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CNN This Morning

Israeli Forces Launch Deadly Strike On West Bank's Jenin; WHO Examines Potential Risks Of Aspartame; Parent Company Launches New App Amid TikTok Bans. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired July 03, 2023 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00]

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks so much.

MAYOR BRANDON SCOTT, (D) BALTIMORE: Thank you.

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Now, on the West Bank, at least seven people are dead and dozens of others are injured after Israeli airstrikes hit the city of Jenin. We're live in Tel Aviv, next.

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CORNISH: The death toll in the city of Jenin rising to seven this morning after an Israeli military operation in the West Bank. The Palestinian Ministry of Health blames Israeli airstrikes for three of those deaths and for the dozens of others injured. The IDF says its forces were targeting so-called terrorist infrastructure.

CNN's Hadas Gold joins us live from Tel Aviv. And, Hadas, how much have you learned? What can you tell us?

HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what's interesting about this raid that we saw overnight is just the sheer scale of it. Over the past year and a half or so, we've regularly been reporting on these regular Israeli military operations in the occupied West Bank. This, after a wave of terror attacks targeting Israelis. The Israeli military saying that they tried to go in to root out militants.

[07:35:00]

And it seems as though every single time we talk about these raids the intensity goes up and up -- up to the point that we always kind of refer back to the days of the Second Intifada when tanks were rolling through cities of the occupied West Bank. And these are the images we are starting to see once again.

Overnight, the Israeli military saying that around 1:00 a.m. is when their drones carried out airstrikes in Jenin refugee camp. This has long been a hotspot of militant activity. A hotspot of Israeli military raids.

Now, the IDF saying that they targeted command and control centers as well as improvised rocket launchers -- an explosives manufacturing site and the like. They are saying that their main focus of this operation that as of an hour ago was still ongoing is the infrastructure of these militant cells, saying that they want to remove Jenin as a safe haven for militants.

They've carried out at least 10 different airstrikes. And we know that the size of at least a brigade -- that means several hundred soldiers -- were taking place in this operation. And for the first time since the early 2000s, we saw tanks on the outskirts of Jenin.

Now, there are at least eight Palestinians we know who have been confirmed killed. At least two dozen others have been injured. One Israeli soldier was injured as well.

And we should note that as of the last hour, this is still ongoing. The Israeli military saying clashes are currently ongoing outside of a mosque in Jenin and they carried out another airstrike outside of that mosque.

So what we need to keep an eye on right now is how long this operation will go on and whether other parts of the West Bank and, potentially, even Gaza will get involved. We do know that Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza, has called in all of their cells now to engage -- Audie.

CORNISH: Hadas, thank you for this reporting.

MATTINGLY: Well, the World Health Organization is taking a closer look at potential links between Aspartame, one of the most common artificial sweeteners, and cancer. Dr. Sanjay Gupta is here with what you, particularly going into the July Fourth barbecue season, actually need to know.

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[07:40:54]

MATTINGLY: So this is probably the last thing you want to hear before you crack open a soda at your Fourth of July barbecue but it's important.

The World Health Organization has been looking -- taking a closer look at the potential links between Aspartame and cancer. Now, Aspartame is one of the most common artificial sweeteners used in drinks and food. It's been FDA-approved for decades. Later this month, the WHO agency is set to release its finding on the carcinogenic effects of the sweetener and how much of it is acceptable to have daily.

CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us now with more.

And, Sanjay, let's start with how prevalent Aspartame might actually be in our food. What type of products is this usually found in?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's probably safe to say that everybody who is watching right now has, at some point or another, had Aspartame. I mean, as you -- as you point out, for over 40 years it's been approved. It's been used in all sorts of different products from beverages, which is the primary sort of product -- diet beverages -- but also things like breakfast cereals, and chewing gum, and cough drops. It's been out there for a long time.

It's about 200 times sweeter than typical table sugar, so you can use small amounts. It makes it very easy for these manufacturers to use that to sweeten their products. And again, they've been doing it for a long time.

One thing that's going to come out I think in these WHO discussions is this old adage, which is the dose makes the poison, right? Anything in a certain dose could potentially be poisonous or harmful. So how much Aspartame is potentially harmful? That's the real question.

The FDA -- as you might imagine, they've analyzed this for years. And where they -- where they came down it and says 50 milligrams per kilogram is what they think is potentially problematic. What does that mean? About 22 cans of diet soda, 116 cups of coffee with two sweetener packets.

I'm showing you these numbers because I just want to give you an idea that, again, anything can be problematic in certain doses, but take a look at just how high you'd have to get to be problematic, at least according to the FDA.

CORNISH: So what's the level of concern? I mean, at this point, what could this evaluation actually mean for consumers?

GUPTA: Yes. So, we'll see, Audie. July 14 is when the WHO is going to issue their formal statement on it and at that point, it will be a recommendation. I mean, there's no mandates or anything that comes from this.

But it's interesting the way the WHO has approached this in the past and these types of things in the past is they've listed them in certain categories. So something that is definitively carcinogenic, you know? Certain types of radiation, for example, definitively carcinogenic. Probably carcinogenic is the next thing. Possibly carcinogenic.

And to give you some context, cell phone usage was listed by the WHO as being possibly carcinogenic at certain levels and then not classifiable.

So, we'll see what they say. Again, that comes out July 14. But it could fall into the category again of possibly carcinogenic, like cell phones, but hopefully, with some added context of, again, what is the dose? The dose makes the poison. How much are we talking about here?

MATTINGLY: So, obviously, everybody knows water, unsweetened teas -- those are kind of the best pathways here for beverages. But for those of us who want to enjoy an occasional soda, are the potential harmful effects of Aspartame more dangerous than, say, the high amount of sugar in regular soda? I guess what I'm asking here is are you actually better off reaching for the diet soda instead of the full- sugar soda? Can sugar substitutes actually help with something like weight loss?

GUPTA: Yes. Look, if it's occasional then I think either one is OK for all the reasons that I just mentioned. But I think it's important to sort of look -- when you have 40 years-plus of data on these things you now have the opportunity to go back and say how much of a difference did it make?

And to your point, Phil, there's no -- there's no benefit, really, long term in terms of weight loss from using these non-caloric sweeteners. That's what the data shows over and over again.

People still reach for sweetened products with sugar later on in the day perhaps. They drink diet soda all day and ice cream at night. Whatever it might be. So, long term, not a problem.

But sugar, in and of itself, is problematic. We eat too much sugar. So starting to train our taste buds, for example, to not want as much of the sweet taste -- that's probably going to be one of the biggest benefits, really, in terms of the long-term benefits.

[07:45:11]

Choosing no-sugar-added foods and really just watching for all the stealth sugar in products because it's out there, even in products that don't taste sweet. And look at those nutrition labels, obviously.

Sugar, in and of itself -- we used to get it just a couple of times a year when fruit fell from the trees. And now, people eat dozens of pounds of it every year, sometimes just unknowingly.

MATTINGLY: Yes, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

You know, I thought he was going to be delivering bad news about what I could and couldn't drink. And per usual, it's nuanced, contextualized, and I feel better now.

CORNISH: Yes, it is -- it is.

MATTINGLY: I feel better now. Thanks, Sanjay.

CORNISH: But the message is still the same. Don't drink so much soda, pretty much.

In Montana, five TikTok social media influencers were suing over the state's new ban on the app. It turns out TikTok has been quietly funding those legal challenges.

MATTINGLY: And CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich explores the parent company's new app Lemon8 as influencers try to stay ahead of potential regulation.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When you hear about something like this, especially if it's from TikTok, you want to make sure you're some of the first people there. (END VIDEO CLIP)

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[07:50:00]

CORNISH: Mississippi and Georgia join the growing list of states that have banned TikTok on any government-issued devices. The bans went into effect over the weekend and they come as more lawmakers in the U.S. and around the world push to block the Chinese-owned app. And as the bans continue to rack up, some experts say TikTok's parent company has launched a new social media app in response.

CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich spoke with some influencers who are getting ahead of the game.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MADISON SHAPIRO, INFLUENCER, SISTERSNACKING: People started saying, oh, have you heard about Lemon8? And I'm like what is this? Like lemonade? What - I don't know.

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): With more than half a million followers on TikTok and Instagram combined --

YURKEVICH (on camera): You guys are known as?

SHAPIRO: Sistersnacking.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): -- even they hadn't heard of Lemon8.

SHAPIRO: People were saying it was TikTok's new app -- kind of like a mix between Instagram and Pinterest.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): They joined Lemon8 in April and have less than 40 followers, but say it isn't about follower count for them just yet.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When you hear about something like this, especially if it's from TikTok, you want to make sure you're some of the first people there.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): Lemon8 is owned by ByteDance, the same company behind TikTok. That's raising some eyebrows among security experts and lawmakers. But TikTok has 150 million users in the U.S. compared to Lemon8, which has only 900,000 active monthly users, and say they are "Creating a community where people discover and share content related to beauty, fashion, travel, and more in an authentic and diverse environment."

LINDSAY GORMAN, SENIOR FELLOW, GERMAN MARSHALL FUND, ALLIANCE FOR SECURITY DEMOCRACY: Even when you're talking about a platform like Lemon8, which can start with something that seems quite benign, there might be less of a national security concern. But four, five years ago when we started raising the alarm about TikTok we encountered the same thing.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): Now, bills like the Restrict Act are swirling around Congress to address concerns that foreign countries could access U.S. user data through social media apps.

SHOU ZI CHEW, CEO, TIKTOK: Two years ago, I became the CEO of TikTok.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): TikTok's CEO testified in March he's seen no evidence the Chinese government has accessed any of that data. Lemon8 declined to answer questions about where data on its app is stored.

SEN. MARK WARNER (D-VA): Good afternoon, everyone.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): The bill's co-sponsor, Sen. Mark Warner, told CNN, "Today, we're talking about TikTok, but as the growth of Lemon8 shows, new apps and tools are popping up constantly. We need a real strategy to address them. No more whac-a-mole."

GORMAN: I think it's definitely possible that ByteDance is seeing some of the writing on the wall with TikTok in the U.S. and is looking for a plan B.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): NK Medani says she was hired and paid by an influencer agency to create content promoting Lemon8.

NK MEDANI, INFLUENCER: I was a little skeptical at first. I didn't know what it was. I had never heard of it.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): But now she says she's having fun exploring what Lemon8 could be, but it's not rival to TikTok yet.

MEDANI: That buzz of Lemon8 came from the almost removal of TikTok. A lot more people are talking about it now but I think it is solely because of that mini scare that we all had.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): And where consumers are brands follow.

FIONA CO CHAN, FOUNDER, YOUTHFORIA: I think social media has driven a lot of our organic awareness, so I think it accounts for about 85 percent of our sales.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): The beauty brand Youthforia found massive success on TikTok and is seeing it if can squeeze some more juice out of Lemon8.

CHAN: I think the fact that it's created by a parent company that's really successful -- is very, very successful at creating a social media platform that was really interesting, and I'm watching it kind of pick up steam. It's still to be determined if Lemon8 is going to be that platform for us.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

YURKEVICH: And we asked the influencers that we spoke with whether they have concerns about national security risks or their privacy data. They said that they did not. They feel the good outweighs the bad in terms of TikTok and Lemon8 because you have to remember that so many of those influencers make a ton of money off these apps.

And Lemon8 is not really huge here in the U.S. yet. It is very big in Europe. Some of the influencers wonder if alone, Lemon8 will become popular. But they do say that the power and the strength of ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, is what can really help to grow Lemon8 in the U.S. People are watching and they're trying to figure out if this is going to be the next TikTok.

MATTINGLY: All right, Vanessa, great piece. Stay with us. I want to bring the panel back in.

Errol, Audie was taking a poll during the break of who has thoughts on this.

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, COLUMNIST, NEW YORK MAGAZINE: I think I have thoughts.

MATTINGLY: You vigorously nodded your head. And I'm fascinated --

CORNISH: Yes, yes.

MATTINGLY: -- as to what your actual thoughts are here.

LOUIS: Well, look, first of all, Lemon8 is very different from TikTok as far as the user experience. I mean, TikTok is famously addictive. The average user is on for 80-90 minutes at a time.

Lemon8 is really a little bit more directed and more curated -- quieter in a lot of ways. Not a lot of interaction across different content creators. So if you're really looking for something and you're used to the Facebook experience or the Instagram experience, Lemon8 will feel familiar and it will be used in a similar way.

[07:55:01]

So, in some ways, they're really quite divergent.

I think all of the government concerns about ByteDance, about Chinese ownership and access to not just information but the activities of young people in America --

CORNISH: You're right.

LOUIS: -- those are real concerns and they should --

CORNISH: But, Vanessa, if --

LOUIS: -- be taken seriously.

CORNISH: -- Lemon8 is based in Europe -- is that correct? Europe has far more --

YURKEVICH: Yes.

CORNISH: -- stringent, sort of, laws around data protection. Does that mean anything? Is --

YURKEVICH: Yes, founded in -- it started in Japan and made its way through Europe. I think that every country is looking at this right now. Lemon8 is still very new. People are just trying to get ahold of what's happening on TikTok. People are a little behind the curve on that. At least governments feel like they're behind the curve on that.

But Lemon8 is really targeted for an older audience -- for women who are about 30 and older. It's not going after the millennial audience.

You also have to remember that TikTok became popular at a time when people didn't have a lot to do -- the pandemic. Lemon8 is basically launching right now in the U.S. People are more addicted to TikTok. It's interesting to see if the transition will happen to Lemon8.

But I think the concerns are there and people are trying to figure out whether or not they need to put restrictions and laws in place for that.

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST, FORMER ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK, FORMER FEDERAL AND NEW JERSEY STATE PROSECUTOR: So -- and TikTok is showing some real legal savvy --

YURKEVICH: Yes.

HONIG: -- within our American system, right? They're anticipating -- I mean, or there have been now movements by states to ban TikTok and they're bringing lawsuits.

And one thing they're doing that may raise some eyebrows is they are funding these lawsuits. They are funding creators, right? Now, first of all, there's nothing necessarily wrong about that. We do see people funding interested lawsuits. But the creators have better First Amendment claims than TikTok itself. So it's a smart legal strategy and we'll have to follow these cases as they move through the courts.

MATTINGLY: All right. Max, We're going to talk about TikTok with you after the break.

MAX ROSE, (D) FORMER NEW YORK CONGRESSMAN: Appreciate it. Thank you.

MATTINGLY: But since you and I aren't on it I figured we can kind of move on with this.

YURKEVICH: Neither am I, though.

MATTINGLY: Yes, but you do great reporting.

YURKEVICH: Thank you.

CORNISH: OK. New reporting that former President Trump pressured Arizona's then-governor to help overturn his 2020 election defeat. What it could mean for the special counsel's investigation.

MATTINGLY: Plus, why an attack ad posted by Ron DeSantis' campaign is being labeled as homophobic. It's coming up next. Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL)