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Trump Asks DOJ to Unseal Some Epstein Grand Jury Testimony; Americans React to Epstein Files Fallout; Israel-Hamas War Public Perception; Trump Sues Wall Street Journal for $20B; At Least 32 Killed While Seeking Aid in Gaza; Beloved Veteran "Papa Jake" Dies at 102; Ukraine Calls for Peace Talks with Russia Next Week; Trump to Sign $9B Cut to Public Broadcasting and International Aid; Car Plows Through a Crowd Outside L.A. Nightclub. Aired 4-5a ET
Aired July 20, 2025 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:00]
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: -- million-dollar ad campaigns and offering financial incentives like one-way tickets to the country where they have legal status and $1,000 exit bonus once they arrive. But for Sasha and Julio, they didn't need that. It was the uncertainty of what was to come with the immigration crackdown, that was enough to get them to leave.
But also, Anderson, what we learned over the course of this reporting is it's not just undocumented immigrants making these decisions, but also the U.S. citizens that they are married with or have children.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. Priscilla Alvarez, thanks so much. I appreciate it.
That's it for us. Have a good rest of the weekend. The news continues right here on CNN.
KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada, and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN Newsroom.
President Trump is now six months into his second term in office as he deals with fallout from the Epstein files. We'll have details along with how the voting public views the controversy. Americans feel very different about Israel's actions in Gaza now than they did when the war began. We'll look at new polling and the potential impact. Plus, the latest in the investigation of a car plowing into a crowd outside a Los Angeles nightclub, leaving dozens injured and the driver shot.
ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN Newsroom with Kim Brunhuber.
BRUNHUBER: Today marks six months since President Donald Trump took the oath of office for his second term, but rather than taking a victory lap, thanks to recent legislative victories, he's being forced to confront conspiracies about Jeffrey Epstein. A recent Wall Street Journal article is drawing attention to the president's past relationship with the convicted sex offender. Details on how this is impacting support from his base in a moment. First, Betsy Klein looks at how Trump, along with members of his inner circle, have fueled the public interest that he's now railing against.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, President Trump's preference is for this entire Jeffrey Epstein controversy to go away. But one of the reasons he hasn't been able to turn the page on this narrative as quickly as he would've liked to is because the president himself, along with other top lieutenants, Vice President J. D. Vance, attorney General, Pamela Bondi, along with FBI, director Kash Patel and others were among those pushing conspiracy theories about Jeffrey Epstein for years, calling for transparency, saying that there is a there, there.
And it's been just about two weeks since the Department of Justice and the FBI released that memo that concluded Epstein's death was a suicide and that there was never a so-called client list. Since then, MAGA world has been in full revolt, demanding that transparency that those officials had also asked for, at one point, calling for more information and documents, and essentially setting a loyalty test between President Trump and the movement that he created.
President Trump announcing that he had asked his attorney General Pam Bondi to release pertinent information and records related to Epstein. The U.S. government putting in a request for that in federal court on Friday, and it's going to take a little bit of time for a judge to rule. But any of that grand jury testimony really marks a small portion of the overall body of evidence against Jeffrey Epstein.
So, it really shouldn't be a surprise after all of this that the president's most ardent supporters and followers are quite frustrated. The president appeared to acknowledge some of that frustration in a post to social media on Saturday. He wrote, quote, "I have asked the Justice Department to release all grand jury testimony with respect to Jeffrey Epstein, subject only to court approval. With that being said, and even if the court gave its full and unwavering approval, nothing will be good enough for the troublemakers and radical left lunatics making the request. It will always be more, more, more."
Now, the pressure continued to mount this week when The Wall Street Journal published a story about a letter reportedly sent to Epstein by Trump on the occasion of his 50th birthday with a drawing of a naked woman. The president has dismissed that report as fake and has threatened to sue The Wall Street Journal, making good on that threat this week with a libel, slander, and assault lawsuit up to $20 billion of damages.
Wall Street Journal's publisher Dow Jones saying in a statement, quote, "We have full confidence in the rigor and accuracy of our reporting and we'll vigorously defend against any lawsuit." But the president here clearly reverting to a familiar playbook attacking the media. But this really marks an extraordinary escalation here and really raising more questions about how close the president really was with Jeffrey Epstein, and whether he was aware of Epstein's proclivities.
Betsy Klein, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Polls show that Americans are paying attention to the recent revelations in the Epstein case. CNN Chief Data Analyst Harry Enten now with what the numbers tell us about how the public and the president's base feel about the story that won't seem to go away.
[04:05:00]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Interest in the Epstein files and the Epstein case is sky high and the American public does not trust what the government is selling them. What are we talking about here? Is the government hiding Epstein's alleged client? Get this, 69 percent of Americans agree that the federal government is in fact hiding Epstein's alleged client list versus just 6 percent who say that they are not. And get this, a majority of Republicans and Democrats do in fact agree on this issue that the government is hiding Epstein's alleged client list.
You can never get a majority of Republicans and Democrats to agree on anything, but they do agree on this particular issue. And perhaps not so surprisingly you get a plurality of Democrats and Republicans agreeing that they are dissatisfied, dissatisfied with the amount of information that the government has released so far.
What are we talking about this? Well, we're talking about if we look at Republicans and independents who lean Republican, 43 percent are dissatisfied with the amount of information released so far compared to, get this, just 4, 1, 2, 3, 4 percent of Republicans who are in fact satisfied with the amount of information released so far by the federal government when it comes to the Epstein case.
And we look over here on this side of the screen, among Democrats, get this, 60 percent of Democrats and independent leading Democrats are in fact dissatisfied with the amount of information released so far. And get this, just 1, 2, 3 percent of Democrats are in fact satisfied so far with the amount of information released.
Now, you see this, you see that the plurality of Republicans are dissatisfied. So, how is it impacting President Trump's overall approval rating? Republicans who approve of the job that Donald Trump is doing, get this, in our CNN SSRS poll, it was 86 percent prior to this whole Epstein saga. Now, it's 88 percent. In fact, the percentage of Republicans who approve of the job that Donald Trump is doing has actually, if anything, climbed a little bit according to our CNN polling. How about Quinnipiac? 87 percent before this whole Epstein saga started approved of the job that Donald Trump was doing among Republicans. Now, it's 90 percent. So, we see agreement between the CNN polling and the Quinnipiac polling. Yes. Republicans are not thrilled with how the government is responding to the Epstein case, but so far they are in fact not taking it out on Donald Trump, at least when it comes to his overall approval rating.
Now, you might be asking yourself, why? Well, I think this nugget gives it all away. Republicans who said the nation's top issue was the Epstein case, get this, zero, one, one, one, one respondent, not 1 percent, one respondent of Republicans said that the nation's top issue was in fact the Epstein case. What we're dealing with as a public that is very much dissatisfied with how the government is responding so far to the Epstein case, a lot of folks both on the right and the left do in fact believe that the government is hiding Epstein's alleged client list, but yet, when it comes to his approval rating, Donald Trump's approval rating with the Republican base, so far, they're sticking with him because at this point, even if they believe the government is potentially hiding something, they don't think it's all that important. Back to you.
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BRUNHUBER: Officials in Kerr County, Texas have updated the number of missing after catastrophic flooding earlier this month. The new tally is just three. That's down from an initial count of 161. Kerrville officials say many people initially reported missing have now been verified as safe. The historic flooding killed at least 135 people, including 37 children. Most of the victims were in Kerr County. Police say search and recovery efforts could last up to six months.
Heavy rain has triggered flash flooding across Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Have a look at this. In this video, you can see emergency workers helping a couple whose car got stuck in flood waters. One local official says, firefighters conducted dozens of water rescues throughout Montgomery County, Maryland.
Now, the rain has ended, but Maryland authorities are keeping some roads closed because of dangerous conditions. Crews also performed water rescues across Virginia beginning on Friday. In Dickinson County, officials say flood waters are thought to have swept several people into a storm drain. And in Washington, D.C., water nearly covered the tires of a parked car on Georgia Avenue.
Well, hundreds of flights have been canceled as a dangerous Typhoon hits Hong Kong. Typhoon Wipha slammed the city with gusts up to 103 miles or 165 kilometers per hour. Hong Kong International Airport reported around 500 flights were canceled and 400 delayed. Authorities say the storm has injured at least 14 people and forced over 200 into temporary shelters. The Hong Kong observatory raised its storm level to the highest level, something it's only done 18 times before.
A U.N. relief agency is describing the aid distribution system in Gaza as a death trap for starving Palestinians. Now, this after the latest deadly incident on Saturday, and we just want to warn you, some viewers may find the coming scenes disturbing.
[04:10:00] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HISHAM GARGAM, WITNESS (through translator): At 4:30 a.m. gunfire erupted from soldiers and tanks as if they were in a battle with us. Half an hour of continuous shooting, a massive number of martyrs and wounded, people are still lying there, abandoned, no one can reach them. For half an hour tank shells and soldiers kept firing as if it were a battle. We went there because of hunger. No one goes unless they're starving.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Gaza's Health Ministry says at least 32 people died on Saturday after Israeli troops opened fire on them while they were trying to get food. Earlier this week, the U.N. said 875 people were killed in other incidents at aid sites since May. It said 674 of them were killed near the places run by the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. The U.N. official said more than 200 others were killed while seeking food on the roads of aid convoys or near aid convoys run by the U.N. or its partners. We'll get more now from CNN's Barbie Latza Nadeau. And again, just want to warn you, you may find some of the scenes in her report disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN REPORTER: More than 30 people seeking food in the Gaza Strip were killed early Saturday morning when Israeli troops opened fire on them. The Palestinian Health Ministry said the Israeli military said they were approached by subjects in the Rafah area, about one kilometer from a closed Gaza humanitarian foundation aid site. The GHF is backed by the U.S. and Israel.
One witness described a half hour of continuous shooting from soldiers and tanks. Although the GHF site was not open, people say there that they have to line up for hours in advance sometimes if they hope to get any food at all in what has become an increasingly desperate situation in the embattled enclave.
Children were among the victims, including this man's young son whose childhood had been marred by the ongoing war. His pain is difficult to watch.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): What am I supposed to do? By God Almighty. I don't know. I don't know. This child just wanted to eat. What could he do? He wanted to bring food for his siblings, and he came back, carried in people's arms.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NADEAU: The latest tragedy in an increasingly dire situation comes just days after Gaza's only Catholic church was hit in a fatal attack, which prompted Pope Leo to call for an immediate ceasefire. But such a stop in hostilities has been hard to secure with U.S. President Donald Trump saying Friday that another 10 hostages would be released soon, though, no proof such a deal has yet been given.
Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN, Rome.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: The families of Israeli hostages in Gaza sent a blunt message to U.S. and Israeli leaders. They want the remaining hostages in Gaza returned home, but in a march in Tel Aviv, they raised doubts Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ability to do the job. They also urged U.S. President Donald Trump to help. A day earlier Trump said more hostages will be released soon, but didn't offer any specifics. Israel and Hamas have been accusing each other of foot dragging at ceasefire talks. The protestors made it clear they count on Trump much more than Netanyahu. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EINAV ZANGAUKER, MOTHER OF ISRAELI HOSTAGE MATAN ZANGAUKER (through translator): An entire nation wants to bring back all 50 hostages and the female hostage and to end the war through a deal like the one proposed by the Egyptians, but Netanyahu is once again hesitating to sign the agreement.
YEHUDA COHEN, FATHER OF ISRAELI HOSTAGE NIMROD COHEN: Mr. President, sir, we are counting on you. You brought back hostages before. Please do it again. We need your strength. We need your leadership. We are begging you, help us bring our children home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Now, all this comes as new CNN polls suggest Americans are souring on Israel over its war in Gaza. Have a look here. Half of those responding now believe Israel is using too much military force against Palestinians, that's according to a poll by CNN and SSRS. 10 percent say Israel is using too little force, and 39 percent say it's about right.
Meanwhile, the number of those who say Israel's actions are fully justified as tanked to 23 percent. That's compared to 50 percent in October, 2023. 22 percent say it's not justified at all up from 8 percent from before the war. While 27 percent say it's partly justified.
Finally, Americans are evenly divided on whether the U.S. is doing too much or the right amount to help Israel. That's 42 percent on each side. 14 percent believe the U.S. should do more. The number of people who say the U.S. is doing too much has jumped 8 percent since March.
[04:15:00]
All right. For more on all this, we're joined by Dahlia Scheindlin, a political analyst and fellow at the Century Foundation, and she is in Tel Aviv. Thanks so much for joining us here again. Really appreciate it. So, this poll shows a striking 27-point drop in Americans who say Israel's actions have been fully justified. What do you think is driving this dramatic shift in American public opinion over the past year and a half? DAHLIA SCHEINDLIN, POLITICAL ANALYST AND FELLOW, CENTURY FOUNDATION: Well, I think the obvious answer is time. In the months -- weeks and months, I should say, after October 7th, it was very clear to Israelis, to many countries around the world, and certainly, Americans, and America is one of the most pro-Israel countries when it comes to public opinion, certainly in the western world, that Israel had to respond and that the military response was justified. Everybody was rightfully horrified by Hamas' terror attack on October 7th, which was conducted on Israeli sovereign territory, largely targeted against civilians, and that's why support was so high.
But time has gone by. It's been 21 months. The fighting goes on. I think that everybody is seeing the devastation in Gaza around the world in some ways more than Israelis themselves. They see all the devastation. They're not clear what the military aim is anymore since Hamas' attack has long since been pushed back already in those first number of weeks and months.
And more and more, you know, people are hearing what the Israeli government is saying, and ministers from the government are constantly talking about deepening Israel's control over Gaza. Some of the more extreme ministers are talking about expelling Palestinians, rebuilding settlements. People around the world hear this, and they realize that the aim is no longer just about protecting Israeli citizens, but about conquering Gaza and possibly expelling the population, which seems a lot less justified.
And then, of course, there's the high awareness of how much America is supporting this. One of the figures that you -- I think you did in cite was an interesting finding in the CNN poll finding that a majority, 51 percent of Americans said that the U.S. should reduce or stop altogether it's military aid to Israel, which I find striking. So, I think a lot of this has to do with the sense of whether it's really justified on the Israeli side, but also America's role.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, that's right. And I imagine seeing images like people dying while they're trying to get food, you know, a strike hitting a Christian church, things like that certainly don't help with the perception here in the U.S.
When it comes to the falling support for Israel, and especially when you cite that number of how much they should actively support Israel, how closely is the Netanyahu government following these types of numbers? Will this worry them at all?
SCHEINDLIN: I can't actually tell you whether -- you know, who and whether people in the government are reading this particular poll. But I can tell you that the Netanyahu government -- and Netanyahu in particular tends to be very attentive to polls. So, I gather that they are probably gathering all the information possible.
However, I wouldn't overstate the impact. And the reason is the Netanyahu government has developed, you know, a very skilled practice of ignoring even Israeli public opinion. Remember that the majority of Israelis, three quarters of Israelis at this point want to end the war entirely for a full hostage release deal. That's only one of a number of major areas where the Israeli public is completely opposed to the policies of the government, not because the Israeli public is so left- wing, but because they want the hostages back and they too see the aims of this war having gone, you know, way beyond what they think is necessary. They don't see the strategic plan.
And so, when you have an Israeli government who can ignore public opinion like that, I think that they will be paying attention to, you know, trends, public opinion trends in the U.S., but only in as much as they are concerned that it might have an effect on the Trump administration and the Trump administration's positioning towards Israel.
So, far, the Trump administration has made, you know, a lot of -- well, Trump himself has made numerous statements about, you know, having the ability to push the sides into a ceasefire deal with hostage release. Trump has promised time and again, including just over the last day that this is -- there's going to be good news soon. The Israeli public is very attentive to that, but I have yet to see that Trump administration actually produced that deal ever since the first one in January before President Trump was inaugurated and a deal that Israel subsequently broke two months later.
You know, the test of results shows that the American government has not yet successfully used its leverage or pressure to get the two sides to reach a renewed deal despite all those promises. So, I think Netanyahu, you know, and his government will certainly be paying attention to trends, but they will only really be concerned about them if they think that the administration is affected by the kinds of opinions we've just discussed and the American public.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. All right. So, we're talking about the sort of acute concerns about these polls. I want to dig into one interesting angle from our poll. I saw only one in 10 Americans under the age of 35 say Israel's actions have been fully justified. Other numbers sort of suggest there's a big generational gap in terms of support for Israel. What do you think that might mean for long-term Israel-U.S. relations?
[04:20:00]
SCHEINDLIN: I mean, this gap has been confirmed for a number of years already, and it cuts across different communities. What's interesting is that it was more prominent among Democrats for a long time, but it's becoming more prominent among Republicans now too. And by the way, it's a gap that exists also in the American Jewish community.
So, Israelis pay attention to it. You hear a conversation about this. Periodically, there's a sort of, you know, articles expressing concern about what that means for the future of America's support. And certainly, if there's a Democratic administration, there's an awareness. If there's much more critique of America's role in supporting Israel, especially I think after the Biden administration provided so much support for Israel during the war and, you know, was frankly ineffective at stopping it. But we're also seeing that as a split among the Republican party as well, with MAGA Republicans and especially the younger ones also becoming more critical of that. So, there is some concern that this will lead to a longer-term future of some sort -- you know, some form of lower support. But what does that actually mean? Right now, I don't see any pathway for America really, you know, completely reducing or stopping foreign aid to Israel. It's just -- I can't even imagine how that goes through politically, how that goes to Congress.
So, even if there is a concern about that in Israel, it seems like it's a very long time off before America actually changes the policy. But I think that the main thing people are asking themselves here in Israel is, will Israel maintain this special place in American foreign policy or will Israel start to be treated like other foreign policy issues in America subject to the same restrictions or political decisions about foreign aid from America to other countries, which Donald Trump has significantly slashed?
BRUNHUBER: Yes, attitudes are changing, but very slowly. We'll see what the long-term implications are.
SCHEINDLIN: Yes.
BRUNHUBER: Really appreciate getting your analysis on all this. Dahlia Scheindlin, thank you so much.
SCHEINDLIN: Thank you for having me.
BRUNHUBER: Ukraine's president wants to push forward ceasefire talks with Russia. When we come back, what Volodymyr Zelenskyy is now saying as Moscow keeps launching massive attacks.
Plus, many people are mourning an American World War II veteran and TikTok sensation who's died. And will tell you about Papa Jake who insisted was not a hero. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:25:00]
BRUNHUBER: Many people here in the United States are mourning the death of a man they called Papa Jake at the age of 102. World War II veteran Jake Larson fought on the beaches of Normandy in 1944. But more recently, younger generations discovered him when he gained fame on TikTok, recounting his life and service in a million followers. CNN's Christiane Amanpour interviewed Papa Jake last year in Normandy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAKE LARSON, WORLD WAR II VETERAN: I'm not a hero, I'm a -- people keep calling me hero. I changed that word. I took the O off of a hero. I had a T-O there, and the people say, well, what's a herto? I says, I'm here to tell you that heroes are up there. They gave their life. They gave their life so that I could make it. My God. I had -- I got a wife. I got children. I got two boys and a girl. I got nine grandchildren and I got 11 great-grandchildren.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BRUNHUBER: Oh, he was such a character. Christiane won an Emmy three weeks ago for that interview. She shared the award with him, which he said was phenomenal. His granddaughter says, Jake Larson died peacefully this week, cracking jokes to the end.
Ukrainian officials say at least five people were killed in Russian attacks over the past 24 hours. Another 28 people were wounded as Russia continues to wrap up its offensive. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is calling for peace talks with Russia next week. According to Russian state media, Moscow's negotiating team confirmed they've received Kyiv's proposal for a meeting. It comes after President Trump gave Russia 50 days to agree to a ceasefire deal or face new tariffs. The two countries have held two rounds of talks in Istanbul in recent months and haven't made any breakthroughs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): National Security and Defense Council Secretary Umerov also reported that he has proposed the next meeting with a Russian sign for next week. Negotiation dynamics must increase. Everything must be done to achieve a ceasefire. The Russian side must stop avoiding decisions, the exchange of prisoners, the return of children, the cessation of killings. A meeting at the level of leaders is needed to truly ensure peace, a lasting peace. Ukraine is ready for such a meeting.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: General Wesley Clark, former NATO Supreme allied commander, spoke to CNN earlier. He says the Trump administration needs to put a lot more pressure on Russia to get a ceasefire. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET.), FORMER NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER AND FOUNDER, RENEW AMERICA TOGETHER: Putin has a game plan, and the game plan is to amass his forces, breakthrough in the center around Pokrovsk and then try to move in the south toward Odessa and take more of the north coast of the Black Sea.
If he can get to Odessa, if he can block those shipping lanes by occupying that land, Ukraine's coast is cooked. And what the president has done has given him 50 more days to do it before the start of sanctions. And look, the start of sanctions, that doesn't mean that Putin stops. 50 days is the key campaign period, but it could go into sort of late October, early November, depending on the weather in the area.
So, we're going to see a lot more fighting and we're going to need a lot more for Ukraine other than a few Patriot missile batteries.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Well, now to a win that Ukraine can celebrate amid a war that shows no signs of ending, heavyweight boxer Oleksandr Usyk is the world's undisputed champion for a second time after a knockout win in London on Saturday. He dropped Britain's Daniel Dubois twice in the fifth round and sealed the deal with a crunching left hook to the face. Usyk said after three and a half months of training, he's ready to go home to Ukraine and see his family. But the 38-year-old says he's still a young guy with no plans to quit the ring. He says he doesn't know who he'll fight next.
[04:30:00]
Los Angeles police have a man in custody after he drove a car into a crowd outside of a nightclub injuring 30 people. We'll bring you the latest after the break.
Plus, huge cuts are coming for U.S. public broadcasters and international aid groups. We'll have more on what's in the recently passed recession bill after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada, and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN Newsroom.
President Donald Trump wants the Senate majority leader to cancel the August recess and some scheduled long weekends so his outstanding nominees can be confirmed more quickly. The Senate has yet to confirm 136 civilian nominees. But a Republican source tell CNN that GOP Senators want to return home to sell constituents on the recently passed spending bill. A recent CNN poll found that some 60 percent of respondents oppose the measure with the number one reason being the amount it adds to the national debt.
And President Trump will soon sign a bill that slashes more than $9 billion from public broadcasting and international aid efforts. The measure got final congressional approval early Friday morning with only two Republicans breaking ranks with their party. CNN's Julia Benbrook has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This package of $9 billion in spending cuts or claw backs passed primarily along party lines in both chambers. It codifies some of the cuts made by the Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE, with the stated goal of rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse within the federal government.
[04:35:00]
So, what exactly is this package targeting? Roughly $8 billion in congressionally approved foreign aid programs as the White House looks to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development. Another $1.1 billion taken from the corporation for public broadcasting, which helps fund PBS and NPR as well as their local affiliates across the country. This could have a big impact on those stations located in rural areas.
Trump is touting this legislative move and he says that he hopes that this rescissions package is the first of others like it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: This week, we passed the Rescissions Act of 2025, slashing nearly $10 billion of waste. And I guess I could say some fraud and some abuse, but at least we can say waste almost $10 billion. And we have numerous other rescissions coming up, adding more -- many more, $10 billion to it. So, we're saving a lot of money.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BENBROOK: Democrats are detailing the concerns that they have when it comes to this package with House Democratic leadership calling it extreme and reckless. Adding this, quote, "This legislation undermines the public health and national security of the American people while launching an assault on public radio and television. At the same time that people are witnessing tremendous death and destruction wrought by extreme weather. in this country, House Republicans are taking a chainsaw to the public airwaves that Americans rely on for information in an emergency." Adding, while extreme MAGA Republicans will claim this is about eliminating so-called waste, fraud, and abuse, they just jammed through a massive tax giveaway to billionaires that balloons our nation's debt by trillions of dollars.
Now, this Rescissions package is another legislative win for Trump. Congress passed it using an obscure presidential budget law used to avoid the filibuster. Trump is the first president in decades to successfully use this maneuver, highlighting the power that he wields on Capitol Hill right now.
Some lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have expressed concern about the president this sets, saying that it could set a harmful precedent when it comes to congressional authority.
Julia Benbrook, CNN. Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: At least 30 people were injured in Los Angeles when a car drove into a crowd outside a nightclub on Saturday. One police officer explained why there were so many people on the street when it happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERIK SCOTT, PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER, LOS ANGELES FIRE DEPARTMENT: It was rather distressing scene. As you could imagine, at 2:00 a.m., it's dark outside in East Hollywood. We just had early reports of a vehicle into a crowd. So, we didn't know if it was legitimate or how significant. So, a very busy sidewalk outside of a nightclub. Numerous individuals were present throughout that area because you had a taco hotdog stand that people were lined up in front of. You had a valet podium that people were lined in front. Also, people coming out a nightclub. Therefore, there's a lot of people when that vehicle went up on that curb. Fortunately, there's no structural damage to the building or extrication that we had to pull people out from rubble or anything. But the scale of the response was significant.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: No deaths have been reported, but seven victims are in critical condition. CNN's Julia Vargas Jones has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are now beginning to piece together what exactly happened in the moments before this crash outside a nightclub in East Hollywood. Authorities say that a man plowed through that crowd injuring at least 30 people. And after that he was taken out of the car and then a fight ensued. He was beaten by the crowd outside, and then somebody pulled out a gun and shot the driver. That shooter is still at large. Authorities say that he's considered armed and dangerous right now. That remains the priority for police. But they also say that this was a very unusual scene.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFFREY LEE, PUBLICAN INFORMATION OFFICER, LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT: This is not common at all. I would say in my 18 years as a law enforcement officer in the LAPD, I would say this is first of its kind that I'm aware of.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: Now, this is a part of Los Angeles that has a vibrant nightlife, but it is not a particularly dangerous or violent part of the city. Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement on Saturday that, quote, "This is a heartbreaking tragedy. I want to thank the more than 100 LAFD in LAPD personnel who responded to the scene to help save lives. The hearts of Angelinos are with all the victims impacted this morning. And a full investigation into what happened is underway."
Now, according to reporting from CNN's John Miller, there's no indication beyond the impaired state of the driver that there was any other criminal intent and no connection to terrorism at this point.
Julia Vargas Jones, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[04:40:00]
BRUNHUBER: All right. Coming up here on CN Newsroom, an experimental technique leads to healthy babies born with DNA from three different people. We'll look at how it works and why doctors are doing it when we come back. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRUNHUBER: Researchers in the U.K. are touting what they say is a medical milestone. Doctors there report the birth of eight healthy babies born from the DNA of three people rather than one mother and father. The experimental technique was developed to avoid passing rare genetic diseases from parent to child. CNN Health Reporter Jacqueline Howard has more.
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JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: This is a groundbreaking IVF technique. It's still experimental, but to explain how it works, I'll start with some basic biology. So, most of our DNA is found in the nucleus of our cells, but a tiny bit also lies within the mitochondria, and mutations there can cause a wide range of diseases in children that can be seriously debilitating or even deadly.
So, to avoid harmful mitochondrial DNA with mutations from being passed down from the mother to the baby, here's what the researchers did. They first took a mother's egg that was fertilized with the father's sperm in a lab. Then the researchers extracted the nucleus from that fertilized egg and they left behind the mitochondrial DNA with harmful mutations.
The extracted nucleus was then inserted into a fertilized donor egg that had healthy mitochondrial DNA. The final fertilized egg was then implanted back into the mother. The researchers used this technique in embryos from 22 patients resulting in eight babies that appear to be free of mitochondrial diseases. And one woman in this study is still pregnant.
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Now, again, this is still experimental and it's not clinically available here in the United. States. Here in the U.S. there's actually some restrictions placed on clinical research involving this technique. But the researchers say, seeing these eight healthy babies result from this technique gives them some reassurance that this could be an effective approach for the future.
And there are one in 5,000 people who have a rare genetic mitochondrial disease. So, that's the population that the researchers say this technique could possibly benefit in the future. Back to you.
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BRUNHUBER: The tech company CEO cuddling an employee on camera has resigned. Andy Byron and his company's head of human resources were captured in this video during a Coldplay concert, and their reactions as they tried to hide from the camera made the video go viral. It also led to parodies like this one from the Philadelphia Phillies. At Friday night's game, the team's mascot, the Philly fanatic reenacted, the scene on the stadium's Jumbotron. CNN's Raphael Romo has more on the company's reaction to its CEO's resignation.
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RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The tech company initial was said on Friday that its CEO had been placed on leave after the video went viral on Saturday. Astronomer issued an updated statement via LinkedIn saying that the New York-based company, CEO, Andy Byron, has tendered his resignation. The statement says, in part, as stated previously, Astronomer is committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding. Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability. And recently, that standard was not met. Andy Byron has tendered his resignation and the board of directors has accepted.
This is the moment when then-Astronomer CEO, Andy Byron, was spotted on a jumbotron video embracing a company employee during a Coldplay concert on Wednesday evening.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, look at these two. All right. Come on. You're OK. What? Either they're having an affair or they're just very shy.
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ROMO: The other person in the Kiss cam video is Kristin Cabot, the company's chief people officer, or Human Resources. It all happened Wednesday at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts during a concert attended by around 60,000 people. There has been nonstop reaction to the incident, especially on social media. A Canadian tourist visiting New York told CNN she feels especially bad for people impacted.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's very sad that it's exposed and that his family has to see it all over social media. Yes, I've been watching it. It's on like every feed of my Instagram, of my Facebook. It's crazy.
ROMO: The data operations company, which was founded in 2018 acknowledged that awareness of our company may have changed overnight. But management said its mission would continue to be focused on addressing data and artificial intelligence problems.
Rafael Romo, CNN, Atlanta.
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BRUNHUBER: All right. Still to come here on CNN Newsroom, as artificial intelligence grows, it's causing a boom in the need for data storage centers. CNN goes inside one of these secure facilities. That's next. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Data storage centers are important to the running of everything from the financial sector to government. With artificial intelligence consuming vast amounts of data and energy, data centers are more important than ever. CNN's Anna Stewart visited one of them outside of London.
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BRUCE OWEN, EQUINIX PRESIDENT, EMEA: I'll let you in first.
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): I'm entering one of the most secure places in the country. Behind each cage we pass lies the data of a major company. They could be banks, streamers or supermarkets. Not only will Equinix not tell me who they are, but Bruce doesn't even know himself. Their data location is on a need-to- know basis.
BRUCE OWEN, EQUINIX PRESIDENT, EMEA: Essentially, we are now in the heart of the internet.
STEWART (voice over): Each of these cables represents hundreds of thousands of interactions online.
STEWART: So, everything we do, every kind of connection, transaction, everything we make, happens somewhere, like here?
OWEN: Yes.
STEWART: Which is a load of cables.
OWEN: Yes.
STEWART: Are we allowed to walk around?
OWEN: We can walk around, yes, we just can't touch.
STEWART: We can't touch. What happens if I were to pull out a cable? What'll the ramifications be?
OWEN: Well, I would lose my job. There's probably six layers of security to get to this point. So, the likelihood of it happening is nil. We are about to enter the data center.
STEWART (voice over): We use places like this every day, beginning to see what goes on inside is rare.
STEWART: Fingerprint pass.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fingerprint pass.
STEWART: Access granted. Well, this feels like Mission Impossible style security. This is the so- called Man Trap. This store has to close before the next one will open.
Now, if somehow you made it in here without the right security credentials, which includes a fingerprint, well you're not going to be able to get through the next door. You could be here for some time.
STEWART (voice over): The security is necessary. Around the world, data centers like this are responsible for keeping financial centers running like here in London.
OWEN: Even governments most -- the most treasured assets are housed within data centers. And so, we take great pride in being the fortress, kind of ensuring that there's this physical security and resilience built into the network so that you can't get access to the equipment that is underpinning all of these workloads that are essentially keeping the economy going.
STEWART (voice over): If something gets cut, the connection is rerouted elsewhere, and if power goes out, well, backup generators kick in. Energy consumption is critical. Sam Altman says our addiction to software is melting ChatGPT servers.
OWEN: They don't really melt. It's just this idea that they do consume a lot of electricity, and so we should be very conscious about how we consume that technology.
STEWART (voice over): The latest A.I. innovations mean there's a now worldwide challenge to provide more energy.
OWEN: But the chips themselves, the ability to process and the amount of data that available, is evolving. And so, you see the industry moving to have these new cooling technologies like liquid cooling. You will see them within our facilities.
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STEWART (voice over): That energy can be used to heat homes, even the pool at the Paris Olympics, but there's still a lot of waste. As more of our world moves online, remember that each connection also has a physical impact.
STEWART: There was a cable hanging out, but I didn't touch it.
STEWART (voice over): Anna Stewart, CNN, Slough, U.K.
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BRUNHUBER: The final round of golf's Open Championship is now underway in Northern Ireland with the number one firmly in control. American Scottie Scheffler patted his lead with a bogey free third round and an eagle on the seventh hole. He's ahead by four strokes at 14 under par. A win today would give the 29-year-old his fourth career major title. China's Haotong Li is in second place and Northern Ireland's favorite son, Rory McIlroy is tied for fourth six strokes off the lead.
Well, WNBA All-Star Weekend ended with big wins for Captain Napheesa Collier. The Minnesota Lynx forward broke the League's All-Star scoring record with 36 points on Saturday. She led her team to victory over Caitlin Clark's, Team Clark. Collier was named the game's Most Valuable Player. The final score was 151 to 131. Team Clark played without its namesake captain. Caitlyn Clark was out with a groin injury.
Now, ahead of the game, players wore t-shirts with the words, pay us what you owe us. The WNBA Players' Union is in the middle of negotiations with the League on a new collective bargaining agreement. Well, almost 5,000 athletes from 34 nations competed in Eastern Germany this weekend in the colorful world Dragon Boat Racing Championships. The sport traces its origins to Ancient China, and its rules are apparently strict. With so many participants, medals are awarded every day. One racer from Australia said she loves the team spirit the sport fosters.
All right. That wraps this hour of CNN Newsroom. I'm Kim Brunhuber. I'll be back with more news in just a moment.
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