According to the paper, a Ukrainian official told Burns their country plans to retake Russian occupied territory and start cease-fire talks by the end of the year.
The U.S. official said Burns went to Ukraine. However, President Zelenskyy said Ukraine's counteroffensive is off to a slower start than expected and the top U.S. general said on Friday he doesn't expect an easy fight for Ukraine.
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GEN. MARK MILLEY, CHAIRMAN, U.S. JOINT CHIEFS: It's going slower than people had predicted. Doesn't surprise me at all. I had said that this offensive, which is going, by the way, it is advancing steadily -- it will be difficult, very long and very, very bloody and no one should have allusions about any of that.
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BRUNHUBER: For more, Clare Sebastian joins us.
What are the signs the Ukrainian counteroffensive --
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BRUNHUBER: -- isn't moving fast as they would like?
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ukraine continues to claim slow advances on the eastern and southern fronts. But we're hearing of a potential setback for Ukraine this morning.
The Antonivskyi Bridge crossing the Dnipro River, there's been a spate of heavy fighting in recent days. Ukraine was said to have established a bridgehead on the eastern bank of the occupied territory by Russia.
But head of the Kherson region claiming this morning that bridgehead has now been cleared in a surprise early morning attack by Russian special forces. You can see what we're talking about. That's the bridge; it's just northeast of the city in that region.
(INAUDIBLE) saying that Ukraine has been trying to keep the fighting going on there in order to stop Russia from concentrating too many forces in the all important Zaporizhzhya region where they've been trying to break through formidable Russian defenses.
There have been attacks near Melitopol and Berdyansk, southern ports in that region, consistent with the idea of Ukraine trying to break through Russia's land bridge from mainland Russia in the Donbas region to Crimea.
We're hearing President Zelenskyy say the military is reinforcing the northern defenses in an uptick in shelling there. So Ukraine continues to pin a lot of hope on Western support. The Spanish prime minister has arrived in Kyiv. He's doing this on day one of Spain's rotating presidency of the European Union.
The Ukrainians will be looking for any more of those expressions of support. They're pushing for a faster timetable to accession to the E.U. than that group is prepared to give them.
BRUNHUBER: What more can you tell us about Ukraine intelligence claims that the order has been given for Prigozhin to be assassinated?
SEBASTIAN: This came from the head of Ukraine's military intelligence in an online interview. He didn't give evidence to support these claims. He just said the FSB has been given an order to assassinate Prigozhin. He doesn't know if it will be successful or fast.
The facts around Prigozhin, he has not been seen since the mutiny, certainly since the video of him leaving Rostov. The president of Belarus said on Tuesday that he's in Belarus. We have yet to see evidence of that.
We do know that the vitriol in particular for President Putin in Russia has been growing toward him. Putin not mentioning him by name, a clear sign of animosity and suggesting further investigations into the financial dealings of his company.
All this adding up to a potentially precarious situation for Prigozhin. But we don't have evidence to support those claims.
BRUNHUBER: Clare Sebastian in London, thanks so much.
Yevgeny Prigozhin illustrates a clear irony in Russia. He led the insurrection but isn't facing any legal charges or other accountability as far as we know. Now the opposite for some anti-war activists, just because they spoke up against Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Melissa Bell caught up with one activist in exile in Norway.
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MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Two Russians in exile, one, a student with a rebellious tattoo.
YEVGENY PRIGOZHIN, WAGNER GROUP CHIEF: (Speaking foreign language). BELL (voice-over): The other, an insurrectionist warlord. Only one of them is on the run on terrorism charges.
Meet 20 year old Olesya Krivtsova. Her alleged crime: an antiwar social media post last year that led to a conviction and her escape to Europe. Now in Norway, as she looks for work, she was glued to the images coming out of Russia over the weekend.
OLESYA KRIVTSOVA, EXILED RUSSIAN STUDENT (through translator): I watched it nonstop. I followed this justice march all day. I wondered how it would end. And I really wanted to see in person how Prigozhin was taken to the pretrial detention center.
BELL (voice-over): Pretrial detention centers are well known to Olesya but that's not where Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin ended up, heading instead to Belarus, where Putin ally, Alexander Lukashenko offered him refuge.
ALEXANDER LUKASHENKO, BELARUS PRESIDENT (through translator): I also realized there was a harsh decision taken to destroy. I suggested Putin not to hurry. Let's talk with Prigozhin with his commanders.
BELL (voice-over): No such help for Olesya as she fled Russia, prizing off her own electronic bracelet on the way to the border.
CNN first brought you her story earlier this year. She'd just arrived in Vilnius, Lithuania, after fleeing her home in northern Russia. Taking very little but a reminder of the cost of her freedom.
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BELL (voice-over): The reason she was made an example of, she says, is there are many ordinary Russians like her.
KRIVTSOVA (through translator): Every day we see the people are put in jail for the post on the Internet. But a person who is guilty of killing 20 people, 14 people according to the official version, and they tell him, you can go to Belarus. Every time I think about it, I get angry.
BELL (voice-over): But there is only one Prigozhin, even if Vladimir Putin never named him as he addressed the failed insurrection.
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): What we are facing now is treason, unreasonable ambitions and personal interests led to treachery, state treason and betrayal of one's own people.
BELL (voice-over): The man behind an insurrection facing no charges at all.
KRIVTSOVA (through translator): There is no law and no justice in Russia. It's just all one big act of insanity and hatred.
BELL (voice-over): Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.
(END VIDEOTAPE) BRUNHUBER: Now to a damming report on the chaotic end to America's longest war. The U.S. State Department's review of the pullout from Afghanistan said key shortcomings contributed to the swift Taliban takeover and frenzied evacuation scenes.
It found fault with decisions made under President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump. The review said senior officials in both administrations failed to consider how quickly the situation could deteriorate and how chaotic it could become.
First, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down affirmative action on college campuses. Now the conservative majority has blocked the president's plan to forgive student loans. Those details when we come back.
And Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro is barred from running for office. That's up next. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and all around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
The U.S. Supreme Court ended its term on Friday with two highly controversial rulings. President Biden's ambitious plan to wipe out hundreds of billions in student loan debt was struck down as unconstitutional, 6-3.
The other big decision, also 6-3, ruled that a Christian web designer in Colorado could deny her services to same-sex couples. Biden called the decision on student debt a mistake and immediately announced an alternative plan.
Jeremy Diamond has the details.
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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Biden making clear on Friday he believes the Supreme Court was wrong in striking down his student debt relief program.
The president saying the Supreme Court closed one path but saying now we are going to pursue another. That path lies in the Higher Education Act of 1965. The president is going to try to rely on it to get student loan debt relief.
How many Americans exactly?
That much is not yet clear. White House officials declining to say whether that figure will be more or less than the estimated 40 million Americans which would have benefited under this program struck down by the Supreme Court.
In the meantime, the president offering some relief, a 12-month onramp to repayments as those repayments are set to resume in October, during which time interest on those payments will still accrue.
If you miss a payment, you wouldn't face any downgrade to credit. Also the implementation of an income based repayment program. Republicans are saying the president never had the authority for this. But President Biden on Friday insisting he didn't give voters false hope.
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BIDEN: I didn't give any false hope. The question was whether or not I would do even more than was requested. What I did I thought was appropriate and was able to be done and would get done. I didn't give borrowers false hope. But the Republicans snatched away the hope that they were given. And it's real, real hope.
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DIAMOND: You hear the president saying Republicans have snatched this away from millions of Americans, something he has previously described as a lifeline. Biden's trying to harness the disappointment and anger that millions of Americans are feeling on Friday in the wake of the Supreme Court announcement.
He's trying to harness that anger and direct it toward these Republicans, including the state attorneys general, who filed together to try and take down the student loan program but also talking about Republican members of Congress, who voted for the pandemic PPP loans, which were given, but are now opposing student debt relief.
So even as the president pursues this alternative, it's going to take a lot of time for it to go into effect. In the meantime, the White House sees the opportunity to galvanize young voters and to direct their anger toward Republicans -- Jeremy Diamond, CNN, the White House.
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BRUNHUBER: The week's Supreme Court rulings dealt serious setbacks for President Biden's agenda. Here's how one Democratic lawmaker responded.
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REP. RO KHANNA (D-CA), OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE: The blame here isn't with the president; it's with an extremist Supreme Court that is totally out of touch with the facts of modern day American life.
This court is taking us backwards, backwards decades. They're taking us to a time where people on college campuses were largely the wealthy, where people were largely white. In two days, they have taken away diversity, they have taken away the relief for people who can't afford these astronomical fees.
When you look at the actual statute, the HEROES Act, it was very clear. It said under emergency conditions, the secretary has the authority, the president has the authority to take these kinds of actions.
Now if Congress had wanted to limit the HEROES Act, they could have. Congress didn't act. This is the Supreme Court engaging in activism.
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BRUNHUBER: Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro may have to abandon any plans he had for a 2026 electoral comeback. Julia Vargas Jones explains why.
JULIA VARGAS JONES, JOURNALIST: Abuse of power and misuse of public media: those are the two charges that got former president of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro an eight year ban in running for office.
Five out of seven judges voted in favor of the ban and the charges stemmed from a 2022 meeting with ambassadors. Bolsonaro summoned over 40 ambassadors to meet with him in 2022, months before the presidential election, in which he was a candidate, and spread fake news, misinformation about Brazil's voting systems.
What he said in that meeting might be compromise, might be fraud. He said voting machines changed voters' actual choices. He also said the Brazilian machines were not auditable. He said judicial authorities, the people now deciding his fate, were protecting terrorists.
The electoral courts have denied all of these claims. That meeting was broadcast on Brazilian television and on YouTube. YouTube had to remove that stream, the live stream, because it did not comply with its fake news policy.
Today the presiding judge said that this would reaffirm our faith in democracy and the rule of law. Also they do not tolerate criminal extremism, packing the powers of the state and disinformation aimed to deceive voters.
They also said Bolsonaro's rhetoric was antidemocratic. But Bolsonaro was not present in court today, by the way. He actually said he is going to appeal the decision of the court, saying that he did not attack Brazil's electoral system; he only showed its possible flaws -- Julia Vargas Jones, CNN, Sao Paulo.
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BRUNHUBER: And we'll be right back.
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BRUNHUBER: CNN's investigation into sexual assault at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy has revealed a history of neglect and coverups. Top officials kept investigation into the misconduct a secret for years until CNN started asking questions. Pamela Brown has the exclusive report.
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PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR & CHIEF INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): The multi-year investigation was called Operation Fouled Anchor and uncovered a history of rapes and assaults at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy that were ignored or even covered up by high ranking officials.
But Coast Guard officials have kept the investigation secret since 2019 and never released the report. Only approaching Congress this month after CNN asked about it.
During the investigation, the Coast Guard found evidence of dozens of cases of sexual assault, even though they only looked into a specific timeframe from the late 80s to 2006, overlooking many years when other assaults had been reported.
A report on the investigation found suspected attackers were not criminally investigated. Punishments if they happened, were sometimes as minor as extra homework. Victims sometimes face punishment for fraternization or lewd acts.
Many suspects went on to have successful military careers while victims were sometimes kicked out of the academy. For those who stayed, it could be just as difficult.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was sexually assaulted three times. It was completely toxic and devastating to my sense of self and left lifelong damages to my physical, mental health.
BROWN (voice-over): This young woman is a recent cadet. She graduated in 2022 and says the Coast Guard culture has not changed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Coast Guard Academy employs reinforces and cultivates a system that that thrives on the trauma and pain of women and minorities. It's designed for their failure.
BROWN (voice-over): The Coast Guard secret investigation revealed that female cadets describe survival tactics they had to use while at the academy. They would rig their doors to make it hard to get in, prop rifles against the door or utilize a trash can.
And that cadets were hesitant to report for a fear that as female cadets, they wouldn't be taken seriously. One woman described a fraternity of male cadets that hated women and didn't think women should be in the Coast Guard. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You realize that if you say something, you are blacklisted because now you're the girl who cried wolf.
BROWN (on-camera): Even if it really happened?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Even if it really happened.
BROWN (on-camera): It sounds like from what you've described, the survivors are the ones who are punished and those accused of sexual assault go on to thrive.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Exactly. When cadets get in trouble, there is this intense shame, this group shaming.
BROWN (voice-over): The Coast Guard did investigate one of this victim's assault, but told her they didn't find enough evidence.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was 17, I needed my mom, I needed so many to stand up for me in those moments and it just -- it broke me.
BROWN (voice-over): Democratic Senators Maria Cantwell and Tammy Baldwin sent a letter Friday to the head of the Coast Guard that called the information, quote, "disturbing" and demanded answers. They committed to pursuing full accountability for perpetrators and investing in meaningful support for survivors.
BROWN: After CNN's report was first published on Friday morning, the Coast Guard sent us a statement, apologizing about the mistakes made in the Fouled Anchor investigation.
Saying that, quote, "The Coast Guard fully recognizes that by not having taken appropriate action at the time of the sexual assaults, the Coast Guard may have further traumatized the victims, delayed access to their care and recovery and prevented some cases from being referred to the military justice system for appropriate accountability.
"The Coast Guard owns this failure and apologizes to each of the victims and their loved ones."
And our colleagues here on the investigative team, including Blake Ellis, Melanie Hicken, Audrey Ash, we're going to stay on this story as it unfolds -- Pamela Brown, CNN, Washington.
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BRUNHUBER: We'll be right back.
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(MUSIC PLAYING) BRUNHUBER: The World Health Organization is taking another look at the
health effects of aspartame. The WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer is analyzing the sugar substitute's potential links to cancer.
A separate WHO and United Nations committee is looking at how much aspartame a person can safely consume. Both groups plan to release their findings together on July 13th.
The artificial sweetener is widely used in sodas, teas, yogurt and other products. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says aspartame is one of the most studied food additives since its initial approval in the U.S. in 1974.
Tourists have been converging to see a free attraction in Rome before they have to pay. As of Monday, foreign visitors to the Pantheon will be charged about $5.50 to get inside. This doesn't apply to Roman residents or people going there to pray. The Pantheon has been a church for centuries.
Proceeds will be used to cleaning and upkeep. The Diocese of Rome will also take a share. Millions of people visit every year to see the ancient site and marvel at the famous 43-meter dome and skylight.
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BRUNHUBER: The price of a popular hot sauce is going through the roof because of supply problems. A bottle of sriracha is selling for $70 on eBay and a two-pack is up to $124 on Amazon. Normally a bottle costs about five bucks.
The manufacturer blames a three-year long shortage of chili peppers. It's not clear when supply will get back to normal
Apple is the world's first company worth $3 trillion. It soared past its rivals, closing at a historic level on Friday. Rahel Solomon has more from New York.
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RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Apple is in a league of its own according to investors. The company's worth in Friday's session opening at $3 trillion. Yes, trillion.
It's the only company to reach that milestone. The tech company has 15.7 billion shares outstanding. And when its shares crossed $190.73, its total value is $3 trillion. Apple has been here before. It first hit but failed to close at the milestone in January of 2022.
Then the company ran into issues like China supply chain challenges and a softer macro environment. But if 2022 is remembered by the tech wreck, when tech shares tumbled and the Nasdaq was lowered by more than 30 percent, 2023 ushered in a very different picture.
The Nasdaq is up 31 percent this year; U.S. based chipmaker Nvidia is up 181 percent. Meta, the parent company of Facebook, is up 137 percent. Apple stock is up almost 46 percent this year.
Web analyst writing Friday, Apple breaking the $3 trillion market cap level was a, quote, "historic" moment for tech.
What's behind the rally in tech?
Well, part of it is the artificial intelligence frenzy that's largely driving the performance of critical chipmakers like Nvidia. But another part is growing confidence in the U.S. economy, despite more than a year of interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve and inflation that, at one point, was at 40 year highs.
Friday was last trading day of the first half of 2023 and, according to an investment group, marks the third best first half of a year in Nasdaq history -- Rahel Solomon, CNN, New York.
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BRUNHUBER: For the first time ever, astronomers have a new perspective on our galaxies and particles of matter instead of energy. The so- called ghost particles or neutrinos are tiny high energy cosmic particles.
They can pass through stars, planets and entire galaxies without changing their structure. An observatory in Antarctica showcased a new portrait of the Milky Way. Scientists tested the particles with a telescope embedded in ice. The research was published in the journal, "Science."
The United Arab Emirates has made numerous forays into space in recent years, from the first satellite launch in 2009 to the Mars probe Hope in 2021. And in April, an Emirati astronaut became the first Arab to walk in space. Our Becky Anderson spoke with him from his post on the International Space Station.
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BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: International Space Station, this is Becky Anderson at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center in Dubai.
How do you read?
SULTAN AL NEYADI, EMIRATI ASTRONAUT: Becky, this is Sultan Al Neyadi from the International Space Station. I have you loud and clear.
ANDERSON: Terrific. It is fantastic to be speaking to you today.
How are you?
AL NEYADI: I'm doing great, Becky. It's a -- it's a -- the dream becoming true living on board the International Space Station, it can be better.
ANDERSON (voice-over): This is an out of this world interview. Al Neyadi dubbed the Sultan of Space is the first Arab to be deployed on a long-term mission in the cosmos.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two, one and in full power and --
ANDERSON (voice-over): He launched to the ISS for a six-month mission in partnership with NASA and the exploration company, SpaceX.
AL NEYADI: The first time I saw Earth, it was a profound moment. We're flying almost 400 kilometers on top of this planet and you see -- everything you see, the mountains and the forests and the desert and everything that you know of. And it's really great to see this magnificent planet.
ANDERSON: Sultan, show me around, that looks like a really busy environment that you're in. So just explain where you are and what this all means as you float upside down.
AL NEYADI: So on the first month here, Becky, we had a cargo mission. It was full of science.
[04:55:00]
AL NEYADI: So we had a lot of scientific experiments. We tested medication, we tested the technologies, we tested a lot of things that we are maybe testing for the first time and it's a cutting-edge technology.
So I was sequencing DNAs. I was applying some medication to heart tissues. And on top of that we are subjects ourselves. So we have experiments and sensors, just running on our bodies throughout the mission to be able to understand how the microgravity is affecting the human body.
When we think about going back to the moon or further into space to Mars and so on.
ANDERSON (voice-over): Apart from the scientific experiments, Al Neyadi spent his days making repairs both inside and outside the space station.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Emirati astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi has engrafted the crew up portion of the quest airlock.
ANDERSON: Tell me about the spacewalk, Sultan. Amazing or terrifying as an experience?
AL NEYADI: Both. And actually, the name is spacewalk but we don't work. We use our hands. So we need to have a very strong forearms to be able to move from one place to another. So it was amazing. It was seven hours continuous.
I didn't feel it because I was really focusing into the mission and it was -- it was really, really great feeling just to see that you are floating in a spacesuit. It's just like a small spacecraft. They provide oxygen and CO2 scrubbing and cooling. And what is preventing you from dying is just like a small layer of glass.
ANDERSON: Tell us how do you exercise and give us some examples of living in zero gravity.
AL NEYADI: So in zero gravity, we just float. We are literally in like free float. We don't move a lot. So it is important to keep our muscles working, we have a treadmill; we use bungees to tie ourselves to be able to run. If we run without any bungees, we'll be just like floating like this.
And we have another resistor device which is simulating weights. And we use vacuum cylinder to simulate the weight and work out just simulating lifting dumbbells and so on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is Houston ACR and that concludes the event.
AL NEYADI: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Becky Anderson.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: I'm Kim Brunhuber, back with more NEWSROOM in a moment. Please stay with us.
