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Connect the World

New UK PM Starmer: Biden was on "Really Good Form" at Summit; White House: "Positive Signs" in Gaza Ceasefire Negotiations; Suspect of Triple Murder in UK Crossbow Attack Arrested; Dangerous, Deadly Heat in Parts of Western U.S.; Son of Asia's Richest Man Marrying Longtime Girlfriend. Aired 9-9:45a ET

Aired July 12, 2024 - 09:00   ET

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


[09:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: It's 2 pm in London. I'm Eleni Giokos, and this is "Connect the World" and uneven performance by President

Biden on the world stage, Democrats are still scrambling to figure out what to do about his re-election campaign. The suspect in the U.K. crossbow

killings has officially been arrested, but he's still in hospital.

And in India, the son of Asia's richest man is finally tying the knots in lavish style. I'll tell you who is on the guest list. Welcome to the show,

let's do a quick check in on how U.S. markets will be faring. New York will open in around 30 minutes from now. Tech shares tumbling on Thursday as

investors digesting the latest inflation report and U.S. futures right now more or less unchanged, but with a positive bias.

Right, so the U.S. President says he's the best candidate to and best qualified together and his own party though remains divided and nothing Joe

Biden said that his high profile news conference Thursday night appeared to change the calculus of his re-election campaign, that a growing number of

Democrats believe he will lose to Donald Trump in November.

Mr. Biden's every word is now being scrutinized since his debate debacle in Atlanta two weeks ago. And he made some notable verbal gas -- including

mixing up the vice president and his Republican opponents. Listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What concerns do you have about Vice President Harris's ability to beat Donald Trump if she were at the top of the ticket?

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Look, I wouldn't have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president. I think she's not

qualified to be president. So let's start there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: Well, that wasn't the only time he misspoke during the NATO Summit earlier, he mixed up the presidents of Russia and Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: Now I want to hand it over to the President of Ukraine, who has as much courage as he has determination. Ladies and gentlemen, President

Putin, you got to beat President Putin. President Zelenskyy. I'm so focused on being Putin. We got to worry about it, anyway, Mr. President.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE: I'm better.

BIDEN: You are a hell of a lot better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: This conference, the president was adamant. He is staying in the race and looking ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: For at least five presidents running or incumbent presidents who had lower numbers than I have now later in the campaign. So there's a long way

to go, this campaign. And so I am just going to keep moving.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: And after the news conference, more Congressional Democrats publicly calling on Mr. Biden to withdraw from the race that makes 17 at

last count. One Democrats directly involved in the President's re-election efforts telling CNN last night, we are doomed if he runs. He's incapable of

running a presidential campaign and he risks taking the House and Senate down with him.

In a moment, we'll be joined by Senior White House Correspondent Kayla Tausche. But right now I'm joined by CNN International Diplomatic Editor,

Nic Robertson, and so much to go through, I mean, all eyes oh, NATO, more so than ever before, because all about President Biden's performance. How

event, international leaders responded to some of the conversations I've had with President Biden?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: I think the headline has to be exactly as you would expect them to, because they are not going

to talk down the leader of another country. And also they recognize that he's a Democrat for most of the NATO leaders. They'd rather deal with a

Democrat than a Republican, particularly Donald Trump, who might want to weaken support for NATO, who probably of all those leaders had the best

insights.

Well, Keir Starmer, the new British Prime Minister had this like really long, almost hour long one on one with Biden, and he came out of that when

asked by a British journalist. He gave a strong defense. He said, look, we went through all these different foreign policy issues at high speed.

And he was on top of them. He got them he was there in the detail. But again, I think there's that kind of little caveat that you wouldn't expect

them to say some, and President Macron when he came to Biden's defense to he said he was on top of it. And they're all pointing to the fact that this

is a complex summit where they had to get through a lot and there were a lot of deliverables and Biden stayed in the room with the latest data --

and got it done.

GIOKOS: And as you say it very unlikely that you'd have world leaders, you know, speaking negatively about the U.S. Presidents given that the

alternative right now is a Donald Trump presidency, and we don't know what that would mean for NATO's future.

[09:05:00]

ROBERTSON: I think we got a hint yesterday because one of the NATO Leaders Viktor Orban, the Prime Minister of Hungary, you who's just by the way his

country has taken over the presidency of the Council of the EU, which is an influential position. It's a rotating presidency you get it for six months.

But as soon as he got that he went to Kyiv and he went to Moscow and he went to Beijing called it a peace tour. Then he went to Washington for the

NATO Summit, then he went to Mar-a-Lago, to see Donald Trump, talking up Donald Trump as a peacemaker, pitching his visit there as part of his peace

tour.

Donald Trump responded to all bands social media by saying, hey, you know, thank you, Victor. Yes, we need to end this war as soon as possible no more

people need to die. So that's everything we kind of need to know president or maybe President Trump, again, if he gets re-elected as president.

He would be all for ending the war as soon as possible, which, and everyone knows that would mean ceding territory, essentially rewarding President

Putin, unless Donald Trump has another analysis and puts it forward, which he hasn't so far.

GIOKOS: Yeah, I mean, so fascinating. The other thing that we've been discussing is just how the issues surrounding President Biden has

overshadowed in many respects, what's been coming out of NATO, what have you been hearing from world leaders and whether they feel that the focus

hasn't actually been on the outcomes of what NATO is trying to achieve and showing a unified NATO, but more so about what's happening domestically in

the United States?

ROBERTSON: Yeah. And I think when you look at that whole, the NATO communique at the end, this is the strongest communique in years, it paints

a picture of an increasingly polarized world where China is a decisive factor in Russia, they say being able to have lots of weapons and therefore

be a greater danger.

So you're seeing this polarization in the world. And you know, I think for the leaders that were one of the big messages, they wanted to get out the

defense and deterrence and why we're ready and how we sell it to our population. So I need to spend more money on defense may get back.

And that wasn't the message coming out. The message was all about, you know, the welfare of President Biden and in some NATO country ambassadors

who I spoke to said, actually, yeah, that that's a worry that distraction is the worry, I thought it was super interesting. When President Zelenskyy

met with President Biden, they also had a one on one, but they do that bit before they go and sit in front of the cameras and read their messages.

GIOKOS: Yeah.

ROBERTSON: And President Biden's like sitting there reading from his cue cards and you think, OK, OK, he's relying on his cue cards. Then the camera

goes to Zelenskyy. And Zelenskyy is going to read his lines, and he reads from cue cards. This is a guy whose background is in TV.

GIOKOS: Yeah.

ROBERTSON: He knows visual messaging. And it was like, OK, the young guy in the room needs cue cards, too. It was such a potential. We don't really

know how it was planned stage prop to support Biden at this moment. But he's found that interesting.

GIOKOS: Yeah, it's super interesting. I mean, as you said, visual medium television, the messaging sending between a younger leader and you know an

older leader in the scrutiny around that. Nic, it's so good to see you in London. Thank you so much.

ROBERTSON: Thank you.

GIOKOS: Nic Robertson there for us. I want to now bring in Senior White House Correspondent Kayla Tausche. I want to talk about what's happening at

the White House at this point, I think everyone's wondering if the White House is trying to do damage control, and frankly, with the responses after

the feedback of that press conference?

KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, they've been in damage control for the last two weeks. That's the mode that they've been

operating in. And while there was some relief expressed to me from several White House officials and officials at the campaign, who were pleased that

the President had an opportunity to express some of his personality go in depth on foreign policy and hit back at his opponent as well.

They also acknowledged that there would still be questions, there would still be conjectures. And there would yes still be defections from

lawmakers who up until this point have already made their decisions about how they feel about President Biden's candidacy. That was very clear in my

conversations, but then in speaking to others in the party, who are outside the administration in the campaign.

The officials speaking to strategists and lawmakers and their staffers, it is clear that the pressure that is mounted up until this point is something

of a genie that cannot be put inside the bottle. The next few days are going to be critical for President Biden. He said in the press conference

that he needs to allay fears of those who still have concerns about him serving another four years and so he's going to be going to Michigan a

critical battleground state today.

He'll be going to Texas for a fundraiser on Monday, and then to Las Vegas, Nevada, another swing state on Tuesday and Wednesday during this period

where he knows that all eyes are on him that he needs to display a certain amount of stamina and retail politicking with the people who are on the

ground in those states to prove that he has support on the ground in those critical areas that matter.

[09:10:00]

Even so it is expected that there will continue to be a drumbeat or a drip, drip and drip in the words of one source of Democrats who continue to say

that they cannot support Biden going into November. But for now, the Biden team is going to keep with this schedule until it gets to be too much.

GIOKOS: All right, Kayla, thank you so much, good to see you. In the meantime, a mass exodus continues from Gaza City amid intense Israeli

military action around the area. We're getting word that the bodies of at least 110 Palestinians have been found, with more feared still buried.

A Palestinian civil defense says this follows a partial withdrawal of the Israeli army from several neighborhoods in the area. And you are looking at

video from a neighborhood east of Gaza City where major battles have raged since an Israeli evacuation order at the end of last month.

CNN's Scott McLean is in Istanbul for us to give us an update. Look, people are fleeing per the IDF evacuation orders. But in some areas, some people

also returning to their homes despite the immense destruction, we saw some of those images. Take us through what we're seeing.

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, it's pretty remarkable. First, this partial withdraw, Eleni, as you said, has revealed some bodies, a lot of

them are still trapped under the rubble, when you look at the video of them trying to dig them out it. It's pretty grim to watch, frankly, the

municipal office in Gaza City has also said that it is trying to deliver water to the people who are still living in those areas.

And obviously they are having great difficulty. The IDF says that look, they went into this area. The neighborhood they're referring to in

particular is called Tel al-Hawa. And they said that they found a weapons production workshop, they found cash and their words terrorists that pose a

threat were eliminated.

Now, you mentioned the evacuation orders. They've been in effect since Sunday, affecting about a quarter of a million people. And there are still

tens of thousands or so who are on the move right now. And yeah, you have people who, you know, complain about having to walk for very long periods

of time to try to find any place that might be safe, and many of them have children as well.

And obviously, food and water is not readily available. One woman who spoke to our CNN stringer on the ground said that her family slept outside for

three days, without water. Others are simply exhausted from having to move all the time, from hunger, from thirst and with the indignity of all this.

176 year old man, who by the way, hasn't had any fresh food in six months said that he would rather die in his own home with some shred of dignity,

then experience the indignities that may lie elsewhere in Gaza where obviously resources are quite scarce. Everyone is desperate for this war to

end.

But when we talk about a potential ceasefire agreement, it's not entirely clear how close we might be? Two sources told my colleague Alex Marquardt,

that there was good progress in Doha made yesterday, but there were still tough issues to resolve. Now the negotiations move to Cairo.

And we've just gotten some reporting earlier today from Reuters, as suggesting that the Israelis have discussed the possibility of withdrawing

from the border between Gaza and Egypt, if there was some kind of electronic monitoring system in place to make sure that there weren't

tunnels or smuggling taking place in that area.

But the Israeli Prime Minister's Office, though, very quickly came out with a statement in response to that reporting and called it absolute fake news.

The prime minister yesterday gave a speech he accused Hamas of making demands that contradict the plans on the table.

But of course, he's been accused of moving the goalposts as well, even after a Hamas concession last weekend, forgoing their insistence that any

ceasefire they agree to would be a permanent one. Now, President Biden was asked about this, as well at his lengthy press conference yesterday. And

when it comes to the ceasefire talks, he said this, listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: But the bottom line is we have a chance now. It's time to end this war, doesn't mean walk away from going after Sinwar and Hamas. And if you

notice, you know better than most, there is a growing dissatisfaction in -- on the West Bank, from the Palestinians about Hamas. Hamas is not popular

now.

And so there's a lot of moving parts. I just have to keep moving to make sure that we get as much done as we can toward a ceasefire. A ceasefire!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCLEAN: Now, that comments about Hamas not being popular in the West Bank, from the limited polling data that we do have is not true. Hamas is

actually twice as popular as it was before the war.

[09:15:00]

And it's also worth pointing out that Biden discussed in some length, his plans or his hopes for post war -- which involve some kind of a guarantor

ship system involving Arab states keeping everything on track and in line in Gaza to allow Israeli troops to withdraw. But even if he may have

convinced some Arab states to get on board with that, his challenge, of course, will be convincing the Israelis to do that, Eleni.

GIOKOS: All right, Scott McLean, thank you so much for that analysis. Now on October 7 Andrey Kozlov was nearing the end of his shift as a security

guard at the Novo Music Festival when Hamas fighters attacked. The Russian- Israeli citizen was soon captured and taken to Gaza as a hostage.

In a CNN interview Kozlov detailed his months of captivity the psychological torture, he injured the threats that he faced and finally

after his rescue, the emotional reunion with his mother, here's part of his conversation with CNN's Bianna Golodryga.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIANNA GOLOGDRYGA, CNN SENIOR GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: We all saw the video of when you were reunited with your mother at the hospital. As a mother, it

brought tears to my eyes to see how you fell down on your knees, hugging her. Do you know how difficult I would imagine you do those eight months'

war for them?

ANDREY KOZLOV, RESCUED OCTOBER 7 HOSTAGE: I was so afraid not to see them.

GOLOGDRYGA: Do you thought you'd never see them again?

KOZLOV: I was afraid I had mentioned though -- mother and father and brother will not hear the words. I love you anymore.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: Well, you can see the full interview with rescued hostage Andrey Kozlov Friday on Amanpour at 1 pm Eastern that is 6 pm in London and 8 pm

in Tel Aviv. It will also a Friday night at 8 pm Eastern in the United States. That's 5 pm on the U.S. West Coast. And still to come in CNN, a

jury in New York is expected to begin deliberation soon in the corruption trial of U.S. Senator Bob Menendez and two of his co-defendants, live

report next.

Plus, British police arrest the man suspected of murdering three women in a crossbow attack. We'll have more on this developing story for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GIOKOS: A high profile criminal trial of a U.S. Senator charged with corruption is expected to be handed over to the jury today.

[09:20:00]

Democrats Bob Menendez and his co-defendants two New Jersey businessmen are accused of taking parts in a year's long bribery scheme to ensure the

senator used his influence to benefit among others, the governments of Egypt and Qatar. Menendez and his wife allegedly received gold bars,

hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and Mercedes Benz convertible and other gifts in exchange for that influence.

All three defendants have pleaded not guilty. CNN's Kara Scannell is now following the story for us from outside of the courtroom. Good to see you.

Look, the jury is set to begin deliberations once the judge's instructions to the panel are completed. How long is that expected to last?

KARA SCANNELL, CNN REPORTER: So the judge has told the jury that he expects to finish his giving them the instruction this morning. He said that they

will get the case before lunch. So then this will be in the hands of the jury. This is the ninth week of this trial certainly a lot at stake for

both sides.

Prosecutors accusing the senator of selling the power of his office in exchange for those gold bars nearly half a million dollars in cash and a

Mercedes Benz convertible. They say that he was doing this to help two friends of his New Jersey businessman interfere in criminal investigations

also help the government of Egypt.

He is actually charged as acting as a foreign agent. Prosecutors say he helped ghost write a letter that Egyptians could send to other senators to

lobby them to come around in their favor. Prosecutor said that was not the work of a diplomat but of a corrupt official. Now Menendez lawyers arguing

to the jury that all the actions he took were normal routine.

They say he was doing his job and doing it well. He was advocating for his constituents. They said that these alleged bribes were not bribes at all.

But that were they were gifts to the senator and his wife. Now this will all come to the jury in short order this morning, where they will then

begin deliberating on this.

Menendez is facing 16 counts including extortion, bribery, wire fraud, and obstruction of justice. If he is convicted on the most serious counts, he

could face a maximum of 20 years in prison. Now he has been vigorously defending himself and his actions and we will get an answer on this in

short order from the jury, Eleni.

GIOKOS: That's Kara Scannell, thank you so much for that update. Now to another high profile trial, we're closely watching it CNN actor Alec

Baldwin's involuntary manslaughter trial is entering its third day of testimony in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The armorer responsible for firearm

safety on the Rust film set says she won't cooperate when she's called to testify in court today.

A lawyer for Hannah Gutierrez Reed says she'll plead her 5th Amendment Rights to avoid answering questions. Now about the 2021 shooting, that

killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. The armorer was sentenced to 18 months in prison earlier this year for her role in Hutchins' death.

British police are still searching for a man after two suitcases containing human remains were discovered on bridge in the City of Bristol. Authorities

have not identified the suspect but they released this photo following reports they'd received on Wednesday about a man with suitcase acting

suspiciously on the bridge.

Police say a forensic post mortem is still being carried out on the human remains. Now the man suspected of murdering three women in a crossbow

attack in England has been arrested. Kyle Clifford was found by police on Wednesday after an overnight manhunt. He's been in a serious condition in a

London hospital.

The victims of Tuesday's attack were the wife and two adult daughters of BBC Horse Racing Commentator John Hunt. Joining us now is CNN's Nada Bashir

to give us an update. I mean, remarkable story here this man was on the run there was a manhunt's three people losing their lives, horrific story. But

how much -- is our police making at this juncture?

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, this is still an ongoing investigation. We heard yesterday from police confirming that he was still

-- the suspect still in hospital and therefore that questioning process wasn't able to take place. But now of course police have said that a man

has been arrested.

Of course there was that manhunt underway, police at the time and emergency services at the time when they responded to the initial call for help found

three women badly wounded. This was of course Carol Hunt, and her two adult daughters Hannah just 28 years old and Louise 25 years old.

They of course, died as a result of their injuries. And we know of course that Kyle Clifford the suspect in this case was also injured in the process

as well. Of course this has sent shockwaves across the country with still unclear what exactly the motive was here, but police have said that they do

believe that Clifford was known to the three victims.

We've seen in British media reports some suggestion that perhaps Clifford had been in a romantic relationship with the youngest of the two daughters

Louise, again just 25 years old and she had recently shared on social media posts on X formerly known as Twitter, amplifying and supporting women who

leave toxic relationships. So that has certainly been an area of questioning perhaps that could be a focus for police as they continue their

investment.

[09:25:00]

GIOKOS: Yeah, of course investigator femicide case potentially. What's the next process? What's the next step from here at this point that he's still

in hospital at the moment?

BASHIR: At this stage, they have confirmed they've arrested Clifford, he hasn't yet been charged. So that will be the next step as they carry out

their investigation. Of course, police will be looking into all areas in this investigation speaking to people in there, people who may know

Clifford.

We understand that Clifford's brother himself was also arrested and charged with murder for previous a case some time ago. So this is certainly perhaps

an area that police will be looking into as well. But as you mentioned, there are real questions now around the rise of violence against women and

femicide in this country around the protection of women particularly when it comes to domestic violence within these sorts of relationships as well.

GIOKOS: All right, Nada Bashir, great to have you on the story. Thank you so much. And still to come, the list of Democrats calling on President

Biden to bow out of the race keeps growing despite the White House insistence that everything is fine. Days after tropical storm Beryl hit

Louisiana a trucker finds a baby by the side of a busy highway. We'll have the details after the short break, stay with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GIOKOS: Welcome back. I'm Eleni Giokos in London and you're watching "Connect the World". The U.S. President's highly anticipated news

conference to close the NATO Summit is getting a mixed response after the early verbal gaffe mixing up the names of Vice President Kamala Harris and

Donald Trump.

Joe Biden gave nuanced answers and foreign policy and his record in office, but many questions still focused on Mr. Biden's mental acuity and his

ability to serve more for more years, frankly, as President, here's how he answered a question about your logical exams. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: I've taken three significant and intense neurological exams, neurological -- by a neurologist, in each case has recently in February and

they say I'm in good shape. The only thing age does is -- creates a little bit of wisdom if you pay attention.

[09:30:00]

And so the point I'm making is I think it's important that I -- if mine is a neurologist tells me, he thinks I need another exam and by the way, I've

laid every bit of the record out, every single day I'm surrounded by good docs. If they think there's a problem, I promise you, read it I don't think

it's a problem. I think I should have a neurological exam again. I'll do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: Well, 17 Congressional Democrats are publicly calling on the president to exit the race. He's also getting notable support from key

Democrats, including Jim Clyburn, who was instrumental in boosting Mr. Biden's 2020 campaign, take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The conversation should be over.

REP. JIM CLYBURN (D-SC): No, the conversation should focus on the record of this administration on the alternative to his election, and let Joe Biden

continue to make his own decisions about his treated. He's earned that right. And I am going to give him that much respect.

If he decides to change his mind later on, then we will respond to that. We have until the 19th of August to open our convention.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: CNN's Jeff Zeleny has more on the reaction from Democrats.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: It was the moment that everyone in Washington was waiting for President Biden's high

stakes news conference on Thursday night. The question did it change any minds among anxious Democrats nervous about his decision to run for re-

election.

Talking to Democrats after the president's news conference, it is unclear that it did. But one thing was notable. The president spoke with far less

defiance and combativeness about his decision to stay in. He said he needed to work to allay the concerns of Democratic voters. And he even said that

he was open to his delegates supporting someone else should they choose to do that?

But he said again and again, he wants to finish the job. He said he is not worried about his legacy, but he wants to continue working on the

accomplishments of his first term. But did this change any minds there is reason to believe at least in the early hours after the news conference

that it may not have.

We're also learning that Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Former President Barack Obama are playing a role behind the scenes in the future

of this democratic presidential campaign. We have learned that Obama and Pelosi have had conversations this week about where to take the party.

Of course, many Democrats are asking them to step in to try and send some type of a signal to the White House. These Democrats, of course, are the

ones that would like to see the president step aside. But the President for his part has many supporters as well, the Congressional Black Caucus, labor

unions and other key pieces of his coalition.

So as we end this historic week in Washington, the central question remains the same. Will President Biden keep running for the presidency now less

than four months from Election Day? He says he will. But all eyes certainly on the White House today now that NATO Summit is over.

Nancy Pelosi, of course said she wishes everyone would wait until that time. Well, now that time is here. The question is what will President

Biden do? Jeff Zeleny CNN, Washington.

GIOKOS: Right AT&T has revealed a massive data breach affecting tens of millions of people. The company says the call and text message records for

nearly everyone who used its network and mid to late 2022 were exposed in what it's calling an illegal download. AT&T says the breach did not involve

the content of the calls or texts or personal information like dates of birth.

More than 100 people have been rescued in Vermont from flooding caused by the remnants of Hurricane Beryl. The storm swept through the state in

Wednesday. Emergency respondents say they rescued by boat 118 people who were stranded they also recovered a body from the floodwaters.

Officials say they believe the man that was in a vehicle that was swept away by the water, now the storm starting to bring heavy rains to North and

Central demands on Wednesday, which was the one year anniversary of the historic flooding that hits the states last July. And here's another rescue

story. A Texas truck driver is being hailed as a hero after finding a one year old baby on the side of a highway.

Authorities believe that the baby had been on there for two days after Hurricane Beryl hit the area. The child had been abandoned along with his

four year old brother. His brother's body was found in a pond near the Texas Louisiana border on Monday. Their mother is facing charges including

second degree murder and cruelty to juvenile.

Authorities across the Western United States are reporting at least 28 suspected heat related deaths since the heatwave began on July 1st.

[09:35:00]

14 deaths are being investigated in Santa Clara County, California alone. The medical examiner says two of the individuals were un-housed. That of

course can pose an additional risk since people may have no way to go to escape the heat. A toddler in Arizona died on Tuesday when her father left

her in a car with no air conditioning on.

And still to come. It is the final that Spain was confidence they will reach while England just hopes they might. We take a look at the two teams

reaching outs for the 2024 Euro trophy. Plus, red carpets lavish jewels and international celebrities. They're all on display as India's wedding of the

year gets underway in Mumbai.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GIOKOS: Welcome back now in Mumbai, all eyes are on one of India's most anticipated and lavish weddings of the year billionaire A. Anant Ambani the

son of Asia's richest man is set to marry his longtime girlfriend and -- Radhika Merchant. In a series of opulent ceremonies will unfold over the

next several days. Joining me now is Salma Abdelaziz. Of course, she's an expert at lavish weddings.

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I wish I was. Can you imagine a red carpet into the wedding venue?

GIOKOS: It's pretty --

ABDELAZIZ: The latest arrival is Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas, her husband of course they've just arrived on the red carpet. And in this is

really I mean, the expectations for this Eleni, are sky high. And why is that? Well, they've been celebrating for seven months, averaging one huge

event.

Every six weeks. One of these events was a luxury cruise with Katy Perry performing. Justin Bieber was in India just a few days ago to celebrate the

couple. In May, there was a pre wedding event in March rather pre wedding event that included Bill Gates, Ivanka Trump -- to be invited to this kind

of wedding.

GIOKOS: Mark Zuckerberg -- I was -- that sounds amazing.

ABDELAZIZ: And it's --

GIOKOS: I think the overall estimation of what this is costing is $320 million. And people asking the question, do you hold such a lavish wedding

when you have such huge inequality issues at the very country in which you're hosting?

ABDELAZIZ: That's absolutely a question when we're talking about the family of Asia's richest man worth over $115 billion, throwing a wedding called

the wedding of the century in India. I mean, it would make a royal wedding here in London look like humble? I think so. Yes, absolutely.

There's that question. But there are two sides to this really. This is a celebration of Indian culture of heritage of history. That wedding venue

today is a recreation of a holy city in India. They're rebuilding a city on the Ganges as the wedding venue with hundreds of artisans and craftsmen and

chefs who all are there to show their pride in India.

But of course that's that. There's that question -- when you're talking about a country that has some of the poorest in the world. Are you really

exposing that wealth gap?

GIOKOS: Yeah, I mean, it's interesting because now you've just I think you hit the nail on the head because you have to have the -- you have to have

food you've got the caterers, and you've got all the suppliers.

[09:40:00]

So frankly, it's sort of the wedding economy. If you're spending on one wedding, you know, hundreds and millions of dollars. Can you imagine what

it does to all the supplies and what it does to activate a quite a strong supply chain.

ABDELAZIZ: And that's what the family thing, they're saying with each of these events, which have been held in different cities, different

locations, that they've essentially boosted the local economy. I mean, today, there's hundreds of planes and jets that have been commandeered the

airports been sanctioned off for them.

I mean, you can imagine the labor that's gone into this. The couple themselves says they've done charitable events.

GIOKOS: Yeah.

ABDELAZIZ: They've said 50,000 people during one of the events, so a lot here to look at, but I think the key thing to remember is just all eyes

again, on this massive wedding that is supposed to celebrate this country.

GIOKOS: Yeah, your next story will be is how you get an invitation to this type of wedding. I'm looking forward to -- exclusive report --

ABDELAZIZ: I'm waiting for it --

GIOKOS: Salma Abdelaziz, good to see you. Thank you so much. All right, so the plans of many football fans this Sunday will revolve around the final

of Euro 2024. After weeks of matches, just two teams remain Spain and England their sights now, on a showdown in Berlin.

Don Riddell joins me. Good to see you. I mean, serendipitously I am in London. I'm thinking I should change my flight and stay to watch in real

time on Sunday. What do you think?

DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Yes, absolutely. You should. I remember being in Madrid when Spain won the World Cup in 2010. And it was absolutely it

was just brilliant. I'm so pleased I was there for that. So hopefully you can stay and hopefully from my perspective, England can win it. As you say

it's going to be a massive day for football because we've got the Euro final England and Spain.

We then have the final of Copa America which is between Argentina and Colombia. Argentina going through a third consecutive tournaments win. And

we're showing you these two guys Lionel Messi, I'm sure you know. Lamine Yamal perhaps you don't but he is a rapidly up and coming superstar.

And next on "World Sport", I'm going to tell you how these two guys met and nearly 17 years ago. Not that either of them would remember it.

GIOKOS: OK, I'm looking forward to that update. I'll see you after the break and I'll be back at the top of the hour, stay with CNN.

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[09:45:00]

(WORLD SPORT)

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