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Donald Trump Defends 50-Day Ultimatum For Russia-Ukraine Peace; At Least 875 Killed Near Gaza Aid Sites Over Past Weeks; U.N. Security Council To Discuss Plight Of Children In Gaza; Investors Commit $90 Billion Plus To Create Pennsylvania A.I. Hub; Chinese Students Face Uncertainty Amid Donald Trump's Visa Policies; Chinese Students Face Uncertainty Amid Trump's Visa Policies; "Severance" Leads 2025 Nominations With 27 at the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards; Woman Reaches Final Table for the First Time in 30 Years at the World Series of Poker. Aired 2-2:45a ET

Aired July 16, 2025 - 02:00   ET

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

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[02:00:37]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world, and to everyone streaming us on CNN Max, I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead, U.S. President Donald Trump appears to rule out sending longer range missiles to Kyiv, saying Ukraine should not target Moscow. The U.N. demands accountability for the mass shootings of people seeking aid in Gaza as a chilling new video emerges of machine gun fire near a crowd.

And a massive investment in artificial intelligence in the hopes of making the U.S. the world's number one A.I. superpower.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN NEWSROOM with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Good to have you with us. Ukraine's northeastern city of Kharkiv came under a massive Russian attack overnight. The regional military chief says they detected at least 17 explosions occurring in the span of just 20 minutes. At least two people were injured.

U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed on Tuesday that new Patriot defense missiles are on the way to Ukraine. He says he is not looking to give Kyiv longer range missiles that could strike targets deeper into Russia, and he says Ukraine should not target Moscow.

President Trump is also defending his decision to give Russia another 50 days to make peace with Ukraine or face 100 percent tariffs along with secondary sanctions on Russia's trading partners.

Currently, the U.S. is doing virtually no trading with Russia, so any new tariffs would not have much of a practical effect. Russia's Foreign Minister brushed off the economic threat. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SERGEY LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): 50 days. It used to be 24 hours. It used to be 100 days. We've been through all of this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: More details now from CNN's Kristen Holmes at the White House.

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KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: President Trump on Tuesday appeared to rule out sending long range missiles to Ukraine, despite recent conversations with Ukrainian in which he asked what they were capable of doing, including if they were capable of striking Moscow or St. Petersburg.

Now, in those conversations, CNN is told the Ukrainians were stunned, and that Zelenskyy, at that point, had said that they would be able to do that if they had the white -- the right weaponry.

Of course, right now it seems as though President Trump is not looking at that in terms of sending them offensive missiles. Now, when speaking to reporters, President Trump also defended his 50 day time period to get Russia to the table. Here's what he said.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't think it's a long time. A lot of opinions change very rapidly. Might not be 50 days, might be much sooner than 50 days.

HOLMES (voice over): And of course, just a reminder that announcement came on Monday as President Trump said that he was going to issue these hundred percent secondary tariffs on countries that did business with Russia in 50 days if Vladimir Putin did not, in fact, come to the table.

Now, President Trump said he had not spoken to the Russian president since he made that announcement. He also said that when he speaks to Putin on the phone, when he has conversations with him, that the Russian president indicates that he wants peace, but that President Trump has come to believe that it's all just talk.

Now, this is all part of what we have seen in the last several weeks, which is a growing frustration, both publicly and privately, when it comes to his relationship with Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine. One of the things that he said that he would be able to end upon getting into office almost immediately, that has been proven harder for him to be able to do, and something that has made him angry, particularly when it comes to the Russian president.

So, what happens next, of course, is the big question. But as we know, those Patriot missile systems are already going to Ukraine from Germany. The United States has got to start ramping up their production of that to send them back to that country as a backfill a all part of this new weapons deal that President Trump also announced on Monday.

Kristen Holmes, CNN, the White House.

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CHURCH: The U.N. says there must be accountability for the shootings of Palestinians seeking aid in Gaza, demanding investigations into each and every killing. This comes as a new video has emerged of machine gun fire near an aid site over the weekend.

[02:05:04]

Our Paula Hancocks has more. A warning though, some of the images you are about to see are disturbing.

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PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: New social media footage has emerged showing machine gunfire near an aid distribution site in Southern Gaza.

Now, this refers to an incident that happened on Saturday where the Palestinian Ministry of Health says at least 30 people were killed while waiting for aid. Videos from the nearby Nasser Medical Complex also show rows of bodies covered in white shrouds.

Now, this social media video shows Palestinians crawling for safety. As you can see, bursts of gunfire hitting the ground just meters away. The source of the gunfire is not seen. But multiple eyewitnesses have said that it was the Israeli military that was firing upon those who were waiting for food.

Now, we have asked the Israeli military, they have said that details of this video are under review. They did say on Saturday though that the Israeli gunfire did not result in any deaths or injuries. Now, this particular site is about half a mile, some 800 meters away from one of the distribution sites of the controversial GHF, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. It is a U.S.-Israeli-backed initiative.

THAMEEN AL-KHEETAN, SPOKESPERSON, U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICE: As of the 13th of July, we have recorded 875 people killed in Gaza while trying to get food. 674 of them were killed in the vicinity of GHF sites.

Now, the data we have is based on our own information gathering through various reliable sources, including medical, human rights, and humanitarian organizations.

HANCOCKS: The U.N. and humanitarian aid groups are calling for the distribution of aid to once again be funneled through the U.N. run groups on the ground, saying that aid distribution in Gaza has become a death trap.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Abu Dhabi.

(END VIDEOTAPE) CHURCH: The United Nations Security Council will convene later today to discuss the situation of children in Gaza. The meeting comes just one day after Anwar warned of rising pediatric malnutrition cases in the Enclave.

On Monday, UNICEF revealed that nearly 6000 children were diagnosed with malnutrition in Gaza last month, including more than 1,000 children with severe acute malnutrition. The agency added that cases had been increasing for four consecutive months.

For more on this, I'm joined now by Rosalia Bollen, communications specialist and spokesperson for UNICEF, and Rosalia joins us live from the Netherlands. Appreciate you talking with us.

ROSALIA BOLLEN, COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST AND SPOKESPERSON, UNICEF: Thanks for having me.

CHURCH: So, the U.N. Security Council set to convene in the coming hours to discuss the fate of children in Gaza at the request of the U.K. after UNICEF reported Sunday, nearly 6000 Gaza children diagnosed with malnutrition last month. What are you expecting to come out of this meeting?

BOLLEN: You know, this is a staggering increase in malnutrition. It's 180 percent increase in malnutrition cases compared to February, when there was a cease fire. So, we fondly hope that the meeting today will look into a return to a cease fire. We need an immediate cease fire, a lasting cease fire, and the mass influx of aid supplies into Gaza. 21 long months into this war, families have been deprived of the very, very basics they need to survive.

And so, these staggering numbers, they really shouldn't come as a surprise. UNICEF carries out malnutrition screening day in, day out, and we see this catastrophe unfolding right underneath our eyes.

We know that children have also died already of malnutrition. There's many ways for a child to die in Gaza today, of hunger, of disease, of bombs, of bullets, and this has to stop.

Since the start of the war, nearly 18,000 children have been reported killed. If you think about that for a second, if we -- if we make a daily calculation. We're talking about 28 children killed per day. That's a classroom of children killed every single day in this war. This has to stop. Children haven't done anything to start this war, and yet they are the first and the force foremost victims.

CHURCH: The numbers are shocking, of course, as you say, a cease fire is needed. Those talks right now are faltering. We're not sure what is happening with that at this juncture, but we do know that UNICEF's Executive director Catherine Russell has put out a statement on children killed during an aid distribution in Gaza, that was on July 10th and she said this, I'm quoting her. We are appalled by the reported killing of 15 Palestinians, including nine children and four women who were waiting in line for nutritional supplies.

[02:10:32] So, Rosalia, getting access to aid in Gaza now means risking the possibility of dying. That's how dire this is. So, how did it get to this point, and what stories can you share with us on the risks being taken just to get food for so many desperate children?

BOLLEN: Yes, you know, this is the daily reality of parents inside Gaza, there's -- they don't have enough to eat. We've spoken with mothers who are giving their children molded bread that they've been able to find in the garbage. They try to boil water and dip the bread in that and then feed it to their children, but that's all there is to eat. There's lots of families who go without a meal, even several times a day, just because there's nothing they can find.

And so, people are beyond despair. People are extremely hungry, exhausted and desperate. And then we see that while they try to receive assistance, because what happened last Thursday is that mothers had gathered with their children in central Gaza, waiting for a distribution point to open of a UNICEF partner to receive UNICEF nutrition supplies.

The moment that the strike hit in that site, it killed at least four women, and it also killed nine children. We immediately dispatched an international team to the site. They witnessed the aftermath of this strike. There was blood visible everywhere, and you could smell the blood.

My colleagues told me they went to the hospital as well to speak with survivors. There was a mother. Her name is Donia (ph). She came with two children in the morning to that side, a 1-year-old baby, Mohammed (ph) and her 10-year-old son.

That very morning, she told us her baby had just said its first words to her, mama, he said. That baby was killed just instance later, and her 10-year-old son has shrapnel launched throughout his body, and he's in critical condition in the hospital that we -- that we visited.

This is the reality. No parent should have to risk their lives. Should have to choose between risking their lives or facing starvation.

And yet, that is what we see day in, day out in Gaza, that it doesn't have to be this way. UNICEF and other U.N. agencies, NGOs, we have a ton of supplies ready in Egypt, in Israel, in Jordan, in our warehouses, we're ready to mobilize that and to bring it in fast the moment we're given green light, as we have done back in February.

And that's why the meeting today is crucial, because we need to return to a cease fire, and we need to get the access to our supplies and two families inside Gaza to prevent more that's like the ones we've been seeing these past months.

CHURCH: You describe a horrifying reality, and I did want to ask you about access to those supplies, because Israel did lift an 11 week aid blockade on Gaza on May 19th this year, allowing limited U.N. deliveries to resume. What happened after that date in terms of access to humanitarian aid in Gaza for children, because a lot is just not getting in? BOLLEN: Correct. So, the total blockade on humanitarian aid was indeed lifted for a handful of organizations, including UNICEF, but there is only a limited type of supplies that we can bring in in limited quantities. We are unable to bring in all the supplies that we want in the quantities that are needed.

And so, over the past month and a half, we have seen an average of around 30 U.N. trucks entering the Gaza Strip, which is just a drop in the ocean. It's woefully inadequate to address people's needs. At the height of the cease fire, we had over 600 trucks entering Gaza.

What we need today is aid at scale, because people are in need of everything, not just food. Hospitals lack medicines, medical supplies, medical equipment. People lack hygiene supplies. Women and girls don't have sanitary pads. They tear their clothes apart when they have their period, they don't have the means to maintain personal hygiene. There's no soap, there's no disinfectant, there's nappies for babies are really hard to find.

[02:15:20]

So, there's a need of everything today inside the Gaza Strip, which, again, it shouldn't come as a surprise if you seal off a territory. Think about your own home, your own kitchen cupboard, what stocks, what supplies do you have there right now? And how long would that last you if there'd be a war that started overnight?

Obviously, people have started to run out of these things fairly early on in the war, because for the entire duration of the war, what has entered Gaza has been absolutely insufficient for people to survive, really, it's been a trickle throughout the war of aid and commercial supplies that was allowed in. This has to change.

CHURCH: Rosalia Bollen, we want to thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate it.

BOLLEN: Thank you.

CHURCH: And still to come, more on the major investment into A.I. infrastructure in the U.S. and the Trump administration's push to ensure the country stays ahead of China in the A.I. race. Back in just a moment.

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[02:20:57]

CHURCH: Welcome back everyone. Apple is investing half a billion dollars in a bid to expand its technology production in the U.S. The iPhone maker, is partnering with a U.S. based rare earths company to make magnets and repurpose materials domestically.

Apple has faced immense pressure from President Donald Trump to produce its popular smartphones in the U.S., China has a virtual monopoly on rare earth elements, which are critical for everything from smartphones to T.V.s and military jets. Tech and energy companies have committed more than $90 billion to create an A.I. hub in Pennsylvania. President Trump made the announcement on Tuesday, driving home the point that the U.S. wants to be the number one superpower in artificial intelligence.

CNN's Alayna Treene has the details.

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ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: President Donald Trump traveled to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Tuesday to participate in a summit on artificial intelligence and energy innovation. It was run by a Pennsylvania Senator David McCormick and the president was joined by some of its top cabinet members, as well as some of many different companies that were pledging to contribute $90 billion in investing in the state's artificial intelligence and specifically data centers and energy to power those data centers.

Now, some of the Cabinet members that joined the president include his Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, his Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, as well as his Energy Secretary Chris Wright, among others.

And some of the CEOs of these different companies, including Palantir, BlackRock, Amazon Web Services and among others were also present. And then some of the companies that you know invested the most in this project include Blackstone, which pledged $25 billion on their own Meta and Google, among others.

Now, I think a key thing to note here, and really the bottom line of why this is so important to the president, why he traveled to Pennsylvania to participate in this is because he cares deeply. A big priority for his second term is to make America one of the biggest superpowers in artificial intelligence. And really his goal is to win the arms weight race with China when it comes to A.I., he said as much when he was speaking at the event. Take a listen.

TRUMP: We're here today because we believe that America's destiny is to dominate every industry and be the first in every technology, and that includes being the world's number one super power in artificial intelligence.

TREENE: Now, this round table comes on the heels of four different leading tech companies signing an agreement or contracts with the Defense Department totaling as much as $200 million that includes OpenAI, Alphabet, Google, Anthropic, and Elon Musk's A.I. company, xAI, they all won multimillion dollar contracts to work on expanding artificial intelligence within the federal government, but specifically within the Defense Department.

Alayna Treene, CNN, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

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CHURCH: Still to come, why mixed messages from the Trump administration have left Chinese students uncertain about a future of higher education here in the United States.

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[02:28:58]

CHURCH: Welcome back everyone. Donald Trump's shifting policy on student visas has sparked concern and uncertainty among international students, including those from China.

For generations, they have strived to secure an Ivy League education in the U.S. In fact, China is the second largest country of origin for foreign students in the U.S. CNN's Will Ripley reports on why some are now rethinking their future plans.

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WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: (voice over): An American Ivy League education the gold standard for generations, especially for students from China.

This viral video a student getting accepted to Harvard has millions of views on Chinese social media. The book Harvard girl is still a best seller 25 years after publication.

Videos like these teach Chinese students how to prepare for elite American schools. Even Chinese leader Xi Jinping sent his daughter to Harvard. Xi Mingze studied under an alias, shielded by Secret Service style security.

[02:30:00]

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We want to have foreign students, but we want them to be checked.

RIPLEY (voice-over): But the twists and turns of President Donald Trump's student visa policy are making even ordinary Chinese applying for visas feel whiplash.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Devastation. You know, like frustration, and then uncertainty, anxiety.

RIPLEY (voice-over): First, Trump wanted to aggressively revoke and scrutinize some student visas. Then after the latest trade talks, he posted Chinese students using our colleges and universities has always been good with me.

RIPLEY: Is there an impression that the United States is an unfriendly place, an unsafe place?

ERIC ZHANG, CO-FOUNDER, ONE STEP AHEAD EDUCATION: I think so. I think so. I'm thinking about the immigration issue, thinking about the financial crisis, thinking about the job market. And so everything looks pretty bad.

RIPLEY (voice-over): Eric Zhang says he's helped place more than a thousand Chinese students in U.S. schools. He says these days many are walking away.

RIPLEY: What are Chinese parents saying to you?

ZHANG: Now, considering a lot of the rhetoric from the current administration and also the worry about the safety, about the uncertainty.

RIPLEY (voice-over): That uncertainty, he says, the biggest factor in losing about a third of his clients this year.

ZICHEN WANG, PRINCETON GRADUATE: Many of the Chinese students are quite -- quite fearful at the moment,

RIPLEY (voice-over): Recent graduate and former journalist, Zichen Wang says the Trump administration is sending mixed messages to China's rising middle class.

WANG: Yes, they benefit greatly from the tremendous American education system, especially its top universities. But at the same time, they also contribute greatly to research.

RIPLEY (voice-over): They also contribute financially. Many Chinese parents scrimp and save, easily spending $80,000 a year or more. The rollercoaster in Washington fueling Beijing's ongoing narrative that America is a declining power that grows increasingly paranoid.

WANG: I think the U.S. is very uncomfortable with the rise of China.

RIPLEY (voice-over): He says a U.S. degree no longer seen by some as a passport to power, prestige, and prosperity, chipping away at the value of a U.S. education and perhaps America's global influence.

RIPLEY: Until India took the top spot last year, Chinese made up the largest group of international students in the U.S. And experts agree, they contribute a lot, not only by fueling innovation in areas like tech and crucially, A.I., also medicine, many are also staying. The best graduates, getting job offers and working in the United States, boosting the U.S. economy and helping further innovation in the sectors that are so ultra competitive right now between the U.S. and China, particularly technology, particularly science, not to mention the fact that all of those students are paying full tuition. So that would be billions of dollars lost for U.S. schools and the U.S. economy if this chilling effect continues and students stop trying to enroll.

Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.

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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWSROOM": Still ahead, some familiar names and some popular newcomers headline the nominations for the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards. We will tell you which shows lead the pack. Back with that in just a moment.

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[02:37:40]

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Well, there is already a lot of buzz around the nominations for the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards, leading the pack is the psychological sci-fi thriller "Severance" with 27 nominations. CNN Entertainment reporter Lisa France breaks down the frontrunners this year.

LISA FRANCE, CNN REPORTER: A show about a mysterious company and one about a Batman villain led the 77th Emmy nominations. Apple TV Plus' hit drama "Severance" notched the most with 27 nominations, followed by HBO Max's "The Penguin", which had 24. Seth Rogen's hilarious insider view of Hollywood titled "The Studio" and everyone's favorite rich people behaving really, really badly series "The White Lotus" tied for third with 23 nominations each.

Now, while the usual suspects, including "The Bear" and "Abbott Elementary" also notched noms, there were some newbies who made the cut, including the medical drama, "The Pitt" which has been a major hit and "Nobody Wants This," a rom-com which tells the unlikely love story of a rabbi and an agnostic sex podcaster.

While the Emmys is television's biggest night, there's a lot of conversation this year about two major movie stars that were nominated. Kathy Bates is the oldest woman in the outstanding lead actress in a drama category at 77-years-old. Her nomination was for her series "Matlock." But another major movie star and nominee has beat her in the age department. At 83, Harrison Ford has scored his first Emmy nomination ever. He was nominated for outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series for his role in Apple's "Shrinking."

The 77th Emmy awards will air live September 14th on CBS. Lisa France, CNN, Atlanta.

CHURCH: For the first time in 30 years, a woman is sitting down at the finals table of the World Series of Poker. Spanish player, Leo Margets is one of nine gamblers to reach the end of the main event. Almost 10,000 players entered the tournament and the winner will be crowned over the next two days. Margets is an accomplished pro with more than $2 million of tournament winnings in her lifetime. First place at the World Series Main Event is worth $10 million.

[02:40:00]

I want to thank you so much for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. "World Sport" is coming up next. Then, I'll be back at the top of the hour with more "CNN Newsroom." Do stick around.

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[02:45:00]

(WORLD SPORT)