Return to Transcripts main page
Connect the World
Trump Touring Everglades' Site of "Alligator Alcatraz"; Senate Vote- a-Rama in Second Day; Human Rights Advocates Sound Alarm over New Florida Detention Facility; Russia Continues Making Territorial Gains in Ukraine; Republicans at Odds over Wind and Solar; Trump Threatens Japan with New Tariffs; Multilateral Group Unifies Members to Promote Digital Growth; France Moves toward "Tobacco-Free Generation."Aired 10-11a ET
Aired July 01, 2025 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:00:00]
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): -- so-called Alligator Alcatraz while senators are 25 hours into a marathon voting
session on his domestic policy bill.
Plus, dozens of people are dead after the IDF struck a cafe near Gaza City. It was known as a meeting spot for students and journalists.
And Europe endures high temperatures as a heat wave nears its peak.
U.S. senators are in their 25th hour of a voting marathon to pass president Trump's so-called big beautiful bill. It's been slow going, with dozens of
amendments being debated and just a handful of them passing. If the Senate approves the bill in a final vote, it will then go back to the House for a
vote on the Senate's changes.
The president has been pushing Congress to pass the bill by the July 4th holiday this Friday, he seems to be less confident about that deadline now.
Speaking to reporters just before he left to Florida to attend the opening of a controversial migrant detention center in the Florida Everglades, he
also answered a question about the center he calls Alligator Alcatraz and the challenges for anyone there who tries to escape.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I guess that's the concept. This is not a nice business. I guess that's the concept. If you, you know, snakes are
fast but alligators are. We're going to teach them how to run away from an alligator. OK. If they escape prison, how to run away. Don't run in a
straight line. Run like this.
And you know what?
Your chances go up about 1 percent. OK. Not a good thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Let's start with Arlette Saenz who is back with us this hour from Capitol Hill.
Good to have you with us, Arlette. So Donald Trump certainly seems less confident now about getting his bill passed by this Friday, by July 4th.
How's it looking there?
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Lynda, these senators have been voting for over 24 hours in this marathon session focused on amendments to
president Trump's domestic agenda bill.
But we are learning a senior GOP senator, John Barrasso, said moments ago that he does anticipate there will be a vote on final passage a bit later
this morning. This comes as Republican Senate leaders have really spent the last 24 hours corralling and wrangling their caucus to ensure that they
would have enough votes to pass this measure.
Now there are still some big outstanding questions about whether they can get enough votes. They can only afford to lose three Republican senators on
this bill. Vice president JD Vance has actually been up here. This is about 6:30 am Eastern time on the Hill, waiting to see if this vote will pan out.
And some of the key senators to watch going forward will be senator Susan Collins of Maine, who just a short while ago said that she still has
serious reservations of this bill. There's also senator Lisa Murkowski, who has been huddling on and off the floor with Senate GOP leadership about her
concerns with the bill.
Of course, there was Rand Paul and Thom Tillis, who had voted no to advance the measure on procedural grounds over the weekend. So those are four
senators to keep an eye on as this heads to a potential vote. We still don't have timing for when that would happen.
But as for president Trump, as he was departing the White House today, he did express some open -- openness to pushing this past that self-imposed
July 4th deadline on Friday. Take a listen to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I'd love to do July 4th but I think it's very hard to do July 4th. It was two months ago, I would, I would think maybe July 4th but somewhere
around there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAENZ: Now if this does pass the Senate a bit later today, it would still need to go over to the House, which would have to approve all the changes
that were made in the Senate. The House Speaker, Mike Johnson, spent some time yesterday speaking with some GOP holdouts.
But there are a number of concerns over on the House side; conservatives feel that this does not do enough to cut spending. There is moderate
Republicans who think that the cuts that the Senate is making to Medicaid is going way too far.
So these are all things that House Speaker Mike Johnson would have to deal with if he does get this bill. But, of course, this first has to make its
way out of the Senate. We're still waiting to hear when exactly that vote will be and if these Republican senators will all stay together to pass
president Trump's big priority for his domestic agenda.
[10:05:00]
KINKADE: All right, Arlette Saenz, we will come back to you if there are any developments. Good to have you there for us. Thanks so much.
Well, for more discussion on this, I'm joined by CNN Politics senior reporter Stephen Collinson and Corey Brettschneider, a professor of
political science at Brown University.
Good to have you both with us.
I'll start with you first, Stephen. So Elon Musk calls this bill a disaster. Furthermore, he says it's going to cost Republicans at the
midterms.
He wrote this on X, he said, "Anyone who campaigned on the promise of reducing spending but continues to vote on the biggest debt ceiling
increase in history will see their faces on this poster in the primary next year."
Is he right?
Will this cost Republicans votes?
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It could do. There is a long tradition in American politics of presidents pushing their first big
domestic policy bills that are vital for their own prestige and implementing their broad agenda.
And then seeing their party pay a price for it at the polls, at the midterm elections, when voters judge they've overreached and aren't doing exactly
what voters sent them to Washington to do.
In Trump's case, in many ways, that was to lower prices at the grocery stores, which really hasn't happened. So this is a very interesting
eruption, again, I think of the feud between Elon Musk and Trump.
This is a hugely important bill for Trump's legacy. And if it doesn't pass, you have to wonder how he's going to enshrine much of his agenda into law.
Republicans were counting on millions and tens of millions of dollars of funding from Musk in the midterm elections to boost their candidates.
That's what happened, especially in the presidential race last time when Musk threw in about $100 million. So I think you're going to see a lot of
nervousness from some of these Republicans. That said, there's only one power in the modern Republican Party and that's not Elon Musk. It's Donald
Trump.
KINKADE: Yes, exactly.
And to you, Scott (sic), so Musk says that this will contribute to trillions of dollars to the U.S. debt. This after he took a chainsaw to try
and cut back some costs. But by contrast, the Treasury Secretary was on FOX earlier today, Scott Bessent.
And he said this bill will actually promote growth and, quote, "pay for itself."
What's your reaction to that comment?
COREY BRETTSCHNEIDER, BROWN UNIVERSITY: Sorry, I take it that's for me, right?
KINKADE: Yes. Corey.
BRETTSCHNEIDER: Look, I think that this bill, they're selling it in terms of growth but really we have to look at it for what it is. It certainly
does have some cuts here to essential services. It's an attempt to destroy what little welfare state we have in the United States.
And the cuts to health care and other basic services are part of that. But more fundamentally, I also want to look at the buildup that's in this bill,
in particular of ICE. I mean, we're seeing images constantly on CNN and throughout the media of mass people seizing individuals, throwing them into
vans, not identifying themselves.
That's the agency that is going to be built up by this bill in an extreme way. The numbers have changed over time but this is a major increase in the
power of Homeland Security and ICE. And we have to think about what that means. And I think it means a massive loss of civil liberties.
This isn't just a spending issue. It's really a shutdown of democracy and civil liberties.
KINKADE: Corey and Stephen, if you could just stand by for me, I just want to go to our reporter in Florida because president Trump is set to visit a
new migrant detention facility there, dubbed Alligator Alcatraz by the Florida attorney general. Isabella (sic) Rosales is in the Florida
Everglades.
Good to have you there for us, Isabella (sic). So this is going to be a facility that's expected to cost about $450 million a year.
What can you tell us about it and how soon could it be housing migrants?
ISABEL ROSALES, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: As soon as today, Lynda. President Trump, when he arrives, he will be ushering in the opening of
this so-called Alligator Alcatraz.
The state government says they are ready to receive detainees as early as today. So this is the grand opening. And the president is coming clearly to
a photo op. There is national, local and even international media crowding this so-called Alligator Alcatraz.
And the president is coming to at least one fan. Take a look right over there.
You see that sign?
It says, "We love Daddy Trump."
That is obviously a play on the NATO Chief's words just a couple of days ago. And then look at this juxtaposition as we swing the camera to the
left. They are -- you see the media right there, crowding a protester, an environmental protester, who says, protect the Everglades. So this is what
we're seeing now.
[10:10:00]
More and more people coming out, making their voices heard. And we have some aerial footage from our CNN affiliate, WSVN, where you can see what
Trump will be looking at from inside of the secure facility: heavy-duty tents, repurposed FEMA trailers.
DeSantis says that these are the very much the same sorts of tents where they would house people displaced from a hurricane. He also says that and
insists that this will be humane because they're bringing in portable AC systems, potable water, sewage power.
When it's all completed, this will house the government, says local government, more than 5,000 detainees awaiting deportation.
Now the governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, says that this is very much needed because they have such an overburdening of jails from all of this
influx of migrants from their immigration crackdowns. He also says they won't have much of a need for security because the pythons and the 'gators
here will do the job.
Now as you can imagine, this entire project has sparked a lot of backlash, not just from environmentalists but also from indigenous Americans, who
have tribal lands that are adjacent to this property, and also immigrants' rights advocates, who are saying this is just cruel. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THOMAS KENNEDY, SPOKESPERSON, FLORIDA IMMIGRANT COALITION: We've been down this road before, right?
I mean, we saw this with sheriff Joe Arpaio in Maricopa County in Arizona, where he had a tent city. The fact that we're going to have 3,000 people
detained in tents in the Everglades in the middle of the hot Florida summer during hurricane season, right? I mean, this is a bad idea all around.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROSALES: And it's important to note, Lynda, you know, we heard from the administration, both DeSantis and Trump, that this is reserved for the
worst of the worst, the "bad hombres," as they would say.
But CNN reported back in June, based on ICE data, that only 10 percent, less than 10 percent of migrants booked into ICE custody since October were
convicted of serious crimes, things like murder, assault, robbery, rape. Over 75 percent of them had no conviction other than an immigration-related
charge or a traffic-related charge. Lynda.
KINKADE: Wow. Isabella (sic) Rosales, good to have you there in Florida. We're going to stay on this topic. I want to go back to our panel.
So Stephen, we just heard concerns there from critics about the fact that there are certainly going to be people in these inhumane conditions in
tents in the middle of summer at the onset of hurricane season, with no seemingly easy way to get out of there. But it doesn't seem that the White
House is worried about those optics.
COLLINSON: No, quite the opposite. The more draconian it gets, the more they like it. This is a classic Trump photo op, swaggering around Florida,
talking about how tough things are going to be for undocumented migrants. I think it's part of a trend we've seen during this administration of almost
the fetishization of the paraphernalia of autocracy.
You saw Kristi Noem, the Homeland Security secretary, earlier this year, posing in front of a cage of inmates at a notorious prison in El Salvador,
to which the administration has sent undocumented migrants.
And basically, this is Trump appealing to his base. But I think Isabella's (sic) point there is an important one about who might end up in this camp.
Although the administration is selling this as a high security camp for the worst offenders.
And the Homeland Security department yesterday put out pictures of convicted murderers and rapists, who it says are the kind of people that
will go there, most of the people, the overwhelming majority of people who have been pulled off the streets by the Customs and Enforcement Agency are
not violent criminals.
They're perhaps migrants who have been here for decades and who have had more minor offenses, drug offenses or speeding offenses or no offenses at
all, and are being pushed into this mass deportation effort to try and swell the numbers.
So I think there are serious civil liberties issues here, constitutional issues, which Corey could probably talk about better than I can, and also
this dark feeling of encroaching autocracy that is a key ingredient of this administration.
KINKADE: Yes, exactly. And I do want to get Corey's take on this, especially constitutionally, the impact on the migrants that will be held
there and for how long and potentially before they even have their case heard.
Take us through the issues that you see with this Alligator Alcatraz, as it's called.
BRETTSCHNEIDER: Look, this is authoritarianism with a smile and a wink. Trump is playing to his base. He likes the cruelty. He's playing that up.
And as you just heard, some of that base might respond to that positively. That's why they're doing this.
But let's not make any mistake. One of the things that I'm trying to do every week on my new podcast, "The Oath and the Office," is tie these
stories together.
[10:15:03]
And this story has to be tied together with the deprivation of due process, the denial of rights to free speech for undocumented people. Far from
locking up dangerous, violent criminals, what you're seeing is people who oppose the administration shutting down or who have done more, no more than
commit a traffic violation.
And now what's going to happen to them?
There's an attempt by this administration to dehumanize them.
And, of course, the image of alligators eating people, what is it but an attempt to destroy the humanity of undocumented people caught up in this
vicious system?
This is authoritarianism. It is even fascism. And it's not going to look like it did in Nazi Germany or in Mussolini's Italy. It's going to come
with an appeal to a certain kind of demographic -- a smile, laughter. And don't make any mistake; that laughter is cruelty.
It's the laughter of an attempt to destroy the humanity of people who don't look like the president and his base.
KINKADE: And I just want to go finally to Stephen on the other news about USAID, which, of course, has been dismantled by the Trump administration.
We heard criticism from former presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush.
Obama called it a colossal mistake. And, of course, a report out today by "The Lancet" said those cuts will contribute to 14 million deaths over the
next five years.
How rare is that criticism to hear from both Obama and George W. Bush of a policy like this?
COLLINSON: It's particularly rare to hear from former president George W. Bush, the Republican who was in office from 2001 to 2009, because he has,
more so than Obama, separated himself from politics since he left the White House.
Bush was the author of a program called PEPFAR, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. This saved millions of lives in places like Africa.
It's still saving millions of lives. I've been to some of the places that the program operates, places like Tanzania, for example.
And there's a real chance that losing this funding could cost not just the program and the jobs of people that are working at the U.S. Agency for
International Development but lives, because this is one of the most successful U.S. foreign policy programs. And it's not often remembered.
People remember Bush for the disasters of the Iraq and Afghan wars. The PEPFAR plan was an enduring success of Republican foreign policy and
American foreign policy of the early 21st century.
And despite the State Department saying that it's continuing to finance AIDS and HIV antiretroviral medicines, a lot of these aid agencies are
saying this is an absolute disaster.
KINKADE: Yes, it certainly seems that way. Stephen Collinson, we'll leave it there for now.
And Corey Brettschneider, great to have you both on the program. Appreciate your time. Thank you.
COLLINSON: Thanks.
Well, Russia continues to pursue territory in Ukraine as ceasefires look to take a back seat. Coming up, we'll have a live report on Ukraine's latest
response.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:20:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
KINKADE: Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kinkade.
Turkish police detained at least four cartoonists on Monday. They're accused of drawing and distributing a cartoon that authorities and
protesters say is a depiction of the Prophet Muhammad.
The cartoon, published in a political satire magazine, shows what appears to be a Muslim man and a Jewish man with wings and halos, shaking hands as
bombs fall below. In a statement, "Le Monde" said the work does not refer to the Prophet Muhammad in any way but offered an apology to any readers
who were offended.
An Israeli airstrike on Monday killed more than 40 people at a cafe in Gaza City. That's according to the head of the territory's largest hospital. The
same doctor told CNN a lot of students were at the cafe to get internet access and that women and children made up most of the casualties.
The Israeli military says it hit several Hamas operatives Monday and that the incident is under review.
Well, one week into a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, we are hearing a stark warning from an Iranian official who says, if Israel reopens the
conflict, the response will be both swift and lethal. CNN's Jeremy Diamond has a read on the situation as it stands from Jerusalem.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: There's no indication of that at the moment. I think what is clear is that, first of all, the Israeli
government is kind of basking in the success of its military accomplishments in Iran over the course of that 12-day conflict.
They are still trying to assess, you know, the exact nature of the devastation to Iran's nuclear facilities amid that debate about the
intelligence on the nature, how devastating those U.S. strikes were on the Fordow facility in particular and also amid questions about how much
stockpile of enriched uranium Iran still possesses.
There's no indication right now that Israel plans to renew its attacks in Iran.
But there is a clear understanding among Israeli officials that, should they determine that Iran is once again aiming to restart or, you know, put
back together components of its nuclear program, looking to enrich further uranium, then Israel will maintain the option of being able to carry out
additional strikes.
But for the moment at least, it seems like all eyes are on the diplomatic process, with the U.S. and Iran set to hold talks on the matter in the
coming week.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Thanks to Jeremy Diamond there.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
KINKADE (voice-over): Well, let's get you up to date on some other stories that are on our radar right now.
In Australia, the jury has begun deliberations in the so-called mushroom murder trial. The defendant, Erin Patterson, is accused of feeding
poisonous mushrooms to her ex-husband and in-laws in their beef Wellington lunch. Three of them died. One person survived. Patterson denies any
wrongdoing.
Thailand's constitutional court has suspended the country's embattled prime minister, setting off a fresh bout of political turbulence in the Southeast
Asian kingdom. It follows a scandal involving a leaked phone call between Paetongtarn Shinawatra and Cambodia's powerful former leader, Hun Sen.
U.S. President Trump has yet to provide an answer as to whether Russia is willing to end its war with Ukraine. At the end of May, the U.S. president
said we will find out in, quote, "two weeks." Well, it's now been five weeks since that statement.
KINKADE: For the latest on the ongoing conflict, we are joined now by CNN's chief international security correspondent, Nick Paton Walsh, in
London.
Good to see you, Nick. So we are hearing of another Ukrainian counterattack deep inside Russia using drones.
What more can you tell us?
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes. As Russia continues to make incremental but potentially one-day significant
gains in the north and the east as well, again, Ukraine is showing its ability to hit with some precision at key parts of Russia's military
infrastructure.
A Ukrainian security source telling CNN that it was indeed two of their drones that achieved strikes inside Russia, 800 miles deep inside Russian
territory, on the city of Izhevsk, a key part of Russia's military machine.
Has so many arms factories in that particular city. In fact, it's the home of Mikhail Kalashnikov, what was the home of the inventor of the AK-47
while he was still alive, tranquil.
But that tranquility, frankly, torn apart by these Ukrainian attack drones. Some of the video that has emerged, you can almost hear there some of the
gunfire where, I think, are security personnel trying to shoot down the drones as they fly above them.
[10:25:03]
Russian officials, though, saying that the devastation caused by these strikes killed three people and injured 35. It's unclear who those injured
and dead were, whether they worked at the plant or some of the people as bystanders you can see there as well.
But a particular pinpoint strike here, which Ukraine says was aimed at the Kupol electromagnetic plant, which they say built Tor missiles, Osa anti-
missile systems and also the Garpiya attack drone, which has been part of Russia's presence, hitting Ukrainian positions across the front line.
So Ukrainian claims certainly that they're able with great precision to hit a plant like that 800 miles inside Russia, another example of, while Russia
uses the brute force of its size of its army on the front, Ukraine is able to inflict damage through more sophisticated precision. Lynda.
KINKADE: And, of course, Nick, Ukraine's attack on Russia certainly comes after Russia's massive aerial bombardment. It seems we're a long way off
from any diplomatic off-ramp, despite Putin's claim that he is ready for peace talks.
WALSH: I mean, ultimately we are in the same position that we were about six months ago, where Russia is continually saying it's interested in peace
and diplomacy, going through with the motions.
But even after the comments of Russian president Vladimir Putin suggesting that he's still interested in some kind of fix to this conflict, the
reports coming from the front lines are somewhat different, suggesting that there's been a significant series of advances by Russia in the last month.
Probably the biggest they've had in June that they've had for a number of months, possibly since the beginning of the previous year and more worrying
concerns, certainly for Ukrainian forces, that they say there are 110,000 Russian troops massing near the strategic eastern town of Pokrov. That's
been an intense focus of Russian activity.
But also at the same time toward the north, in Sumy, which is closer to the Russian border, Ukraine says potentially 50,000 Russian troops massing
there as well. So on two particular, key, vulnerable fronts here for Ukraine's military, large signs that Russia's amassing forces.
Is this the summer offensive many suggested Putin's failed diplomacy or shall we say, less than energetic diplomacy is buying time for?
We'll have to wait and see in the months or weeks ahead. But it does appear that Russia is trying to build forces up to make some kind of progress.
Lynda.
KINKADE: All right. Nick Paton Walsh, good to have you across all those developments for us from London. Thanks very much.
Well, Europe is sweltering under a brutal heat wave. We'll have a live report from Paris when we come back.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:30:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
KINKADE (voice-over): Welcome back to CONNECT THE WORLD.
I'm Lynda Kinkade great to have you with us. Here are your headlines.
U.S. senators are in their 25th hour of marathon debate on president Donald Trump's domestic policy bill. They're now pushing toward their final vote.
Senators have been voting on dozens of amendments, with only a few of them passing so far. If approved, the bill would go back to the House for a vote
on the Senate changes.
U.S. president Donald Trump spent part of his day spending part of his day visiting a new migrant detention facility in south Florida, which
Republicans have dubbed Alligator Alcatraz.
Crews quickly transformed an Everglades airstrip into a tent city to house some 5,000 migrants waiting to be deported. Critics call it dehumanizing
and environmentally unsafe.
The head of Gaza's Al-Shifa Hospital says an Israeli airstrike on an internet cafe Monday killed more than 40 people. He says dozens more were
injured and that many women and children were among the casualties. The Israeli military says it hit several Hamas operatives Monday and that the
incident is under review.
KINKADE: Here in the United States Senate, Republicans have made a last- minute provision to Mr. Trump's spending bill that could set the renewable energy industry back decades. It will also increase the price of
electricity for millions of Americans across the country.
According to energy analysts, the bill was already set to scrap a Biden-era tax incentive for renewables. Now some Republicans want to go even further
and add a tax on the solar and wind industry. But not everyone is on board. CNN's chief climate correspondent Bill Weir is in New York and joins us now
live.
Good to see you, Bill.
BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Lynda.
KINKADE: So some say this will decimate essentially this renewable industry of wind and solar power.
Just what impact could it have if the bill passes?
WEIR: Well, I tell you, you know, everybody knows that president Trump is good friends with oil and gas. Not a fan of wind and solar. So everybody
knew that some of those incentives from Joe Biden, the Inflation Reduction Act, would get clawed back.
But so many of those projects are in Republican districts right now. So they thought there would be more of a fight. Well, then comes the new
language in the dead of night, early Saturday morning.
That adds new punishing taxes on these industries in ways that would literally smother them, murder them beyond the point of resuscitation by a
future Democratic president. That seems to be the strategy here.
But what we're seeing is pushback from Republican senators like Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley in Iowa, where 60 percent of the electricity comes from
renewables; places like Oklahoma, which the musical taught us "where the wind comes whistling across the plain," has huge amounts of wind capacity
now.
So utility bills in that state could go up 18 percent. That's almost $850 per household a year by 2035. So the economic implications of this "let's
kill solar and wind legislation" is getting some pushback.
But Lisa Murkowski, up in Alaska, maybe she's getting offered other sweeteners that -- to vote yes for this, this sort of thing right now. But
that's just the pocketbook stuff, Lynda, not to mention the fact that Chamber of Commerce opposes this because it could kill 800,000 jobs.
Elon Musk hates this because it punishes the industries of the future and basically props up the industries of the 18th century, coal and oil. You've
got so many people from all quarters railing against this right now. But we shall see if that fealty to Trump overcomes all the logic against these
ideas.
KINKADE: Yes, I was hoping you were going to sing some music from the musical "Oklahoma."
(LAUGHTER)
WEIR: I don't sing.
KINKADE: Maybe for another day.
But I do want to ask you about Texas. It does lead the nation right in wind and solar and there are certainly a lot of Republican voters there.
How is it going to impact people in Texas?
WEIR: Well, it's interesting. Chris Wright is the Energy Secretary. He comes from oil and gas, big cheerleader for oil and gas. And he's trying to
spin this, that, you know, that wind and solar is unreliable for the grid.
It's the opposite. The -- Texas has its own grid, a separate from the rest of the United States. And they just put out a statement that they're more
stable, more sustainable during heat waves or those freak cold snaps that they had a couple of years ago because of that renewable energy and the
battery storage.
And so when somebody talks about the wind, you know, the energy stops when the sun goes down or the wind stops, that's such an old argument because
batteries now are part of the cheapest part of this equation. So it stores it for days, that energy right now.
So yes, that's the pushback you're getting in these places. And also places in Georgia, for example, where big, new battery plants were set to go; big,
big clean energy projects in Nevada.
[10:35:00]
So this has sweeping consequences right now. And it really is driven by Donald Trump's desire to just squash something that he sees as different
from his party and his beliefs.
KINKADE: Yes. And I'm just hearing, Bill, from my producer, that the Senate majority leader believes he has the votes to pass this bill shortly.
So we will bring our viewers an update on that. But appreciate your perspective on what it will mean for millions of Americans. Thanks so much,
Bill. Appreciate it.
Bill Weir there.
Well, speaking of climate and heat, Europe is battling with extreme heat right now and it's expected to peak in the days ahead in parts of France,
Spain and Portugal. The temperature is topping 40 Celsius, which is over 100 Fahrenheit. One meteorologist says temperatures are soaring because the
heat is trapped over the continent.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIRSTY MCCABE, SENIOR BROADCAST METEOROLOGIST, ROYAL METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY: We've already got high temperatures because of the time of year.
But the longer the high pressure stays in place, the temperatures keep rising day by day because the heat dome is almost acting like the lid in a
pot and it's trapping that hot air underneath it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: CNN senior international correspondent Melissa Bell joins us live from Paris.
Looks like you're inside but certainly records being smashed left, right and center. Hottest June in Barcelona in 100 years. Hottest opening on
Wimbledon ever. And where you are in Paris, peaks are meant to hit either today or tomorrow.
What can you tell us?
How is everyone coping?
MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the point is that these are European cities.
And remember, Lynda, that Europe is the continent that is getting the fastest, faster than any other continent, the warmest most quickly. So it
is warming more quickly than any other continent.
So all of these European cities, like here in Paris, are having to get used to these rises in temperature year after year after year. What's happened
this year is that this heat wave is much earlier than it tends to be, not July or August but it started in June and these very early days of July.
The result is, for instance, here at the Gare Saint-Lazare in Paris that they're about to shut down all the trains simply because the system can't
cope with temperatures that high.
I really have struggled. I've been struggling all day to find words to tell you just how hot it is here. But 104 degrees, you're quite right; in so
many parts of Europe that's led, of course, to wildfires from Turkiye to Greece and already here in France.
But it's also just leading to cities being unable to cope. So it has an impact also on people.
So what authorities are doing is telling people to stay at home, stay cool, drink water because, back in 2023, when we last had the figures for the big
heat wave of that summer, Lynda, we simply don't have them for 2024, which again broke the record last year.
For that year, it was nearly 50,000 people across Europe who died as a result of the extreme heat. So it gives you an idea of just how hot it is.
And, of course, an important reminder that, here in Europe, these cities we're not used to it. So you don't have that much air conditioning.
This train station I'm standing in, of course, doesn't have air conditioning. People's homes don't have air conditioning in them, largely,
in these parts of Europe, perhaps a little more in places like Spain and Italy. But it's going to take a while for this continent to keep up with
the kind of changes that experts say are actually the new normal. Lynda.
KINKADE: And, of course, this heat wave, Melissa, is quite early in the season.
What does that signal for the rest of summer?
BELL: I think it signals, for a start, a great deal of danger with regard to wildfires. We remember a couple of years ago when the wildfires had
spread all the way to London. Lynda, that's how bad it had become.
The point about these very hot, very dry summers, where you get these peaks of temperature earlier on, is that everything gets really dry. So the risk
of wildfires, of course, is far greater. And that can go on throughout the season.
So there are, I think, 20 or so countries across Europe where there are even now warnings about extreme heat in place, red alerts, which is as high
as you can get. And if you imagine that spread over the continent and imagine that this continues over the next few weeks -- we know there's a
little respite coming in the immediate future.
Because northwestern Europe is going to see a cold front that's going to come in toward the end of the week. But the point is that if these heat
waves come back and if we have several over the course of the summer, then you can expect that the wildfires could get out of control just as they had
a couple of years ago. Lynda.
KINKADE: Let's hope not. Melissa Bell for us, live in Paris. Hope you've got some cool water there to stay as cool as possible. We appreciate you
and your team being there for us. Thank you.
Well, take a second to think about this. How frustrated you get when you lose the internet. Well, billions of people are living without connection
every single day. We're going to hear about how a group based in the Middle East is trying to change that.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:40:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
KINKADE: Welcome back.
Donald Trump is making new tariff threats, this time aimed at Japan. The U.S. president claims the world's fourth largest economy won't buy
America's rice, as Japan considers its next move.
The E.U. is sending its top trade chief to Washington for last ditch talks. It comes just days before Trump's 50 percent blanket tariff on European
goods is due to take effect. Well, CNN's Anna Stewart has a lot to cover. She joins us now live.
A lot and not much time, really but let's stick to Japan for now. So America's president certainly saying that Japan won't buy American rice.
That is not quite true, right?
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This was quite an interesting pivot because, over the weekend, the focus of the president's ire was more about
Japan's cars and the fact that Japan doesn't buy enough cars from the U.S.
And he hinted that the 25 percent tariff currently on cars could stay for Japan if they don't reach a deal. Today, of course, it seems to be all
about rice.
In a Truth Social post from president Trump, he says he has great respect for Japan but they won't take our rice. And yet they have a massive rice
shortage.
In other words, we'll just be sending them a letter. And this has been the big threat in the last few days, that he will be sending out letters to
countries he cannot reach, a trade deal with and that I think the insinuation here being that the tariffs will come back or they could be
even worse.
It's not a good sign. No one wants to receive a letter from president Trump on this.
Now you're right, it's not actually true. Japan bought nearly $300 million worth of American rice just last year. It's possible rice is being used by
Japan as leverage in all of this but we've not really had -- I suspect it's more likely that the issue of rice is one of those non tariff barriers that
the president likes to talk about.
In the last U.S. administration under Joe Biden, they did find in a report that Japan has a very regulated and quite nontransparent system when it
comes to importing rice. Perhaps it is all about that. It's really hard to piece together exactly why rice is the focus right now.
Japan is really keen to strike a deal with the U.S. The car industry is a massive part of Japan's economy. It accounts, I think, for 10 percent of
GDP. And the U.S. is its biggest market by a long way. It has a lot to lose here.
Before the pause on the so-called liberation day tariffs, the overall tariff for all Japanese goods going into the U.S. was 24 percent. That has
been dropped down to 10 percent while trade talks continue. The 25 percent on cars and steel and aluminum, that still exists. And that is very painful
for the Japanese economy.
So they'll be keen to strike a deal. They'll be listening to all this on rice. Whether they can reach a deal by the 9th of July is anyone's guess.
They don't have much time left. And this is the issue, not just for Japan but, as you said, the E.U., for a number of countries really trying very
hard at this stage to create some deal before the 9th of July.
Because that deadline is looming with the E.U. We're expecting the E.U. trade commissioner to arrive in D.C. tomorrow to meet his counterparts.
There have already been so many meetings, so many phone calls. And it's really unclear how close any of these nations are for investors.
They will be, I suspect, beginning to worry that the trade deals may not happen.
[10:45:00]
And I think everyone's wondering whether there will be an extension on that deadline.
KINKADE: Yes, eight days, just eight days to that tariff deadline approaches. We shall see if there's a flurry of deals. Good to see you,
Anna Stewart. Thanks so much.
Well, when -- whether you're watching CNN on CNN Max or clipping on clicking on our mobile app, it's easy to forget that not everyone has that
information at their fingertips. More than 2.5 billion people around the world are offline. That's according to one estimate. And it's not just
digital news they can't access.
Think about every single thing that you do online, whether it's filing taxes, booking doctors' appointments, buying insurance. There's a whole
digital world that connects us to economic opportunity and education and health care.
Well, the organization behind that statistic, the Digital Cooperation Organization or DCO, is trying to bring web access to more people through a
collective of 16 member states. Their mission: ensuring that no one is left behind in the digital age.
The DCO secretary general, Deemah AlYahya, sat down with Becky Anderson. And Becky began by asking her about how the groups mission is affected by
real-world conflicts.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEEMAH ALYAHYA, SECRETARY-GENERAL, DIGITAL COOPERATION ORGANIZATION: We always look for the opportunity.
How can we provide the right advice?
How can we provide the right tools and the right resources to help these countries to reconstruct their governance and their government after such
kind of conflicts?
It's not about just paving roads and building buildings but digital now is a human right. It's as important as water and electricity. So therefore,
betting on digital is very essential.
And we have great examples like Estonia, like Rwanda, where 99 percent now of digital services, government services is online. We have other examples
of Syria, for instance, because of learning platforms and because a network within Syria, refugees were able to continue their education.
Ukraine, for instance, having the application that enabled more than 20 million citizens outside Ukraine to continue their government services
within the war.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST: What's the long term vision for the DCO?
ALYAHYA: We're more focusing on digital resilience right now. And the growth, the economical growth and social impact that that will have in the
future, I'll give you an example.
If we look at collectively, our member states right now, they're surrounded with 160 submarine cables that, if we're going to talk about numbers, oh,
wow. That's great. But if we look at the quality of these cables, reliability, cyber attacks on these cables and also the usage in the
future.
Now, considering gen AI and the -- and the consumption of data going forward, how can we make sure that the infrastructure of our member states
collectively is sustainable, reliable and also enables them to grow?
Their very system, that is multilateralism, faces an enormous amount of criticism.
From a DCO perspective, what's the fix?
ALYAHYA: What we're trying to do is to make multilateralism more action- oriented, more agile, more inclusive by design and also humancentric.
When we talk about GDP and job creation, how is that going to be without looking at national champions of technology?
And this is where we help these national champions and we open the borders of our member states. We actually help them in expansion.
And we identify where is the gap in Saudi, where is the opportunity in Pakistan?
Where is the opportunity in Jordan?
And we connect these companies with the right opportunities.
ANDERSON: This region, very specifically this country, the UAE, has a program for AI development and deployment, which includes, you know,
widening or cascading its opportunity through the global south.
And a similar story we are hearing out of Saudi Arabia.
How are you working with these individual countries to ensure, through cooperation and partnerships, for example, that that opportunity exists
today and going forward?
ALYAHYA: We just established the AI readiness that showcases the maturity of every country when it comes to AI. Becky, sometimes you don't need all
the stacks of AI. Let's use the computing power in Saudi. Let's use the computing power in Qatar and let's use the brainpower in Nigeria and in
Pakistan.
ANDERSON: I wonder how the historic role shaped your vision for unlocking women's digital potential in this historic role, being you as the first
Saudi woman to run this organization.
[10:50:02]
And what are your concrete targets for women's participation?
ALYAHYA: If just women, we give them -- we give women access to internet, we can add to the global GDP $500 billion by 2030. We move women,
traditional businesses into online businesses. We supported more than 127 businesses in Rwanda.
And I'll give you an example: a widow, she has seven kids, not educated; she creates essences, perfumes and soaps and so on. She sells to her
community. She wanted to reach a bigger market.
Going into this program gave her not only the technology but we gave her training on marketing, payment gateway, delivery and so on. After 18
months, she sells to 90 locations in the world and she recruited 60 other women. And she has a revenue of average $1 million.
ANDERSON: Where do you see the low-hanging fruit at this point?
ALYAHYA: I always bet on talent, increasing the human capital development. Every country has to really focus on their upscaling and as well investing
in infrastructure, because investing in infrastructure and data governance specifically means your sustainability, your resilience and your dignity as
a country.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(VIDEO CLIP, "THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA")
KINKADE: Well, that's a scene from "The Devil Wears Prada" and it looks like the story is not over just yet.
20th Century Studios has announced that a sequel is in the works, 19 years after the original was released. The announcement comes at a decisive time
in the fashion industry that inspired the movie.
Days ago, Anna Wintour stepped down from her four-decade, almost four- decade-old career as the editor-in-chief of "Vogue." The 75-year old is believed to have been the inspiration for Meryl Streep's iconic character,
Miranda Priestly, who, by the way, will be back in the sequel.
Well, France is ending its longtime love affair with cigarettes. The country's ban on smoking goes into effect Tuesday and applies to many
public spaces, including beaches, parks and sporting venues. CNN's Saskya Vandoorne has more on the country's historic move on public health.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SASKYA VANDOORNE, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER (voice-over: This is the country that turned cigarettes into high art. But lighting up under the Eiffel
Tower or in the Jardin de Tuileries is now illegal. And it could cost you 135 euros. The government's aim at tobacco free generation by 2032.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel like it's a big liberty torn away from us, from French people because we smoke a lot and it's just because we like it. And
I feel like it'd be pretty hard to enforce too.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why they smoke for the stress, maybe the stress or the ritual with the aperitif and so on. Let's go together.
VANDOORNE: Can we have a smoke free generation?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's never going to happen.
VANDOORNE (voice-over): And now France is making history, the first European country to ban cigarettes on all beaches nationwide. Starting July
1st, smoking will also be banned in public gardens and anywhere near schools.
[10:55:00]
A lofty goal for a country that a generation ago had children, staging tributes to Serge Gainsbourg, cigarettes and all. Jean-Paul Belmondo made
it look cool in de bout de souffle, a cigarette hanging from his lips in nearly every scene.
Coco Chanel smoked 50 a day and Brigitte Bardot. But tobacco use in France has actually been on the decline in recent years. Smoking is at its lowest
level in more than two decades, with 23 percent of the adult population lighting up daily.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Think about the freedom of those next to you. For example, there are children who don't want to smoke.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Actually, I can understand for the children and for health reasons.
VANDOORNE: Still, there's one sacred space the law won't touch. And French people, especially Parisians, are breathing a smoky sigh of relief because
banning cigarettes there, that would be a step too far even for a changing France -- Saskya Vandoorne, CNN, Paris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
Well, that does it for CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Lynda Kinkade. Great to have you with us today. Stay with CNN. "ONE WORLD" is up next.
END
