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New 50 Percent Steel and Aluminum Import Tariffs Now in Effect; Ukraine Hit Legitimate Military Targets in Russia; New Video Shows Beginning of Spiderweb Operation; Iran Says It Won't Bow to U.S. Pressure; Gaza Aid Distribution Sites Closed Today; U.S. Government Takes into Custody around 500 Migrant Children; Muslims Mark Beginning of Hajj; Delivery App Offers Meat Sacrifice Options for Eid. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired June 04, 2025 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is CONNECT THE WORLD.
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welcome to our second hour of CONNECT THE WORLD from our Middle East programming
headquarters. I'm Eleni Giokos. I'm in for Becky Anderson.
Trump's new tariffs are taking effect today. The president signed an executive order doubling steel and aluminum tariffs to 50 percent.
NATO's secretary general defends Ukraine's drone operation against Russian planes after a series of daring assaults.
A distribution in Gaza has turned deadly for a fourth day in a row. Now distribution sites are closing, leaving thousands without food for days.
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GIOKOS: All right. We begin with a new escalation in U.S. president Donald Trump's trade war. Tariffs have now doubled on all steel and aluminum
imports coming into the United States from 25 percent to 50 percent.
Mr. Trump's executive order, taking effect just after midnight Eastern time. The American steel industry is applauding the move. But economists
are warning of the fallout to come.
Meanwhile, the U.S. president, who says he's the master of the art of the deal, now venting his frustrations over trying to make a trade deal with
China.
Trump taking a jab at Chinese president Xi, calling him, quote, "very tough to negotiate with."
CNN reporter Matt Egan is covering the latest from New York.
Good to see you, Matt. Look, economists are putting out warnings. The steel industry is obviously very happy with what they're seeing. That means that
they can see a boost in steel and aluminum production on a local level. But I wonder who's going to pay the ultimate price for these tariffs that are
now coming into effect.
MATT EGAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR WRITER: Yes, that is one of the big questions right now because, look, these are very aggressive tariffs. This
is all designed to try to revive the Rust Belt. But look at where we are right now when it comes to steel and aluminum tariffs.
So the U.S. had already imposed 25 percent tariffs as of February. And now at 50 percent, some context; this is the highest level of U.S. tariffs on
steel and aluminum since at least the 1930s.
Now what we're seeing is a reaction from the U.S. steel sector. All of these stocks shot higher earlier this week -- on the week. We're talking
about double-digit gains for Steel Dynamics, Nucor; look at this Cleveland Cliffs up by 30 percent so far this week.
This is because investors are betting that tariffs are now high enough that they are going to crowd out foreign competition. But to your point, look,
steel, aluminum these are critical inputs for a variety of products, like cars and trucks, home appliances, machinery, aircraft, building material,
food and beverage cans.
We're hearing from the can manufacturing industry, warning that this could increase prices at the grocery store for U.S. consumers. Cars and trucks,
I've seen estimates that the price of cars and trucks could go up by at least hundreds of dollars, perhaps even thousands of dollars.
And what's really important to remember is that, although it's true that the steel sector in the U.S. is much smaller than it was and that
employment is way down, it's also true that there's a lot more people that work for companies that make all of these items than work for the steel
industry.
And there is a risk that these people who work in this industry, that they could be hurt by higher input costs. And that is the point from University
of Michigan economist Justin Wolfers. Take a listen to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUSTIN WOLFERS, ECONOMIST, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: What this is going to do is jack up the price of steel, which then jacks up the price of inputs
for American manufacturers.
We've actually seen this movie once before, Jake, in 2018, the exact same movie. Trump raised tariffs on steel, saved 1,000 steel jobs, which sounds
terrific until you realize that the higher cost of steel costs 75 times as many jobs elsewhere in the manufacturing sector.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
EGAN: So that is the concern here, right?
That you could end up saving steel jobs at the cost of manufacturing jobs elsewhere in the economy.
Now the administration says that they're doing this because they're trying to protect national security and really safeguard the defense supply chain.
But it's also important to note that we get a lot of steel and aluminum from U.S. allies, right.
The leading source of steel imports into the U.S. last year was Canada, followed by Brazil, Mexico and South Korea.
[10:05:00]
All of them considered U.S. allies. Also, aluminum, more than half of all U.S. imports of aluminum came from Canada. And it's tough to make that
national security argument there.
Now no matter where the steel and aluminum is coming from, we're already seeing a price impact. The Producer Price Index -- this is wholesale
inflation -- showed that steel prices soared by 6 percent between March and April alone.
This is a very significant increase, especially when you consider the fact that overall inflation was actually declining between March and April. So
this is some early evidence of tariff-driven price increases.
Ultimately, when does this really hit consumers and by how much?
I think that remains up for debate. But it's far easier to see how this could increase costs than lower them.
GIOKOS: Yes, I mean that for now, right?
But you need two things for the steel and aluminum industry. You need iron ore, which the United States produces, and, frankly, does export. It's the
majority of that to China. And then you need a lot of electricity.
So I wonder when the dust settles, what this is ultimately going to mean for the U.S. economy.
But in the meantime, what is keeping Donald Trump up at night is the confrontation, conversation, what we're expecting with the Chinese
president regarding the tariff truce, that they're both accusing each other of violating.
And I know it's keeping you up at night as well, Matt, you told me in the last hour.
So what are we what are we hearing on that front?
EGAN: Yes, well, listen, we did see this post from the president of the United States, saying that he's always liked the president of China, always
will. But he also described him as very tough and extremely hard to make a deal with, which is very notable because, right now, that's what he's
trying to do. He's trying to make a deal with China.
And this on top of all the other developments in the last week or so does suggest that this expectation and this hope on Wall Street of lower
tariffs, you know, that that's not going to be easy to come by.
And also to your point about being kept awake at night, it is notable that the president sent this Truth Social post at 2:00 in the morning, East
Coast time.
And just to remind everyone where we are in terms of the U.S.-China trade war, we're in a lot better place than we were about two months ago. The
U.S. had 145 percent tariffs on China. Now they're at 30 percent. That's still pretty high, though. And it's way higher than the start of the year.
Also China has lowered its tariffs. But again, they're not nothing. They're at 10 percent. So the hope is that these tariffs can come down soon enough,
where it helps unclog supply chains, prevents shortages and prevents inflation.
Of course, I do think that the comments from the president in the past few days do suggest that this is going to be an uphill battle to try to get a
trade agreement between the U.S. and China.
GIOKOS: Yes, time will tell.
And Matt, I hope you get some sleep tonight and trades -- trade tariffs issues don't keep you up.
(CROSSTALK)
GIOKOS: Matt Egan for us. Thanks so much.
I want to quickly check in on how the markets are doing at -- I want to look at -- ha -- (INAUDIBLE) pimping (ph).
All right, I want to quickly check in on the markets. And you know, we saw a bit of a good boost as the markets kicked off a little bit earlier. And
you can see now flatlining.
One big thing that markets are focusing on, investors are looking, at is the ADP numbers that came through for the month of May. Pretty dismal at
37,000 private sector jobs. It's the lowest job creation in more than two years. Anticipated numbers was 110,000. So clearly hitting way below that
figure.
And it's being reflected in market sentiment today.
All right. Just days after leaving his role as special government employee, one of Donald Trump's former top advisers is slamming the U.S. president's
so-called big, beautiful bill.
Elon Musk hopped on social media Tuesday to attack Mr. Trump's agenda bill, calling it "massive, outrageous and a disgusting abomination" and urging
voters to fire lawmakers who backed it. U.S. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries seized on Musk's criticism.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY), MINORITY LEADER: Breaking news, Elon Musk and I agree with each other. The GOP tax scam is a disgusting abomination.
Every single Republican who voted for the one big, ugly bill should be ashamed of themselves.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Well, president Trump, undeterred, says he wants that bill on his desk by Independence Day.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy says any further lower-level peace talks with Russia in Istanbul are, quote, "pointless."
The latest round of those talks was on Monday. And they concluded after only an hour with no progress made. Now Mr. Zelenskyy is calling for
meetings with Russian president Vladimir Putin. Meantime, the NATO secretary general is defending Ukraine's drone operation carried out deep
inside Russian territory.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK RUTTE, SECRETARY GENERAL, NATO: Let's not forget that the capabilities they hit were the capabilities the Russians were using to
attack innocent people, going about their daily lives in Ukrainian cities and communities. So I think we really should take note of that.
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GIOKOS: The operation targeting Russia's air fleet was the first of the brazen attacks by Ukraine this week. CNN's Nic Robertson has more for us.
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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): Ukraine's latest spectacular attack targeting the Crimea Bridge, vital to Russia's
war in Ukraine. 1100 kilograms of explosives hidden underwater. A months- long operation, according to Ukraine's security service.
It's not the first time Ukraine has tried to take out the 12-mile rail and road bridge that links mainland Russia to annexed Crimea. In 2022, Ukraine
blew up the roadway, briefly disrupting Russia's flow of war fighting material.
In 2023, Ukraine again tried to take out the bridge. Pioneering new technology, a so-called sea baby or water drone hitting the bridge at water
level. But the bridge held.
The estimated $3.7 billion link was opened by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2018, four years after he illegally annexed Crimea during Russia's
first invasion of Ukraine. Roughly the size of Maryland, Crimea is hugely important to Putin, home to Russia's strategic Black Sea fleet and a key
hub in attacking Ukraine.
Since his 2022 Ukraine land grab, Putin has also secured a land link to the island-like peninsula. Ukraine has vowed never to give it up. Ukraine's
Crimea bridge attack comes days after another spectacular strategic strike hitting Russia's long range bombers at air bases thousands of kilometers
from Ukraine.
But on the grinding battlefront, Ukraine is incrementally losing ground, nowhere faster right now than around the northern city of Sumy. Russian
artillery now so close they are striking the city center. At least four civilians killed, about 20 injured Tuesday, according to city officials.
With peace talks effectively deadlocked, Ukraine's strategic moon shots definitely a boost for morale and a hint they still have some hidden cards
to play. But this, as Putin seems intent to ignore President Donald Trump's calls for a ceasefire. Putin opting instead for a war of attrition -- Nic
Robertson, CNN, London.
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GIOKOS (voice-over): All right, we have new video just in, showing the beginning of the operation on Russia's air bases. These are the trucks used
to smuggle in the drones that were then used to carry out the attack. The operation underscores just how critical drones have become in this war.
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GIOKOS: My next guest writes about military technology. He is the author of "Swarm Troopers: How Small Drones Will Conquer the World." David
Hambling is joining us now live from London.
David, great to have you with us. And I just want to show some of the footage coming through directly from the drones. And I think it's pretty
fascinating, this first-person view, when you see just how incredibly sophisticated this has been and the technology behind it.
And you've written about the sophistication of Ukrainian drones.
How are you characterizing this wide ranging-attack?
DAVID HAMBLING, MILITARY TECHNOLOGY WRITER: I very much have a feeling of "I told you so" at this point. I mean, this attack was something special in
that it was -- this was carried out by the Security Services of Ukraine, the SBU.
So this is more like an intelligence agency operation than a military one. So it was, as you saw earlier, it was a Trojan horse. The drones were
smuggled through to close to the air bases on the -- concealed in the roofs of mobile homes on the back of trucks.
And they were then launched from there. So this wasn't a conventional military operation at all.
But the technology is very much what we've seen in use before. So you've got these small FPV drones. These are like $500 racing drones, each
carrying a small warhead and directed remotely by an operator.
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They did it from thousands of miles away using the Russian mobile phone network. So they're just making very clever use of existing technology to
create very dramatic effects.
From what the SBU tell us, they had 117 drones in the operation and they claim to have destroyed 41 Russian strategic aircraft. That's not
confirmed. But the numbers look about right.
GIOKOS: You know, saying that it's like a Trojan horse is perfect way to describe this because they were wooden mobile homes. They were able to
infiltrate the borders. They weren't picked up. They were using Russian cell phone networks.
So what kind of advanced technology was used to be able to hide and not be picked up by Russian authorities or, even just in the least, by Russian
telco companies?
HAMBLING: I think a lot of this was old-fashioned tradecraft. But on the mobile phone thing, it is very, very difficult for either side to
completely shut down opponents from using their mobile phone systems.
In fact, the Russians have been doing something quite similar with their Shahed long-range attack drones. Some of those have been found to have SIM
cards, which are connecting to the Ukrainian mobile phone system. And they're using that to gather intelligence.
Because that's actually the Russians best way of finding out where their drones are, is by using triangulation from towers. So both sides are using
these mobile phone networks. And unless you simply shut down mobile phone usage entirely, it's very difficult to stop nefarious people from using
them.
And so this is something that people are learning. But in terms of technology that is likely to be advancing on the back of this, this was an
old-fashioned attack in the sense that it was carried out by human operators.
Ukraine has already got AI drones out there, which are capable of doing this kind of thing without needing a connection to any human. So you simply
need to put a drone in the right area for the attack. And it can go off and find a target itself.
Those are already being seen and I suspect, as the Russians clamp down more on mobile communications, we'll see more of that type of thing in
operation.
GIOKOS: So you know, you've also written about the importance of drone warfare in this new era. And frankly, Ukraine produced around 1.2 million
drones last year. The target, from what we understand, according to "Forbes," is 4.5 million drones for the year of 2025.
How important are drones?
And basically simplistic, the traditional way of approaching it, but also geared with AI tech and so forth, going to be and changing fundamentally
the calculus between Ukraine and Russia?
HAMBLING: They are already incredibly important. I mean, there's a lot of numbers flying around, that, according to some of the best estimates,
there's at least 65 percent of casualties are caused by small drones at this point.
Now when you look at that, that's two-thirds. So that means that small drones are causing twice as many casualties as everything else put
together, twice as much as artillery, missiles, machine guns, tanks, rockets, the lot. So they are already incredibly effective.
And as you say, Ukraine, having ramped up its drone production very dramatically in the last year, is now ramping it up further so that will
there will now be at least three times as many drones around.
And they will be significantly more capable, particularly with things like fiberoptic communications, which means they can't be jammed, and artificial
intelligence on board, which makes them a lot better at finding and hitting targets. So they're likely to become even more important on the battlefield
and beyond in future.
GIOKOS: David Hambling, great to have you with us. Thank you so much for sharing your insights. Good to have you on the show.
HAMBLING: Thank you very much.
GIOKOS: And still to come on CNN, Iran's supreme leader says there's a deal breaker when it comes to nuclear talks with the United States. I want
to talk about that. A live report coming up straight ahead. Stay with CNN.
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GIOKOS: Iran says it will not bow to the United States' pressure amid renewed nuclear talks.
Earlier Wednesday, Iran's supreme leader, ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said uranium enrichment is key to the country's nuclear program. U.S. president
Donald Trump has said any deal would not allow the process, which can be used to make a bomb as well as fuel. Iran dismisses any proposal, demanding
zero enrichment as a deal breaker.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALI KHAMENEI, IRANIAN SUPREME LEADER (through translator): The rude and arrogant leaders of America repeat this demand in various ways. The
proposal that Americans have presented is 100 percent against our interests.
I said, if we have 100 nuclear power plants but no enrichment, it won't help us because nuclear power plants require fuel. If we can't produce this
nuclear fuel within the country, we'll have to turn to America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Well, joining me now is Mohammad Ali Shabani. He's a Middle East scholar and editor of Amwaj.media. And also Barak Ravid. He's CNN's
political and global affairs analyst.
Barak, I want to start off with you. I want you to tell me what the -- what the latest is in terms of what is in the U.S. proposal.
You're hearing on one end that absolutely no nuclear enrichment would be allowed in Iran. Then there's a caveat that perhaps a consortium of sorts
will be created in Iran that will include the United States and other Middle Eastern actors.
What are you hearing?
BARAK RAVID, CNN POLITICAL AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: So first, for the latest, I think that there's a pretty good chance that, this weekend, White
House envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi will meet again, most likely in Oman, to discuss exactly that.
The latest U.S. proposal and the Iranian response to it, which, after the speech of the supreme leader, seems pretty negative. The U.S. proposal
spoke mainly about having this interim period, where -- in which Iran will be able to continue enriching uranium to lower levels; 3 percent on its
soil for a certain amount of time.
That will be agreed upon between the parties. And this would lead at some point to a more sustainable solution, which will be this regional
consortium and some kind of an Iranian civilian nuclear program. This is all very much in the air. The proposal was very general. But it seems that
even right now the Iranians are saying no.
GIOKOS: Yes. I mean, it's really interesting because we just, you know, there's so many contradicting lines that are coming through, whether Iran
can enrich; cannot. And as you say right now, the latest is that, in the interim, they will be able to enrich uranium.
Mohammad, I want to go to you. And whether what we've just heard from Barak, if that's viable and whether Iran should take this as a very serious
proposal that could work in the long run for them.
MOHAMMAD ALI SHABANI, EDITOR, AMWAJ.MEDIA: So I think, first and foremost, it's important to really underscore here that the focus on enrichment
really is a red herring. And what I mean by that is that, essentially, once you have learned the technology to enrich uranium, you cannot unlearn it,
right?
So there are other aspects of the nuclear weapon production process that they can focus on. They can focus on the extent of enrichment, the level of
it. They can focus on specific procedures necessary to build nuclear weapons.
So there's a lot of extent of things that can work on, they can discuss, which they haven't so far. That's number one.
I think the second element to the enrichment proposal is that Iran has been quite consistent from day one of these negotiations. They said from the
get-go, zero enrichment is a is a no-go.
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And then we've seen a lot of back and forth from the Trump administration initially. If you recall, they were talking about dismantling the entire
Iran nuclear program. When that became clear, that it's a total nonstarter from the Iranian side, they moved on now to what's called the interim stage
of temporary enrichment on Iranian soil.
And then a regional consortium. So already at this stage, there are many ambiguities that, from the Iranian perspective, number one is, when you're
talking about enrichment for legitimate needs.
So Iran doesn't only have a reactor that operates to 3.67 percent, also has a research reactor that operates to 20 percent. So that's one of the points
of contention.
Another point of contention is, apart from the enrichment sites, do the Americans want any other nuclear facilities dismantled, specifically the
uranium conversion facility at Isfahan?
And then beyond all of this, there's a bigger question of Iran feeling a sense that he put down a lot of cost into all of this, not just through the
sanctions, not through hundreds of billions of dollars in lost opportunity costs but also about the thousands of staff, thousands of nuclear personnel
that are trained for these facilities.
What will happen to them if they're going to mothball their existing nuclear sites?
So there are so many question marks. But I think what really matters here is that the Trump administration has moved on away from a path of talking
about dismantlement, talking about a Libya-style scenario.
We're now moving toward a kind of discourse, where enrichment in Iran, however you want to label it, within a multilateral framework or whether
its Iranian-run operation, it's entering the front and center of discussion, which is good.
But I think now they need to focus instead on what are the specific activities that are necessary for nuclear weapon and try to stop them.
GIOKOS: Yes. I mean, there's so much going on.
Barak, the United States, if there isn't a deal that president Trump would consider some kind of military action, we're talking about a man that says
he is really good at the art of the deal. He wants to be seen as a peacemaker, someone that, you know, gets rid of all the conflict that we're
seeing around.
When you hear that kind of threat, and there's so much at stake, what is your reaction about the probability of that happening?
RAVID: So I think that, you know, we can never know what's going to happen tomorrow. And Trump is extremely unpredictable.
But I think that, you know, when you take out all the noise that we hear, the basic interest on both sides at the moment, it could change. But at the
moment, neither Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei nor U.S. president Donald Trump want a military confrontation.
And that's why the basic interest on both sides is mutual, which is try to get some kind of a deal. Whether it's possible or not, I think we will know
in the coming days, weeks, months.
But I think that, at least for now, they don't want to go for this military confrontation.
What can happen if those talks enter some sort of a crisis, a crisis that would even lead them to collapse, I think that Israeli prime minister
Benjamin Netanyahu would want to try and use this, the collapse of these talks, to launch an Israeli military strike on Iran's nuclear program. I
think that's the most likely scenario in case those talks collapse.
GIOKOS: All right. Barak Ravid, great to have you with us.
And, Mohammed, thank you so much. Good to have you with us. And thank you so much for your insights.
Now as the situation in Gaza grows more desperate, a humanitarian aid distribution group says it's pausing its operations today to regroup. And
we're following this developing story. That's coming up next on CNN.
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GIOKOS (voice-over): Welcome back to CONNECT THE WORLD with me. Eleni Giokos. Here are your headlines.
New U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports are now in effect. President Donald Trump signed an executive order increasing the levies from 25
percent to a punishing 50 percent. Mr. Trump claims the move will protect jobs. But critics say the tariffs will only increase costs for consumers.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy says peace talks with Russia at the current levels are pointless. He says he needs a direct meeting with
Vladimir Putin if any progress is to be made. The last round of talks on Monday concluded in just over an hour, with no breakthrough on a ceasefire
agreement.
Iran's supreme leader is making it clear that Iran will not bow to U.S. pressure, calling any nuclear proposal that includes zero uranium
enrichment a nonstarter. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says uranium enrichment is key to his country's nuclear program. U.S. President Trump has insisted
that a ban on the process be part of any deal.
The controversial aid distribution sites in Gaza, backed by the U.S. and Israel, are closed today. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says it's making
logistical preparations to better accommodate the massive number of people seeking assistance.
Now over the past week, tens of thousands of Palestinians have converged on distribution points, hoping to grab one of the limited number of packages
before they run out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): What will the children eat?
How are the children going to eat and stay alive without food?
My daughter died of malnutrition.
From where do we get food for people?
We were told to come take food and now the food is finished.
How are these children going to live?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS: Joining me now is Ajit Sunghay. He is the head of the U.N. office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in the occupied Palestinian
territory.
Thank you, sir, for joining us. Some of the most devastating images that we've seen over the past few days, people desperate to try and get their
hands on some kind of supply. And over the past few days, it's been a death trap, where you've seen military operations.
What are you hearing from your colleagues on the ground about what is going on and just how dire the situation is right now?
AJIT SUNGHAY, U.N. OFFICE OF THE HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS, OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY: Look, thanks for having me. I mean, we
have been flagging, as the United Nations, that this is probably the worst situation that we have seen in the last 20 months of this brutal conflict.
There is absolutely nothing when it comes to life-saving necessities inside Gaza. We have to remember, for about 10 weeks, there was not a single
humanitarian aid that was entering Gaza, not a grain of food.
Over the last few weeks, some trucks have been allowed to go in. It's a trickle. It's a drop in the ocean. So what we have is 2.2 million
population of Gaza, desperately in need of food, water, hygiene kits, shelter and everything that is needed for survival.
And here we have, over the last seven days, where people have tried to go and collect food -- and we warned about this -- have been shot and people
have died. And I have to say, there are tens of thousands of people still outside this mechanism of distribution, food that has been set up.
And that will again be a major problem. And we need to think about the vulnerable population.
GIOKOS: Yes. Look, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has now ceased operations.
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The Israeli military says that the sites have turned into combat zones. And I wonder whether the U.N. sites are fully operational and are able to
handle the same amount to make up for the aid that is lost from the GHF.
SUNGHAY: We will be able to handle this. And this is exactly what we've been saying, because we have done this for the last 19 months. If we are
allowed to do so, we still have major hurdles from Israel in taking enough number of humanitarian supplies.
At this point in time we need everything and in large quantities. We see chaos because there is desperate need for all these things. The United
Nations stands ready to perform this role, which we have done in a very effective manner.
And humanitarian aid should be delivered in a safe and dignified manner, which is what we've been doing for months. So yes; given a chance, we are
ready and prepared to do that.
GIOKOS: But you need more aid to come into Gaza so you can distribute it. That's what you're saying.
SUNGHAY: Absolutely. There is aid. We are prepared. We must be allowed to do that. And we have blockages from the Israeli government, where we are
not allowed to take in sufficient amount of humanitarian aid. But aid is there. We are prepared, staff are there.
GIOKOS: So what we've also been seeing is just the sheer chaos at these sites, which, of course, are clearly not enough. There's been a lot of
criticism, global criticism, that has come through in terms of the mechanism and so forth.
We're also hearing that some gangs have been created and formed on the ground because of the desperation to get people to get access to food.
Are you concerned about what you're hearing from the way that it's been handled on the ground?
And because people are so desperate, it's turning in to something completely different.
SUNGHAY: Absolutely. Look, I mean, two things have to be done.
One, distribution has to be done in the communities. And we have been doing this for several months now. We have to go to the community where there's a
need and distribute it, not in three or four distribution points in the south, which is what the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has been trying to
do.
There will be looting as long as there is desperate need for the humanitarian aid, when there is scarcity. And at this point in time, there
is severe scarcity of everything that we want there. So the only way to deal with that is allow a free flow of humanitarian aid.
And Gaza needs that desperately in large quantities. If we do that, the looting will stop. Looting has been a problem in the past. That's our point
as well. Women-headed families, disabled people, elderly, sick children have all been left out with the current mechanism.
There is no way they can fight through this crowd, where young men are jumping over each other and stealing these boxes and running away.
GIOKOS: Yes, you know, you were just talking about a lot of the aid that is being distributed is in the south of Gaza. And a lot of people have to
make this grueling walk. And as you say, the elderly and the young are not able to make this major trek.
My question is, you know, what's going on the ground?
How long can this continue for before we get even into more dire, more dire situation?
Keeping in mind the U.N. Security Council is meeting and they will be making a decision on a permanent ceasefire.
SUNGHAY: Say how long simply because people are dying now. People are dying on an hourly basis. If they're not being struck and killed, they're
dying, dying of starvation. They're dying of sickness.
It's not just the food that is needed. They're dying of lack of medical care, for instance. They're dying of diseases. There's no clean water.
Taking chlorine inside Gaza for clean water has been a challenge. So there are numerous challenges out here.
I cannot give you a sense of how much more time that people can actually manage the situation. They cannot. They have not been able to. As we
progress, hundreds of people are dying for different reasons that I just mentioned.
So we need to act now. You talked about Security Council. I think it's really high time that member states act. We have seen a lot of words. We've
seen a lot of statements. These are important ones. But it's really high time that member states do act and take actions.
GIOKOS: Ajit Sunghay, great to have you with us. Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with CONNECT THE WORLD.
And still to come on CNN, the Trump administration rolls back guidance over abortions in medical emergencies. We'll break down what that means for
patients right after this.
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GIOKOS: Well, the Trump administration is rescinding guidance to healthcare providers, requiring them to offer abortion care in medical
emergencies, even if state restricts such procedures.
The Biden administration issued the directive in 2022 after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe versus Wade. And that landmark case gave women
a constitutional right to an abortion. CNN's medical correspondent Meg Tirrell has more.
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MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this guidance focuses on a 1986 federal law called the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act.
And essentially what that requires is that any hospital that gets Medicare funding, which is the majority of hospitals in the United States, and that
has an emergency department, has to provide stabilizing care to patients who show up in an emergency situation, regardless of their ability to pay.
Now in 2022, after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the Biden administration put out guidance and a letter to health care providers,
essentially just stating that law applies to situations where doctors may have to provide an abortion as that necessary emergency care to pregnant
women to preserve their health or their life.
Even in states with strict abortion bans. So essentially saying that the federal law preempts any state law that might conflict with it.
Now this became the subject of a Supreme Court case. But the Trump administration essentially dropped that case. And now the Trump
administration, putting out this new guidance, rescinding that policy and saying it, quote, "does not reflect the policy of this administration" but
still emphasizing that they'll continue to enforce them.
Including for identified emergency medical conditions that place the health of a pregnant woman or her unborn child in serious jeopardy. Now, of
course, there are total abortion bans in about a dozen states across the United States.
And still other states have bans, according to gestational limits. And the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says that rescinding
this guidance is going to increase confusion in those states over whether doctors can legally provide this kind of stabilizing care.
And they are concerned that the result may be that pregnant women who are in these emergency situations may not get that kind of timely care.
And we did hear that in Idaho, which was the subject of that Supreme Court case, patients were being flown to other states in order to provide that
care and avoid any conflict with this law. So there are concerns over what the rescinding of this guidance means for doctors and for their patients.
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GIOKOS: All right. Multiple sources tell CNN that the Trump administration is taking an unprecedented number of migrant children out of their homes
and into government custody.
It is believed Immigration and Customs Enforcement have removed around 500 children after so-called welfare checks deemed their situation was unsafe
or because of immigration actions against sponsors.
[10:45:03]
The majority of which are the kids' parents or family members. Children are also remaining in custody longer due to tougher policies, making it harder
for them to be released.
Two Chinese researchers are accused of smuggling a biopathogen they planned to study at a University of Michigan lab. The FBI complaint says the fungal
pathogen could cause diseases in critical food crops, resulting in billions of dollars of losses. CNN's Katelyn Polantz has more.
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KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: this is a case where the allegations are about agro terrorism and the weapon of
fungus potentially being used or potentially coming into the U.S. in a way that could harm people and livestock, ruin crops and make you very, very
sick if anyone was exposed to it.
It's a fungus that there was a researcher, a female researcher in China who she had worked on it. She had then come to the U.S. to work on other
things, working in a Texas lab and then at the University of Michigan.
And last year, that is when her boyfriend came into the U.S. on a tourist visa, allegedly bringing this substance into the U.S.; Fusarium, this
fungus that can make you very, very sick.
The boyfriend did speak to the FBI. And now there are four charges that these two are facing. Defrauding the U.S. smuggling false statements and
visa fraud.
But the implication here from the Justice Department is this is a bigger threat than what these charges on their face look like because the
potential damage of this agro terrorism fungus that was coming into the U.S.
These people did have the ability to have an affiliation with the University of Michigan. And we did get a statement from the attorney
general, Pam Bondi.
Now she says the Justice Department has no higher mission than keeping the American people safe and protecting our nation from hostile foreign actors.
Thanks to the hard work of our excellent DOJ attorneys, this defendant, who clandestinely attempted to bring a destructive substance into the United
States, will face years behind bars.
One of the two people in this couple has been arrested and has already gone before a judge and is in custody, although we don't have a full indictment
yet that would have gone through a grand jury or a pleading from this researcher. Instead, there's going to be a detention hearing tomorrow in
federal court in Michigan.
It is a major case and it brings in a lot of questions about what has been happening and how the Trump administration is responding to people like
this, how they will be charged eventually.
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GIOKOS: We're going to have a short break. We'll be back in just a moment. Stay with CNN.
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GIOKOS: Welcome back. Today marks the start of the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, that will culminate in Eid al-Adha, a major Muslim
holiday that commemorates the story of the prophet Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his son, Ismail, as a test of faith before God stopped him by
swapping in a ram.
Every year, Muslims mark the occasion by ritually slaughtering sheep, goats or cows and donating some, if not all, of that meat to charity. But in our
interconnected modern world, that age-old tradition is meeting cutting-edge technology.
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Observing Muslims can now order or donate their udhiyah, the sacrifice, with a few clicks on an app. Launched in the UAE and Jordan last year by
delivery enterprise Careem, it's a first-of-its-kind service that is this year expanding to Saudi Arabia.
I want to bring in Bassel Al Nahlaoui, Careem's chief business officer, to take us through this.
And we're actually looking at the app right now. You can get sheep, you can get goats, you can get different types of sheep. Actually, we're really
quite fascinated by all of this. But this is the point where you've got tradition and religion, you know, coming together with technology and
you've brought in a brilliant solution.
This is the second year that you're doing it. So tell me how you did it. Tell me about the logistical issues, how you're bringing this to life.
BASSEL AL NAHLAOUI, CHIEF BUSINESS OFFICER, CAREEM: Thanks, Eleni. Thanks for having me on board.
You know, first let me introduce Careem briefly. Careem is the region's only super app that provides 20 services across 10 countries, mainly around
ride hailing, food, groceries and payments. Our goal is to simplify people's lives.
And last Eid, just before last Eid, we were sitting in a in a group and we said, what are we doing for people this Eid?
How are we simplifying their lives this time around?
It's been a while since we've done something.
And we said, OK, where do you spend time that you can probably save for customers?
And akayo (ph), which is an Islamic tradition of sacrificing cattle and then providing it to family, friends, neighbors and, most importantly,
donating part of that to the community in need, is an area which, you know, has not been, let's say, simplified in many, many years or decades.
So this is where the idea came from. And we said, we have four days before Eid comes.
Can we pull something off?
And I remember the head of groceries saying, we can pull it off and just tell me what we need to do.
GIOKOS: OK, great. So this is this is the second year that it's been running, correct?
So tell me what the uptake has been.
How many people how many people are buying this and, also importantly, you know, what's the -- what's the ratio of donation and what are you seeing in
terms of trends?
AL NAHLAOUI: Yes. So look, last year was really good, even though we opened it four days before the Eid. We saw hundreds of orders come in the
last couple of -- in the four days it was open.
So this year we decided not only to open it two weeks before the Eid; we also decided to expand it across multiple markets, including Jordan and
KSA. So don't have the recent uptick in numbers of this Eid.
However, I can tell you that we started seeing these orders coming in two weeks before. And the demand is great because it's really cutting the
process by a lot.
The process is friction today. What you do is you have to go to find your local butcher. I don't know how many of us know where our local butcher is
in the first place.
And you have to go there. You got to make sure you find the meat you want and the type of cattle you want, whether it's a goat, sheep, cow and even
camel in places like the UAE and Saudi Arabia. OK? And then, instead of doing all that, you can just do it in a few seconds on the app.
GIOKOS: Yes. OK. So, Bassel, you've got actually a pretty brilliant selection. And because you were talking to this, you've got cashmere goats,
you've got Najdi herd sheep, ranging from around US$500 to about US$3,000. You've got camels, as you mentioned. I mean, it's pretty convenient, I have
to say.
You've spoken about the uptake but I'm curious about the humane steps that you take that are keeping with Islamic tradition, because you clearly are
working with farmers. So tell me about that process.
AL NAHLAOUI: We're actually working with a supplier who takes care of the entire process from A to Z when it comes to managing the process of
sacrifice and preparing the meat the way you want to have it prepared.
Whether it is to be sent to your house or with a single tick box, you can actually have it donated to the UAE food bank, which will do all the
donations on your behalf.
Because imagine, a cow can be up to 150 kilograms of meat. So for you to do that on your own, take it and donate, it is a whole other process you have
to deal with outside of ordering. And so really, with a check box on the app, you have the food delivered to the UAE food bank and they will donate
it on your behalf.
GIOKOS: So -- and it's true, I mean, this tradition is a major charitable duty for Muslims and really important that you've been able to make it a
lot more accessible.
How do you believe this offering is going to transform the Eid holiday?
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AL NAHLAOUI: I think it's one less thing to worry about, especially as Eid gets closer. There's so many things parents, family members are trying to
figure out last minute, whether it is, you know, buying new clothes for the kids and do X, Y, Z; prepare for the big lunch and do everything you need
to do in preparation for the Eid.
Now this is one less thing that probably would have taken a couple of hours to figure it out or even more than a day, depending on availabilities and
your planning capabilities. This is just one thing you don't have to worry about.
And then use that energy that's -- and time that you have to do things that are probably more useful and it can get more value out of it. And this is
really the general focus here.
GIOKOS: Bassel, thank you so much. Bassel Al Nahlaoui, great to have you with us and I wish you all the best.
All right. So while there is a charitable component to this story, it is worth remembering that not everyone can access even the charity intended by
observers. Many Muslims in Gaza and elsewhere in the world, who would ordinarily mark this festival, cannot due to war and hunger.
And for some, that reality will make it all the more important to focus on their faith at this special time of year.
And from the entire team here at CONNECT THE WORLD, we wish you, all of you who celebrate, a safe and blessed Eid al Adha.
Well, that's it for this hour. Stay with CNN. "ONE WORLD" is up next.
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