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Israel To Send Team To "Finalize" Gaza Ceasefire, Hostage Deal; Donald Trump Tries To Sharpen Attacks On Kamala Harris; Harris And Walz Show Their Support For Organized Labor With Appearance At Detroit Union Hall; Taylor Swift's Vienna Concerts Canceled After 2 Arrested For Alleged Terror Plot; Russia Tries To Halt Ukrainian Incursion Into Kursk; Children in Gaza Face Malnutrition and Diseases; Interim Government Led by Nobel Laureate Officially Sworn In; Kenya Police Crack Down on Peaceful Protesters, Dozens Arrested; Update on Paris Games; Ukrainian Swimmers Endure Danger to Compete for Country; Japan's Chilling Solution to Soaring Summer Heat; New Giant Panda Pair Make Their Debut at San Diego Zoo. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired August 09, 2024 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome everyone. I'm Michael Holmes. Appreciate your company. Coming up on CNN Newsroom, new calls for a ceasefire in Gaza, while Palestinians are increasingly falling ill, streets are teeming with trash and raw sewage, causing massive outbreaks of disease.
Also.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Nobody was killed on January 6. I had 1 percent inflation. I had actually no inflation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Donald Trump returning to the public eye, spewing lie after lie, hoping to blunt the momentum of the new Democratic ticket.
And overcoming every hurdle, even war meet the Ukrainian synchronized swimmers, whose practices were interrupted by air raid, seeking a chance at gold in Paris.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN Newsroom with Michael Holmes.
HOLMES: It is 8:00 a.m. across Israel and Gaza, where a renewed push for a ceasefire and hostage deal is taking shape. A week of telephone diplomacy has led to a call from the U.S., Egypt and Qatar to resume negotiations next week, either in Doha or Cairo. Israel says it has agreed to send a delegation. No formal response yet from Hamas.
The sponsors of the talks release a joint statement saying, in part, quote, there is no further time to waste, nor excuses from any party for further delay. It is time to release the hostages, begin the ceasefire and implement this agreement.
Now the threat of a wider regional war is proving additional is providing additional urgency. Israel bracing for retaliation from Iran or Hezbollah following the recent assassinations of senior Hezbollah and Hamas leaders.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEW MILLER, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: The two sides of this coin. On one side of the coin, yes, we believe that a ceasefire would go a long way towards alleviating tensions in the region on the other side of that coin, certainly, any further escalation just makes all of the region's problems more difficult, and one of the problems that we're addressing problems that we're addressing is the conflict in Gaza trying to reach a cease fire.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Meanwhile, the Israeli military says at least 25 projectiles were fired from southern Lebanon into Israel within one hour on Thursday. CNN senior international correspondent Ben Weeman is in Beirut for us,
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BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Lebanon is waiting and waiting and waiting for Hezbollah to strike back at Israel for its assassination last week of the group's top military commander. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has vowed revenge is coming.
Officials in Washington have warned it's imminent. The fear is that it won't stop there, that Israel will strike back, setting Lebanon and Israel on a slippery downward slope to all-out war. Thursday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant put out a warning on X formally Twitter, vowing that Israel will fight back with all its might.
Both sides continue to exchange fire along the border, daily clashes that may seem far away to people in cities like here Beirut, but Tuesday and Wednesday, Israeli war planes broke the sound barrier multiple times over the capital, providing a stark reminder that the calm here is deceptive. Lebanon's health minister, Firass Abiad, saying the country's south is already at war, but worse could come.
DR. FIRASS ABIAD, LEBANESE PUBLIC HEALTH MINSITER (through translator): Currently, we are in a state of war, and not potential war. I mean, in southern Lebanon, there are attacks on a daily basis. There are martyrs and wounded. From the health sector alone, there are more than 22 martyrs, and this is contrary to all international norms, laws and treaties that are supposed to abide by the laws of the United Nations. We are currently in a war, but our fear is the expansion and increase of these attacks.
WEDEMAN: The U.S. and others are reportedly frantically trying to head off an escalation the war in Gaza that has set the region on edge is now entering its 11 month and rages on with no end in sight. The efforts of the would be peacemakers, perhaps too little too late. I'm Ben Wedeman, CNN reporting from Beirut.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[01:05:04]
HOLMES: Seth Jones is the Senior Vice President at the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He joins me now. There's been reports that Hezbollah could strike Israel independently of Iran. How likely is unilateral action? What influence also does Iran have over Hezbollah and its decision making?
SETH JONES, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, INTERNATIONAL SECURITY PROGRAM AT THE CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: Well, I don't think Hezbollah would conduct independent action without coordinating it with Iran. Iran certainly suffered the attack on its soil against a senior Hamas leader, as well as Hezbollah suffering attack against Fuad Shukr recently one of its commanders in Lebanon.
So both Iran and Hezbollah have an incentive, and all the indications are preparing for response against Israel. But every indication is that Hezbollah and Iran are at least talking to each other about how they were going to respond.
HOLMES: Right. The Hezbollah leader, Nasrallah, he's made, you know, not unsurprisingly, defiant and threatening statements, but what do you think his base appetite is for a broader conflict?
JONES: Well, I think Nasrallah has indicated, and I take him at his word, that Hezbollah does want to respond. They want it to be a serious response against Israel, but they don't want it to be a response that will trigger all-out war.
What we've seen on the Israel-Lebanon border between Hezbollah and the Israeli Defense Forces really are thousands of attacks since October 7. These are mostly small arms fire, some standoff weapons, so anything though that goes into a 2006 style war would probably not be in Nasrallah's interest, because parts of Lebanon would burn and burn badly.
HOLOMES: You co-wrote an article in Foreign Policy which was a fascinating read, and I just want to read from part of it, you said, quote, If the conflict broadens, Hezbollah's massive rocket and missile arsenal and hardened military forces would pose a major threat to Israel, with the disruption likely to be far more massive than Israel has experienced in decades, even, including the October 7 attack.
So what then, broadly, is Hezbollah's military capability, if it wanted to, if not, go all out make a real statement in terms of doing damage in Israel.
JONES: Yes, it's a great question. I think it's important to note that Hezbollah poses a much different and frankly, more significant threat than Hamas to Israel. Hezbollah has a much larger arsenal of missiles and rockets, including some Fateh-110 ballistic missiles that are guided which have the ability to strike targets throughout Israel somewhere between 120,000 and 200,000.
In addition, Hezbollah has some battle hardened capabilities. They deployed to Syria, beginning around 2014 to aid the Assad regime and trying to retake territory from the Islamic State and other groups. So they've been involved in recent combat. I mean, Israel is a major, major country, has a serious military, but Hezbollah does pose a serious threat if Israel were to send its forces north into southern Lebanon.
HOLMES: Yes, yes. All roads in this current outbreak of, you know, assassinations and tit for tat, be it Lebanon, Iran, Yemen, elsewhere. All of it goes back to what Israel is doing in Gaza. Would a ceasefire agreement there have impact on these tensions, or has that horse bolted?
JONES: No. I think at the moment, the tensions with Hezbollah are really over the use of territory south of the Litani River and north of what's called a blue line along Israel's northern border. You know, the tensions around Gaza go back to October 7 and the attacks that were perpetrated against kibbutzim on the Israeli side of the border.
So there could be, frankly, ceasefire discussions in Gaza and the tensions would still be significant along Israel's northern border. They're connected in some ways, but I think they essentially have to be resolved through different diplomatic channels.
HOLMES: Yes, fascinating. Seth Jones, always good to get your analysis. Thanks so much.
JONES: Thank you very much.
[01:10:00]
HOLMES: Donald Trump tried to reclaim some of the spotlight from Kamala Harris with a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, while defending his own campaign on Thursday, the U.S. Republican presidential nominee insulted his Democratic rivals intelligence and made a series of false claims like this one.
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TRUMP: We have a very bad economy right now. We could literally be on the throes of a depression, not recession, a depression, and they can't have that. They can't have that.
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HOLMES: In fact, the economy grew by an estimated 2.8 percent last quarter. Consumers are still spending and layoffs aren't mounting, and inflation is coming down. Trump also said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Look at what's happened to energy. Look at what's happened, not only to their cars, where gasoline has gone from 187, $1.87 and we had moments when it was below that, but it's gone from $1.87 to five, six and $7.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: That too inaccurate. According to AAA the nationwide average price of a gallon of regular in the U.S. is $3.45 the highest in Hawaii, averaging out at 4.68, not $7 not even close.
The Harris campaign is calling Trump's remarks a public meltdown. They come as a new poll from Marquette Law School shows Harris with a four- point lead over Trump, just within the margin of error. CNN Kristen Holmes reports from Florida.
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KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Former President Donald Trump gave a very wide ranging press conference on Thursday, speaking for more than an hour calling Kamala Harris is now rival barely competent, calling her names, attacking Tim Walz, her now running mate on the Democratic ticket, but he spent a lot of the time really doubling down on this new narrative that we've heard from the Republican Party, and that was part of why they did this press conference, that Kamala Harris will not sit down for an interview, that she will not take questions from the press. Here's what he said about this.
TRUMP: She's not doing any news conference. You know why she's not doing because she can't do a news conference. She doesn't know how to do a news conference. She's not smart enough to do a news conference.
HOLMES: When I talked to campaign officials, they did want a split screen of the fact that Harris has not sat down with reporters, has not answered any of those questions. But there was also some news made out of this press conference, the fact that Donald Trump agreed to three debates with Kamala Harris, one of them being the debate that he had agreed to with President Joe Biden on AB -- at on ABC on September 10. Of course, he had agreed to that, then reneged. Now he is saying he will, in fact, do that debate. Harris has not answered about the other two debates that were also proposed by Donald Trump for September.
The other thing that was asked of him, partly by me, partly by other reporters, was why he wasn't campaigning more, why his campaign doesn't seem to have changed. And he said that he didn't need to campaign that he was leading by so much.
But if you talk to his senior officials and advisers, they know that's not the case. They know that there's been a change in this ticket and in this race, given the enthusiasm we now see around Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, the enthusiasm that is there that wasn't there for President Joe Biden, but clearly Donald Trump getting under his skin.
What he is seeing on the other side here with Kamala Harris and Tim walls, part of that being the crowd size. He said there wasn't that much enthusiasm on that side when he was asked about the fact that there was all there was more bigger events for Harris than we had seen for Joe Biden, he instead lashed out at the media, saying the media inflated her numbers and downplayed his numbers.
But one thing is clear, he was out there, he was talking to reporters, and he is definitely on the offensive right now as we are heading closer and closer to November. Kristen Holmes, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, capitalizing on their momentum, Kamala Harris and her running mate are tearing through several battleground states this week that includes Michigan, where the democratic contenders are wooing union workers, as CNN Arlette Saenz reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOSUE CORRESPONDENT: Vice President Kamala Harris sought to rally union workers as she's looking to build up support among rank and file union members heading into November's election. Harris capped off a two-day swing through Detroit with a stop at a local UAW union hall, talking about how she is supportive of collective bargaining and wants to see fairness for workers in their contracts with major companies.
It all comes as Harris is trying to draw a major contrast with Trump when it pertains to labor issues. Her new running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz also spoke very bluntly about the contrast between the Harris campaign and Trump. Take a listen.
TIM WALZ, U.S. DEMOCRATIC VICE PRESIDENT NOMINEE: We know. We know that unions built the middle class. The rest of America has to you know, who doesn't believe that? Donald Trump. This guy doesn't know the first thing about unity or service. He's too busy serving himself again and again and again. You've seen it. He put himself above us. He weakened our country to strengthen his own hand.
[01:10:05]
SAENZ: Now, Harris's campaign has earned the backing of UAW leadership, but now she is facing the task of trying to earn the support of those rank-and-file members. Former President Donald Trump is also seeking to make his own appeals to working class and rank-and- file union members heading into the November election, the Harris campaign has said they plan on spending hundreds of millions of dollars across battleground states to directly appeal to union workers.
Those type of workers will be key in battleground state like Michigan, but also in other blue wall states like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, as Harris is trying to replicate Biden's victory in those three states in this November election.
Now, Harris, while she was on the ground in Detroit, also talked about the commitments she's making relating to presidential debates against Donald Trump. Harris told reporters that she is committed and looks forward to seeing Trump at an ABC debate on September 10, but then she added that she's happy to talk about other debates that could take place after that period.
It comes after Trump himself has said that he's committing to three debates, one on Fox News, another on ABC and one on NBC. Harris has yet to commit to those two other debates, aside from ABC News. She has said she's looking forward to debating Trump and laying out the contrast in their record and vision for the country heading into November's election. Arlette Saenz, CNN, Detroit.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna are canceled by an alleged terror plot. Coming up. Details on the foiled attack and the teens suspected of planning to carry out the violence.
Plus, Russian forces on the defensive in the Kursk Region as Ukraine pushes its incursion into another day. We'll have the latest on the fighting after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Taylor Swift Fans making the best of a bad situation, gathering in Vienna on Thursday to sing some of the pop stars hits and to trade those signature friendship bracelets. Swift was scheduled to play three shows in the Austrian capital until authorities uncovered an alleged terror plot targeting the concert venue. Three teenagers have been questioned in connection to the alleged terror plot. Police say the suspects were radicalized online. CNN's Salma Abdelaziz is in Vienna with the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Chilling new details are emerging about the terror plot on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna, law enforcement says one of the suspects, a 17-year old, had just been hired to work at the venue. He planned to attack.
OMAR HALJAWI-PIRCHNER, AUSTRIAN DIRECTOR OF SECURITY SERVICES: One of the suspects got an application a few days ago.
ABDELAZIZ: So he had applied for a job.
HALJAWI-PIRCHNER: He had it.
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): Officials believe the teens had a three pronged attack. Targeting one of the three sold out Swift concerts for an estimated 65,000 fans each night.
[01:20:07]
Investigators say the suspects plan to run over fans gathered outside the stadium with a vehicle, even obtaining a blue light for their car to mimic a police vehicle. Then they plan to attack innocent concertgoers with knives and machetes, and in a final stage, they plan to detonate explosives at the site.
ABDELAZIZ: The alleged mastermind behind the plot is a 19 year old suspect that lived in this home behind me here just an hour outside Vienna. Authorities say he has confessed to this plot and inside the house, police say they found ISIS propaganda, knives and machetes, counterfeit cash, detonators and chemical explosives.
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): All three suspects were radicalized online by ISIS recruiters.
HALJAWI-PIRCHNER: It's very worrying. We can see that in Austria, we have very young guys that are radicalized due to the fact that they are using the online propaganda that is brought out from ISIS and also ISIS-KP.
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): The prime suspect had pledged allegiance to ISIS. Neighbors say his family was always reserved.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): They lived very reclusively. We did not see them in their backyard or their children outside.
ABDELAZIZ: The concerts are canceled, but the Swifties have filled the streets of Vienna, and they are singing her song as loud as they can.
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): Fans we spoke to say they are disappointed but grateful to be safe.
GABBY FORD, TAYLOR SWIFT FAN: This is all about we make the best of a bad situation in rain and sun like we'll be here for hours.
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): Salma Abdelaziz, CNN Vienna.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: It is morning in Russia's Kursk Region on the border with Ukraine, and Russian forces are still trying to repel Ukraine's largest incursion in the more than two-year old war. Russian officials say 66 people have been wounded, and the fighting appears to be ongoing. According to the Kremlin, President Vladimir Putin met with regional leaders and said there would be compensation for those forced to evacuate. Some residents said on social media that the situation is not under control.
A Ukrainian presidential adviser praised Western allies, who said they have no issue with the incursion. That's really the first time Kyiv acknowledged the offensive. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has a warning for Moscow Thursday, although he did not explicitly mention Kursk.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Ukrainians know how to achieve their goals, and we did not choose to achieve the goals in the war. Russia brought the war to our land, and should feel what it has done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: CNN's Clare Sebastian, now with more on the incursion from London.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is now the third day of what appears to be an attempt by the Ukrainian military to advance inside Russia. The first time we've seen anything like this in this two and a half year old war, and Russia is claiming it now has the upper hand. The Ministry of Defense says it's brought in reinforcements and has stopped the Ukrainian advance.
This video published by the Russian Ministry of Defense purports to show a Russian airstrike destroying Ukrainian armored vehicles. CNN has geolocated this to a Russian village in the Kursk region, near the Ukrainian border.
But unofficial accounts, including from Russian military bloggers and other video evidence like this filmed inside a car which CNN has geolocated to just outside the town of Suja, also in the Kursk Region, appears to show panicked civilians driving through deserted streets, claiming at one point they're being shot at. That all suggests that hostilities are still very much ongoing.
Now the official Russian approach here is telling far from trying to hide the fact that they failed to protect their border, they're deflecting President Putin accusing Ukraine of indiscriminately shelling civilians, portraying Russia as the victim of what he called a major provocation. And the White House often given an advanced warning about major operations, says it also knew nothing and will be seeking more clarity. Clare Sebastian, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Still to come on the program. Palestinians in Gaza struggling to fight off diseases and deteriorating living conditions, the latest coming up.
Also, millions in Bangladesh waking up to a new government this morning after weeks of deadly clashes resulted in the ousting of their long time Prime Minister. All that and more after the break.
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[01:27:00]
HOLMES: Well, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza just gets worse every day as Israel's military calls yet again for more evacuations for people who've been evacuated multiple times already. New video showing displaced Palestinians once again packing up busses, cars, donkey carts, trying to get out of Khan Younis on Thursday, coming after Israel warned it would, quote, soon act forcefully against what it described as Hamas targets in the area.
More than 16,000 children have been killed in Gaza since October the seventh, that's according to a new report by the Palestinian Ministry of relief affairs. Besides violence, children out in Gaza are also facing malnutrition and now diseases are getting worse without proper medical attention. Here's how one father describes what they're going through.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AHMED AL-SHANBARI, FATHER OF 3-YEAR-OLD SUFFERING FROM SKIN RASH (through translator): We really suffer a lot from skin diseases in the schools, they are dilapidated and there is no cleanliness. As you can see, they are not like home. They are overcrowded and not every child is like the other. Each child is different.
For example, my daughter is sensitive to diseases. The disease she has on her face has been there for almost 10 days now and hasn't gone away. We did not leave out any medicine to give her, hoping it will clear up on her face. But this is all because of the war, because of the sewage, the flooded streets and the garbage.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Carol Nagy joins me now from Jerusalem. She's the medical coordinator for Medecins Sans Frontieres or Doctors Without Borders in Gaza, thanks for making the time. According to recent figures, out of Gaza, thousands of children, as we said, not just malnutrition, but hepatitis A, horrible skin diseases and so on. What are the biggest of the many health risks right now?
CAROL NAGY, MEDICAL COORDINATOR, MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES: Yes, hello, Michael. So as the father very eloquently described the situation for his child, and his children in particular, paints the picture that we see in the broader pediatric population in Gaza. It's something I've never witnessed before, and I've been working in and out of Gaza for many, many years now.
So the problem, of course, is all linked to the continuing conflict. There's a blockade on things entering the strip, which includes things like hygiene products people are not getting so people are not getting washing powder. People are not getting detergent for washing dishes.
On top of that, there's a lack of medical supply, a lack of medical facilities due to the ongoing conflict and the destruction of health infrastructure which means that children, more and more, are not able to access the care that they need, not only children, but the adults as well.
[01:29:49]
HOLMES: Yes. The WHO reported, you know, and again it's just a laundry list -- respiratory infections, diarrhea, scabies, lice, skin rash. What else? Chickenpox, jaundice, as we said, hepatitis A.
You were in Gaza recently, what struck you most about what you saw with your own eyes?
NAGY: Well, the list, as you say, it goes on and on and on and we've been expecting this to happen for many, many months now due to, as I've just described, the lack of services, the lack of supplies, the lack of access to health care, which is getting less every day. I was -- when I was there, I saw virtually every second child, if not
every child, had some sort of skin rash, was scratching, look miserable and very uncomfortable in the conditions at the moment where it's incredibly hot.
There's no water for washing or insufficient water for washing. Let alone for drinking. And the water that people are washing in is basically salt water --
HOLMES: Yes.
NAGY: -- which just exacerbates the skin conditions --
HOLMES: In addition to the nearly 40,000 killed in Gaza, as we said, 16,000 of them children there are 90,000 wounded. What treatment resources are even available for what are horrific injuries?
NAGY: Yes. You're absolutely right. and it is horrific. You know, MSF is running very intensive wound care programs in the remaining hospitals that are partially functional. So we have just in the program that I'm involved in we're doing about 600 wound care dressings per week.
And this is a phenomenal amount of people that need to have continual and quite elevated advanced wound care for injuries sustained from glass, being stuck under rubble for a long period of time in some cases and losing a lot of tissue that requires very intensive and regular treatment, which is not helped by the fact that we have a lack of supply of medical items.
HOLMES: Yes. Yes. I spoke to a doctor recently who said just about every person they operated on had wound infection because they couldn't keep the wounds clean and there's sewage and everything else.
Israel keeps saying its precise in its targeting. But, you know, when you've got waste treatment facilities destroyed, desalination plants destroyed, medical facilities, even 130 ambulances damaged or destroyed, and the lack of medicines to treat the sick.
What would be your request to Israel and the world in terms of what's happening to civilians in Gaza?
NAGY: We have to stop the war. This is the only solution. So at this -- there's no way that humanitarian aid can be delivered in any effective way inside Gaza.
It's -- the living conditions now are just not compatible with life at the moment. So this is the answer. We need to stop this.
HOLMES: And on top of all of this, hundreds of health workers have reportedly been killed. I think it's around 500 or so -- 50 or more specialist doctors. How are those local doctors and health workers coping day to day physically with what what's lacking, but also mentally.
NAGY: It's incredibly stressful for these people. As you can imagine, ten months in now, 300 days and it's been day-in, day-out. Nobody's taken really any time off other than to relocate.
Every time there's an evacuation order, I've staff relocating multiple times and as recently as yesterday, to be honest. One of our psychologists posted on our site how exhausted she was, again having to relocate her family and then come back to work and try and support her guards (ph) and colleagues. It's relentless.
(AUDIO GAP)
HOLMES: Yes. It is.
Yes. Just horrendous, unbelievable situation and truly forgotten in many ways by the outside world.
Carol Nagy with MSF. Thanks to you. Thanks for the work that you do and to MSF.
[01:34:52]
NAGY: Thanks very much, Michael.
HOLMES: Well, Thursday marked the start of a new era in Bangladesh. The country's interim government led by Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus was officially sworn in.
Yunus is a longtime critic of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled the country Monday after weeks of violent protests that left some 300 people dead.
Yunus is known as the banker to the poor for his pioneering work in microfinance, work that changed a lot of lives and earned him the Nobel Peace prize in 2006.
The new government is urging Bangladeshis to return to law and order and step back from the protests that turned deadly under the now- ousted prime minister's crack down.
Our Anna Coren spoke with family members of some of the people who lost their lives.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the searing afternoon heat, tear gas hanging thickly in the air, 25-year-old Mugdho (ph) hands out bottles of water.
"Does anyone need water? Water, brother, water."
The maths graduate doing his MBA had been watching the protests on the streets of Dhaka Grove, and decided he too wanted to play a role by helping fellow students.
But 15 minutes after this video was filmed, Mugdho was shot in the head. His identical twin, Singdo (ph), raced to the hospital, but Mugdho was already dead. A small birthmark beneath his right eye was the only way people could tell them apart. SINGDO (ph), TWIN BROTHER WAS KILLED: I'm watching him and I can see that he's sleeping the way he always sleep. I didn't have any realization in my whole body. I just hugged him and I cried for almost 30 minutes.
COREN: He is your twin, he is part of you.
SINGDO: He was not only my brother, he was my best friend. People will forget him after some days. I cannot forget him because he is with my face, he is with my soul, and he is with my body.
COREN: Mugdho's death was a tipping point for the student-led protests that began early July over a quota system that gave preferential treatment in government jobs.
But the brutal and deadly crackdown ordered by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to extinguish the protests backfired, igniting a firestorm of pent-up anger, frustration, and defiance by a population tired of her increasingly authoritarian rule.
FARAH PORSHIA, PROTESTER: Anybody of my age, we have never been able to vote in a diplomatic manner. We have never attended election because we're never given the rights. We have never had a choice. There was no alternative.
COREN: But for the prime minister, whose father founded Bangladesh, her 15-year iron rule had come to an end, as tens of thousands marched towards her residence, calling for her resignation, Hasina boarded a helicopter and fled to neighboring India.
Jubilation was short-lived before Bangladesh descended into lawlessness.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus has returned to Dhaka to set up an interim government, appealing for calm and an end to the violence.
But that's cold comfort for the mother of 13-year-old Mubarak (ph). His TikTok videos is all she has left.
"Oh, God, there is so much pain in my heart," she wept.
But as one of the hundreds reportedly killed over the past month, his father believes his death will not be in vain.
"My son has been martyred for this movement," he explains. "This is for all people, for the future of Bangladesh."
Anna Coren, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Troubling news from a notorious prison in Iran, the family of a Iranian women's rights activist, Narges Mohammadi says that she was severely beaten by guards while protesting inside the Evin prison. Mohammadi along with several of her fellow inmates were demonstrating against the execution of dissenters, leading to a violent confrontation with security forces.
The 2023 Nobel Peace prize winner has spent most of the past two decades in prison. CNN has reached out to Iran's mission to the U.N. for comment.
To Kenya now, where more than 170 anti-government protesters were arrested on Thursday, according to CNN affiliate Citizen TV.
Police fired tear gas as you can see, and flashbangs at people who were peacefully protesting in the capital after they took to the streets for an eighth week.
[01:39:50]
HOLMES: It started as a protest against the finance bill, which President William Ruto has since withdrawn that has evolved into a movement against corruption. The high cost of living and police brutality.
CNN's Larry Madowo has been on the scene in Nairobi.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There is nowhere to escape to this tear gas and flash bangs -- every direction you turn.
So even though the constitution of Kenya guarantees the right to protest that's the scene everywhere with police violently dispersing the protesters, shooting in the air, flashbangs making the whole city like a warzone.
As we're doing this, we have to get out of here right now. Literally nowhere to escape.
Okay. We do. Fabs, we have to run from there. We can get to safety.
HUSSEIN KHALID, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, VOCAL AFRICA: Kenya is not a police state. So many have been killed, so many continue to be abducted, so many have been battered. They're in school, they're amputated, and no justice has been done to date. Not a single police officer has been held to account.
Protesters on the streets for at least two weeks now, we've been hearing a lot of flashbangs, a lot of tear gas in the air, police shooting in the air throughout the day, trying to disperse these protesters who are unhappy about the government of President William Ruto.
They're unhappy about the fact that he fired a cabinet after public pressure, but then reappointed half of the cabinet back to their positions.
SUNSHINE ZOLA, PROTESTER: I'm telling the president, you have the perfect opportunity to fix this nation. But you've refused. I voted for you but here I am. I've lost faith and trust in you.
MADOWO: So you feel that the president is not listening.
MAWASI, PROTESTER: Yes, I don't feel. He is not listening. Everyone is tone deaf nothing will get to him. This -- maybe this will get him to listen. Yes, the demonstrations.
MADOWO: It's supposed to be rush hour, but the streets in Nairobi are completely empty because police have made sure that no protesters gathered.
That is directly in contravention of Kenyan law that allows protesters to peacefully gather. And that's one of the reasons why they've been so angry about this heavy-handed response.
Larry Madowo, CNN, Nairobi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Still to come on the program, a thrilling day at the Paris Games marked with some stunning upsets and comebacks. We'll be right back.
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HOLMES: Team U.S.A. on top of the Olympic medal board for now. The U.S. leading the pack with 30 gold medals, edging past China's 29 gold medals and bringing the Americans' total medal count to 103.
[01:44:44]
HOLMES: But check Australia in third place there, 26 million people, come on. It's got to be number one. It is number one per head of population, per medal, by the way. But I digress.
Friday is jam-packed with gold medals being awarded in 16 sports, including on the track for 400-meter men's and women's relay finals. And host nation France will face European rival Spain in the men's football final, while Germany and the Netherlands go head to in the women's hockey gold match.
CNN's Coy Wire now recaps Thursday's dramatic scenes in France.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COY WIRE, CNN WORLD SPORT:S Huge story lines in Paris today. One of the biggest -- the fastest man in the world, Noah Lyles taken down in the 200-meter final revealing afterwards he was competing with COVID. The U.S. track and field said after the race that Lyles tested positive on Tuesday.
They followed CDC protocols to prevent the spread. Lyles said he went into quarantine but never considered not racing.
He was wearing a mask in the holding area ahead of the race. The 100- meter champ finished bronze, laid down on the track afterwards, medical personnel took him away in a wheelchair. A stunning turn of events. It was a packed Stade de France who went from roars of chanting U.S.A.
to wows as Letsile Tebogo of Botswana flew past Lyles and American Kenny Bednarek, who took the silver, winning time 19.46 seconds, fifth-fastest time in history. Letsile Tebogo is the first African ever to win the 200. And he's Botswana's first ever Olympic gold medalist.
And she has done it again. American Sydney McLaughlin Levrone, breaking her own world record in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 50.37 seconds. It was a showdown final facing the Netherlands speedster Femke Bol. She finished bronze. American Ana Cockrell took silver. But Sydney went on to do something nobody's ever done before in the event, winning back-to-back Olympic gold. Sydney McLaughlin- Levrone is now the most dominant in the event we've ever seen. She has broken the world record, a mind-boggling six times.
Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan stunned the world with an Olympic record throw of 92.97 meters in the second round of the javelin final. It proved to be the unbeatable mark as Nadeem claimed the gold medal and dethroned India's Neeraj Chopra as Olympic champ. Nadeem is now Pakistan's first Olympic medal winner since 1992.
Finally, the United States men's basketball team survived a huge scare, erasing a double-digit fourth quarter deficit to beat Serbia and Nikola Jokic, 95-91, earning a spot in the gold medal game.
Steph Curry scored a game high 36 points. Lebron James tallied a triple, double. The United States will face next host nation France in the gold medal game on Saturday, a rematch from 2020. Paris will be rocking.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Coy Wire there for us.
Now, twin sisters from Kharkiv have endured untold danger to train for the Olympics in synchronized swimming. Now they're aiming not just to represent their country well, but to honor their fallen fellow Ukrainian athletes when they compete on Saturday in Paris.
Fred Pleitgen reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It takes Russian missiles only about half a minute to strike Kharkiv in northeast Ukraine. Survival is tough here, now imagine training for the Olympics under near constant fire.
Twins, Maryna and Vladyslava Aleksiiva are on Ukraine's synchronized or artistic swimming team.
VLADYSLAVA ALEKSIIVA, UKRAINIAN SWIMMER (through translator): There were many bad instances in Kharkiv. There is constant shelling. Almost every day there are some explosion both during the day and during the night. MARYNA ALEKSIIVA, UKRAINIAN SWIMMER (through translator): And sometimes the air alarm doesn't happen in time.
Yes. First the missile hits and then the air alarm sounds.
PLEITGEN: The pool facility scarred by two-and-a-half years of war, the windows blown out temporarily sealed with plastic sheets.
The practice sessions often interrupted by air raid alerts. The athletes evacuated to the bomb shelter.
M. ALEKSIIVA: Yes, it's hit very often.
V. ALEKSIIVA: we had to jump out the pool in our wetsuits and run to the shelter.
M. ALEKSIIVA: You're stressed a lot and our training had to be interrupted.
PLEITGEN: Kharkiv is only about 25 miles from the Russian border, Moscow's forces have repeatedly tried and failed to invade the city.
But the toll on the civilian population has been immense. Scores killed and wounded by Russian strikes. Maryna and Vladyslava say just getting to practice means risking their lives.
M. ALEKSIIVA: One day, we were on our way to the training and there was an explosion there. You're not able to think in that moment, what to do? Where to go? We were too afraid to go on to our trainings so we turned back home.
PLEITGEN: But the twins say going to the games in Paris, competing for their nation under siege is a calling so great, they're willing to brave the onslaught they see, hear, and feel every day, and which impacts their preparations so much.
[01:49:52]
V. ALEKSIIVA: We will do everything in our power to represent our country at the Olympics in the best way possible.
M. ALEKSIIVA: This is a huge responsibility for all our athletes right now. In these Olympics, we are not only athletes, we're also represent Ukraine.
PLEITGEN: And they say they will represent all the Ukrainian athletes lost to Russia's brutal invasion while voicing their anger at Russians allowed to compete in Paris, even though they'll be classified as individual neutral athletes.
V. ALEKSIIVA: More than 500 athletes died during the war in Ukraine during this full-scale invasion. And they won't be able to represent their country anymore at the Olympic Games. Meanwhile, the Russian athletes are going and will represent their country, their terrorist state at the Olympics.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN -- London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And we'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: In Japan a frightening bout of goose bumps is considered a good way to cool down. So the summer brings haunted houses, ghost stories, and scary dramas and soaring temperatures are motivating the crowds.
CNN's Hanako Montgomery has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MISATO NARUSE, HAUNTED HOUSE ATTENDEE (through translator): I broke out in a cold sweat without even realizing. That's how scared I was.
HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As Japan sizzles under record- breaking temperatures, people turn to creative, chilling solutions to beat the heat.
Haunted houses. Summer in Japan has long been linked to the supernatural. In August, millions across the country celebrate the Obon Festival, honoring the spirits of their deceased family members and ancestors.
Local myths say that during the summer holiday, the boundary between the living and the dead thins, letting yurei (ph) or spirits, creep into our world. Even the less familiar ghosts.
NARUSE: We're both into horror movies and we've always been fans of Nanja Town. And since they are doing their haunted house again this year, we came here to do something summery.
MONTGOMERY: We're months away from Halloween, but in Japan, summer is peak haunted house season. Some believe that the spine-tingling sensation of goosebumps can cool the body down.
Lore has it that centuries ago, kabuki theaters struggled to attract spectators in the scorching heat, until they swapped sentimental dramas for chilling ghost stories, drawing crowds eager for a cool, eerie thrill.
HIROKI MATSUBARA, REPRESENTATIVE, BANDAI NAMCO AMUSEMENT (through translator): In Japanese, we say kimo kahiru (ph), or literally, chilling the liver, a reference to the sensation of getting goose bumps.
In this haunted house, too, we believe visitors can experience the feeling of being scared, surprised, or chilled to the liver, which will hopefully make them enjoy a cool feeling in summer.
MONTGOMERY: Ghostly adventures have been a summer tradition in Japan, long before air conditioning. Horror movies fill the cinemas and scary shows take over TV programming as everyone seeks chills down their spines.
Hanako Montgomery, CNN, Tokyo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: So now you know.
Well, two giant pandas made their first official public appearance at the San Diego Zoo on Thursday. The pair are the first giant pandas to enter the U.S. in more than 20 years as part of China's so-called panda diplomacy.
Stephanie Elam with that.
[01:54:54]
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's time to bust out all of your panda puns because this is the day that the giant pandas here in San Diego are making their debut. And you can see people are excited. They're out here.
I heard some people were standing in line from like 6:30 in the morning, well before the zoo opened up, to get their chance to see Yun Chuan and Xin Bao.
And this is the line that snakes down, you'll go down and they get to see the lady panda first, and then we'll come up and see the boy panda up here. Once they catch their way around here in this enclosure.
We were able to go in already and see them. And I have to say, it really is a lot of fun to see these giant pandas and how they just kind of move about, sort of roll back, take their bamboo, drop it on their belly and then continue to chomp, chomp, chomp, chomp, chomp.
In fact, I was wondering just how much time they spend eating bamboo. So, I asked one of the officials from the zoo, Dr. Megan Owen to explain it to us. Take a listen.
MEGAN OWEN, VP OF WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SCIENCE, SAN DIEGO ZOO: He definitely can be playful, but he absolutely loves his bamboo and giant pandas actually eat 40 pounds of bamboo a day.
So, a big part of their day and in a way, they maintain their health and wellbeing is through eating bamboo.
ELAM: Now, it's also worth noting that pandas like to live out their lives alone. So that is why, since they're trying to make this habitat as close to what they would experience in China, why they are separated right now.
So they said that they'll bring them together when it's that special time because after all, procreation is conservation as far as they're concerned.
But right now, they like to live by themselves, and so they're close, but not together. We also know that they have -- some of their handlers that were working with them in China have been here with them for an extended period and will be here for a bit longer.
And also, the American handlers have been with them from China, making that journey here with them. Just making sure that they're acclimated to their new home, which they have expanded -- making it, I think, four times larger than it was previously to make it more hospitable to these big panda bears.
But really, a lot of fun to see the excitement. People wearing panda hats. They're dressed up with their panda gear, bringing their children out here for this day that is just bringing a lot of joy to people here in San Diego and around who have traveled to be here for this special day.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Stephanie Elam there.
Thanks for spending part of your day with me. I'm Michael Holmes. I'll be back with more news in just a moment.
[01:57:18]
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