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Trump Considering Strikes on Cartels inside Venezuela; Maduro Accuses U.S. of Plotting Regime Change; Growing Protests in Israel Demand Hostage Release Deal; ICE Says It Will Deport Abrego Garcia to Eswatini; Serbian Police Clash with Anti-Government Protests; Quakes and Aftershocks Devastate Eastern Afghan Provinces; Empty Quinceanera Turns into Stadium Bash. Aired 3-3:45a ET

Aired September 06, 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 (voice-over): Hello. Wherever you are in the world, you are now in the CNN NEWSROOM with me, Ben Hunte in Atlanta. And it is so good to have you with me.

Coming up on the show, days after conducting a deadly strike on an alleged drug boat, the White House signals it may get even more aggressive with Venezuela.

The Trump administration ramps up immigration raids, arresting hundreds of South Koreans at a Hyundai plant in Georgia.

And Kilmar Abrego Garcia, unlawfully deported to El Salvador and returned to the U.S., is about to be deported again.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Ben Hunte.

HUNTE: Welcome.

It appears there's no diplomatic off ramp in sight as tensions escalate between the U.S. and Venezuela. Multiple sources now say president Trump is weighing military strikes against drug cartels operating within Venezuela's borders.

This all comes just days after the U.S. military said it struck a drug boat with alleged ties to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, killing 11 people on board.

The Trump administration also continues to bolster its firepower in the region, recently deploying fighter jets. At the White House on Friday, Mr. Trump was asked if he would like to see regime change in Venezuela.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: Well, we're not talking about that but we are talking about the fact that you had an election, which was, a very strange election, to put it mildly. I'm being very nice when I say that. I can only say that billions of dollars of drugs are pouring into our country from Venezuela. The prisons of Venezuela have been opened up to our country.

They've taken their prisoners. The worst prisoners, murderers, Tren de Aragua, the worst prisoners that you can ever imagine are now happily living in the United States of America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: Well, CNN's Kristen Holmes has the latest for us from the White House.

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KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: We're told that everything is on the table when it comes to Venezuela. And that includes potentially targeting sites or cartels inside the country of Venezuela.

That is one of a multitude of options that President Trump is weighing right now as they continue this maximum pressure campaign.

Now one of the goals of this, obviously, is to weaken Maduro. When we talked to several sources, there is a belief that this will not only put pressure on Maduro to potentially leave his post but also on the people around him who might be benefiting from this illegal behavior, that they would then put the pressure on Maduro themselves.

Now President Trump was specifically asked about whether or not he supported a regime change and he quickly changed the subject. Here's what he said.

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TRUMP: I can only say that billions of dollars of drugs are pouring into our country from Venezuela. It comes through Canada and it comes through Mexico.

But a lot of it is coming through Venezuela. Venezuela has been a very bad actor and we understand that. And when you look at that boat, you look at that, you see the bags of whatever it is -- those bags were -- you know what those bags represent?

Hundreds of thousands of dead people in the United States, that's what they represent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: So they have clearly linked Maduro to their larger anti- narcotics mission that they have here going on right now.

One thing to note, they also put ships and heavy military power in the Caribbean. I was told by a number of White House officials that this was meant to be a signal or a sign to Maduro, all part of this maximum pressure campaign.

One thing that has been pointed out to me by a number of people is that we are ramping up this pressure. Clearly, we're talking about military action. Again, President Trump weighing hitting cartels within Venezuela, within the country.

But Venezuela is not the top drug distributor, when you look at the countries where the drugs are actually coming from. So just an interesting part of all of this, as were seeing them really ramp up the military pressure here.

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HUNTE: Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro responded to the U.S. on Friday, calling for open dialogue with his country, while also accusing Washington of plotting regime change. Have a listen to part of what he had to say.

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NICOLAS MADURO, PRESIDENT OF VENEZUELA (through translator): The government of the United States should abandon its plan of violent regime change in Venezuela and in all of Latin America and the Caribbean and respect sovereignty, the right to peace, to independence.

What they are saying about Venezuela is not true. It's not true. It is a dead end they are getting themselves into. Venezuela has always been willing to talk but, just as we are willing to talk, we demand respect for our country, for our people.

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HUNTE: Let's stick on this. CNN Stefano Pozzebon has more reaction from Caracas.

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STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The confrontation between the White House and the Venezuelan government is showing no sign of slowing down this weekend.

On Friday, the U.S. president, Donald Trump, said, and I quote, that Venezuelan military aircraft to put U.S. forces in a dangerous position will be shot down.

This is coming after the U.S. Department of Defense announced late on Thursday that two Venezuelan fighter jets overflow (sic) near a U.S. warship in what they called a highly provocative -- this another quote -- "action."

But Trump's Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolas Maduro, is not backing down either. The Venezuelan president called for military drills with the Bolivarian militia on Friday. This is a corps -- a civilian corps that is associated with the Venezuelan army and that is tasked with the defense of Venezuela in case of an attack.

And I was able to ask one of those militiamen what would happen if indeed the United States took an attack against Venezuela. Take a listen to what he said.

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SGT. CARLOS SANCHEZ, BOLIVIAN MILITIA OF VENEZUELA (through translator): Not just one Vietnam but 100 Vietnams in every neighborhood, in every community. Not only here in Venezuela but the whole region.

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POZZEBON: And yet, for the most part, Venezuela remains largely unaffected by these geopolitical tensions. You can see around me that most Venezuelans are simply going on with their day-to-day lives, especially here in the capital, Caracas.

Those military drills did not draw huge crowd. And we really have a feeling that most Venezuelans are not -- paying attention to these confrontations, of course, but they're not worried directly by this confrontation or are not showing any hope of a government change in this country.

That remains, of course, under a tight grip by an authoritarian government -- for CNN, this is Stefano Pozzebon, Caracas, Venezuela.

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HUNTE: Donald Trump says some of the 20 hostages, who are presumed to be alive in Gaza, may have, quote, "recently died." He made the comment as he spoke to reporters in the Oval Office on Friday but he didn't share his source for that claim.

President Trump says his administration is in very deep negotiations with Hamas to secure the release of the remaining hostages still being held in Gaza.

Meanwhile, Israel's military is ramping up its assault as it moves to take over Gaza City. Let's get some more now from CNN's Nada Bashir.

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NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, as the Israeli government warns of a deepening military offensive in Gaza city, Israeli attacks on the city have intensified. Overnight Thursday into Friday, a barrage of Israeli strikes targeted both residential buildings and tent camps.

According to hospital officials on the ground, killing more than a dozen people including several children. Social media video from the scene showed doctors and aid workers treating bloodied and burned children following the devastating attack, with residents recounting the horrifying incident to our own team on the ground.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was asleep and woke up injured. I found my brother covered in blood, lying on the ground. I went outside hoping someone could help me rescue him and I was shocked to see my uncle, my cousins, my uncle's wife, my other uncle and his children all injured.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These were innocent children, innocent women displaced from Jabalya. They told them to evacuate Jabalya. So they came here and then they bombed them. They were told this area would be safe but there is no safe place in Gaza.

BASHIR: According to one Israeli official, some 70,000 Palestinian civilians have so far evacuated Gaza city. But that is just a fraction of the 1 million people currently believed to be residing in a war- torn city.

Meanwhile, humanitarian airdrops in the area have been brought to a halt and distribution points have been placed outside of the city, meaning civilians will have to leave Gaza city in order to obtain what little food aid is being made available.

The military operation has drawn fierce criticism internationally with U.N. officials warning that it could result in horrific humanitarian consequences. And within Israel, there continue to be large scale protests pushing for a hostage deal and even opposition from some of Israel's most senior military officials.

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With fears growing over the safety of Israeli hostages still held captive in Gaza, at least two of whom appear to be held in Gaza city, according to a propaganda video released by Hamas on Friday, in which captives Guy Gilboa-Dalal and Alon Ohel appear to be driven around Gaza City.

Despite concerns, prime minister Netanyahu has vowed to continue until his military gains total control over Gaza city, with military officials claiming that the military already holds some 40 percent of the city -- Nada Bashir, CNN, in London.

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HUNTE: The Lebanese government has approved a plan by the country's army to disarm Hezbollah. Details are scarce but the plan is an unprecedented effort.

Hezbollah is Lebanon's most formidable militia, Iran's most powerful regional proxy and one of the biggest non-state threats to Israel. The Lebanese government is under intense American and regional pressure to disarm Hezbollah.

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PAUL MORCOS, LEBANESE INFORMATION MINISTER (through translator): The council of ministers welcomed the plan set by the army command and its successive stages to ensure the implementation of the decision to extend the state's authority and its forces and to confine the weapons to the hands of the legitimate authorities.

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HUNTE: Hezbollah has rejected calls for it to disarm. A U.S. mediated ceasefire last year was meant to stop Israel's attacks on Lebanon but Israel still occupies five areas in southern Lebanon and launches strikes in the region nearly every day. Observers warn that trying to disarm Hezbollah by force could create a new conflict in Lebanon.

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HUNTE: Ukraine's president is telling Russia's president that he can come to Kyiv if he wants to talk peace. Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke with ABC news after Vladimir Putin repeatedly floated the idea of peace talks in Moscow. The Ukrainian leader made it clear that that is a nonstarter.

Meanwhile, Mr. Putin also says that Western troops would be legitimate targets if they're sent as peacekeepers to Ukraine.

On Thursday, French president Emmanuel Macron said 26 countries are ready to take part in a future peacekeeping force if the fighting stops.

Federal agents are carrying out new and major raids in the U.S. as part of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. One worker at a Hyundai mega plant here in Georgia said law enforcement flooded the site on Thursday like it was a war zone.

Officials say hundreds of people were arrested and most of them are Korean nationals. CNN's Gustavo Valdes reports from the raid site.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are Homeland Security. We have a search warrant for the whole site. We need construction to cease immediately.

GUSTAVO VALDES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nearly 500 people rounded up at this Georgia manufacturing plant Thursday in the largest single-site operation in history of Homeland Security investigations.

STEVEN SCHRANK, SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, ATLANTA: ... 475 were illegally present in the United States or in violation of their presence in the United States, working unlawfully.

VALDES (voice-over): The majority of those detainees were Korean nationals, according to Homeland Security. DHS officials say the multiagency raid was a result of a months long investigation into labor practices at the sprawling 2,900 acre Hyundai mega plant site.

SCHRANK: This was not a immigration operation where agents went into the premises, rounded up folks and put them on buses. This has been a multi month criminal investigation.

VALDES (voice-over): Hyundai says it is cooperating with law enforcement and it is committed to abiding by all labor and immigration regulations. Several people attempted to flee during the raid, according to the Department of Justice. Some run into a nearby sewage pond and were fished out of the water and taken into custody.

DHS says there was no substantial use of force and no injuries as a result of the operation.

SCHRANK: Each individual was questioned on their status. Those that were found to be illegally present were then detained and turned over to ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations custody.

VALDES: The Korean government says they are in contact with U.S. authorities to make sure that its citizens are afforded all the protections under the law.

An attorney for a couple of the Koreans detained says that his clients arrived to the United States a few weeks ago under a visa waiver program that allows them to be in the United States, albeit for tourism or business.

But he didn't say what kind of business or work they were doing at the plant and that they're still detained -- Gustavo Valdes, CNN, Georgia.

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HUNTE: Now the Trump administration wants to try to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the small southern African nation of Eswatini, formerly known as Swaziland. The ongoing back-and-forth tussle between the administration and the Maryland man took a new turn with an email from ICE, which has been obtained by CNN.

It says that after Abrego Garcia's concerns about deportation to other countries, the agency now hopes to send him to Eswatini. And they want to do that before his current trial on human smuggling charges is concluded. A federal judge has said he cannot be deported until at least early October.

New reporting from "The New York Times" describes a failed U.S. mission to North Korea in 2019 that left unarmed civilians dead. "The Times" reports the goal was to have a Navy SEALs team plant an electronic listening device, targeting leader Kim Jong-un.

But a fishing boat approached mid-operation and the SEALs opened fire, killing two or three civilians on board. "The Times" reports military reviews determined the killings were justified.

The mission took place during high-level nuclear talks between the U.S. and North Korea and, according to "The Times," required president Trump's direct approval. The report adds that the administration did not notify key members of Congress. A former intelligence official told CNN she anticipates a response from Pyongyang.

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BETH SANNER, FORMER DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: I suspect that we are going to have some kind of reaction, obviously, from Kim Jong-un. In 2014, he reacted to the release of a comedy, a comedy that was about a potential assassination of him -- that's what the movie was about -- with a huge hack on Sony Pictures.

That was a comedy. This is real life and the real-life infiltration of North Korean sovereign territory. That is not going to be a comedy for Kim Jong-un.

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HUNTE: The British Labour government is scrambling to adapt after deputy prime minister Angela Rayner suddenly resigns. We'll get a report from London just after the break. See you in a bit.

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HUNTE: Welcome back.

President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he plans to host next year's G20 summit at his Doral Golf Club in the Miami area. Mr. Trump floated the idea of hosting a similar summit at the club during his first term but dropped the plan amid outrage over holding such a gathering at his own property.

On Friday, the president told reporters, quote, "We will not make any money on it."

He also said he'd welcome Russian president Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping if either wants to attend.

A stunning shakeup in the British government on Friday, deputy prime minister Angela Rayner abruptly resigned following a scandal over her failure to pay the correct property taxes on her new apartment.

Rayner's departure deprives prime minister Keir Starmer's cabinet of one of its brightest political stars. CNN's Nic Robertson explains all about how Rayner's resignation shocked the U.K. government.

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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: The words that Keir Starmer wrote in his three-page handwritten note to Angela Rayner after she handed in her resignation, kind of speak to that. A trusted colleague, a true friend, somebody who really showed the social mobility in the country.

This is a very significant political figure who's been close to his side since he's been prime minister, a significant player in his government. The deputy prime minister, somebody that he's relied on, to keep, if you will, the support of the left wing of the party as his try to hew it along a more centrist course.

But the language that is used there pays testament to somebody who's won admiration, particularly from the working classes in the U.K. You know, she's talked about her own career and trajectory, leaving school at 16, pregnant without qualifications, becoming a grandmother when she was 37.

And when she became an MP 10 years ago, talking about she wished all those people that said to her back then, you will never amount to anything, she wished they could see her now.

So you know, when the prime minister talks about her in the terms of the embodiment of social mobility, he's really talking about somebody who expresses and lives the core values of the Labour Party. And that's one of the reasons why this loss will be big for him.

I remember meeting with her on the election campaign trail a few years ago. She was a powerful figure, a strong voice within the Labour Party. So this is a loss for the prime minister but he's already moving beyond it. Of course, politicians will.

He's already appointed a new deputy prime minister, taking the foreign secretary, David Lammy, made him the deputy prime minister; shifted the home secretary into the foreign secretary's position; shifted the justice secretary into the home secretary's position.

So a significant reshuffle going on for the prime minister. More significantly, as you say, he's not doing well in the polls. The leader of the opposition, in fact, commented on Angela Rayner's resignation and said, essentially, he didn't fire her. He should have fired her.

She had referred herself to the ministerial ethics committee just a couple of days ago and they decided that she hadn't heeded the warnings that she was given in deliberating the tax consequences of this house purchase that she made.

And that was the reason -- that was the context for her resignation. But there are those who will criticize the prime minister now outside of the Labour Party for not firing her. That would be something that he will find himself facing political heat from the opposition on.

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HUNTE (voice-over): Serbian police, armed with tear gas and stun grenades, clashed with protesters during an anti-government rally. Thousands gathered at a university campus, demanding the ousting of Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic.

The students' main demand is for elections to be called immediately. Months of anti-government protests have been sparked by a roof collapse at a rail station that killed 16 people in November 2025. Protesters say corruption was to blame for that disaster.

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HUNTE: Thousands dead and tens of thousands are now homeless in the wake of a week of back-to-back earthquakes in Afghanistan. Next, we're going to be hearing from the Red Cross on the race to help survivors. That's coming up.

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HUNTE (voice-over): Welcome back. I'm Ben Hunte. Let's take a look at today's top stories.

Tensions are rising between the U.S. and Venezuela as the U.S. bolsters its presence in the region. And now multiple sources say the Trump administration is weighing strikes targeting cartels inside Venezuela's borders.

All of this just days after U.S. military says it struck a drug boat with alleged ties to the Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua, killing 11 people on board.

The Israeli military struck a high-rise building in Gaza City as Israel ramps up its assault on the city. The Israeli Defense Forces say Hamas was using the building to direct attacks against Israeli troops and Hamas denies that allegation.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia is being threatened with imminent deportation again. He was deported to El Salvador.

[03:30:00]

Then returned to the U.S. and rearrested. Now the Trump administration wants to send him to Eswatini in southern Africa. But a federal judge says he cannot be deported until after administration officials testify in his case.

Afghanistan is reeling from back-to-back earthquakes and tremors over the past week. Since Sunday, the Taliban says more than 2,200 people are dead and more than 1,600 are injured, with many others missing. Tens of thousands are homeless as entire villages in the eastern provinces were flattened.

In some remote districts of Kunar province, officials say nearly every building has been destroyed. The Taliban are appealing for international help, saying hospitals are overwhelmed and supplies of food and medicine are dwindling.

Well, earlier I spoke with Joy Singhal of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Afghanistan about the challenges of responding to this enormous crisis.

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HUNTE: Nearly a week on, earthquakes and aftershocks have continued hitting Afghanistan. What's the latest that your teams on the ground have been seeing and hearing?

JOY SINGHAL, ACTING HEAD OF DELEGATION, IFRC AFGHANISTAN: So as you rightly said, Ben, and as the pictures speak for themselves and the situation on the ground is quite devastating, honestly, Afghanistan is no stranger to earthquakes, right?

I mean, the past two years it has faced two other earthquakes in the country. However, this time around, I mean, the numbers of death toll, as we have heard, is about 2,200 people. However, there are still areas where there is debris which has not been cleaned up.

There are still areas where aid is not reaching because of extremely mountainous terrain. Our teams are struggling to reach people. I mean, they are taking about 4-5 hours to walk to the to the areas which are affected. So it's really a very dire situation.

In terms of search and rescue, in terms of saving lives and in terms of providing immediate emergency assistance to people. And that's a lot to do with the -- with the topography of the area.

We are seeing regular aftershocks. There was one actually large earthquake. It was not even an aftershock that hit the day before yesterday night. And people are still in a state of shock.

We are seeing several villages have just completely emptied up and people are scared to go back to any of the last standing buildings. People are standing. People are spending nights out in the open. We are now trying to even set up temporary shelters and camps where we can host people.

So the situation on the ground requires immediate life-saving health care assistance, shelter assistance, safe drinking water and the topographical challenges are really hampering the way we can provide our assistance to people, those who are in need, immediately.

HUNTE: Gosh. And we're just seeing these awful pictures at the moment as well. It's terrible. We have seen the death toll climb from hundreds to thousands in just a few days.

Can you talk me through how widespread the destruction is now?

And you spoke before about the concerns about the quakes and the aftershocks.

But are there still those concerns that this might happen again in the immediate future?

SINGHAL: Well, absolutely. I mean, so the first question, in terms of the widespread, this area is very mountainous and hilly terrain, as you would have seen in the -- in the photos and the videos. And the impact of the earthquake is quite spread out. Also, the populations are very sparsely -- it's a very sparsely

populated area. So in terms of us to reach to populations, not an urban area, where you will have a concentrated population base in a small space.

So it's a -- it's a very sparsely populated area where we are struggling to reach from mountain to mountain. Our teams are working to reach people who would need our assistance.

In terms of, in terms of -- what was the second question, Ben?

I lost it.

HUNTE: Well, let's continue.

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HUNTE: Can you hear me? You've got me.?

We've seen so many survivors in makeshift shelters without food, without water, without medicine.

How is the fact that roads are blocked and there are concerns about disease and outbreaks, how is that affecting the work that your team is able to do on the ground?

SINGHAL: So the concerns are, of course, that because of -- see, even in a normal situation, Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world. Even in normal situations, almost about 75 percent of people in Afghanistan do not have access to safe drinking water.

And in this particular situation where the earthquake has happened, it has -- it has affected whatever remaining water sources were there in that particular area.

So access to safe drinking water, access to health care services, access to sanitation are huge issues that we are grappling up with. We are trying to set up emergency latrines, for example. We are trying to set up emergency camps, for example.

[03:35:00]

Our mobile health teams are getting in more supplies of medicines and of doctors, of midwives, of nurses to provide emergency assistance to people who need it.

So if the support is not provided immediately or in the next few weeks continuously, then, of course, we would see increased level of diseases. There could be increased level of outbreaks.

And that's something that we, you know, we have a responsibility to be able to curtail if not able to stop it completely. And so it's, in many ways, a race against time.

And the resources required would be about shelter, about safe drinking water, about medicine supplies, about able to get enough doctors and nurses in the area who are -- which we are -- which we are trying to mobilize. But it's a drop in an ocean at this point of time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTE: Pope Leo has opened an ecological training center in the Italian countryside near Rome. It will be run by the Vatican and officials say it's meant to encourage world leaders to give attention to climate change.

The center is located in a papal villa and includes gardens, vocational training facilities and educational opportunities for local children. This was all first announced in 2023 by Pope Francis. Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli and his son sang at the inauguration of the new facility.

All right. A girl's 15th birthday is a joyous coming of age event in Mexico. Ahead, how a simple, poorly-attended party for one teenager turned into a super viral sensation for attracted thousands. That's coming up.

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HUNTE: Welcome back.

In Latin America, a quinceanera is a traditional coming-of-age celebration that marks a girl's 15th birthday. But one teen's milestone event nearly went unnoticed until a Facebook post turned into a super viral sensation. CNN's Ivan Rodriguez has the details.

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IVAN RODRIGUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Isela Anhi Santiago Morales never dreamed of transforming into a princess for the night. The daughter of humble garbage collectors living in a small central Mexico town, Isela's parents stretched their savings to throw her a 15th birthday party.

It's a big year, marking a girl's traditional coming-of-age in Mexican culture, known as a quinceanera. But Isela was crushed when hardly anyone showed up.

ISELA ANHI SANTIAGO MORALES, QUINCENERA CELEBRANT (through translator): My parents made a small meal at my house. I invited some friends and some didn't show up. And then my dad said that we would waste the food and posted on Facebook that there was enough food left over for 40 people.

RODRIGUEZ (voice-over): That simple post went viral.

MORALES (through translator): I didn't think it would be so big.

RODRIGUEZ (voice-over): Roughly 2,000 people from Mexico and even the U.S. came to support Isela, according to the Associated Press.

SARAI ROSALES, VISITING FROM DALLAS, TEXAS (through translator): It became national news. When we saw it on TV at home, we got excited and decided to come.

RODRIGUEZ (voice-over): A local photographer and a deejay offered free services. The local government donated the town's stadium as a venue.

More than a dozen musicians performed for free late into the night. But even though the party was all about Isela, she asked people to donate toys to vulnerable children instead of giving her gifts.

MORALES (through translator): Thanks so much for coming to my party and bringing the toys for me to give away.

RODRIGUEZ (voice-over): But there was another surprise waiting for her: a letter she opened on stage, gifting her a 969-square-foot plot of land.

And as if all that wasn't enough, the local government gave her a scholarship to continue studying. She hopes to be a teacher one day.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Because of all of you, her dream was made possible.

RODRIGUEZ (voice-over): A fairytale night bringing her an even brighter future -- Ivan Rodriguez, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTE: Wow. We love good news.

Thanks for joining me and the team. I'm Ben Hunte in Atlanta. "WORLD SPORT" is next. See you tomorrow.