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Harris-Walz Ticket Kicks Off Thursday's Campaign in Georgia Ahead of Their Joint Interview on CNN; NVIDIA Sales Surged in Q2; Namibia to Kill More than 700 Animals and Give its Meat to those Affected by Drought; CNN Investigates Black Market Marijuana Farms in California; Two Hong Kong News Editors Found Guilty of Seditious Content; Shohei Ohtani's Dog Makes First Pitch in Dodgers-Orioles Game. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired August 29, 2024 - 03:00   ET

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

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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to all our viewers joining us here in the United States, from around the world and on CNN Max. I'm Rosemary Church, live in Atlanta.

Just ahead here on "CNN Newsroom", Kamala Harris is set to rally in Battleground Georgia, pitching her newly minted ticket to rural Southern voters who usually lean-Republican.

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Israel launches deadly raids in the West Bank, fueling fears of a bigger war. We're live in the region.

And CNN investigates the rise of suburban houses being used to illegally grow weed for America's black market.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Good to have you with us. And we begin in Georgia, the U.S. state that's on the minds of the presidential candidates this week. New polling shows Kamala Harris with an ever so slight lead in the crucial swing state that President Joe Biden won by less than 12,000 votes four years ago.

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Fresh off their high from the Democratic National Convention, Vice President and her running mate Tim Walz are on a bus tour through southern Georgia where they visited a high school band and a barbecue joint.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump is getting a boost from Georgia's governor despite their testy relationship. Brian Kemp will appear at a Trump fundraiser in Atlanta later today, even though the former president has repeatedly insulted him after losing Georgia in the 2020 election.

Well meanwhile, new polling suggests Harris may be gaining an edge on Trump in Georgia and other battleground states in the so-called Sun Belt of the US. The survey from Fox News finds there's no clear leader in the overall race when the 3 percent margin of error is taken into account. Still, these new Harris figures on the right point to a stronger showing against Trump when compared to how President Joe Biden was doing in April when he was still the Democratic nominee.

CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is traveling with the Harris campaign and has this report from Savannah, Georgia.

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PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Vice President Kamala Harris and her vice presidential nominee Tim Waltz visiting the state of Georgia on Wednesday, the first time they visited the state together. Now it's a crucial battleground state and notable that they decided to kick off their bus tour here after the Democratic National Convention.

But what was significant was where they were going in this state, visiting South Georgia, a region that typically leans Republicans that were here, where the Harris campaign thinks that they can make inroads. Thanks to 2022, when Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock in his runoff was able to shave off Republican votes and still win big in Metro Atlanta.

Now, the Harris campaign employing a similarly aggressive strategy in South Georgia, the vice president and Tim Walz visiting with high school students and also going to a barbecue joint to talk to voters. Now the vice president will conclude her trip in Georgia with a rally, as well as do that sit down interview with her vice presidential nominee, Tim Walz.

All of this as the campaign tries to notch a victory in the crucial battleground that in 2020, President Biden only won by less than 12,000 votes.

Priscilla Alvarez, CNN, traveling with the Harris-Walz campaign.

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CHURCH: Tharon Johnson is a Democratic strategist based here in Georgia, and the founder and CEO of Paramount Consulting Group. He joins me now from Atlanta. Appreciate you being with us.

THARON JOHNSON, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST AND CEO, PARAMOUNT CONSULTING GROUP: Thank you, it's good to be here.

CHURCH: So the U.S. presidential race is centered in the battleground state of Georgia this week with Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz, kicking off their two-day bus tour in the state's rural south. What do they need to be doing and saying to win over these more Republican-leaning voters in the rural South and what are their chances of winning the state given new polling from Fox Release Wednesday shows Harris ahead of Trump but still in a very tight race?

JOHNSON: Georgia is a very key battleground state for the Harris-Walz campaign, and it's also a very key battleground state for the Trump campaign. We know that Georgia came down to less than 12,000 votes in 2020.

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Rosemary, you know that this election was decided roughly about 45,000 votes in three states, and Georgia was one of those pivotal states. So the fact that you see Kamala Harris, the vice president of the United States of America, and Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota, kicking off a bus tour in Savannah, Georgia which is southeast Georgia was one of the fastest growing areas of our state, shows you that they believe that the rule votes are there.

They believe that these rule voters in southeast Georgia one here from her to one here economic message, they want to hear a message around affordability, and this is an area that has really seen a lot of growth in manufacturing jobs. And a lot of that is due to the Biden- Harris administration sending federal money to this area.

CHURCH: And Tharon, once a Trump nemesis, Georgia's Governor Brian Kemp is now all aboard the Trump train. He is supporting his campaign and will attend a fundraiser for the former president in Atlanta on Thursday in the coming hours. What's behind the fence mending here, given the negative and nasty things that Trump has said about Kemp in the past and what are Trump's chances of winning Georgia, do you think?

JOHNSON: You know, this has been a lot of political theater. This sort of make-up, break-up, make-up, break-up, and then make-up again relationship between Governor Brian Kemp and former President Donald Trump is just honestly sort of, abusive, toxic relationship between two men politically.

The fact that Governor Kemp, who's very popular in the state of Georgia, said, you know, even though you came to Georgia, Donald Trump talked about my campaign, said that I was actually responsible for him losing in 2020. He said that Brian Kemp and Brad Raffensperger, who's our secretary of state, are doing things to prevent Donald Trump from winning in 2024.

Brian Kemp, Rosemary, as you reported, came out right away on X and said, hey, leave my family out of your mouth when he talked about the first lady, Marty Kemp, sort of begging Trump to help him out with his campaign in 2018, which Brian Kemp went on to win that race.

And so for Governor Brian Kemp to come out and say, look, I'm going to put these personal attacks aside and it's basically a message around winning. And it's really sort of my team versus their team sort of strategy. And Governor Brian Kemp has made it very clear that he wants to win. Only thing I would say is that Brian Kemp doesn't need Donald Trump. And say to George, Donald Trump needs Brian Kemp.

CHURCH: And Tharon, Kamala Harris has her first sit down interview with a journalist since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee six weeks ago. And that'll be right here on CNN later this evening with our very own Dana Bash. How high are the stakes with this exclusive interview? And what does Harris need to say about the economy, immigration, reproductive rights and other issues of course to send a clear message about her policies, and what does she need to avoid?

JOHNSON: Well first of all Rosemary, congratulations to CNN for you all being able to secure what I believe will be this very game- changing historic interview. Dana Bash and yourself are two of my favorite journalists. You guys do a great job of interviewing people. You guys are very fair and direct.

I am not worried about the Vice President's ability to answer the question. What you will see is a very detailed and defiant -- detailed and defiant public policy discussion from the vice president. You'll see her talk in-depth about some of the issues that face our country at the border. How the economy is improving the United States? She will also talk about public safety, she'll talk about working with on the union workers and other corporations to create a working middle class of all Americans of all races.

And I think that she would as she'll be fine. She's poor, she's ready for this moment, this is a woman. This whole notion that she's been dodging the interview is just blatantly false. It is time now for her and her team, and she'll be joined by Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz as well. And I think that that's America.

You will see a visual of a black woman with a white man, one from California, another one from Minnesota, who's spending a lot of time in the South and also in the Midwest. And I think that visual will show the independent voters in America that they really want to reach out to them.

CHURCH: Tharon Johnson, thank you for joining us and sharing your perspective. We appreciate it.

JOHNSON: Thank you.

CHURCH: And be sure to tune into CNN Thursday. Kamala Harris and Tim Walz will have their first interview since the Democratic convention right here on CNN with Dana Bash. That's at 9pm Eastern in New York tonight, which is 9am Friday in Hong Kong.

Palestinian officials are reporting at least 11 people have been killed in the latest Israeli raids on the West Bank. It included attacks from drones and helicopters and bulldozers digging up the streets.

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Israel says it's going after terrorist infrastructure and a systematic strategy by Iran of smuggling weapons and explosives into the West Bank. Palestinian officials condemned the operation, accusing Israel of blocking access to hospitals and obstructing ambulances. CNN's Paula Hancocks is following developments for us, live in Abu

Dhabi. She joins us now. Good to see you, Paula. So, what is the latest on the situation in the West Bank and where is all this going?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, this operation is now in its second day in the occupied West Bank and there's no indication from the Israeli military how long this operation will last. They have specified, though, that it is the largest operation that they have done in years. As you say, there are at least 11 that have been killed at this point. We have also heard from not just Palestinian side condemning what is happening. The E.U.'s top diplomat condemned this operation.

And also the U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres has said that there should be an immediate cessation of this operation, saying it is a dangerous development which is fueling an already explosive situation. There have been others within the U.N. as well who have said that this needs to end.

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RAVINA SHAMDASANI, U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS SPOKESPERSON: Many children have been killed while throwing stones at highly protected Israeli security forces, as have other Palestinians posing no imminent threat to life. Thousands of Palestinians have also been arbitrarily arrested and tortured, subjected to unrelenting settler violence, severe restrictions on their movement and expression, with their homes and property destroyed or seized, or forcibly displaced.

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HANCOCKS: But from Israel's point of view, they say that this operation is necessary because of the influence that Iran has on the West Bank at this point, saying that they're claiming Iran has been smuggling weapons into the West Bank and are sponsoring terror within the West Bank itself. Now, we also heard from the IDF just now that they say they did kill what they called five terrorists overnight.

This was in the area of Altulkarim saying that there was exchanges of fire, also claiming that one of those that they killed was a military commander who had been responsible for a number of attacks inside Israel. So Israel is saying that there have been a number of these potential attacks, including one just a few weeks ago in Tel Aviv where there was an explosive device detonated only the person carrying that device was killed in that attack, but saying that this is being organized and planned within particular areas of the West Bank.

Now, there are three areas that they're operating in at the moment, all of them in the northern part of the West Bank: Jenin, Tubas, Tulkarm, and we are seeing yet more images coming in this morning that are showing that those operations are ongoing, but at this point there is no clear indication how long it might last. Rosemary?

CHURCH: Our thanks to Paula Hancocks, joining us live from Abu Dhabi with that report. The Israeli military says it has recovered the body of a soldier

abducted on October 7 and held hostage in Gaza. The prime minister's office and the hostage families say there are currently 107 hostages, living and dead, being held in Gaza.

Meanwhile, newly freed hostage Farhan Al-Qadi says he hopes the war in Gaza ends for all Palestinian and Israeli families. The 52-year-old Bedouin Israeli citizen spoke with reporters as he was released from the hospital on Wednesday. His family says food was scarce and Al-Qadi lost 65 pounds, that's 30 kilograms in captivity. They say he was held in isolation the entire time and did not meet any other hostages.

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FARHAN AL-QADI, FREED HOSTAGE (through translator): The pain is the same pain, whether it is Palestinian, Jewish or Bedouin. God made us human. I tell everyone, Sinwar and Netanyahu, to put an end to it. We've been in wars for 74 or 75 years, and where have we come? Nowhere. Just more blood and more blood and more dead.

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CHURCH: The U.N.'s World Food Programme is putting on hold the movement of its staff in Gaza after one of its vehicles came under fire. The agency says the car was struck at least 10 times while approaching an Israeli checkpoint Tuesday night. No one was injured. The U.N. says the vehicle was clearly marked and it had the go-ahead from Israel to pass through that area.

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The WFP plays a key role in distributing aid in Gaza where famine has been raging for months. Israel's military says the incident is under review.

Up next, a CNN investigation. Imagine discovering the home next door to yours is being used to grow weed for the black market marijuana industry. We'll take you to California where police say it's a very real problem.

Plus, half of the human population of Namibia is suffering from drought and a lack of food, forcing authorities to come up with a controversial plan to feed the hungry. We'll have the details just ahead in a live report.

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CHURCH: You're looking at futures on Wall Street a few hours before trading gets underway, that's looking encouraging. Wednesday ended on a down note for investors as all three indices closed in the red.

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The Dow lost about 0.4 percent. The Nasdaq dropped more than one percentage point while the S&P 500 was 0.6 percent in the red. Tech company, NVIDIA, is riding high after reporting its second

quarter earnings sales surpassed $30 billion in that period, up 122 percent compared to last fiscal year. Despite the good news, shares are still trending down in after-hours trading.

CNN's Kristie Lu Stout is following the story and joins us live from Hong Kong. Good to see you again, Kristie. So, this report has been called the most important tech earnings in years. NVIDIA beat expectations again, but its shares are falling. So, explain that to us.

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, it's interesting, Rosemary. Like, NVIDIA is huge. It has been arguably the biggest winner of the AI frenzy that has been sweeping Wall Street, but after its latest report, it appears it's not quite living up to the hype. Look, it beat estimates, as you pointed out just then, but it's also now forecasting third quarter revenue of $32.5 billion, which is only slightly better than estimates.

And that is just not enough to impress the markets. I have high expectations about NVIDIA. So after the report NVIDIA shares traded lower with shares dipping down 6.9 percent after hours. Now NVIDIA is the A.I. chip giant. It accounts for around 70 percent of all A.I. chip sales. And as the tech giants from Microsoft to Google to Meta build out their infrastructure for A.I., they've been spending big on NVIDIA processors that power AI and that includes generative A.I., which is a tech behind Chat GPT.

Now, NVIDIA has been raking in billions, but it's also facing a number of challenges. Let's take a look at a few of them, let's bring up the chart for you. Among the challenges it's facing, including production delays for next generation chips, potential for rising production costs, antitrust concerns as U.S. regulators probe NVIDIA and its business practices, and you also have rising competition.

Now, and let's point out, it's still early. We are still at the dawn of the so-called A.I. revolution and there's more upside to come for NVIDIA. Watch this.

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DAN IVES, MANAGING DIRECTOR, WEDBUSH SECURITIES: This is gonna be a $4 Trillion markup in the next year, along with Apple and Microsoft. This A.I. revolution is just starting being led by Godfather of A.I. gents and NVIDIA. It continues to be, I think, one of our core plays in tech.

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It's been said when NVIDIA reports earnings, it is like the Super Bowl for the financial markets. Investors are so enamored, they have grown so accustomed to NVIDIA smashing forecasts that when NVIDIA only beats them, they're not impressed. Rosemary, it's not easy when you're priced for perfection. Back to you.

CHURCH: True. Kristie Lu Stout, joining us live from Hong Kong. Many thanks for that report. I Appreciate it.

Yelp is taking Google to court accusing the search engine giant of breaking antitrust laws. The lawsuit claims Google is using its monopoly to dominate local search markets and stifle competition. Yelp's website allows users to find and review local businesses. Earlier this month, Google was found guilty of violating antitrust laws in a separate federal case. But Google is appealing that decision and it calls Yelp's claims meritless.

Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike estimates the global computer outage earlier this year cost the company about $60 million. But some of its clients say that's a fraction of what they lost. The outage snarled air travel for days, with Delta alone claiming about half a billion in lost revenue. Even with the setback, CrowdStrike is expected to make nearly $4 billion this year.

Namibia plans to kill hundreds of wild animals and use the meat to feed people struggling with hunger and food insecurity. Half the population of Namibia, more than a million people, are suffering from a lack of food due to the worst drought in a century, made worse by the climate crisis. The drought killed hundreds of elephants last year after their water sources dried up.

So let's turn to CNN's Larry Madowo, who is closely monitoring this story. He joins us from Nairobi, Kenya. Good to see you, Larry. So what more are you learning about Namibia's plan to kill wild animals, that's including elephants, to give their meat to those affected by this severe drought?

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, Namibia is calling this a sustainability intervention. That these animals would die anyway because of the drought. This once in a century drought they're facing which has already seen animals killed and has led to some deadly human wildlife conflict. So these 723 wild animals will come from areas the government says has sustainable game numbers that will be killed by professional hunters and distributed to people in need all across the country.

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It's a fascinating number of different species of animals available in Namibia. I think the big one that a lot of people are focusing on is elephants, 83 Elephants, but also 60 Buffaloes, 30 Hippos, 300 Zebras, 100 Blue Wildebeests, 50 Impalas and 100 Elands.

So Southern Africa has a population of about 200,000 elephants. So this will not make a big dent in that. But the fact that they have to kill that many elephants speaks to the scale of the problem here.

Part of the problem also is because the land has dried up, there's limited grazing land, there's limited water for these animals to feed on, they're fighting for that limited available resources with the people and it's led to some deadly conflicts and elephants kill people all the time. So they have to depopulate that to keep people safe. And this game meat obviously helps keep more people alive. So far 150 animals have been killed, providing over 125,000 pounds of

game meat to those that are in need. This situation has been caused by the El Nino weather phenomenon which has led to this changing weather patterns there, the extreme weather events has been exacerbated by the climate crisis that's facing the entire globe.

So that's why the media has to make this drastic measure to keep people safe, to feed them and to reduce the animal population so that you don't have them just dying because of the effects of the drought. Rosemary.

CHURCH: Larry Madowo, joining us live from Nairobi with that report. I Appreciate it.

Coming up next, a CNN investigation inside the illegal grow houses in an upscale neighborhood used to feed America's black market appetite for weed.

Plus the billionaire founder of Telegram is being questioned in France. We'll bring you the latest on his legal side.

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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: A warm welcome back to "CNN Newsroom." I'm Rosemary Church. Want to check today's top stories for you?

High school bands and barbecues. The Democratic presidential ticket is on a bus tour through southern Georgia. Kamala Harris and Tim Walz chose the key battleground state for their first trip since the Democratic convention, hoping to pick up Republican votes in conservative communities.

Palestinian officials report at least 11 people have been killed in the largest Israeli raids on the West Bank in years. Israel says it's going after terrorist targets and weapons from Iran. Authorities in the West Bank accuse Israeli forces of blocking ambulances and access to hospitals.

And A.I. chipmaker NVIDIA reports its second quarter earnings were up 122 percent compared to last fiscal year. The company reported more than $16 billion in profit alone. They're now one of only three U.S. companies valued at more than $3 trillion.

Well now to a new CNN investigation. Authorities across the US say family homes in suburban neighborhoods are being used to grow and fuel the black market marijuana industry. It's creating a major problem for law enforcement, particularly in a state like California, where the growers face little in criminal penalties.

CNN's Kyung Lah has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KYUNG LAH, CNN SR. INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This upscale California suburb is a glimpse into an underground world where authorities say a Chinese crime ring feeds America's black market.

Doors and windows heavily fortified at three different homes on the same block in this bedroom community of San Francisco. When officers finally break through, inside it's a massive marijuana farm. These are family homes worth nearly a million dollars, the interior unrecognizable. Every part of the home used to grow weed.

UNKNOWN: This was probably a nursery is my guess. Just based off of the way it's set up.

LAH (voice-over): Windows boarded up to control the light. A massive ventilation system running full blast. Intricate electrical setups to power lights and fans. A generator in the laundry room.

UNKNOWN: Somebody hold that up here.

LAH (voice-over): Mold can be seen growing on walls and ceilings. Runoff into makeshift drains. And room after room after room filled with marijuana.

UNKNOWN: Can't even tell this is a master bedroom.

KEVIN MCINERNEY, COMMANDER, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF CANNABIS CONTROL'S LAW ENFORCEMENT DIVISION: It's easy to disguise it here. You're not growing outside, you're growing indoors. And as long as the house looks nice and the yard's taken care of, nobody's gonna question what's going on inside.

LAH (voice-over): Investigators say this bus snagged more than a million dollars' worth of illegal weed cultivated by unlicensed growers, using chemicals without regard for safety that end up in the plants. Despite the growth of the legalized marijuana industry, most pot is still sold on the illegal black market.

California produces about 40 percent of the nation's weed. Much of what's grown here will be shipped across the country and sold far cheaper than legal weed.

LAH: How many houses have you hit in Antioch?

BILL JONES, CHIEF, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF CANNABIS CONTROL'S LAW ENFORCEMENT DIVISION: About 50.

LAH: How many more might exist in Antioch?

JONES: Somewhere between one to 200 houses.

LAH (voice-over): Up to 200 that they think they know of. Law enforcement says this criminal enterprise can operate in California more easily than anywhere else in the country. Because California law says illegally growing weed is just a misdemeanor in most cases.

MCINERNEY: It's relatively low risk, huge reward. LAH: This whether you have one plant or a truck full of plants, what

is the penalty in California?

MCINERNEY: It's a misdemeanor in California.

LAH (voice-over): And that offers an opportunity, says law enforcement, for organized crime. Inside these suburban grow houses on walls and doors, instructions in Chinese.

LAH: CNN reviewed Antioch search warrants as well as online property records and found that in nearly every grow house busted in Antioch, almost all of them go back to a Chinese owner or occupant.

JONES: It's really the Chinese criminal syndicate that's dominant.

LAH: Why would the Chinese cartel care about marijuana?

JONES: Because it's so lucrative. It is a very profitable crop.

LAH (voice-over): And it's not just in California.

CHRISTOPHER WRAY, FBI DIRECTOR: We are starting to see, as we unpack this, more ties between a lot of these growing operations and Chinese organized crime.

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LAH (voice-over): 22 states have illegal grow operations, says Senator Susan Collins, a member of the Intelligence Committee, including her state of Maine.

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R-ME): Why are Chinese transnational criminal groups here in the United States, buying up these homes and growing illegal marijuana in them? It's difficult for me to believe that there isn't some sort of plot involved.

LAH: How much of this bleeds into a national security issue?

COLLINS: I believe it does pose a serious national security threat as well as a public health risk.

LAH (voice-over): Back in California, we learn there's even more financial incentive for illegal growers.

LAH: It's been about two months since the grow houses were busted. We've learned that one of the houses is going back on the market. And today is the open house.

LAH (voice-over): A manicured home with the "for sale" sign listed for just under a million dollars, flipped, since that day, we watched law enforcement swarm in.

LAH: Hello. Hi, are you Susanna Huang?

LAH (voice-over): Susanna Huang is a real estate agent listing this open house, and the agent who sold three other suspected grow houses in this area. She owns one of those homes, where authorities found more than $900,000 of marijuana last year. Her attorney tells CNN a house she owns was busted by the state, but it was being rented at the time and she was not involved in any illegal activity.

LAH: My name is Kyung Lah and I'm a correspondent with CNN. We're recording here. I just wanted to talk...

SUSANNA HUANG, REAL ESTATE AGENT: I'm not feeling comfortable.

LAH (voice-over): Huang did not want to speak on camera, but she did invite us to come inside this home she's listed, to record video on our cell phone and take a look at this immaculately cleaned up space, the dramatic makeover seen in the master bathroom before and after. The house is listed for $200,000 more than the owner paid for it.

BILL TILSON, RESIDENT: Now they're going to make money off the houses as well as they resell them.

LAH (voice-over): Bill Tilson lives on this block.

TILSON: What's deterring them from setting up shops someplace else? They got to recover their equipment. So now they just pick another location and do the same thing. Oh, bummer, we got a misdemeanor and then they'll do the same thing and on and on and on. So it's, you know, whack-a-mole.

LAH: One of the houses we saw raided that day is owned by an Oakland police officer, Samson Liu. Cannabis control tells us that what they found inside the house was 80 pounds of illicit marijuana trimmings and they were stuffed in garbage bags.

The home had been extensively modified for cultivation and it also had been fortified from the inside. Cannabis Control adds that it doesn't know whether Liu was living in the home at the time or it had been rented out to tenants, citing an ongoing investigation.

We reached out to the Oakland Police Department who says that since the raid, Samson Liu has been placed on administrative leave. They are cooperating with outside law enforcement and treating this as a personnel matter. We did try to reach Officer Liu both in person, over the phone, as well as in email. We did not hear back.

Kyung Lah, CNN, Minneapolis.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Coming up, French prosecutors say the founder and CEO of Telegram should do more to stop criminal activity on the app. Why Moscow doesn't agree? That's next.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHURCH: Welcome back everyone. French prosecutors have placed the founder of Telegram under formal investigation. In French law, that is a step below being formally charged with a crime. Pavel Durov was released from police custody Wednesday and transferred to court for questioning. He was arrested in Paris on Saturday on a warrant related to the lack of moderation on the popular messaging app.

And CNN's Salma Abdelaziz joins me now live from London. Good morning to you, Salma. So what more are you learning about the formal investigation of Pavel Durov in France?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is a truly extraordinary case, Rosemary, one that really could set a precedent when it comes to tech law. Countries around the world are trying to figure out how to regulate social media.

And France is taking a big step forward with this landmark case. Essentially, France is arguing that Pavel Durov is responsible for the content and activities happening on his platform. They've launched this formal investigation and I just want to detail what investigators are looking at. I know we have a list to pull up for you.

Complicit in aiding fraudsters and drug traffickers, helping people spread child pornography, and also this platform has come under scrutiny for its use by terrorists and far-right extremists. So these are all the potential avenues that France could dig into when it is building this case against Pavel Durov. Now you've mentioned, of course, he has not been formally charged.

It has just been deemed that there is enough there for French prosecutors to carry out their investigation. He is required to stay in the country under judicial supervision. He has a bail set at five million euros and is required to report to the French police twice a week. So very strict measures there.

This has of course sparked this free speech debate as well, Rosemary, with supporters of Pavel Durov saying, including Telegram of course, saying that it is absurd that he would be responsible for the content and activities on his platform. Durov himself of course would say, I can't be held accountable for the private conversations that happen virtually behind closed doors on Telegram.

And you also of course have Russia, the Russian government has been speaking out in favor of Durov describing this again as a censorship issue, as a free speech issue. Much of that is because of how important Telegram is to Russia. It is extremely popular there. It is also used as military communications during this conflict in Ukraine.

So it plays that role as well. But France standing firm here after this huge arrest earlier this week, now launching this investigation holding Pavel Durov in France and setting a bail, making this massive step forward to hold to account a man whose platform has been used according to France for these very horrific criminal activities from terrorists communicating on the platform to child pornography, to the sale of drugs, all of that being looked into now.

CHURCH: All right, our thanks to Salma Abdelaziz, joining us live from London. Appreciate it.

Where mosquito-borne illnesses are on the rise, setting off alarm bells in the medical community, an epidemiologist joins me next to discuss what's causing it and how to protect yourself. That's next.

[03:45:03]

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CHURCH: We have breaking news from Hong Kong where a court has found two former news editors guilty of publishing seditious content on a shuttered pro-democracy media site. Rights groups say the ruling is a further blow to press freedoms in the city as Beijing tightens its grip.

So let's go live now to CNN's Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. Kristie, this case has fanned growing concerns about press freedom in Hong Kong. Walk us through the verdict.

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Rosemary, the verdict just came out to former top editors have been convicted in the sedition trial against the now defunct "Stand News." And today, this afternoon, a court here in Hong Kong found Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam, along with the outlet's parent company, guilty of conspiracy to publish seditious material.

Now, the material is related to 17 articles and commentaries published between the years 2020 and 2021. And sedition in this case is punishable by up to two years in prison. Now they had earlier pleaded not guilty to the charges. It was in December of 2021 that was when "Stand News" was forced to shut down after a police raid. The police raided its office and arrested several former staffers and board members.

[03:50:06]

And these convictions today just fan the growing concerns about press freedom here in Hong Kong. You have media outlets, including the "Apple Daily" that have been forced to shut down because of government pressure. Just a few months ago in March, Hong Kong passed a second national security law known as Article 23, which increased penalties for sedition.

Just last week, Hong Kong denied a work visa to a Bloomberg journalist, Hayes Fan. And last month, a "Wall Street Journal" reporter, Selina Cheng, she was fired. She said she was fired after being elected to lead the Hong Kong Journalists Association, which is a press union that has been targeted by Beijing.

Since the national security law was enacted here in Hong Kong in 2020, Hong Kong's ranking on the Global Press Freedom Index has fallen rapidly. Let's show you that index. We have a graphic for you. Let's bring it up right now.

Currently, Hong Kong ranks 135 out of 180 in 2019. Hong Kong ranked 73. And just over two decades ago, the city was ranked 18th place in 2002. Earlier this year, reporters at that border also said that one of its representatives was detained and deported from Hong Kong.

And when it was asked about the charges of diminished press freedoms here in Hong Kong after that incident, a China Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson said something very interesting. I want to bring up these earlier comments that were made to give you their perspective. Let's bring it up for you.

Saying this, "since Hong Kong's return 26 years ago, the freedom of press and speech has been fully protected by the basic law of the Hong Kong SAR and other laws." Unquote.

The Hong Kong government has repeatedly told the public that press freedom is enshrined in the city's basic law. That's the mini constitution of Hong Kong. That's not at risk. But meanwhile, I should also point out the senior staff and boss of another Hong Kong news outlet is on trial. I'm talking about the media tycoon, Jimmy Lai, who is fighting national security charges, accusing him of colluding with foreign forces. Back to you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: And Kristie, in practical terms, what does this verdict mean for journalism in Hong Kong?

LU STOUT: Yeah, I mean, this hits very close to home to many working journalists here in the territory. This case represents another new working reality for reporters in Hong Kong. Journalists and lawyers are carefully reading the judgment to find out just what it means for working reporters. I mean, are there new media guidelines? Are there new red lines for journalists, especially local reporters?

During the trial, we heard some interesting comments from the senior counsel, Audrey Yu, who said that she said reporting a murder doesn't mean the press is in support of the murder and she said that the prosecution had to prove seditious intent so ultimately with the judge in this case ruling against "Stand News" it suggests that reporting on anti-government activity can be seen as support for such activities and that's a worrying development for all journalists here in Hong Kong. Back to you.

CHURCH: All right. Our thanks to Kristie Lu Stout bringing us that live report from Hong Kong. Appreciate it.

A new advisory from the U.S. Surgeon General warns that parental stress is a significant public health issue. It calls for a shift in policy and cultural norms and changes in the ways to support parents. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy spoke to CNN about some of the major issues that parents are facing. Take a listen.

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VIVEK MURTHY, U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: How to manage social media and technology and phones in your kid's life. How to contend with a loneliness epidemic in a youth mental health crisis that's taking a profound toll on millions of kids. And also how to deal with issues like gun violence, which are really a source of so much fear for parents and kids. Keep in mind, more than half of kids are worried now about a shooting taking place in their school. You put all of this together with one other critical factor, and that's this intensified culture of comparison that we're all living in that's really potentiated and fed by social media and the online environment where parents are looking around them and comparing themselves to sometimes hundreds of other parents, some of whom they know, some of whom they don't know, but they often come away feeling worse about themselves and like they're falling short as parents.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The advisory calls for a national paid family and medical leave program and universal pre-schooling programs. It calls for employers to expand programs that support flexible work schedules and training managers and leaders on stress management. It also recommends developing parent-specific measures on mental health and research to offer more well-being support.

[03:54:53]

Health officials are sounding the alarm about a rise in deadly mosquito-borne illnesses. The WHO and the U.S. CDC have both issued warnings about the Oropush virus, also known as sloth fever. More than 8,000 cases have been reported this year, mostly in South America. But infections are also spreading in countries where it hasn't been seen before and dozens of travel-related cases have been reported in the U.S. and Europe.

Meanwhile, health officials in the state of New Hampshire say a man has died from Eastern Equine Encephalitis, a rare and serious infection transmitted through mosquito bites. It's the first case identified in the state in a decade. Cases have been identified in other states, prompting some local officials to call for voluntary curfews and ask residents to curb their outdoor activities during the day. Here's what Professor of Epidemiology, Anne Rimoin, told me how we can prevent these illnesses.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNE RIMOIN, PROF. OF EPIDEMIOLOGY, UCLA FIELDING SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: Really and truly, the way that we're gonna be able to get rid of these mosquito-borne diseases or really reduce them is going to be a combination of things and that's going to be spraying, reducing standing water and things that humans can do, like I said, making sure to wear insecticide, cover up, and try not to sit outside for long periods of time if you can avoid it, you know, in particular from dusk to dawn.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And finally this hour, baseball star Shohei Ohtani let his dog do the pitching on Wednesday night. Instead of the honorary first pitch, Decoy trotted from the pitcher's mound to home plate with the ball in his mouth, delivering it right down the middle to his waiting owner. The Los Angeles Dodgers gave away bobblehead figurines featuring their star player and his pup before the game against the Baltimore Orioles. A true sporting dog, indeed. There he is.

Thanks so much for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. Have yourselves a wonderful day. "CNN Newsroom" with Max Foster and Christina Macfarlane is next.

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