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Trump Visits Scotland As Epstein Controversy Simmers; IDF To Resume Aid Airdrops In Gaza Saturday; Lawmakers Face Heated Questions And Tough Town Halls; Trump Argues With Jerome Powell Over Renovation Costs; Some Far-Right Voices Their Focus To Ghislaine Maxwell; 'War Games:' Taiwan Ups Military Drills. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired July 26, 2025 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:14]

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: No official details yet regarding Hulk Hogan's funeral arrangements, at least not publicly. He was 71 years old.

Thanks so much for joining me today. I'm Erica Hill, joining you from New York. Stay tuned to CNN NEWSROOM continues now with Jessica Dean.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jessica Dean here in New York.

And tonight, President Donald Trump is in Scotland. But even a trip overseas can't seem to contain the growing political crisis back home. The Trump administration has been embroiled in controversy over its handling of documents related to the Jeffrey Epstein case. And Trump has found himself at the center of this saga. This week, sources familiar with the discussions told CNN when Attorney General Pam Bondi briefed the president back in May on the Justice Department review of the documents related to the Epstein case, she told Trump his name appeared in the files. That was not the only focus of these talks, the sources said. But Trump denies this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. President, were you briefed on your name appearing in the Epstein files ever?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No, I was never, never briefed. No.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: It's also not clear on what context Trump's name appears in the documents. Sources familiar with the department's review say the files seem to include several unsubstantiated claims that the DOJ does not find credible, including those related to Trump.

CNN chief national affairs correspondent Jeff Zeleny is joining us now from Scotland.

Jeff, what is on the agenda for the president's trip? How is he handling these questions? JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jessica,

this has been a fairly routine weekend for President Trump in and of that he is playing golf on one of his golf courses. But of course he is doing it some 3500 miles or so away from Washington. On one of his courses here in Scotland. He'll be spending three days at Trump Turnberry before going to a golf course he owns in the northern part of this country. And he will be dedicating a golf course to his mother. So that's what he would like to focus to be on.

But I was at a protest earlier today here, Jessica, and Jeffrey Epstein was front and center in that. His picture was featured on several signs. Several people we talked to were talking and asking questions about the connection between the president and Jeffrey Epstein. Of course, the White House is eager to move on beyond this. They were hoping that this weekend would be a bit of a respite from that, but it's been anything but.

And that sound you just played there from the president when he arrived here in Scotland last evening, so interesting. Again, denying that he was given a briefing that his name was in the files in some respect, even though just three days ago White House officials eagerly confirmed the "Wall Street Journal's" reporting and then CNN's confirmation of that reporting that the president had been briefed that his name was included, along with many others in these files.

So at the end of yet another week, the White House is still trying to grapple with this deepening of political crisis. Certainly a public relations crisis that has gone on to Capitol Hill as well, dividing Republicans there and really opening many more questions here about what is next in this. Of course, this has been something that many of Donald Trump's supporters talked about throughout his political rise, sort of getting answers to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation.

And now there's some frustration that they have not. So the president did not talk or send messages about this today on social media. We'll see if he does so for the rest of his trip here. He's actually holding trade talks tomorrow and Monday before heading back to Washington on Tuesday -- Jessica.

DEAN: And Jeff, what has it been like for the president now that he is in Scotland? What's the reception been like there?

ZELENY: Well, look, he has been sort of ensconced playing golf in the Trump Turnberry golf course, but there have been protests here in Edinburgh and in other parts of Scotland as well.

The president speaks fondly about Scotland, of course. It's the place where his mother was born and she moved to the United States after World War I. But that fondness does not come out in conversations that we have had with so many Scottish residents. They simply do not like the president's policies, how he conducts himself. Public opinion polls here show wide majorities of Scottish residents are not supportive of the president.

Perhaps not surprising. He saw many protests here during his first term as well. So he has been seeing the privacy of his golf courses. But outside of that, there have been protests and frankly, many residents are just living their lives on a summer weekend, not paying much attention at all. But it certainly has captivated the attention of the newspaper tabloids as well, making many references, and again, Jeffrey Epstein is front and center in many of those -- Jessica.

DEAN: Yes. All right. Jeff Zeleny live in Edinburgh for us. Thank you so much for that.

And joining us now, CNN political analyst and national political correspondent for Axios, Alex Thompson. He also co-wrote the book "Original Sin," about President Joe Biden's decision to run for reelection back in 2024.

Alex, thanks for being here with us this afternoon. Let's stay on this topic. I want to go a little bit deeper into the current GOP split over Epstein right now. Before they went home for recess, leaving a day early, I might add, we saw a House subcommittee take a rare bipartisan vote this week to subpoena these DOJ files -- the DOJ for files related to the Epstein case. How are you -- what are you hearing about what Mike Johnson is going to try to do? What Republican leadership, especially in the House, is doing as they now go into this recess?

ALEX THOMPSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, this is what makes this political controversy different than many of the others because the opposition is coming from inside the House, and that by that, I mean, within the Republican Party.

DEAN: Literally. Yes.

THOMPSON: Now, we often talk about how Republicans stick with Trump no matter what, that is not true when it comes to the Epstein scandal. You are seeing, you know, Trump in a very rare moment at odds, not just with Republican lawmakers, but with members of his own base, his own voters, which he often caters to so much. And that is why this political crisis has blossomed and, you know, grown to a point of a potential crisis.

DEAN: And there is this question over, you know, Mike Johnson sent them home early, I think, with the thought that maybe this would kind of lets go for a recess. Let's avoid this vote and let's go for recess and let's see if this will just kind of calm down. Obviously, Democrats would like very much for this not to calm down. They would like for these lawmakers to -- these Republican lawmakers to hear from their constituents at home.

What is your sense of what they are or what these Republicans are going to face when they get home? Is this something I think that people in their constituencies, in their home districts care about?

THOMPSON: The thing I'm watching is not really a Democrats protest Republican lawmakers because Republican lawmakers at this point are used to this.

DEAN: Right. THOMPSON: The real question is if, do Republican lawmakers hear from

their own voters, from Republican primary voters, and that's going to be, you know, people don't remember back sometimes, you know, during the Tea Party days in 2009, 2010, what really made the Republicans fall in line and go full opposition to Obama was they were getting protested by their own voters.

And if that happens this August, if you see a lot of Republicans talking about Epstein and demanding Republicans really react and hold Trump's feet to the fire, it could, you know, continue this potential crisis all the way through the fall and beyond.

DEAN: Yes. I mean, because those are the people all those House members are going to be back up in 2026. I do want to turn to the president's handling of all of this. Obviously, he's in Scotland, he's playing golf. He's going to meet -- do some trade talks tomorrow. But what are you hearing about how he is trying to navigate this, how the White House is trying to navigate this, when typically they can turn the page on something like this pretty quickly? This has not been going away.

THOMPSON: I mean, they haven't -- the White House has been, at least according to people I talked to, has been a little bit paralyzed and divided over how to handle this. Now, I would say for the first six months, the White House was pretty cohesive and very much on the same page in a way that was not the case in 2017, during Trump's first term. This is the first time in this, you know, Trump 2.0 where the White House has not been really quite sure what to do. And the real reason for that is because Trump is clearly unsure of what to do.

DEAN: Yes. And that -- and that is something we just haven't seen. To your point we certainly haven't seen it as much in this second term. But typically when it comes to these media cycles, the president is quite good at getting it to move on if he doesn't want it to linger. And it just doesn't seem like they have found their footing on this one.

THOMPSON: Yes, Trump is very good at yadda-yadda-ing his way through it or just throwing out another shiny object to get people to move on. But -- in part because members of his own party want to see more information, and because Democrats are now, you know, suddenly very interested in the Epstein way, in the way they weren't during the Biden administration. You know, it is very difficult.

Also, you know, it's a very thorny legal case. There are -- there is grand jury testimony. There are a lot of people within the Epstein orbit, which also makes it, you know, a very interesting story. And you are seeing many members of the Trump administration trying to, you know, cover their butts, frankly, because they don't want to be on the, you know, the end of the ire of Trump's base.

DEAN: And, look, the Democratic National Committee is planning to target MAGA voters with ads about Epstein. I just mentioned 2026, which is still a little bit away.

[16:10:01] But we're getting -- we're getting ever closer to it. How salient do you think this will be in the midterms? I think a lot of people that I talk to are trying to figure out, like, is this actually something that moves voters at all, or is this just outrage that we're seeing online, where -- what's actually happening?

THOMPSON: I haven't talked to any Democrats that believe that this is an issue that's going to rally Democratic voters in swing districts. Now, what some Democrats are hoping to do, part of it is this is just an earned media play trying to continue the story, put pressure on Trump. But I do think some Democrats I've talked to think that it could depress the Republican base and that they would be basically disappointed in President Trump if they feel that he is not meeting his promises.

You know, he often says promises made, promises kept. If enough Republican voters think that Trump is not keeping his promises, including on things like Epstein, that could potentially depress the GOP base. So that's why the DNC is targeting Republican voters, not Democrat voters.

DEAN: And speaking of Democrats, before I let you go, a recent CNN poll showing that Democrats' favorability at 28 percent, a "Wall Street Journal" poll is showing similarly very, very low numbers. Are Democrats fumbling this because if voters-- let's call them the independents or people that Trump convinced to vote for him this time, that were maybe not normally taking part in presidential elections.

If any of them are looking around for an alternative, if they're disappointed with Republican leadership, it doesn't look like they're at this moment favorable to the Democrats.

THOMPSON: Well, those numbers are bad, and you are not going to see any Democrat try to defend them. Now they are -- and the thing is that there isn't any consensus within the Democratic Party among its leadership about how to move those numbers up.

Now, what Democrats are sort of clinging to is the fact that Trump's main legislative accomplishment, the one big, beautiful bill, is not popular in polls. Trump's also favorability has gone down. So essentially, Democrats are hoping that that Trump's unfavourability and Republican unfavourability will sort of net out their own unfavourability. But that's, you know, no Democrat will say that that's a great strategy.

DEAN: Yes. All right. Alex Thompson, always good to see you. Thanks for your time.

THOMPSON: Thanks so much for having me.

DEAN: Yes.

Up next we have breaking news out of Gaza. What the Israeli Defense Forces said just moments ago about plans to resume aid airdrops to Gaza as starvation there, this crisis continues to unfold, generating outrage around the world. We're going to have a live report from the region. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:17:13]

DEAN: We are following breaking news tonight in the Middle East. The Israeli military saying it will resume airdrops and open designated humanitarian corridors to enable delivery of aid into Gaza.

Take a look at some of these images. They are highly disturbing, but it's worth noting what's happening inside of Gaza. Children are severely malnourished. That little boy is 2 years old. The Palestinian Ministry of Health says five people have died in the last day from starvation.

CNN's Nic Robertson is live for us and in Jerusalem tonight.

Nic, tell us what the Israeli military is saying.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes. In the last hour, the IDF has said that they're starting a series of actions tonight that are designed to improve the flow of humanitarian aid inside of Gaza. And the headline action they're taking is restarting they say airdrops. They will be air dropping seven pallets of food. Food they say that has come from U.N. and international aid organizations. They say it will be flour, sugar and canned food.

Now it's worth noting here that just a couple of days ago, the IDF had already said that there would be this likelihood of restarting airdrops of food into Gaza. But what's quite significant about this announcement tonight the IDF is saying they will be the ones dropping the aid. Now, that does seem to be a departure from what we've seen in the past. It's also worth noting that seven pallets of aid is a tiny, tiny amount compared to what's actually required on a daily basis inside of Gaza.

But this is just one measure the IDF is saying that they're taking. They say they're going to improve the humanitarian corridors for the U.N. to move its aid around Gaza, which the IDF has been heavily criticized for. They say that they will have humanitarian pauses because they say that the combat operations will continue. But these humanitarian pauses would allow the movement of aid inside of Gaza.

And they also point out a couple of other issues as well. They say that 250 trucks worth of food this week have been moved into facilities at the perimeter of Gaza, ready for distribution. And they say 600 trucks worth of food has been distributed inside of Gaza this week. Point on that, aid organizations say about 600 trucks is what's required for Gaza on one day. The IDF saying that's what they got last week.

So the IDF's position clearly coming under a lot of international pressure. Clearly the narrative that's emerging from Gaza about the malnutrition, the deaths, more than 120 people now, two-thirds of them children, have died of malnutrition recently inside of Gaza.

[16:20:07]

The IDF is saying that this is a false narrative or a false narrative being created by Hamas, that this is an intentional starvation or tactics to cause starvation by the IDF. They say that is not the case, and that's why they're having this big push now, change that narrative, improve the distribution.

Again, I think these what we see and its effectiveness would be the best judge of how the situation improves because there are many times the similar steps have been taken the improvements have been there, have not been huge. And for one reason or another have not been lasting.

This is a beginning step, it appears. And again, the seven pallets the IDF say they're dropping by plane onto Gaza tonight that will need to be a lot more aid. That part of it stepped up significantly to make a big difference on the ground.

DEAN: Yes, no doubt about it. And Nic, look, you just laid it all out. But the fact again underscoring that the IDF will be doing these airdrops when they -- initially they had said they were going to let other nations resume airdrops. Now they're also going to be doing the airdrops. I mean, you did lay out a lot of the history. There is so much context here and so much nuance.

But I think the question, too, is just is, is why now? Was it the pressure from seeing these images, or do you have any sense a little bit deeper about why they decided to do this now?

ROBERTSON: I think it has a lot to do with where the negotiations are, where over the ceasefire. It has put a very bad light. The malnutrition inside of Gaza has put the Israeli government in a hugely bad light and opened it to an immense amount of international pressure and criticism. We saw just a couple of days ago, the French president say that France was going to recognize a Palestinian state in September.

That sort of international pressure it does not work in Israel's favor when its negotiating with Hamas because it perceives that Hamas takes strength from situations like that, where there is international pressure on Israel. So Israel is countering it, they say countering it for the humanitarian betterment of the people of Gaza that they say they abide by international law to give them the food that is expected and required under international law.

But undoubtedly it will help Israel find its footing in ceasefire negotiations going forward. It will strengthen their hand internationally.

DEAN: All right, Nic Robertson, with this breaking news out of Jerusalem, thank you so much. We appreciate it.

And coming up, lawmakers returned to their districts early for the summer. But many are expected to face a lot of heated questions, including potentially around the Epstein controversy. A live report on how that's going. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:27:26]

DEAN: Lawmakers are headed back to their districts this weekend now that Congress is out early for the summer. They're expecting plenty of heated questions from their constituents in some thorny issues, including releasing documents related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Julia Benbrook is joining us now.

And Julia, look, there's the Epstein thing that's swirling around. There's also the big, beautiful bill that passed earlier this summer that I think people have a lot of questions about. How are lawmakers planning to face their voters?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this time back in their district, it gives these lawmakers a chance to connect with voters. And we're already seeing some of them fielding questions from constituents at town halls, the very people who will have a say in if they are reelected or not. So putting a lot of pressure on these interactions.

And some of the big topics that have been discussed, we've seen the environment, education, the economy, as you pointed out, Trump's massive domestic policy agenda bill, the so-called one big beautiful bill. But one topic that has been very delicate for these lawmakers to navigate is the Epstein investigation.

When the Department of Justice and the FBI released a memo just a few weeks ago now announcing that it had not found a so-called client list incriminating associates of Jeffrey Epstein, it really reignited this conversation. And that memo came just months after Attorney General Pam Bondi had hyped up some soon to be released documents and suggested that she had the so-called client list sitting on her desk. She has since then said that she was speaking about other documents.

But a lot of questions remain here, and despite the president's calls for his supporters to move on to other topics, there are still calls for more transparency. And it's important to note that some of the loudest voices in those calls are coming from Trump's own MAGA base.

Now, we do have one virtual town hall that I wanted to highlight discussing this topic. This was GOP Congressman Mike Kennedy of Utah. He's a practicing physician. That is important context when we get to what he had to say here. But he compared the Epstein investigation, the conversations surrounding it as a wound that could continue to get worse if it's not properly handled. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE KENNEDY (R-UT): I am a big fan of full transparency, and of course, health care and how it's delivered is a big way of thinking about things is if you've got a festering, boil infected wound with pus underneath there, you can continue to just let it fester and potentially that's going to grow inward and create infection in your bloodstream and cause the whole body to be sick. Well, it's another way. And I've done this many times over the course of my doctor career is I just had to put a -- put a needle or a knife in it and cut it open and let it drain. And in the case of this Epstein stuff, absolutely let it out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[16:30:21]

BENBROOK: Now, before heading home, we did see some movement on these calls for transparency on Capitol Hill. A House Oversight Committee subcommittee voted to subpoena the Department of Justice for more documents related to Epstein. It was a bipartisan vote. And the House Oversight Committee Chairman, James Comer, has emphasized that members of that committee have been showing a lot of interest in this topic. And he did promise to move quickly on next steps. Jessica.

DEAN: All right. Julia Benbrook from Washington, thank you for that. Meantime, the long simmering clash between President Trump and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell was on full display this week when the president got a firsthand look at the renovations being made at the Central Bank's headquarters there in Washington. Despite the president pressing Powell to cut rates, sources tell CNN there is no chance that the Fed chair will resign before his term expires next May. Brian Todd has more on all of this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): President Trump ratcheting up his pressure campaign against the Federal Reserve and its chairman, Jerome Powell.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So, the 2.7 is now 3.1. And --

JEROME POWELL, FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: I'm not aware of that.

TRUMP: Yes. It just came out.

POWELL: Yes. I haven't heard that from anybody at the Fed.

TODD (voiceover): On Thursday, he toured the Fed's headquarters undergoing a major renovation, and got into a dispute with Powell in front of the cameras about the overall cost of the project.

POWELL: You just added in a third building is what that is. That's a third building.

TRUMP: It's a building that's being built.

POWELL: No, it's been -- it was built five years ago.

TODD (voiceover): The active construction site sits just a few blocks away from the White House. But the politically independent body is rarely visited by presidents.

TRUMP: Do you expect any more additional cost overruns?

POWELL: I don't expect them. We're ready for them.

TODD (voiceover): The costly project has been on Trump's mind for weeks.

TRUMP: This guy is building this building that's severely overrun. And what does he need the building for? I didn't see him as a guy that needed a palace to live in. I mean, it's possible there's fraud involved.

TODD (voiceover): The nearly 100-year-old building is in need of safety updates to the antiquated electrical grid, plumbing, HVAC, and fire detection systems.

TRUMP: This is a very expensive job. I don't know. It got out of control. And that happens. That happens. It's a shame.

TODD (voiceover): The project cost has shot up from $1.9 billion to $2.5 billion, which the Fed claims is due in part to asbestos remediation, security enhancements like blast-resistant windows, and inflation. Workers seen adding steel framing and reinforcing the walls, temporarily clad in plywood to protect the building's historic integrity. Another added cost. Staff telling the press that building a brand-new building would have been much cheaper.

SCOTT BESSENT, TREASURY SECRETARY: The Fed has had big mission creep, and that's where a lot of the spending is going. That's why they're building these new or refurbishing these buildings. And I think they got to stay in their lane.

TODD (voiceover): That's Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent seen as a possible replacement for Jerome Powell. Critics point to claims that the renovation would include expenditures for lavish items like rooftop gardens, water features, and VIP elevators.

POWELL: Some of those are just flatly misleading. The idea of elevators. You know, it's the same elevator. It's been there since the building was built. So, that's a -- that's a mischaracterization. And some of those are no longer in the plans.

TODD (voiceover): And planned rooftop seating for staff removed. Instead, the focus on a green roof with grassy plants to help reduce cooling costs and water runoff. Federal Reserve watchers say Trump's focus on the building is only a sideshow.

DAVID WESSEL, THE BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: The president has been told by his lawyers and by the Supreme Court that he can't fire the Fed chair unless he has "cause." And it looks like he demanded of his staff I need a cause. And they've come up with a mismanagement of the building as an excuse.

TRUMP: I'd love him to lower interest rates, but other than that -- other than that, what can I tell you? TODD (voiceover): Analysts also saying its Powell's unwillingness to lower interest rates that has really drawn the president's ire.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What would you do with a project manager who would be over budget?

TRUMP: Generally speaking, what would I do? I'd fire him.

TODD: But the president, after a tour of the building, said he did not want to fire Jerome Powell over the cost overruns of the project. Despite his defense of this renovation, Powell says he has asked the Fed's inspector general to conduct an additional review of the project. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: Brian, thank you. And coming up. Some in MAGA world are turning their attention to Epstein's accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, and whether they believe she might be a victim herself. That conversation next. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:39:22]

DEAN: As the fallout around the Trump administration's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files now enters its third week, some conservatives are now turning their attention toward Epstein's accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell. Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence after she was found guilty of child sex trafficking based on the testimony of four different women. Still, some far-right voices in the media are now questioning whether she might be a victim.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TODD BLANCHE, U.S. DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: She just might be a victim. She just might be. There was a rush to judgment. There was a lot of chaos there for a while. All right. Granted, she hung out with Jeffrey Epstein. And I know that's apparently not good. But she's in jail.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[16:40:07]

DEAN: And just to be clear, she is serving jail time here, Sara Fisher. And, Sara, she is serving jail time. Also, multiple women testified that they actually felt safe because she was present, that she was kind of the conduit that allowed them -- that kind of brought them into Jeffrey Epstein's orbit.

We could go on and on. But clearly, the far-right media sphere is taking this up. What do you make of their move to try to do this? Is this something that the Trump administration is going to want to kind of have catch on? SARA FISHER, CNN MEDIA ANALYST: I think that they are looking, Jessica, for a conclusion, right? For so many years. And especially the past few months, they've been looking for answers to whether or not there is more evidence of high-level accomplices, people who were involved in Jeffrey Epstein, particularly Democrats, who can be held to account. They have not been able to get their hands on that evidence from the Trump administration.

And so, I think you're seeing from the MAGA sphere is they're looking desperately for any place where they can get answers. And the reason that they are now calling Ghislaine Maxwell a victim is because they're hoping that if they can frame her that way, maybe there's a possibility she can come forward with more information.

DEAN: And how do most Americans view these meetings that happen this week between Todd Blanche from the DOJ and Maxwell?

FISHER: I think that a lot of Americans who are following this conspiracy are watching very closely to understand whether or not there's more information she could give the DOJ to help them, sort of uncover things, because there's a big distrust right now amongst the MAGA sphere and Pam Bondi, who is over the attorney general at the DOJ. I think that they think that she is hiding things, that she's not been transparent about the so-called Epstein files. And so, for them, they see Todd Blanche's meeting as a possibility that they could get more access, more information.

Jessica, my take on the whole thing is that whenever there's unresolved conflict, the story will live on because people will want to figure out an answer. We've seen this story now live on for years. I don't think it goes away anytime soon.

DEAN: And you wrote a piece for Axios, and I think this is such an important and interesting piece of all of this, just politically. How the Epstein file fallout is splintering the Murdoch empire. Tell us a little bit about that.

FISHER: Well, the Wall Street Journal is obviously the newspaper that reported about Donald Trump's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. You know, writing that crude letter for his 50th birthday book. And you would think that its sister company, Fox News, which is also owned by Rupert Murdoch, would be covering that. They have not really covered it, Jessica.

And so, to me, what that suggests is that these two companies -- by the way, both publicly traded separately. You got Wall Street Journal parent, News Corp. You got Fox News parent Fox Corp. They're, you know, owned by the same person, Rupert Murdoch. It suggests that their business models are very different. And Murdoch, at the end of the day, he is a businessman. Like that is where his true allegiance lies.

And so, for the Wall Street Journal to put out investigative journalism, great for that business. And for Fox, which has traditionally been a pro-Trump network, to ignore it, great for that business. It shows you what Rupert Murdoch really cares about. DEAN: I also want to talk about the FCC's decision to go ahead and greenlight the $8 billion merger between Paramount and Skydance Media. This, of course, comes after Stephen Colbert, it was announced he was being let go, that there was the settlement with CBS News. How significant is this deal?

FISHER: It's a big deal because it serves as a bellwether for all sorts of deal-making moving forward in the Trump administration. And if you're a skeptical, embarrassed person like I am, I think it's the standard that we're probably going to see moving forward, because once one person opens the toothpaste lid, it's hard to put it back. Essentially, what this deal represents is that the government, through political pressure, can get private companies to make concessions about their own internal policies, things that regulators typically haven't had jurisdiction over in order to get deal approvals.

And that is just sort of so anti-capitalism, Jessica. It's not the system that we've been operating in. But I think this deal represents that this is going to be the new normal. And by the way, not just for media deals, but for any approvals across sectors, whether you need drug approvals from the FDA or you're trying to get a government contract, this -- (AUDIO GAP)

DEAN: Yes. And as you mentioned, look, you say all private companies. This, of course, is a company that's charged with having to tell the truth and report and provide journalism to Americans. So, even more thorny there.

Before I let you go, this is kind of everywhere online right now. The tech company Astronomer, which of course was where the man and the woman at the Coldplay concert were worked, and have since left hiring Gwyneth Paltrow, Chris Martin's ex-wife, to help with damage control. This is a clip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GWYNETH PALTROW, BUSINESSWOMAN: Astronomer has gotten a lot of questions over the last few days, and they wanted me to answer the most common ones. Yes, Astronomer is the best place to run Apache Airflow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[16:45:01]

DEAN: Wait, Sara, this actually seems really clever. What did you think?

FISHER: I think it's clever. But, Jessica, when it comes to crisis communications that have an impact on employee morale, which this one does. I mean, when two people who are empowered a company are violating company rules and have been known to have been getting away with it, that's very frustrating for employees. I think now is not the time to be kitschy.

I think now is the time to be serious. What you're doing is you're keeping this saga in the news cycle, but in a more lighthearted way. But I think the focus during this time should be on the employees, not what the public thinks.

DEAN: All right. Sara Fisher, as always, thank you so much. Great to see you.

FISHER: Thank you, Jessica.

DEAN: Yes. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is shelling out billions to try and get his company in the lead when it comes to artificial intelligence. Now, OpenAI, Google, Apple, and other competitors are having to pay to keep up with Meta's recruiting spree. And CNN's Clare Duffy has more on the A.I. talent race.

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CLARE DUFFY, CNN TECH WRITER: Yes, Meta really has kicked off this talent war within the AI Industry. It's almost like these big AI companies are starting to be something like basketball teams, and they're shelling out multi-million dollar pay packages for some of the top talent. Mark Zuckerberg appears willing to spare almost no expense to make sure that his company wins this race.

Now, Meta had been spending hundreds of billions of dollars to build out AI infrastructure like data centers and chips. And now, it's really gone on this big hiring spree that started with a $14 billion investment last month into the AI startup Scale. As part of that deal, it hired away Scale's founder and CEO, Alexander Wang to run this new team called Meta Superintelligence Labs.

Now, Meta has hired around two dozen of the top AI researchers, software engineers, product managers, and it is again shelling out multimillion-dollar pay packages to hire those people away from its rivals. That strategy appears to be working. It's hired top talent away from OpenAI, from Google, Anthropic, Apple, Scale AI. And, of course, the stakes here for Mark Zuckerberg are quite high.

Mark Zuckerberg would like for Meta to be more than just a social media company. He had sort of a failed pivot to the metaverse several years ago. And so now he is reorienting the company around artificial intelligence. He's made these huge investments in data centers. He needs to do something with those.

Meta has also built this growing devices business around smart glasses. That business hinges on Meta's AI model continuing to get better. And then, of course, Meta is also using AI in its core business. That is to make it even better at targeting people with ads across social media. All of those things depend on Meta continuing to be a leader in this space. Clare Duffy, CNN, New York.

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DEAN: There is a sense of urgency in Taiwan tonight as the government is amping up its military drills amid a looming threat from China. CNN's Senior International Correspondent Will Ripley reports.

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WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Welcome to Taiwan in 2025, where military police hold midnight drills on the subway as folks watch from the soybean milk shop next door. Armed convoys get a friendly welcome from kids leaving the pool. U.S.- supplied military hardware showing up in places civilians never expected.

JASON LIAO, TAIPEI RESIDENT: And I just bumped into the missile.

RIPLEY: The Patriot missile battery?

LIAO: Yes. And at first, it's quite shocking. It's also a really great reminder that war is really close.

RIPLEY (voiceover): Ten days of war games all over this island democracy. Imagining how a Chinese invasion might unfold. Taiwan holds military drills every year. But this year, they're twice as long. Largely unscripted. And for the first time in a long time, happening in crowded, everyday spaces, not just remote areas like ten years ago when Lin Jing-da was a full-time soldier. He says military drills then were out of sight and heavily scripted.

RIPLEY: Do you think the government, by putting the drills so close to everyday people, is trying to prepare Taiwanese for the possibility of a war with China soon?

LIN JING-DA, FORMER SOLDIER (through a translator): We need to let the citizens know about the possibility of war and prepare them for it, he says. Because China is getting ready to.

RIPLEY (voiceover): These are believed to be PLA landing barges designed to rapidly offload tanks, soldiers, and equipment onto a hostile beach. Analysts say they're built for one job, taking Taiwan. Top U.S. officials now say Chinese Leader Xi Jinping told PLA leaders be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027. This is the island's dress rehearsal for war.

RIPLEY: We just got this presidential alert that says missile attack. Seek immediate shelter.

RIPLEY (voiceover): When the sirens go off, everyone takes cover.

RIPLEY: This busy street in the middle of a workday, totally empty. Except for the police making sure that people are not out on the sidewalks.

RIPLEY (voiceover): Even the local supermarket joins in, guiding shoppers to a basement bomb shelter. I think people would feel nervous when they're down there, she says. Taiwanese leaders say that's the point.

LIN FEI-FAN, DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL, TAIWAN NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: I think we need to be more prepared in any kind of situation. [16:55:02]

RIPLEY (voiceover): Taiwan is proudly displaying its U.S.-made arsenal. HIMARS, Avengers, HESCO barriers, billions of dollars spent on full display. A message aimed far beyond Taipei.

TRUMP: Taiwan took our chip business away.

RIPLEY (voiceover): But not everyone believes the U.S. will come to Taiwan's aid.

RIPLEY: What do -- what do you think President Trump would do if Taiwan were attacked?

LIAO: Me, personally think that Trump will only do things that will benefit himself. Once he got a deal with China that is more appealing than he might just abandon us.

RIPLEY: You think he could abandon Taiwan?

LIAO: Yes.

RIPLEY (voiceover): Taiwan's leaders say they cannot afford to wait for help. They're making war feel real because it could be. And they want the world and their own people to be ready.

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DEAN: And that was Will Ripley reporting for us. Thank you so much for that. Up next here on NEWSROOM. We're going to look ahead to President Trump's high-level meeting with the leader of the European Union. Will Trump leave his international trip with a trade deal? We'll take a look at what's at stake.

And we'll have breaking news this hour out of Gaza, where the Israeli -- the Israeli military says it is now ready to implement "Humanitarian pauses and resume aid drops." We're going to have more details from the region. That's next.

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