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Two Men Rescued from Flooded Nepal Tunnels; Vance Says Iran Conflict Not a War, Won't Say When It Will End; Nepal Searches For Answers After Deadly Floods; Spain's PM Defends Handling Of Ceuta Border Rush; Italy's PM Breaks Record As Longest Serving Leaders Since WW2. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired September 04, 2026 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNKNOWN (voice-over): This is "CNN Breaking News."

BEN HUNTE, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Hello. Welcome to "CNN Newsroom." I'm Ben Hunte. We begin with dramatic and exciting news from Nepal more than a week after the Himalayan region was devastated by a massive flood.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CHEERING)

HUNTE: Rescuers cheered, as you can hear there, as two men were rescued after being trapped for nine days. Local officials said voices were heard from inside one of the tunnels of a hydropower plant hit by the floods. It is unclear how many are still in that tunnel. But prior to this, around 900 workers were believed to be missing at various hydropower projects in the area.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: Let's immediately bring in CNN's Gage Goulding, who is following the story for us from Seoul, South Korea. Good to see you, Gage. This seems like a huge moment, and it's potentially a positive moment, too, from this tragedy. What is the latest?

GAGE GOULDING, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, it's the silver lining in this entire situation, Ben, because, you know, the number of those killed has just increased. I mean, it has really just taken off. More than 1,200 people actually have been killed in this flooding. More than 5,000 are still missing.

Yet, right now, the focus is on that good news. I think it's the good news that the people of Nepal and China, they really needed this right now, especially if you think about those rescue crews that have been going around the clock nonstop, the community, the family members that have been wondering where is my loved one. To see this incredible video, I want to show you this right now, of these people, two people being pulled from the tunnels after being trapped in there for more than nine days. Remember, this happened last Wednesday, whenever that wall of water rushed down that river valley. So, spending more than nine days underground.

You know, there was an interview that an Indian Army colonel did with CNN, and he said after about 48 hours underground, you start hallucinating and imagining being under there for more than a week, but he then said, but miracles can happen, and this, indeed, is exactly that. It's a miracle. The fact that crews have been working at the Trishuli 3A hydropower plant, they identified this as what has been called a Goldilocks zone. They firmly believe that there was an area here that no matter what happened, the sludge, the mud, the debris, the water, that people could survive.

Now, the task was getting to these people, getting to these workers. What we understand is there are 42 workers trapped in this specific hydropower tunnel. They worked very hard to not just get access to the tunnel, but then dig through the tunnel to actually get to the people that were trapped there. So, it was a monumental on-taking that these rescue crews had to go through to get there. But, I mean, it's incredible news. There are two people.

And, obviously, the focus right now is, are there any more? We understand that they had to blow up rocks the size of cars, is what one geologist told us. And according to Nepali lawmakers, they're not sure if there are or how many people there are in there.

But, I mean, I'm sure one of the big questions they asked other than, hey, are you OK, how are you doing, what do you need right now, but can you point us in the right direction? I imagine that was a big question that was asked because these are people that are inside the tunnels, familiar with it, maybe they'd be able to paint a picture for the rescue crews. At least we're hoping to direct people of where other, you know, pods or groups of these workers could be. But, Ben, I mean, this is incredible news today, especially on a Friday as these crews have been going for nine days nonstop.

HUNTE: As you just mentioned there, our initial reporting did say that the rescue has heard many voices in this area. So, how likely is it that we could be seeing some more rescues soon?

GOULDING: Yes. You know, that's a really good point to make. They said voices. It's plural. They heard multiple voices. They screamed down and said, don't worry, we're rescuing you. That's a quote. I mean, that's an incredibly powerful quote, too. I think there's a good chance, right? I think we're all hoping that there's a good chance that additional folks might be rescued alive from this specific tunnel.

But, Ben, let's not forget there's about a dozen or so active or under construction hydropower plants there along that river. We're told the number of those unaccounted for missing, potentially trapped underground, is around 945. And in the past few days, we've seen rescue workers retrieve, you know, people that did not survive, dead bodies from these tunnels.

[02:05:04]

You know, we're getting to that point where they've been working very, very hard and they may be making breakthroughs at different tunnels but, hopefully and obviously, here, we're seeing that breakthrough, and we can only hope for more people to be rescued here. I think let's hang on the "S" on the end of that word, voices, that there were multiple people that they heard, and let's hope they can get to them.

HUNTE: Love that. Some potentially positive news. CNN's Gage Goulding following the story for us in South Korea, thank you so much. Earlier, we spoke of CNN correspondent Hanako Montgomery. She is in Nepal. She explained what those survivors likely went through during their ordeal.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We can't say for certain but it's very, very likely that these survivors were stuck inside the tunnel, specifically have not had any access to food or water. And we know that because we've spoken to survivors who were pulled out of those tunnels, we've spoken to rescue workers also who helped them get out. And they said that because the flood was so strong, the current was so strong, it swept away everything they had. It swept away the wallets, the money in their pockets. It also swept away the clothes that were on their backs. So, you can imagine, if they had any packets of food, if they had any bottles of water, that, too, would be swept away.

And especially, I do want to illustrate here, if you're stuck inside that tunnel and you see a huge current of water coming towards your way, you're going to want to use both hands to grab onto anything possible so that you can hang on and stay alive, right? So, again, if you have something on your hands, food, water, you're going to drop that and hang on as much as possible to survive.

Now, we have heard from some of the rescuers that some individuals have been able to walk out of the tunnels once that water has receded and once that mud hardened a bit. But, again, those are just a few cases, a few instances. And there are still a lot more people inside those tunnels that haven't been reached yet. They are very far deep into those tunnels. And, again, need authorities to use whitewater rafters. They need authorities to drill holes in the tunnel to be able to get access to them.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTE: Disaster tunnel expert Arnold Dix, a geologist advising rescuers on the ground, says they were able to narrow down the location of a tunnel that was least likely to have collapsed by looking at satellite data and drawings of the power station. Here's what he told us earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ARNOLD DIX, TUNNEL DISASTER EXPERT: We could see from the severity of the explosion coming down the valley that the tunnels would offer protection, but you have to be far enough in to be protected from the shockwave and you need to be high enough up not to have drowned. So, we identified a region where we thought that might be the case without any knowledge. Like, this is not any textbook. This is 101 Boy Scouts and Girl Guides kind of territory. And we thought if someone survived, this is where they'll be. We know that the guys that are in there are smart. We know they're hard working. The Nepalese people are incredibly strong and enormous hearts. So, we were confident that they could hold on psychologically. And now, you see them. We're getting them out.

And the army, my God, the strength of will of those guys going in there, above all of the debris, just under the top of the tunnel, barely enough room to sort of wriggle on your belly, knowing that if you breach the rock in front and there's water that they can be drowned, and knowing, as you know, that there could be a breach up in China at any moment with the water coming down again, in which case they get drowned from behind. And there you have it. That's what makes it all worthwhile. We're seeing living miracles coming out of that tunnel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: More help is on the way for rescue workers trying to reach survivors of the floods. Disaster response specialists left earlier from Sydney, Australia. The 15-member team you're seeing there is mostly made up of drone pilots from state emergency services. Nepal's government requested their assistance. The fire and rescue commissioner in New South Wales explained how they can help.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEREMY FEWTRELL, COMMISSIONER OF FIRE AND RESCUE, NEW SOUTH WALES: The team was able to provide everything from a large-scale view of the landscape to using a small drone that fits in the palm of your hand to go into any little crevices, sort of small openings, tunnels and caves, and so forth. So, if they found a sort of a building that was covered with the debris but they could sort of get in one point, they could put that drone in and search the building in a space that a person wouldn't be able to reach.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: For more information about how you can help the flood victims, go to cnn.com/impact. There is much more to come here on "CNN Newsroom." U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance speaks about the Iran war but don't call it a war in his opinion. Hear his comments about a timeline for an end to that conflict, next.

[02:10:00]

Plus, a fiery drone strike near Kyiv just as Russia and Ukraine send signals about potential peace talks. See you in a moment. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HUNTE: Welcome back. U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance says he cannot provide a timeline for when the war with Iran might end, including whether that might come before the midterm elections in November. Speaking during a White House news conference on Thursday, Vance suggested instead it was up to Tehran to end the conflict that began with a joint U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iran six months ago.

[02:15:00]

The vice president pushed back on even calling the conflict a war. That is despite three consecutive days this week when the U.S. and Iran exchanged fire. CNN's Kaitlan Collins asked him all about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Will this war be over by the time of the midterm elections?

J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Well, Kaitlan, again, I don't -- I wouldn't call it a war. Right now, there is no active shooting. I recognize there have been places where this has flared up. Major combat operations -- again, major combat operations lasted for about six weeks. When you ask when will this end, you're asking me a question, like, when will the Iranians stop shooting at ships? I think the reality is I don't know the answer to that question. You would have to ask the Iranians.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: Meanwhile, in Iran, mourners held a funeral on Thursday for victims of a U.S. airstrike that reportedly struck a wedding party near the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday. Iranian authorities say at least four people were killed, including a child, and nearly 70 were wounded in the strike. The U.S. vice president said on Thursday the administration is investigating that incident. Vance declined to rule out that civilians were killed while insisting the military never target civilians in combat.

U.S. President Trump defended the war with Iran during an interview broadcast on Thursday. He says he did the right thing by launching the war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: When people say, are you glad you did it, I said, absolutely, because I stopped them from having a nuclear weapon.

UNKNOWN: Yes.

TRUMP: Because if I didn't do that, your people wouldn't call up and address them as sir. Is there anything I can do for you, sir? No, they won't have a nuclear weapon. I did the right thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: Joining me now, Sahar Razavi is the director of the Iranian and Middle Eastern Studies Center at Cal State Sacramento. Thank you for being with me. J.D. Vance says he wouldn't even call this a war. That's after six months of fighting between the U.S. and Iran, of course. So, what do you actually think of that claim?

SAHAR RAZAVI, DIRECTOR OF IRANIAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES CENTER, CAL STATE SACRAMENTO: Hi. Good to be with you again. I think everybody knows that it's a war. And on its face, it's interesting and maybe a little surprising that he would say that. But when you start to look at the background and the context of the growing, really, anger on the part not only of Americans but American service members and their families, then you start to understand why he might be saying this, perhaps as some kind of even a mild countermeasure against that anger.

We're seeing reports that the loved ones, the widows of those service members who were killed in this war, are being denied death benefits because it has not been declared a formal war. That's on top of the anger of the service members on the USS Abraham Lincoln and other assets and bases in the region who are really under some serious conditions of deprivation at this point.

So, I think some of it is political posturing and some of it is perhaps trying to sell this as less of a war than it actually is. But, really, anybody who is observing this -- quote, unquote -- "conflict" can see that it is a war. It has been called a war. Donald Trump himself has called it a war so many times. It's more just bluster, I believe, from J.D. Vance.

HUNTE: Well, on J.D. Vance, he also says there's no active shooting right now, but we have, of course, seen U.S.-Iran exchanges of fire this week. Are we actually seeing de-escalation?

RAZAVI: No, I don't think we are. I think we're seeing -- right now, we're at the cusp of potentially a much greater intensification of an escalatory cycle. And I think if your standard of whether something is a war or not is whether there are rockets being fired at this exact moment, then wars are there and then not there and there and then not there many, many times. That is not how we discuss whether a war is actually being prosecuted or not. It is very clearly a war. You just played footage from the funeral of those who were killed in the strike on the residential home where a wedding celebration was taking place.

And on top of that, we have very serious strikes by Iran against U.S. bases in the region, including some quite significant ones in Jordan. I don't think anybody would look at that and say, well, the guns are not shooting at this moment that we're speaking, so it's not a war.

HUNTE: The U.S. says its latest strikes were aimed in part at stopping Iran from deploying mines in the Strait of Hormuz. Is control of that waterway still the central objective for Washington?

RAZAVI: Yes, I believe it is. And I think it will remain so as long as Iran knows that its leverage over not only the global economy, but over U.S. politics to a great extent comes from its power over the strait.

[02:20:00]

The ability to deploy sea mines using rockets or missiles is -- it's very unusual. It would be unlikely, but it's not impossible. And we know that Iran did test out some of these newer technologies just recently. So, it's possible, and I think it's not -- it's not out of the question because of the importance of the strait and continuing leverage over the strait. But, again, like many claims that have been made in the past six months, at this point, I'm taking that with a grain of salt.

HUNTE: Vance also says the U.S. won't resume talks with Iran while Tehran continues attacking commercial shipping. So, where do you think that leaves diplomacy?

RAZAVI: It's an interesting comment to me because Iran recently announced that it will not negotiate with the Trump administration and will not negotiate with the United States until the Trump administration is out of office, which would put us in January of 2029. For Vance to then say, well, we're not going to negotiate with Iran as long as they're firing us is a peculiar choice. But again, with political posturing, one that is not particularly surprising.

I think the prospects for diplomacy at this point are slim. It's not as if these two countries really trusted each other prior to this, especially after the 12-day war last year where the United States and Israel launched military strikes on Iran in the midst of negotiations, which was the first of two times within nine months that it would do so. So, I'm not saying that there was a great foundation of trust to begin with, but any trust-building measures that could have been taken over the past six months have been systematically undermined.

And I don't think we are seeing right now a lot of opportunities for diplomacy unless the Trump administration is prepared to make concessions that would not play well in Peoria, as they say, and politically would undermine the GOP right ahead of the midterm elections. And this is something Iran is well aware of, and that's why the Iranian government continues to apply pressure to these sensitive points ahead of the midterm election.

HUNTE: OK. Sahar Razavi, thank you so much for your analysis, and I'm sure we'll speak again very soon. Thank you for now. The U.S. is praising Israel's decision to release five Lebanese prisoners. An Israeli official told CNN the prisoners are civilians, not Hezbollah members, and at least one has already been transferred to Lebanon. That is according to the country's state news agency. The release is part of a U.S. push for a broader peace deal between Israel and Lebanon. Such an agreement has been a priority for the Trump administration.

For a second time this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin is suggesting Moscow is ready for peace talks with Ukraine. Putin said on Thursday that he believes a settlement is still possible. In a speech at the Eastern Economic Forum, he added that any progress depends on the two sides finding common ground. But Putin also accused Ukraine of state terrorism after it warned airlines and insurance companies that Russia's airspace is becoming too dangerous to fly in.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says U.S. mediators are expected in Kiev in the coming days. He says they also plan to travel to Moscow in an attempt to restart peace talks. The talks hit a wall last winter, of course, after the two sides failed to agree on territory and security guarantees for Ukraine.

On the ground, Russian drones damaged a Coca-Cola factory near Kyiv on Thursday. Officials say no one was injured, but Zelenskyy says the strike on a U.S. company was clearly a message to Washington. Southeast of Kyiv, Russian drones also destroyed a warehouse. Video from that scene showed the building engulfed in smoke as firefighters scrambled to put out the flames. A Ukrainian official says the strike should not cause shortages of medicine.

All right, still ahead on this hour, "CNN Newsroom," in Mexico, a well-known musician, his family, and their nanny have been killed. Only his six-year-old son survived. What investigators have found so far is just ahead. See you in a moment.

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[02:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HUNTE: Welcome back. To our top story out of Nepal now. Two people have been rescued from the disaster zone in northern Nepal after last week's flash flooding. This is video just into CNN from Nepal's army. It shows rescuers as they reached those two trapped workers inside one of the area's hydropower tunnels. Searchers had been focusing their efforts on the tunnels when they heard some voices. In very quick succession, two men were pulled out of that tunnel after being trapped inside for nine days. Here is what a Nepali major general had to say about the rescue efforts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJ. GEN. ANUP JUNG THAPA, HEAD, NEPALI MILITARY OPERATIONS: We pushed everything we had. You're absolutely right. Everything we had.

So, remember, I said earlier, first few hours, we were not taking out food because even the minutes that it takes to load extra food, unload them, find people to give it to, that would take away from somebody's lifesaving.

[02:30:07]

So, the first 72 hours was completely, you're focusing on saving lives.

Even the nature of the deceased and the remains is different. So, what you've seen is you've seen bloated bodies inundated not with only with water, but with mud, which has meant that they're kind of stuck on the ground, immense weight and decomposition started earlier than normal, say, for a vehicle accident. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BEN HUNTE, CNN ANCHOR: Scientists working to determine exactly what caused the floods that tore through Nepal-China border are looking into a huge glacier collapse and landslide. The triggers for that kind of natural disaster can be complex, but climate change often plays a role.

This week on CNN's streaming show "Meanwhile in Asia", the panel discusses why we might see more disasters like this in the future.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We believe that there was a glacier that was melting and collapsed and a landslide, and it all kind of combined to do this. And it is a contributing factor here is the climate. Our chief climate correspondent, Bill Weir, has some broader context about what we've seen here in Nepal and what we might see more of in the future.

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Ivan, Kunal, I hate to be the buzzkill here, but I'm afraid the laws of physics tell us this is just the opening attractions for what is going to happen in the overheating mountain ranges, not just in Asia, but Europe, South America, North America as well. Snow and ice on this planet due to that blanket of fossil fuel pollution is only really going in one direction.

And the British Antarctic survey had sensors about ten kilometers from where this slide happened and recorded the highest temperatures in two years. The glaciologists say this is exactly what melts the fusion between the ice and the rock. It gets in the crevasses, fills them with water, and just weakens the entire structure.

Fourteen months before this disaster, a similar glacial lake outburst flood closed that port that we've been watching on repeat get wiped out by the wall of water. The Chinese officials set up warning systems, water monitors to look at water level. WeChat in different methods of communication to warn people, but this one was so big and so fast. Everybody lacked the imagination for a disaster of this size.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: If you're in the United States, you can catch "Meanwhile in Asia", on CNN streaming platform All Access or on YouTube if you're outside of the U.S.

Officials in China are warning of flash floods in a southeastern province after typhoon Saudel made a third landfall. The typhoon regained strength in the South China Sea on Thursday, bringing heavy rainfall to two provinces. More than 2,500 teachers and students were trapped in a school compound on Wednesday after extreme rainfall caused flash floods in one low lying area of Fujian province.

Typhoon Saudel is forecast to move west over neighboring Guangdong province. Dozens of people are feared dead following the discovery of a migrant boat adrift near Spain's Canary Islands, officials say 44 people were rescued on Wednesday after spending 27 days at sea. But survivors reportedly said more than 100 people were on board when the vessel left the African nation of the Gambia. They ran out of food and water along the way. The remains of those who died were reportedly tossed overboard.

Meanwhile, Spain's prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, is defending his handling of the migrant crisis in Ceuta in July. That is when some 72,000 migrants stormed the border with Morocco, a vast majority of them later went back.

But as Pau Mosquera reports, the political fallout is far from over for Mr. Sanchez.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAU MOSQUERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: During his appearance before the Spanish parliament, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez recognized that the situation in Ceuta still remains challenging. But at the same time, he defended all the measures that have been taken by the members of his government, as those were the most appropriate ones, as to tackle the situation on the ground, he justified, but it doesn't seem like this defense really convinced all the lawmakers, not at least the ones from the opposition.

As we heard some of them calling for elections to be held as soon as possible, and also asking the prime minister to resign. But it doesn't seem like Sanchez is interested on pleasing them. It is also interesting on how, while defending how the government has handled this situation, he has outlined his plans as to help the people of Ceuta, which basically consists in mobilizing around 358 millions of dollars.

[02:35:03]

Something that really caught our attention is when Sanchez denied any responsibility from Morocco on the events that took place by the end of July.

And this goes in contrast with the heavy criticism from the opposition, who directly blame and point to Rabat as the ones responsible for reportedly carrying out the massive. The mass crossing of thousands of migrants by the end of July, he said that so far, no intelligence agency or any other agency from the European Union has provided any solid evidence of Rabat planning these events. But may they have any evidence at all? They will act accordingly, which means with full force.

He also insisted that the government never had any warnings or prior of information about this situation, on what was about to happen. The only reports that they got from the national intelligence service were to situation reports on where they were detailing the crossings that they had registered so far on the weeks before the 30 of July. With that said, as part of an effort to be transparent, Sanchez said that the government will make public a dossier with all the reports that they got so far as the government, he said, has nothing to hide. Pau Mosquera, CNN, Madrid.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTE: Mexico police are investigating the killings of a well-known musician, his family and their nanny. Authorities have two men in custody and say investigators have identified the motive.

CNN's Valeria Leon has more details for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VALERIO LEON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The murder of a young family is the recent case that has shocked Mexico. It occurred inside this property just a few miles away from Mexico City. Mexican musician Jonathan Melendez, his pregnant wife, their three year old daughter, her nanny, and even the family dog were killed inside the home.

But one child survived. The couple's six-year-old son was found unharmed, hiding under the bed. One of the relatives of the 21-year- old nanny, who worked in this house, is now calling for justice.

TERESA, VICTIM'S AUNT (through translator): They took my niece's life and it's not fair. We want justice for both families. That man must face the full force of the law. She was innocent and didn't deserve to die that way.

LEON: Melendez was a Mexican musician who had worked with the indie rock band Camilo Septimo. His wife, Ana Paula, was four months pregnant. Investigators believe the killings took place between 5:30 and 7:40 p.m. local time on Tuesday, September 1st. Authorities have arrested two men in connection with the case, Diego Sebastian and Gerardo.

President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed the arrests.

CLAUDIA SHEINBAUM, MEXICAN PRESIDENT (through translator): This is a very sad and deeply regrettable situation. There have already been arrests and authorities have also identified the apparent cause. A dispute between this family and another family.

LEON: Initial reports point to a business dispute between the two families. Melendez was a business partner of Diego Sebastian, the main suspect in the killings. Melendez owned an online platform that offered luxury properties for rent. The website has now been taken offline.

Investigators believe the business and personal connection between the two men and their families may have made it easier for the main suspect to enter the home. Investigations are underway as authorities try to determine what led to this killings.

Valeria Leon, CNN, state of Mexico.

(END VIDEOTAPE) HUNTE: The Trump administration is slapping new sanctions on Cuba, including on a grandson of former President Raul Castro. The restrictions also target the foreign Bank of Cuba and four other entities, which Washington accuses of exploiting the country's natural resources and energy reserves. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says these new sanctions reflect President Trump's vision for a free Cuba.

Meanwhile, the government in Havana is looking to counter U.S. pressure by attracting foreign investment, trade and tourism. New regulations are aimed at making the country's beaches, workforce and real estate more accessible. Amid a worsening energy crisis. Cuban social media influencers are still posting content despite having unreliable power.

CNN's Juan Carlos Lopez looks at some of the creative ways they're now getting their message out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CUBAN SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCER (translated): This is rich people's food and I'm going to show you why.

JUAN CARLOS LOPEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These are Cuban influencers.

CUBAN SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCER (translated): Well, we are going to clean.

LOPEZ (voice-over): In the middle of rolling blackouts that can last up to 23 hours per day, they still post their stories on platforms like Instagram. Not all live in Havana.

This is Carabello, a small town about an hours' drive from the capital, and where Dayan Marrero, a 22-year-old computer science major, lives and creates content.

"I was watching videos on Facebook one day," Dayan tells me. "And retail groups here in Cuba, I came across someone who promoted an academy to learn how to create content, and at first I thought it was a scam because you had to pay a fee. And I said, 'This is a scam.'"

But Dayan says it wasn't a scam after all, and he eventually ventured out on his own cell phone and a common cause. How to survive Cuba's energy crisis.

The reel took off on Instagram. It's a DIY on how to make antennas to capture the elusive cell phone signal. Getting close to 800,000 views.

This is a handmade mobile base featured in Dayan's reel. It is becoming a common tool in rural homes in Cuba.

LOPEZ: What Dayan has done and what he's promoted on his social media platforms is the ability to build your own antenna, and then you have to go inside and put your phone next to that base to be able to have signal, and you'll see around the rooftops here, a lot of people are installing these antennas to be able to communicate with the outside world.

As he gained more followers, Dayan started promoting products in great demand during the sweltering Cuban summer.

DAYAN MARRERO, MEDIA INFLUENCER (through translated): This hasa massive 20,000 mAh battery, it lasts up to 60 hours.

LOPEZ (voice-over): Like these rechargeable fans, which he also uses to light himself while recording.

It also allows him to receive a commission.

"When you have 1,000 followers, you can apply for a sales program," Dayan says. "Once you're accepted, when someone clicks and buys a product from my video, I make a commission of 3 to 5 percent. It depends on the products price," he tells me."

Dayan's next step is graduating from college, and to make it on TikTok. And unlike many on the island, he's not trying to leave. He wants to find work in his field and stay in Cuba.

Juan Carlos Lopez, CNN, Mayabeque Province, Cuba.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTE: We have much more coming up on the show, including a look at Giorgia Meloni, now officially Italy's longest serving prime minister since World War Two. We'll get some insights from an expert after this break. See you in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:47:38]

HUNTE: Welcome back.

Germany's far right Alternative for Germany Party could make history this weekend. Voters in one eastern state go to the polls on Sunday, with the AFD hoping to win control of a German state for the first time. The party holds a wide lead in the polls. A recent survey put the AFD at 42 percent, nearly twice the support of the Christian Democratic Union, which currently leads the state.

The AFD has focused on voter dissatisfaction with the national government. Party leaders are also touting their strong social media presence as they try to turn their poll numbers into a victory.

Earlier this week, Chancellor Friedrich Merz warned that a far right win might hurt the state's economy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRIEDRICH MERZ, GERMAN CHANCELLOR (through translator): If this state is no longer governable, and if next Monday, it turns out that a right wing populist party has won an absolute majority, that international investors will think twice about whether they still want to invest in Saxony-Anhalt.

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HUNTE: Giorgia Meloni is now officially Italy's longest serving prime minister since World War Two. She has been in office nearly four years, breaking the record previously held by Silvio Berlusconi. Meloni's conservative coalition is now the longest serving government across Italy's eight decades as a republic. She's holding a rally on Friday to mark that milestone. Meloni has held her office longer than several other European leaders. France has had five prime ministers since autumn of 2022, while the U.K. has, of course, had four.

Women in Rome expressed positive views on Meloni's tenure and her government, too.

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GRAZIELLA UNGARELLI, LOCAL RESIDENT (through translator): I don't understand how this government is managing to carry on, but everyone is moving to the right these days. Clearly, the left isn't working. So, what are we going to do?

SILVIA SEVERONI, LOCAL RESIDENT (through translator): As a person, I like her, as a person and as a woman. Perhaps she should look at other things, given that she has always described herself as an underdog, someone who comes from the bottom, she should sometimes take a fresh look at things that belong to underdogs like herself.

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HUNTE: Matthew Karnitschnig is joining me now. He's an independent journalist in Berlin.

Welcome, sir.

Giorgia Meloni has now broken Berlusconi's record, becoming Italy's longest serving government since World War Two.

[02:50:00]

How significant is this moment for her and for Italy, too?

MATTHEW KARNITSCHNIG, INDEPENDENT JOURNALIST: Well, thank you for having me. I think it's a very significant moment for the reasons that you stated. This is unprecedented in Italy, really. And, you know, if you think back just a few years ago, Italy was still the laughingstock of Europe in a lot of ways because of the instability of its -- of its political system. And even though Silvio Berlusconi did serve for a similar -- a similar amount of time, he was also kind of a cartoonish figure, a clownish figure internationally.

And that is something one can't say about Meloni. She's taken very seriously internationally. And I think that is part of the secret of her success is that she has shown that despite the fact that she comes from what is regarded in Europe as the far right of the political spectrum, that she, you know, could govern in a very pragmatic way. She supported the Atlantic Alliance, for example. She supported the efforts to support Ukraine and so on.

And that was really what a lot of people were worried about in Europe when she came to power, as this neo-fascist, as many people described her then, that this was going to be a chaotic situation in the third largest economy in Europe, and one that is -- a country that is heavily indebted. So, there was a -- there was a lot of fear that Italy could be going over a precipice here. And that has turned out not to be the case.

HUNTE: Italy has, of course, been famous for political instability. How has Meloni managed to stay in power for nearly four years?

KARNITSCHNIG: Well, I think the key here is that she doesn't have within her coalition any strong rivals who could sort of cause trouble, as it were. She's managed to put together this right-wing coalition, which she controls. They depend on her more than she depends on them.

And I think because, you know, she's managed to stable the -- stabilize the economy, that's a key factor here. We have unemployment in Italy has fallen to the lowest they've seen in decades. And even though the economy itself is not showing strong growth, in fact that remains a problem in Italy. The slow, low growth of the economy. Things have stabilized.

And I think, you know, after long periods of instability, many, many Italians are happy to sort of see that things are a little bit more predictable than they had been. So, she really stands as this kind of bulwark against the historic chaos of the Italian political system, as it were.

HUNTE: Meloni now appears to have more political weight in Europe, too, at a time when France and Germany are both dealing with their own challenges. How much influence does she have inside the E.U. today?

KARNITSCHNIG: Well, that's a really interesting point because, you know, now that she has this longevity, she's going to be effectively the last woman standing of her generation among the national leaders in Europe. You have in France, Emmanuel Macron, who's about to leave office. He's effectively a lame duck right now.

Friedrich Merz in Germany is under a lot of pressure. He has his low -- historically low approval ratings. And Germany's facing all kinds of problems. So here again, Meloni has looked like a safe - safe pair of hands. And also somebody who can act as a bridge between the far- right parties in Europe and the more moderate parties.

And I think this is one of the questions, you know, were going to see raised in the coming months because Italy will have an election next year. And she has, if anything, left a little bit of an opening to the far right in her country. And we've seen a party emerge there that's to the right of her brothers of Italy party. And it'll be interesting to see how successful they are, because the accusation from this part of the political spectrum is that she has moved too far to the center and that she hasn't fulfilled her promises on migration, and other kind of mainstays of far-right politics that she promised. HUNTE: Okay. Independent journalist Matthew Karnitschnig in Berlin,

thank you so much for joining us.

Their motto is to first make people laugh, then make them think. We're, of course, talking about the annals of improbable research 2026 Ig Nobel Prizes. Presenters handed out awards for the aerodynamic study of nose blowing, the energy content of cockroach milk, and what exactly makes a venomous snake bite a human.

Another award-winning project found that upper class people are more likely to steal candy from a child, and other unethical behavior, too. The prize for physics went to a group who have come up with a splash- free urinal.

Well, all right, thanks for joining me and the team this hour. I'm Ben Hunte. CNN NEWSROOM continues after this quick break with me.

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