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Clashes in Southern Syria; At Least 169 Killed in Southern Syria; Shake-Up in Ukraine Amid Russian Strikes; At Least 20 Killed in Crowd Crush in Gaza Aid Site; Turkey's Ekrem Imamoglu Sentenced to Prison Time; Obamas Address Divorce Rumors. Aired 12-12:45a ET

Aired July 17, 2025 - 00:00   ET

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

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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: A new ceasefire in Southern Syria, but it's complicated. Ahead on CNN Newsroom.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: In the next few hours, we hope to see some real progress.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Government forces withdrawing from Suwayda after days of violence, leaving hundreds dead, but still no letup in Israeli airstrikes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is what Russia's 50-day window in Ukraine looks like.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: 50 days, almost two months of almost guaranteed inaction by the U.S., allowing Russia to press on with its military advantage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELLE OBAMA, FORMER U.S. FIRST LADY: It's my husband, you all.

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: She took me back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: There will be no divorce despite all the ugly rumors and baseless gossip. How the Obamas made their marriage work.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN Newsroom with John Vause.

VAUSE: Another ceasefire has been announced between government forces and Druze militias in Southern Syria. Previous agreements to end days of deadly clashes have collapsed within hours, unable to prevent centuries old tension and grievance from rising to the surface.

Late Wednesday, Syrian forces were seen pulling back from the area, but there is another major player in this conflict, Israel.

Israel has carried out a series of airstrikes this week on Wednesday, targeting the capital Damascus, all in support of the minority Druze community. The Syrian government had said the attack is a dangerous escalation and says at least three people were killed, dozens more were hurt. And during a national address, Syria new president, the former Islamic rebel fighter, accused Israel of trying to sow division and unrest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AHMED AL-SHARAA, SYRIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Today, as we face this challenge, we find ourselves in the heart of a battle aimed at preserving the unity of our nation. The Israeli entity known for its repeated attempts to destabilize us and sow division once again seeks to turn our land into a battlefield of chaos and to dismantle the fabric of our people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: The Druze are a minority Arabs sect of more than a million people living mostly in Syria, Lebanon, and Israel. They've come under attack from Arabic Bedouin groups and militias loyal to Syria's new Islamist government. Hundreds of Israeli Druze have now made their way into Southern Syria to support their community, crossing from the Israeli occupied Golan Heights into buffer zone created by the Israeli military.

More details now from CNN's Jeremy Diamond reporting in from Jerusalem.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Israeli bombs rock the Syrian capital of Damascus, striking the defense ministry in an area near the presidential palace. At least three people were killed and 34 injured in the strikes, according to the country's health ministry.

The defense headquarters suffering a serious blow, but the true cost of these strikes may not yet be known. Threatening to derail new U.S. brokered security talks between Israel and Syria.

MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We think we're on our way towards a real de-escalation and then hopefully get back on track in helping Syria build a country and arriving at a situation there in the Middle East that's far more stable.

DIAMOND (voice-over): The attacks came after days of clashes in Syria's southern city of Suwayda, between Bedouin tribes and the Druze community, a religious minority whose members also live in Israel and Lebanon. Dozens of people have been killed in the clashes in recent days. Syrian troops soon entered Suwayda with the government saying it was looking to stop the violence. But some Druze leaders saw the approach of government forces as a threat. And so, did Israel, which struck approaching Syrian tanks, rocket launchers and trucks carrying weapons, saying it was acting to prevent a massacre against the Druze.

But Israel isn't just striking to protect the Druze.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We are committed to keeping Southwestern Syria a demilitarized zone.

DIAMOND (voice-over): Israeli troops captured this buffer zone between Syria and the Israeli occupied Golan Heights after the fall of the Assad regime last year. But Israel has also demanded Syrian troops remain out of Southern Syria altogether.

In Israeli-held Golan Heights, the large Syrian Druze community here is deeply impacted by attacks on the Druze in Suwayda.

FAEZ SHKEIR, ISRAELI DRUZE: My wife is in Syria. My uncles are from Syria, and my family is in Syria in Suwayda. I don't like to see them being killed. They kicked them out of their homes. They robbed and burned their houses, but I can't do anything. It's very hard on me.

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DIAMOND (voice-over): That sense of helplessness, driving hundreds of Druze to take matters into their own hands, pouring across an Israeli security fence and into the Syrian buffer zone on the road to Suwayda.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: To Washington now. And Steven Cook, a senior fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, an author of "The End of Ambition: America's Past, Present, and Future in the Middle East." It's good to see you. It's been a while.

STEVEN COOK, SENIOR FELLOW, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS AND AUTHOR, "THE END OF AMBITION": Thank you. Good to be back.

VAUSE: Let's start inside Syria and Ahmed al-Sharaa, the former Islamist rebel leader turned president, who's trying to stabilize the country. So, is the chaos and violence in recent weeks, is it sectarian or is it the result of a lack of security in parts non- functioning government services?

Because if it's a latter, that seems to be a problem, which could be solved by manpower and resources. If it's sectarian in nature, then it's something else altogether.

COOK: Yes, it's actually, I think two things can be true at the same time, John, I think that, you know, the Syrian security forces are still being stood up. This was a rebel army that is now being stood up as a regular security force and security remains tenuous. At the same time, there are actors in Syria that are bent on sowing, chaos and undermining whatever progress has been made. Some of those people are within the government. There are militias that have been integrated into the security forces who are deeply, deeply sectarian.

There are other actors, agents of Iran, supporters of the old Assad regime who were also bent on stoking these divisions in order to undermine any progress Syria might make.

VAUSE: Yes. Because without stability, Syria is in a lot of trouble, but right now, the government isn't very representative of the makeup of the population. How much is that playing into all of this?

COOK: Yes. Well, this is a problem. I think in the early days after al-Sharaa had talked about Syria for all Syrians, but when he and his followers promulgated what is essentially a constitution it really did shut out major other groups like the Kurds and the Druze, which are now the focus of this flare up of sectarian violence.

So, I don't think there's a lot of confidence among minority groups even among the majority Sunni groups who don't support Ahmed al- Sharaa. There's not a lot of confidence that he's going to rule in any way other than an authoritarian one, and perhaps even one that is reflective of his Islamist worldview.

VAUSE: And into this conflict, into this instability enter Israel, which has been carrying out airstrikes in recent days recently. Here's Secretary of State Marco Rubio and efforts by the United States to try and restore calm. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: These are historic longtime rivalries between different groups in the southwest of Syria, Bedouins, the Druze community. And it led to an unfortunate situation and a misunderstanding, it looks like, between the Israeli side and the Syrian side.

In the next few hours, we hope to see some real progress to end what you've been seeing over the last couple hours.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: An unfortunate situation perhaps, but a misunderstanding. And it seems despite all this pressure from the U.S. for Israel to sort of stand down, Israel isn't ready to stand down. Not yet.

COOK: Well, there are some indications that there's going to be a de- escalation. It is a rather curious situation. The Israelis and the Syrians were engaged in high-level dialogue about cooperation, about how to stabilize their border. Azerbaijan was acting as a bridge between the two countries and the United States was actively engaged in this process as well.

I think that though the Israelis are particularly sensitive to the situation of the Druze in Syria, given the large Druze population in Israel that is loyal and that has fought courageously and bravely alongside the Jewish population there, lots of Druze soldiers have fallen in the conflict in Gaza. And so, that any threat to the Druze community in Syria is going to be met with force by the Israelis.

I think though this is something that neither Israel nor does Syrians want. Just a few days ago, Israelis were talking about the end of the state of war between these two countries and the Syrians looked like they were leaning into the idea of perhaps ending the state of war between the two countries. And then of course, this incident began and the Israelis responded in an extraordinarily muscular fashion.

VAUSE: The Israelis have also made it very clear to this new Syrian government, no military forces south of Damascus. So, here's Suwayda, which is clearly south of Damascus. That's where Syrian forces have recently withdrawn from after those clashes with Druze.

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CNN is reporting that Israel's foreign minister, Gideon Sa'ar, said Wednesday, his country wants to maintain the status quo in Southern Syria, an area near our border, he says, and prevent the emergence of threats against Israel in that space. And again, two things can be true at the same time, the Israeli strikes could be aimed at protecting the Druze community, but also enforcing a security buffer for Israel overall.

COOK: That is a hundred percent right. And the Israelis have maintained, from the very beginning, that they wanted to carve out a buffer zone in Southern Syria as well as protect the Jewish population of Syria. Some of whom have been very open about wanting Israeli protection, some of whom have been more wary and not willing to fall under the security protection of Israel.

Be that as it may, it seems likely that in order for the situation to stabilize, the Syrians are going to have to agree to some sort of long-term commitment to a demilitarized zone in the south if they want the Israelis to withdraw.

VAUSE: Steven Cook, as always, good to see you, sir. Thank you for your time.

COOK: Thank you.

VAUSE: The Kremlin says western arms deliveries to Ukraine will be closely watched in the coming days, especially shipments of long-range missiles. Earlier this week, the U.S. president all but ruled out sending long-range missiles to Ukraine, but U.S. Patriot air defense systems and other weapons are on their way with the help of NATO allies.

At the same time, President Trump has now given Moscow a 50-day deadline to agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine. More details now from CNN's Matthew Chance in Moscow.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is what Russia's 50-day window in Ukraine looks like. Overnight, hundreds of drones pounded towns and cities across the country. The biggest attacks of the entire war, say Ukrainian officials. Despite President Trump's sanctions threats, the Kremlin is showing no sign of letting up.

Russia is not changing its strategy, the Ukrainian president posted on X. Demanding more air defense systems, more interceptors, and more determination. Russian President Putin inspecting a metals factory in Magnitogorsk, nearly a thousand miles from Moscow, hasn't even commented yet on the U-turn in Washington, but his officials are brushing off concerns over sanctions and even European deliveries of U.S. weapons authorized by President Trump.

DMITRY PESKOV, KREMLIN SPOKESPERSON (through translator): It's business. There were supplies before and no one stopped them. It's just a question of who pays. Now, some Europeans will pay for them.

CHANCE (voice-over): And Russia seems to believe it has the upper hand. Latest footage from the Russian defense ministry purports to show its forces, quote, "successfully" advancing and improving tactical positions along the frontlines in Eastern Ukraine.

By the time President Trump's 50-day window for a peace deal has closed, the Kremlin may have significantly tightened its grip.

Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: A brutal choice in Gaza, die of hunger or risk being killed in the search for food. Nearly two dozen people killed at an aid site on Wednesday among the hundreds who've died in recent weeks in the search for humanitarian assistance.

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VAUSE: A crowd crash at an aid distribution site in Gaza has left at least 20 people dead. A warning now, some of the images you're about to see are disturbing.

The site was run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a controversial Israeli and U.S.-backed organization. It says 19 people were trampled and one person was stabbed in a surge driven by what they say, were agitators in the crowd. This is the first time GHF has acknowledged any fatalities at one of its aid distribution points.

The Palestinian Health Ministry puts the death to though at 21, with 15 dying from suffocation caused by tear gas while six others were shot by Israeli forces. The Israeli military referred CNN to (INAUDIBLE) earlier statement on the desktop (ph).

Amid all the death and destruction and desperation, a small number of international volunteers have continued to stay on in Gaza, helping the Palestinian people survive, which has been almost a year and a half long war, which has left everything destroyed.

A British surgeon has been working in Gaza and keeping a video diary for CNN. And Nada Bashir has her story. But a warning first, again, some of the images you're about to see are disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK MAYNARD, SURGEON, MEDICAL AID FOR PALESTINIANS: I am just over halfway through my full spell (ph) in Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis and this is my third trip out here since October 7th to Gaza. And it is much worse than previous visits.

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dr. Nick Maynard has been traveling in and out of Gaza for around 15 years. He's been recording diary entries exclusively for CNN. Together with our own footage from inside the hospital, we have pieced together a firsthand look at the humanitarian crisis unfolding inside Gaza's hospitals.

MAYNARD: There's a massive aerial bombardment just to the east of Khan Younis and the whole operating room was shaking.

BASHIR (voice-over): Doctors here are not just treating wounds from bombs and bullets, they are fighting to keep their weakest patients alive as hunger spreads.

MAYNARD (through translator): Does it hurt? Where does it hurt? Where does it hurt?

MAYNARD: He's very sleepy, isn't he?

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BASHIR (voice-over): A blockade imposed by Israel on the Gaza Strip has thrown the enclaves 2 million people into the midst of a catastrophic hunger crisis. As a result, doctors warn Gaza's most vulnerable, including children are starving to death.

MAYNARD: It made me cry seeing them, my tears in my eyes, literally. The expression, skin and bones doesn't do it justice. They're -- they have no muscle mass at all. Every single rib visible.

BASHIR (voice-over): What we are about to show you is distressing. Baby Zainab (ph) is just five months old. Her sunken cheeks and wrinkled skin a painful indicator of just how malnourished she is. Her helpless cries almost two weeks to hear.

MAYNARD: What is her weight?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, 21 pounds. Before at two months, she was (INAUDIBLE). She losing weight.

BASHIR (voice-over): Zainab (ph) is just one of so many babies now at risk of death in Gaza. MAYNARD: There've been four newborn babies in the last couple of weeks who've died as a direct result of malnutrition. Their mothers, they're too malnourished to produce milk. There are inadequate amounts of formula feed, healthcare workers who tried to bring in formula feed and had it specifically confiscated by the Israeli border guards.

BASHIR (voice-over): In response to CNN, the Israeli government said it is working to allow and facilitate the transfer of humanitarian aid to the residents of the Gaza Strip and is actively assisting these efforts, including the entry of food.

But almost all the aid coming through is being distributed by the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which is backed by both the U.S. and Israel. It's at these sites that hundreds of Palestinians have been killed as they desperately attempt to secure what little aid is being made available. Many of them suffering from injuries that Dr. Nick Maynard says indicate a pattern.

MAYNARD: One day they come in with gunshot wounds to the head, another day they come in with gunshot wounds to the neck. The other day we had four children admitted all of whom had been shot in the genitals.

BASHIR (voice-over): CNN has reached out to the Israeli military, but has not yet received a response.

MAYNARD: All the families of these victims, they all tell exactly the same story, that is the Israeli soldiers shooting them and the quadcopter shooting them.

BASHIR (voice-over): But after more than 21 months of constant bombardment and with at least 1,400 medical workers killed during that time, according to the group, Medical Aid for Palestinians, fatigue and the fear of being targeted pervades.

MAYNARD: Some colleagues have lost 20 or 30 kilograms in weight. So, they are exhausted mentally, they're exhausted physically, they're hungry all the time, but they cope.

BASHIR (voice-over): And while doctors here work around the clock to save their patients from both bombs and bullets, their patients they say are often then lost to hunger.

Nada Bashir, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: We'll pause the coverage right here. We'll be back in a moment. You're watching CNN.

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VAUSE: Welcome back, everyone. I'm John Vause. You're watching CN Newsroom. We have this just into CNN, the main political rival to the Turkish president has been sentenced to a year and eight months in prison. Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu's crime was accusing government prosecutors of targeting members of the opposition. He was found guilty of insulting and threatening a public official. He was detained back in March, setting off the largest street protest in Turkey in more than a decade. We should note he still has his party's nominee in the presidential elections, which must be held by 2028.

U.S. President Donald Trump has continued to undermine the chairman of the Federal Reserve. On Wednesday, saying he would love for Jerome Powell to resign, while adding he probably won't fire him while hinting there could still be possible maybe for fraud. President Trump has long railed against the Fed chair for refusing to cut official interest rates. More now from CNN's Brian Todd.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR (voice-over): Sitting on a coveted property alongside Washington's National Mall, two stately marble facade buildings now ringed by construction fencing covered in scaffolding, so-called blue skin waterproof coverings on the windows. The two buildings headquarters of the Federal Reserve and their costly renovation are President Trump's latest weapon in his war against Fed Chairman Jerome Powell.

TRUMP: I mean, it's possible there's fraud involved with the $2.5, $2.7 billion renovation. This is a renovation.

TODD (voice-over): The president indicating today that while it's unlikely he'll fire Powell, it could still happen if fraud is involved in the $2.5 billion renovation, a project that's been hammered on by the president and his allies for weeks.

TRUMP: The one thing I didn't see him is a guy that needed a palace to live in. So, I think when you spend $2.5 billion on really a renovation, I think it's pretty disgraceful.

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TODD (voice-over): Of course, Powell doesn't live in the building, but that hasn't stopped Trump from tying him to the renovation. The cost of which has shot up in recent years from $1.9 billion to 2.5 billion. The Fed says the buildings had to be upgraded because their electrical grids, plumbing, HVAC, and fire detection systems were antiquated. The buildings were constructed almost a hundred years ago. There have been claims that the renovation would include expenditures for lavish items like rooftop gardens, water features, and VIP elevators.

SEN. TIM SCOTT (R-SC): It sends the wrong message to spend public money on luxury upgrades that feel more like they belong in the Palace of Versailles than a public institution.

TODD (voice-over): But Powell and the Fed say those features were either not in the plans or were scaled back. JEROME POWELL, FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: Some of those are just flatly misleading. The idea of elevators, you know, we -- it's the same elevator. It's been there since the building was built. So, that's a mischaracterization. And some of those are no longer in the plans.

TODD (voice-over): The Fed says the cost overruns are really due to things like the cost of removing more asbestos than anticipated, soil contamination and inflation.

DAVID WESSEL, BROOKING INSTITUTION: I think the building is just a sideshow. It's an excuse to make life miserable for Jay Powell because President Trump, who of course appointed him, doesn't like what he's doing.

TODD (voice-over): What Powell is doing is not moving aggressively enough for Trump's liking to lower interest rates.

TRUMP: He's a knucklehead. He should have cut interest rates a long time ago.

TODD (voice-over): Powell's resisted rate cuts out of concerns that Trump's tariffs could spark more inflation, but Trump and his allies continue their relentless pressure on Powell. Trump's budget Director Russell Vought sending a recent letter to Powell saying the president was extremely troubled by his management of the Fed, including his, quote, "ostentatious overhaul" of the headquarters.

TODD: Now, according to a source familiar with the matter who spoke to CNN, Jerome Powell has asked the Fed's inspector general to conduct an additional review of this renovation. Powell has only 10 months left in his term unless Trump can find cause to remove him sooner. Analyst David Wessel says he doesn't think the controversy over this project would stand up in court as a credible cause for removing Powell.

Brian Todd, CNN Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Also new this hour, a major legal win for the chairman of Samsung Electronics. After almost a decade of litigation, South Korea's Supreme Court upheld the rulings of two lower courts, meaning Jay Y. Lee has been officially cleared of fraud and stock manipulation charges linked to an $8 billion merger in 2015. The ruling comes at a crucial time for Samsung, which is competing in the growing market for A.I. chips.

And we'll stay in South Korea where a new government investigation will soon begin into a deadly crowd crush which killed nearly 160 people on Halloween almost three years ago. According to Reuters, President Lee Jae-myung wants fresh eyes on the case and is appointing a new team of police and prosecutors. The tragedy happened in a popular nightlife district of Seoul sending shockwaves across the country and far beyond. Most of the victims were young people. President Lee's decision to launch a new investigation came after meeting with their surviving family members.

Frustration is turning into desperation in Ecuador's capital as it deals with its worst water crisis in 25 years. About 400,000 people in Quito have been without water ever since a landslide damaged a key pipeline last week. The city is using water trucks and portable water treatment plants, but resident states it's just not enough. Some say it takes hours for water trucks to arrive. Others are going to parks to get spring water that's not suitable for drinking. Quito's mayor expects water services to be restored by Sunday.

Still to come here on CNN, Barack and Michelle Obama using humor to address those rumors about a divorce it never was.

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VAUSE: For years, baseless rumors of possible divorce have swirled around former U.S. President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama. And on Wednesday during her podcast, they do what they usually do, they address those rumors head on with good humor and jokes. Here's CNN's Arlette Saenz.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHELLE OBAMA, FORMER U.S. FIRST LADY: It's my husband, you all.

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: She took me back.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Barack and Michelle Obama, one of the world's most famous power couples are taking on the rumors about their marriage with humor.

B. OBAMA: It was touch and go for a while.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's so nice to have you both in the same room together.

B. OBAMA: I know.

M. OBAMA: I know. Because when we aren't, folks think we're divorced.

SAENZ (voice-over): For months speculation about their marriage has run rampant, fueled in part by the former president's appearances without his wife by his side, including President Donald Trump's second inauguration.

M. OBAMA: People couldn't believe that I was saying no for any other reason, that they had to assume that my marriage was falling apart.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.

SAENZ (voice-over): Now, for the first time, the Obamas are speaking out together on the former first lady's podcast to shoot down those rumors of divorce.

B. OBAMA: These are the kinds of things that I just miss, right? So, I don't even know this stuff's going on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.

B. OBAMA: And then somebody will mention it to me and I'm all like, what you talking about?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

M. OBAMA: There hasn't been one moment in our marriage where I thought about quitting on my man. And we've had some really hard times. So, we had -- have had a lot of fun times, a lot of adventures, and I have become a better person because of the man I'm married to.

BLITZER: OK. Don't make me cry now. Right at the beginning of the show?

[00:40:00]

SAENZ (voice-over): The Obamas met in 1989, working at a law firm in Chicago. They married three years later and had two daughters.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love you, daddy.

SAENZ (voice-over): Their marriage thrust into the public spotlight as his political ambitions carried them to the White House.

BLITZER: I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last 16 years. The rock of our Family, the love of my life, the nation's next first lady.

SAENZ (voice-over): But between the dancing and the kiss cameras, the couple also has spoken about their struggle.

BLITZER: She wasn't the one who chose this life. We went through our rough patches.

M. OBAMA: I don't want people looking at me and Barack like hashtag couples goals.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

M. OBAMA: And not know that -- no, no. There are some broken things that happen even in the best of marriages.

SAENZ (voice-over): And over the years, the Obamas have shared tips for making their nearly 33-year marriage work.

M. OBAMA: I was one of those wives who thought, I'm taking you to marriage counseling so you can be fixed, Barack Obama, because I was like, I'm perfect. But marriage counseling was a turning point for me, understanding that it wasn't up to my husband to make me happy.

BLITZER: I was in a deep deficit with my wife. So, I have been trying to dig myself out of that hole by doing occasionally fun things.

Arlette Saenz, CNN, Washington. (END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Thank you for watching CNN Newsroom. I'm John Vause. Please stay with us. I'll be back with more news at the top of the hour. In the meantime, World Sports starts after a short break.

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