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Trump Pleads Not Guilty in 2020 Election Plot; Kyiv Faces Long Battle Amid Slow-Moving Counteroffensive; Protesters Voice Support for Coup on Independence Day; Typhoon Khanun Could Dump More Rain on Japan; WFP Warns It May Have to Suspend Aid to Palestinians; Pope Francis Attends Global Gathering of Young Catholics; Man Running Across Europe to Buy Ambulances for Ukraine. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired August 04, 2023 - 00:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM, after Donald Trump pleads not guilty to charges of trying to steal the U.S. presidency, the judge warns Mr. Trump to not commit a crime while out on bail.

[00:01:02]

It will be slow. It will be bloody. But it will ultimately succeed. New in-depth assessment of Ukraine's counteroffensive.

And misery heaped upon misery on Gaza. Amid electricity shortages and soaring prices, the World Food Program could suspend most operations because of a budget crunch.

ANNOUNCER: Live From CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with John Vause.

VAUSE: Thanks for joining us here for CNN.

And at his third arraignment, Donald Trump officially pleaded not guilty to four felony counts, alleging he plotted to steal the U.S. presidency. And this is the case which many experts say is the biggest legal threat the former president is facing.

After that appearance, Trump returned to his golf resort in New Jersey and, in the coming hours, will hold a campaign rally in Alabama, then another rally on Saturday in South Carolina.

At the end of the month comes another hearing, when the judge is expected to set a trial date. While prosecutors are pushing to move quickly, Trump's legal team seems uninterested in their client's right to a speedy trial. They're trying to delay the trial until after next year's presidential election.

Trump was released without any real conditions, but he did receive a reminder not to commit a crime and not to tamper with any witnesses. The judge also addressed him as "Mr. Trump," not "Mr. President," which according to sources, was the reason why he left in a sour and dejected mood.

The former president spoke briefly to reporters at the airport before boarding his plane. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is a persecution of a political opponent. This was never supposed to happen in America. This is the persecution of the person that's leading by very, very substantial numbers in the Republican primary and leading Biden by a lot. So if you can't beat him, you persecute him, or you prosecute him. We can't let this happen in America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: More details now from CNN's senior legal affairs correspondent, Paula Reid.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Former President Trump in federal court Thursday, pleading not guilty to those four felony counts that he is facing.

And going forward, it appears this could be a rocket docket. The judge who will oversee this case through a possible trial, giving the government just seven days to tell her when they're going to be ready to take this case before a jury and how long that jury trial could take.

Now, defense attorneys are supposed to give her the same information just a week later so that she can possibly set a trial date at the next hearing, which is in August 28th.

That is a pretty quick turnaround for these kinds of decisions, suggesting that the judge would like to move this along quickly. Now it is unclear at this point if this case will really go to trial before the 2024 election.

One of the big outstanding questions that could really impact a possible schedule is that the special counsel intends to add additional charges or additional codefendants.

We know from our reporting they will continue to interview witnesses over the next several weeks, suggesting that there could be additional charges, which could impact that timeline.

Paula Reid, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Norm Eisen is a CNN legal analyst, a former U.S. ambassador to the Czech Republic, and he served as special counsel and special assistant to President Barack Obama for ethics and government reform.

And it's good to see you.

NORM EISEN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Nice to see you, John.

VAUSE: OK, so I want you to listen to Donald Trump speaking after his hearing in a D.C. courtroom. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: This is a very sad day for America, and it was also a very sad day of driving through Washington, D.C., and seeing the filth and the decay and all of the broken buildings and walls and the graffiti. This is not the place that I left. It's a very sad thing to see it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Something is right. It's not the place that he left. But is it really a sad day for America? I'm asking you as someone who knows the rules of government. You know how they're all meant to work and why.

[00:05:08]

So what are your reflections on what this actually means for the country, you know, right now and the consequences of all this?

EISEN: It's certainly a solemn day for America, but it's not a sad one. Today was a day when a man who was the most powerful person in our country, perhaps in the world, was forced, like any other criminal defendant, to appear in court. He was arrested, he was arraigned, he has to answer legal charges.

It acquits the American principle of our Constitutional government, that no one is above the law. So in that sense, it's a proud day. And I think it's not just about the United States, John.

All over the world, people are saying, America's a country where the Constitution and the law really does apply to everyone. So in that sense, solemn, but I think a proud day for the American legal system.

VAUSE: Trump's lawyer, though, says these criminal charges are proof of a crime spree in progress, and that crime spree is against the former president. Here she is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALINA HABBA, ATTORNEY FOR DONALD TRUMP: The fact that I am standing here for the third time in five months is not a coincidence. This is the Biden political "law-fare" that we have seen time and time again. It is a deflection from everything that they have done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: So just to be clear, Trump is facing four federal felony charges on the January 6th case. There's 40 federal felony charges in the classified document case in Florida. There's 34 state felony charges in the New York hush-money case, as well.

You know, that is an awful lot of deflection across three different jurisdictions, and there's probably more to come. You know, just to be realistic here, that just doesn't add up. It doesn't make any sense.

EISEN: No, it doesn't, John. Donald Trump stands accused -- and, of course, in our system, he's innocent of those accusations until proven guilty -- of the most serious crimes that an American president has ever faced investigation or prosecution on.

And by the way, there's a fourth felony case that's expected in the state of Georgia that's coming.

And while it now will fall to juries -- and I think this District of Columbia case is going to go before a jury first and fast -- it'll be up to the juries to decide his guilt. There is an incredible amount of evidence.

I wrote a model prosecution memo -- bipartisan, Republican and Democratic legal experts -- where we concluded that on this case for the 2020 election interference, there's more than enough proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Donald Trump engaged in multiple conspiracies, because he didn't want to recognize that he had lost the election. He wanted to deprive the 81 million Americans who had voted for his opponent, who won, of their vote.

And Special Counsel Jack Smith has laid out a tremendous amount of evidence in his 45-page charging document. The same with Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg on his 34 charges. Also for election interference for fabricating documents the cover-up hush-money payments to avoid a damaging scandal in 2016. And then you have the Mar-a-Lago documents case, another 34 charges.

Really, these are all very challenging, genuine cases. Nothing political about them, John.

VAUSE: Meantime, though, on Capitol Hill, Republicans are testing a new whataboutism defense for the former president. Here's House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): I can say the same thing about those in the Democratic Party, from the leadership on down, about George Bush not winning; that Al Gore did. But were any them prosecuted? Were any of them put in jail? Were any of them held with no response to be able to get out? The answer is no.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Care to clarify?

EISEN: Al Gore? What is he talking about, John? Al Gore lawfully contested the election. When he lost, he decided to stop fighting. He conceded for the sake of the legitimacy of the system.

People still don't know what the actual vote count there was.

Donald Trump lost all those cases, and then he kept going, trying to hang onto the presidency. Conspiracy after conspiracy after conspiracy.

So Kevin McCarthy has it exactly backward, if he's comparing Al Gore and Donald Trump. And, you know, they are attempting to defend the indefensible, John.

[00:10:09]

VAUSE: Yes. It's sort of apples and oranges, to say the least. Norm Eisen, as always, good to have you with us. Thank you, sir.

EISEN: Thanks, John.

VAUSE: And while former President Trump went to Washington to his arraignment, the current president went on a bike ride.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mister President, will you be following the arraignment today, sir?

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATS: No.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: The White House referred all questions to the Department of Justice.

Two U.S. Navy sailors have been arrested on espionage charges. Federal authorities said Thursday 22-two-year-old Jinchao Wei and 26-year-old Wenheng Zhao are accused of sharing national defense information with Chinese intelligence in exchange for money.

Wei served on the U.S.S. Essex, out of a naval base in San Diego. Authorities say in February last year, he became a Chinese asset.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RANDY S. GROSSMAN, U.S. ATTORNEY FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA: Our indictment alleges that over the course of more than a year and on multiple occasions, Wei sent national defense information to China, including documents, photos, videos and technical manuals. In exchange, his intelligence officer paid Wei thousands of dollars.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: The indictment against Zhao alleges he gave sensitive U.S. military information, including operational plans for a major military exercise in the Indo-Pacific, to a person posing as a maritime economic researcher.

Ukrainian officials say heavy Russian defenses have slowed their monthlong counteroffensive to a crawl and are now urging patience from Western allies.

A senior Ukrainian official says an insane number of Russian land mines -- up to five per square kilometer in some parts -- is one reason for the slow going.

Clearing those minefields is slow and deadly and dangerous work and is being done now by foot. That same official notes there is no deadline to break through those fortified defensive lines.

Meantime, Kyiv says Russia is bringing more battle-ready forces to the city of Bakhmut to try and prevent further Ukrainian gains. Also, the Russians are trying to push back on the frontlines, as well,

but the Ukrainian president says they will not get anywhere.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Frontline, the battles are tough. The occupiers are trying with all their might to stop our guys. The assaults are very fierce. But no matter what the enemy does, it is the Ukrainian forces that dominate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And joining us now is CNN military analyst Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, former commanding general, U.S. Army Europe and 7th Army. And it's good to see you.

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Good to be with you as always, John.

VAUSE: OK, so right now, it seems, the Ukrainian counteroffensive, it's making progress. But it's much slower than expected.

An op-ed from the people at the Institute for the Study of War at the American Enterprise Institute goes into a lot of detail, explaining how the Ukrainians can actually still win this, but it will take a long time. It will take months or longer.

Here's part of what they write: "The Ukrainians only have to win and hold in one sector to render virtually all the Russian-held territory West of their advance untenable. The Russians have to win every time, all the time. The Ukrainians don't even have to make it all the way to the water."

Just explain what that means and what that actually looks like on the battlefield here?

HERTLING: Well, I don't quite agree with that, John, and what I'd say what they are talking about is cutting Russian supply lines, which would put a stranglehold on the Russians that are anywhere West of where they slice the M-14 Highway, which runs South along the Azov and Black Sea coast.

What they're talking about is not only cutting that logistics capability for the Russians. But there's also requirement to secure the area. In other words, get the Russian troops out of there, because as long as there are Russian forces inside those two oblasts -- Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblast in the South -- it will cause problems. It will take a long time.

Many of us who understand the complexities of combined armed warfare have said for a very long time that it will take much longer than anticipated. You know, the Ukrainians went into this, a lot of people thought they

were ten feet tall, much like we thought Russians were at the beginning of the conflict.

But when you're on the offensive, over a long stretch of frontlines with a lot of territory to recover, using new equipment, doing something that you've never done before against an enemy that's dug in with mines and wire and trenches, it's extremely difficult. And it just takes a long time. That's the fact of the matter.

VAUSE: Yes. The study goes on to say that there is an argument here that Ukraine is able to pick and choose when and where to strike. The Ukrainians have not yet demonstrated that they can make rapid and dramatic penetrations at this time. But neither have the Russian shown that they can sustain their current defensive approach against a protracted and probably increasingly effective Ukrainian pressure campaign. The Ukrainians chose when, where and how they will attack. The Russians must defend everywhere and always."

[00:15:03]

I guess all of this is sort of predicated on continued Western military support, which despite all the promises and commitments, is not a bottomless pit, though. It's not an open-ended time line here.

HERTLING: Yes. All of that is true, and yes, the capability of an offensive force is always to choose the time and place of your attack.

The problem is the Russians are defending a lot in positions that they have established over almost an eight-month period of time with a lot of capabilities to defend against.

So it takes less to defend than it does to go on the offensive, like the Ukrainians are attempting to do.

So it is going to be a slow battle. It's going to be costly, and yes the Russians have to defend along that entire line. The Ukrainians can attack in a few places. And then once they find weak spots in the Russian lines, they can push.

But I guarantee you, anyone who says that anytime soon, in offensive operation against a strong defensive position will be fast and furious; just has never tried to do it before. It's difficult.

VAUSE: And one of the reasons why it's difficult and slow going for the Ukrainians, is that the Russian land mines are covering hundreds of miles along these defensive lines. And it's not just the number of land mines, but it's also how they've been planted. Listen to this Ukrainian soldier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Russians even mine their own brothers in arms. They say that they'd never abandon one of their own kind. However, when they leave their positions, they plant quite a lot of explosives under their own soldiers. And his is very dangerous for us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: It kind of seems shocking but then again, not really surprising. Is that just how the Russians do things?

HERTLING: It is, John. And what I've had experience, not only with the Russians in terms of reading how they conduct operations, but also in the first 18 months of this conflict seeing how they've treated their dead and their wounded is an indication that they don't put a lot of care to those who've given the last full measure on the battlefield. They just don't do it. I've had past experience, too.

But when you're talking about minefields, first of all, Russia has -- as you said, have the capabilities to lay a lot of mines. But what we're seeing now, that the Ukrainians are reporting, is not unexpected.

They're putting dead bodies over the top of mines, even some mines have hand grenades underneath them. So when the Ukrainian forces trying to de-mine an area, they pick up the anti-tank mine, and there's a grenade underneath it.

And you know, every military has experience with that.

When we were in Iraq, and when my forces were in Iraq, we had insurgent forces planting explosive devices inside of dead animals, putting them on the side of the road. Putting them inside of houses, house-born explosives so much soldiers when they would explode, or when civilians would go in, they would explode.

This is the kind of approach that truly barbaric armies use. And again, if it can be proven, it is a war crime, because they are indiscriminate attacks that could potentially hurt civilians. But they are geared to booby-trap positions for the Ukrainian soldiers.

VAUSE: Yes. It's just one of the many war crimes that the Russians have committed over the last year and a half, I guess.

General Hertling, as always, sir, good to see you. Thank you for being with us.

HERTLING: Pleasure, John. Thank you.

VAUSE: A verdict is expected soon in the trial of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. He's accused of creating an extremist community.

On social media Thursday, Navalny said he expected a long sentence, tweeting, "I'm going to be -- it's going to be a huge term. This is what's called a 'Stalinist' term. They asked for 20 years, so they will give 18 or something around it."

Navalny says the charges are politically motivated and meant to silence his criticism of Vladimir Putin. Authorities could add decades to Navalny's current 11-year-long sentence. When we come back, celebrations for Independence Day in Niger, with a show of support for the new military rulers. The very latest on the coup in that West African nation.

Also, Typhoon Khanun. Already battling Southern Japan, with heavy winds and strong winds, and it could happen again. An update from the world weather center in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:21:23]

VAUSE: Thousands celebrated Niger's independence day Thursday with a show of support for last week's military coup. Many shouted anti- French slogans, while also chanting the name of the general who seized power.

They also demonstrated against the growing pressure from other West African countries for a quick return to democracy. CNN's David McKenzie has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the crowds came out in force for a protest in support of the coup in Niger. In the capital, Niamey, it was also Independence Day of Niger from France.

It is unclear, though, and it must be said, we don't know how widespread the support is across the country for those coup leaders that took power last week.

We do know from a former adviser of the president Bazoum that he, according to that individual, is a feeling in high spirits, that he is confident. He is currently under house arrest, according to that former advisor. And with his wife and son.

He has been able to speak to world leaders repeatedly over the past few days, including the U.S. secretary of state. Diplomats do feel that there could still be a window to negotiate an end to this coup.

ECOWAS in particular, the regional bloc, is aggressively pushing against the coup leaders, saying that this needs to return to a democratic dispensations in Niger.

They've even threatened troops to be sent. And Senegal, a critical country in ECOWAS, saying that they are willing to send troops and that they've had enough.

AISSATA TALL SALL, SENEGALESE FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): Why didn't we do it for Mali? Why didn't we do it for Guinea? Why didn't we do it for Burkina? And why are we doing it for Niger? To give one answer, I say it's one coup too many.

MCKENZIE: She is referring to countries that have had coups, part of ECOWAS in recent years. The coup leaders, for their part, are digging in. At least one leader went to neighboring Mali, where the military is in power, opening the door, possibly, for Russian involvement, should they consolidate their power in Niger.

I think the next few days will be critical here as the pressure builds both in terms of sanctions and trade from ECOWAS and, potentially, the coup leaders digging in to consolidate power.

David McKenzie, CNN, Johannesburg.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: We've now heard from Niger's ousted president, in an op-ed published a few hours ago by "The Washington Post."

Mohamed Bazoum says he's currently a hostage. He went on to write, "This coup has no justification whatsoever. If it succeeds, it will have devastating consequences for our country, our region, and the entire world."

The president claims he's just one of hundreds of prisoners arbitrarily and illegally detained since the coup. And he warned the Wagner mercenary group, active in the region, along with the ouster, could give Russia greater influence in West Africa.

Sweltering heat wave is taking a heavy toll on the World Scout Jamboree. Some 250 people at the site, South of Seoul, have been taken to hospital after suffering heat-related symptoms in the past few days.

Among more than 39,000 people attending the gathering are scouts from around the world.

South Korea's president has ordered an unlimited supply of air- conditioned buses and refrigerated trucks to be sent there.

The typhoon, which knocked out power to parts of Southern Japan, killed at least two people in the island of Okinawa, has begun to turn back towards the Northeast. That sharp turn means it's expected to dump even more rain on Japan.

Meteorologist Chad Myers has details now, reporting in from the weather center.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: The typhoon really is the major story here, not much else going on in the region.

The storm has lost quite a bit of intensity now, though, down to only 130. So we've lost the eye. We've lost the rotation. We've lost the breathing of the storm.

[00:25:10]

And we've also lost the very warm water that was here, because it's now just all stirred up.

Still, though, some spots over 350 millimeters of rainfall. There's the center of the storm here. There's Okinawa back off toward the East, and the storm is forecast to turn back off toward the North and toward the Northeast over the last several hours and next several days.

The only problem I see here is that there is a swing back up towards Japan at the very end of this forecast, from The Joint Typhoon Warning Center. It doesn't have a lot of strength here, but still, it's beginning to build. I don't like this trend, back up to 130 kph as it makes its way into that warmer water.

And anything can go, plus or minus ten or 20 percent from here. And all of a sudden, this could be a fairly major event for parts of Japan.

So all the models now beginning to turn it to the left, into parts of Southern Japan. We'll have to watch that.

Some models are to the left. Some models are to the right, but most are doing this. Still gaining some strength at times, gaining some wind speed, maybe getting the eye back.

If that happens, then all of a sudden, this turns into a much bigger story over the next coming days.

We've seen a lot of rainfall with this, and I think we're going to see more. Even if we don't get landfall, we're going to see a couple of hundred inches -- a could hundred millimeters there of rainfall across parts of Southern Japan. And that's going to be the story, more so, if it does make that turn to the left.

So here is your typhoon, 130 kph at this hour. We'll keep watching it for you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's mansion was the scene of a climate protest on Thursday. Five Greenpeace activists were arrested after draping the house in oil-black cloth.

Greenpeace says the move was a protest against Sunak's plan to max out Britain's oil and gas resources in the Black Sea. The protesters spent a total of five hours on the roof. No one was home at the time.

In a statement, Greenpeace said, "We desperately need our prime minister to be a climate leader, not a climate arsonist. He seems quite happy to hold a blowtorch to the planet if he can score a few political points.

In response, No. 10 said, "We make no apology for taking the right approach to ensure our energy security, using the resources we have here at home so we are never reliant on aggressors like Putin for our energy needs."

Well, two million Palestinians in Gaza are now facing the real possibility that a major source of their food could disappear. We'll explain why. More details on that in a moment. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Welcome back, everyone, I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

[00:30:03]

Israel's Supreme Court spent five hours Thursday hearing arguments over a radical new law that makes it much harder to remove a prime minister from office.

The court adjourned without providing any guidance of what it might do next or when. The congressional law, passed in March, eliminates conflict of interest as a valid reason to remove a prime minister.

Critics say that greatly benefits Benjamin Netanyahu, who's facing multiple corruption charges right now.

Despite months of massive public protests, Benjamin Netanyahu continues to deny any wrongdoing.

Millions of Palestinians in Gaza are now facing a much more urgent crisis: a potential cut in food supplies. Rare protests this week saw thousands take to the street, angry at soaring prices and electricity cuts.

Now making all of this even worse, the World Food Programme says it may suspend most of their operations across the Palestinian territories. But, in Gaza, with hundreds of thousands of people dependent on that humanitarian aid, that is where the decision will be held for most.

CNN's Richard Greene has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD GREENE, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): The World Food Programme in a warehouse in Gaza. People collecting staples like flour, lentils, chickpeas, and olive oil, produced locally and bought by the agency to distribute people in need. From Palestinians, for Palestinians.

About 20,000 people rely on food handouts from this distribution center, one of the two WFP aid centers in Gaza, where unemployment is over 45 percent. But they may be soon be going hungry as the World Food Programme itself is running out of donor funds.

People like Khader Khder. He writes one or two days a month in construction, earning less than $30. That's not enough to buy even one of these bags of flour, an essential ingredient to keep his family of ten alive.

KHADER KHDER, WFP AID RECIPIENT (through translator): generally, if we have flour at home, everything is fine. We are not asking for luxury, as long as we have flower, it means that we have food. We do not cook every day, but we eat bread every day.

GREENE: Only one of Khder's eight children is working. One daughter is married, another disabled, and two are still in school. One son works as a trader in the market, but his other three sons are unemployed.

KHDER (through translator): If there was work, they would work. But the situation is very hard, and there is no work.

GREENE (voice-over): The WFP is in danger of running out of money. Already reducing the amount of aid it hands out, and warning that, by November, it will be forced to suspend operations in Gaza and the West Bank if more funding doesn't come through.

That would be a nightmare for Samar al-Bayyouk, who shops in WFP- approved stores with a card issued by the aid agency, rather than getting commodities from a warehouse.

SAMAR AL-BAYYOUK, WFP AID RECIPIENT (through translator): This help stops, my whole life will stop. I know people that stopped having it, and I can see their lives just stopped. If they tell me one day that I will stop getting it, I might have a heart attack on the spot.

GREENE (voice-over): Al Bayyouk supports a family of seven, and the WFP aid means she can buy meat, cheese, salt, even jam and chocolate for her kids.

Until recently, the WFP supported 275,000 people in Gaza this way. But, with money running short, first they cut the amount of money each recipient got, and then started cutting people off completely. Al Bayyouk does not know what she would do if that happens to her.

AL BAYYOUK (through translator): I wouldn't be able to buy all this without the voucher. I may buy one thing, and some days we may stay without anything. Without this voucher, we cannot live.

GREENE (voice-over): She's far from alone. Two out of three of Gaza's two million plus people struggle to put food on the table, and unless donors come up with the $41 million the aid agency says it needs for Palestinians by November, Gaza and the West Bank may not have the World Food Programme to help.

Richard Greene, CNN, Gaza.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Running to Ukraine. Coming up here on CNN, a Dutch long- distance runner streaks across Europe, hoping to raise money for those in need.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: A rock-star welcome for Pope Francis in Portugal Thursday. Authorities say about half a million mostly young Catholics attended the pontiff's address for World Youth Day, an international gathering held every three years.

CNN's Antonia Mortensen has this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANTONIA MORTENSEN, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: Pope Francis officially kicked off World Youth Day in front of a huge crowd on Thursday.

MORTENSEN (voice-over): Organizers say over 350,000 people registered to be here in Lisbon.

His message to the young faithful: don't be afraid to stir things up. Take care of the planet, and beware of the pitfalls of online addiction.

Catholic youth have traveled here from all over the world for this event, which is held every three years in a different location and is dubbed as the Catholic Woodstock.

And it really does feel like a festival, with live music and lots of singing and dancing around us.

MORTENSEN: Not only here in this crowd but in the whole city.

MORTENSEN (voice-over): The pope started his day by meeting and praying privately with 15 Ukrainians who traveled to Portugal for this event.

He then met with students and staff of Lisbon's Catholic university. And during that speech, he urged young people to keep seeking and to be ready to take risks in a world which faces enormous challenges.

The five-day trip is taking place in the shadow of a clerical abuse scandal here. Earlier this year, a report published by an independent commission found that some of the Catholic clergy in Portugal had abused thousands of children over a 70-year period.

MORTENSEN: On Wednesday evening, the pope did meet privately with 13 victims of clerical abuse. The Vatican described it as a time of intense listening.

And during his address, he said that the Catholic Church needs to do better when dealing with victims of clerical abuse, saying that the church is in need of humble and ongoing purification and must listen to the anguished cry of the victims.

Despite his recent surgery and struggles with mobility, the pope has an intense schedule, with some 11 speeches during his trip, and more events than in the past trips this year, including a trip to the country's popular Shrine of Fatima.

MORTENSEN (voice-over): The 86-year-old pontiff was in very good form on the papal flight from Rome's Fiumicino Airport, and he joked with journalist, saying he would come back from this trip rejuvenated.

MORTENSEN: Antonia Mortensen CNN, Lisbon.

(END VIDEOTAPE) VAUSE: In the United States, it seems rapper Cardi B is off the hook and will not face battery charges after her concert in Las Vegas last weekend.

She was under police investigation for throwing a microphone into the crowd. That's after a concert goer threw a drink at her when she was on-stage.

Cardi B's attorneys say police notified them there will be no charges, based on the department's investigation.

CNN reached out to Las Vegas police for comment but have not heard.

Grammy Award-winning singer Lizzo is speaking out for the first time about a lawsuit filed against her and her production company. Three or four dancers claimed they were subjected to a hostile work environment.

They say they were harassed about their weight. Lizzo even encouraged them to touch nude performers at a club in Amsterdam.

Lizzo pushed back, calling the allegations sensationalized. She posted this: She knows "what it feels like to be body shamed and would absolutely never criticize or terminate an employee because of their weight," adding she's hurt but would not let the good she's done in the world be overshadowed by this.

Well, a Dutch man is literally running towards a war. He's on a journey across Europe, helping to raise money for war-torn Ukraine. CNN's Laila Harrak has our report.

[00:40:06]

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LAILA HARRAK, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Dutch ultra runner Boas Kragtwijk is running from Amsterdam to Kyiv this summer, crossing about 50 kilometers a day. The reason: to raise money to send ambulances to Ukraine.

BOAS KRAGTWIJK, LONG-DISTANCE RUNNER: Just hearing the stories and seeing this war of all of it on the news has made me think I have to do something.

HARRAK (voice-over): The 28-year-old also wants to demonstrate the proximity of the war to Western Europe. He plans to reach Ukraine by mid-September. The total journey? Two thousand, five hundred kilometers divided into three phases.

KRAGTWIJK: Phase one is to Berlin. Then we go phase two, Berlin to Warsaw. And then we present phase three, road to victory, 5,000 kilometer, ending in Kyiv.

The timeline 20 of July, and in 50 days, the end of September, I hope to arrive. Hopefully, not a alone but with a lot of ambulances. HARRAK (voice-over): He's accompanied by his manager and a

photographer in a caravan where the team eats and sleeps. At the end of the run, the caravan will stay in Ukraine to be used by a medical team.

KRAGTWIJK: It's going to be warm, because we're going to drive straight in the summer so it will -- it's going to stink. It's going to -- it's going to be dirty, but we're happy that we have something.

HARRAK (voice-over): Although Kragtwijk has visited Ukraine before, he says he has no close personal connection to the country.

KRAGTWIJK: It's more that I felt kind of my -- maybe you can call it duty, but I just thought it's kind of our turn to do something; because it's so close by, and it's so -- so terrible what is going on.

HARRAK (voice-over): After about 500 kilometers, Kragtwijk had raised about a quarter of his 100,000-euro goal on his GoFundMe page. He says that goal would cover the cost of three ambulances.

Laila Harrak, CNN.

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VAUSE: I'm John Vause. Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. Stay with us. At the top of the hour, another hour with Michael Holmes, and then another Aussie after that, Lynda Kinkade. It's an Aussie-palooza.

But in the meantime, here's WORLD SPORT. See you in a couple weeks.

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