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Deadly Strikes In Gaza; Celebrating Independence Amid War; Facing Deportation Again. Aired 3-3:30a ET
Aired August 24, 2025 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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BEN HUNTE, CNN ANCHOR: (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR: And welcome to all our viewers watching here in the U.S. and around the world. I'm Lynda Kinkade.
Ahead on CNN Newsroom, a new round of Israeli strikes killed dozens of Palestinians as the perceived enclave deals with famine.
Ukraine is marking its independence while trying to fend off Russia on the battlefield. President Zelenskyy message to Ukrainians as hopes for peace fade.
And less than 24 hours after being released from an American jail, the man wrongfully deported to El Salvador then returning to the U.S. now facing the threat of deportation once more.
Palestinians in Gaza are bracing the Israel's planned military takeover. Hundreds of thousands of people are preparing to evacuate as Israel continues to bombard the enclave's largest city. Video obtained by CNN shows black smoke rising after escalating Israeli strikes and shelling.
An attack on Deir al-Balah destroyed homes and buildings. Gaza's Ministry of Health says at least 61 people were killed in Gaza on Saturday. That includes three children, according to the Palestinian state media.
CNN has reached out to Israel's military for comment. Residents in Deir al-Balah say the IDF, warned them to evacuate before the attack.
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YOUSEF MITWALI, WITNESS: Our message to the world, what shall we say after people were killed, destruction? All the world sees what is going on in Gaza, it's a genocide. No homes, no buildings, no food, no drink, no life. We only have the breath.
(END VIDEO CLIP) KINKADE: Israeli hostage families joined protesters in front of Israel's military headquarters in Tel Aviv Saturday. They again urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to secure a deal with Hamas that will end the war and bring the hostages home. A brother of one of the hostages says Netanyahu should accept a temporary ceasefire proposal that's on the table. It would include the release of 10 living hostages and the bodies of 18 others.
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YOTAM COHEN, BROTHER OF HOSTAGE NIMROD COHEN: Netanyahu can bring home the hostages who are enduring Holocaust-like conditions. But instead of accepting the deal, he's racing toward the conquest of Gaza. He repeatedly places obstacles in the way of an agreement and then blames Hamas. But anyone who truly wants to bring the hostages home does not launch a ground invasion of Gaza. Anyone who truly wants a comprehensive deal does not set impossible conditions.
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KINKADE: Well, for Palestinians living in Gaza, the situation is becoming increasingly desperate with limited aid, access to fresh drinking water and medical supplies. The U.N.-backed group is now confirmed famine in some parts of Gaza, including Gaza City.
CNN's Nada Bashir Bahir reports.
NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, following months of warnings from the U.N. and other humanitarian organizations, the hunger crisis gripping Gaza has deepened to a distressing new low. A U.N.-backed initiative confirming that parts of Gaza are now officially experiencing famine with the rest of enclave facing emergency levels of hunger and famine expected to spread further across the strip over the coming months.
Now, the U.N. backed report has worn that malnutrition is projected to threaten the lives of more than 130,000 children under the age of five through June of next year, doubling their estimates from this past May. In a statement, the U.N. secretary general, Antonio Gutteres, described the famine in Gaza following Israel's near total blockade on the enclave as a, quote, manmade disaster, moral indictment and a failure of humanity itself, adding that Israel as the occupying power has unequivocal obligations under international law to ensure access to food and medical supplies for the population of Gaza.
The U.S. humanitarian affairs chief, Tom Fletcher, meanwhile had this to say.
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TOM FLETCHER, U.N. UNDERSECRETARY GENERAL FOR HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS: Please read the IPC report cover to cover. Read it in sorrow and in anger. Not as words and numbers, but as names and lives. Be in no doubt that this is irrefutable testimony.
[03:05:00] It is a famine.
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BASHIR: Now, Israeli authorities have rejected the U.N.-backed report as one-sided, claiming the report relies on data provided by Hamas, adding that the initiative failed to take into consideration recent upticks in the amount of food, water, and medical supplies that have been allowed into Gaza during the reporting period. The U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, meanwhile said Saturday that the United Nations should declare itself corrupt and incompetent.
However, over the course of nearly two years of war, Israel has restricted and at times even blocked humanitarian supplies and food aid from entering the strip. Humanitarian organizations on the ground have repeatedly sounded the alarm over the desperate shortage of food available in Gaza and rising cases of acute malnutrition. And many will have, of course, seen the harrowing images of emaciated civilians, including children, as well as the desperate scenes of families scrambling to receive what little food is available at a distribution sites with some even being killed in the process.
Nada Bashir, CNN, in London.
KINKADE: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has arrived in Kyiv as Ukraine marks 34 years since it declared its independence from the Soviet Union. A short time ago, he posted that Ukraine is at a critical moment in history and that Canada's support for Ukraine is unwavering as it defends its sovereignty.
Ukraine marks its independence as Russia seems more determined than ever to take back control of its smaller neighbor, but Ukraine remains defiant.
On Saturday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy marked Ukraine's Flag Day as a separate holiday. He said the country's banner has a special meaning in time of war.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: This flag is a goal and dream for many Ukrainians on temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. They keep the flag. They keep it because they know that we will not gift our land to an occupier. This flag symbolizes the dearest thing for hundreds of our warriors, men and women, from all over Ukraine who defend not just a specific direction of the frontline, not just of chance or (INAUDIBLE), but entire Ukraine.
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KINKADE: Showing their support, the European Union delivered more than $4.7 billion in new assistance to Ukraine. As far as diplomacy goes, the Kremlin said this week, there are no plans for a meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian leaders. And U.S. President Trump gave Mr. Putin two more weeks to say if he'll meet Mr. Zelenskyy. Well, data shows Ukraine strikes and Russian oil facilities are starting to inflict economic pain. Fuel prices in Russia reaching record highs, and there are reports of gas shortages.
I want to go now to Kyiv, where we are joined by Oleksandr Merezhko. He is the chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee at the Ukrainian Parliament. Thanks so much for your time.
OLEKSANDR MEREZHKO, FOREIGNA FFAIRS COMMITTEE CHAIR, UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT: Thank you. Thank you for inviting me.
KINKADE: So, today, marks Ukraine's 34th Independence Day but after more than three years of war, fighting for your freedom and your land. What does this day mean to you and your nation?
MEREZHKO: Well, for us, it's the most important day because it symbolizes our struggle for freedom, our resilience, and we pay heavy price for each day of our independence, for each day depending our independence. And I would like to take this opportunity to express our deepest gratitude to our American friends because you have always been on the right side of history. You have always been supporting Ukraine in our struggle for independence. And believe me, we value it very highly. Americans like no others understand us because we can draw parallels between American Revolutionary War from the (INAUDIBLE) war for independence. We have a lot in common because we are fighting for the same values. Thank you, dear friends, for your support. We continue to fight together and we will win.
KINKADE: And can you describe for us the mood in Ukraine today? Is it one of resilience, grief, defiance, pride, all of the above?
MEREZHKO: Well, first of all, yes, we continue to be resilient. We continue to be defiant. And we're determined. We're determined to survive. We're determined to win. We believe that sooner or later we will be able to restore our territorial integrity.
And, you know, we're lucky enough because we're not alone. We are supported by lots of people of goodwill, people who support our independence Europeans, Americans. So -- and together we cannot lose. We are absolutely sure about that.
KINKADE: And as chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee for Ukraine, what is the outlook for summit between President Zelenskyy and President Putin?
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Is there any movement behind the scenes or are talk still completely off the table?
MEREZHKO: Well, honestly, I think that the chances to hold this summit are not big, are slim, actually, because for very simple reason. Putin, he's not interested in ceasefire, he's not interested in peace. He's using this kind of semblance of negotiations for only one purpose, to avoid sanctions from President Trump. And I don't believe that he will agree to hold this meeting with President Zelenskyy. Most likely, he will be looking for all kinds of pretext to avoid such meeting.
KINKADE: And from your perspective, what would a just and lasting peace look like for Ukraine? Does the full restoration of territory, including Crimea, remain a non-negotiable red line?
MEREZHKO: Yes. Well, for me, it's very simple because I'm international lawyer, and I think in terms of international law. Just peace is peace, which is firmly based on the principles of international law and the U.N. Charter, and also based on Ukrainian Constitution. It means that it's restoration of territorial integrity. It means respect for sovereignty of Ukraine. It means that accountability or war criminals, including Putin and all those Russian war criminals, which are -- continue to commit against Ukrainian people.
Justice can be restored, can be served only when there will be reparations paid by Russia for all the damage done to Ukraine and when all war criminals will be brought to justice because it's the only guarantee that this crime of aggression will not be repeated in the future.
KINKADE: Oleksandr Merezhko, we appreciate your time. We wish you all the very best today and for the future of Ukraine.
Well, North Korean state media reported the test launch of two new air defense missiles on Saturday. The Korean Central News Agency said the missiles were launched from an undisclosed location and came after Pyongyang accused soul of fomenting tensions at the border. KCNA said the tests were overseen by leader Kim Jong-un and other government and party officials. It comes just two days before the South Korean and U.S. presidents are set to meet in Washington.
The Trump administration may be renewing its attempt to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia in the coming days. His lawyers received a preliminary notice as required by a federal judge.
CNN's Rafael Romo reports.
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: One of the attorneys for the Salvadoran national is blasting the Trump administration's intention to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia, calling it retaliation. The reaction came after CNN learned that the Department of Homeland Security may try to deport the Maryland father of three to Uganda, a land-lock country in East Africa, nearly 8,300 miles away from El Salvador, his native country in Central America.
This is according to an email sent by a DHS official to his lawyers on Friday only minutes after Abrego Garcia was released from a county jail in Tennessee. The message reads, in part, let this email serve as notice that DHS may remove your client, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, to Uganda no earlier than 72 hours from now, absent weekends.
We reached out to one of Kilmar Abrego Garcia's attorneys for reaction to the notice. In a statement, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg said the following. The government's decision to send Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Uganda makes it painfully clear, he said, that they are using the immigration system to punish him for exercising his constitutional rights. There is a perfectly reasonable option available, Costa Rica, where his family can visit him easily, but instead they are attempting to send them halfway across the world to a country with documented human rights abuses and where he does not even speak the language. This is not justice. It is retaliation.
On Friday afternoon, we witnessed the moment when Kilmar Abrego Garcia walked out of the Putnam County Jail in Cookville, Tennessee, surrounded by five men. He later posts for pictures with his wife and three children, two of them holding flowers before making his first public statement in his native Spanish. This is what he had to say.
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KILMAR ABREGO GARCIA, DEFENDANT: Today has been a very special day because, thank God, I've seen my family again after more than 160 days. And I'd like to thank everyone who has been supporting me.
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ROMO: And reacting to Abrego Garcia's release on X, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem blasted what she called activist liberal judges who have, in her words, obstructed law enforcement from removing what she described as the worst criminal, illegal aliens from the United States.
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By ordering this monster loose on America streets, this judge has shown a complete disregard for the safety of the American people. She said, we will not stop fighting until this Salvadoran man faces justice and is out of our country.
He's been scheduled to appear for an Immigration and Customs Enforcement interview on Monday.
Rafael Romo, CNN, Atlanta.
KINKADE: Still ahead, a popular Facebook page that men use to post explicit photos of women they know has been closed after an investigation by the Italian police. We will go live to Rome for the latest.
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KINKADE: Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kincade.
An Italian Facebook page named My Wife has been shut down after an investigation by Italian police. Men used it to share intimate images of their female partners and sisters and unknown women often without their consent. Since the Facebook group began in 2019, hundreds of thousands of photos were displayed. A police force and Rome that oversee digital law enforcement launched the criminal probe that led Meta to close the page. Its deputy director said, quote, I've never seen such disturbing phrases in a social media group before.
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Well, CNN's Barbie Nadeau joins us now from Rome. Barbie, this is such a strange story. So, Italian men essentially sharing intimate photos of their wives, girlfriends, even sisters, without consent, can you walk us through how this group operated and how it finally came to public attention?
BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN REPORTER: Yes. You know, I mean this was a group that launched in 2019 and it was really especially active in the last year from May forward, where you just saw so many people posting pictures, which meant it sort of built up. At first, it was quite secret, and then it became kind, kind of a well-known open secret.
And you had a lot of these women's rights groups that deal with domestic violence here in Italy, which is a big problem that started screen-grabbing some of these images and posts and starting to publicize them. And then you had women coming forward saying, you know, wait, this is me. I didn't know this was happening. And you had a lot of complaints to the police.
But it took a long time before Meta closed down the Facebook page. But all the while that was going on, there were all these complaints and investigations and now the police are trying very hard, of course, to find anyone that they can find culpable. But it's going to take the women, the victims to come forward and denounce their partners in many cases, or their family members for having posted these pictures, Lynda, and that's not going to be easy.
KINKADE: Wow. So, what sort of -- in terms of the consequences and the punishment, what sort of laws could be used here? Is it revenge porn, privacy violations, or other serious offenses?
NADEAU: Well, there are a number of laws that could be applied here, the breaking of these laws. The Italy has a revenge porn law that was just instituted a few years ago. But it's hard to determine if this is actually qualifies as revenge porn because, you know, a lot of these images, and I've seen some of the screen grabs, were women, you know, during sex acts or a sleeping nude, and the men would post these pictures and then there would be this barrage of comments prompting the men who posted the pictures to do something to the women, and then they'd post another picture. And so whether that falls into revenge porn or not is really difficult. Defamation is one of the laws that could be applied against this.
But, again, it's going to be the women that have to come forward. And I've seen a couple of interviews and there were some in the papers this morning here in Italy of the women who said that, you know, they just didn't know that they could leave their husbands over this, that they weren't maybe financially secure enough and that the men were saying, listen, you know, this was just a joke, this is just boys being boys, and, you know, don't throw the marriage away because of this.
So, it puts the women in a very particularly vulnerable situation, because at the end of the day, it's up to them to make any criminal charges stick. And, you know, it's hard to say if this -- if there was -- sexual violence was a result of this of these images being posted, and that's something that the police are still investigating, Lynda, and that's going to take some time.
KINKADE: All right. Barbie Latza Nadeau, thank you for being on that story for us.
Well, the SpaceX rocket has just taken off from Florida, loaded with cargo for the International Space Station. The successful launch is the company's 33rd commercial resupply service mission to the station on behalf of NASA. The rocket has a new propulsion system which can help boost the station's orbit.
And SpaceX is also preparing to launch its tenth test flight on Sunday for the most powerful rocket ever constructed. The Starship mega rocket's uncrewed prototype will attempt to deploy eight satellite simulators and relight one of its engines in space.
Now since its debut, the Starship model has experienced multiple disasters. The most recent fly in a May saw the rockets spin out of control before a splash down landing in the Indian Ocean. SpaceX's goal for Starship includes sending an uncrewed mission to Mars in 2026 and returning NASA astronauts to the moon in mid-2027.
Well, you don't hear many public officials described as caring and compassionate, but this weekend people are remembering a retired judge who's been called the nicest judge in the world. For decades, Judge Frank Caprio approved that justice can go hand in hand with kindness and understanding. And for that, he became an internet sensation.
CNN's Danny Freeman has his story.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is your mother guilty or not guilty?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not? Take your hat back.
DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It's hard not to like Judge Frank Caprio.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're talking about your father, right? Now, you're going to say guilty or not guilty. What do you say?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Guilty.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Guilty, an honest boy.
FREEMAN: But the more people watched, they couldn't help but love the man known as the nicest judge in the world.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You were charged with a school zone violation. You were taking your son to the doctor's office.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. I take him for blood work every two weeks because he's got cancer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are a good man. You are good man, and you're still taking care of your family. I wish the best for your son, and I wish you good health and your case is dismissed.
FREEMAN: A municipal court judge, Caprio served on the bench for nearly four decades.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think 9:59 is close enough to 10:00. That is dismissed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.
FREEMAN: Eventually, social media found his show caught in Providence, and everyone met the empathetic grandfather and great- grandfather his Rhode Island community knew for years.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unfortunately, I've had a setback. I'm back in the hospital.
FREEMAN: After a lengthy battle with cancer, Caprio passed away this week. His family said in a statement, in his honor, may we each strive to bring a little more compassion into the world just as he did every day.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can I give you a hug?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on up here.
FREEMAN: Judge Caprio leaves a legacy of kindness in a world where that often seems rare.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You feel better now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wanted to say never have I met a judge like you, and I've been in many courtrooms.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not going to comment on that except to say this, I don't do anything different than what I was taught to do by my parents, and that is treat everyone with dignity and respect and have some compassion for people.
FREEMAN: Judge Frank Caprio was 88 years old.
Danny Freeman, CNN.
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KINKADE: A remarkable man.
Well, thanks so much for joining us for this edition of CNN Newsroom. I'm Lynda Kincade.
Stay with CNN, Call to Earth is up next, and my colleague, Kim Brunhuber, will be back with more CNN Newsroom in about 30 minutes.
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