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Sid Group Confirms "Baby Zeinab" Died Of Malnutrition; NYC Gunman Who Killed Four Had Grievances With NFL; Thailand: Border With Cambodia "Calm" After Ceasefire Deal; At Least 30 Dead in Beijing After Days of Heavy Rain; Wildfires Scorch Parts of Mediterranean Amid Extreme Heat; Le Briand Revives Century-old Alternative to Mass Market Beds. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired July 29, 2025 - 02:00   ET

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

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[02:00:29]

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Lynda Kinkade.

Just ahead, Donald Trump acknowledges real starvation in Gaza after the Israeli prime minister said it was a fabricated crisis, U.S. vows to get more aid into the Enclave as the U.N. warns of the coming days, a make or break.

Plus, the shaky cease fire between Thailand and Cambodia seems to hold as refugees await the chance to go home, following days of deadly clashes.

And heavy rains trigger deadly landslides around Beijing, we'll have the latest on China's emergency response in the region.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN NEWSROOM with Lynda Kinkade.

KINKADE: Horrific scenes of starvation in Gaza are prompting a shift from President Donald Trump. After mostly blaming Hamas for aid delays, he now says Israel bears a lot of responsibility. The president says the U.S. will establish food centers in Gaza to tackle the crisis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We can save a lot of people. I mean, some of those kids are -- that's real starvation stuff. I see it, and you can't fake that. So, we're going to be even more involved.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, Israel says it will continue to pause military operations in the territory for 10 hours a day to ensure safe passage of convoys delivering aid. It's also air dropping some platelets of supplies into Gaza, along

with Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. Hospitals in Gaza reported another 14 deaths in the past day due to famine and malnutrition.

The U.N. aid chief warns the next few days will be make or break for the humanitarian efforts. He says a lot of food has been trucked in this week, but a lot has been looted.

Just a few weeks ago, we brought you the story of a mother in Gaza desperate to save her 5-month-old daughter. The baby spent the past few months in and out of hospital and was prevented from leaving Gaza for treatment. Sadly, baby Zeinab passed away. And a warning, some viewers may find this report from our Nic Robertson disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): Baby Zeinab cradled in her father's loving arms, fought for life as long as she could. Her tiny emaciated body a now silent witness to Gaza's new horror, malnutrition.

Once a happy, healthy baby, dead at five months old. She passed away as her mother carried her to the hospital for a checkup.

This is her photo before she got sick, she says, and this is the medical referral. My daughter suffered greatly from her illness, malnutrition, and a lack of milk due to the closure of the crossings.

A little over a week ago, CNN saw Zeinab in hospital alive.

ROBERTSON: How old is she?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's now five months. Five months old.

ROBERTSON: And how -- what is her weight?

ROBERTSON (voice-over): British doctor, Nick Maynard, was helping treat Zeinab. He was on one of his many life-saving missions to Gaza, and was recording a video diary for CNN.

DR. NICK MAYNARD, PEDIATRICIAN: There've been four newborn babies in the last couple of weeks who died as a direct result of malnutrition. Their mothers with two malnourished to produce milk. There are inadequate amounts of formula feed.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Zeinab's wizened skin and boned body was clinging to life, and there was hope. After CNN's report, Zeinab was offered a medical evacuation abroad. Her father clutching her dead body, tells us her referral was ready and we were waiting for the crossing to open. But she found peace and rose to the heavens. We did everything we could.

According to her doctors, she had no underlying medical conditions, cases like hers, increasingly common, he says.

DR. AHMAD AL-FARRA, ZEINAB'S PHYSICIAN: It came to the hospital as a body because of severe, severe starvation and unavailability of the special formula for milk that it is suitable for her. This is one of the examples for not allowing and for closing borders against milk and against a special formula of milk for children.

[02:05:15]

ROBERTSON (voice-over): More than 120 dead in Gaza from malnutrition, he says. Two-thirds of them are children because they're more vulnerable.

Israeli officials say they abide by international law, allow aid into Gaza and blame Hamas for the shortages.

Baby Zeinab never knew any of that or about a ceasefire or negotiations over meters of land or numbers of hostages and prisoners to be exchanged.

She came into the world innocent. And left it the same way her parents, lives heavier carrying the loss than what might have been.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Joining me now from London is Sanam Vakil, the director of the Middle East and North Africa Program at Chatham House. Look, thanks so much for your time. That was obviously a horrific case that we just saw another innocent child dying of starvation in Gaza nearly two years into this brutal conflict. How would you categorize what's happening to civilians in Gaza?

SANAM VAKIL, DIRECTOR OF THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA PROGRAM, CHATHAM HOUSE: Thank you for having me. I have to say, this is a really shameful moment. The international community and the Israeli government are completely culpable for allowing this humanitarian catastrophe to continue, and there needs to be above all, unity and continued condemnation and pressure put on the Israeli government and Prime Minister Netanyahu.

It does work. It is working. Aid is now being, "Allowed to come in," but there is no reason, no justification whatsoever. The Palestinians should be paying this kind of price, and that children should be dying and people should be suffering in this way.

KINKADE: Yes, it's inexcusable, really. And Israel's prime minister insists that there is no starvation, even as the United States, which of course, historically is its closest ally, disputes that. President Trump says Israel bears a lot of the responsibility for restricting aid.

And the U.N. of course, has pointed out that nearly a third of Gaza's population is going for days without food. Of course, when it comes to like international humanitarian law, you know, withholding aid and starving civilians is considered a war crime. Do you believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu or members of his government could be held accountable? VAKIL: Well, I think we are far beyond international law two years into this war, and that's one of the main problems we're facing. There's no accountability. The ICC, the ICJ have already made their verdicts about Israel and Israel's leadership, but nobody is around to enforce it in Europe and certainly not in the United States.

A positive note is that the president does see this starvation and is calling Israel out on it, and Europe, the U.K., the West in general, really see President Trump as the only person that is able to pressure the Israeli government.

And I sincerely hope that pressure is coming, because where we are today is unjustifiable, certainly a violation of international war -- international law, and Israelis themselves are finally calling out what could be war crimes and we could, you know, very much say what's happening in Gaza is, of course, reminiscent by putting Palestinians in camps, narrowing the base of where Palestinians can live, and trying to push them out. You know, this is criminal by all accounts.

KINKADE: Israel right now has agreed to a limited ceasefire just to allow some aid in. But aid is often being restrictive with Israel, claiming that Hamas is stealing it. We now know that a U.S. investigation found no evidence of widespread theft, and Israel certainly maintains its objectives are to defeat Hamas and bring home hostages.

But has it, in your view, turned a blind eye to the humanitarian crisis, and effectively, is it punishing the entire population?

VAKIL: Absolutely, I think that Israel has engaged in all sorts of activities. And we've also seen over the course of the year that Israel is sort of fueling insurgency from within Gaza, in the hope that protests or a public outcry against Hamas will further weaken the group that is sincerely degraded but still present in Gaza, I think the Israeli government has to consider what its war aims are at this point.

[02:10:12]

And if its international stature, the isolation, the pariah status that it currently holds is worth continuing this, the Knesset is out of session for the next few months, and, you know, remains to be seen if this government is going to continue to pummel Palestinians, or think about returning to the negotiating table.

I think so far, all of these negotiations have been very much performative, and the delivery of aid, to quote Donald Trump, has also been performative. Much more can and should be done.

KINKADE: And with food and medicine stuck at the border, is the international community doing enough to prevent a wider catastrophe?

VAKIL: Well, you know, we're certainly seeing the international community stepping up and stepping in, dropping aid from the sky, and also lining up across the border. The U.N. is present, and the reality is that the Israeli government has blocked UNRWA that has long been the sort of delivery mechanism from doing its job. There are many of aid groups, they're ready to do their job.

The onus is really on Israel, and I believe that the international community must keep the pressure up on Israel. It's important to recognize Palestinian state. There's a conference taking place in New York, sponsored by France and Saudi Arabia to think about the pathway to a two state solution, and that's important for the longer term horizon that will also address Israel's security, but an immediate pressure and condemnation from around the world is needed, and, of course, action on the ground.

And here, the onus again is on Israel to understand the gravity of this moment and that it won't be able to climb down from this. People won't forget this.

KINKADE: Yes. Dr. Sanam Vakil, good to have you on the program. Thanks so much for your time.

VAKIL: Thank you.

KINKADE: We have this news just in the CNN, Ukrainian officials say at least 16 people are dead, dozens more injured, after Russian strikes hit a prison in Zaporizhzhia. Moscow strikes come just one day after U.S. President Donald Trump slashed his deadline for Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine.

Speaking in Scotland on Monday, Trump said the Russian president had 10 to 12 days to reach a cease fire, down from 50 days. And if there is no cease fire, the U.S. will target Moscow with harsher economic penalties.

Ukraine's president praised his American counterpart's determination. Volodymyr Zelenskyy also emphasized the role of U.S. sanctions in bringing Russia to the negotiating table.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): It is Russia doing everything to fail peace efforts and prolong this war. There are strikes every night, Russian attempts to hurt Ukraine.

We have said this multiple times, and all partners are aware that sanctions are a key element. Russia cares about sanctions. Cares about such losses.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: New details are emerging about a possible motive for Monday's mass shooting in a New York City high rise. Law enforcement source tells CNN the gunman was carrying documents indicating he had grievances with the National Football League's handling of CTE, a brain disease linked to repeated head trauma.

We're told that the shooter, a 27-year-old man from Las Vegas, played football years ago. The NFL has offices in that building where the shootings took place. The league's commissioner says one of their employees was seriously injured. That person is now in hospital, apparently in a stable condition.

Four people, including an off duty police officer, were killed in the shootings. Authorities say the gunman then took his own life. CNN Shimon Prokupecz has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Monday night, the police commissioner releasing new information, describing just how everything unfolded just around 6:30 when the gunman walked into the lobby, ambushing the people in the lobby, including an NYPD police officer who was working security, killing that officer, shooting others in the lobby, then getting in an elevator and going up on the -- to the 33rd floor, where he continued his rampage.

A lot still remains unknown, the FBI, the NYPD, and also the Las Vegas Police Department and officials there are helping to trying to piece some of this. That is where the gunman is from, the NYPD saying he drove here, double parked his car and then walked into the building, firing at those people.

[02:15:15]

Of note from the NYPD that the suspect does have a documented mental health issue. That's certainly going to raise a lot of questions, and for now, we're just hoping to learn more about the victims. We know a lot about the police officer who was a father of two, his wife was expecting their third child, only 36 years old, with about four years on the job.

So, a lot more still that we need to learn here, and hopefully that will happen in the coming days.

Shimon Prokupecz, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Still to come, a cease fire appears to be holding up to days of deadly clashes on the Thai-Cambodian border. We'll hear how civilians caught up in this conflict are coping.

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[02:20:34]

KINKADE: Welcome back. Thailand's acting prime minister says the situation at the border with Cambodia is calm 13 hours into the cease fire. Earlier, though, Thai officials accused its neighbor of deliberately violating their truce, which Cambodia denied. The country's militaries are communicating but have yet to agree on a location to hold the next round of negotiations according to Thai officials.

Last week, clashes broke out over a contested border region, with both nations accusing the other of firing first. It led to the deadliest fighting in more than a decade, with 38 people killed. Hundreds of thousands of people forced to flee their homes, and after a week of violence, fear and uncertainty, they are desperate to go home. Sui-Lee Wee is the New York Times Southeast Asia Bureau Chief and joins us now from Thailand's Surin province. Good to have you with us.

SUI-LEE WEE, SOUTHEAST ASIA BUREAU CHIEF, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Thank you, Lynda.

KINKADE: So, the Thai and Cambodia governments have agreed to what Malaysia's prime minister called an immediate and unconditional cease fire. From what you're hearing on the ground, is this truce genuine and is it holding?

WEE: Yes, so we've been closely watching military meeting today of the senior military commanders of both Cambodia and Thailand to see how they would work out this deal. So far, the signs look promising.

What I know from a Cambodian official so far is that they have agreed on four terms, one of it, which is to pull -- they would not deploy more troops to the -- to the areas where they've been fierce fighting. And that's very promising, because the death toll has been escalating over the past few days, and the human toll has been significant in terms of the number of evacuees, and more than 160,000 people have had to flee their homes in recent days.

Another term of the agreement that we know so far is that they have agreed to implement a working group to discuss how to implement the cease fire. That, of course, is the question going forward in the next few days, of whether this will permanently hold.

KINKADE: Yes, exactly. I mean, that is the big question. I imagine, for the 160,000 or more people that have had to flee, they want to return home, but are any returning home? Are they more waiting to see how this plays out and whether the cease fire actually does indeed last?

WEE: What we know from Surin is that the local government is closing a lot of the shelters that they've set up, there are now two major shelters left, and I think a lot of people there are still waiting to hear whether they can go home. I know a lot of them are very eager to do so, but they are also very cautious, as they want to see how this will play out for them.

KINKADE: And both sides have blamed each other for this latest flare up along the border. But this isn't a new dispute, really, is it. Can you just give us some historical context, what is at the root of this long standing tension, and how have previous flare ups been managed or diffused?

WEE: Yes, it's been a decades long conflict, and it really comes down to maps, and Thailand and Cambodia both use different maps and to discuss this shared 500 mile long border that they have, they've managed to work out resolutions on a large part of the border. It comes down now to four areas, about 100 kilometers left that they have said that are undefined, and this is where the areas of fighting have occurred around these ancient Hindu temples.

And so, you know, it's just going to be intractable. And I think that the reason the cease fire came about is that a lot of the establishment slowly realizing now that it's going to be futile to keep on fighting when there's not going to be an easy resolution to this.

KINKADE: Yes, and of course, President Trump weighed in, warning that the U.S. would halt trade negotiations if the violence continued. Does such threats like that carry diplomatic weight in the region, or are they more symbolic at this stage?

WEE: I've been speaking to Thai and Cambodian officials about this, and they tell me that that was a key factor in bringing both sides to the table. Remember, Bangkok did not want to external parties to mediate in the beginning, and they had -- when Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had tried to work out a cease fire on the first day of fighting, that did not work, but the threat that Trump would not -- that President Trump would not discuss trade deals with both countries if they continued fighting was a key factor, I think, in measuring both of them to come to the table. These countries are facing very steep tariffs, about 36 percent that would severely done their economies if they could not meet the August 1st deadline.

[02:25:39]

KINKADE: Good to get that perspective from you, Sui-Lee Wee, thanks so much for your time from The New York Times. We appreciate it.

WEE: Thank you for having me.

KINKADE: Well, still to come, tens of thousands of people are being relocated in Beijing after heavy rains trigger deadly flooding in the northern outskirts of the city. We'll have the latest, next.

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KINKADE: Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kinkade. Northern China has been pummeled by heavy rains in recent days and on the outskirts of Beijing, the storms have turned deadly, killing at least 30 people. CNN's Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong with the latest on the disaster.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Cars moving, but not the way they should. On roads, now rivers in the northern outskirts of Beijing. According to Chinese state media, dozens of people have been killed after days of heavy rain caused widespread flooding and triggered deadly landslides. Many more are missing. China's leader Xi Jinping urging an "all-out search and rescue effort" for those trapped or yet to be found. "Emergency response must be activated and carried out at the earliest possible moment to fully protect people's lives and property," Xi said in a statement on Monday. Guo Shuzhen is still waiting for help, a wall of soil now sits in her auto repair shop after a landslide swept through the second floor of the building in Miyun, a suburb of China's capital.

GUO SHUZHEN, LOCAL RESIDENT (through translator): By the time we got here, the landslide had already crashed into the house. I saw the water had nowhere to go.

LU STOUT (voice-over): More than 80,000 people have been evacuated in and around Beijing, and it's not just the capital in crisis. Video from state-run media shows downpours and torrents of water in Hebei, Tianjin, and Inner Mongolia. Even when the rains dry up, those affected will have to dig through the destruction left behind.

Kristie Lu Stout, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: While in Europe, summer heat and dry winds are causing wildfires to flare up across the Mediterranean region. In Albania, a helicopter was deployed to combat flames threatening a coastal village. And Turkey has been battling wildfires for two weeks now, one blaze in the northwest of the country burned for a third straight day on Monday. The huge wildfire engulfed a beach on the Italian island of Sardinia, according to firefighters. Beachgoers were forced to flee by boat after flames blocked the other escape route.

Well, in a society where so much is mass produced, one small Parisian company is offering a place to lay your head on a mattress that could last you a lifetime. That's next on "CNN Newsroom."

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[02:37:43]

KINKADE: Welcome back. Well, who doesn't want a better night's rest? A good night's sleep. Now, it's 02:30 in the morning here. And trust me, everyone on my team would love to be asleep right now. But in a quiet corner of Paris, traditional crafted ship coming from a legendary mattress company is working to give customers a lifetime of pleasant sleep. CNN's Saskya Vandoorne has a look behind the scenes.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SASKYA VANDOORNE, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER (voice-over): Tucked within a cul-de-sac on the east side of Paris, lives Le Briand, one of the last matelassiers or artisanal mattress makers in France.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): There aren't many of us, that's for sure.

VANDOORNE (voice-over): The brand was founded in 1880 and was recently sold to new owners who were determined to preserve the fading craft of sculpting and stitching each mattress by hand.

ROSALIE HOEDTS, CO-OWNER, LE BRIAND (through translator): We're very happy with having bought the workshop. It's also very exciting to have a meaningful job.

VANDOORNE (voice-over): Le Briand's mattresses are made of wool, a material which Co-owner, Rosalie Hoedts, describes as having magical properties.

HOEDTS (voice-over): Wool is thermo regulating, so we don't wake up too hot or too cold. So, we lie down and as we go, the mattress absorbs our heat and gives it back to us during the night. So, we're not in a space that's too hot or too cold.

VANDOORNE (voice-over): Wool is also praised for its low carbon footprint and moisture wicking abilities. And while a handmade wool mattress may cost more than a mass produced one, up to $4,700 for a queen sized mattress and spring bed, it can last a lifetime according to Le Briand.

HOEDTS (voice-over): We're creating an object that is, of course, a consumer item but one that's against consumption. So that's quite interesting. VANDOORNE (voice-over): The shop produces about 40 mattresses a month and appeals to those who wish to shop responsibly, embracing the concept of consuming less but better.

askya Vandoorne, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Well, thanks so much for joining us. I'm Lynda Kinkade. No sleep frost just yet. "World Sport" is up next. And I will be back with 15 -- in 15 minutes with much more "CNN Newsroom." Stay with us.

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