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Israel Launches Large-Scale Raids Across West Bank; No Clear Leader in Several Crucial Swing States; 100+ Killed by Floods in Sudan, Worsens Humanitarian Crisis; Pavel Durov Under Formal Investigation in France; Pizza Hut Unveils All-New "Moving Box Table". Aired 9-9:45a ET

Aired August 29, 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)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: All right. This is the scene in occupied West Bank, where five more people have been killed on day

two of a major Israeli military operation. It's 04:00 p.m. there. It's 09:00 a.m. here in Atlanta. I'm Fredricka Whitfield, this is "Connect the

World".

Also happening over the next two hours we're now just hours away from Kamala Harris's first sit-down interview since she became the Democrats

Presidential Nominee. She's making her campaign stops in Georgia CNN is there. And Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy promises to share his wartime

victory plan with U.S. President Joe Biden. As Nvidia earnings disappoint U.S., investors.

The Israeli military says it killed five militants during a gun battle in a mosque as its huge operation in the West Bank moves into a second day.

Israel says one of those killed was the head of a local terrorist network. It's blaming him for carrying out a number of attacks.

Using bulldozers and drone's Israeli forces went in to the occupied territories early Wednesday with the aim, they said, of rooting out

terrorists. The operation is going on, of course, while the war in Gaza continues nearby. CNN's Nic Robertson is in Tel Aviv with the very latest.

Nic, what's the situation on the ground today, and what do we know about that gun battle at a mosque?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: We're getting new details about that gun battle. Literally, in the last few minutes, the IDF

has had a briefing. When asked about the gun battle that was initially described as being at a mosque, the spokesperson sounded a little more

cautious, saying describing it as sort of around and at the mosque.

So, I think there are more details to be learned about that gun battle. But the IDF saying very clearly that the people that they have killed, and they

say 12 people killed over the last 36 hours, 7 in Jenin, 5 in Tulkarm, the IDF said that they were all terrorists. The IDA -- the IDF also says that

it has made more than a dozen arrests.

But the picture that is emerging now from the northern part of the occupied West Bank is one where civilians are being impacted. Medical services are

being impacted. And the precise nature of this massive operation isn't clear. It began early hours yesterday morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Before dawn, the biggest Israeli raid into the occupied West Bank since the war in Gaza began October 7th. Air strikes

near a cluster of Northern towns, Tulkarem, Janine and Tubas backed by hundreds of troops and border police on the ground.

The IDF says it's a counter terrorism operation intended to thwart what they claim is a systematic strategy in Iran to smuggle weapons and

explosives into the West Bank. Outside Janine a drone strike killing three men in a vehicle, whom the IDF claimed were terrorists, and seriously

wounding another. Near Tubas, the IDF says another airstrike killed four terrorists. This resident caught in a blast.

MASOUD NAAJA, TWO CHILDREN KILLED: In seconds, very fast, we felt like something came down on us from the sky, and there was an explosion. When I

put my hand on my chest, it was all shrapnel and in blood.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): The IDF also arresting people and surrounding hospitals, including Janine's main hospital, Ibn Sina, they said, to

prevent terrorists using it as a base. Palestinian ambulances also appearing to be targeted by the IDF amid claims staff were beaten.

DR. YOUNIS AL KHATIB, DIRECTOR, PALESTINIAN RED CRESCENT IN THE WEST BANK: The occupation army is clearly targeting medical crews and ambulances. The

latest example is today at the -- refugee camp, the staff were forced to come out of the car, and the Director of our Center in Tubas was beaten.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): As they have done in previous West Bank raids the IDF using armoured diggers to rip up streets they claim searching for

roadside bombs.

[09:05:00]

In part, the IDF says the operation connected to this failed backpack bomb attack that only killed the bomber in Tel Aviv 10 days ago. It was the

first of its kind in decades. Hamas, however, reacting to the raid, calling Palestinians to restart a suicide bombing campaign abandoned almost two

decades ago.

Inside a mosque the IDF claiming to have located a terrorist base, showing pictures of fallen fighters on the wall and they say bomb making equipment

unclear how long this operation will last. But Palestinian officials saying the death toll still growing, already making it one of the deadliest

Israeli operations in the West Bank since the Gaza war began, October 7th.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON (on camera): And the Palestinian Red Crescent their command center, saying that they have lost coordination and communication with

their office, their sort of central Response Office in Jenin, they say the land phone lines are down. The cellular phone network is down. There's no

internet communication. Several Palestinian telecoms companies say that there is no service in and around Jenin.

So, it's really hard to know precisely what's going on. But reports are coming in from civilians who are caught up in this massive operation who

say they can't get out for medicines that they need, for food for babies, for food for elderly people.

So, the situation for some residents is clearly one where they don't feel safe on the streets. But at this time, we really don't have a clear picture

of what's happening on the ground. Access is difficult to get and communications in some parts is broken.

WHITFIELD: All right, keep us posted. Nic Robertson, thank you so much. All right, later today, U.S. Democratic Presidential Nominee Kamala Harris

gives her first sit-down interview since ascending to the top of her party's ticket. Harris, with her running mate Tim Walz will sit down to

answer questions from CNN's Dana Bash in the battleground state of Georgia.

On Wednesday, the duo kicked off a two-day swing through the Peach State their bus tour, taking them through the south and wrapping up later on

today with a rally in Savannah, Georgia, after that interview with CNN.

CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is following the Harris Walz campaign for us from Savannah. All right, so Dana Bash will be doing a sit-down interview. It

will be a taped interview that will air later on. What is the campaign saying about this opportunity?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is, of course, going to be a significant moment for the vice president and her vice-presidential

nominee, because up until this point, over the course of the last month, a lot of the campaign has been scripted and choreographed.

And so, this is going to be their first opportunity in a major interview, to provide their contrast between Former President Donald Trump, to

highlight the vice presidential -- the vice president's credentials to become the President of the United States, but do all of that in an

unscripted way, answering candidly to questions.

And then two an opportunity to talk more about the policies that are top of mind and the issues that are top of mind for voters, immigration, the

economy, health care, abortion, all of that, and how the vice president has evolved on some of those issues, and where she may distinguish herself from

President Biden?

So, there's certainly a lot of questions still about this ticket. This is an opportunity for the two of them to answer to those questions, and again,

importantly, do that in this unscripted moment in what has been a compressed race, and in a moment where observers, allies, strategists are

waiting to see them in that setting.

So, a lot of eyeballs going to be on this interview, and the campaign well aware of that, hoping that she can continue the momentum and continue to

show what many observe to be strength at the Democratic National Convention last week.

WHITFIELD: Then you're up Priscilla fresh new polls from Fox News showing that there is no clear leader between Harris and Trump in the key states of

Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina. Tell us more about the poll findings.

ALVAREZ: Those polls show that the vice president has a bit of a lead in some of these battleground states, including Georgia, where I am. But that

lead is within the margin of error. So, there is no clear leader. But what it does tell us, and the proof point that the campaign is using, is that

they need to be aggressive in these states and in creative ways.

And that is what we have seen in Georgia over the last two days, and that is the vice president and the Vice-Presidential Nominee Tim Walz hitting

those rural counties in South Georgia.

[09:10:00]

And the reason that that's important is those are counties that typically lean Republican. But the strategy here is to essentially peel off voters

from Republicans while continuing to win big in metro Atlanta, where they expect to. And putting those two together, senior campaign officials tell

me that is their path to victory, or at least what they see is their path to victory in this crucial battleground state, a state by the way, that

President Biden won by less than 12,000 votes.

And so, this bus tour has been illuminating in providing us a window into what the strategy is going to be for this campaign in what is expected to

be a very close race. And how they're getting creative and aggressive in areas of the state that typically Democrats just wouldn't fare well in?

And not only has it come to the vice president visiting with her bus tour two stops yesterday as well as stops today, but also opening offices. But I

also want to play a clip for you on what the vice president was selling voters at a barbecue joint just yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S., (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know on election time, it's important to remind people that literally, this

is the beauty of the country and our democracy, everyone's vote actually matters, and we have to remind people that. Don't listen to anyone who's

suggesting otherwise. You never want to take yourself out of the game, right?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALVAREZ: So, there you have it. That's the retail politicking you would expect in a battleground state. But what is significant about it is where

she was doing it, and that's South Georgia, where they are employing an aggressive strategy in hopes they can peel off those votes and try to notch

another victory.

WHITFIELD: OK. Priscilla Alvarez, thanks so much. And of course, be sure to tune in to CNN Thursday evening Tonight, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz will

have their first sit-down interview since the Democratic Convention right here on CNN. They'll have that interview with Dana Bash that's at 09:00

p.m. Eastern New York Time, which is 09:00 a.m. Friday, Hong Kong time.

All right, for the first time this week, Donald Trump returned to the campaign trail this Thursday, making two stops in Midwest battleground

states. He has a rally in Michigan, followed by a town hall this evening in Wisconsin. At both events, we're told he will be focusing on the economy

and inflation.

But the former president has been struggling to stay on topic lately, and if last night's social media rant over his latest indictment gives us any

clue his legal grievances appear to be top of mind. CNN's Steve Contorno is following the Trump campaign and joining us live now from Potterville,

Michigan. Steve, great to see you. Busy day on tap for Trump. His campaign wants him to talk about the economy, some pretty strong issues, but he's a

little distracted right now, isn't he?

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, yeah, he's coming off this controversial visit to Arlington National Cemetery where several of -- with

several of the Gold Star families of children who died in the attack in Afghanistan three years ago. And this event has caused a bit of a stir,

because it was filmed, and there were questions about whether they had permission to film there, but their campaign is looking to put that behind

them.

Today he has events, as you said, in Michigan and Wisconsin, two of those blue wall states that he flipped in 2016 but Joe Biden won in 2020. He'll

be joining a steel plant right behind me in Michigan later today, where he is certainly has the backdrop to talk about the economy.

He's going to be touring a factory and talking about the inflation and manufacturing and jobs, all the issues that his campaign believes that they

have an advantage over the Democratic tickets in these Midwestern states.

However, as you said, he's been also very focused, especially on social media, on what's transpiring on the legal front against the former

president, and that has been the focal point of a lot of his attacks on social media over the past 24 hours.

WHITFIELD: OK, and then is anything being said from the Trump campaign about these new polling numbers showing Harris gaining some momentum,

particularly in several crucial sun belt states?

CONTORNO: Well, look, this is certainly a tightening race. They have been expecting that Vice President Harris would get a bump in the polls, not

only coming out of her announcement that she was going to be running for this race and then the party coalescing behind her and all the positive

enthusiasm that followed her.

But also, a bump coming out of the convention that has certainly tightened the race in all of these battlegrounds that you just mentioned, the Sun

Belt, the Midwest on the East Coast, and it really has changed the tenor of the race. You know, just a few weeks ago, the Trump campaign had its eyes

set on potentially expanding the map. They were talking about growing their Midwest presence potentially making a play for Minnesota, turning

potentially Virginia back into a swing state.

[09:15:00]

But this race and this map has really focused on a lot of the states that were in play back in 2020 that's why you see him focusing now on Wisconsin

and Michigan, why you're seeing Vice President Harris campaign in Georgia. All those states and battlegrounds that were hardly -- that were fought

over back in 2020 are now going to be the focal point of this race, once again, going forward.

WHITFIELD: All right. Steve Contorno thank you so much. All right coming up on "Connect the World", Namibia's government is taking extreme measures

hundreds of wild animals, game animals to be slaughtered to help feed hungry people. We'll have a live report.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, Ukraine supporting EU Foreign Ministers are meeting in Brussels at this hour as Kyiv reels from what it calls another massive

aerial attack from Moscow. The overnight strike is Russia's third on the Ukrainian capital in the past four days. But Ukraine's wartime President

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been telling the world that he has quote, a victory plan, and his recent incursion into Russia's Kursk region is only the

beginning.

CNN has learned that two top Ukrainian officials will present the Biden Administration with a list of targets inside Russia. A Ukrainian lawmaker

tells CNN face to face meetings are set to happen before the week is out, in an effort to push the U.S. to lift restrictions on the use of American

weapons against Russia.

Much has changed on the battlefield in the last couple of weeks, and as our Nick Paton Walsh writes, I'm quoting now, it is perhaps the fastest moment

of change in the conflict since it began, and heralds Kyiv throwing everything it has down on the table to try and bring palpable results

before the U.S. election alters its fate, maybe irrevocably.

Ukraine's shock incursion into Russian territory early this month appears to be turning into a longer-term strategy. We're also hearing that from

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is joining us now live. All right, so bring us up to speed on this.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, it's been another startling night in the Ukrainian capital, where 79

projectiles were launched at Ukraine, and they said they took 60 drones down and set two missiles. That means three got through, likely also

targeting key infrastructure for the energy grid across Ukraine.

Other targets, potentially too which we won't hear about. Ukraine not always transparent about what gets hit and doesn't get hit for obvious

military reasons. It brings to over 400 the number of drones and missiles fired since the barrage began on Monday, clearly, Moscow's bid to try and

retaliate in some way for the enduring humiliation of Ukraine's incursion into Kursk that is still pushing forwards.

[09:20:00]

We just heard from a local regional official in Kursk itself, that the town of Kurchatov will have movements for Russians restricted around it. Unclear

what that's about, but it's yet another sign of the expanding impact of Ukraine's movements in that area, and it comes too, after days, weeks even

of these longer range strikes deeper inside Russia, aiming at oil fields like we saw today near Rostov billowing smoke emerging from their

ammunition depots.

To even startlingly last week, up towards Murmansk near the Arctic Circle, concerns there amongst local officials that drones might have been trying

to get through from indeed Ukraine staggering reach, potentially there. And so, Ukraine really throwing everything it can at the idea of launching

attacks into Russia on the border regions, Belgorod to its border regions, having evacuation orders put through in the last 24, 48 hours.

This developing at a startling pace of both longer-range strikes inside Russia and Ukrainian incursions into the border area. And that's what

Zelenskyy is about when he asks the Americans, he asks President Biden, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris together for permission to use longer range

U.S. supplied weapons to hit inside Russia.

He wants to drag the U.S. into a Russia hawk area, where essentially, they're assisting Ukraine targeting Russia's infrastructure back because

perhaps Kyiv have feels that the fear of Russian escalation now is potentially ebbing, that Moscow may running out of Jews, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Nick Paton Walsh, thank you so much. All right, let's get you up to speed on some other stories that are on our radar right now.

U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan says the U.S. wants competition, not conflict with China. He met Chinese President Xi Jinping

in Beijing as part of high-level diplomatic meetings.

Sullivan says U.S. President Joe Biden and Mr. Xi would be speaking soon. In Hong Kong, two former news editors have been found guilty of publishing

so called seditious content on a shuttered pro-democracy website. Rights groups say the ruling is a further blow to press freedoms in the city as

Beijing tightens its grip on dissent.

The men were the editor-in-chief and acting editor at stand news. In Thailand, the son of well-known Spanish Actor Rodolfo Sancho has been found

guilty of murdering a Colombian plastic surgeon and then sentenced to life in prison. Daniel Sancho, a chef who made YouTube videos, had admitted to

killing Edwin Arrieta Arteaga, but denied it was a premeditated act.

Namibia is taking a drastic action to address food insecurity caused by the worst drought there in a century. The Southwest African country is planning

to kill hundreds of wild animals, including elephants and zebras, and use the meat to feed people who don't have enough to eat.

The government says the culling program will ease pressure on water resources and reduce the potential for conflict between humans and

elephants. Half the population of Namibia, more than a million people are facing food insecurity. CNN's Larry Madowo joining us live now from

Nairobi, Kenya.

All right, so it looks like our signal with Larry isn't working right now. So, if we can reestablish that, we'll get back to this story and Larry

Madowo. All right. Now typhoon Shanshan has made landfall in Japan. It's the equivalent of a Category 1 Atlantic hurricane.

Officials say at least three people have been killed and dozens are injured after heavy rains have triggered landslides. More than 700 flights have

been canceled, excuse me, across the country and 200,000 households reported power and water outages.

In Sudan, the death toll has now risen to at least 100 after torrential rain caused a major dam to burst. But another disaster for that country

already is plagued by civil war and acute food shortages. CNN's Paula Newton reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dozens have dead as floods ravage an already crumbling Sudan.

MALEHASHIM MOHAMED, FARMER: We lost everything, and we could barely rescue our families. The water washed away our farms, vehicles, livestock and

crops. It's the worst water flows I've seen in my life.

NEWTON (voice-over): Locals are burying their neighbors as more than 100 people are found dead due to severe floods. According to government

officials, flash floods in the country caused a dam in Eastern Sudan to burst. It swept through villages, destroying more than 12,000 homes. The

U.N. says the death toll could still be higher. Many people are still missing under the rubble.

[09:25:00]

ABU ALI AHMED, ARBAAT RESIDENT: The situation is catastrophic. To be honest, we have children, families and elderly and others that need

continuous medication, and this is the fourth day, the water came on to them and destroyed all the villages, and we don't know the circumstances

they are going through now.

NEWTON (voice-over): The aftermath of these floods could be more fatal still in Sudan, a country already plagued by civil war, a new independent

report found that more than 20,000 people have been killed in Sudan since the start of the conflict in April 2023. The country is suffering from a

humanitarian crisis.

According to the U.N. more than half of the population faces acute hunger. The growing crisis affects the education of millions of children as well.

With schools in Sudan either destroyed or shut down.

ASRAR SABER ESSAM, DISPLACED STUDENT: I have lost my normal life and my dreams have been shattered. I aspire to become a doctor, but with the

school closed, I feel as though my future and the meaning of life have slipped away.

NEWTON (voice-over): The arrival of aid complicated by a civil war that continues to ravage the country. As peace talks in Switzerland, led by the

U.S. and Egypt are ramping up, so too are diplomatic efforts to secure food and medicine. For the first time in six months, humanitarian aid resumed in

Sudan's famine threatened Darfur region.

The convoy of food is a short, but much needed relief to the thousands of people at the brink of this tragedy. Now in the eastern part of the

country, thousands are reeling with the aftermath of floods. People are cut off from the capital Port Sudan, and many are searching for the bodies of

their loved ones. Paula Newton, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Still to come. Telegram's founder is under formal investigation in France. We'll hear about what he could be charged with and what's likely

to happen next in the case that's straight ahead. Plus, AI chip maker Nvidia, reports better than expected results, but investors are not

impressed. The story is straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:30:00]

WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield in Atlanta. You're looking at -- watching rather "Connect the World". And here's a look

at the U.S. stock market with the opening bell right now. All eyes will be on AI chip developer Nvidia today, shares in the tech giant fell in pre-

market trading.

Strong results reported Wednesday, beat expectations, but were not strong enough to impress investors. Here's a look at Nvidia shares right now, just

as trading day starts. Anna Stewart is joining us right now with more. All right, so talk us through these numbers.

ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we are still waiting to get that share price reaction, which I'm rather looking forward to, because there

was a suggestion that there may be some disappointment today from investors in these results, despite the fact, Fredricka, that these results were

really quite stellar.

Let me run you through some of the key numbers for the second quarter, this company posted sales that were up 122 percent from a year before. Profits

more than doubled, and actually managed to rate raise the sales guidance this current quarter that we're in. Now this is largely because Nvidia

designs chips that go into artificial model -- artificial intelligence models.

It's really ridden that huge wave of excitement that we've all seen around AI. But despite these results, there could be some disappointment. Let's

see whether we can get that share price up for you, so we can see how it is the forming, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: OK, all right. Well, why are investors so concerned?

STEWART: Well, there are a few reasons. So, this is currently the world's second most valuable company due to this excitement around AI. But if you

were an investor in this stock, you're going to be worried about maybe two key things, can this company continue the sort of growth that we've seen?

And two things, look at demand and supply. First of all, with demand, is there too much hype around artificial intelligence or all of these big tech

giants who are investing so heavily in the technology going to continue to do so many of the companies are struggling to actually monetize AI make

money out of it.

Will that limit how much money they can invest in the AI sort of chips for Nvidia in the future? We have actually had earnings from Meta, Google,

Microsoft, they all promise huge investments to continue. Then you come to supply, there were some rumors that one of the newer chips that Nvidia is

working on could be delayed.

Now, concerns were kind of allayed, actually, on the earnings call yesterday, but there is a concern that this is a chip designer. Nvidia

doesn't actually manufacture the chips. It has to rely on companies, particularly TSMC in Taiwan, which means its supply chain is kind of out of

its control.

And of course, there are lots of other clients for all of these chip makers as well. So those are some of the issues investors have to consider when

they are spending so much money on a stock that just has been rocketing up over the last couple of years.

WHITFIELD: Yeah. And so how does Nvidia, I guess, impact the broader market?

STEWART: So, when we get news like this, sometimes you can see that a big fall in Nvidia, could see a fall across other tech companies, or any

companies' kind of related to the AI space. So, what will be interesting to see is not only the results for Nvidia. You can see the profits there.

We're still waiting to get those live earnings sorry, live share price for you. But if they were to sink significantly today, you could see that feed

through the tech sector more generally, and also some of those really AI specific or chip making companies as well.

WHITFIELD: OK, super fascinating. Anna Stewart, thank you so much for breaking it down. All right now to Paris, where the founder of the

messaging app Telegram has been freed from police custody, but he can't leave the country of France. A judge is still trying to decide whether to

charge him.

Russian born Pavel Durov had been in detention since he was arrested at an airport near Paris on Saturday. On Wednesday, he was placed under judicial

investigation, a judge setting his bail at $5.5 million and ordering him to check in with French police twice a week.

The probe focuses on whether Durov is liable for failing to prevent criminal activity on Telegram, including fraud, drug trafficking and the

spreading of child pornography. Durov denies any wrongdoing. The app is used by nearly a billion people worldwide. CNN's Salma Abdelaziz is joining

me now with more about this investigation. So, no indictment yet.

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, so that's just the way the French system works when Durov went to court yesterday, essentially, a judge

deemed that there was enough there for investigators to build a case against Durov. So, no charges yet, but he's required to stay in the

country, check in with the police station twice a week, as you mentioned, a very high bail set 5 million euros.

[09:35:00]

He is absolutely under judicial supervision during this stay in France. But this is bigger than just Pavel Durov, because what France has done, really

here is set off a debate. This is about establishing precedent. As you know that many countries, many governments, are trying to figure out how to

regulate social media, and France is taking a very bold step towards that direction of regulation and moderation, which it says Telegram has simply

not done.

I want to pull up the list of potential avenues that investigators are going to look at here, because these are extremely serious. He is being

investigated for several suspected offenses related to criminal activity on the platform, and they include suspected of complicity in fraud, in drug

trafficking, claim of complicity in the spread of child pornography.

And of course, Telegram has also received criticism for being an app used by far-right groups, extremists, terrorists, to communicate. This is some

serious criminal activity, of course, that France is alleging took place on Telegram or takes place on Telegram.

But to supporters of Durov, they are saying this is a free speech issue. Durov's lawyers have called the allegations against him absurd. They say,

as you mentioned, a billion followers or a billion users of Telegram cannot be moderated by the founder and head of Telegram. That is their argument.

They also argue that these are private conversations that governments should not have access to communications that are private between two

individuals.

But the French prosecutors here have the argument that they have tried multiple times to communicate with Durov with Telegram and say there has

been a near absence of response from Telegram when it comes to court requests concerning offenses that include trafficking, hate speech and

pedophilia. You would think any company would stop in its tracks if it received court documents with these types of allegations.

WHITFIELD: All right, very strong allegations. Salma Abdelaziz, thank you so much. All right, Yelp is taking Google to court, accusing the search

engine giant of breaking antitrust laws. The lawsuit claims Google is using its monopoly to dominate local search markets and stifle competition.

Yelp's website allows users to find and review local businesses. Earlier this month, Google was found guilty of violating antitrust laws in a

separate federal case, but Google is appealing that decision, and it calls Yelps claims meritless. Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike is giving $60

million in credits to customers impacted by the global computer outage last month, but some clients say that's a fraction of what they lost.

The outage snarled air travel for days, Delta Airlines claims that it lost about a half, excuse me, about a half billion dollars in revenue, even with

the setback, CrowdStrike is expected to make nearly $4 billion this year. All right, straight ahead in sports, the dog days of summer arrived in

Dodger Stadium, literally what Shohei Ohtani's dog did last night ahead of a big Dodger victory.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:40:00]

WHITFIELD: All right, next time you order a pizza, you could score a free table as well. Pizza Hut is offering a special pizza box that turns into a

miniature table or a stand. We call that a table. Of course, there's a catch. It's only for customers in three cities, Dallas, Charlotte and

Orlando, who are still waiting on their furniture to arrive. Pizza Hut said it shows these cities based off a list that ranked them among the country's

top moving destinations.

All right, a town in Eastern Spain turned red Wednesday as people flung over ripe tomatoes at each other during the traditional Tomatina Festival.

There were 150 tons of ripe tomatoes, and 22,000 people turned out to enjoy. They call that fun. Fun in the streets. The festival originated from

a brawl in 1945 when people started throwing tomatoes at each other until police restored some order.

So back in the States, no one has more star power in baseball than Shohei Ohtani. Wednesday was his Bobblehead Night in Los Angeles, but it was

someone or something else that really stole the show. Andy Scholes is here with more. What a cute poo. The dog always steals the show.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, I tell you what? We've seen some great first pitches, you know, over the years in baseball. This

one by far the best. So, he went after them he grabbed the ball and then a straight-line strike right over the middle of the play and drop ball,

telling look at that.

WHITFIELD: Wow.

SCHOLES: -- with both hands. Ohtani's dog Decoy --

WHITFIELD: It's so cute.

(CROSSTALK)

SCHOLES: What a dog right there, yeah. And so, it was their Bobblehead Night there at Dodger Stadium, fans lined up hours ahead of the game to try

to get in there to get that bobblehead. And in case you're wondering, it's going for 180 bucks on eBay.

WHITFIELD: Oh my God.

SCHOLES: If you wanted to secure one yourself. But what a night there, Dodgers Stadium.

WHITFIELD: That's cute.

SCHOLES: And one of the best dogs of all time, right?

WHITFIELD: I'm telling you. I say that bobblehead is cute, though, that is a --

SCHOLES: It is cool.

WHITFIELD: -- collector's item. Wait a minute. Then there was the gold one. Are they -- does the gold one also, feature the dog?

SCHOLES: He was holding the gold one before the game. Not sure. I really like the gold one. I like that one.

WHITFIELD: I like that one.

SCHOLES: You can see the dog colors and stuff. Yeah.

WHITFIELD: Yes, so cute. Oh, I love that pooch, Decoy. All right. Very good. Thank you so much. Andy Scholes.

SCHOLES: All right.

WHITFIELD: By the way, "World Sport" is next, so that's a great way to tee it up. But of course, there's more "Connect the World" at the top of the

hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:45:00]

(WORLD SPORT)

END