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15 People Killed in Strike Outside Gaza Health Clinic; U.K. and France Unveil Plans to Support Ukraine in Potential Ceasefire; At Least 121 in Texas, Search Continues for Dozens Still Missing; Iran Forces Out Hundreds of Thousands of Afghan Migrants; Original Birkin Bag Brings $10.1 Million at Auction. Aired 12-12:45a ET
Aired July 11, 2025 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SKYLER GISONDO, ACTOR: What kind of his life, embodies with Superman, has always been about. It's just ultimately -- it's about hope, and it's about trying to do the right thing and be a good person in a world where it's increasingly complicated at times to figure out what the right thing is to do.
[00:00:20]
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT: Skyler, appreciate you, and I'll see you in the gym in case that Superman call actually comes.
GISONDO: Thanks, Omar. OK, man. I'll see you there.
JIMENEZ: See you, man.
GISONDO: Thanks so much. Bye.
JIMENEZ: And Superman's out now. I'm going to go catch it in IMAX. But you should stay right there. Thanks for watching. Because "ANDERSON COOPER 360," up next.
BEN HUNTE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello. We're back. Wherever you are in the world, you are now in the CNN NEWSROOM with me, Ben Hunte in Atlanta. And it is so good to have you with me.
Coming up on the show, a crime against children. An Israeli strike in Gaza kills people waiting in line for medical treatment. And many of them were very young.
After the deadliest month on record for Ukraine, President Trump says he struck a deal with NATO to get weapons for their fight against Russia.
Plus, the largest forced migration effort in decades. Why Afghans are being pushed out of Iran.
Welcome. We're beginning with a message from Israel's prime minister that his country is ready to talk about a permanent end to the 20- month war in Gaza.
He made the statement on the final day of his visit to Washington on Thursday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): At the beginning of the ceasefire, we will enter negotiations for a permanent end of the war, meaning a permanent ceasefire.
If it can't be achieved in 60 days of talks, we'll achieve it by other means, by using the power of our heroic army.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNTE: But Benjamin Netanyahu made it clear Israel is not backing away from its original demands, that Hamas must be disarmed and removed from political power in Gaza.
The militant group has been demanding assurances that its ongoing truce talks with Israel would lead to negotiations about a permanent end of the war.
But Hamas still accuses Mr. Netanyahu of placing obstacles in the way of a ceasefire deal.
Despite the prospect of a truce, the daily struggle to survive in Gaza remains intense. Palestinian authorities say 15 people were killed in an Israeli strike outside a U.S.-run medical facility on Thursday.
The majority of victims were children, who were reportedly waiting in line to receive medical care.
CNN's Jeremy Diamond has the story. And we must warn you again: the images you're about to see are very graphic and difficult to watch.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): Children's screams pierce through the smoke-filled air in central Gaza.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
DIAMOND (voice-over): But screams alone cannot prepare you for the scale of the carnage unleashed by this Israeli airstrike. This street is filled with the bodies of dead and injured children whose bodies are quickly loaded onto donkey carts.
And then, there are those barely clinging to life, like this woman splayed on the ground.
"They took my daughter," she says. Her daughter's fate has already been sealed. In her blood-stained white dress, 4-year-old Aya (ph) is one of eight children killed in this strike.
Aya (ph) and her mother were among several families waiting to enter a health clinic run by Project Hope, an American nonprofit whose operations were known to the Israeli military.
In her white dress, Aya (ph) is impossible to miss. Minutes later, two men walk by the clinic, and then an explosion fills the air.
That smoke is soon replaced by an outpouring of grief.
"Not my sister. No, not my sister," this boy cries.
The Israeli military said it, quote, "regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals" and is reviewing the incident. It said it was targeting a Hamas militant who infiltrated Israel during the October 7th attacks, but declined to provide his name.
These four children killed in the targeting of a single militant, do have names. Amir (ph), Mohammed (ph), Yasmin (ph), and Aya (ph), still in her bloodstained dress.
Mohammed (ph), wearing a makeshift plastic diaper, is a testament to the desperate circumstances that brought his family to that clinic, amid shortages of diapers and baby formula.
[00:05:05]
"Speak to me," Amir's (ph) father pleads, hugging his son's lifeless body. His brother Nidal (ph) joins him in mourning.
But he hasn't just lost a nephew. His 14-year-old daughter, Samah (ph), was also killed. "What happened is indescribable. It's a massacre. It's genocide. It's a crime against children," Nidal says. "My daughter woke up with a headache and went to get checked at the clinic. Suddenly, we heard the sound and came running to see all the children dead."
Samah's (ph) twin sister is inconsolable: "Please wake her up. She is lying. I know her. I swear she's lying."
As one sister mourns another, a father pleads for it all to end. "Samar is gone, and the war is still ongoing," Nidal (ph) says. "May the war be gone with Samah (ph)."
Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HUNTE: Chessa Latifi is the deputy director of emergency response for Project Hope. On Thursday, Israel conducted an airstrike just outside of their clinic in Deir al-Balah, Gaza.
Shazad, thanks so much for being with me. How are you doing at the moment?
CHESSA LATIFI, DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF EMERGENCY RESPONSE FOR PROJECT HOPE: I've been better. Thank you for asking. But appreciate the opportunity to talk about what happened today.
HUNTE: Well, thank you for being here. Can you just walk us through what happened outside that Project Hope clinic? Who was affected and what do we know so far about the victims? LATIFI: Around 8 a.m. this morning, we had Project Hope patients that
had started lining up outside of the clinic. It was a number of children. and moms, parents, et cetera.
When a -- an airstrike hit and the -- what ensued was a complete bloodbath. We know so far that ten children died. Two women. Those were the numbers earlier today. I do believe that that number has increased, but I can't confirm it at this time.
HUNTE: I do want to quickly remind our viewers that this was a clinic. It's not a military site. They hadn't even opened for the day.
What message does all of this send about the safety of humanitarian zones in Gaza right now?
LATIFI: Yes. Every clinic site that we have as Project Hope and as any NGO in Gaza goes through a process called deconfliction.
And so, we work with the correct Israeli agency in Gaza, and we provide our coordinates. We let them know what we're doing. And this is our registration of sorts.
And so, this clinic has been conflicted since it first opened, which was early 2024. The message is clear: there is no place safe in Gaza. There's absolutely no place safe in Gaza.
These families had trusted us with the care of their children. Sixty percent of the children that come to our clinics are suffering from malnutrition. So, they're -- they're slowly starving to death.
And they come and they hope for some help, something to -- to give them a chance at survival. And that was taken away from them today.
HUNTE: I'm just saying, some of these photos are so sad. You've described the Al-Taliyeh (ph) Clinic as a lifeline for families, especially for children and pregnant women. What does its temporary closure mean for the people who do rely on it on a daily basis?
LATIFI: That community will no longer have access to that care. We've had to move our clinic site. Hopefully, we will be able to return at some point.
But there's also -- whether they have access or not, there's a fear, right?
And this is not the first time that Israeli airstrikes have targeted hospitals. We've seen this happening since October or November of 2023. This is not something new.
And again, it's -- people have to decide, do they want to stay safe, or do they want to go see a doctor?
HUNTE: I've been with CNN for a few months now, and every single day we're reporting on heartbreaking stories from Gaza, like the aftermath of this strike. But you and your teams are actually on the ground, seeing and hearing
those firsthand from parents walking miles for care to children arriving dangerously malnourished.
What are your healthcare workers telling you about the reality that Palestinians are facing right now?
LATIFI: My healthcare workers are also Palestinian. They're -- they're also from Gaza. They -- they live there. They're going through the same thing.
[00:10:00]
Some of them have been displaced six or seven times. Many of them, probably every single one of them, has lost family members, some of them very, very close family members.
We have lost -- very early in the conflict, we lost one of our own nurses, who was home when an airstrike hit his home in Rafah, and he passed in that -- in that attack.
The mental health concerns are so extensive. But at this point, everybody in Gaza is still in this fight phase, where I don't think that they have the space yet to even consider how this feels. Because every single day is a fight for their lives, whether it is avoiding the violence or finding food or securing clean water.
HUNTE: I've learned so much from that. I really appreciate your time.
I just want to ask this one last question, and quickly, if we can. What does Project Hope need most from the international community right now? Is it protection, or is it practical support like funding?
LATIFI: It's both. It's both. A call for a ceasefire. We've been asking this from the beginning. We need an international, united call for a ceasefire.
But we also need additional funding. With what is happening in the Trump administration, our funding that these clinics were -- were supported through has ended. And so, we're able to keep them open for -- for now. But that's -- that's not secure.
And so yes, advocacy, funding, and awareness. This is not -- this is not over. This has not ended. This is still going. And there is an entire population in -- in Gaza that -- that needs support, that needs help.
HUNTE: Thank you so much for joining us. We really appreciate it. Chessa Latifi.
LATIFI: Thank you. Appreciate it.
HUNTE: President Trump says he's made a deal with NATO to get weapons to Ukraine. It comes after Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with the Russian foreign minister and said that the U.S. is actively talking to European countries about sharing Patriot batteries with Ukraine. On Thursday, President Trump told NBC, quote, "We're sending weapons
to NATO, and NATO is paying for those weapons 100 percent."
He went on to say, "We're going to be sending Patriots to NATO, and then NATO will distribute that."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that all signals point toward the United States resuming its aid to Ukraine. He made those comments while speaking to reporters at the Ukraine Recovery Conference, which is happening now in Rome.
This all comes as Ukraine continues to fend off nonstop Russian attacks. A new U.N. report shows that June saw the highest number of civilians killed or injured in Ukraine in three years.
The Kremlin says it does not believe the Ukraine peace process has stalled. A spokesperson claims they're waiting for Kyiv to signal whether it's ready for a third round of direct talks.
The U.K. and France have unveiled plans to support Ukraine in case of a ceasefire. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron made the announcement after a three-day state visit in London this week.
CNN's Nic Robertson has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): So, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, along with French President Emmanuel Macron, laid out their vision, their plans of what should happen if there's a ceasefire in Ukraine.
Within hours, they want to have a force that's able to go into Ukraine --
ROBERTSON: -- to help stabilize it militarily, to help rebuild it militarily, to help it be able to defend its seas and its skies and its territory from Russian aggression.
And it would have a two-star general heading it, based in Kyiv. That's their vision.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): This, of course, diametrically opposed to what President Putin said he's willing to tolerate in any vision, any ceasefire deal going forward for Ukraine. Absolutely diametrically opposed and said he will not tolerate NATO troops going on the ground inside of Ukraine.
This was a result and came out of the Ukraine Coalition of the Willing meeting that was chaired by Prime Minister Starmer and President Macron, and involved President Zelenskyy of Ukraine, Giorgia Meloni of Italy, the prime minister there. And for the first time, a U.S. official --
ROBERTSON: -- President Trump's envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, was involved in that meeting, along with a couple of U.S. senators. This is how Keir Starmer laid out the vision.
KEIR STARMER, U.K. PRIME MINISTER: We have just co-chaired a meeting of the Coalition of the Willing, including representatives from the United States, for the first time.
[00:15:06]
We announced plans for a new multinational force Ukraine, headquartered in Paris, so that we're ready to support a peace deal when it comes.
But while Putin turns his back on peace, we are rallying more support for Ukraine right now to defend their people and force Putin to the table.
ROBERTSON: And another, not insignificant, message coming out of that meeting. Both leaders said that they would join their nuclear deterrents to work together to protect Europe.
This also appears to be a signal to President Trump as well, not just President Putin. In absence of a U.S. nuclear deterrent coming to NATO's aid to protect Europe, France, the U.K. here, taking a new step forward in this dimension. President Macron explaining it like this.
EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translator): These are fundamental decisions that we've taken today in the agreement signed. Our two countries remain independent and sovereign, but we're giving ourselves the means, when necessary, to work together in keeping with the markedly more threatening environment that we now face.
ROBERTSON: It's probably worth saying that, while these sound like very robust positions to be taking, there isn't a ceasefire yet between Ukraine and Russia. There isn't even sight of it coming.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Secretary of State Marco Rubio had a meeting with his Russian opposite number in Malaysia, Sergey Lavrov. There, he told Lavrov of President Trump's disappointment and frustration --
ROBERTSON: -- that President Putin hasn't started moving towards a ceasefire yet, and continues a very heavy bombardment of Ukraine.
But he did say, Rubio did say that Lavrov had put forward some new ideas that he would be taking to President Trump later.
The European position, though, is becoming clearer. Whether or not it can be enacted, that's an entirely different thing.
Nic Robertson, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HUNTE: The U.S. president is threatening steep new tariffs for Canada. He said goods imported from the United States' Northern neighbor could face a 35 percent across-the-board tariff. That would be a dramatic escalation in the country's ongoing trade war.
Canada is the third largest exporter of goods to the U.S.
This latest threat comes after Donald Trump sent a flurry of letters to world leaders, promising even more tariffs by August 1.
New dispatch audio recordings reveal how one emergency responder tried to save lives just hours before the flooding disaster in central Texas.
Plus, the latest on the grim search to recover more victims.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:22:22]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there any way we can send a Code Red out to our Hunt residents, asking them to find higher ground or stay home?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ten-four. Stand by. We have to get that approved with our supervisor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNTE: Well, that was an audio recording of a volunteer firefighter in Texas that was shared with CNN. He was asking that an alert be sent out to warn residents in the small community of Hunt about the surging flood waters.
It took nearly six hours before some residents got that alert.
On Thursday, the death toll from the devastating flooding rose to 121. President Trump will head to central Texas to survey the damage.
Governor Greg Abbott is requesting that more counties in central Texas be added to President Trump's major disaster declaration.
CNN's Isabel Rosales has more now on the arduous search for the victims.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You hear the dog barking right now.
ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A hit from a cadaver dog --
ROSALES: So, you're thinking that there could be remains in there?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, ma'am.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Possibly.
ROSALES (voice-over): -- sends Jordy Marks and his team into action. The private drone company owner launching a surveillance drone over the Guadalupe River to aid the Cajun Navy and first responders in their search.
JORDY MARKS, OWNER, L.A. DRONE SERVICES: We just heard the dogs get a hit, so I'm going to scan that area and make sure, you know, just make sure there's nothing there.
ROSALES (voice-over): With more than 2,000 emergency workers on the ground, the search for the missing intensifying, nearly a week after floods devastated this idyllic part of central Texas.
MARKS: What I'm looking for is anything that's different in the water. Anything that stands out in the water. I'm going to zoom into the area.
ROSALES (voice-over): It took days for the drones to get authorization to join the search after a private drone operating in the restricted airspace over the flood area struck an emergency helicopter on Monday.
It was forced to make an emergency landing, and all drones were grounded from what has proven to be a challenging search.
For the second day in a row, there remains at least 160 people still missing.
MARKS: The current was so strong, I think they -- it took people and put them underneath, you know, debris. And the people are just trapped in the debris. And a lot of the water is receding. Then, we're going to start seeing more people.
ROSALES (voice-over): Now they join teams continuing their search in the water and on the ground.
Heavy machinery doing the heavy lifting, flipping over river-swept vehicles. FEMA task force is now on site, setting up command along the Guadalupe River, search crews wading its waters, moving debris piece by piece.
Cadaver dogs actively scanning miles of river banks. Helicopters assisting overhead while ambulances wait on site, all in the grim search for victims of the flood.
[00:25:12]
RYAN LOGUE, DEPUTY INCIDENT COMMANDER, UNITED CAJUN NAVY: The efforts get more complicated by the day. We covered a lot of area, but now, it's the detailed work of getting through all this debris and destruction and making sure that we find every last victim.
ROSALES (voice-over): Isabel Rosales, CNN, Center Point, Texas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HUNTE: OK, still to come, hundreds of thousands of Afghans are being expelled from Iran in one of the largest forced migration efforts in decades. We'll have all of the details.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [00:30:24]
HUNTE: Welcome back to our viewers all around the world. I'm Ben Hunte, and you are watching CNN NEWSROOM.
Hundreds of thousands of Afghans are being expelled from Iran in one of the largest forced migration efforts in decades. According to the United Nations, over half a million Afghans have been sent back to Afghanistan. Many of these migrants have spent years in Iran, which leaves them asking the question, why now?
CNN's Nick Paton Walsh has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR (voice- over): One of the largest forced migrations in decades, Afghan migrants pushed out of the rock of Iran and its menial, low-paid labor, to the hard place of Taliban, Afghanistan, and the economic horrors they fled in the first place.
Half a million in just 16 days, according to U.N. figures, a peak that began at the end of the conflict with Israel, and 88,000 in just 48 hours of the past weekend before a deadline to leave expired on Sunday.
You can see the scale here but not feel the heat. MIHYUNG PARK, CHIEF OF MISSION IN AFGHANISTAN, INTERNATIONAL
ORGANIZATION FOR MIGRATION: There are dozens of people under the sun. And you know how hot Herat can be. It's quite dire.
Last week it was about 400 separated, unaccompanied children.
WALSH (voice-over): Parisa (ph) is 11, but this year was told she couldn't go back to school. "We spent six years in Iran," she said, "before they told us to apply for the exit letter and leave. We did have a legal census document, but they told us to leave immediately."
They're often arrested on the street and deported without a chance to collect their belongings, sometimes from years working in Iran for better wages.
Bashir is in his 20s and was removed from Tehran. "First, they took about $200 from me," he says. "Then they sent me to the detention center, where I was kept for two nights, and they forced me to pay another $50. In the detention center, they wouldn't give us food or drinking water. There are about 200 people there. They beat us up and abuse us."
For Iran, it's a matter of pride. The music here sets the mood of how state TV presents the expulsions.
And Tehran police release images of the manhunt: chasing Afghans, interrogating their employers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE) GRAPHIC: Why did you hire the Afghan? It's against the law.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: I know. But I have to pay them so they can go back. They want to go and are waiting to get paid.
WALSH (voice-over): The answer to why now? Why, when Iran should be recovering from a brutal 12-day conflict with Israel, would it choose to focus on undocumented laborers?
Well, there have been accusations Afghans spied for Israel, like these alleged confessions in state media. The evidence may be lacking here, but the messaging is clear.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): That person contacted me and said he needed information on certain locations. He asked for them, and I provided them. I got $2,000 from him.
WALSH (voice-over): Iran decided to do this months ago, but perhaps never imagined this pace. And Afghanistan, already struggling, perhaps never imagined this new challenge of returnees.
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HUNTE: We'll be right back with more news. You are watching CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:38:35]]
HUNTE: Welcome back.
The original Birkin bag has been sold at auction, fetching the equivalent of around $10 million. The iconic black Birkin was the first handbag to be created by fashion house Hermes for the British actor and singer Jane Birkin.
CNN's Anna Stewart has all the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNA STEWART, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Well, they are the ultimate symbol of wealth and celebrity status. And this wasn't just a Birkin bag. It was the Birkin bag --
STEWART (voice-over): -- he first of its kind, owned by Jane Birkin herself. The actress and singer inspired the bag after a chance encounter with the then Hermes CEO on a plane. A hallowed story in fashion lore.
And what you see here is the very first version, with Jane Birkin's initials. The bag looks rather worn. It's scuffed. It's scratched. It has traces of glue, but it's all part of the bag's story and its value.
It was bought for $10 million, a little over $8 million on the hammer, and the rest being fees, making it the most expensive handbag to ever sell at auction.
STEWART: Sadly, we don't know who's bought it and what their plans are for it. Will it be used, displayed in a museum, hidden in a safe? Who knows?
STEWART (voice-over): Birkin bags have long been seen as much an investment as a fashion accessory.
STEWART: In 1984, a new bag cost around $2,000. Now it's more like 13,000, but they actually cost much more second-hand, given they have a very limited run and a similarly limited client list.
[00:40:08]
According to research from Bag Hunter, between 1980 and 2015, the Birkins' value on the secondary market averaged 14.2 percent a year, beating both the S&P 500 and gold.
STEWART (voice-over): Jane Birkin's bag has now sold. But you know what? It's had a few owners before.
STEWART: So, you may have a chance to buy it again in the future. And who knows? Perhaps its value will skyrocket further, making this $10 million price tag value for money.
Anna Stewart, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HUNT: That's all I've got for you. Thanks for joining me and the team. I'm Ben Hunte in Atlanta. WORLD SPORT is next. Then I'll be back in 20 minutes with so much more CNN NEWSROOM. See you in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:45:32]
(WORLD SPORT)
