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U.S.-Backed Aid Group Announces Start of Food Distribution; King Charles in Ottawa; Vehicle Crashes into Fans at Liverpool Trophy Parade; Tesla Sales Slumping in Europe; Lesser Flamingo Sees Breeding Sites Dwindle in Africa. Aired 9-9:45a ET

Aired May 27, 2025 - 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)

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: The investigation ongoing today in Liverpool, England, after a car ramming that injured dozens of fans

celebrating the soccer team's winning season. It is 02:00 p.m. there in Liverpool, 09:00 a.m. here in New York. I'm Erica Hill in today for Becky

Anderson, this is "Connect the World".

Also, ahead this hour controversial U.S. backed aid distribution group says it is now beginning its operations in Gaza. It is unclear, however, whether

any of that aid has actually made it to civilians as starvation threatens Palestinians in the enclave. This hour, lawyers for Harvard University set

to meet with the Trump Administration in a hearing over Trump's ban on enrolling foreign students.

And the stock market in New York set to open about 30 minutes from now. Let's take a quick look at the futures, a nice little spot of green there,

following the holiday weekend here in the United States. This is a big week in the U.S. Lots of economic data coming out, so we'll be watching that

closely.

As we continue to follow the fallout, we do begin in Gaza, where that controversial aid operation backed by the U.S. and Israel is underway. The

Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says it has now brought truckloads of food into the enclave. But it's important to note, it's not clear at this hour

whether any of that has actually reached civilians at this point.

All of this happening just one day after the group's executive director unexpectedly resigned, citing concerns over the group's impartiality and

independence, core humanitarian values. Meantime, as Israel presses on with its intensified offensive against Hamas. We are healing -- hearing now

conflicting reports over a U.S. proposal for a ceasefire and hostage release deal.

CNN's Jerusalem Correspondent Jeremy Diamond joining me now to unpack all of the developments. So, I will let you start off with what is first,

perhaps at the top of many people's mind is what we've been watching and waiting to see evidence of aid actually getting in and getting to

civilians, specifically from this U.S. Israeli aid group. What do we know at this hour?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says that it has indeed begun operations in Gaza. It released

several images yesterday of trucks that were going to these what they are calling secure distribution sites, three of which are in Southern Gaza, one

is in the central part of the Gaza Strip.

And they also showed an image of about a dozen men carrying boxes, which they suggested was a distribution to Palestinians in Gaza having begun.

Now, it's important to note, we can't verify that aid was actually distributed to civilians at This point through those distribution sites.

We haven't actually seen much evidence of that as of yet from our freelance journalists who work with us in the Gaza Strip. But what this foundation is

saying is that their operations are going to ramp up over the course of the week, to eventually feed by the end of the week. They had previously said

about 60 percent of Gaza's population, it's, you know, so far, we haven't seen the fact that they have the ability to ramp up to that kind of a

number so quickly, but that is the goal that they have set for themselves.

And it also comes as this Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is still facing enormous levels of scrutiny, as well as criticism, in particular after the

group's Executive Director Jake Wood resigned on Sunday out of concerns about the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation's autonomy, saying that he did not

believe he could continue to lead this organization while also adhering to strict humanitarian principles, including principles of independence and

impartiality.

And that feeds into a lot of the criticism that we've been hearing already from many humanitarian aid organizations, including United Nations

organizations, which have refused to participate with this mechanism. Now, for the time being, aid is still getting into Gaza in very limited

quantities through the traditional humanitarian mechanisms. 170 trucks of aid were allowed into Gaza by Israeli authorities just yesterday.

But then, of course, we are finding that the problem inside the Gaza Strip is distribution with the Israelis not giving permissions for you know, many

of these a trucks actually make it to the northern part of the Gaza Strip, where we are seeing, even today, devastating images out of Gaza as people

in the northern part of the strip are still struggling with hunger and facing an absolutely desperate humanitarian situation that has yet to

actually be alleviated, Erica.

[09:05:00]

HILL: Yeah, all such important points as we're watching all this play out too. There's been a little bit of back and forth on this latest ceasefire

proposal, which is also obviously, excuse me, Jeremy, also includes a hostage deal. Where do things stand?

DIAMOND: Well, yesterday, you had Palestinian officials close to Hamas claiming that they had agreed, that Hamas had agreed to a new U.S. proposal

for a ceasefire. I then texted with Steve Witkoff, the U.S. Special Envoy who's been intimately involved in these negotiations, and he quickly told

me that what he has seen from Hamas is, quote, completely unacceptable.

And he made clear that while there is a deal on the table, Hamas has yet to actually accept it. He said that his proposal would see the release of half

of the living hostages and half of the deceased hostages, in exchange for an unspecified amount of temporary ceasefire and negotiations to end the

war that would take place during that ceasefire, which he said he would personally preside over.

He told me the deal, that deal is on the table, and Hamas should take it. So, for now, though, it seems like these two sides remain at a standstill.

Hamas has been pushing for an end of the war in Gaza altogether. Israel wants a temporary ceasefire, and it wants a temporary ceasefire that's

going to get at least half of the hostages out that remain in Gaza, out of captivity.

And Israel is very much showing the alternative to a ceasefire at the moment, as we have been witnessing one deadly strike after another over the

course of the last several weeks, with hundreds of Palestinians being killed, many of them civilians, as we saw in strikes over the weekend with

the doctor at Al Nasser hospital, 9 of her 10 children killed in a single strike.

Just yesterday, we saw another strike on a school that killed more than 31 people, the majority of whom were women and children, according to the

director at the hospital that received the bodies. And the Israeli military also issuing fresh evacuation orders, making clear that it plans to

displace enormous numbers of Gaza's population, to move them into a smaller part of the enclave.

And then, as the Israeli Prime Minister himself has said, to quote, unquote, encourage voluntary migration, making clear that Israel's goals at

this point go beyond defeating Hamas, but also as it relates to getting Palestinians out of Gaza, Erica.

HILL: Jeremy, I appreciate all the reporting. Thank you. And just to know, within the next hour, joined by the Head of the International Rescue

Committee, David Miliband, will discuss the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and also the impact in aid cuts on his organization. Be sure to stay with

us for that.

As the conditions in Gaza do continue to worsen, one of Israel's closest allies is now questioning its actions in the name of self-defense.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRIEDRICH MERZ, GERMAN CHANCELLOR: What the Israeli army is now doing in the Gaza Strip? Frankly, I no longer understand what the objective is to

inflict such suffering also on the civilian population, as has increasingly been the case in recent days, can no longer be justified on the grounds of

a fight against Hamas terrorism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: The German Chancellor also says his country and other Ukrainian allies have lifted restrictions on Ukraine firing long range missiles into

Russia. A decision the Kremlin is calling dangerous. Chancellor Merz comments coming in the midst of what has been a deadly few days of Russian

attacks on Ukraine, massive drone and missile strikes over the weekend, Russia hit the Sumy and Donetsk regions, killing at least two people.

Clare Sebastian has more now on those comments from Chancellor Merz and also the complicated effort to finally bring an end to Russia's war on

Ukraine.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're hearing that personally from the European leaders. They are resurfacing calls for a ceasefire in Ukraine,

reiterating their support for Ukraine. We even heard from the German Chancellor on Monday, who said that Ukraine no longer had any restrictions

on using long range Western missiles in Russia, that we understand is not a new policy.

But certainly, hearing him voice that not only shows that this new German Chancellor is willing to risk Russian red lines to show just how much he

supports Ukraine, but also raises speculation that German long-range missiles with a range much longer than the U.S. and British missiles that

Ukraine has already been supplied with might be in play, certainly, Chancellor Merz says has made it clear that he's in favor of that.

So that's what we're hearing from the Europeans, the Kremlin, though, in the face of those comments from Trump out absolutely crazy, maintaining a

very calm exterior, perhaps in part to disprove the absolutely crazy allegation, the Kremlin, as you noted on Monday, saying that this was, you

know, emotional overload of everyone, so not specifically, even naming Trump.

And again, this morning, we've heard from Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson, saying the U.S. and Russia cannot agree on everything, he

said, but there is a political will to continue working together.

[09:10:00]

So, I think, look, despite those comments, despite the fact that we've seen Trump's frustration bubble over a number of times towards Putin in recent

weeks. Now Kremlin is still relatively confident here, relatively emboldened, because while there's been a lot of talk out of Washington,

there hasn't actually been any action yet.

No new sanctions have been put in place. And Secretary of State Marco Rubio talked about this publicly in those congressional hearings last week,

saying that the calculation is still that not putting more sanctions on Russia is the best way to keep Russia at the table.

And secondly, that same Truth Social post on Monday that described Putin is absolutely crazy also criticized President Zelenskyy of Ukraine, saying

that everything that comes out of his mouth causes problems. So, I think the Kremlin is probably holding out some hope that, that relationship, the

breakdown of which, of course, led to the suspension of U.S. military aid temporarily in March, is also still on unsteady ground.

And are continuing, I think, to do just enough to try to keep the U.S. engaged and keep that promise reset in relations on the table without, of

course, compromising in its pursuit of its goals in Ukraine, where we see a significant escalation.

HILL: Appreciate it, Clare. In Liverpool, England, police say they do not regard terrorism as the motive. As the investigation continues into a 53-

year-old man who is accused of driving a minivan into a crowd of pedestrians on Monday, leaving at least 27 people injured.

All of this happening, of course, as hundreds of thousands of football fans had turned out, lining the streets for a parade to celebrate Liverpool

Football Club's latest Premier League win. Liverpool's Mayor spoke with CNN's Nic Robertson.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE ROTHERAM, METRO MAYOR OF LIVERPOOL CITY REGION: The police will conclude their investigation shortly, and then, of course, this road will

be opened, and then they'll make a statement, or there will be a press conference which -- in which they will ensure that all the facts are known,

and it's not for people on social media to be speculating what happens.

The police are the only people who have all of that information hands, and they're the people that we should trust.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: And Nic has more now on the story, including latest developments from Liverpool. Nic, what more do we know at this hour?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah, the police forensic teams are still examining the scene here. We've just learned that

in the next 15 minutes, the police are expecting to hold a press conference, and maybe we'll get more details then, about how their

investigation is going.

We know that this is not terrorism they say, that they're not been looking for other suspects. That they did arrest a 53-year-old white British male,

and I think that was significant. People here certainly believe that the police came out and quickly made that very clear, because less than a year

ago, not far from here, three girls were stabbed and killed at a dance class.

And there was so much speculation on social media about the nature and the motive of the attack that police really sort of wanting to put a cap on

speculation, but as to precisely what the police have discovered so far, we don't know.

You heard Steve Rotheram there talking about relying on the police and that's the important reason why, because they're so officials in the city

have been worried that, you know, that speculation could lead to, you know, could lead to potential trouble.

We also don't have an update today on the -- almost 50 people that were injured, 20 treated at the scene, 27 taken to hospital, 4 children among

the injured, and 2 seriously -- 2 people seriously injured, including one child. So perhaps we'll get more details on that this afternoon as well,

but it gives you an idea.

And I'll just step out of the way a little bit so Luis can take a look towards the crime scene there still an active crime scene, still taped off

the debris of what was an amazing celebration of hundreds of thousands of Liverpool fans on the streets here. And behind that police truck, there's

an inflatable tent.

And underneath the tent is the people carrier, and it was that people carrier that plowed into all the fans, repeatedly veering in and out of the

crowd, really disturbing images coming out from that and the police saying, look, don't share them on social media, but send them to the police, and

then that can be part of their investigation, sort of trying to develop a timeline to understand better precisely what happened.

HILL: Absolutely. Nic, appreciate it. Of course, we check in with you as we learn more hopefully from those comments in the coming moments. Thank you.

Still ahead here the legal fight between the Trump Administration and Harvard University over a ban on foreign students, there is a hearing this

hour, a status hearing.

We'll take a closer look at what that means and where this fight stands amid yet another threat from the president just this morning. Plus, King

Charles in Ottawa today, where he is expected to reinforce his support amid Canada's strained relationship with the United States.

[09:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: This hour, a judge is set to meet with lawyers from Harvard University and the Trump Administration. This, of course, after Harvard

sued the administration over its ban on enrolling foreign students, a federal court temporarily halting that ban. CNN has also learned, meantime,

the Trump Administration is now planning to direct federal agencies to cancel government contracts with Harvard totaling some $100 million.

This is on top of more than $2 billion in recent federal cuts. CNN's Katelyn Polantz is following these developments and joins me now. So, in

terms of this hearing today, Katelyn, what happens?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erica, this is the coming to a head of the battle between Harvard and the Trump

Administration. There have been a lot of different cases that Harvard has opened after the Trump Administration has done.

A couple different things, freezing grant funding, as well as telling them that they would be losing their ability to have foreign students on their

campus. In this case, this is about those student visas, the judge has already said, stepped in and said, temporarily, we're not going to do that

Department of Homeland Security.

We're going to have some more proceedings, and so this week, including beginning this morning, in about 10, 12, minutes, that's when the judge is

going to meet with them about what's next in that case. There's going to be a very much bigger hearing there on Thursday, but we're going to get sort

of an overview now of exactly what still needs to be done, what the administration may need to turn over, as far as evidence.

As well as a timeline on how quickly this case may be able to be resolved, and what we could expect later in the week as Harvard heads to its

commencement, as students are waiting to see what happens if they are international students on Harvard's campus, and to see how a big hearing on

Thursday will go in this situation.

Donald Trump, he has gone on the attack here. He has been posting on Truth Social saying that they that Harvard isn't turning over all of the

information that the administration has requested and also attacking the judge, saying that they're judge shopping. But the President of Harvard,

just this morning was on NPR, that's Alan Garber.

And he said that these accusations aren't true, that the university is complying in line with the law, with the demands the administration has

been making for information and that they are litigating all of this, saying it is a much bigger issue than student visas or money for Harvard.

This is about hurting Harvard. This is about retaliation for the Trump Administration. This is about what they call viewpoint discrimination,

their inability or what the Trump Administration wants to make it their inability to choose what they do and say on campus and how they teach

students, how they run their campus affairs.

It's about free speech, their culture, their ability to contribute to American society. We'll see how big the judge wants to go whenever that

hearing begins, Erica, in just a couple minutes, or how long it will last, but it is quite a lot happening in court up in Boston this week.

[09:20:00]

HILL: Yeah, that is for sure. In terms of this judge, you mentioned some of the criticism from the president, saying that Harvard is, quote, judge

shopping. The judge, I believe her name is Allison Burroughs. She has been assigned to Harvard cases related to these grant funding cuts.

Now we're talking, of course, about this ban on foreign students. What more do we know about her?

POLANTZ: Well, Erica, she's an Obama appointee. This is Judge Allison Burroughs, and she was assigned these Harvard cases a while back. There's a

whole group of them, and they're all about what Harvard alleges is this mass body of retaliatory actions that the administration is taking against

Harvard.

So, she got the first case, and then, since then, Harvard's lawyers have argued that she should have all the other cases about grant funding and

about the student visa program, because they're all related, they say. Now Donald Trump is out there accusing Harvard of judge shopping.

But a reminder here judge shopping is when you go to an obscure, tiny court that may have one or two judges that you know would be favorable to you,

and you file in that court to get that judge that's not this, Harvard is in Boston, and this is a federal judge sitting in Boston in the Massachusetts

court, in the federal district court.

She was assigned this case randomly at the beginning. The other cases are assigned to her in the same line because they are related, and if the

administration wants to in court, they can argue that they should go back to a random assignment what they call on the wheel for other judges, Erica.

HILL: We will see if that comes up. Katelyn, appreciate it as always. Thank you. Britain's King Charles beginning the final day of his two-day visit to

Ottawa in just a few moments time. The monarch, who of course, is Canada's head of state, will open its parliament with the ceremonial speech from the

throne.

He's expected to reinforce the message that Canada is not for sale. CNN's Paula Newton is in Ottawa this hour. Canada is not for sale. Has no

interest in becoming the 51st state. Doesn't hurt to keep repeating it. What more do we expect today, Paula?

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, he may not be repeating it literally, but just by agreeing to this visit, less than 24 hours on the

ground, and reading what is called the speech from the throne King Charles is right now leaning into Canada, to use the term, as Canada makes its

opposition to Donald Trump's threats very clear, we do not intend to become the 51st state.

So, Canadians would say, and it is extraordinary. We're used to saying that royal visits are historic, but this one truly is. It is only the third time

that a monarch has opened parliament here in Canada. Of course, King Charles' mother did it twice, but he will be reading the words of the

government.

The government of Mark Carney, which has been fairly blunt and transparent in saying, hey, look, we do not appreciate this language of a 51st state,

but it will also lean into Canada's distinction as being a part of the Commonwealth, as being completely different from the United States and just

accepting the invitation to do this, King Charles is taking a stand.

Erica, I'll let you in a little secret. This is doing some good for the brand of King Charles as well. He has been coping with some health

problems. He got an absolutely amazing response here in Ottawa yesterday afternoon. He and Queen Camilla, I suspect that will continue today.

Thankfully, the sun is shining. He will be in a horse drawn carriage, a Landau. He will be escorted by the RCMP, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police

and their exquisite musical ride. Everything is pitch perfect, and they want that message and those visuals to hit the Oval Office so that Donald

Trump understands we respect you as a partner.

But Mark Carney making it clear the prime minister that we are different, distinct and when we negotiate with you, we'll be doing it as a country and

not as a vassal state of the United States.

HILL: Yes, Paula, appreciate it as always. Thank you. Still ahead. Here we are just moments away now from the opening bell on Wall Street. This

promises to be a really important, significant week for the U.S. economy, because so much both hard and soft economic data is coming out, including

some just about a half an hour from now, which could paint a clearer picture of the impact of President Trump's latest policies.

Also, the multiple reasons why Tesla sales are slumping across Europe, that's also ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:25:00]

HILL: Welcome back. You're watching "Connect the World". Let's take a closer look at your headlines this hour, a controversial aid group backed

by the U.S. and Israel says it has now begun operating in Gaza. It is not yet clear, however, whether any of that aid has reached civilians.

Critics have called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation's plan inadequate. The group says the flow of aid will increase daily. German Chancellor Friedrich

Merz says Ukraine's allies have now lifted all restrictions on Ukrainian forces attacking Russia with long range missiles supplied by the west.

The Kremlin calls the decision dangerous. Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously threatened war with NATO if long range weapons supplied by

the west were used against Russia. In England, a 53-year-old British man arrested after he allegedly drove into a crowd of fans at Liverpool

Football Club's Premier League victory party on Monday, injuring at least 27 people.

Police are investigating the incident. They say they are not treating this as a terrorist act. We are expecting a news conference on this in the next

half hour or so, so we will be monitoring that for any developments. Just under two minutes now, until the opening bell rings on Wall Street after a

long holiday weekend this week, the state of the U.S. economy firmly in the spotlight.

Brand new data could give a clearer picture of the impact of President Trump's sweeping policy changes. Consumer spending numbers and a fresh

estimate of America's first quarter, GDP, that's just some of what we'll be looking out for all of this, of course, as Mr. Trump reignited that trade

war first with this threat of a 50 percent tariff on the European Union last week, which he then delayed on Sunday.

CNN Reporter Matt Egan has the latest now for us from New York. So, consumer spending one of the first consumer spending surveys is first up

here, but a whole lot of data coming our way this week. What should we be looking at most closely?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, Erica, you know, is it so hard right now to understand where the U.S. economy actually stands, because the trade war

keeps changing, right? In the blink of an eye, tariffs are on. They're off, they're paused, they're resumed.

You mentioned what happened on Friday with the president announcing this 50 percent tariff on the EU, only to walk it back just a few days later,

saying that this is on pause until July. And really just a few moments ago, the president put out a Truth Social talking about how he's been just

informed that the EU has called to quickly establish meeting dates.

He said, this is a positive event, and I hope that they will finally open up to trade negotiations with the United States. So, the president posting

an update just a few moments ago about the situation with the EU.

[09:30:00]

And what's notable is that U.S. stock futures are sharply higher. The market is set to open a few moments from now with big gains. In fact,

Erica, the market is going to actually open higher, right now than it closed on Thursday before word of the EU tariffs even came out.

So, it's interesting the logic there is that the market is even feeling better about things than they were on Thursday before any of these EU

tariff moves were announced. You see, the DOW is up by almost 1 percent a little over 300 points. And as far as the economic numbers due out, yes,

we've got consumer confidence next hour on Friday consumer sentiment.

But if there's one report that I'm paying most attention to, it's going to be the PCE report that measures inflation, but it also measures consumer

spending, and that really is the biggest question mark for this economy, right? Because it's the biggest driver for growth, and if consumers start

to pull back on spending, that's where you can have some real economic damage.

HILL: Yeah, absolutely. There also, of course, anytime we get fresh economic data, there are fresh questions about the Federal Reserve, what we

may hear, what the Federal Reserve will do, and that is all tied to interest rates.

EGAN: Yeah, absolutely. But look, the fed continues to be in this really challenging spot right where they don't know which direction to go. They

don't know if they should be leaning towards interest rate hikes because of the looming inflationary hit from tariffs, or should they be cutting

interest rates to sort of cushion the blow from the trade war.

And they don't know which move to make. So right now, they're likely going to just kind of stay where they are, right. They're in this holding pattern

until they get a better sense for one, where tariffs are going to be. Two, how long they're going to be high. And three, what kind of damage is this

going to do to the economy?

Economists over at Citigroup, they put out a note where they said, we view the current period as still the calm before the storm, and we expect growth

in the second half of the year to weaken. We remain concerned about potential downside risks. And so that's notable, because they're really

saying, yes, we're getting a lot of economic data, but no, we're not really going to get a very clear picture just yet, because the damage from the

tariffs likely has not actually shown up in the real economy, at least not yet, Erica.

HILL: All right, well, we'll continue to watch for all of it. Matt, appreciate it. Thank you.

EGAN: Thank you.

HILL: We're also closely watching Tesla. Sales for Tesla slumping in Europe, slumping may actually be putting it mildly. Sales actually down 50

percent in April compared to the same month a year ago, and that marks the fourth straight month of declining business for Tesla in Europe, as the

electric vehicle maker faces dual challenges.

Both growing competition from Chinese EV manufacturers and backlash over CEO Elon Musk's high-profile involvement in right wing politics. CNN

Business and Economics reporter Anna Cooban joining me now from London. So, when we look at this, what are the main reasons for Europeans turning their

backs on Tesla?

ANNA COOBAN, CNN BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS REPORTER: Well, Erica, you've touched on two of the biggest issues. The first one being the controversy

surrounding swirling around Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, of course, he has co led the Department of government efficiency in the U.S., he has

spearheaded a campaign of mass layoffs of federal workers.

And of course, he has also publicly backed far right parties in Europe, in Germany, in the United Kingdom, for example. And so, it's no surprise that

consumers really have turned away from him. There have been protests on both sides of the Atlantic. There have been reports of damages, damage

being done to Tesla cars and showrooms.

And so, it's no surprise that we've seen this backlash. And then, of course, this is all rumbling at the same time as there has been an

intensifying competition from Chinese EV makers. For the first time, last month, sales of BYD, a Chinese EV maker overtook that of Tesla only by a

slight amount, by 66 battery electric vehicles in Europe.

That's data from JATO Dynamics, a data firm. But the fact that this shows that Tesla's dominance has really been punctured by a Chinese EV maker

producing cheaper cars is pretty significant and pretty bad news for Elon Musk.

HILL: So, in terms of the impact, what are we talking about in terms of an impact on Tesla itself as a business?

COOBAN: Well, the numbers themselves show the impact. You've got a steep 49 percent drop in sales in Europe, across the broader European region, that's

bringing in the United Kingdom and Switzerland, but then within the 27 countries that make up the European Union, that was nearly 53 percent

crater in sales during that month.

And this needs to be taken into account within a broader context of a growing EV market in Europe. So, it's quite clear that customers, consumers

are turning away from Tesla quite specifically.

[09:35:00]

And this is not a flash in the pan, Erica. This is the fourth consecutive month that sales have fallen, and it comes on the back of disappointing

sales from Tesla in 2024 for the first time that year, the company reported a drop in annual sales. Now it wasn't by a lot. It was by 1 percent but

when you take into account that this is a company which seemed all supreme until relatively recently.

It posted in double digit sales growth for many of its years. A 1 percent drop is a pretty big deal.

HILL: Yeah, it certainly can be. We are looking right now shares of Tesla doing fairly nicely at this point in the trading day. We'll see how that

continues moving forward, and I really appreciate it. Thank you. Let's get you up to speed on some of the other stories on our radar at this hour.

Authorities in China launching a rescue operation after a huge blast at a chemical plant that sent a towering plume of smoke into the air. This

happened in Shandong province in the eastern part of the country. As I noted, that towering plume of smoke sent into the air. It engulfed nearby

buildings.

It also damaged windows. One worker at another factory some six kilometers away said she not only heard the blast, but also felt the ground shake.

Massive flooding meantime, inside a metro station in Mumbai, India. Mumbai is getting hit with its earliest monsoon rains in decades, and the deluge

has caused chaos and blaze across India's transport networks, including this new station.

Still to come here in sports, it is day three on the red clay of Paris, and includes some pretty big names for both the men's and the women's brackets.

"World Sport" is on the way.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: Instead of swimming with the sharks, one man is swimming to protect them. Lewis Pugh became the first person to swim around the island of

Martha's Vineyard on Monday. The British South African endurance athlete took 24 hours over the span of 12 days to span the 97-kilometer distance.

He's hoping to raise awareness about the plight of the at-risk animals. He finished a swim at the Edgartown Harbor Lighthouse near where the movie

Jaws was filmed almost 50 years ago and then reportedly celebrated with an ice cream. Well from sharks to flamingos, the lesser flamingo, a near

threatened species of bird, has now lost one of its few remaining breeding sites on the African continent.

The Kamfers dam was the only body of water in South Africa where those flamingos would gather to breed. But raw sewage has been spilling into the

dam now for years, and the water is at this point so toxic that the birds have left. Experts say the collapse shows just how fragile wetland

ecosystems can be.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TANIA ANDERSON, FLAMINGO EXPERT: For wildlife to survive, or any of our water birds, or any species associated with wetlands, to survive, we need a

good balance of nutrients in the water, and the water needs to be of a good quality, and they need to have all the food resources available to them.

[09:40:00]

So, if we're getting more pollutants into the water, or they become eutrophic, which is too much nutrients, it changes the whole balance of a

wetland.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: It's important to note, the damage isn't just ecological. Here the flamingos also draw tourists, and without the birds, there are fears that

those tourism funds that money will dry up. Three-time French open men's singles champion Novak Djokovic trying to add to his record number of Grand

Slam titles.

Right now, the number six seed is on the red clay against American McKenzie McDonald, who's ranked 98th in the world with Rafael Nadal now retired.

Djokovic this week said he too is thinking of retirement before too long. On the women's side, it is number two seed, American, Coco Gauff -- had

pretty easy time against Aussie, Olivia Gadecki. Amanda Davies joining me now. Quite an exciting start so far to Roland-Garros.

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT: Yeah. And Erica, we say Coco Gauff had quite an easy time. She had an easy time when she found her tennis rackets.

What do you not want to do when you're going to compete in a first round of a Grand Slam? You don't want to forget your rackets.

And that's what happened. She walked out onto court, unzipped her racket bag and went, I've got nothing to play with. Blamed her coach, who's

apparently, it's their job to make sure the right rackets are in her bag. But she found them, and that was bad news for Olivia Gadecki playing in her

first edition of Roland-Garros, because it took just 71 minutes for Coco Gauff to take the victory and book her place in the second round.

The conditions are tough at the moment. Roland-Garros, I have to say, here in London, it's wet, it's windy, and that wind is apparently very much

affecting the play in Paris as well as at the moment. But it's, you know, it's such early days in this competition. I think everybody's still drying

their tears after that incredible ceremony with Rafael Nadal on Sunday.

A well-deserved moment to celebrate everything that he has achieved on the clay. But it's a big moment for Coco Gauff that she looks to go one better

in this tournament than she did. She finished runner up. You might remember in 2022 about her 21st victory on the red stuff, and we've got more of

what's happening. How know about Djokovic is doing in just a couple of minutes in "World Sports".

HILL: We'll see you then, thanks.

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