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UAE Suspends All Trade & Financial Transactions With Iran; Trump Says U.S. To Begin Crushing Economic Operation on Iran; Lebanese President to Visit Pope Leo in Rome; Trump Says He Intends to Meet With Kim Jong-un This Year; Erin Patterson Appealing Convictions for Poisoning in-laws; Mexican Students Retake University Entrance Exam; Massive Wildfires in Portugal; Suspect in Palisades Fire Pleads Not Guilty Again; Catastrophe Declared After Intense Rainfall in Chile; IndyCar Prepares for First Race Around National Mall. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired August 20, 2026 - 02:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:00:37]

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all over the world. I'm Lynda Kinkade. Great to have your company.

Just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, a new warning for Iran. President Trump threatens the most crushing economic pressure on Tehran as the war remains at an impasse, as the number of wounded U.S. service members soars.

A new deadline for U.S.-Canada trade deal. Washington delays 50 percent tariffs if the two countries race to reach an agreement by the end of the week.

Plus, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle plan to move back to the U.K. Their surprise relocation plans, we'll have the details coming up.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN NEWSROOM with Lynda Kinkade.

KINKADE: U.S. President Trump is vowing to impose tremendous economic consequences on countries that do business with Iran, and warned Tehran that it will face, "The most crushing economic operation ever taken against any country." But he didn't offer any details on what that could entail. His comments come as a deal to end the war remains at an impasse. President Trump also said the situation with Iran was so good when asked about restarting the talks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, when do you plan to formally reopen talks with Iran?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Reopen negotiations with Iran? TRUMP: Maybe at some point, but right now, I think the situation is so good. But maybe at some point.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, the number of U.S. service members wounded in the war rose dramatically to 750. That's according to the Defense Department's latest numbers. The latest update came Wednesday when the Pentagon reported more 50 more additional wounded soldiers. So far, 18 service members have been killed.

CNN's Alayna Treene has the details from the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Donald Trump is broadcasting a new strategy when it comes to the United States' approach to the war with Iran. I'd remind you that the president recently asked members of his teams to hold off on further communications, specifically direct communications with the Iranians. Instead, really choosing this wait and see approach, which is meant to continue to have the United States and specifically the U.S. Navy withdrew their blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz to try and choke Iran economically and inflict as much pain on them as possible, so that eventually they are ready to come back to the negotiating table in a meaningful way.

You could see this in the post that the president shared late Wednesday night. He wrote in this one post, "No one has given the Islamic Republic of Iran a greater opportunity to make a deal than me. Tragically for them, they have failed to take it." He went on to say, "Therefore, today I am announcing the most crushing economic operation ever taken against any country, this will be economic warfare and isolation on an unprecedented scale."

Later in this very lengthy post, he said, this will be an economic D- Day, and we need all of our allies to stand with the United States of America to isolate and defeat the Iran threat.

Just to break this down for you and to give you a little sense of what I'm hearing in my conversations with people in the administration, the president is sick of this back and forth, talks on, talks off, and really has instead decided to kind of take a step back and to see how much more pain that the administration can inflict on Iran, and see if that changes the dynamic here.

Now, of course, there are different, you know, cons to this, as some advisers have pointed out. One of them being that, of course, the midterm elections in the immediate term are looming. They're just a couple months away, and this continues to be a huge liability for the president and Republicans overall when they look ahead to the politics of this.

The other, of course, is the gas price is continuing to be high. Uncertainty around inflation and the economy, and all of that continuing to weigh on the president's polling numbers. But still, the president continues to argue that he believes that the

most important goal and his priority is to ensure Iran will never have a nuclear weapon. And for the time being, his advisers say this is the approach he believes that can help them achieve that.

Alayna Treene, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: At least 12 people are dead after the latest wave of Russian strikes on Kyiv. That's from the city's mayor, who says more than two dozen others were wounded as ballistic missiles pounded the city in recent hours. CNN crews heard multiple explosions and saw smoke over the city. A number of buildings were damaged, including a children's hospital. Officials say two people were pulled from the rubble, and emergency operations are still underway.

[02:05:26]

Reuters says a Russian drone crashed again in Romania in an unpopulated area near Ukraine's border. The agency also says Poland is now conducting operations to protect its airspace.

The Israeli military has acknowledged for the first time that it opened fire on a vehicle in Gaza that was carrying a 5-year-old Palestinian girl, and says it has now opened a criminal investigation into the killing. The IDF had previously denied involvement in the death of Hind Rajab back in January 2024. The military had claimed that a preliminary investigation found Israeli forces were not within firing range of the vehicle. The little girl's grandmother is now asking for an international inquiry.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WISSAM HAMADA, HIND'S MOTHER: We, as Hind Rajab's family, we do not trust the judiciary of the state of Israel. We hope that justice will be from the entire world. We appeal to the international justice system as a whole.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: CNN's Nada Bashir first reported on the killing of Rajab back in February of 2024, and we're going to re-air her report. But just a warning: some parts of this report might be difficult to watch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HIND RAJAB, LATE FIVE-YEAR-OLD KILLED IN NORTHERN GAZA: (SINGING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 5-year-old Hind Rajab, her playful voice cherished by all who knew her. But they will also be haunted by Hind's terrified pleas heard in this audio recording.

RAJAB (through translator): Come take me. Will you come and take me?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Do you want to come and take you?

RAJAB (through translator): I'm so scared, please come.

BASHIR (voice-over): Little Hind trapped in a car beside the bodies of her uncle, his wife and their four children, all killed by Israeli fire, the Palestine Red Crescent says, while attempting to flee fighting in northern Gaza. All contact with Hind and the ambulance crew dispatched to rescue her lost just hours after her desperate call for help.

For 12 days, there was collective hope that Hind would be found alive. Her mother, desperate for her daughter's safe return, waited every day at the hospital gates. But now, that hope is lost.

She was in the car for 12 days. May God punish all those who could have helped her and did not, Wissam says. And what did the Red Crescent crew that went to rescue her do to deserve this? To be burnt and killed? Why did you execute them when their sole mission was to rescue Hind?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: The investigation into Hind Rajab's death is part of the IDF's first comprehensive report on the alleged war crimes since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023.

Well, there's a new deadline for the U.S. and Canada to finalize a new trade deal. Negotiators meeting in Washington will have to work out details before 12:01 a.m. this Saturday to avoid new tariffs proposed by President Trump. He has paused the 50 percent duties for now, saying a deal has been struck. But Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney says there's still work to be done. CNN's Paula Newton reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: U.S. President Donald Trump decided to escalate the trade war with Canada, saying he was fed up with Canada's retaliation, and for that reason, he was going to apply 50 percent tariff to about $20 billion worth of goods from Canada going into the United States that have never been tariffed before.

Now, there is a reprieve. This deadline has been extended until Friday, and the president believes he now has a deal with Canada. Listen.

TRUMP: They called yesterday and they gave us the points that we had to have. Very fair deal for both. The tariffs will be non-existent for our farmers. Our farmers were paying tremendous tariffs into Canada, and those tariffs are going to be totally eviscerated down to zero.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is the U.S. going to lower tariffs on Canadian autos?

TRUMP: We're doing certain things. We're giving -- got to give something, and we're doing certain things. We're paying a high number. We're reducing it a little bit. Basically, we have no tariffs going into Canada anymore. Canada was

charging us tremendous tariffs.

NEWTON: So, the president there was talking about the farmers. Now, one of the irritants that's been a long-standing problem in trade between Canada and the United States is that the U.S. wanted more access to the Canadian dairy market.

Now, not a lot has changed, but apparently, perhaps the quotas will be increased. We're still waiting to see the details there, but that issue is indicative of how many different issues came before and were negotiated in what is a new deal.

[02:10:12]

Now, a reminder, Canada had a free trade negotiation done with President Trump in his first term. There is a deal in place between Canada, the United States, and Mexico. It was the United States that decided to really rip that up for a large part of it.

There were some irritants here that the president really want removed. A key one was putting American alcohol back on Canadian shelves, and that is something that is up to the provinces, not to Prime Minister Mark Carney. We do know now that Prime Minister Mark Carney has asked that those provinces continue to now stock U.S. alcohol. That is one thing that came up in this deal.

But writ large, if this deal goes through by midnight on Friday, it does seem as if Canada will get a better deal, not free trade, but perhaps lower tariffs than other allies have on the table right now from the Trump administration. And it is an indication that President Trump needs a deal like this. Some of these tariffs that were put on goods being imported into the United States from Canada really increased the cost for Americans, and he is hoping that this tries to bring down the cost of things like softwood lumber, automobiles, other things that come in from Canada that involve things like steel and aluminum. And on that point, it seems that President Donald Trump also wanted a new deal with Canada.

Paula Newton, CNN, Ottawa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Well, joining me now is Caroline Freund, the Dean of U.C. San Diego's School of Global Policy and Strategy. Great to have you with us.

CAROLINE FREUND, DEAN, U.C. SAN DIEGO SCHOOL OF GLOBAL POLICY AND STRATEGY: Great to be here.

KINKADE: So, Caroline, let's start with today's news. The White House pausing to threaten additional tariffs on Canadian goods. Is this a genuine de-escalation, or is it simply what happens when the economic and political pressure on both sides becomes too great?

FREUND: Well, I think it's what happens when there's a lot of pressure. But in this case, Canada is a much smaller economy than the United States, so Canada is about one-thirteenth the size of the United States, like the size of New York State. So, it's really more like a game of chicken between kind of a Mack truck and a mini. So, it's going to be hard. It's the pressure on Canada in this case is quite a bit more than on the United States.

KINKADE: Of course, the U.S. and Canada have deeply integrated supply chains. How much economic damage can the uncertainty itself cause, even when tariffs are ultimately delayed or reduced or even avoided?

FREUND: Yes, that's a -- that's the really most important point. So, in order to compete with the rest of the world, the USMCA that allows goods to go seamlessly between Canada, Mexico, and the United States is critical to make North America competitive. Our auto industry is super integrated. That makes our autos cheaper, where they can compete in other parts of Latin America and Asia. So, it's actually good for us to have that agreement. And that's part of what this is about: is just Improving access for U.S. to Canada and Canada to the United States.

KINKADE: Of course, the Supreme Court ruled that most of Trump's tariffs were unlawful. We're talking about roughly $166 billion in tariffs that have already been collected. How do you actually unwind something on that scale, and ultimately, who will get that money back?

FREUND: Well, the companies are already starting to get that money back, so companies can file and receive refunds. I think a big problem has been that for the big companies like a Target or a Walmart, they have the legal departments to get through the paperwork and get the money back. The one who's really being hurt are the smaller companies, but getting that money back is actually right now part of the stimulus to the economy.

KINKADE: But the other big loser, obviously, is the consumer, right? You know, the one the people that have been paying for these tariffs, and ultimately won't see any of that money back.

FREUND: That's exactly right, and that's where it's a little bit unfair because the companies, the importer paid the tariff when the goods came in, the foreigners might have reduced prices a tiny bit to help share the burden. Now the companies are getting the full amount of the tariffs back, but I don't think consumers are going to see any of that in reduced prices.

[02:15:06]

KINKADE: Yes, because it's interesting. We are already seeing some lawsuits from consumers who say they paid higher prices because of the tariffs. How difficult will it be for an individual consumer to prove I pay this much more of this particular tariff in order to get a refund?

FREUND: It'll be really difficult because there's no way to show they paid more. And actually, a good portion of the tariffs was picked up by both the foreign exporter, the importer, as well as the retailer. So, if you look at the prices of goods. They did not rise by the full

amount of the tariff. Certainly, some was passed to the consumer, but to argue exactly how much that is would be really, really difficult. And of course, consumers aren't organized the way big companies are to try and get that money back.

KINKADE: Carolyn Freund, great to have you on the program. Staying up late there in San Diego, California. We appreciate your time.

FREUND: Thank you.

KINKADE: Well, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex planning a move back to the U.K. after living in the US for six years. Prince Harry and his wife Meghan left Britain in 2020 after stepping back from their royal duties. They lived in California ever since, and the couple said racism, tabloids, online abuse, and of course, complex family problems prompted the original move. They've also had a public falling out with other members of the royal family since then. CNN's Max Foster has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: We don't know why. We've got very little information. The Sussex office aren't officially saying anything about this, but it is my understanding that the king was only told on Sunday. But the children are enrolled in British schools.

So, clearly there's been a lot of planning involved here. We know that Harry and Meghan were over in the U.K. in July. They met the king and queen. It wasn't discussed then. But you would have expected, obviously, the mother and father to visit the schools that the children would be attending.

So, you know, putting two and two together, you would have expected that trip to confirm for them that they were coming back to the U.K. They may well be keeping their house in California. So, maybe not a complete move, but with the kids going to school, it does suggest that.

It's also my understanding the king is very clear they will not be returning to their royal roles. They can't be half in, half out, as he sees it. So, we wait to see where they move. But it could be in the next few weeks.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Thanks to Max Foster there.

Well, still to come, a tourist helicopter trip turns tragic as the aircraft goes down with seven people on board. Now, recovery crews scouring the crash site in Kenya as officials investigate what went wrong.

Also, a major milestone in the fight against cancer, a personalized vaccine from Moderna and Merck shows it can help stop deadly melanoma from coming back or spreading. The promising new results ahead. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:22:37]

KINKADE: Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kinkade.

Mexico is sending security forces to reopen blocked highways in the western part of the country after federal forces arrested nine members of a major cartel, including relatives of its regional leader. The arrest unleashed a wave of violence in Metro Arcan state, with vehicles being burned and major roads blocked. The state is known for the presence of organized crime. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said the operation went up to several key targets linked to criminal gangs.

Well, now to a promising breakthrough in cancer treatment. Moderna and Merck say a new vaccine combined with an anti with an immunotherapy drug has prevented cancer from returning or spreading in high-risk melanoma patients. CNN Medical Correspondent Meg Tirrell reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is being described as feeling almost like science fiction, even just a couple of decades ago. But now we are one step closer to seeing this potential new way of treating cancer come to fruition.

So, we are seeing these late-stage clinical trial results coming out from Moderna and Merck of what's called a personalized cancer vaccine, in this case for melanoma, which is the deadliest form of skin cancer. Now, it's called a vaccine, but it's actually a treatment for cancer. But the reason they call it a vaccine is because it relies on the same mRNA technology that's behind the COVID vaccines. And it acts to rev up the immune response to better recognize and fight cancer. On top of that, it's a personalized approach.

So, what happened in this phase three clinical trial is it's in about a thousand patients. They tested it who had had their cancer surgically

removed. Then what happens is each patient's tumor gets sampled, biopsied and they sequence it to see the unique signature that identifies that tumor. And then they design this mRNA cancer vaccine specifically for each patient's cancer.

So, then they are administered that personalized cancer vaccine on top of an existing treatment called Keytruda. And what that aims to do is to help the immune system recognize their cancer and to better fight it. And what they're seeing in these phase three clinical trial results is that they met the study's goals.

Now, we don't have the full results of the study. But what they say is that by meeting the goals, this prevented or reduced the risk that the cancer came back after being surgically removed or also reduced the risk that the cancer would spread to distant parts of the body.

[02:25:01]

And so, we've heard from Moderna that the companies aim to file for regulatory approval within a few months. So, this could really be headed potentially to market quite soon.

And of course, melanoma being the deadliest form of skin cancer, this could present a really big treatment advance, both for this cancer and also for a number of other cancers where it's being tested, including lung cancer, bladder cancer and kidney cancer.

I spoke with Moderna's CEO, who said that he felt this was as big a moment for humanity as when they got the first phase three vaccine results for the COVID-19 pandemic. So, really opening up, he says, as do many doctors, a new way of potentially treating cancer.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: It's wonderful news. Our thanks to Meg Tirrell there.

Well, is another meeting in the works between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un? We're going to tell you about the messages coming out of the leadership of each country.

Plus, it was the murder case that gripped Australia. A woman accused of poisoning her in-laws with mushrooms, and now Erin Patterson is appealing her convictions. Hear what her defense team argued in court just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:32:30]

KINKADE: Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kinkade. The United Arab Emirates says it is suspending all trade and financial transactions with Iran until further notice. The announcement by the foreign ministry came after the UAE said two ballistic missiles that were targeting maritime navigation fell into the sea.

Iran has denied firing any missiles. The UAE is a major trading partner with Iran. President Trump says the U.S. will launch, quote, "the most crushing economic operation ever against Iran," without providing any further details. He went on to say that any country that allows its businesses, airports, or government entities to provide a lifeline to Iran will also face major economic consequences.

Lebanese state media is reporting that President Joseph Aoun will visit Pope Leo in the coming hours. It comes amid a backdrop of repeated Israeli fire in Lebanon following a stalled ceasefire talks. The Pope has repeatedly advocated for the rights of the Lebanese people after hostilities flared between Israel and Hezbollah in March. Israeli strikes have killed more than 4,000 people in Lebanon, according to the Ministry of Public Health.

Donald Trump says he will meet with North Korea's leader later this year. The U.S. president told a reporter that he gets along with Kim Jong-un and "that's a good thing." But it's not clear if a fourth summit between the two leaders will actually happen. The North Korean leader's sister released a statement saying she is completely unaware of any of the upcoming talks. Kim Yo-jong is one of her brother's top lieutenants and closest confidants.

An Australian woman sentenced to life in prison for murdering her in- laws by serving them poisonous mushrooms is appealing her convictions. Lawyers for Erin Patterson raised several issues about the case during a hearing in Melbourne on Wednesday. They're appealing on several grounds, arguing that various pieces of evidence should not have been introduced, that she suffered an unfair cross-examination, and that an error led to jury being housed at the same hotel as other parties in the case, affecting the outcome. Patterson claims the poisonings were an accident.

I want to welcome Brianna Chesser. She's an Associate Professor in Criminology & Justice at RMIT University in Melbourne. Good to have you with us, Brianna.

BRIANNA CHESSER, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR IN CRIMINOLOGY & JUSTICE, RMIT UNIVERSITY: Thanks for having me.

KINKADE: So, we're seeing Erin Patterson back in court nearly a year after she was sentenced in a case that captured the attention of the world. At this stage, what exactly is the court of appeal being asked to decide?

CHESSER: The court of appeal has two current matters before it. The first one is an appeal by Patterson's defense team on the conviction itself, and the second is an appeal by the prosecution on the length of sentence. The prosecution weren't happy with the 33-year non-parole period given to Patterson alongside her life sentence.

KINKADE: And when it comes to Patterson's team's appeal, one of the most striking allegations involves the face that the jury was housed in the same hotel as the police and members of the prosecution. How serious could that be from a legal standpoint, even if there is no evidence that a juror actually spoke to anyone involved in the case?

CHESSER: Look, Australia's criminal justice system is very clear on justice not only needing to be done, but justice needs to be seen to be done. So, the three court of appeal judges in Victoria will be closely looking at whether or not the jury pool was tainted by that decision to house the jurors, even only for a few hours, in the same hotel as members of the prosecution, the police informant and the media.

KINKADE: Patterson is also challenging the admission or treatment of evidence, including mobile phone tower data, mushroom sightings, Facebook evidence and material that was found on an SD card. What does an appeal court look for when deciding whether evidence was improperly admitted or unfairly prejudicial?

CHESSER: Look, the judge really has a weighing task. The main test is the first one of relevance and the second is whether or not the prejudicial value outweighs the probative value or vice versa. In this case, the evidence was assessed at the pre-trial and we're hearing a repetition of those arguments again in the appeal.

So, it's up to the court of appeal justices to determine whether or not that evidence was either wrongfully excluded or wrongfully included in the original trial.

KINKADE: And Brianna, there's an unusual twist here, which you referenced earlier.

[02:35:00]

While Patterson is asking for an appeal over her convictions, prosecutors are simultaneously arguing that her sentence was too lenient. How can these appeals happen at the same time?

CHESSER: Well, look, every defendant, if you like, in Victoria has an opportunity to appeal by right. And so does the prosecution. So this is the reason that the appeal over the two days has been set in two separate parts. The appeal against conviction is heard first, and then the prosecution is permitted to give arguments in their appeal over the length of the sentence.

And we're expecting the Court of Appeal to take several days, if not weeks or months to come back with a verdict in the appeal that is just wrapped up in Victoria.

KINKADE: And so if the court of appeal does find one or more errors, does that automatically mean that Patterson walks free? What are the possible outcomes here for her?

CHESSER: Look, there are a number of possible outcomes. The first one and the most likely one is that they would order a retrial. The second and less likely one is that the conviction could be quashed and Patterson could be set free immediately. And the third is that the appeal could be dismissed. Therefore, nothing would change.

KINKADE: And so -- and what about when it comes to the sentencing appeal? How could that play out for the prosecutors who want a much harsher sentence?

CHESSER: Well, look, it's likely that the head sentence, the life imprisonment would remain. But the court of appeal judges, if they decide that the conviction will stand, have then got to assess whether or not the 33-year non-parole period was appropriate in the circumstances that involve the murder of three people and the attempted murder of another.

KINKADE: And just tell us how this is playing out in the court of public opinion. Obviously, this is a case that was closely watched throughout Australia, but also around the world because it's just so unusual. What's the feeling there where you are, in Victoria, in terms of how this is playing out publicly?

CHESSER: Look, everyone's been very intrigued by not only the fact that this happened in rural Victoria, a rather quiet town, the fact that this was a woman who was the offender in this instance. We've got the media involved all the way along. There is vision of Patterson from 2023 standing outside her house, sort of weeping in the first instance to the media about these things.

So the community has really been involved in this trial from the very outset of those deaths. And I think everyone's really quite interested and invested in, in terms of what's going to happen to Patterson, whether or not this particular case is going to result in an acquittal or we're going to have a retrial.

KINKADE: And just in terms of the time frame, how soon could we have an answer on either of these appeals?

CHESSER: Look, the judges are going to reserve their judgment for quite some time. I think it wouldn't surprise me if this takes months.

KINKADE: All right. We might chat to you again in a few months. Brianna Chesser, great to have you on the program. Thanks so much for your time.

CHESSER: Thanks for having me.

KINKADE: The investigation is underway into a helicopter crash that left seven people dead in Kenya. Ecuador's top intelligence chief and his wife were among the victims. The rest were Americans, including an executive with Spanish-language broadcaster, Telemundo. The helicopter went down near a mountain in central Kenya during a trip organized by a luxury tour agency. Officials say it's still unclear what caused the crash. The U.S. Embassy in Kenya has offered condolences to the victims' families.

Tens of thousands of students are waiting to find out if they will get into one of Mexico's most prestigious universities. School officials had to re-administer the entrance exam over allegations of cheating. CNN's Valeria Leon reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VALERIA LEON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: After an alleged A.I. fraud using in the admission exam, thousands of students are now lined up to get to this admissions test for the second time to get into the National Autonomous University in Mexico, one of the oldest and most prestigious universities of Latin America.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I have to go through the whole process again, but I trust what I know and I used these past few days to study and reinforce it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): It's not fair to everyone. Some people didn't put in the effort, so I think it was necessary to retake the exam.

LEON: This is the first time that the UNAM applied this test online. And after this fraud, allegedly signaling students using A.I. for this first test, the university decided to reapply this test.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I think it's very important to provide certainty for the students who are about to start the school year. LEON: And this is what the students feel of retaking the exam.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It ended up creating twice as much work for the university. They should have done it in person from the beginning and they wouldn't have had to go through this whole process.

[02:40:00]

LEON: Around 50,000 students have presented this test, the second one, for the admission to the university, the UNAM. And here in Mexico City, this is the place, Palacio de los Deportes, where thousands of students and also their families, as you can see here, they are waiting for hours until their students can present the test and finally go out.

This is the last date for the students to get inside and get this test done and finally, get a place in one of the most important universities in Mexico.

Valeria Leon, CNN, Mexico City.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Thousands of tiny spaces in Paris used to be known as the maids' quarters, but they're now being rented as rooftop apartments. We'll take a tour after the break.

Plus, we have the latest on the wildfires in all of Portugal and the hundreds of firefighters battling the blazes. More with CNN, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:45:44]

KINKADE: We often hear news from Nigeria about oil spills and environmental degradation, even militancy. The Conservationist and ROLEX Awards Laureate, Rachel Ikemeh, is changing the narrative through a community-led approach as part of ROLEX's Perpetual Planet Initiative. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RACHEL IKEMEH, CONSERVATIONIST & FOUNDER, SW/NIGER DELTA FOREST PROJECT: The Niger Delta in itself is the second largest swamp forest in Africa, the third largest contiguous mangrove forest in the world. There are up to five sea turtles classified as endangered.

I'm on a mission to preserve the last places, the last remaining wildlife populations, significant wildlife populations left in Nigeria.

ZAIN ASHER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): To achieve this, Ikemeh is going bottom up.

IKEMEH: The communities themselves are equipped with the same technology, with the same tools that will enable them to do conservation in a very credible manner.

We started our work in Apoi community around six years ago. I've been working across the Niger Delta. Today as I speak to you, we have records of four groups, thriving groups in the communities.

ASHER (voice-over): Her reputation for repopulating wildlife led communities like Foropa, 22 kilometers away, to reach out for help.

IKEMEH: The Foropa people were very, very welcoming about the idea of conservation, to conserve parts of their forest, parts of the ocean, their fishing grounds. They did reconnaissance visits to some of the other community-based conservation areas.

ASHER (voice-over): Together, they established Nigeria's first locally-managed marine area.

IKEMEH: A locally-managed marine area in every context is conserving an area within the marine space.

ASHER (voice-over): The community is strategically positioned for aquatic wildlife. Young men from the community work as coastal guards, monitoring local fishing activities and collecting scientific data.

EMOTIMI SEIBOKURO, BIO MONITORING TEAM LEADER, FOROPA MIDDLETON KINGDOM: We are the team that registers any type of specific data we see, we record them. Every Wednesday is our engagement with the community, maybe sometimes with the elders, sometimes with the chiefs, sometime with the youth, let them know that we should not kill our animals, especially here (ph) we conserve, so that area will be protected for our own children.

ASHER (voice-over): The women also actively participate in the conservation process.

MARY WASON ALAMENE, WOMEN LEADER, FOROPA MIDDLETON KINGDOM: As women in the community, we talk to the youths about killing of the animals in the bush. Some, they bring them very young, We are talking to them. Do not bring those ones. Keep them in the bush so that they will mature and give birth to other young ones.

ASHER (voice-over): Rachel Ikemeh is looking ahead and already engaging communities nearby.

IKEMEH: Our plan is not to stop at Foropa Middleton Kingdom, but to create a stretch of protected zone along 30 kilometers of this coastline. I'm really on a mission to rebuild the old ruins, and I don't think I'm going to rest until every last wilderness in Nigeria is conserved.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Well, do let us know what you're doing to answer the call with the hashtag "calltoearth."

We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.

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[02:51:29]

KINKADE: Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kinkade. The man accused of starting the catastrophic Palisades Fire in California has pleaded not guilty for the second time. Federal prosecutors are now pursuing only two charges against Jonathan Rinderknecht instead of three, following a mistrial in June. He remains behind bars with a retrial set to begin in November in Los Angeles.

Well, Chile has declared a catastrophe in some regions after heavy rains swamped northern parts of the country. Officials say heavy flooding and landslides injured at least three people. Evacuations have been ordered in some areas while hundreds of people are sheltering in place. Dozens of homes have been damaged, but officials caution that the numbers are preliminary.

Well, the video from one of the hardest hit areas shows streets flooded, completely covered in mud. Local officials say they're still assessing the full scale of the damage.

In northern Portugal, wildfires have burned more than 3,000 hectares. That's about 7,000 acres, according to state media. More than 1,200 firefighters are battling three separate blazes.

In Spain, video recorded by emergency services showed plumes of smoke rising from wildfires on hills near residential areas. Regional authorities have confirmed two towns west of Madrid on the course (ph) of the fires. Parts of Europe are facing a devastating summer wildfire season amid consecutive heat waves.

And heat waves have been making life nearly unbearable in Paris, especially for people living in tiny rooftop apartments that were originally built centuries ago for maids. CNN's Saskya Vandoorne introduces us to some of the tenants who now call the cramped quarters home.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANATOLY NOVIKOV, STUDENT: So yeah, the entrance here, that's the small, yeah, like entrance area.

SASKYA VANDOORNE, CNN PARIS BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): These are some of the smallest apartments you'll find in Paris. Some measure less than 100 square feet.

A private shower.

VANDOORNE: Wow. Can you open both doors at the same time?

NOVIKOV: I've never tried, but I guess you could-ish.

(LAUGH)

VANDOORNE (voice-over): They're called chambre de bonne, maid rooms, hidden at the top of some of Paris' grandest buildings. Built for domestic servants, they were notoriously cold, with toilets often shared between tenants.

As of 2022, there was still more than 90,000 of these tiny apartments across Paris.

NOVIKOV: The view from the rooftop is just amazing, like you see pretty much every big Parisian monument. My friends commented that like, oh my gosh, you're going to have a depression in like one month's time because it's so tiny, like it's a prison cell. And technically, I guess prison cells are bigger.

VANDOORNE (voice-over): Anatoly is an engineering student who's called this place home for the past year. He pays about $800 a month in rent, expensive by the square foot, but still cheaper than most Parisian apartments.

NOVIKOV: It's not a sacrifice, it's a trade-off. In engineering, you don't have good solutions, you only have trade-offs. So yeah.

VANDOORNE: What's the trade-off here?

NOVIKOV: The space for the location, pretty much.

VANDOORNE (voice-over): And there's another price to pay for living in central Paris, lots and lots of stairs.

VANDOORNE: You do this every day.

GLADYS MAGNAN, STUDENT: It's terrible.

VANDOORNE: Oh.

(LAUGH)

MAGNAN: I know. It's a sports.

VANDOORNE: Lovely to meet you.

MAGNAN: Lovely to meet you too. Welcome.

VANDOORNE: I'm going to need a minute.

[02:55:00]

VANDOORNE (voice-over): This is Gladys, and she lives right at the top on the seventh floor. Unlike in the 19th century, when the problem was the cold, today it's relentless heat waves, turning these tiny apartments into furnaces. With temperatures climbing above 40 degrees Celsius, that's more than 104 Fahrenheit.

MAGNAN: I was also taking like ice during the night, all the ice next to me.

VANDOORNE: Like a pillow?

(LAUGH)

MAGNAN: Yeah, exactly. That was terrible, and also I slept at my sister's house, so that was better than my friend's house.

VANDOORNE: So you actually had to leave?

MAGNAN: Yeah, yeah.

VANDOORNE (voice-over): It's not just Parisians willing to squeeze into these tiny homes. Tourists do it too, paying as much as $140 a night to stay in the heart of Paris. And whether they're here for a night or a year, perhaps this is part of what they're paying for.

Wow.

MAGNAN: You can see the view?

VANDOORNE: Yes. The Eiffel Tower.

MAGNAN: Yeah, the Eiffel Tower.

VANDOORNE (voice-over): Saskya Vandoorne, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Man, I could definitely handle that view for a night or two. Well, Washington, D.C. and IndyCar are getting ready for the Freedom 250 Grand Prix. It's a two-day motorsports event culminating with the first-ever race around the National Mall. The event was created after President Trump signed an executive order in January, directing the transportation and interior departments to design a race through the city's streets to celebrate the nation's 250th anniversary. The track is 1.7 miles long with seven turns and goes past some of America's most historic landmark, sites and institutions. The race is set for Sunday.

Well, you have to see this next video showing two runaway goats walking onto a public bus in Portland, Oregon. After one set of doors closes, the goats rush to make it on before it's too late. Well, here's a closer look at them getting on from inside the bus.

The human passengers did not seem too thrilled and chased the goats off the bus before it took off. The transit agency says the goats made it home safely and that their owner has now fixed their enclosure.

I mean, they look like they're out for a day sightseeing.

Thanks so much for watching. I'm Lynda Kinkade in Atlanta. "CNN Newsroom" with Polo Sandoval is up next, so don't go anywhere.

[02:57:17]

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