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Trump Makes U-Turn on Ukraine; Russia and Allies Face Penalties if No Peace in 50 Days; Trump Tells Supporters Not to "Waste Time" on Epstein Files; Trump to Unveil Sweeping $50 Billion Investment in AI, Energy; SCOTUS Clears Way to Gut Education Department; Family of American Killed in West Bank Calls for Justice; Nearly Three-Quarters of Afghans Live at Subsistence Levels; Andrew Cuomo Announces Third-Party Bid for NYC Mayor; Trump's Hong Kong Opera; North Pole Marathon. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired July 15, 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]
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is CONNECT THE WORLD with Becky Anderson.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST (voice-over): And welcome to the second hour of the show from our Middle East programming headquarters here. I'm Becky
Anderson in Abu Dhabi. The time is just after 6 in the evening.
President Donald Trump making some stunning U-turns on his policies, namely deciding to supply Ukraine with Patriot interceptor missiles and batteries
to fight against the Russians and no longer targeting NATO for its alleged underspending.
And the Jeffrey Epstein saga continues now with tensions boiling between attorney general Pam Bondi, FBI director Kash Patel and Patel's deputy, Dan
Bongino.
Andrew Cuomo announcing he will stay in the New York City mayoral race as a third-party candidate after his shocking loss in the Democratic primary to
Zohran Mamdani. The former governor will need to revamp his campaign operation and look for new ways to connect with his supporters.
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ANDERSON: Well, 50 days; that is the U.S. president's deadline for Russia to reach a peace deal with Ukraine or face tariffs on itself and any of its
allies buying Russian energy.
Donald Trump's frustration with Russian president Vladimir Putin increasingly evident as he laid out new U.S. measures in a White House
meeting on Monday with NATO's secretary general.
They also include selling U.S. weapons to other NATO members to then send on to Ukraine. The Kremlin today calling the latest announcements very
serious, even as former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev dismissed the tariff threat as theatrics.
Well, while the weapons announcement is being warmly welcomed in Kyiv, the 50-day deadline allows Russia to continue its recent spate of massive
aerial attacks on the capital and elsewhere in Ukraine.
We've got CNN's chief international security correspondent with us, Nick Paton Walsh. We're also joined by CNN's senior White House reporter, Kevin
Liptak.
Let's start with you in Washington, Kevin. A number of U-turns by Trump, namely with his rhetoric on NATO in a BBC interview, he actually praised
the alliance, saying it's become the opposite of obsolete because, quote, "they are paying their bills."
What's going on here?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think you have seen a wholesale shift in the president's view toward NATO since his first time in
office. I don't think you can underestimate the effect of the secretary general, Mark Rutte, in all of this.
Remember, he came into this job with a reputation as something of a Trump whisperer, back from his time as the Dutch prime minister.
And he does seem to have had this effect of changing president Trump's entire view of this alliance, in no small part because of this new pledge
by the member countries to spend more on their defense that was made at the summit last month in The Hague.
You know, a lot of his critics may say he's compromising his dignity in a lot of ways here. Remember he called Trump "Daddy" at that summit. But he
says this is all to the effect of trying to secure European security, trying to secure the NATO alliance's future.
And at least when it comes to these weapons, he does appear to have some success because, remember, president Trump is someone who, as a candidate,
promised to pull back from the war in Ukraine, said that the U.S. would not be spending as much money there.
And he does seem to have found this compromise plan to allow the European countries to purchase these weapons from the United States and then funnel
them in to Ukraine. In reality, this plan has been in the works for months.
Really, as soon as president Trump was elected back in November, European officials were discussing ways to try and continue to sustain this American
support, as it became clear that the president was coming into office with a very different approach from his predecessor.
And I think a lot of people are crediting Mark Rutte with being able to manage this transition and being able to uphold the support for Ukraine
that we have been seeing over the last several weeks.
This has been a wholesale shift from president Trump, at least when it comes to his approach to Ukraine.
Although this 50-day deadline that the president has put into effect, you do hear from people in Congress, particularly Democrats, who say this is
just a window that will allow Russia to do what it wants in Ukraine before the president ultimately decides anything.
And we do know that president Trump is someone who -- for whom deadlines have been something of a squishy thing in the past.
Could this potentially be another one of those rolling deadlines as he waits and sees what Vladimir Putin plans to do?
[10:05:06]
And so I think there's a lot going on here. We have characterized this as a hardening of the president's position toward Russia. And it is, in some
ways, driven in part by his animus toward Vladimir Putin.
But in other ways, the president does seem to be kicking the can down the road as he tries and waits out Putin to see if he will come to the
negotiating table.
ANDERSON: Let me bring Nick in at this point.
Let's talk about what Trump didn't do. Certainly the view from Ukraine is that he didn't apply significant pressure on Russia. Here's what else he
told the BBC.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
QUESTION: Are you done with him?
I mean, I know that sounds a simplistic thing.
TRUMP: But I'm disappointed in him. But I'm not done with him. But I'm disappointed in him that we had a deal done four times. And then you go
home and you see he just attacked a nursing home or something in Kyiv.
And I said, what the hell was that all about?
QUESTION: Do you trust him?
TRUMP: I trust almost nobody.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: It does seem as if Trump has yet to give up on his belief that the Kremlin actually wants peace.
What do you make of what we are -- what we're hearing here?
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: I mean, it is strange that the notion of sanctions, secondary sanctions -- let's
remind people, sanctions against Russia's major customers for its energy supplies, they are again delayed another 50 days.
And that might be a window designed to make China, essentially living in a symbiotic relationship with Moscow for their oil and gas, and India,
another key customer, too, to apply pressure.
But ultimately, I think if you're looking at the intensity of those two relationships and the dependency on Moscow, if you're China or India,
you're much more likely to think that Donald Trump's going to let another deadline whiz past rather than take that kind of strident action that could
potentially damage the U.S. economy as well.
It would change oil prices, certainly raising them. But we're in this complicated moment, where clearly Donald Trump does not want to give up
entirely on the idea that president Putin wants peace but also voices the idea again and again, that he thinks he's being spun along, BS, et cetera,
and all the other terminology he's used.
And so it is curious to see this moment of decision come with a moment of inaction. And that's essentially what we have with this 50-day deadline. So
much has happened in the last 50 days in the war in Ukraine that potentially we could be looking at a totally different battlefield on
canvas.
If Russia launches this summer offensive in the days and weeks ahead, the weapons themselves, look, reminding people here that, while this is a stark
change in Trump's position, it puts Ukraine back where it was in January.
And this is essentially the Trump administration removing its restrictions on American Patriots batteries and other weapons, possibly, and changing
the way for which they are paid, making the Europeans pay for them.
That, of course, works in Ukraine's benefit and surely means the Europeans are paying more of their share here. But we are not seeing an enormous
addition in American assistance here. We're seeing a change in Trump's thinking. But there was more that he could have done.
He could have taken part of the presidential drawdown from the old Biden era and used more of those, possibly $4 billion or $5 billion that remain.
He could potentially have provided better or new capabilities for Ukraine to hit Russia. Those things were not done.
And the bigger threat of sanctions, again, something on a delay with another deadline, look, we had the dark end of this war in 24 hours, 100
days. Then we also had the two-week deadline, which passed recently as well. These deadlines come and go quite fast.
And so I think, when it comes to massive decisions that would roil the entire global economy, like putting 100 percent to 500 percent tariffs on
China or India in their substantial trade with the United States, if you're Beijing or New Delhi, you probably bet on Trump changing his mind or
backing down.
Then reconfigure your entire energy supply in order to meet a deadline just under two months away -- Becky.
ANDERSON: Yes, it's fascinating, isn't it?
OK, well, we will watch this space. Thank you. Nick.
Thank you. Kevin.
After that meeting on Monday at the White House, NATO chief Mark Rutte spoke with CNN's Jake Tapper afterwards, talking about the how those U.S.
weapons will end up in Ukraine and what that 50-day deadline for a peace deal might mean for Russia and its energy partners. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK RUTTE, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: European allies will buy from the defense industrial base in the U.S. that can be Patriot systems or missiles
or ammunition. And then we will make sure that the U.S. will be reimbursed for whatever European allies are buying.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: So Trump says Putin has 50 days to make a peace deal or face these punishing trade consequences. Why do you think Trump's
giving Putin 50 days?
I mean, this war has now been going on for years.
[10:10:00]
Why not just impose the economic punishments now?
You may know in the U.S. Senate, there's a bill supported by 85 senators to sanction Russia.
RUTTE: Yes. I will have dinner after this with Senators Graham and Blumenthal and others who are working on that bill.
But I think what President Trump announced today is a real smart way to move forward, because what it basically says to India, to China and to
Brazil, so countries still buying from Russia, hey, pick up the phone, call Vladimir Putin and tell him he has got to get serious on peace
negotiations.
And if he doesn't, then we will be targeted, of course, Russia itself but also all these countries still buying from Russia. So I think it is a very
smart move.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, that's Mark Rutte. As we've reported, Trump's latest announcement is not going down well in Moscow. CNN's chief global affairs
correspondent Matthew Chance is in the Russian capital.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: On Kremlin- controlled television, President Trump's U-turn on Ukraine was breaking
news.
Trump's now following in the footsteps of former U.S. president Joe Biden, the anchor says, promising weapons to Ukraine to force Moscow to the
negotiating table. But we all know, she adds, that Biden failed.
This is the Russian onslaught President Trump says he's trying to end. But amid this barrage of mass drone and missile attacks on Ukraine, Trump's
threat of tariffs and secondary sanctions if there's no peace deal in 50 days seems more like a green light than a deterrent to Moscow.
"In 50 days, oh, how much can change on the battlefield and in the mood of the U.S. and NATO," posted one prominent Russian lawmaker. "But our mood
will not be affected," he warns.
TRUMP: Because Putin really surprised a lot of people. He talks nice and then he bombs everybody in the evening.
CHANCE: But President Trump's most recent mood change against the Kremlin and in favor of providing weapons to Ukraine is being widely criticized in
Russia, with hand picked guests on state television now openly accusing the U.S. president of fueling the conflict.
"This man is deceiving you, Ukraine," warns this senior Russian politician. "Trump just wants this war to continue," he adds.
After months of being heralded in Russia as a potential peacemaker, a warmonger is how President Trump is now being cast -- Matthew Chance, CNN,
Moscow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, for the other war that president Trump has vowed to end, there is seemingly no end in sight. The U.N. said Palestinians continuing
to be killed even as they try to obtain food from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the group funded by Israel and the U.S. Israel has blocked
other aid from entering Gaza as it continues to bomb the region.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THARNEEN AL-KHEETAN, OCHCR SPOKESPERSON: As of the 13th of July, we have recorded 875 people killed in Gaza while trying to get food; 674 of them
were killed in the vicinity of GHF sites.
Now the data we have is based on our own information gathering through various reliable sources, including medical, human rights and humanitarian
organizations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, the IDF says details are under review.
To the U.S. where the future of the FBI deputy director, Dan Bongino, appears to be uncertain, following his threats to resign this weekend.
It came after U.S. attorney general Pam Bondi's memo, stating there was no evidence that the late sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein, was murdered or that
he even had a client list, a memo that triggered intense backlash from MAGA loyalists.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: make some noise if you care about the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
(APPLAUSE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He promised them so he needs to do it, no matter who's on them. We need to release the Epstein files.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think they're going to maybe give us pieces and maybe not the whole thing and think that that's going to suffice. And I
don't think people are going to be quiet about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Sources tell CNN president Trump wants the whole story to just go away. Well, joining us from Washington, CNN's chief legal affairs
correspondent, Paula Reid.
Paula, thanks for joining us again. For years, Trump and his loyalists have pushed these Epstein conspiracy theories. I just want our viewers to have a
listen to this.
[10:15:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: A lot of people think that he -- he was killed. He knew a lot on a lot of people.
TUCKER CARLSON, TV PERSONALITY: He was killed, I think.
TRUMP: Yes, I'd be inclined to do the Epstein. I'd have no problem with it.
J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Seriously, we need to release the Epstein list. That is an important thing.
KASH PATEL, FBI DIRECTOR: Put on your big boy pants and let us know who the pedophiles are.
DAN BONGINO, FBI DEPUTY DIRECTOR: I'm not ever going to let this story go because of what I heard from a source about Bill Clinton on a plane with
Jeffrey Epstein. I'm not letting it go, ever.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Now it's coming back to haunt them. The FBI deputy threatening to resign. Some of Trump's supporters calling for the attorney general to
step down.
Can you just unpick what's going on here?
PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, look, this is the really the biggest self-inflicted crisis I think we've seen so far for the
Trump administration. It's something that has been simmering for a long time.
For months and months, Trump supporters have been tweeting at Pam Bondi, asking about Epstein, about the Epstein files. She was at an unusual event
earlier in the year where she released some binders to some friendly influencers. And that wound up with a lot of blowback for her, because
there wasn't much that was new in those binders.
So she also raised the possibility that she would likely release new material and then, last week, recanted. And so this is something that,
really the way they have handled it, has made it so much worse.
And what's unusual about this, not only the staying power, is the fact that this is self-inflicted and the blowback is coming from their own
supporters. So as much as the White House wants to wish this away, it is unlikely that this is going to go away anytime soon.
Now there are a few options on the table. Lara Trump, the president's daughter-in-law, has suggested they might release additional information.
That's not what the Justice Department has said on the record or sources I've spoken with have said. They're not at that point yet.
Look, there's also at least one right-wing influencer, calling for the appointment of a special counsel to review how this was all handled. That
would take it out of Bondi's hands, buy the administration some time.
But eventually the whole issue would be dredged up again at the conclusion of that investigation, which would likely be handled by a Trump-appointed
U.S. attorney. This point, really, the only thing that's clear is that the president is backing his attorney general.
I'm told her relationship with the president has never been better. And look, it's notable that he is supporting her in this difficult moment
because that also means, now, though, that he owns the handling of this controversy just as much as she does.
ANDERSON: Good to have you. Thank you. This one's going to run for a bit.
Well, still to come, Trump's expected to pledge billions of dollars toward AI and energy later today.
Where?
We'll get a live report up next.
Plus as Trump invests more in AI, he is divesting in the U.S. Department of Education, thanks to Monday's Supreme Court decision. More coming your way.
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ANDERSON: President Trump poised to announce a major investment in artificial intelligence in the coming hours. He's set to unveil a $70
billion investment package focused on AI and energy and an initiative -- in an initiative that the White House says will create thousands of jobs.
That announcement, expected at the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit in Pittsburgh. Let's get you to CNN business writer Clare Duffy.
She's been following this for us.
Let's start with what we know about the package that the president is expected to announce today, Clare.
CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: Yes. Becky. So this is expected to be an investment, as you said, in AI infrastructure. So that is data centers. And
the energy resources that are needed to power these really energy hungry data centers, that expected to happen in Pennsylvania from potentially a
number of companies.
There are major companies that are going to be represented at this event today, including the president of Blackrock, the CEO of chipmaker ARM, CEO
of Amazon Web Services, CEO of ExxonMobil, CEO of Anthropic and the chief investment officer at Alphabet, Google's parent company.
So we do expect that, given the scale of this $70 billion, that there could be multiple companies announcing investments today. And this is all really
part of president Trump's key focus on growing U.S. investment in AI infrastructure, because it's seen as a way to ensure the U.S.' global
technology leadership in this new AI era -- Becky.
ANDERSON: Yes, and some key investors, sovereign investors from the region where we are based here in the Gulf, let's just talk about why Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania. There's some context here.
DUFFY: Yes, it's interesting because Pennsylvania has already been a place where the Big Tech companies are looking for potential investments in AI,
infrastructure, energy, resources.
Just a few months ago, Microsoft announced that it is investing to help reopen the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant to power its AI
infrastructure. And all of this really important because experts in the AI space warned that the U.S. could potentially run out of electricity to
power these big AI data centers.
These are really power hungry warehouses full of computers. We're spending tens of billions of dollars to build them out and we need to make sure that
there is the energy resources to power these things.
And the tech companies would really like for those to be clean energy resources, not just coal and gas powered plants. And so I think that is
going to be the focus of what we are going to hear from the president today during this announcement.
ANDERSON: Yes.
Meantime, Tesla hoping to have a shareholder vote on AI investment.
What's the story there and what's expected?
DUFFY: Yes. So Elon Musk said that he's going to be asking Tesla shareholders to vote on whether Tesla should invest in his AI startup, xAI.
This comes at a time when Musk has been mobilizing resources from his many different companies to boost xAI.
We -- just a few months ago, xAI acquired X, his social media platform. There's also now new reporting from "The Wall Street Journal" that SpaceX,
his space company, will be investing $2 billion into xAI.
And as we're talking about there, it makes sense that xAI is looking for this fundraising because it, too, is spending tens of billions of dollars
on AI data centers.
But I think asking Tesla shareholders to invest in the startup could be somewhat more controversial, because we know that Tesla shareholders are
already kind of frustrated with Elon Musk. They feel like he's been distracted with his political ambitions, with his many different companies.
And just the last few weeks, shareholders have asked Elon to spend just at least 40 hours a week on his role as CEO. We've seen Tesla stock fall 16
percent this year. And so I think it's possible that Tesla shareholders will really just want him to remain focused on Tesla rather than his other
ambitions.
But on the other hand, I also think that, if you're a Tesla shareholder who is concerned about Elon's outside activities, maybe at least you would want
a stake in those outside activities, knowing that Elon is probably just going to keep spending time the way that he wants to -- Becky.
ANDERSON: And his argument is that investment in AI will ultimately power the robotics and autonomous pillars that he sees as the future for Tesla,
of course, and SpaceX going forward. So he says it's all wrapped up in one. Let's see how that goes. Thank you.
While president Trump is investing in AI technology, the cutting -- he is cutting the Education Department. This after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled
he can move forward with his mass firings at the U.S. Department of Education.
It is the latest win for the White House with the conservative high court seen here. Within a couple of hours of Monday's decision, the Education
Department resumed sending out notices to employees of its plan to shrink the department and attached the Supreme Court's order to the notice.
[10:25:00]
CNN's Sunlen Serfaty joins me now with more.
Sunlen, on the impact of all of this, what will be the first noticeable difference that people will see when the -- when the dust settles here?
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, really, what we're seeing already, in just the 24 hours since the Supreme Court ruling
was announced, is a kind of an emboldened Department of Education.
They are moving very quickly on their plans that Trump has not shied away from his campaign promise to dismantle the Department of Education.
Now what that means practically, first and foremost, is that the plans to fire, to terminate nearly half of the workforce of the Department of
Education will go forth with the Supreme Court ruling.
And it's notable that, in that ruling, Justice Sotomayor, who wrote the dissent, the rather blistering dissent, she called this move indefensible.
She said the decision rewards clear defiance of the Constitution.
So we will see. First and foremost, those nearly 1,400 employees from the department officially terminated. And we saw, as you referenced, a note
from the Department of Education secretary, Lynda McMahon, yesterday, within two hours of this ruling, informing those employees that they will
be let go starting August 1st.
That has real implications for what the department is able to do. The oversight that they are able to see for in terms of investigation, civil
rights investigations, that was one particular office that was gutted.
And just moments ago, we received a release from the Department of Education, Becky, noting that they are pushing forward with their effort to
essentially break apart the pieces of the agency.
Announcing that one part of the Department of Education, those responsible for adult literacy, for example, will be going over to the Department of
Labor. So they are wasting no time really breaking up the pieces, pushing it to other agencies. And this is the stated goal of the Trump
administration and a campaign promise of president Trump's.
ANDERSON: Yes. Good to have you. Thank you.
Still to come, folks. Israeli settlers in the West Bank killed a U.S. citizen. Now the family of the 20-year-old man is demanding justice. That
story is just ahead.
And a refugee crisis brewing at the Iran border as half a million Afghans are deported.
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ANDERSON (voice-over): Back. You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD with me. Becky Anderson, your headlines.
And the Kremlin says Donald Trump's announcements on arms and sanctions are, quote, "very serious." In a meeting with NATO's secretary general on
Monday, the U.S. president said his country will sell arms to NATO members to give to Ukraine. He also threatened tariffs on Russia if a peace deal
isn't reached within 50 days.
Sources tell CNN president Trump wants the hype around the Jeffrey Epstein investigation to disappear. But after years of conspiracy theories and
promising to release a so-called client list of the late sex offender, the U.S. Justice Department stated in a memo last week there was no client
list.
Now Trump faces major backlash from his Republican MAGA loyalists.
Clashes between Druze forces and Bedouin tribes in Syria have left at least 30 people dead. The violence follows months of tensions in the area and
prompted Syrian forces to move in to pursue what the government calls outlaw groups.
Israel, responding by attacking the government forces, it says, to protect the Druze minority.
ANDERSON: Well, the family of a Palestinian American killed in the West Bank is demanding justice. The 20-year old was born and raised in Florida.
Witnesses report he was attacked by Israeli settlers wielding sticks and clubs. His relatives say he was brutally beaten to death while protecting
his family's land.
CNN's Jeremy Diamond spoke to his father, who is demanding the U.S. investigate his son's death.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the back of an ambulance, Saif Musallet's aunt says one final goodbye. She is far from
alone.
Hundreds in this West Bank town have come to honor the American son who is deeply rooted in his Palestinian community. Saif was killed on Friday, just
two weeks before his 21st birthday, beaten to death by Israeli settlers, according to his family.
Those settlers also shot and killed another Palestinian man in the same attack, according to eyewitnesses. It is a senseless yet all too common
outcome in the West Bank.
DIAMOND: Today it is an American citizen being put to rest here but over the course of the last 20 months of this war, nearly a thousand
Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, according to the United Nations. But today, Saif Musallet's family is
demanding an American investigation into his death.
KAMEL MUSALLET, SAIF'S FATHER: We want justice.
DIAMOND (voice-over): His father, Kamel, was home in Florida, where he runs an ice cream shop with his son, when he got the call that Saif had
been attacked by settlers.
MUSALLET: You never think that it's your son or anything, that -- that -- who this is happening to. And then I got word that it was my son. He was
hit, he was beaten, he lost conscience but nobody could get to him. Ambulance couldn't come in. Why?
Because the IDF restricted that. The IDF blocked that.
DIAMOND: So you hold the Israeli military responsible?
MUSALLET: I hold the Israeli military just as responsible as the settlers and the American government for not doing anything about this.
DIAMOND (voice-over): The State Department said it is aware of Saif's death but declined to comment further on calls for an investigation.
Israeli authorities say they are investigating but have not made any arrests.
For two months now, Palestinians here say Israeli settlers have been encroaching on their land and terrorizing Palestinians who try and access
it.
This was the scene on Friday, as Saif and other Palestinians have been encroaching on their land. Hafez Abdel Jabbar said he saw settlers chase
after a man he would later learn was safe.
HAFEZ ABDEL JABBAR, FATHER OF MURDERED MAN: They ran up the hill, they caught Muslims, they started beating them with sticks.
DIAMOND (voice-over): By the time he reached Saif's body, he was already dead. As we head to the location where Saif's body was retrieved, a white
vehicle suddenly appears behind us.
DIAMOND: We have a group of settlers who are now following us in their vehicle. They put their masks on as well, which is a concerning indication.
DIAMOND (voice-over): At an intersection, the settlers get out and try to pelt our vehicle. We manage to approach a nearby Israeli border police
vehicle and the settlers turn around. But minutes after the border police head out to search for the settlers, we are ambushed.
DIAMOND: Everyone OK?
JABBAR: Yes, yes.
DIAMOND: Go, go, go. Drive, drive, keep driving.
DIAMOND (voice-over): The masked men smash the rear windshield of our car but we manage to speed off unharmed.
JABBAR: No, no, no, they went down.
DIAMOND: They turned. They turned. They turned.
JABBAR: They turned. They turned.
[10:35:00]
DIAMOND (voice-over): It is just a small window into the reality here.
JABBAR: But what if it would took us five more seconds, we all would've been beating with these --
DIAMOND: You think they would've been beaten us.
JABBAR: Yes, sir.
DIAMOND: Your son was also killed.
JABBAR: In January 2024 by a settler, simply just being there barbequing.
DIAMOND: What does that feel like, to -- to have to constantly try and tell the world what's happening?
JABBAR: You scream into the whole world. And the whole world is watching. Simply silent. Seen all these mothers put their son that they work so hard
to raise them up for 20 years and you pick them up and you put them in the ground, under the sky and the silence goes on and on and on.
DIAMOND (voice-over): Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Sinjil, the occupied West Bank.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, following Iran's conflict with Israel, Tehran has expelled more than half a million Afghans, according to the United Nations. The
deportations, part of a program announced back in March but have increased due to groundless claims that Afghans have been spies for Israel.
Last Friday saw a surge of more than 50,000 people leave in one day. Footage from the borders shows migrants awaiting processing and
transporting with little relief from the promised punishing summer heat.
Well, my next guest was at the Iran-Afghanistan border a few days ago. Take a listen to his powerful and detailed account of what he witnessed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARAFAT JAMAL, UNHCR REPRESENTATIVE IN AFGHANISTAN: We are seeing peaks of over 40,000 people a day. And on the 4th of July, we actually saw 50,000
people coming across that border.
Many of these returnees are arriving, having been abruptly uprooted and having undergone arduous, exhausting and degrading journeys. They arrive
tired, disoriented, brutalized and often in despair. And they sprawl throughout a crowded center in often 40 degrees centigrade heat.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, UNHCR representative in Afghanistan, Arafat Jamal, joining me now live.
Sir, it's good to have you. Thank you very much indeed for joining us. From the people that you met at the border, what are the most common stories or
experiences that you heard?
JAMAL: What we're hearing is, is that people who are doubly uprooted, they have been uprooted once and had to go across the border to Iran. And now
they are, once again, often after many years and in some cases after a whole lifetime, are being forced out or somehow leaving Iran and coming
back to a country that they barely know.
And their stories are truly heartbreaking. These are people who are laborers, who are sometimes professionals, who are making their life and
who have tried to make their life.
And essentially what I've been hearing -- and I was just at the border three days ago -- is that they have had their they have been stripped of
their savings. They have had an arduous journey and they are arriving in a country that they scarcely know and in which they have very little sense of
what they will end up doing.
ANDERSON: What lives are they leaving?
You say some are laborers, some are professionals. Many are, of course, undocumented Afghans. Many may have left Afghanistan when the Taliban took
over back in 2022, when there were many, many hundreds of thousands of Afghans who actually went into both Iran and Pakistan.
You know, those who are undocumented and have been living in Iran, let's be quite frank, have not been having the best of time there, have they?
I mean, their children won't necessarily be educated there. It's been a tough life.
JAMAL: It's a diverse community that we find inside Iran. And I think we have to remember and acknowledge that, over four decades, when the Afghans
have been in trouble, whether it be the Soviet invasion, whether it be the mujahideen wars, whether it be the Taliban or other occupations, the
Iranians have opened their borders.
And they have received Afghans of all stripes. And they have benefited. It's not an easy life, that's for sure. But to the extent possible, they
have enjoyed health care; they've enjoyed subsidized food, education, et cetera.
But, yes, it's a difficult life but they have contributed to that country. They have contributed to its building and to its culture as well.
ANDERSON: Yes, these deportation plans have been well documented by Iran. A policy has been in place since earlier this year. So as an agency, you
would have been ready for this. And your agency says over 1.6 million Afghans have returned to Afghanistan, over 80 percent of them from Iran.
[10:40:00]
You had projected 1.3 million Afghans to return in 2025.
Just briefly, what are they returning to, sir?
Remind us.
JAMAL: So what they're returning to and what this country is experiencing is a major demographic shock. And let's not remember, it's actually a shock
on three fronts. We have Iran but we've already had returns from Pakistan.
And now we are having similar returns from Tajikistan. So this country, Afghanistan, which is at -- which -- at which 70 percent of the people live
at the at the poverty level, which has just had a drought alert issued and which does not have a very good human rights situation, to put it mildly,
is receiving these 1.6 million, actually.
And many more. As a layer of precarity on top of this poverty, on top of this drought and on top of this human rights situation. So it's not good
news. And if we consider that this is a neighborhood that has experienced two wars just in the last three months alone, we are talking about a recipe
for instability.
ANDERSON: Yes. And certainly we have seen an uptick in numbers. And CNN has been reporting this an uptick in numbers of Afghans being either
involuntarily deported or voluntarily leaving Iran since the Israel conflict with Iran.
But the country says this policy is rooted in national security and out of economic necessity. We see this issue, of course, across many countries
around the world, who have, in the past, taken in migrants, who are now pushing undocumented migrants out. The U.S. is a good example of that.
But particularly in this region, we are seeing it, quite frankly.
What choices do countries like Iran have?
And what policies do you want to see put in place to support refugees around this region, very specifically?
JAMAL: On the one hand, we call upon all countries to treat Afghans on their territory with dignity. And we also call upon not them -- not to
return people involuntarily. The conditions are not yet right in Afghanistan for return.
What can a country do, you ask, in a situation like this?
Our appeal to these countries is very much to come to the table and to talk. There are -- it should be. When a refugee returns home, it should be
a cause for celebration. And indeed, many of these people are coming home voluntarily.
What we want to do is to make sure that they come home at a rate that enables this country to absorb them and that we are able to talk. We're
able to talk with the Iranians, with the Pakistanis, with the others, so that we can we can build bridges rather than create chaos.
ANDERSON: How concerned are you at the agency that, increasingly, we are looking at a world which will be populated by people who are stateless?
JAMAL: That's a -- that's a huge concern. Obviously, when we when we get into laws that, you know, we have a situation here, for example, where
people who are born in different countries do not have any rights in those countries.
So essentially the only solution available to them is either resettlement in a third country that would accept them or to come home to their country,
even if that's a country in which they were not born and which they have very few ties.
So that's another reason that we that we want people to come to the table. The United Nations is here to help the world come up with comprehensive
solutions that depend upon international cooperation and that it enable people to have a dignified life.
But also enable us to be able to cooperate as nations and create growth and foster regional harmony.
ANDERSON: I'm glad we've been able to talk. The issue is an extremely important one. We are seeing this huge uptick in numbers of Afghans leaving
Iran, for example, and that was the, you know, the conceit of having you on today, the conceit of this narrative.
It's extremely useful to have you on and get your insight and analysis. Thank you, sir.
Coming up, Andrew Cuomo has a new plan of action after losing the Democratic primary for mayor of New York.
But will it resonate?
That is after this.
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[10:45:00]
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ANDERSON: In the race to be New York City's next mayor, Andrew Cuomo says he is not going down without a fight. On Monday, the former state governor
announced that he is running as an independent after being defeated in what is known as the Democratic primary against the progressive candidate,
Zohran Mamdani.
CNN's Gloria Pazmino has been closely following the race. She is live for us this hour in New York.
An announcement by Andrew Cuomo today, just explain what we heard and how this announcement is being received there.
GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, you know, I have to tell you that a lot of people who are here in Democratic politics in New York
City are not surprised that he is not giving up easily.
This is something that a lot of people here in local political circles had been expecting, that Cuomo would not drop from this race because, remember,
he ran as an independent in the Democratic primary.
And having that third-party line allows him to run into the general election, which will be held here next November.
Now the question is, what is the Cuomo campaign going to do differently from what they did just about a month ago in the June primary, which he
lost by nearly 12 points?
And it's clear that they are trying to rejigger their strategy, even in the video that you're seeing there. That was a video that his campaign put out
yesterday to announce that he is planning to stay in the race. You can see that he's trying a bit of a different approach.
And in the video he says, "I'm going to spend the next few weeks out on the streets talking to New Yorkers."
And that point is important because we saw Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee who won the primary last month, running a very energetic type of
campaign.
In fact, during primary night, Cuomo acknowledged that Mamdani had managed to really connect with New Yorkers.
So the question is, is Cuomo going to try to do something similar and will it be effective from now until November?
He's certainly going to be after voters who are a bit more Democrat than those who supported Zohran Mamdani. He's likely also going to try to appeal
to maybe even some Republicans who want to have an option against Mamdani.
The question is whether or not he's going to be able to pull it off in just four months. A lot of the Democratic establishment here in New York City
has been lining up behind Mamdani.
And historically, it's just very difficult to beat the Democratic nominee here in a city where so many Democrats outnumber the Republican voter
registrations. So we'll see if the former governor can actually pull it off. But it seems like he is trying to make another effort to make this
political comeback of his -- Becky.
ANDERSON: Yes.
Who is a Democrat in New York these days?
That's the question. We'll see. Thank you.
Still ahead, Donald Trump is used to reality TV but now he's the star of a new opera in Hong Kong. Well, almost.
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[10:50:00]
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ANDERSON: Well, it is Donald Trump as you have never seen him before, a Chinese twin version of the man himself, complete with that famous head of
hair.
He is the star of a Cantonese opera, which parodies the U.S. president's story. As Kristie Lu Stout reports, the show brings a modern and somewhat
absurd twist to a traditional art form.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: On this stage, Donald Trump sings in fluent Chinese.
And why not?
He's the star of a hot new Cantonese opera.
How did you copy the body language of Donald Trump?
LOOKING KOON-TIN, CANTONESE OPERA ACTOR (through translator): This is the special thing about Donald Trump. This one.
His eyes and his gestures are so unique. Every time I submerge myself in the role. I'm the Donald Trump.
STOUT: Looking is an over 40-year veteran of Cantonese opera and he's starring in the latest version of Trump on Show, a Hong Kong production
that began back in 2019.
The first opera depicted Trump's debut as U.S. president and this one a fictionalized account of his latest presidential run, including an
assassination attempt and his return to the Oval Office, including his clash with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Other characters include Ivanka Trump, Kim Jong-un and this take on Abraham Lincoln.
Edward Lee --
EDWARD LEE, WRITER: Hello. Hello, hello.
STOUT: -- is the mastermind of the entire production, a writer and feng shui master. He has staged dozens of operas.
LEE: And I find he is a very interesting people.
STOUT: Cantonese opera is a performance art that dates back 500 years. In recent decades, its popular appeal has been on the wane but Trump on Show
has been a hit. Tickets for the latest opera have also sold out, filling the hall with audiences of all ages, including a new generation of
Cantonese opera fans.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a new experience to the younger people and then I want to know about current culture, to -- like about history and about
like how they related to Hong Kong, to China, to America.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cantonese opera singing, Cantonese opera style of acting and these contemporary figures together, that's where the chemistry
is.
STOUT: The potential audience is even bigger.
LEE: I hope in the future this opera can go to the United States, to have this kind of opera doing especially in Broadway.
STOUT: UNESCO recognizes Cantonese opera as an example of quote, "intangible cultural heritage of humanity." Productions like this are key
to keeping a precious art form alive.
Can we say Donald Trump is helping Cantonese opera survive?
LEE: You can say that because his character is so special and everybody is being influenced by him.
STOUT: On this stage, Trump is a hero. The star of a Cantonese opera with an American twist while reviving a treasured Chinese tradition -- Kristie
Lu Stout, CNN, Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, before I let you go, it is known as the world's coolest marathon.
[10:55:02]
And it's easy to see why. The Summer edition of the North Pole Marathon took place on Sunday with runners competing in sub-zero conditions,
traversing snow and ice. Britain's Oleg Polyntsev took first place in the men's race, finishing in 03:43:23.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OLEG POLYNTSEV, MEN'S MARATHON WINNER: Well, it was not easy but it was a fun round actually. Yeah, I enjoyed it.
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An American, Becca Pizzi, broke the women's event record, crossing the finish line in 04:46:26.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BECCA PIZZI, WOMEN'S MARATHON WINNER: By far the hardest race I've ever done, but I just put my head down and took one mile at a time and just --
and just tried to stay focused in the zone and get it done. And we're -- here we are in an Arctic ocean. It's just so beautiful. I'm so lucky to be
here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Ninety-one runners from 22 countries took part in that race.
That's it from me. From the warmth of Abu Dhabi, you've been watching CONNECT THE WORLD. Stay with CNN. "ONE WORLD" is up next.
END
