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Connect the World

CNN International: Authorities Probe Apparent Trump Assassination Attempt; Ohio Governor Beefs up School Security after Threats Over Debunked Immigrant Pet-Eating Claims; At least 19 Killed in Flooding Across Central Europe; Instagram will Force Millions of Teens into Protected Accounts; New UCL League Phase Format Kicks Off Tonight. Aired 9-10a ET

Aired September 17, 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]

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN HOST, CONNCT THE WORLD: In just a few moments, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis will hold a news conference on the state's

investigation into the assassination attempt on Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump. It is 09:00 a.m. in Palm Beach. It's 05:00 p.m.

here in Abu Dhabi. I'm Eleni Giokos. This is "Connect the World".

Also happening over the next two hours, the Ohio Governor has ordered state troopers to monitor Springfield schools after threats of the debunked

claims that immigrants are eating people's pets, Central Europe continues to experience some of the worst rain and flooding in decades as wildfires

hit Portugal.

And we could soon find out the exact charges against Sean Diddy Combs after the music mogul was arrested Monday. Right, the stock market in New York

will open in around 30 minutes from now, it's a big week, as the Federal Reserve is expected to make a decision on interest rates.

We're also waiting for some key data as well, which will possibly drive the markets. As you can see, U.S. futures all pointing to a positive start

today. Well, Donald Trump is speaking about the apparent second attempt on his life in as many months as new details emerge about the suspects on the

X platform, Trump recounted the moment while playing golf on his course in Florida when he heard gunshots.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: All of a sudden, we heard shots being fired in the air, and I guess

probably four or five and it sounded like bullets. But what do I know about that. But Secret Service knew immediately it was bullets, and they grabbed

me, and I think probably the other one, Steve is one of the people. Steve Witkoff, a great friend of mine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: Well, those shots fired by Secret Service agent who spotted a gun poking out of a fence one hole away from where Trump and his friend were

playing. The Secret Service says the suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh, did not fire his weapon and never had a line of sight on Trump.

Cell phone records indicate Routh was in the vicinity of the golf course for about 12 hours before he was spotted, he fled and eventually was caught

by law enforcement, with the help of a witness who took a picture of his car and alerted police. Now, Routh appeared in court on Monday.

He currently faces two weapons charges, and far more serious charges are possible. CNN's Carlos Suarez joins us now from West Palm Beach, Florida,

and U.S. National Security Reporter Zachary Cohen is in Washington for us. Great to see you both. Carlos, I want to start with you.

We've got two weapons charges right now. As we learn more about the suspect, his whereabouts and what played out on that day, more charges are

probable. So, what more are we learning at this point?

CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, that's exactly right. So, there are some outstanding questions out here. Two of them really going into today is

exactly how this 58-year-old knew that the former president was going to be at his golf course on Sunday.

We know that the Acting Director of the Secret Service yesterday, he confirmed that the former president's trip to the golf course was what they

consider an off the record movement. It's something that was not preplanned, although the former president had his security detail as well

as an advance team.

Now, as you also mentioned, coming out to me, there is a cell phone data that seems to show that Ryan Routh was in the general vicinity in the area

for about nearly 12 hours on Sunday before the Secret Service agent spotted him. We said that he got within about 500 yards of the former president.

And then yesterday, we learned from officials here in West Palm that Routh never had a line of sight on the president. Yesterday, we also got our

first look at some body camera video showing the moment that Routh was arrested by deputies up in Martin County, that's about an hour north of

where we are here at the golf course.

And we also learned from them that a witness who spotted Routh trying to leave the golf course here the witness who was able to take a photo of the

car that he was in and pass along all of that information to law enforcement here. We're told that she was put on a helicopter by the

sheriff's office, and she was taken from the scene here up to Martin County, so that she could positively identify the man that she that the

person had seen here at the golf course.

[09:05:00]

As being the man that had been identified and detained by authorities up in Martin County. Here now is some of what the Acting Director of the Secret

Service had to say about some of the security measures that were in place for the former president's visit to the golf course.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How many times did your agents go around the perimeter and scope out the golf course during the 12 hours that this guy was holed

up in shrubbery?

RONALD ROWE JR., ACTING DIRECTOR OF THE U.S. SECRET SERVICE: So, we would - - this was an off the record movement. It wasn't a site that was on his scheduled. It wasn't part of his schedule, so there was no posting up of

it, because he wasn't supposed to have gone there in the first place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SUAREZ: All right, so Eleni, we know that the agent, the Secret Service Agent, that spotted Routh, was well ahead of where the former president was

playing at the time. So even though this was an off the record stop and off the record movement, it's clear that he had his security detail with him at

exactly the point where he was playing.

But there was clearly someone that was a part of like the advance team that was well ahead of where the former president was, and of course, that's

where the incident was spotted, and the agent opened fire anywhere between four to six shots. And then Routh left the golf course here.

GIOKOS: Yeah. Zachary, I want to bring you in here. There's a lot of questions about adequate Secret Service protection. What is being said

about this apparent assassination attempt and the way that it was handled?

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yeah, despite the fact that the Secret Service and law enforcement said that this is the shows that the

system worked, there are still so many questions about how yet another person was able to get so close to the former president and in just the

last two months.

And look that includes bipartisan criticism of the U.S. Secret Service and questions about their ability to adequately protect the Former President

Donald Trump. Take a listen to what Jared Moskowitz, he's a congressman and a member of the Congressional Task Force investigating both assassination

attempts against Donald Trump what he had to say about the Secret Service and their response to the incident on Sunday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JARED MOSKOWITZ (D-FL): If he needs the resources, he will get those resources from Congress. But I also think we have a process and protocol

problem, not just a resources and manpower issue. They're saying Donald Trump is getting the highest level of protection.

Well, if this is the highest level, we need to see several higher levels that they need to create for level of protection, because it's inadequate.

It's clear. But, I mean, there's not a single American right now, in my opinion, that has faith in the Secret Service.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: So even President Joe Biden said yesterday that the Secret Service quote needs more help. But as Congressman Moskowitz pointed out there, the

question here is not just about resources. It's also about the system that the Secret Service uses, and the protocols that they have in place to

protect not just for President Donald Trump, but other political candidates who do not get the same protection level as a sitting president.

Now, Donald Trump has been given additional security resources since the first assassination attempt back in July, at his butler Pennsylvania rally

where he was nearly shot, but still Congressman on the other side of the aisle calling for the Secret Service to really take a fulsome look at the

way that they protect Donald Trump, especially given the immense array of threats that he currently faces, not just domestic, but also foreign.

We've reported in recent days about another recent briefing related to intelligence that shows Iran is planning to escalate its attacks against

Donald Trump. We know Iran has been plotting assassination plans against Donald Trump and former administration officials.

But all these threats taken together, current and former Secret Service officials tell me that the service itself needs to really look inward and

see if they need to change their entire system for protecting political candidates and Donald Trump specifically, that's something the acting

director of the Secret Service, Ronald Rowe, did acknowledge yesterday.

He defended the agency's response, but he also said that there is a quote, paradigm shift that needs to happen in terms of the way the service

addresses Donald Trump's protection.

GIOKOS: All right. Zachary Cohen, Carlos Suarez, thank you so much for that update. Well, Donald Trump and his running mate, both of whom have a

history of divisive and inflammatory rhetoric, are placing the blame for the alleged assassination attempt squarely on President Biden and Vice

President Harris.

Trump is claiming, without evidence, that rhetoric from Biden and Harris is, quote, causing me to be shot at. J.D. Vance put his own spin on the

argument Monday night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), 2024 VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm not going to say we're always perfect. I'm not going to say that conservatives always

get things exactly right. But you know, the big difference between conservatives and liberals is that we -- no one has tried to kill Kamala

Harris in the last couple of months.

And two people now have tried to kill Donald Trump in the last couple of months. I'd say that's pretty strong evidence that the left needs to tone

down the rhetoric and needs to cut this crap out. Somebody is going to get hurt by it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[09:10:00]

GIOKOS: All right. Well, CNN Steven Contorno is connecting us from St. Petersburg, Florida. Steve, look, this is, of course, become very

political. Is this a message that is going to resonate with undecided voters?

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Eleni, there certainly was a groundswell of support that went toward the former president after the first attempt on

his life, but that was a very different race back then, and the contours of his reelection -- election challenge have changed considerably now that he

is facing Vice President Harris.

You know, there was sort of this general malaise and disinterest in seeing Joe Biden, both from Democrats and from independents. And I think after

that first attempt on Trump's life, there was a lot of residual effect from that, helping Donald Trump sort of see this surge in interest and

enthusiasm behind his campaign.

But now the race is completely changed, and with Vice President Harris there, it's unclear what kind of reaction we will see from voters. We also

saw in the immediate aftermath of that first assassination attempt, Donald Trump tried to pivot towards some sort of message of unity, bringing the

country together.

Obviously, that didn't last very long, and instead, this time, he has a very different message, and so does his running mate, it seems very clearly

focused on galvanizing the Republican base and conservatives and making sure that they are -- they vote this November. We'll have to wait and see

how moderates, independents and whatever undecided voters are left out there, how they react to this.

GIOKOS: You know, amid all of this and what we've been seeing transpire over the past few days, and of course, the last two months, Donald Trump

has launched his latest business venture. What can you tell us about it?

CONTORNO: Most presidential candidates this close to an election are trying to convince voters that they don't have they aren't bringing any ethical

conflicts into the office. Well, Donald Trump is creating brand new ones with just 50 days before the election. This new cryptocurrency venture.

We don't know a lot of details about it right now. Yesterday, Trump and his son spoke about it in an X spaces, virtual events. But here's what we do

know, Donald Trump, if he is elected President, would be in charge of regulating the cryptocurrency industry going forward, and he is someone who

has promised to put in place pro cryptocurrency policies.

Well now he and his family have a brand-new venture in that space that could potentially benefit from whatever policies he puts in place. Another

concern I heard when talking to experts in this field is that this is an industry that has already attracted a lot of regulatory concern that there

have been scams and hackers, there have been fraudulent cases.

You think of what happened with Sam Bankman-Fried in some of these high- profile fraud cases. This is an area that is ripe for enforcement, and how will this new SEC or Justice Department overlook Trump's own business

interests in this space if there is some sort of compliance issues or regulatory risk.

And the other concern is that there are so many hackers in this space who are sort of leeching onto these celebrity cryptocurrency ventures, and that

Trump entering this space will give a whole new avenue for them to pray off of people who are simply interested in getting involved in crypto, not

because they've done a ton of due diligence, but because of Trump's celebrity status.

And we have already seen that with this new cryptocurrency venture, world liberty financial, their social media page actually has a warning on it as

a profile, beware of scams, clearly, just showing how much this is already affecting this business where you have all these people trying to make

profit off of this, this venture before it even launches.

GIOKOS: Yeah, indeed. OK. Steve Contorno, thank you so much for that update. Well, debunked claims being pushed by Trump and Vance are wreaking

havoc in a small city in Ohio. Another College in Springfield has moved to all virtual learning because of dozens of bomb threats to multiple schools

there.

Vance first helped spread the false claim that Haitian immigrants in Springfield were eating people's pets. Trump doubled down on its last

week's debate in the wake of that, Ohio's Governor says all 33 bomb threats made to schools and government buildings were hoaxes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. MIKE DEWINE (R-OH): These threats have all been hoaxes. None of them have panned out. We have people, unfortunately overseas, who are taking

these actions. Some of them are coming from one particular country. We think that this is, you know, one more opportunity to mess with the United

States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[09:15:00]

GIOKOS: Governor has ordered Ohio State troopers to provide security and sweep schools for bombs as a precaution. Our CNN's National Correspondent

Brynn Gingras joins us for some more updates on this. I mean, the big question is, Brynn, how is law enforcement dealing with these bomb threats?

There are hoaxes. There's a hope it'll stay that way. But clearly, it's putting pressure on the system.

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Exactly right. I mean, that's what I was just going to say, Eleni, you took the words right out of

my mouth. Of course, the governor just saying there that these are all unfounded threats that are coming into these schools, into that town of

Springfield, Ohio.

Based on those claims that were made by the two, you know, the Republican ticket, but it's a serious strain on law enforcement, so much so for the

local law enforcement there in Springfield that the state has now had to get involved. And so, the governor is now sending 36 highway patrolmen to

come to Springfield, a town of about 60,000 people in Ohio.

And essentially go into schools prior to faculty getting there, and students and sweep those schools making sure they are all clear for the

students to actually go in and have their normal day. Think about that. That's pretty incredible, considering this is all based on baseless claims.

And so those same highway patrolmen are actually going to even stand post when school gets out for dismissal, to hopefully ease some anxiety for

family members and parents who are sending their kids to school, and that's just for the younger kids. We also know that two universities in that town

have switched to virtual learning.

There have been threats against Haitian immigrants, Haitian students as well there for the universities, and so they are also having to be on sort

of a high alert system as well. In addition to just those highway patrolmen going into that town, we know that they are bringing bomb sniffing dogs

into that town.

They are installing more cameras. They are actually having the Homeland Security for the state go in and conduct assessments for critical

infrastructure, like schools, like other possible vulnerable areas for that town. So again, I can't highlight enough. This is a town of 60,000 people.

It's very small. You know, American Midwestern town doesn't have a ton of resources, so the state really does need to step in. Now, on top of that,

Republican, you know, nominee Trump says that he would like to go visit Springfield now, and the mayor is saying, please don't come. Take a listen

to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR ROB RUE, SPRINGFIELD, OHIO: It would be extremely difficult if either one of the candidates came to our community right now and I would

discourage it if I had the opportunity, just because this is not a time to campaign our community at the national level.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GINGRAS: Yeah, and again, as I said before, there's anxiety for parents as well sending their kids to school. Some parents even leaning saying, I'm

not even going to send my kids to school. Just start homeschooling until these blows over, Eleni.

GIOKOS: Yeah, I was absolutely scary and just as political rhetoric having real ramifications on the ground. Brynn, thanks so much, good to see you.

Well still ahead on "Connect the World".

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The house is full of people, more than 20 people. They are all under the rubble.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: Searchers say they can hear the screams of children from under the rubble after an airstrike hits a refugee camp in Gaza. The latest on that

and the status of ceasefire talks. And deadly extreme weather is hitting parts of Africa and Europe. CNN's Weather experts will look at what to

expect next. Stay with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:20:00]

GIOKOS: Well, Israel is officially expanding its war goals to include returning residents to its northern border area with Lebanon. Meantime,

searches are looking for dozens believed to be trapped after Israeli strikes hit a refugee camp in Central Gaza. As U.S. tensions grow U.S.

Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, is heading to the region this hour.

And what's remarkable about his trip is not where he's going, but rather where he's not going, and that is Israel. Now, as Blinken heads to the

region, sources tell CNN, the Biden Administration has no plans to present a new ceasefire proposal to the U.S. President anytime soon.

We've got CNN's Paula Hancocks joining us now with more. There are a few things that are important here. I want to start off with what we're seeing

in Gaza right now, and people trapped under the rubble and efforts to try and rescue them. Do we have any more information on that?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, Eleni, this is in the Al-Bureij refugee camp in Central Gaza will run some pictures. I should warn viewers,

though they are very disturbing. It happened about 5 o'clock this morning, local time. There was an air strike, and then again, just an hour later.

And we understand from the Gaza civil defense is that they received calls for help from people within the rubble. They tried to approach the area,

but they say that there were three airstrikes targeting close to their team, and also artillery shelling. So, this was early this morning.

Still, it's late afternoon there. Now they have not been able to coordinate with the Red Cross to get to the area to try and help some of those within

the rubble.

GIOKOS: Yeah.

HANCOCKS: We understand from the teams they heard screams of children from within. We have seen dead and wounded going to one of the local hospitals.

Now, the Israeli side has just commented the Air Force saying that they were targeting terrorist infrastructure sites.

They say that they believe that they were terrorists who were preparing to fire anti-tank missiles and carry out sniper fire at IDF troops, saying

they've heard the reports that there have been civilians, uninvolved civilians, who have been injured and affected. They're putting that under

review at this point, but we don't have a precise figure of how many have been affected by this.

But the Civil Defense, we've spoken to them recently, and they have said they are still desperately trying to get to this area. They haven't managed

to reach the area where they believe there is still some --

GIOKOS: Yeah, and this all the while where we know the ceasefire hostage talks are just not going anywhere. You've got Antony Blinken heading to

Egypt, not going to Israel. What does that tell us about the status of talks in general, Paula?

HANCOCKS: So, this is the first time since October 7th that he's been to the Middle East and hasn't had a stop in Israel. What it tells us is that

the talks are potentially more stalled than we believe they were originally. We've had two senior Biden Administration officials telling CNN

that there are no imminent plans to present an updated proposal.

This sort of final bridging proposal by the National Security chiefs to the U.S. President, to Joe Biden to sign off on it, and then to try and

convince Hamas and Israel to sign up as well. Now this at the beginning of the month, Biden officials were saying it was going to come any moment now.

It was very soon that this was going to happen, but now we're being told there are no imminent plans. One of the issues we understand from officials

is that they don't want to put this plan forward, believing it could be one of the last plans and proposals, until they believe Hamas will eventually

agree to it, and they don't think that they will at this point.

This is the concern, and of course, there's also this increasing skepticism that the Israeli Prime Minister will agree to it without having a guarantee

that he can put troops along the Gaza-Egypt border, which Hamas would not sign up to. So, it doesn't look positive at this time, the level of

optimism we're hearing from the Biden Administration is seriously lower than what we've been hearing in recent weeks --

GIOKOS: All right, Paula Hancocks, thanks so much for that update -- see you. Well, let's get you up to speed now on some other stories that are on

our radar right now. In Central Europe, at least 19 people have been killed in some of the worst rain and flooding the region has seen in decades.

While the bulk of the rainfall has ended, rivers are expected to remain high in several countries.

[09:25:00]

Poland called on tens of thousands of people to evacuate Monday, as many rivers continue to swell. In Portugal, wildfires have killed at least four

people and are disrupting travel throughout the country. Authorities have been forced to close nearly 20 large roads since Sunday, including a major

highway linking the capital Lisbon to Portugal's second largest city, Porto.

Meteorologist Derek Van Dam joins us now. You've got these extreme weather conditions. We've heard so much about the flooding in Europe, and our

Portugal is also dealing with wildfires. What more do we know about how this is going to play out? You've got extreme heat and then you've got

major flooding.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah. And I'm going to show you, Eleni, how these are interconnected as well. So, you're looking at that main

thoroughfare between Porto and Lisbon. This is the area that has been surrounded by fires. In fact, there are roughly two dozen large rural fires

burning out of control within Portugal.

At the moment, 5000 firefighters battling the blazes as best they can, but it is tinder box conditions, extremely dry. And I'll show you that the

drought that is ongoing across much of Portugal at the moment, but just look at these horrific scenes. You're looking at smoke just billowing up

into the sky, and that orange hue to the horizon as well.

Very ominous look as civilians are evacuated from their homes. Schools are closed because of the wildfires. Now, the flooding across Central Europe

and the wildfires are all part of a larger, broader weather pattern that I like to call a stuck weather pattern, a blocked weather pattern.

If you think about a Rex block, if you look at the Omega Rex block that the Greek letter, you can kind of see it here in the upper levels of the

atmosphere. So, we have a high-pressure system located to the north and a low-pressure system located to itself, not really allowing both of these

systems to move very quickly.

So, the low stay situated. This is the low that's been responsible for the heavy rainfall over the central parts of Europe. But because of these two

systems working together, it's creating that offshore wind component to the Iberian Peninsula, where Portugal is located. And you'll see from space

that as these fires started to flare up, the winds just helped fuel these flames.

So, you're looking at space imagery, satellite imagery of the wildfires in Portugal and how the wind is blowing right off the coastline of Portugal

that is the Iberian Peninsula, and it's because of that stuck weather pattern I showed you in the upper levels of the atmosphere.

Of course, this is in combination with the dry weather that is in place. Look at the moderate to severe, even extreme drought conditions across much

of Portugal right now. And then, of course, the opposite. We wish we could send some of this rain to Portugal, but that's just not the case.

We have this slow-moving, low-pressure system that's stuck within the weather pattern. It's not really moving anywhere anytime soon. The good

news is it's raining itself out. The bulk of the rain moving away from Czech Republic Poland, for instance, but the river levels are going to

remain high. Here's an example. Eleni, the Danube River in Budapest in Hungary, will only reach its peak by this weekend.

GIOKOS: Incredible images there, Derek, thank you so much for bringing us up to speed on this important story. And still to come, ahead of

Wednesday's long anticipated interest rate decision in the United States, could the newly released retail sales report tip the scales. We'll find out

right after this. Stay with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:30:00]

GIOKOS: Welcome back. I'm Eleni Giokos in Abu Dhabi, and you're watching "Connect the World" now. It's a purposeful week for the U.S. economy. A key

driver remains solid. The U.S. retail sales report coming out a short time ago, with spending at U.S. retailers in August up not 0.1 percent from

July.

It is the last big data release before U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to cut interest rates Wednesday for the first time since 2020. We've got Julia

Chatterley joining us from New York, who's going to give us an update before get to Julia. We've got markets have just started trade all in the

positive.

NASDAQ up eight tenths of a percent. The DOW Jones up around two tenths of a percent. Julia, good to see you. I'm looking at these numbers right now,

and I'm seeing a bit of a positive bias here, but it's all about the economic data, how that's going to feed into the Fed's decision tomorrow.

But I guess for many people, it's not about whether they're going to cut it's about how much they're going to cut by. So, what are you hearing?

JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN ANCHOR, FIRST MOVE: It's a great point, Eleni, and I think you're right. And actually, I don't think this retail sales number

really changes the thought process on what we're expecting from the Federal Reserve tomorrow. This number was better than expected.

Just to give you a sense of this data, it rose what 0.1 percent we were expecting, a bit of a decline. We also saw a revision higher actually, in

what we got for the month prior in July. This is good news. What was dragging as lower, actually, as gasoline prices and auto sales.

But even if you strip out that actually, the monthly reading is 0.4 percent significantly better than expected. You and I know well that you have to be

careful when you talk about aggregate numbers on these because for lower income Americans, they're struggling.

And we've had a whole host of retailers saying, look the consumer, as we push out towards the end of the year, is likely to experience more

challenges. And I can give you a whole host of names, Dollar General, Home Depot, Gap, Foot Locker, Abercrombie, are all saying, look, we need to be a

little bit cautious of the consumer.

And I think that's what the Fed is looking at, beyond these individual numbers, having said that, and this is the challenge, I think, on economic

grounds, most analysts out there are saying, look, we should expect a quarter of a percentage point cut from the Federal Reserve tomorrow, but

what the market's pricing, Eleni, is far closer to a half a percentage point cut.

So quite frankly, at this stage, it's anyone's guess what the Fed do tomorrow, we could get one or the other. I think it's a bad excuse for

cutting a half a percentage point that you don't want to upset or shock investors, quite frankly, particularly when we're, what, one to two

percentage points off record highs.

But when you've got Senators like Elizabeth Warren coming out, we've seen that, suggesting that they should be cutting three quarters of a percentage

point. It's also perhaps a political decision, what they do tomorrow too.

GIOKOS: Yeah, it is. I'm so glad you mentioned the politics of it all, and we know, while the Federal Reserve is completely independent, doesn't take

elections into account. A boost before election, and you've got the Fed. Cutting rates is always a very interesting move, Julia, but we have to

leave it there. Good to see you. Julia Chatterley, there for us.

Now, Instagram is announcing a new dramatic effort to protect its young users. It's implementing new teen account settings, including restrictions

on content, which will automatically go into effect for any account holder under 18. Instagram's parent company Meta says the changes are meant to

address parents' biggest concerns, like who their teens are talking to online and what they're seeing.

[09:35:00]

Anyone 15 and under will need their parents' approval to change the settings. Well, let's see if this is having an impact on Meta stock. Let's

quickly take a look to see how it's faring right now. Right. It is 1 percent up, so you're seeing a bit of a boost coming through there all

about security controls.

It's been one of the biggest issues that have come through as a trend for these tech companies. Now, any moment we could find out the exact charges

against Sean Diddy Combs after the music mogul was arrested in New York Monday night. Combs is expected to be processed in a Manhattan courtroom

today and the indictment against him unsealed.

Combs' attorneys spoke to reporters outside court in the last few minutes, and he says, Combs plans to plead not guilty. He also maintained his

client's innocence and stressed. Combs relocated to New York City voluntarily.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARC AGNIFILO, SEAN COMBS' ATTORNEY: I spent the evening with him. I was with him until about one o'clock. His spirits are good. He is confident, he

is dealing with this head on the way he's dealt with every challenge in his life. And he's not guilty. He's innocent of these charges.

We know what the charges are going to be without seeing the indictment. It's going to be racketeering, it's going to be sex trafficking, it's going

to be things along those lines. This is what we've been expecting since the search is in March. He -- to his great credit. He voluntarily came to New

York.

Not a lot of defendants do that. He came to New York to basically engage the court system and start the case, and it will start today, and he's

going to plead not guilty. Obviously, he's going to fight this with all of his energy and all of his might and the full confidence of his lawyers, and

I expect a long battle with a good result for Mr. Combs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: All right. CNN's Kara Scannell is outside the courthouse in New York with the latest we just heard from Sean Combs' attorney. Do we have

any idea of the timing of when this indictment against Combs could be unsealed?

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Eleni. We are expecting this indictment to be unsealed sometime this morning. First thing is that

Sean Diddy Combs has to be brought to court. He is held in federal custody last night. We expect him to arrive in court shortly. Now we won't see him

walk through the doors.

He's in federal custody, but he will be transported in by federal agents after his arrest last night by Homeland Security investigators, then he

will be processed, and then his court appearance will occur. He will go before the judge. This indictment will be unsealed, and we'll learn the

scope of these charges, as his lawyer said, this has been an investigation into sex trafficking.

And it all kicked off when Sean Diddy Combs, his former girlfriend Cassie Ventura filed a lawsuit last year. She made sweeping allegations that she

was sexually assaulted by Combs, that she was drugged and that she was forced to have sex with other men.

After her lawsuit, which Diddy settled the very next day, a number of other accusers came forward with similar allegations that has all been playing

out kind of in the public, what has been going on behind the scenes in this investigation? We will soon find out once these charges are unsealed.

You'll remember the Homeland Security investigators had searched at his homes in Los Angeles and Miami in March. They obtained his electronic

devices. They've been going through those devices leading up to the charges that we'll eventually learn about this morning.

And we may also hear from the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, he confirmed an arrest last night, said that we

might hear more from him today. So, we're also waiting for that. And then the big question, though, will be, as Diddy's attorney said, will he be

detained?

That is, will be kept in federal custody. His lawyer said he's going to fight for his release. That is something that will all play out shortly

later today, Eleni.

GIOKOS: All right, so we're watching this story very closely. Kara Scannell, as you say, those documents to be unsealed in the coming hours.

All right, moving on now, and we're going to be focusing on sports. It's very exciting day, today, the men's Champions League returns tonight.

There's a new format, but will they be the same front runner as usual, competing for the cup? We'll update you right after this.

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[09:40:00]

GIOKOS: Welcome back. Now, Europe's top club competition is back with a new look. But does a new format mean a new winner. Will it be Real Madrid

hoisting the cup for a record 16th time? Amanda Davies joins us now to give us predictions.

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT: Hi.

GIOKOS: Amanda, good to see you. What are we expecting?

DAVIES: Hi, Eleni, it's very difficult to bet against Real Madrid doing it again, I remember sitting at a Wembley, a couple of months ago after they

had won their 15th record extending, 15th European crown, and saying, the worrying thing is, they've still got Kylian Mbappe to come.

And arguably the hottest property in world football at the moment has now joined them, strengthened their cause. But this is a different format to

the competition to the one we've seen over the last 20 odd years or so. It's gone from 32 teams to 36 teams. We haven't got the usual eight groups

of four.

Instead, there's a league scenario with each team playing eight matches in this opening stage, which takes much longer seeing them through until the

start of next year. The players, I think it's fair to say, aren't happy because of the extra demands on them. What impact will it have on their

performance, on the standards?

We shall wait and see. But we've got plenty more looking ahead to the big competition in just a couple of minutes in "World Sports".

GIOKOS: Fantastic. Looking forward to it. 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]

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