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Rubio Touts Tremendous Progress In Ukraine Talks; Sen. Cassidy Stresses Vaccine Safety Despite Updated CDC Website; Mamdani Not Backing Down From Trump Fascist Label. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired November 23, 2025 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:01:08]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Welcome, everyone. I am Omar Jimenez, sitting in for Fredricka Whitfield. We are going to start with the fast paced negotiations to end Russia's war in Ukraine. Top U.S. diplomats just wrapped up today's meeting with Ukrainian and European officials in Switzerland discussing President Trump's peace proposal as they race to get a deal in place before the administration's Thursday deadline.

I want to bring in CNN's Betsy Klein live at The White House.

Now, Betsy, look, we heard Secretary of State Marco Rubio describe this as the most productive day they've had on this issue, maybe in the entirety of their engagement, but no specific details on progress, on potential sticking points in this plan.

How are these negotiations resonating through The White House? And what more do we know about the state of these talks?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, Omar, there are certainly some cause for optimism among the Trump administration as these top Trump officials, including Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, along with Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff have been meeting with their Ukrainian counterparts in Geneva.

But there is another name on that U.S. delegation list, and that is Jared Kushner, the President's son-in-law. He has been tasked -- he is not a member of the Trump administration, but has been tasked with negotiations and some of the thornier foreign affairs issues that the Trump administration is tackling.

So it is notable that he has been on hand there, but at the core of these discussions is this proposed peace plan. Rubio says it is between 26 and 28 proposed peace points. He says it is more of a living, breathing document, and we have heard criticism from both sides of the aisle about that plan. Among the proposals includes Kyiv ceding territory to Russia, giving up any Ukrainian ambition to join NATO, along with limiting the size of the Ukrainian Army.

But Rubio, now telling reporters that many of these outstanding sticking points have been resolved. He said that was the goal and that they achieved it "in a very substantial way." But it is worth noting that this is still going to require signoff from President Trump, along with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine. And ultimately it will require signoff from Russia as well.

And a note of caution that this is still extremely fragile. President Trump lashing out earlier this morning in a post on social media, he said, "Ukraine 'leadership' has expressed zero gratitude for our efforts and Europe continues to buy oil from Russia." Now, Zelenskyy subsequently offered his gratitude to the U.S. and to President Trump in a post to social media. But Secretary Rubio was asked about this by our colleague Matthew Chance. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Oh, very positive. During this negotiation, it was very positive. I am telling you, today was the most productive day.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Because he said, they were ungrateful earlier.

RUBIO: Well, today, and we've talked to him since, I think he is quite pleased at the reports we've given him about the amount of progress that's been made.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KLEIN: Rubio said that it is still too soon to declare victory or any finality, but officials will continue to talk going forward. President Trump, for his part, is here at The White House, where he has been briefed by Secretary Rubio and he has been working the phones. We know he spoke with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer earlier today, and he is watching all of this from The White House quite closely.

JIMENEZ: Yes. Secretary Rubio specifically mentioned that there were some issues that were segregated out because it required E.U. and NATO involvement as well.

Living, breathing document, as Rubio described it. We will see.

Betsy Klein, appreciate the reporting as always.

Meanwhile, top Republican Senator Bill Cassidy says he will listen to the science, repeatedly stressing during an earlier conversation with CNN's Jake Tapper that vaccines are safe. This is after HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. ordered the CDC to change its website, contradicting its longtime guidance that vaccines don't cause autism.

[16:05:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BILL CASSIDY (R-LA): Anything that undermines the understanding, the correct understanding, the absolute, scientifically based understanding that vaccines are safe and that if you don't take them, you're putting your child or yourself in greater danger. Anything that underlines that message is a problem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: CNN's Julia Benbrook is in Washington, D.C.

I mean, Julia, Senator Cassidy obviously stood up for vaccines but stopped short of criticizing RFK, Jr.

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He did. There were some interesting points throughout that interview, and I want to highlight one here in a minute, but let's start with really looking at what these changes on the website look like.

Medical professionals are raising concerns after scientific information on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Preventions website has been replaced with anti-vaccine talking points.

So looking at those specific changes, when you go to the website, there are bullet points that state vaccines do not cause autism is not an evidence based claim, studies supporting a link have been ignored by health authorities. That's what you first see on that website. But when you scroll down, there is actually a main header.

It still says vaccines do not cause autism, but there is an asterisk there, and that leads you to a footnote where it states that the wording was not removed due to an agreement with the Chair of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

So that refers to an agreement between HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., a longtime anti-vaccine activist, and Senator Bill Cassidy, a Republican and a physician. He cast a very important vote in Kennedy's confirmation process.

When these changes to the website came up, Kennedy on social media put out a statement. He reacted, saying this in part: "... I am a doctor who has seen people die from vaccine preventable diseases. What parents need to hear right now is vaccines for measles, polio, hepatitis B and other childhood diseases are safe and effective and will not cause autism. Any statement to the contrary is wrong, irresponsible and actively makes Americans sicker." And that is lining up with many of the reactions from the scientific community.

When he spoke with CNN's Jake Tapper earlier today, he reiterated that message. As you pointed out, though, he did not take this opportunity to place full blame on Kennedy. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Did you give you give RFK, Jr. too much credit? What are you going to do now to push back against this?

CASSIDY: Well, first, I am not minimizing these changes. They are important because you need to send the consistent signal that vaccines are safe, I will just say that.

And again, President Trump agrees that vaccines are safe and important and that that should not be undermined. If you -- as we both know, there is an asterisk associated with that change on the website. The asterisk reflects a conversation he and I had, but I will leave it at that.

The fact is, the scientific community agrees that vaccines are safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BENBROOK: Now, an HHS spokesperson defended the website changes, saying that they reflect gold standard evidence based science.

It is important to note here that there are many credible studies that show no relationship between vaccines and autism -- Omar.

JIMENEZ: All right, Julia Benbrook, appreciate the reporting.

Coming up, the White House says the economy is strong, but many Americans say their budgets tell a different story.

What is driving the disconnect? We will discuss.

Plus, California sober. Could cannabis help curb alcohol consumption? Fresh findings from a new study. We will talk about it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:13:34]

JIMENEZ: All right, new today, after surprising everyone with what seemed like a friendly visit to The White House, New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani says he isn't changing his tune on his critical view of President Trump's positions. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTEN WELKER, NBC NEWS: Just to be very clear, do you think that President Trump is a fascist?

ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D), NEW YORK CITY MAYOR-ELECT: And after President Trump said that, I said yes. And --

WELKER: So you do.

MAMDANI: And that's something that I've said in the past, I say it today. And I think what I appreciated about the conversation that I had with the President was that we were not shy about the places of disagreement about the politics that has brought us to this moment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: CNN correspondent, Gloria Pazmino is with us now.

Gloria, you spoke with Mamdani earlier today. What did he tell you?

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Omar. He is back in the city after spending the weekend in Washington, D.C., and we caught up with him after he attended church services earlier this morning.

But I think the comments that the mayor-elect made there on "Meet the Press," which he repeated when I spoke to him earlier today are pretty striking. You know, it shows that even though he went in and had a pretty positive meeting with the President on Friday, he is not really backing away from his past criticisms, from the name calling that he has used before, and he has tried to present this as not a weakness, but rather a strength between the two of them.

He keeps talking about how he thinks it is good for two people who are diametrically opposed, to be able to get into a room and find a common place of agreement. In this case, Zohran Mamdani says, it is all about affordability.

[15:15:10]

So I asked him how he figured out to get -- talking to the President. Here is what he told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAZMINO: Talk to me about how you deciphered his language.

MAMDANI: You know, I approached this meeting thinking about what I had heard from New Yorkers who voted for the President and when I asked them why they did so last November, they told me, cost of living, cost of living, cost of living.

Oftentimes in conversation between two politicians, the conversation rarely extends beyond either of them. Our conversation focused on New York City, and I think that is a point of shared focus, a point of shared admiration for the city that we both call home, and a city that is in danger of becoming a museum of where working people once were.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAZMINO: Omar, we are also getting a little bit more detail about what actually the conversation was about inside the room when the cameras were not rolling. Zohran Mamdani told me that he actually had a pretty extended conversation with President Trump about real estate, and specifically the difficulty of building housing here in New York City. Of course, that is an appeal to Trump, who made his name and his fortune right here in New York City in real estate, something that we know the President knows and enjoys talking about, and also something that gets to a priority of this incoming administration in a very real issue here in New York City.

They also talked about bringing down the cost of electricity. They talked about immigration enforcement, and although Mamdani would not say whether or not he got a solid commitment from the President that he will not be deploying federal forces into New York City, we saw that President Trump said yesterday he would only send the National Guard if New York City asked for it -- Omar.

JIMENEZ: Fascinating dynamic even before Mayor-elect Mamdani has officially taken office. Gloria Pazmino appreciate the reporting.

All right, coming up, a wild pursuit. What happened when a runaway horse, you're seeing everything correctly here, a runaway horse took a New Jersey Police officer on an extremely challenging chase.

We will talk about it.

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[15:21:33]

JIMENEZ: With Thanksgiving just a few days away now, millions of Americans are out shopping for their holiday dinner this weekend, and if you're the one buying the food for the big meal this year, I am sure you've already noticed that things are costing more.

From August to September, groceries went up 0.3 percent, which might not seem like lot, but if you compare it to last year, grocery items are on average almost three percent higher. I want to discuss now some of this with the Director of Monetary Economics for the American Institute for Economic Research, Lydia Mashburn Newman.

Lydia, thanks for being here.

In September, inflation adjusted hourly earnings were flat for the second month in a row, holding that annual rate of gain at 0.8 percent. But that's the lowest in more than a year.

Do you see slowing wage growth as a good or bad thing for the American economy right now? Just how are you analyzing that dynamic?

LYDIA MASHBURN NEWMAN, DIRECTOR OF MONETARY ECONOMICS FOR THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH: Yes, the wage growth has not kept pace with inflation and a lot of families are feeling that and experiencing that this time at Thanksgiving, as they go out to buy more groceries than they normally would in a given week, and what they are really feeling is their wages haven't kept up with inflation. That is, as you mentioned, three percent more for this Thanksgiving meal, according to AIER's Thanksgiving Cost Index and what we are finding is that that increase is not just large in a year to year basis, but families are facing a 30 to 40 percent increase in staples like turkey or their cranberry sauce from before the pandemic.

And so the cost that American households are facing is much, much higher than what you would think from the month-to-month or even year- over-year inflation metrics. And a lot of that is due to our monetary policy, but also a little bit due to tariffs.

JIMENEZ: And, you know, you raise a really important dynamic because I think some people might look at, again, seeing that 0.3 percent or maybe 0.8 percent wage growth, but when you expand that aperture to five years, obviously we have that inflation spike from a few years ago in the wake of COVID, but inflation hasn't gone away since then and then you have that stagnation in wage growth. So it is sort of, I guess maybe in an outsized way that numbers can't quite capture right now, people are feeling strain on their wallets in a way that, again, the numbers can't quite represent on a year-to-year basis.

NEWMAN: That's exactly the case, because year-to-year, we seem like we are doing okay, but inflation has actually been 25 percent if you count it from pre-pandemic. So basically January 2020 to today, prices are up by 25 percent. So what used to cost you $100.00 at the grocery store is now $125.00 ticket, maybe even $130.00 on just food prices.

But what that means is every large part of a U.S. household's budget things like housing, house prices themselves are up 50 percent, insurance costs across the board are up as much as 40 percent. Child care costs are up almost as much as a lot of folks mortgages or even more and we are about to experience increases in health insurance premiums, not just due to the subsidies going away for those on the health care exchanges, but premiums for people who have employer sponsored insurance, which will feel to them actually more like a wage cut, because that is all taken out before that money hits their checking account.

And so there is definitely still a lot of pent up pricing pressures and issues that are the result of long standing policies, mostly from our Central Bank, who doesn't often get a lot of the blame. Usually, we blame the politicians or the presidents, or maybe sometimes Congress, but there is a lot that the Federal Reserve is responsible for here.

[15:25:08]

JIMENEZ: You know, as part of this whole dynamic, President Trump had had promised to deliver $2,000.00 tariff rebate checks next year, which obviously would raise hopes for a lot of people -- individuals. But when Kevin Hassett was asked, what are the odds that Americans actually get those $2,000.00 stimulus checks next year, take a quick listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN HASSETT, DIRECTOR OF THE COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS: We send out $2,000.00 about checks already to everybody who has overtime or has tip of income, so President Trump wants to help fix the problem. You know, fill the hole that Joe Biden created. And if we have the money, if the money keeps coming in, we are running a surplus right now over the last few months, then I am sure that he will be looking into that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: I just wonder what your take or analysis is on just the idea of rebate checks being sent out, potentially pulling from tariff revenue that's come in.

NEWMAN: Well, we have a great example of this when we did rebate checks, both during the first Trump administration, but also in the Biden administration, and while that provides some relief immediately for families, a $2,000.00 check will maybe cover somebody's daycare costs for a month.

But what it does in terms of from coming from the tariff revenue is that it is going to actually detract from the overall government fiscal position and make the government books worse off and only help households for a short period of time.

And ideally, you would just remove the tariffs. The consumer is already paying, say, 20 percent more for their coffee, but you're going to give that money back to them as a $2,000.00 check, but they're the ones who ultimately have been paying for that money to be collected at the end of the day.

So it seems a little bit like some political posturing, maybe a little bit of vote buying. It is no different than what we saw under the Biden administration, but it is not necessarily great economic policy.

JIMENEZ: There was that dynamic where it was, hey, the economy is great, which on a macro level there might have been some indicators of that, but people were still feeling it pretty significantly on an everyday basis.

Lydia Mashburn Newman, got to leave the conversation there.

Thanks for being here.

NEWMAN: Thanks for having me.

JIMENEZ: Coming up, a lot of news we are following, including Israel striking Lebanon's capital for the first time in months, claiming to have killed one of Hezbollah's leaders. We will tell you what Prime Minister Netanyahu is saying about the attack next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:32:10]

JIMENEZ: Let's get back to our breaking news.

Top United States negotiators have wrapped up talks for the day with Ukrainian and European officials in Switzerland. They are racing to hammer out a Ukrainian peace deal before President Trump's Thursday deadline.

Now, the President has also said he is willing to be flexible if real progress has been made by then. But Trump's proposal has come under fire at points by some for heavily favoring Russia, but as Secretary Rubio emphasized today, the negotiations are fluid and that this is a living, breathing document.

I want to bring in CNN's Matthew Chance.

You were just in the room with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is helping to lead those discussions in Geneva, Switzerland. You asked him a few questions as well. What's the latest there in Geneva? MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, look, it is late night here and it has been many, many hours of face- to-face negotiations between the U.S. side, led by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Ukrainian delegation as well.

A few hours ago, both the leaders of those delegations, Rubio and Andrii Yermak from the Ukrainian side came out, they were very positive, said they were going to update us later on in the evening about what progress they were making, but when that finally happened, Marco Rubio came out alone. The Ukrainians didn't turn up with him, read into that what you will.

But for his part, the U.S. Secretary of State was very upbeat. He said he was optimistic that the talks are going in the right direction and he said there was a tremendous amount of progress today during those negotiations. It has been very up and down.

Earlier, President Trump tweeted out or posted on his Truth Social media platform that he felt that the Ukrainians were still not being grateful, to paraphrase what he said. I asked Rubio about that and he said, oh, you know, basically I've spoken to the President since then, and I think he is now very pleased at the reports that we have given him.

Rubio, in the briefing to the media here at the U.S. Embassy in Geneva, basically saying, look, we are making progress in the right direction, but there are still several issues that have to be talked about. He kind of skipped over them. He wouldn't get into specifics about what exactly were the holdups in this negotiation with the Ukrainians?

You know, things like territorial concessions that the Ukrainians are being asked to make, things like limitations on the country's military, not just the size of the standing army, but other limitations as well, things like the nature of the security guarantees that the United States is prepared to offer Ukraine as well.

Basically, Rubio was, you know, sort of saying these have to be dealt with. It is a process, et cetera, et cetera but remember, these are massive obstacles standing in the way of Ukraine, you know, being able to, you know, accept in any way, this 28-point proposal that has been laid at its feet by the United States.

[15:35:17]

Obviously, with the close assistance of the Kremlin as well. And so, getting over those obstacles, getting Ukraine to accept territorial concessions, getting them to accept these limitations that are being placed on it, and giving Russia essentially everything it is asking for is a huge ask, and you know, we are only at the start of that process now, and we will see where it ends up.

JIMENEZ: Yes, at the very least, U.S. officials seem to be optimistic, but again, lacking on some of those details on those key points that you mentioned. Matthew Chance, appreciate the reporting there in Geneva. I want to keep this conversation going with Ivo Daalder. He is the former U.S. Ambassador to NATO and is a senior fellow at Harvard's Belfer Center. Thank you for being here.

I mean, we are hearing from Ukrainian President Zelenskyy who seems to be now praising the discussion, saying that President Trump is listening to his country's needs. We heard from Secretary of State Marco Rubio that this seems to be the most positive day that they've had since the beginning of their engagements here.

I just wonder, how are you analyzing, at the very least, the posturing we have seen from the Ukrainian and American sides on the other side of these negotiations?

IVO DAALDER, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO NATO, SENIOR FELLOW AT HARVARD'S BELFER CENTER: Well, this is really the first time. This day is the first time that very serious talks are being held between the United States and Ukraine.

Until this time, until the very beginning of President Trump getting back into office in the second term, the idea has been that the United States and Russia will negotiate and send a plan to Ukraine to sign on the dotted line, and indeed, that's what happened once again this week, a plan negotiated between Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Putin's Envoy, Kirill Dmitriev put together this 28-point plan and presented to the Ukrainians on a take it or leave it basis.

What happened today, which is very important, is that the Ukrainians were able to sit down with the United States and say, hey, wait a minute before you tell us what it is that we need to sign on, how about you listen to our side of the story? We, after all, are the victims of this aggression. And rather than sitting down with the aggressor, why don't you sit down with the victim to see where we can come out.

And so I am hopeful that the kind of body language and the kind of language we are seeing from both President Zelenskyy on the one hand, and Secretary of State Rubio on the other, will finally put us onto a path where there is a discussion between the United States and Ukraine, and I would say to Europeans to be part of this before a plan is presented to the Russians, which, frankly, they should be presented with a take it or leave it plan.

JIMENEZ: And I wanted to ask you about that because, look, you are former U.S. Ambassador to NATO and Secretary Rubio mentioned that there were certain aspects of their negotiations that they sort of segregated or put to the side that would essentially need the sign off of E.U. and NATO representatives. What sort of issues might fall into that bucket that the United States, Ukraine and potentially Russia wouldn't be able to sort of hammer out on their own here?

DAALDER: You know, just about everything. So the question of security guarantees is not something that the United States living on the other side of the ocean can provide without European and NATO support. So anything that has to do with the question of the security of Ukraine after this war is either something Ukrainians have to decide themselves, which is a strong army that is not limited in size or capabilities or, and/or in fact by the Europeans, whether they are willing to provide the kind of capabilities both to make that security guarantee real and to open up the possibility of both NATO and E.U. membership, so that's one area.

The other is on the economic side, the Russian assets that have been frozen largely are in Europe in the 28-point plan, those assets were distributed by the United States and Russia, neither of whom have control over those assets without input from the Europeans and indeed the United States in that 28-point plan was going to take a share of those assets, which is quite remarkable when you just think about it.

So in almost every aspect that you have to deal with in order to get a real ceasefire and to make that ceasefire real, let alone a negotiation on territory which can only be done by Ukrainians and Russians, you cannot get there unless the Europeans are not only on board, but they're part of the equation.

JIMENEZ: And, you know, one of those -- one did not get any details on sort of the progress on some of those significant sticking points, territory, obviously being one of them, but also, of course, the potential joining of Ukraine with NATO. It has been a topic and a dynamic and a possibility that has been discussed over and over, really since the beginning of this war. I mean, again, you are a former NATO ambassador, the original version of this proposal, at least what was put out into the public seemed to forbid Ukraine from joining NATO.

[15:40:13]

I just wonder, what do you make of the implications there? And is that something that is essentially a nonstarter for the Russians when they do get some of these details in front of that side?

DAALDER: The Russians have wanted a veto over Ukrainian membership of NATO. Indeed, membership of any country into NATO from the very beginning. Unfortunately for them, since they're not a member of NATO, they don't get a veto. It just -- it is just not how international politics works.

The problem with the 28-point plan was not only that it prohibited Ukraine from becoming a member of NATO, telling it that it needed to be part of its Constitution, but -- and this is important -- it required NATO to amend the treaty to prohibit further enlargement and further membership of European countries, that is just a nonstarter, and the Europeans have made very clear that the issue of alliance membership is an issue for the alliance, that is, the 32 nations who are member of NATO and whoever wants to become a member, in this case, Ukraine, and that there can't be nothing in this treaty, nothing in this agreement that prohibits that.

These are sovereign decisions and this is what this is about. The question is, is Ukraine going to be a sovereign, independent country able to make its own decisions without having to refer to Moscow? If the answer to that answer is no, Moscow wins this war and therefore Ukraine will not sign on to it.

If the answer to the question of whether Ukraine can be independent and sovereign is yes, then the question becomes how is that security guaranteed? And that is something that NATO does best. I have long believed that Ukraine should be a member of NATO. Had it been a member of NATO the war would have never started and this idea that somehow you can resolve this war by allowing Russia to have a say over Ukrainian sovereignty strikes me as just absolutely the wrong way to go.

JIMENEZ: Ambassador Ivo Daalder, appreciate the insight. Thanks for being here.

DAALDER: My pleasure.

JIMENEZ: All right, we also have breaking news out of Lebanon that we are following. The Israeli military says it has killed Hezbollah's number two figure with an airstrike in Southern Beirut. Critically, it is the first time Israel has attacked the city in months as Lebanese health officials say the strikes killed at least five people and wounded more than two dozen others.

I want to get straight to CNN international diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson, who joins me now from Jerusalem.

Nic, what more do we know about this? Obviously, a significant threshold to recross here.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, Haytham Ali Tabatabai was the number two in Hezbollah, the chief-of-staff. Israeli officials said that he had the blood of both Israelis and Americans on his hands, that he had been Special Forces commander, training forces in Syria, training them in Yemen as well.

But what we've heard from the Prime Minister's office here is a very clear message that they believe that Hezbollah is trying to regroup itself and we've seen an uptick in the number of Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah positions or what the IDF says, Hezbollah positions in the south of Lebanon over the last few days and recent weeks, and it is sort of significant because the ceasefire agreement that was made between Israel and Lebanon almost a year ago called for Hezbollah to disarm and get out of the border region.

But what Israel has been maintaining is that Hezbollah is sort of trying to set up back in that region. So a decision clearly taken to go after this number two in Hezbollah, and go back to striking in the suburbs of Beirut, hitting this multi-story building in the southern suburbs, hitting it with a direct precision strike, the Israelis say, sort of on the fourth or fifth floor of this apartment building, as you say, five people killed, 28, according to Lebanese officials injured in that.

But Israel's Prime Minister coming down very clearly and indicating that this may not be the last strike. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): The policy I am leading is absolutely clear. Under my leadership, the state of Israel will not allow Hezbollah to rebuild its power, and we will not allow it to once again pose a threat to the state of Israel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: So the Lebanese President has called on the international community to do more to pressure Israel to curb its attacks here. Similarly, in the south of Israel, in Gaza, to the south of Israel, Hamas calling on the international community to do the same there with the IDF, with Israel to push them, to cut back on strikes, increasing strikes in Gaza for around the past 24 hours, more than 20 people killed, according to Hamas officials in the past -- according to health officials inside of Gaza in the past 24 hours and many others injured as well.

[15:45:11]

JIMENEZ: Nic Robertson, appreciate the reporting.

All right, coming up, we are following a number of stories this afternoon, including can smoking weed help you drink less? A new study is revealing just how well the so-called California sober works. I am going to speak to the researcher behind it, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:50:06]

JIMENEZ: There has been a lot of talk recently about alcohol. Studies show young people seem to be drinking less than previous generations. Why? One theory is, as marijuana becomes legal in much of the country, Gen Z is embracing what is known as the California sober lifestyle, swapping booze for weed.

And a new study looked at the effects of cannabis on alcohol craving and consumption, and found people who smoked pot drank less.

I am joined now by the lead researcher on that study, Jane Metrik, professor of Behavioral and Social Science at Brown University. And Professor, I just want to start with what was the main takeaway from this study for you?

JANE METRIK, PROFESSOR OF BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCE, BROWN UNIVERSITY: Yes. Thank you for having me. And we found it in our controlled bar lab study after people used cannabis, they drank about a quarter less alcohol over the next two hours.

JIMENEZ: So yes, I guess on that front, I mean, some people drinking less alcohol after they smoke pot. I mean, is it just because they don't like it crossfade or what details sort of went into that there?

METRIK: Well, we recruited adult volunteers who regularly use cannabis and who are drinking alcohol at heavy levels, so these are individuals who might be using cannabis and alcohol for different reasons and so what we found is that under controlled conditions, cannabis with THC relative to cannabis without THC actually reduced alcohol consumption in the short term for the majority of the people in the study.

What we don't know is what happens in the long term and that is an important area of research for the next set of studies.

JIMENEZ: Yes, and I guess what are the risks involved with mixing marijuana in alcohol?

METRIK: So, that's a great question. Alcohol and cannabis, when mixed together, can really potentiate each other's effects and the combination can be quite impairing. So it is really important to note that our study tested the sequential effect of how cannabis affects alcohol consumption, subsequent alcohol consumption.

It is very different when people are mixing the two substances together, and it can be quite risky as it can increase, like I said, impairment, risky driving and other unwanted consequences.

JIMENEZ: Sure. I mean, look, when people hear California sober, obviously we are talking about cannabis as opposed to alcohol, but is it a better health option overall? Essentially, I mean, is cannabis consumption less dangerous than alcohol, or is it just swapping one vice for another here? Was that part of your analysis at all?

METRIK: Well, you know, what we really tried to do is answer one question, how does cannabis affect alcohol consumption? We are not really ranking the two substances in terms of which one is better, we also know that for some people, this combination can be risky and cannabis can actually increase alcohol consumption.

So there are likely a lot of important individual differences at play and cannabis is not without its own set of risks. So it is really important to emphasize that cannabis use disorder is real, so for those people who are already exploring this option of being California sober, it is really important that they closely monitor their cannabis use to reduce the risk.

JIMENEZ: Jane Metrik, really interesting study. Thank you for taking the time to explain some of it for us. Appreciate you being here.

METRIK: Of course. My pleasure.

JIMENEZ: All right, up next. Formula One misfortune, a dramatic twist in the Sin City title race. Why a duo of drivers were disqualified from the Las Vegas Grand Prix. We will talk about it, coming up.

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[15:58:28]

JIMENEZ: A dramatic twist at this weekend's Las Vegas Formula One Grand Prix that really could have significant implications for the drivers' title. I want to bring in CNN World Sport anchor, Patrick Snell, who joins us.

Patrick, can you just get us up to speed on what happened and how it actually impacts the race for the drivers' title?

PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: Yes, Hi there, Omar.

Yes, just when we wanted some drama in the race for the Formula One Drivers' Title this year, boy did we get it. Coming right under the bright lights of the Nevada Street Circuit Saturday night, just for context here, the two McLaren teammates, we are talking Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, the young Australian battling it out for the title all season.

Tensions have been simmering at times. Norris starting on pole, the Brit would go on to finish second or so he thought, behind the eventual race winner, Max Verstappen, while Lando's Aussie teammate, Oscar Piastri looked like literally he got fourth place finish, but then it all changed.

Then came the twist: Both Norris and Piastri, learning their fate. Both drivers disqualified for technical reasons, which we understand to be linked to the underside, the undercar skid planks. It is getting a bit technical here, but what I can tell you is a post-race inspection found the thickness of the plank assembly in question was actually below the permitted minimum that has repercussions, just two races left now, Omar, in the season.

Verstappen -- Max Verstappen, the reigning world champ, he is seeking a fifth straight title. He went on to win the race. You can see those celebrations, what it means to him. He is back in it, Omar. He is only 24 points adrift. He is back in it with two races still to come.

JIMENEZ: Wow! Down to post-race inspection technicalities.

Patrick in women's professional soccer, it is Gotham FC who is celebrating again. Can you just tell us how it all played out?

SNELL: Yes they are. Gotham FC, the champions of the National Women's Soccer League for the second time in three seasons after a one nil victory over the Washington Spirit last night in California. Great moment here. We got to see the -- yes, back there. Trinity Rodman coming on to the field of play there. She had been out for a few weeks due to injury. So good to see her back with the winning goal of the match coming ten minutes from time.

It is from the U.S. World Cup winner, Rose Lavelle with a really beautiful finish there, curling the ball out of the keeper's reach into the back of the net, and that was enough to win the title.

The full time whistle, scenes of elation for Gotham FC. We see Rodman there going off again due to injury. Celebrations there for Gotham FC, and this is a really cool stat. They were number eight, Gotham FC now the lowest seed to win the title. They've done it twice now in three seasons, a great achievement for them.

Omar, back to you. JIMENEZ: Indeed, Patrick Snell, appreciate it as always.

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