Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

U.S.-Israel War with Iran; Venezuela Earthquakes; FIFA World Cup Highlights; London Workplaces Cope with the Heat; U.N. Suspends Evacuation of Stranded Seafarers; Bolton Plea Deal; North Korea's New Warship. Aired 4-5a ET

Aired June 27, 2026 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hello and a very warm welcome to our viewers. Joining us from all around the world and in the U.S. I'm Salma Abdelaziz in London. Let's get into the headlines.

The very fragile agreement is put to the test. The U.S. strikes Iranian targets after an attack on a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz. Plus, Israel and Lebanon have a new agreement in place. We're going to go live to the Gulf with more on all of those developments.

And the latest on the rescue efforts in Venezuela as residents express frustration over the response to this week's devastating earthquakes.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from London. This is CNN NEWSROOM with Salma Abdelaziz.

ABDELAZIZ: We're getting initial reactions from Tehran after the latest round of U.S. strikes on Iran. On Friday, the U.S. Central Command said it struck a series of Iranian military targets. This is after an apparent Iranian drone attack on a ship that could be a major test for the U.S.-Iran interim agreement, which was signed only 10 days ago.

In response, a top Iranian lawmaker slammed the U.S. saying the attack came in the middle of negotiations again. Meanwhile, diplomats say Israel and Lebanon have just made their first step toward a potential future peace deal. They signed an agreement with the U.S. on Friday.

Israel says its forces will pull out of two areas in southern Lebanon, which will be handed over to the Lebanese military. For more on all of this, we're joined by Paula Hancocks. She's monitoring these developments for us from Abu Dhabi.

Good morning to you, Paula. Let's begin with those U.S. strikes that took place after an apparent drone attack on the Strait of Hormuz by Iran. Were these U.S. strikes limited in scope?

Are they over?

What were they targeting?

Can we expect more?

Tell us the latest here.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Salma, what we know is from Central Command. They say that they carried out military target airstrikes against radar sites along the Strait of Hormuz, also military and missile and drone locations.

Now it appears to be a single operation, according to Central Command, a U.S. official saying that they don't believe that this is a return to hostilities. But what we've since heard from the ministry of foreign affairs in Tehran is that they condemn these strikes.

They have said that it is in violation of that memorandum of understanding that's been signed between the U.S. and Iran and also saying that the Revolutionary Guard authorized carrying out its own defensive strikes against U.S. military targets in the region.

Central Command has not confirmed whether anything has been hit or whether that did, in fact, take place.

So, of course, the question now is, is this an isolated event?

Have both sides carried out their strikes and will they now go back to the negotiations?

It all started, of course, on Thursday when there was this strike against a vessel which the U.S. said was caused by an Iranian drone. Iran has not claimed responsibility.

But we have heard from the Revolutionary Guard, from Iranian officials, that they want to make sure that these vessels that are transiting this crucial waterway are using the Iranian route. So they still require Iranian permits and permission.

Effectively, many of them are taking the more southern route through these waters, hugging the Omani coast. Now we've heard a response as well from the U.S. Vice president JD Vance, I'll read you what he has posted.

Saying, quote, "Iran signed a ceasefire agreement. We have honored it. If they have disagreements about how the MOU is being applied, they can pick up the phone. But violence will be met with violence."

We also heard from president Trump saying that what happened on Thursday was a, quote, "foolish" violation.

Now at this point, we really are waiting to see whether or not, as I say, this is isolated. There doesn't appear to be an appetite on either side to resume full-blown military strikes. But of course, the coming hours will be will be key. Salma.

ABDELAZIZ: But it's not just this exchange of fire in the Strait of Hormuz that's threatening the agreement here.

[04:05:00]

There is also the conflict in Lebanon. And I know there are diplomatic efforts underway this week to resolve that.

Is there any progress there, Paula?

HANCOCKS: So what we have seen is that there has been a trilateral agreement between the U.S., Israel and Lebanon. Now, of course, the key here is that Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militia, is not part of it.

Hezbollah has rejected these talks and has rejected the agreement that has resulted from these negotiations in Washington. But what we have seen is that there has been an agreement reached that there will be two areas in southern Lebanon, one just north of the Litani River, one south, that the Israeli forces will withdraw from.

Now we've heard that they will be implementing this pilot program where the Israeli forces hand it over to the Lebanese military in the hope that Hezbollah does not return to those areas. Now we have heard from the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Here is how he is highlighting what has been agreed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL: The most important thing is that, first of all, Israel remains in security zone in southern Lebanon. This is a great achievement and we are maintaining it as long as Hezbollah does not disarm, as long as there is danger to the state of Israel. This is also a great blow to Iran.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: Israel also saying they will temporarily withdraw some of its forces. Secretary of state Marco Rubio calling this the beginning of the beginning. Salma.

ABDELAZIZ: Paula Hancocks there on the very fragile deal that diplomats are trying to keep together. Thank you very much for those updates.

Emergency crews are urgently looking for survivors more than two days after the deadly twin earthquakes in Venezuela.

New CNN video shows rescue teams working on the scene in the hardest hit area, where officials say more than 100 buildings have collapsed. The images show widespread damage from two of the strongest quakes to hit Venezuela in more than a century. Many people, of course, lost everything.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Honestly, from the heart. In the name of all of Venezuela, please, we beg you, please help. To the whole world, please, help us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ: Elite U.S. search and rescue teams from California and Virginia are deploying to Venezuela. Images from the State Department show those teams arriving on Friday with more expected.

More than 48 hours after the quakes, frustration is growing in Venezuela over the government's response. Some residents say there's not enough rescue crews or heavy machinery, leaving communities to clear up on their own.

Hospitals are also reporting a shortage of critical supplies and Venezuela's top lawmaker says at least 920 people were killed and more than 3,300 injured in the disaster. CNN contributor Stefano Pozzebon has the latest on Venezuela's recovery efforts.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Panic on board as passengers braced through powerful tremors. Just one glimpse of the chaos unleashed after two massive earthquakes struck Venezuela.

This image from the public broadcaster, teleSUR, shows large cracks splitting the tarmac at Caracas International Airport, underscoring the damage to critical infrastructure.

On Friday, authorities said almost 1,000 people have been confirmed dead but this toll is expected to rise. Tens of thousands are still reported missing.

Emergency teams are racing against time to dig through shattered concrete, listening for any sign of life. In the Caracas district of Chacao, rescuers pull survivors from a collapsed apartment building while others remain trapped inside.

GUSTAVO DUQUE, MAYOR OF CHACAO, VENEZUELA (through translator): We have rescued three people and there are three more alive inside the structure. God willing, they will be rescued very soon.

POZZEBON: As Venezuela struggles to cope with the scale of the disaster, international help is finally trickling in. The United States is sending elite rescue teams, military transport and $150 million in humanitarian aid.

El Salvador, Mexico, Colombia and several other countries have also deployed search and rescue crews, medical teams and emergency supplies.

DIANA CORRALES, HEAD OF USAR COL-1 TEAM (through translator): We specialize in urban search and rescue and collapse structures. Our team is trained to conduct search, rescue and recovery operations in structural collapse scenarios, the kind of emergency Venezuela is currently facing.

POZZEBON: But the logistical challenges to mobilize the aid remain. These relief convoys loaded with food and water are heading toward the hardest hit communities as officials work to support tens of thousands of displaced families. While the priority remains to rescue survivors before time runs out -- Stefano Pozzebon, CNN, Bogota, Colombia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABDELAZIZ: For more, I'm joined now by Belit Tasdemir. He's a former U.N. liaison officer with AKUT Search and Rescue Association. It's a Turkish non-governmental organization for disaster search and rescue relief.

Good morning. First of all to you. Thank you for making the time to speak to us.

[04:10:00]

BELIT TASDEMIR, FORMER U.N. LIAISON OFFICER WITH AKUT SEARCH AND RESCUE ASSOCIATION: Good morning. Salma.

ABDELAZIZ: I know that you were involved in the search and rescue efforts after that very devastating earthquake in Turkiye in 2023. And I know that, you know, in your experience, there's just this very short, golden window of opportunity to save people, to pull them out from under the rubble.

In your experience, how long is left to pull people out from under the rubble right now in Venezuela?

And what do those efforts look like on the ground?

TASDEMIR: So as you said, Salma, the first 72 hours is usually the most -- statistically the most critical window of opportunity for rescuers to respond. This is because international efforts or even nationwide efforts may not have been able to pool in time to the devastated areas.

And so in those first hours, what will happen is that the locals will try to do everything they can to help their neighbors, help -- to help the local businesses, to rescue their -- to -- for the rescue efforts.

The challenge remains, though, that, in this case, although the Venezuelan government did call for international assistance rather quickly, because of Venezuela's location then, international mobilization has faced some difficulties.

But as you've seen in the clip beforehand, that international help is arriving. And many of these teams have arrived within the first 72- hour window. And this creates a bit of an advantage, because we are hearing that Venezuelan authorities are already tasking arriving teams to sites to commence rescue.

So the -- with its challenges, the international rescue is arriving rather quickly and within still the 72-hour window. ABDELAZIZ: But it's not just manpower you need. And it's so

important. You brought up those very first hours when we see people oftentimes quite literally digging with their bare hands to find their loved ones.

But once that help comes in, it's not just about the expertise; it's about having the specialist equipment.

What do people need on the ground now to save lives?

TASDEMIR: So the rescuers you will see will be utilizing what we call technical search equipment. This can be both visual, acoustic and seismic to be able to see inside the rubble and also to be able to detect any sounds or seismic movements that the rubble might have once they arrive at the work site.

The other piece of equipment that the rescue squads will utilize is air monitoring, because you will see that, you know, we don't know about what toxic gases that might be released, whether there's lack of oxygen on the site or whether there is too much of carbon dioxide or other toxic gases. So they will utilize air monitoring on sites.

The -- what's also needed as a resource for that matter is also structural engineering expertise so that the rescue teams can assess the damage in the building and be able -- in order to be able to perhaps look at how they can stabilize the building.

What may that be mechanical -- with mechanical or timber shoring to make it safe, relatively safe for the rescuers to access the building. Another resource, of course, before that happens would be the rescue dogs.

You would have seen that many, many rescue teams are bringing rescue dogs and search dogs with them to be able to detect whether there are live victims within the rubble piles. And once the location is somewhat determined, then the rescue teams can put together and strategize on how to extricate that victim safely.

ABDELAZIZ: And I was actually in Turkiye during that 2023 earthquake as a reporter. And I remember watching those very complex rescue operations you're talking about. They were playing live on television and you could feel the whole country was holding its breath, waiting for people to be pulled out.

Talk to me about the emotions that you think the people of Venezuela are going through right now.

TASDEMIR: So of course, this is difficult to describe having -- I've also experienced this emotion as one of the citizens of the country that was devastated in 2023. Now it's difficult to contain in many ways that, you know, it's your own people that's being trapped.

But then you also have all these international rescuers arriving completely out of goodwill in a completely -- in an apolitical approach to just to help people. And that creates a influx of emotions, shall we say, with -- it's bittersweet, I would say, where you have thousands and thousands of your own people that have been lost.

You may not know where your loved ones are, whether they're -- whether they're well or alive even.

[04:15:00]

But on the other hand, you have international rescuers who are pouring in from the world just to help you. And that is quite an emotional experience to go through, I would say.

ABDELAZIZ: That goodwill is so important right now for those who need it most on the ground. Thank you so much for breaking down for us, those very complex rescue efforts that are taking place. Belit Tasdemir, thank you.

TASDEMIR: Thank you.

ABDELAZIZ: People in Western Europe may be getting a break from extreme heat this weekend but the heat wave is not done yet. Details in a moment on how it's still impacting parts of Germany and other countries in the region.

And later, oil and jet fuel prices are going down. But so far airfares are not. We're going to explain why ahead on CNN. Stay with us.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

ABDELAZIZ: The race to reach the World Cup knockout stage delivered even more drama during Friday's six games, continuing one team's fairytale story and ending the World Cup dreams of heavyweight Uruguay.

[04:20:03]

Cabo Verde's fairytale story headed into its next chapter after the team eliminated Saudi Arabia in a scoreless draw. The tiny island nation has officially become the smallest country to ever reach a World Cup knockout stage.

Belgium rounded out their group stage with a 5-1 win over New Zealand, advancing to the next round. And Egypt made history, reaching the knockout round for the first time after a 1-1 draw with Iran. Team Iran must now wait for the final group stage results to learn whether they'll advance.

When a World Cup match comes down to penalties, physical skill is only a part of the equation. CNN "WORLD SPORT'"s Don Riddell speaks with a sports psychologist who spent years studying what it takes to perform when it matters most.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GEIR JORDET, AUTHOR: For most of these players, this will be the largest amount of pressure that they've ever felt in their lives

(MUSIC PLAYING)

DON RIDDELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There is nothing in any sport quite like the nerve-shredding tension of a penalty shootout. And in the World Cup, the stakes just couldn't be any higher.

JORDET: They know the consequences. They know that if they miss often, that's it for their team. And this is something that will define their legacy forever.

RIDDELL (voice-over): The penalty takers must score but there's more to the job than just hitting the back of the net.

JORDET: This may be the most important single task you do in your whole life. It's going to be. It's going to be difficult. A penalty kick is not designed for you to feel, well, this is a job you have to do. You have to just focus on getting your job done.

The best specialist penalty takers have this almost mechanical machinelike, almost rigid behavioral signature, where you can tell that this is not their first rodeo.

And what is more beneficial in terms of your focus at this moment is probably to focus on all those little steps, all those little behaviors, all those little tasks that you can solve before the shot actually comes.

So what do you do before the shot?

How do you walk up to the to the penalty mark?

When do you step up to the penalty mark?

Depending on where the goalkeeper is standing, how do you walk back?

What do you do when the whistle goes?

Do you take a deep breath?

Do you take two deep breaths?

Do you wait a little bit?

Do you run toward the ball right away?

Then you take the shot and you score hopefully. And your job is not over. What's important at this point is to make sure that that goal counts. And what I mean by that is now it's time to celebrate.

We've done studies on this showing that the more intense you celebrate your goal, the higher the chance is that you end up on the winning team in the penalty shoot. And the reason for that is that these emotions are contagious.

They will rub off on your teammates who will get a little bit of confidence from your big display of positive affection and it will annoy the opponents. It will just send signals of dominance to your opponents, where their confidence will actually go down a little bit.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABDELAZIZ: The record-breaking heat wave in Europe would have been virtually impossible just a few decades ago. That's new analysis from a scientific network, which attributes the heat to the climate crisis caused by humans.

The scientists say the world has warmed by nearly 2 degrees Fahrenheit over the past 50 years and that increases the chances of extreme heat.

The heat wave in Europe has led to power outages, disrupted rail services, closed tourist attractions and forced thousands of schools to shut this month. Our Anna Stewart went looking for the hottest workplaces in London.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It feels pretty much too hot to do anything here in the U.K. let alone work. It's one thing if you work in an air conditioned office but not everyone does.

Join me on a sweaty trip around town. Let's see who is roasting the most. As you can imagine, it gets pretty hot in a dry cleaners. We put the thermometer right by the ironing station. It hit 36 degrees centigrade. That is around 97 degrees Fahrenheit. It is hot but I think we can find somewhere hotter.

Restaurants are struggling. At the Hoppers restaurant in Soho, the kitchen is between 46 and 48 degrees centigrade. That's roughly 110 to 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Tam, the General Manager, spent the morning on the roof fixing the air conditioning unit.

TAMLIN ARMSTRONG, GENERAL MANAGER, HOPPERS RESTAURANT: This is my second T-shirt today, so it's yes. Lot of sweat but yes, it should be good.

STEWART: How hot does it get in the kitchen?

Because there's somewhere that's much harder to control.

ARMSTRONG: So yes. I mean, kitchens all year round are hot but this particular time of year is increasing in temperature.

[04:25:03]

So we have put in added fans in there.

STEWART: Pretty hot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Very hot.

STEWART: Very, very hot. This pizzeria is also pretty hot, with the front of house describing the pizza oven as the gates of hell. ZOLILE NYANGWA, FRONT OF HOUSE, BREADSTALL: The fridges over there, we have lots of drinks in them. None of them are cold. So it's just a really big uphill battle.

Like, we're constantly rotating things from different fridges to make sure that things can all get cold, customers get cold drinks and then we're constantly circulating fans in one spot, fans in another spot because we want everybody to at least feel a breeze. We don't want people to, like, pass out due to heat exhaustion or anything.

STEWART: And there are workplaces that may be even hotter than the kitchens. Well, this is probably one of the hottest places you could work, a construction site.

Workers here have told us it is unbearably hot, really dusty. We weren't actually allowed in by management to put my thermometer up there, so I haven't got a reading. But if you take a look, you can see all the tarpaulin. That's where the workers are. When the sun hit that, it must have created something of a furnace.

The U.K. is simply not built for this heat and some are feeling it more than others. So how hot is just too hot to work?

Well, here in the U.K. legally, there is no upper limit in terms of temperature. Employers do have to provide and I'll "a reasonable temperature in the workplace." But what does reasonable really mean?

There's also a fun plot twist here. Legislation shows that employees have to provide thermometers for their employees so you can monitor just how hot you are in the workplace but you may not be able to do anything about it. Anna Stewart, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABDELAZIZ: We're going to take a quick break. For our viewers in North America, I'll have more news in a moment. For our international viewers, "CNN CREATORS" is next.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:30:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and Canada. I'm Salma Abdelaziz in London.

The U.S.-Iran interim agreement to end the war is being put to a major test following new U.S. military strikes.

On Friday, U.S. CENTCOM said it had hit a series of Iranian military targets. It said that was a response to an earlier Iranian drone attack on a cargo ship near the Strait of Hormuz. Iran reportedly launched counter strikes on U.S. positions but there's no confirmation from Washington on that.

President Donald Trump called the Iranian attack a foolish violation and said Iran still has some military muscle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We had to take that detour to knock out Iran. If we didn't do that. And we're still, you know, we still have a fight. They have some capability, not much. They're not winning or anything but they have some they can still shoot. You know, they shot a, a drone yesterday, a big ship going into the Hormuz Strait.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ: In response to the U.S. attack, a top Iranian lawmaker is blasting Washington for reportedly using force in the middle of negotiations.

For more on all of this, I want to bring in Simon Kelly. He is a retired U.K. Royal Navy commodore. He's also a maritime operations leader and defense consultant at The Fozzie Miller Group. He is in St. Moritz in Switzerland.

Good morning. First of all to you. Thank you so much for joining us.

COMMODORE SIMON KELLY (RET.), MARITIME OPERATIONS LEADER, THE FOZZIE MILLER GROUP: Good morning, Salma.

ABDELAZIZ: Now I know Iran is not confirming, it is not revealing that it has struck this cargo ship by drone earlier this week. But what is clear is that Tehran is exercising its control over this very critical waterway.

As a maritime expert, what is the implications of that?

KELLY: Yes, I think you've put your finger on it there. I think this is very much a demonstration by the Iranians that they still hold the lever over the Strait of Hormuz.

So in the background, you know, not far from where I am in Switzerland, we have the negotiations taking place for what will follow after what was just a memorandum of understanding.

And at the same time, you've also got secretary of state Marco Rubio in the region visiting Gulf Cooperation Council foreign ministers. And he was talking about the Strait of Hormuz as Iran were taking this action.

It's really difficult to know what level decisions are made with any precision in the Iranian regime. But this is certainly the Iranians signaling that this is not over. And you can almost see this as an negotiating point by the Iranians.

ABDELAZIZ: But as you said, it's a negotiating point. So cat's out of the box in a way. Like why would Iran ever rescind its control that it's established now over the Strait of Hormuz? It's a very powerful resource. It's a money maker. It's a bargaining chip.

Why would they let go?

KELLY: Yes, I think it's a really difficult set of negotiations that the lead negotiators and the Americans are entering into now.

And I think that level of control that the Iranians have demonstrated over the Strait of Hormuz, the way they've held the international markets and the community to ransom is something that's really difficult to see them letting go of.

And even in the wording and the memorandum of understanding and everything that has followed, at every stage, there has just been an allocation of control that that they will control the passage, they will manage the information coming through, they will grant permissions.

And from there, of course, there's just a small step to tolls as well. So I think what we've seen was a proportional response by the Americans. I think that's the right thing to do.

Because you can't fail to respond to this level of Iranian aggression and that dominance over the region without demonstrating that you two have control and you two are at the table with something really important to say.

ABDELAZIZ: And in the midst of all of this, the U.N. had to suspend its operations this week to extract hundreds of stranded ships and thousands of seafarers from the strait.

Do you know more about the calls to suspend that mission and what it means for those stranded on that critical waterway?

KELLY: Yes, I think the International Maritime Organization, which is the regulatory body for the United Nations for shipping -- so think about safety and environmental.

[04:35:04]

And very much their focus has been on seafarers.

Their ability to broker this deal between the Iranians, the Omanis and the shipping companies has been a really big thing. The vessel that was struck wasn't taking part of this evacuation. It was taking its own passage through the strait.

But quite rightly, the IMO has stepped back from that, what they're calling the evacuation, which was initially it was really successful. We saw over 3.5 days, I think we saw about 600 vessels leave -- correction, sorry; 115 of the 600 vessels leave the strait.

But the community, the maritime community is founded on trust and what they what the IMO will want to do is just stop, find out where the breakdown was because then negotiation was with foreign affairs level with the Iranians.

This action was probably taken by the IRGC. And so what they might do is reengage with the Iranians to try and find out how they start this up again, to free those ships coming out, because it was really successful.

It's quite important to say, though, we're still seeing ships move. They're using the southern corridor. They're using the Iranian corridor as well. So it hasn't stopped everything altogether. It's just paused the IMO's efforts to get ships and, most importantly, seafarers out in good order.

ABDELAZIZ: Simon Kelly there on the efforts to restore movement on the Strait of Hormuz. Thank you very much for your time.

With the potential path to peace with Iran in sight, oil prices have been falling and jet fuel supplies have been improving. But so far that's not adding up to lower airfares for summer travelers. CNN Business senior reporter David Goldman explains what's going on here.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR REPORTER: So jet fuel prices are down a ton.

So what does that mean for your airfares?

Well, jet fuel prices falling 42 percent since their peak in April.

Remember in April, when jet fuel prices were double what they were before the war?

And all of those airlines said, well, we're going to have to raise prices. Well, they did. They made good on that promise. And prices are still around 20 percent higher now than they were a year ago.

Well, why aren't they falling if jet fuel prices are falling?

Well, that has everything to do with demand, right?

Have you been to an airport lately?

It looks like this. It's chaos. There are lots of people trying to go on summer travel. Well, demand for airfare has not fallen at all. In fact, it has increased over the past year despite those high prices.

And if people are still willing to pay, well, then airlines have no incentive to lower their rates. And that's exactly what Delta CEO Ed Bastian said just a couple of days ago, that, you know what?

We're not going to raise airfares from where they are right now but we're also not going to lower them. And that's one of the reasons why people hate this economy.

Consumer sentiment has just fallen to a record low, actually just rebounding just a little bit. You're going to have to use your microscope to see that. But you can see from the pandemic how this has fallen dramatically. And that's because prices have just kept going up and up and up.

Inflation is not fully under control yet. It's not where it was in 2022 but it is still really high. And so as prices continue to rise, people get angry. But -- and this is crucial -- they are still spending. And as long as people are willing to spend, despite how much they hate this economy, prices can continue to stay high.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABDELAZIZ: President Trump has previewed a new commemorative U.S. passport that features his image. He posted a rendering on social media showing the text of the Declaration of Independence, a painting of the Founding Fathers and the president standing behind the Resolute Desk.

The limited edition passport is intended to mark America's 250th anniversary and was first announced in April.

The Texas State Board of Education is now requiring millions of public school students to study the Bible in their classrooms. The board approved a new list of required reading that includes Bible verses alongside classic literature.

The move is part of a broader nationwide effort to bring more Christian teachings into public schools. Critics say mandating Bible readings is a violation of the constitutional separation of church and state.

We're going to take a quick break but there's much more on this to come on CNN, including a look at the plea deal made by Trump ally turned critic John Bolton in a case involving classified information.

[04:40:05]

Plus the latest in the case against the man accused of killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk. We'll have details on two important rulings from that judge

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

ABDELAZIZ: President Trump took a social media victory lap on Friday after his former national security adviser, John Bolton, pleaded guilty to one charge of unlawfully retaining national security information.

Bolton accepted a plea deal. He now faces a substantial fine and possibly time in prison. CNN crime and justice correspondent Katelyn Polantz has the details for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: At the federal courthouse in Maryland, a day that the Justice Department and the Trump administration has wanted to see for a long time.

John Bolton saying he is guilty of mishandling or illegally retaining classified information, information he was learning in intelligence briefings about covert plans, things he was talking about with foreign officials, with the CIA, the National Security Agency, with U.S. military leaders.

The things in the U.S. government's possession that are top secret that Bolton and few others had access to, he had written those details he was learning in 2018 and 2019 in the Trump White House.

Writing them down on yellow notepads and then typing them up, sending them to himself and saving them for his own personal use, like diaries or an archive, he ultimately wrote that's where he split with Donald Trump. And Trump has been very publicly saying that he believes Bolton is a bad guy.

But now, we see Bolton in federal court. On Friday, whenever he was before the judge, he said that he was sorry about what he did. He didn't have time to say much more. He will be able to say more at his sentencing set for late October. But at this point in time, Bolton has pled guilty.

[04:45:00]

The U.S. attorney's office of Maryland secured that conviction. And the U.S. attorney Kelly Hayes, she was in the courtroom along with about 20 other different people from the federal government attorneys from the Justice Department, FBI officials.

So quite a show of force here for the Trump administration as they secure this very rare conviction of a former top official in the Trump White House the first time he was president -- back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABDELAZIZ: A federal judge in Los Angeles has declared a mistrial in the Palisades arson case. The prosecution accused Jonathan Rinderknecht of starting the deadly Palisades wildfire in 2025.

But after a day of deliberation, the jury told the judge on Friday that they were deadlocked. According to the foreperson, 10 jurors voted not guilty and two voted to convict. Despite the mistrial, the prosecution says it intends to retry the case.

A Utah judge has ruled to keep the death penalty in place as a possible punishment for the man accused of killing Charlie Kirk. Tyler Robinson faces murder and other charges for allegedly gunning down the conservative activists last September. But the judge did side with the defense on another issue, as CNN's Josh Campbell reports for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: The judge in the case of the man accused of murdering conservative activist Charlie Kirk just ruled that one of the prosecutors on the case is now held in civil contempt.

Now this followed a motion from the defense of Tyler Robinson. He stands accused of Kirk's murder. They wanted to hold the prosecutor in contempt based on statements that were made to the media in apparent violation of the judge's original order.

Now what the judge has said is that this is a case that has wide publicity, worldwide coverage and he was afraid that if either side made any statements to the press that could unfairly prejudice the eventual trial.

Now this also stemmed from a motion that the defense had filed, essentially trying to characterize ballistics reports from U.S. federal law enforcement.

What the defense motion had indicated was that the ATF, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, had determined that a bullet that was found at the scene did not match a firearm that was later recovered.

Now what the prosecutor said was that that was highly misleading. What the ATF actually found was that they could not make a decision either way, whether that bullet was connected.

The prosecutor then went and spoke to various media outlets trying to correct that record. The judge seemed to have no issue with that. But what did appear to trip up the prosecutor is that he went on to say that the state's evidence in the case is strong, that he believed that Robinson would eventually be convicted.

Now it was that portion that the judge determined violated his order about pretrial publicity, as well as the state's behavioral guidelines for prosecutors, their ethical standards that they have to adhere to. Again, ruling civil contempt in this case.

Now what the defense had asked for was that the death penalty in this case be taken off the table. But the judge said he's not going to do that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUDGE TONY GRAF JR., FOURTH DISTRICT COURT, UTAH STATE COURTS: The defendant argues that the appropriate sanction to remedy this prejudice, is to strike the state's notice of intent to seek the death penalty. The court declines to adopt this requested remedy.

Such an act would cross the threshold into criminal contempt sanctions and would also risk an improper judicial intrusion into the executive branch's prosecutorial discretion.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CAMPBELL: Now the judge said one other remedy here is that he might actually expand the jury pool once he gets around to that portion of the prosecution, as well as expand the list of questions that prospective jurors are asked by both the prosecution and defense.

Again, it appears that the goal here is to try to determine, did anyone in this jury pool, were they influenced by what they may have seen based on this media coverage?

It is worth noting that Tyler Robinson has not yet entered a plea in this prosecution -- Josh Campbell, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABDELAZIZ: A major leap in North Korea's naval capabilities as the country shows off its new warship.

But the question is, did they build it themselves?

Stay with us.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:50:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

ABDELAZIZ: It appears a small plane has hit the tallest building in Beijing. Social media video shows debris falling from the 109-story CITIC tower, also known as China Zun, on Friday. Beijing authorities have not confirmed the crash or released any details about it.

What -- we do not know how many people were on board the plane or if anyone was injured. People were seen evacuating the skyscraper. Plane crashes are a rare sight in Beijing. Drones and planes are highly restricted above China's fortified capital.

Now to North Korea, where it is showing off its military might by debuting the largest warship in its history. The isolated country says they built the new destroyer on their own. But as CNN's Will Ripley shows us, there's more to the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: North Korea's largest ever warship, the Choe Hyon, can fire a salvo of nuclear capable missiles in seconds, state TV says. As seen in this multi- camera cinematically shot demonstration earlier this year.

A carefully choreographed show of military might starring North Korean leader Kim Jong U.N. and his daughter and rumored successor, believed to be in her early teens, Kim Ju Ae. She did not join her father at this week's grand commissioning ceremony, also broadcast on North Korean state television. Kim donning a Panama hat in classic strongman style, inspecting his

new destroyer's big guns. Crew members smile for a photo with their Supreme Leader. But nobody was smiling just over a year ago when a similar destroyer partially capsized during launch.

Satellite images showed a catastrophic failure. One side submerged parts of the hull draped in blue tarps.

Worse still, Marshal Kim was watching from shore. He called the botched launch a criminal act that brought shame to the nation.

[04:55:00]

They arrested shipbuilders, engineers and military leaders but never disclosed their fates. The capsized ship was eventually refloated, launched again and began sea trials this month.

Now Kim is declaring a new chapter in North Korean naval history, an end to over 70 years of stagnation. He said, in terms of military hardware, the navy was the weakest of all the services of our armed forces.

Things have changed. Sanctions were supposed to stop Kim from building warships like this. Instead, North Korea says it built this destroyer entirely on its own. Outside experts are not so sure. How did they build a warship this sophisticated this quickly?

Some analysts suspect Russian assistance, pointing to Kim's growing military alliance with leader Vladimir Putin. Neither Moscow nor Pyongyang has acknowledged any such help.

Some experts also point to similarities between North Korea's new warships and Russian naval designs. Kim says he wants to build two of these 5,000 ton destroyers or bigger every year for the next five years. As Kim sets sail on his quest to build a nuclear capable navy, whether North Korea can actually match those ambitions remains to be seen.

North Korea is still no match for the naval power of South Korea and the United States but this destroyer does mark a turning point. For decades, Pyongyang relied on submarines, fast attack boats and coastal defenses.

Now Kim Jong U.N. is trying to build a blue water navy capable of operating in deep ocean much farther from home and carrying his nuclear ambitions with it. Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABDELAZIZ: Thank you so much for watching. I'm Salma Abdelaziz. I'll be back with more news right after a quick break.