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U.S. Launches Strikes On Iran As Donald Trump Says Ceasefire "Over"; Donald Trump Gripes About Lack Of Support, Ends Talks On High Note; U.S. Launches Strikes on Iran as Trump Says Ceasefire is Over; Oil Surges as Trump Says Ceasefire is Over; Typhoon Bavi Expected to Hit Mainland China Saturday; in Venezuela, Death Toll Rises to 3,800+ Two Weeks After Disaster; Egypt-Argentina Match Puts VAR Technology Under Scrutiny; E.U. Rejects Request to Suspend New Border Control System; the Nominations for the 78th Emmy Awards Are Out. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired July 09, 2026 - 02:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:00:33]

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Ivan Watson in Hong Kong.

Just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, a second day in a row of strikes between the U.S. and Iran, just hours after Donald Trump said he believes the cease fire is over.

The U.S. president lashes out at NATO allies, but gives Ukraine a military show of support.

Plus, with World Cup quarterfinals set to kick off, the controversy surrounding Egypt shows no signs of fading.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Hong Kong, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Ivan Watson.

WATSON: Hi, there. We begin with new developments in the Middle East, where the U.S. and Iran have traded strikes for a second night after President Trump said the cease fire is over. In the last few hours, Iran has been retaliating for those strikes again, targeting U.S. military bases in Bahrain and Kuwait.

Earlier, President Trump posted these videos of explosions on social media. He warns the strikes will get much worse if Iran attacked more ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian state media reported explosions in several cities. In one strike, Iran says a railway bridge was hit. Iran's health ministry says at least 14 people have been killed in the past two days of U.S. strikes.

U.S. Central Command now says its latest strikes are complete after hitting about 90 Iranian military targets. President Trump had this reaction aboard Air Force One.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We just hit them very hard, and I say we hit them 20 to one. Every time they hit us, we're going to hit them 20, and we did it last night. It did a little something today, but it was really retribution for last night. They hit actually three boats, not two, and when they hit, we hit back much harder. They have very little left, and they want to make a deal so badly. They called a little while ago. They want to make a deal so badly. I just don't know if they're worthy of making it. I don't know that they're going to honor the deal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: All right. CNN's Paula Hancocks joins us now from Abu Dhabi. Good to see you, Paula.

So, now we have about 48 hours of strikes and counter strikes. Can you kind of bring us up to date? What's the scale of the damage you're hearing about, both in Iran and in the countries that Iran has been targeting, Kuwait and Bahrain?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, Ivan, what we've heard from U.S. Central Commanders that over the past 48 hours, the past two nights, we have seen something like 170 military targets being focused on. Now, CENTCOM has said that it is largely to do with coastline areas, it is the port cities, the air defense systems which are along the Strait of Hormuz and alongside the water.

We have heard from Iran state media saying that they had explosions and damage in Bandar Abbas, which is a port city, also Sirik, and also they have mentioned that there was one area in the northern part of Iran, Aqqala, that's about 900 miles north of the Strait of Hormuz. They say that a railway bridge was targeted in that particular area.

We have reached out to central commanders, that is not within what we have been seeing over the past 48 hours, and certainly key infrastructure is not what is being targeted at the moment, although the U.S. president did say on Wednesday that they will focus on infrastructure should the attacks on the vessels within the Strait of Hormuz continue.

Now, we heard from state media as well, 14 have been killed, something like 78 wounded. That's the latest figure they have from the past two days.

Now, we have seen Bahrain and Kuwait once again bearing the brunt of the Iranian retaliation. Bahrain, of course, home to the U.S. Navy Fifth Fleet, Kuwait, also with a number of U.S. military air bases and infrastructure. We don't, at this point this morning, have any indication on whether there were casualties or damage in those two countries. We do know that the emergency alerts have been sounding in the early hours of this Thursday morning, so two nights without much sleep for residents in those two Gulf nations.

[02:05:16] We did hear from one U.S. official speaking to CNN, familiar with these discussions, saying that President Trump's frustration over the strike on the vessels in the Strait of Hormuz during the time he was at NATO was in large part responsible for his decision to decide to go ahead with these strikes.

We've heard from Iran's chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. I'll read you part of his social media post. He says, "If you strike, you will get hit. Don't flail around pointlessly, or you'll sink even deeper. The Strait of Hormuz will only open with Iranian arrangements, not American threats."

Iran making it very clear that they are in charge, as far as they're concerned, of the Strait of Hormuz. Vessels should be taking the Iranian-approved routes, not what they are quite often doing now, which is further south in that critical waterway, hugging the Omani coast. Ivan.

WATSON: Yes, and this all basically stems from the Strait of Hormuz, and the U.S. accusations that the Iran fired at commercial ships trying to transit that strait earlier this week, and thus setting off this round to two rounds of deadly violence.

Now, what is happening in the Strait right now? What is the state of commercial shipping at this point amid these latest rounds of strikes and counter strikes?

HANCOCKS: So, the latest figures we have at this point is from Wednesday, and this is from Marine Traffic, saying that 20 vessels had managed to transit the Strait of Hormuz in both directions over the previous 24 hours.

Now, compare that to a pre-war level of 110. It is very low compared to what it usually is. We did see U.S. officials say that it was Iranian missiles and drones that were targeting these vessels, one Saudi vessel, one Qatari vessel, we understand, were impacted.

So, certainly there is a concern of not just the insurance companies that are insuring these vessels, but also those aboard the vessels themselves if they want to risk going through this critical waterway.

We did have an update just on Wednesday from the U.N. Maritime Agency. They had been trying to organize the evacuation of some 11,000 seafarers within the Persian Gulf, who had been stuck there since this war started, many of them since February 28th.

Now, they say that still, because they had to halt that evacuation after a few days, after there were attacks on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, they say there are still some 6,000 that are still stranded. They managed to evacuate a few thousand at the end of June, but it was only a few days that that evacuation was ongoing, because they deemed it too dangerous to be able to try and evacuate more seafarers, Ivan.

WATSON: And important to stress that before the U.S. and Israel jointly launched this war against Iran at the end of February of this year, the Strait of Hormuz was wide open. There were no security incidents that we were reporting involving that strategic commercial shipping going through that body of water.

Paula Hancocks in Abu Dhabi. Thank you very, very much for your live update.

Now, this is the second straight night that Bahrain and Kuwait have sounded their sirens due to Iran's retaliatory strikes. Earlier, Kuwait's army said its air defenses were responding to hostile missile and drone threats. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC has warned that it will expand its strikes and hit other American bases in the region if the U.S. continues its attacks.

Joining us now from Kuwait City is Bader Al-Saif. He is Professor of History at Kuwait University and an Associate Fellow at the British think tank Chatham House. Great to see you, Professor.

Can I just ask, you know, there in Kuwait City, have you seen signs over the past two nights, indicators, air raid sirens of these bombardments of Kuwait claimed by the IRGC?

BADER AL-SAIF, PROFESSOR OF HISTORY, KUWAIT UNIVERSITY: Well, Ivan, we have been hit in the past two nights, as you've noted, we've had the sirens off on both nights. Our armed forces have intercepted the missiles and strikes yesterday. We haven't heard about today's details yet in terms of the attack scale from Iran.

And this is really unfortunate, because Kuwait, Bahrain, the rest of the Gulf states are being treated as collateral damage, whereas the attacks are coming from the U.S. You have a U.S. aircraft carriers that are carrying these attacks. They could have been bearing the brunt of the attacks, but they haven't --and this does not bode well for Iran's relationship with its larger neighborhood, and they need to keep that in mind forward.

[02:10:19]

It's also unfortunate, Ivan, let me tell you that we're treating symptoms, and we're not going after the underlying causes. The attacks were spurred by the Strait of Hormuz, the question of freedom of navigation, which the U.S. rightly so, along with its neighbors in the Gulf, want to protect, because that's how we have been treating international waterways.

Iran, on the other hand, has been using it as leverage, trying to deter the U.S. and others from moving alongside those attacks in the region.

WATSON: So, where do you see this going from now? I mean, you've had President Trump say that the MOU is basically over. He's called the Iranian leadership scum. How is that being received in Kuwait and Bahrain under this renewed bombardment, and in other capitals across the Gulf right now?

AL-SAIF: This is not new from Mr. Trump. We've seen him pull something similar in the past. What worries us in the region is normalizing attacks, Ivan. We shouldn't be entering into a frozen conflict phase, which seems to be how the cease fire has been interpreted. It hasn't been a real cease fire, and we've been trading jobs at one another, whether it be the U.S. at Iran or Iran at American what it claims to be American assets in the region, namely in the Gulf states.

And look, at the end of the day, the mediators are going to come in, we're going to be walking through this negotiation, it's going to be a tough one, but we need to be inclusive. We need to enclose everyone's voices into these negotiations, and we need to go after the real issues.

The freedom of navigation has only come in after the U.S.-Israel attack on Iran, and this is something that has been added to a long list of grievances that the Gulf states have had on Iran, and it's not even the Gulf states, at this stage, you know, you talked about the sailors earlier with a reporter. We talk about all the goods that are going in and out that have been disrupted. This is not good for the well-being of the international community at large, and that's what needs to be safeguarded in the coming period.

WATSON: Can I ask, just there in Kuwait City, is the airport functioning normally? Are people going about their business day to day normally, or are there signs that people are worried that there could be further escalation that could impact the civilian populace there?

AL-SAIF: Let me tell you, I flew in yesterday myself. The airport is functioning properly. I came in after the first night of attacks, the terminals are moving seamlessly, people are going in and out. We've been resilient in our response to these attacks, and this has only reinforced how we carry out our own day-to-day events in the Gulf.

But we shouldn't confuse resilience with sustaining this for a long time. We need to move into a new phase in which peace stability becomes the actual focus for the region at large, and that needs to also look at all the files that are being interconnected as we speak. We're not only looking at attacks in the Gulf Island, we're looking at also attacks that Israel is carrying out in Lebanon and Gaza and Syria, and those have been also derailing the discussions.

WATSON: Right. And are you confident that Kuwait's interests and the interests of your GCC partners will be included in any future negotiations, if there are in fact future negotiations after this dead -- these rounds of deadly violence?

AL-SAIF: Look, the Gulf states shouldn't count on the U.S.-Iran talks to secure and advance their interests alone. They need to go for direct negotiations with the Iranians, the ones that would then safeguard our interests collectively on both sides of the Gulf, and to rethink how we want to move forward in this region together.

WATSON: All right, Professor Bader Al-Saif live from Kuwait City. Thank you very, very much for your valuable perspective.

All right, the final procession and burial will be held in the coming hours for Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Ceremonies have been held across Iran and even in Iraq. You're looking at pictures from the Iraqi city of Karbala a little earlier. Large crowds of mourners carried his coffin to a shrine there on Wednesday. It's part of a weeklong funeral for Khamenei, who was killed in a joint U.S.-Israeli attack at the start of the war.

A looming question is whether much about Khamenei, the new Supreme Leader and son of the slain Ayatollah, will attend the burial.

[02:15:06]

Ahead of the NATO summit, the mood was dark, but President Trump put a rosy spin on the proceedings. We'll talk about the turnaround and the takeaways just ahead.

Plus, Ukraine brings the harsh reality of war to a region long occupied by Russia. We'll have more after the break.

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WATSON: Welcome back to the program. President Trump just got back to the U.S. from the NATO summit in Turkey. These images of his return to Joint Base Andrews coming in just a little while ago.

[02:20:04]

Now, while in Ankara, he complained that allies hadn't backed him up in the war against Iran, but he ended the summit on a positive note, praising members for what he called their tremendous unification and love.

Meanwhile, Turkey's president said President Trump gave him encouraging signals about the possible sale of U.S. F-35 fighter jets despite a congressional ban.

And during a meeting with the Ukrainian President, Donald Trump said he will give Ukraine the ability to manufacture its own Patriot missile systems.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We're going to give a license to you to make Patriots. That's pretty cool, right? This way, you can't complain that we're not giving them enough. I'd say, make them yourself.

We haven't informed the company of that yet, but that'll work out all right. Sure, they'll be thrilled, but, you know, they'll be able to do it. You'll be able to figure that out. Most countries couldn't do that. If I said that to most countries, they wouldn't know what I'm talking about. But this is a very ingenious group, and what I like about that, it's a defensive -- it's a defensive situation, as opposed to an offensive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: All right, Steven Erlanger is the New York Times chief diplomatic correspondent, and he's with us live from the Turkish capital. Good to see you. Can you walk us through any big announcements or policy initiatives that came out of this NATO summit?

STEVEN ERLANGER, CHIEF DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENT, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Well, you've just described some of what Trump's wish list is to sell F-35s to Turkey really requires congressional approval, and that's going to be complicated to get Ukraine the right to do missiles, Patriot missiles raises security concerns, so that's going to be complicated.

But what NATO did in its quiet way, without Trump puffing and moaning about everybody, was to make progress toward what actually Trump wants, which is a NATO that has more European money, more European weapons, more European responsibility for conventional defense, that's what he wants, but he still complains about them anyway.

WATSON: He was doing a lot of complaining during his meeting with the NATO Secretary General, right before the formal NATO summit meeting. He was complaining about Spain, he was demanding Denmark hand over control of Greenland, but what actually happened during the meeting itself?

ERLANGER: Well, these are kind of like Trump's favorite hits, right? I mean, and he comes back to them constantly, which makes people very, very nervous. I mean, he obviously hasn't given up on certain ideas.

In the meeting, he was described as polite and quiet and listening, though he did push the Europeans very, very hard on military spending without berating them, and he went on and on for a bit about the dangers of migration to European civilization, which is an old theme of his.

But in general, at the fears that he would disrupt the meeting were totally off base, and he came out, as you said, talking about the love people were showing to him, which always pleases him very much.

WATSON: And presumably no following through on threats to withdraw U.S. forces from Europe, right?

ERLANGER: Well, he didn't talk about those. Those are still there. I mean, not all U.S. forces, but Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has made it clear there will be a serious force posture review in the next six months, and you know there will be good girls and bad girls, countries that are boosting their military spending and being nice, the United States will be better off than other countries.

But so far, the details have not been worked out, and the Europeans hope they can have a joint process, they can actually have a serious discussion with the Americans about what the -- what the Americans want to do and what they want to withdraw, and what the Europeans should do.

So far, that process has been lacking, and I think that bothers quite a lot of people.

WATSON: Steven, I'm struck when I see President Trump with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president. They're looking rather comfortable together and cordial, and when you contrast that to the beginning of his second term, when you had that famous scene in the White House where Trump and his top officials were berating and basically insulting Zelenskyy. What a difference these months have made? ERLANGER: Well, they've made a tremendous difference. I mean, partly because I think the Europeans, partly and the CIA Director John Ratcliffe have convinced Trump that Ukraine is actually holding its own, that it is doing pretty well.

[02:25:05]

Trump believed that, you know, Ukraine was just standing in the way of a dominant Russia and lives were being lost uselessly. I think he's changed his mind.

Zelenskyy has also gone out of his way to flatter Mr. Trump, which always works, and to thank him endlessly for whatever help the U.S. gets, even though the U.S. isn't providing money anymore to Ukraine, it is providing serious intelligence and targeting information, which is crucial to Ukraine's ability to stop the Russians.

And Trump likes winners, and he believes that Ukraine has is -- if it's not winning, it's certainly holding its own, so he actually admires that.

WATSON: Holding its own, but at a tremendous cost, as the last several days of deadly Russian bombardment on Ukrainian cities have shown.

Steven Erlanger live from Ankara. Thank you very, very much for sharing your observations there.

OK, now from a vacation hot spot to a place some residents describe as apocalyptic, Russian-occupied Crimea has been under a state of emergency for weeks. Fuel is in short supply, and power outages have become a part of daily life. Ukraine says it has escalated its military strikes on the peninsula, and the hardships are the result of a carefully calculated operation. Nick Paton Walsh explains what Ukraine wants to accomplish.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Ukraine is hitting Russia hard where it all began, occupied Crimea.

Taken first in 2014, it is a peninsula, and that makes it very vulnerable to being cut off. There are two ways in or out. First is the Kerch Bridge, which Ukraine has been hitting for years, and it's now beset by queues of thousands of anxious Russians trying to get out.

Second is the land bridge through occupied Ukraine. Many saw this as a big strategic gain from Russia's invasion in 2022, a way to cheaply and permanently connect Russia to this tourist Mecca, the jewel of the Soviet past.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Crimea, sacral importance for Russia, like the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

WALSH: Ukraine's 2023 counteroffensive tried to break through here, but failed, hitting huge Russian defenses. Now, they're flying over them, new mid-range Ukrainian drone capability, striking the road along the land bridge and Crimea's air defenses, leaving it vulnerable, and then the actual bridges to Crimea and the Russian trains and the roads.

Now, they're hitting ordinary infrastructure, refineries, power stations, meaning power cuts in the cities.

Queues at gas stations thick black smoke on the skyline, so yet more Russians are leaving.

Zelenskyy recently claimed that Russia has had to prioritize air defenses in Crimea and around Moscow as well. Putin has recently accepted economic challenges and indeed gas shortages as Ukraine's drone strikes increasingly cause chaos in ordinary Russian life.

So, what's the goal here? Make Crimea hard to live in, a place without tourists, gas, power, affordable food, and the land bridge to it, already itself a tough place to live in, seems less worth the cost.

And this is the wider point for Kyiv, seize on the growing questions inside Russia as to what the war is even for. If Crimea is effectively uninhabitable and the only gains they can claim are tiny bits of land, usually rubble in the Donbas, turn Crimea from a jewel in Putin's crown to leverage for Ukraine, perhaps in any future peace talks or even into a damaging thorn in Putin's side as he tries to navigate growing dissent about his war of choice.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATSON: OK, I'm going to have much more on our top story ahead. The U.S. unleashing a new round of attacks against Iran. We'll have a report from inside the country and get the Iranian response to these latest strikes.

And President Trump has made it clear he loves the new Air Force One given to him by Qatar. So, why did he leave the NATO summit in Turkey flying on the old one? The role Iran may have played in the change of planes, that's coming up.

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[02:34:02]

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT & ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWSROOM": Welcome back. I'm Ivan Watson in Hong Kong. An update now on the new fighting between the U.S. and Iran just hours after President Trump declared at the NATO Summit that the ceasefire is over.

He shared these images of damage from another round of airstrikes. U.S. Central Command says about 90 military targets were hit and that the action is meant to further degrade Iran's ability to threaten the Strait of Hormuz. Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps says it retaliated by again hitting U.S. military bases in Kuwait and Bahrain.

Iran's parliament speaker posted on X, quote, "America still hasn't learned that bullying and breaking promises are no longer cost free. If you strike, you'll get hit. CNN's Fred Pleitgen is in Tehran.

And as a reminder, CNN operates in Iran only with the permission of the government, but maintains full editorial control of its reports.

[02:35:00]

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: As U.S. Central Command announced that it is striking targets in Iran here on the ground in Tehran. So far, things remain quiet. However, Iranian state media is reporting that there are explosions in the places, especially around the Strait of Hormuz. Now, some of these places are areas that we've been talking about over the past couple of weeks and certainly also over the past couple of months as that war between the U.S. and Israel and Iran has been unfolding.

The Iranians saying that there are explosions, for instance, in the town of Bandar Abbas where, of course, there is a very large military port that's used by the Navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Also, the town of Sirik, which is in the eastern part of the Strait of Hormuz, also explosions being reported from there.

Now, the Iranians have said that there would be a massive response should there be attacks by the United States. Certainly, the Iranians saying the last set of strikes that the U.S. conducted, that the Iranians retaliated, hitting 85 places that the U.S. uses, for instance, in Bahrain and in Kuwait. The Iranians also warning the United States against a possible ground operation to try and take Kharg Island. The Iranians saying they would be waiting and would be a bloody operation for U.S. forces.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Tehran.

WATSON: At least 19 U.S. warships are taking part in the operations against Iran. Among them are two aircraft carriers, including the USS Abraham Lincoln. Now, CNN's Pamela Brown was on that ship as the U.S. fleet was preparing for the latest round of strikes.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN CHIEF INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: This is one of two aircraft carriers in the region. And you see behind me what's called the bridge, the flight tower. This is where all the shots are called. And you see the planes. Here they are on this deck.

There's F-35s, F-18s, Growlers, E-2s, all of them play certain roles in the conflict. Now, what we know for sure, per a U.S. official I spoke to, is that there will be defensive missions happening on the USS Abraham.

And in fact, there has already been a shift in operational plans in the wake of the Iranian attacks on those vessels. This ship left port early yesterday so that it could be out here at sea and ready to go in case orders are given. So you can see some of that preparation happening right now.

There's some maintenance happening over here on this helicopter. And then if we pan over here, you can see they pulled out some armaments, some missiles to put on the flights. Now, I'm told that would be standard operating procedure because tomorrow is a flight day.

But, of course, this takes on new meaning in the wake of the latest rhetoric from the president and the Iranians as well. So we'll have to wait and see. As one source said, it is a very dynamic situation here.

Pamela Brown, CNN, from the USS Abraham Lincoln.

WATSON: OK, now oil prices have surged after President Trump declared the ceasefire with Iran was over. Brent crude posted its biggest single-day gain since April, rising above $80 a barrel at one point on Wednesday.

And now, you can see the latest numbers for the global and U.S. benchmarks. And they're actually down, with Brent crude down to $77.83. The other, the WTI crude oil, down to $73.29. We'll keep monitoring that.

Still to come, how one man deported from the U.S. survived the deadly earthquakes in Venezuela. Plus, the latest on recovery efforts. All of that is just ahead.

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[02:43:17]

WATSON: We are looking at some fresh video that is giving us a look at the eye of Typhoon Bavi. That storm is churning through the Philippine Sea and headed towards Taiwan and mainland China. Parts of China are still recovering from typhoon Maysak which local officials say caused flooding that killed at least 39 people. China's National Meteorological Center says Bavi is expected to make landfall in southeastern China on Saturday.

Now it's been two weeks since Venezuela was hit by deadly back-to-back earthquakes. The death toll continues to rise in the aftermath with officials reporting more than 3,800 fatalities. International crews are still helping Venezuelan crews with the humanitarian crisis that's unfolding as a result of the damage. Japanese medics seen here are helping treat patients in a temporary camp for wounds, diseases and trauma related to the disaster.

Officials say nearly 18,000 people are now homeless. But some are doing all they can to help. One Venezuelan fashion designer has switched from making gowns to making body bags. He says it's his way of contributing after the disaster.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EFRAIN MOGOLLON, VENEZUELAN FASHION DESIGNER (through translator): Emotionally, it's very hard because we truly see that this is suffering that all Venezuelans are going through and experiencing. Of course, we do not want to have to do this, but we do it out of kindness and from the heart as a way of helping and that is what comforts us.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WATSON: We are also hearing stories of hope from families either reunited or waiting to be reunited after the earthquakes.

[02:45:00]

CNN's Carolina Peguero spoke with a woman whose father was deported from the U.S. back to Venezuela and then narrowly avoided death.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALBANIS PARRA, DAUGHTER OF EARTHQUAKE SURVIVOR (through translator): I found out my dad was in Venezuela on Tuesday, thanks to a woman who was helping me find him. On Wednesday, the earthquake happened, and I hadn't talked to him yet. I knew nothing of him since then. I didn't know if he was OK or not.

CAROLINA PEGUERO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Two weeks after the devastating earthquakes in Venezuela, Albanis Parra still hasn't processed the uncertainty she experienced not knowing about her father who had been on the last deportation flight on June 24. Today, he's alive by a miracle.

PARRA (through translator): My father survived by a miracle because he had a complaint filed against him by his sister from 15 years ago after an argument, and he was taken to a separate detention facility.

PEGUERO (voice-over): Her father, Alberto Jose Parra Villalobos, shares by a FaceTime call from Venezuela and explains how this miraculous detour saved his life, but not from the trauma he now lives with after witnessing the aftershocks and the destruction.

ALBERTO JOSE PARRA VILLALOBOS, EARTHQUAKE SURVIVOR (through translator): They told us, get ready, we're leaving. On the day of the earthquake, they took us to a courthouse, which was across the hotel where the other deportees were staying at. The ground below was roaring loudly, like the devil was coming out of it and the seawater was coming up through the toilets. I thought a tsunami was coming and I felt like I was being shaken in a hammock.

PEGUERO (voice-over): Parra Villalobos, who had been living in the United States under a political asylum status, was detained on Christmas Day in 2025 for driving without a valid license. And after more than six months being held in several ICE detention centers, he was deported under the Trump administration. He says the images he has seen will never leave his mind.

VILLALOBOS (through translator): It was a white cloud. You could see all the dust all the way from Caracas to La Guaira. I saw staircases collapsing and suddenly more than a thousand vultures were flying all over the hotel. The guards were crying, and some because they found out their families had died.

PEGUERO (voice-over): He shares that he saw many who were on the same flight also lose their lives that day.

VILLALOBOS (through translator): I feel very bad about everything I've lived through. I will never forget this, the children and the pregnant woman who died. I stay outdoors all the time because I can't go into my house. I'm afraid, and I can't live like this.

PEGUERO (voice-over): His daughter has been using her flower shop as a donation center to help families in Venezuela. She hopes that one day, her and her son will be able to reunite with her father.

PARRA (through translator): I love him very much. I'm grateful to him, even though we may argue. I love him. God gave him a second chance at life, and I know this is very painful for all those families who have lost loved ones. All we can do is trust in God.

PEGUERO (voice-over): Carolina Peguero, CNN, Orlando.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATSON: OK, President Trump is back in the U.S. after a quick trip to the NATO Summit in Turkey. His return comes as tensions between the U.S. and Iran are on the upswing, with Mr. Trump saying he believes the ceasefire is over. But despite those developments, the president made headlines for something completely different, an unexpected change of planes. Our Kaitlan Collins has details.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR & CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Trump has made no secret of how much he loves his new jumbo jet that was gifted to him by the Qatari government. So why is he now taking the old version of Air Force One again? That's the question that a lot of reporters are asking today, especially after the president flew on the new plane to the NATO Summit in Turkey, but flew back from Turkey and the NATO Summit on the old version of Air Force One.

The president said that the new Qatari jet was being sent ahead of time to a military base in the United Kingdom so members of the United States military could tour it and see just exactly what it looks like on the inside.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: It's flying to Europe to one of the big bases, two or three of the big bases where we can show it to the people and we'll be going home by normal methods.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: We saw President Trump landing at that same military base where he walked from the old Air Force One to the new Air Force One. You can tell a difference in the old color scheme on that plane versus the new red, white and blue one that he put on the new Qatari plane.

Now, the White House has said that this was because the president wanted members of the military to be able to see it for themselves, but the president himself was also asked whether or not it had to do with any security issues or concerns about his own personal safety.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You've spoken today twice about them possibly assassinating you and possibly being successful. Did that concern have something to do with you --

TRUMP: Well, I speak about it a lot because, you know, the life of a president is very dangerous. It's 5.2 percent. You know what a race car driver is? One-tenth of one percent. A bull rider, that looks pretty dangerous to me. It's one-tenth of one percent. No, it's 5.2 percent is you don't make it.

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I mean it came out, there was another list came out yesterday and I'm number one on -- I like being number one on TikTok better, but I'm number one on the list for killing.

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WATSON: OK, stay with me because there's much more still ahead, including a preview of the quarterfinals in the men's World Cup. France takes on Morocco on Thursday and we will preview that match and others in the Round of 8, coming up next.

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WATSON: All right. Let's turn now to the FIFA World Cup where quarterfinals are set to begin on Thursday. Tournament favorite, France kick things off with their match against Morocco outside of Boston. Then on Friday, it's Spain versus Belgium in Inglewood, California. Norway versus England, and Argentina versus Switzerland will cap off the quarterfinals on Saturday.

The French squad are looking to keep their momentum going. Les Bleus have won all of their games so far. Morocco's Atlas Lions are out for revenge after losing to France at the semifinals 40 years ago. Meanwhile BBC Sports says Egypt is asking FIFA to investigate the referees in Tuesday's matchup against Argentina.

Egypt led 2-0 before Argentina staged a stunning comeback, scoring three goals in the last 13 minutes. But Egypt says the referees were unfair because one of its goals was taken away after a video review and it claims it was denied two penalty kicks, including at least one when the referees did not review the video. BBC Sports also says Egypt is urging FIFA to kick the officiating team out of the tournament.

But CNN sports analyst Christine Brennan says the officials went a step too far with their use of the Video Assistant Referee in that match and this is how she explained it.

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CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST: The question here now is the minutiae and sometimes minutiae is very important, I'm not minimizing that at all. But in the case of the Egypt goal, the transgression and what was then called -- the goal was called back because of something that happened hundred yards away from the terrific Egypt goal as they went down the field in the 58th minute, at that point, to take a 2-0 lead.

[02:55:00]

So when you've got a questionable tackle but it's a hundred yards away from the goal and several, I mean, a good 10-15 seconds went by, that's the question, and I think it's a really valid question. To me, that seems unfair, that VAR went too far and that Egypt should have had that goal. Having said that, what do you do about it now? I mean, the game's over. The game went on from that moment.

You can't replay it. You can't change the result because everything that happened after that 58th minute would, of course, maybe change depending. And as you said, Argentina had that three-goal comeback at the very end. And Egypt lost. Egypt's going home and Argentina's moving on. But the controversy will stick with this, you know, as many of them.

But it's going to stick with this tournament, obviously, and this World Cup for as long as it lasts and then probably much longer into sports history, as they say.

WATSON: To the E.U. now. The European Union has rejected calls to suspend a border control system until the end of summer. Europe's airports and airlines have been complaining about scenes like this one last month in Portugal. In a letter last week to the European Commission, they said some travelers were waiting up to five hours to enter a country during peak periods. Wow.

The bloc's entry/exit system collects biometric data like fingerprints from non-E.U. nationals. For the time being, airports can temporarily pause biometrics collection to keep those lines moving. Still, many have reported disruption since the system came into full effect in April.

Just last week, one traveler posted on TikTok, it took more than two hours to get through border security in Rome. And in Italy, a village on Lake Como is fining tourists up to EUR 200 for wandering the streets bare-chested or in swimwear. Visitors to Varenna will only be allowed to wear swimwear at the beach, pier or docks. It's the latest move by Italian holiday destinations to curb mass tourism. The new rules also limit tour groups to 25 people.

The nominations for the 78th Emmy Awards are out, honoring the best in television. And it's a good day to be a cast member on "The Pitt." That medical drama scored 25 nominations, the most of any project nominated this year. Maybe I should watch this show.

Those categories include Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama, three nods for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama, and four for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama. "Hacks" isn't far behind. The comedy received 24 nominations for its final season, including Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy and Outstanding Supporting Actor and Actress in a Comedy. Both Hacks and The Pitt stream on HBO Max, which is part of CNN's parent company. It was also a good year for Apple TV. The network's horror comedy "Widow's Bay" racked up 19 nominations for its first season. And that's it for our coverage of the Emmy nominations.

Thanks for joining us this hour. I'm Ivan Watson in Hong Kong. "CNN Newsroom" with Polo Sandoval is next after this quick break.

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