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Trump to Meet with Putin in Alaska Next Week, Zelenskyy Not Expected to Attend; Summer Heat to Shift East across Central and Northern U.S.; New Condemnation of Israel's Plan to Take Over Gaza City; Texas Dems Remain out of State; Trump Administration Targets Harvard's Patents; Applicants Obscure Identities to Get Remote U.S. Jobs; Esports Steps Up to the World Stage. Aired 4-5a ET
Aired August 09, 2025 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 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.
A high-stakes meeting is now set between president Donald Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin. We will have the first public reaction from Ukraine's president.
Wildfires are raging in California and the state won't get a reprieve from the heat this weekend. We'll take a close look at the forecast.
Plus, the Justice Department targets another of president Trump's perceived enemies. We'll explain the federal probe into New York's attorney general.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber.
BRUNHUBER: We're getting the first reaction of out of Ukraine to a summit between U.S. president Donald Trump and Russia's president Vladimir Putin, aimed at ending the war there.
The two leaders are planning to meet in Alaska next Friday without Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. On Friday, president Trump suggested a potential peace deal could call for Ukraine to give up territory to Russia. Here he is.
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DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I'll be meeting very shortly with President Putin. It would have been sooner but I guess their security arrangements that unfortunately people have to make. President Putin, I believe, wants to see peace. And Zelenskyy wants to see peace.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BRUNHUBER: But a short time ago, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy seemed to reject that idea. He says his country is ready to work together with president Trump toward peace but vowed the Ukrainian people, quote, "will not give their land to the occupier." Here he is.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Ukraine is ready for real solutions that can bring peace. Any decisions that are against us, any decisions that are without Ukraine are also decisions against peace. They will not give anything. They are dead solutions. They will never work.
And we all need a real, living peace that people will respect. We are ready to work together with president Trump, together with all our partners, for a real and, most importantly, a lasting peace, a peace that will not fall apart because of Moscow's wishes.
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BRUNHUBER: CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is in Kyiv with more on Ukraine's position. But first, let's get more from our Kristen Holmes at the White House.
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KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The announcement from president Trump of this sitdown meeting in Alaska next Friday was a really remarkable turn of events, given particularly how fast this has all occurred.
Now we know there has been a lot of negotiating behind the scenes, not just about where this meeting is going to be but also a potential deal to end the war in Ukraine.
Now speaking of Ukraine, one of the major questions that is still floating here is, what exactly is going on?
And how does this impact the Ukrainian President Zelenskyy?
When president Trump made this announcement about this meeting, he didn't mention Zelenskyy. In fact, he told our colleague, Kaitlan Collins, earlier in the week that he didn't want to pressure Putin to meet with Zelenskyy before the two of them sat down together.
So still questions as to whether or not Zelenskyy will even be there. But one thing to keep in mind is, for any plan, they'd have to have buy-in from Ukraine.
Now importantly, president Trump was talking about -- was asked about -- excuse me -- whether or not a deal with Russia would include Ukraine ceding some of its territory to Russia. Here's what he said.
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TRUMP: You're looking at territory that's been fought over for 3.5 years with, you know, a lot of Russians have died, a lot of Ukrainians have died. So, we're looking at that but we're actually looking to get some back and some swapping -- it's complicated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now we were told that Russian president Vladimir Putin brought this plan that included ceding territory to Russia, Ukrainian territory, to Middle Eastern envoy Steve Witkoff when the two of them met earlier this week. Witkoff is then -- brought it back to the White House and back to president Trump.
One interesting part of all of this is that we were told that the United States and the White House wanted to have buy-in on a plan from the European allies. It's unclear whether or not they will actually get that.
They were also hoping to have some kind of plan or framework of a plan that both sides could agree on before the two leaders sat down together next Friday -- Kristen Holmes, CNN, the White House.
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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: This summit between president Trump and Putin in Alaska on Friday.
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A moment certainly of international rehabilitation for the Kremlin head, who had his first visit to the United States for pretty much a decade.
And also on territory that once was part of Russia until it was purchased by the United States in the 1800s. So a key moment of great symbolism; also partly, too, because Ukraine won't be at that meeting.
And we have in the past seen the United States and Russia try to carve up deals that might potentially be in the Kremlin's favor without Ukraine at the table.
There are already some elements out there, suggesting some of the early permutations of what a deal might look like. A European official saying that it may well be that, in exchange for a ceasefire, Ukraine is asked to hand over the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in their entirety.
Now a reminder that two key towns in Donetsk are in fact under threat of Russian encirclement, moving fast around them during their summer offensive. Another two towns, Slovyansk and Kramatorsk, are very much still controlled by Ukraine.
And so it will be a huge lift domestically for Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy to sell significant concessions like that, maybe even in the long term, be very politically toxic for him. President Trump was clear that he believes Zelenskyy is able to do
that sort of thing, to garner parliamentary and domestic support for a concession like that. But there's huge mistrust here that the Kremlin would even stick to a ceasefire.
Remember, in the past, they have had political negotiations, diplomacy and then reinvaded, launched military operations again. So immense mistrust, certainly. And there will be deep concern, given Ukraine is not at the table there.
And, of course, too, at how the deadline of Friday has passed without significant secondary sanctions, as they were threatened by president Trump, actually being put into force.
Those against India, a major purchaser of Russian oil and gas, come in. And over two weeks from now, potentially, none announced against China. China and India's leaders on the phone to Putin, possibly helping some of this process along.
President Trump seemed to suggest that India may have been party to that as well. But it's moving particularly quickly here. And it does appear as though some bid by Russia to continue to play along with the idea of diplomacy or even some kind of ceasefire talk is gaining traction. It's certainly buying them time.
Yes, Friday is short notice. It's moving relatively quickly but there may be further processes after that in which Ukraine is asked to attend summits or be part of any further peace process.
A lot moving quickly, a lot in the Kremlin's favor right now. And let's not forget, one of the key elements in their favor, which is the front lines where Russia is seeing incremental gains turn now into more strategic progress. They need time for more of that. They're certainly getting it.
And they do appear to be having a significant change in the friendliness shown by the president of the United States, now inviting Vladimir Putin to the United States for a one-on-one meeting in a bid, Trump says, to try and bring this war to a close -- Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Kyiv, Ukraine.
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BRUNHUBER: A police officer is dead after a shooting at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. Dekalb County police officer David Rose was shot while responding to the shooting. He later died from his injuries.
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LORRAINE COCHRAN-JOHNSON, DEKALB COUNTY CEO: This evening, there is a wife without a husband. There are three children, one unborn, without a father. Let's join together to give this family the support that it needs during this traumatic loss.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BRUNHUBER: Atlanta's mayor says authorities were familiar with the alleged gunman who opened fire outside several CDC buildings. He had several weapons with him, including a rifle, a shotgun and two pistols. He was later found dead nearby.
Police have captured a man accused of killing four people in a Montana bar. They took Michael Paul Brown into custody after a week long multi-agency manhunt in the Montana wilderness.
Brown, an Army veteran, was seen on security video, fleeing The Owl Bar, where four patrons were shot and killed. Authorities haven't said what charges he'll face.
The Canyon Fire north of Los Angeles has now burned more than 5,000 acres, forcing thousands of people to evacuate. Officials estimate it's 25 percent contained but warn extreme heat and low humidity are creating dangerous conditions.
Meanwhile, Southern California's Gifford Fire has reached mega fire status. A mega fire is a wildfire that's burned more than 100,000 acres. It's the state's largest wildfire this year and is only 15 percent contained. There's no word on what caused the fire.
As summer heat creates more fire risks in the Western U.S., a wave of warm weather is expected to spread east over the weekend. Parts of the Midwestern Plains have already seen temperatures well above average.
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Now parts of New England could set daily heat records.
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BRUNHUBER: Israel is trying to extinguish a political firestorm over its decision to take over Gaza City. Meanwhile, new Israeli strikes on the city have begun. We'll have the latest.
Plus, the Justice Department is opening an investigation into the New York attorney general's office. Coming up, the latest on what led to Friday's grand jury subpoenas. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Israel's prime minister is pushing back against a barrage of condemnations over his plan for a military takeover of Gaza City. Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel's goal is to occupy Gaza but to liberate it from Hamas. And he claims the operation will help free the hostages and demilitarize the enclave.
New satellite images suggest Israeli troops are already gearing up for the operation. This image shows a military buildup near the border with Gaza. Israel's security cabinet approved the operation on Friday, leading to outrage inside and outside the country.
A United Nations spokesperson says the move will make the situation in Gaza more dangerous.
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STEPHANIE TREMBLAY, ASSOCIATE SPOKESPERSON FOR THE U.N. SECRETARY- GENERAL: The secretary-general is gravely alarmed by the decision of the Israeli government to take control of Gaza City.
The decision marks a dangerous escalation and risks deepening the already catastrophic consequences for millions of Palestinians. It could further endanger more lives, including the lives of the remaining hostages.
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BRUNHUBER: After Israel announced the decision, a military reservists' group repeated its call on IDF soldiers to refuse to serve. Germany suspended much of its arms sales to Israel, while France, Britain and Canada, along with other countries, issued strong condemnations.
And as Matthew Chance reports, Gaza City is already under fire.
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MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is Gaza City in the hours after Israel's controversial decision to escalate
its war. It's a fierce airstrike, the voice says. As people scatter in panic.
With the newly approved Israeli plan to occupy Gaza City and destroy Hamas there, many desperate Palestinians already on the brink are bracing for
worse to come.
We're going from bad to worse, says this man. We're all praying for a ceasefire and that this Israeli decision to invade won't ever be
implemented.
But from the air, you can see how brutally determined Israel has been so far on this aid flight. We flew over multiple damaged landmarks in Gaza
City, including the Yarmouk sports stadium, now a shelter visited by a CNN freelancer. For thousands of displaced Palestinians.
Under the first phase of Israel's plan, they'd be displaced again, along with up to a million others to areas where Israel says it would provide
humanitarian assistance.
But many Israelis themselves exhausted by a costly war, are also highly skeptical of their government's occupation plan. Concerned that military
escalation in Gaza could endanger hostages still being held there and lead to more Israeli soldiers being killed.
AMI DROR, ISRAELI PROTESTER: We are here demanding the end of the war. The immediate return of the hostages, end to the atrocities in Gaza. This war
is a political war. The only person that benefits from this war is Benjamin Netanyahu.
CHANCE: It is the Israeli prime minister's far right allies, pushing hardest for a stronger military hand. Without their support, he's fragile
governing coalition could fall, fueling criticism Israel's latest plan to escalate in Gaza may be a political, not a necessary war.
Matthew Chance, CNN, Jerusalem.
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BRUNHUBER: And for more analysis, we're joined by H.A. Hellyer, a senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute for Defense and Security Studies. And he's in Cairo.
Really appreciate you taking the time to speak with us today. So the U.N. Security Council will convene today for an emergency session on Israel's Gaza plan.
What do you make of the international reaction so far?
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And whether the pushback we're seeing will have any effect?
H.A. HELLYER, SENIOR ASSOCIATE FELLOW, ROYAL UNITED SERVICES INSTITUTE FOR DEFENCE AND SECURITY STUDIES: Thank you for having me on the program, Kim.
So the international condemnation has been very clear. The issue with it, however, which is why I don't think it will have much impact, is that, so far, it's been largely limited to statements.
It hasn't been accompanied by actual policy changes from most of these governments, at least the governments that would actually matter and have leverage over the Israelis and force them to stop what they're actually doing in Gaza.
And as a result -- and I think the messaging from the Israelis has been very clear. They intend to move forward, irrespective of the cost to human life in Gaza.
BRUNHUBER: Looking at the regional reaction, how does this latest plan, do you think, change the role that countries like Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt might play in future negotiations between Israel and Hamas?
HELLYER: I don't think it will change anything at all, really, for the simple reason that the strategic decisions that the Egyptians, the Qataris and the Saudis have taken with regards to their role.
I don't think that they're affected by this particular decision by the Israelis. I want your viewers to know -- I'm sure that you do -- Israel already occupies Gaza. Israel has occupied Gaza uninterruptedly since 1967.
The increased massive military presence on the ground, of course, has changed over the past 22 months. But even before this decision, Palestinians were forced into a fraction of the land in Gaza.
The Israelis had been talking about for months how they wanted to have Palestinians moved from all parts of Gaza into the south, into a camp, where they would be concentrated. The former Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, described this as a concentration camp.
And you've had Israeli human rights groups and many countries describe the situation in Gaza as one where Israel is waging genocide. All of that has been going on and the Egyptians and the Qataris and the Saudis have made certain strategic decisions around how to how to negotiate, how to mediate. I don't think that this changes anything.
BRUNHUBER: OK. So their calculus doesn't change, then.
In terms of looking down the road, the -- on the idea who will who will actually govern Gaza, there had been talk about Arab countries potentially helping to govern Gaza after the war.
Do Israel's latest plans make that more or less likely to happen?
I mean, would they want any role in this mess?
Or are they going to say to Israel, basically, you know, this isn't our problem. You broke it. You fix it.
HELLYER: So I think when Benjamin Netanyahu said that he was looking for Arabs to hand it over to, this was a big telltale sign, I think, to everybody who's been following this, in the region, as well as within Israel.
There is no Arab force that is going to come and become Israel's enforcer on the ground. Israel, in order to have Arab states involved in Gaza, would have to end the occupation of Gaza, would have to bring in the Palestinian Authority, which is the recognized government of the Palestinian state, and have that entity engage with Arab states.
Everybody's been extremely clear about this for the last two years. The idea that there would be a mass invasion of Gaza City and that the Israelis would have, quote-unquote, "overall security control over Gaza" but then some Arab entity would come in from outside in order to be the enforcer on the ground, is a pipe dream.
But also not one that I think anybody ought to take seriously as even a sincere suggestion from the Israelis. I think they know very well that there would be no such force and that the overall plan of Tel Aviv has been very clear and blatantly said none of this is conspiracy.
All of this is repeated by Israeli officials and ministers and in the Israeli press on a regular basis. Palestinians are supposed to move from the north into camps in the south and will not be allowed to leave those camps unless they leave Gaza altogether.
The overall aim here for the last 22 months has been very clear: the continued depopulation of Gaza.
BRUNHUBER: All right. We'll have to leave it there. Really appreciate getting your analysis. H.A. Hellyer, thank you so much.
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HELLYER: Thank you.
BRUNHUBER: All right.
Still to come, Texas Democratic lawmakers are refusing to return to the state despite warrants for their arrest. We'll have the latest on their fight against a new congressional map in Texas that could give Republicans five more seats in the House.
Plus, as the Trump administration continues to face backlash over the lack of transparency concerning Jeffrey Epstein, the DOJ is now asking for grand jury exhibits to be released alongside transcripts. We'll have the details on those stories and more coming up. Stay with us.
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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.
Texas state Democrats are refusing to return to the state. They're trying to stop Republicans from pushing through legislation to redraw congressional maps.
Republicans are pressuring the Democrats to come back by issuing civil arrest warrants against them. Legal experts say these warrants might be hard to enforce outside of Texas. The Democrats also face a daily $500 fine.
Texas' Republican lieutenant governor, Dan Patrick, says he wants lawmakers arrested.
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LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR DAN PATRICK (R-TX): They're turning their back on Texas. They deserve to be arrested and brought back and if they can be removed from office, they deserve that, too, because they are not serving the Constitution in my view.
They're not serving their constituents, which they vowed to do. They are on the run. And if we can find them and cuff them, we need to bring them back.
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BRUNHUBER: By refusing to return to the state capital, the Democrats are preventing legislature from having a quorum. That's the minimum number of members that must be present for legislation to be considered.
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CNN's Steve Contorno has more.
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STEVE CONTORNO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: With more than 50 Texas Democratic lawmakers still outside the state on Friday, the House of Representatives in Texas was forced to gavel in and gavel out for the fifth consecutive day.
Thwarting Republican plans to put forth a new congressional map that could potentially net them five additional seats in Congress. However, Republicans there were not stopped from escalating their threats against Democrats.
Attorney general Ken Paxton filing a lawsuit on Friday, threatening to remove some Democratic lawmakers from office. Democratic state caucus chair Gene Wu saying he doesn't have the power to do that.
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GENE WU, TEXAS STATE HOUSE DEMOCRAT: And we'll say this as we say -- have said it many times, we will not be broken by these antics. We are not here to play games. We are not here to make waves, to go viral or do any of that stuff, like governor Abbott and Ken Paxton.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CONTORNO (voice-over): Meanwhile, a national redistricting arms race could soon be underway. California Democrats, led by governor Gavin Newsom, said that they intend to put forth their own maps that could potentially help Democrats offset some of the Republican gains in Texas.
If Republicans there go forward with that plan, those new maps could be revealed as soon as next week and voted on later this month. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ZOE LOFGREN (D-CA): We cannot stand here and just shrug as Trump and the Republicans try and rig the rules so they can avoid responsibility for the damage that they have done to this country.
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CONTORNO: Texas Republicans will try to reconvene again on Monday. They have until August 19th until this current special session ends. But Texas governor Greg Abbott has said that he will summon lawmakers back to Austin over and over and over again, as long as it takes -- Steve Contorno, CNN, Chicago.
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BRUNHUBER: The U.S. Justice Department is moving forward with its request to have grand jury exhibits and transcripts released from the Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell cases.
The DOJ asked two federal judges to allow the release of these documents. It's not clear how much information is in the grand jury transcripts.
This comes as the Trump administration faces continued backlash over lack of transparency regarding the Epstein investigation. The DOJ did ask both judges to hold off on making a decision until they hear back from victims who may object.
Some victims have said they feel like the Trump administration is using them in, quote, "political warfare."
The U.S. Justice Department subpoenaed New York attorney general Letitia James' office on Friday. It's part of a grand jury probe into James' investigation of the Trump Organization and the National Rifle Association.
James prosecuted Trump for fraud and he was found guilty of 34 felonies. Her supporters say Trump is trying to get retribution. CNN's Brynn Gingras reports.
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BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sources telling CNN that two subpoenas have been issued to James and that a grand jury has been convened in Albany.
And the nature of what this grand jury and this investigation is looking to, according to sources is whether or not James violated the constitutional rights of Donald Trump when investigating him and his company and his sons, which eventually led to that civil lawsuit that was filed against him in 2022 by James' office.
Remember, that lawsuit led to a civil fraud trial, where James accused Trump and his sons of inflating their assets in order to have some financial gain. Well, the DOJ at this point saying that they think that there was some criminality in that and it's being investigated.
It's not the first time that James has been at the center of one of the investigations by the DOJ. We also learned in May that she -- or that the FBI -- was looking into James and her real estate transactions.
Now, if you talk to James' office, of course, they think this is just a sign of political retribution. We did get a statement from them in regards to this news of these subpoenas being issued.
And Abbe Lowell, her attorney, says, "Weaponizing the Department of Justice to try to punish an elected official for doing her job is an attack on the rule of law and a dangerous escalation by this administration."
The DOJ did not want to comment on this and it is important to note it's unclear what stage this is all in. But it's certainly something that we'll continue to keep an eye on -- Brynn Gingras, CNN, New York.
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BRUNHUBER: The Trump administration is ramping up its battle with Harvard University. It's now threatening to take over the school's patents. That's according to a letter the U.S. Commerce Secretary sent to Harvard.
Howard Lutnick said he's launching an investigation into Harvard's federally funded research programs. He said the White House believes the university has breached some of the requirements for those programs. Now it comes after the Trump administration froze billions of dollars in funding for Harvard's research.
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CNN is learning exclusively that the Trump administration is seeking a $1 billion settlement from the University of California/Los Angeles. The White House began withholding millions in funding from the school last week, prompting UCLA's chancellor to warn of devastating effects on its research mission.
CNN's Betsy Klein is following the latest developments.
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BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Trump administration has been taking aim at elite higher education institutions, looking to implement sweeping policy changes at the same time they're trying to extract significant concessions.
And it was just last week that the federal government froze nearly $0.5 billion in federal research funding for UCLA. But we learned that UCLA had come back to the negotiating table with the White House, trying to strike a deal to restore some of that funding.
But the White House, the Trump administration, laying an early marker in a draft resolution agreement that set the terms of a settlement at $1 billion. CNN was able to exclusively obtain that draft resolution and review it. And I want to be absolutely clear that UCLA has not yet agreed to this proposal.
But I want to take you through some of the provisions. One, UCLA pays the federal government $1 billion, plus $127 million to settle Title VII civil rights claims.
There will be a resolution monitor to oversee compliance. They will require revised policy -- policies for protests. They will mandate the end of race and ethnicity-based scholarships, ensure recognition for female athletes in women's sports.
And the UCLA hospital and medical school will be required to stop performing gender-affirming care procedures. Now in turn, the federal government is expected to restore that frozen federal funding to UCLA if the agreement is reached.
But UC System president J.B. Milliken casting this proposal really as a nonstarter. He said earlier this week, "We offered to engage in good faith dialogue with the department to protect the university and its critical research mission.
"As a public university, we are stewards of taxpayer resources and a payment of this scale would completely devastate our country's greatest public university system as well as inflict great harm on our students and all Californians."
I also heard from California state senator Scott Weiner, a Democrat. He said it, this proposal, is, quote, "morally unacceptable" and, quote, "mob boss behavior" by president Trump.
But for now, UCLA, its chancellor says, is evaluating its best course of action. A lot of questions here about whether and how they can move forward with a potential deal -- Betsy Klein, CNN, Washington.
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BRUNHUBER: Sources tell CNN that the Internal Revenue Service began sharing sensitive taxpayer data this week with immigration authorities searching for undocumented migrants.
And that includes personal information like names and addresses. The Department of Homeland Security signed an agreement with the Treasury Department in April. It requires the IRS to turn over data on immigrants who are already facing deportation orders and are under federal criminal investigation.
Now this comes after months of tension within the agency over the controversial plans, which led several senior officials to resign.
North Korea I.T. workers are using stolen and made-up identities to get remote jobs in the U.S. and some Americans are accused of helping them. We'll have that story. Much more coming up. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: An American woman is now in prison after pleading guilty to helping North Koreans infiltrate more than 300 companies.
Prosecutors say she helped them get remote I.T. jobs in the U.S. It was all part of an elaborate scheme to funnel millions of dollars to North Korean military programs. CNN's Ivan Watson has the story.
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IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Arizona resident Christina Chapman takes what may be one of the longest walks of her life, trailed by a documentary crew. She's going to court for sentencing after pleading guilty to criminal charges, including wire fraud and identity theft.
WATSON: Did you know that you were working with North Koreans?
WATSON (voice-over): U.S. law enforcement says Chapman ran laptop farms for North Korea.
MATTHEW GALEOTTI, ACTING ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: She was involved with an extremely dangerous and serious and sophisticated criminal scheme in which individuals were directed by the government of North Korea to apply for information technology jobs.
To make it appear that they were either U.S.-based workers or workers in third party countries that were not sanctioned.
CHRISTINA CHAPMAN: Hi, everybody. TikTok --
WATSON (voice-over): Chapman documented her life extensively on TikTok, from poverty in 2021.
CHAPMAN: I'm classified as homeless in Minnesota.
WATSON (voice-over): To two years later when she had a new job in what she described as the computer business. It allowed her to rent this house in Arizona.
CHAPMAN: I start at 5:30, go straight to my office, which is the next door away from my bedroom.
WATSON (voice-over): The FBI raided Chapman's house in October, 2023. Seizing more than 90 laptops and accusing her of helping North Koreans use stolen and purchased U.S. identities to get remote IT worker jobs at more than 300 U.S. companies. Earning North Korea more than $17 million.
WATSON: Why is this case important?
GALEOTTI: It's funneling money back to North Korea, which is sanctioned for its nuclear weapons program. So in other words, we are resourcing one of the most hostile nations in the world, funding their weapons program.
BRIAN JACK, CHIEF INFORMATION SECURITY OFFICER, KNOWBE4: If you post remote software engineering jobs and those positions are listed on a site like Indeed, I can guarantee you, you are fielding resumes from North Korea.
WATSON (voice-over): Brian Jack knows firsthand. Last year his company discovered it had unwittingly hired a North Korean. Now he says his teams are experts on spotting North Korean job Applicants.
JACK: In the last year I know of and have looked at least a hundred North Korean resumes.
WATSON (voice-over): They often use similar generic names and almost identical job and educational experience. They also use AI generated photos and even AI face filters.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like are you using something to like change your camera view?
WATSON (voice-over): Such as this one, where the man on the left used a Caucasian filter to hide his identity in an online job interview.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can see that you're using some kind of software.
MICHAEL BARNHART, PRINCIPAL I3 INSIDE RISK INVESTIGATOR, DTEX: This is an instruction manual by them, for them.
WATSON (voice-over): U.S. Army veteran and IT security expert Michael Barnhart has been collecting evidence that the North Koreans accidentally share.
BARNHART: We've seen their chats, we've seen their emails, we've seen their faces.
WATSON (voice-over): Including Google and ChatGPT searches that show how they're trying to fit in with American society.
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Asking questions like, I want to know about American football and when is lunchtime in the USA?
U.S. law enforcement can't physically catch North Koreans.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was working in remotely most of the time.
WATSON (voice-over): Believed to be running their schemes out of China and Russia. But American laptop farmers are a different story.
GALEOTTI: These schemes always happen with U.S.-based facilitators, whether they're financial facilitators, allowing their bank accounts to be used, whether they're hosting laptop farms or whether they're helping create or sell false identities. WATSON (voice-over): Christina Chapman's prosecution is a warning to corporate America about the North Korean threat that can come with every job application.
WATSON: Moments ago, I watched a judge in this courthouse sentence Christina Chapman to 8.5 years in prison. He said the safety of the nation was at issue in this case. As for Ms. Chapman, she told the court weeping that she hates herself for what she did and that she feels like a monster.
In June, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it conducted raids against 29 suspected laptop farms across 16 U.S. states. They said that this was part of a scheme that involved accomplices in Taiwan, in China and the United Arab Emirates.
And two suspected laptop farmers were arrested in New Jersey. This is part of a much larger criminal activity that officials estimate earns North Korea between $225 million and $600 million a year.
It is so successful that they're worried that other adversary nations and organized crime groups may try to get in on this copycat, these illegal activities.
And there's one final note here. The AI techniques that are being used are only growing more and more sophisticated. So this activity is likely to get much harder to spot -- Ivan Watson, CNN Hong Kong.
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BRUNHUBER: The U.S. intelligence community is mourning the loss of the only man to lead two of the country's top intelligence agencies.
The family of William Webster announced his death on Friday. Webster was the only person to ever lead both the FBI and the CIA. President Jimmy Carter selected Webster to lead the FBI in 1978 amid revelations of corruption under longtime director J. Edgar Hoover.
He served for nine years before president Ronald Reagan asked him to head the CIA. He was again tasked with restoring public confidence in a federal agency. This time, the CIA was in the middle of the Iran- contra scandal. William Webster was 101 years old.
The commander for the famed Apollo 13 mission has died. NASA reports Jim Lovell passed away Thursday in Lake Forest, Illinois. Lovell flew to space on several missions, including Apollo 8, before NASA selected him to command Apollo 13.
The mission was planned as a third successful moon landing but an oxygen tank explosion forced them to head back to Earth, surviving a risky splashdown in the South Pacific Ocean.
The 1995 film "Apollo 13" dramatized the ordeal. Actor Tom Hanks, playing Lovell, said the famous line, "Houston, we have a problem." Lovell made a brief cameo as a Navy ship captain but he never made it to the lunar surface. Jim Lovell was 97 years old. And before our break, we just want to make a correction to something
we reported a few minutes ago, New York attorney general Letitia James' civil lawsuit against Donald Trump resulted in a $450 million fine. President Donald Trump was found guilty of 34 counts of fraud in a separate case filed by Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg.
We'll be right back.
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BRUNHUBER: Retired quarterback Tom Brady has been cast in bronze. The honor comes from the New England Patriots, the team that he led to six Super Bowl wins. The statue was unveiled on Friday to cheers outside the team's Hall of Fame. Brady was there for the reveal, along with his parents and children and several former teammates.
Commenting on the larger-than-life figure, Brady said this statue isn't just for the Pats fans. It will also give all the Jets fans something to throw their beers at as they leave the stadium every year.
Well, the second Esports World Cup is going on in Saudi Arabia with a total prize pot of $70 million on the line, over 2,000 gamers are taking part. Emmy winning filmmaker R.J. Cutler is the director of the five-part documentary, "Level Up," which goes behind the scenes at the first Esports World Cup. He spoke with CNN's Eleni Giokos in Riyadh.
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R.J. CUTLER, EMMY-WINNING FILMMAKER: It's thrilling to be telling these stories because we're seeing the birth of a sport.
And not just the birth of an iconic competition, which is the Esports World Cup but really the sport coming into its own, the sport of esports, which is many sports, as you know. So it's even more exciting.
It's almost like being there at the birth of the Olympics. Some group of people are doing the marathon and other people are throwing the javelin and other people are swimming. It's so exciting to see.
And, of course, it's such a rich landscape for storytelling. The landscape is just desperately waiting for a Michael Jordan type figure to arrive on it, to be a global superstar personality wise.
And then you're going to see these explosions in the world of esports in the years to come and we'll be able to look back and track its arrival and its soon-to-be dominance in the culture.
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. I mean, you were talking about the Michael Jordan moment.
And I wonder, where are we on the timeline of seeing that?
Because I've been talking all week like you know, the Ronaldos and the Messis of this world.
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CUTLER: They're coming. They're coming, they're coming, they're here. We can hear people roaring for them now.
GIOKOS: I know, I'm hearing the roars and it's actually like, is there a football match?
CUTLER: Yes, exactly. It's exciting. Listen, it's going to come. It's not.
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We can't say tomorrow but it's likely the day after tomorrow. It's definitely -- the infrastructure is here. This is a perfect example. I'll use a different sport for baseball, "Field of Dreams," "If you build it, they will come."
Well, the Saudi government and the Saudi people have built it. And it's the Esports World Cup and everybody's coming. And so you're going to have your breakout moments. You're going to have your figures.
Once you have one, you're going to have many of them. We already do have them, is an argument that we, who make "Level Up," would argue. You see, in our series, these larger-than-life figures that who, once again, are defying the cliche of what a gamer is and who are ready to take the world stage as larger-than-life personalities.
GIOKOS: Tell me about the significance of the Saudis coming in and taking all the big games that would have tournaments on their own, bringing them all together in Saudi Arabia to create the Esports World Cup.
CUTLER: Well, what strikes me about the Saudi involvement is how all in it, everything is. I mean, they've basically built a gaming city here with multiple arenas. And they've committed to this being a worldwide annual event that is going to gather the greatest players in the world.
We can hear people cheering for them to compete for an increasingly growing pool of prizes every year. I mean, it was $60 million last year in prizes, $70 million this year. This year, they've added a number of different games, including chess. Magnus Carlsen is here competing. You're at the cutting edge and it's quite amazing.
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BRUNHUBER: That wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. I'll be back with more news in just a moment.
