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15 People Reportedly Died of Starvation in Last 24 Hours; House Rules Committee at Standstill Over Epstein Files; Stephen Colbert Hosts First Show Since Cancellation; Fed Chair Powell in Trump's Crosshairs Over Rate Decisions; China Cracks Down on Fake "Lafufu" Labubu Dolls. Aired 9- 10a ET

Aired July 22, 2025 - 09:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[09:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: Well, you're looking at live pictures of Khan Yunis in Southern Gaza as the starvation crisis across the

enclave reaches new lows. It's 05:00 p.m. in Abu Dhabi. This is our Middle East Programming Headquarters. I'm Becky Anderson. You're watching "Connect

the World".

Also coming up, the deadly toll of sectarian violence in Southern Syria is coming into clearer focus. As CNN is learning a U.S. citizen was among the

hundreds of Druzes killed in recent fighting. And in both these crises in the Middle East, new CNN reporting suggests U.S. President Trump growing

increasingly frustrated with Israel's actions as skepticism of Prime Minister Netanyahu grows inside the White House.

Well, stock market in New York opens about 30 minutes from now, 09:30 local time and futures looking next, ahead of the open investors in a holding

pattern, ahead of major tech earnings this week. U.S. Treasury yields, though, are taking higher we've just heard from the Fed Chief what he said

in opening remarks to the Board of Governors.

30 minutes from now, when those markets open. Local health officials in Gaza report 15 people have died of starvation in the last 24 hours, because

the situation has become so dire. The French Press Agency AFP is now trying to evacuate its remaining freelance staff.

The decision was announced after France's main journalist union warned the journalists in the enclave were starving. The union shared this message

from one of its reporters inside Gaza, saying, and I quote, I don't have the power to cover media anymore. My body is lean and I can no longer walk.

Well CNN's Paula Hancocks is here with me in the studio, and you've been monitoring over the past two years exactly what has been going on inside

Gaza. This news comes, of course, as Israel launched a new ground offensive in the center part of the enclave. Just explain what's going on.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, this is a place called Deir Al- Balah. It's significant because it's a place where Israel hasn't put ground troops in before. They've pounded it from the air. They have evacuated

people from these areas, but they haven't physically gone into this area.

Now what we're hearing from Israeli media is that there are concerns that they haven't gone in before because they believe there may be hostages

being held in those areas. So, the fact that they have gone in now, 21 months later, is significant. We're hearing from the forum that represents

these hostage families, and they say they are very alarmed at the fact they're going in, they're worried this puts their hostages in danger.

And it also puts many thousands of people out of a home once again. So, these are people who are having to evacuate further sites in the Gaza

Strip. The U.N. has said that this is a devastating blow to an already fragile lifeline for these people, because even though many of them don't

have homes and they have been displaced.

They may know in that area where they may be able to find food, they're now being moved on again, and that just exacerbates an already desperate

situation. As you mentioned, the latest figures of starvation, is some 15 people, including four children, just in the past 24 hours that have died

of starvation, according to the Ministry of Health.

And we've also been speaking to some of the directors of some of the big hospitals, Al Shifa, for example, one of the main ones, the director there,

has said that they are having this constant stream of people that are coming in with malnutrition, with starvation. And he said, we are going and

we are heading towards terrifying death tolls.

I want to play for you just some of the responses of the people on the ground that our stringers there have been able to talk to.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMMED JUNDIA, DISPLACED PALESTINIAN: We haven't eaten in five days. We are living under huge injustice. We are living in famine. My brother is a

martyr, and he left children behind, and I'm an injured man. I can't come and go easily. We are tired, extremely tired.

I can't even walk with the bag because of the hunger. I hardly got this bag of flour in order for my family to make food. We are so tired. We call on

the entire world to stand by us in the issue of food, water and everything.

UMM MOHAMMED AL-ATTAR, DISPLACED PALESTINIAN: I can't find food to eat. I have three sick people. I can't take my husband to the hospital to do

kidney dialysis. Why are you doing this to us?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[09:05:00]

HANCOCKS: And the figures that the Director of Al Shifa gave us was that some 900,000 children are suffering from hunger. That's effectively half

the population. But he says 70,000 are already showing signs of malnutrition.

ANDERSON: Israel blames Hamas for this. Of course, there are talks ongoing for at least a temporary truce, although we know that there has been some

effort made on the part of both Hamas and the mediators to get a permanent ceasefire out of this. What's the latest?

HANCOCKS: So, two sources familiar with what exactly is going on at this point have spoken to CNN, and they say at this point they're waiting for

Hamas to respond. They say that this latest proposal was put forward a week ago, and they haven't had the response yet from Hamas. Hamas has counted

and said that they are exerting all their efforts and energies around the clock to make sure that this happens.

Both sides are once again blaming each other for the fact that this is happening so slowly, but these sources say that the U.S. last week did

successfully push the Israelis to agree that they were going to have their military moved out of a certain corridor, the Morag corridor, in the

southern part of Gaza, which was believed to be a concession by the Israelis.

They're now, according to these sources, feeling frustration with Hamas because they feel that they are dragging their heels. We've heard from one

of the Hamas officials in Qatar, and they have said privately that they believe that this proposal could go ahead. But of course, they have to talk

to those on the ground in Gaza, because they are the ones that are going to be implementing any changes, and that takes time.

There are those still multiple officials telling CNN that they believe there could be a deal this week, but we have been hearing that for quite

some time, as you know.

ANDERSON: Yeah, all right. Well, thank you. Paula Hancocks on the story for you. Well, in Southern Syria, a ceasefire is holding, but a week of fierce

sectarian violence has left hundreds of people dead. We are now learning that one of the casualties was a U.S. citizen who was rounded up and killed

in an execution style attack, along with several of his family members.

Well CNN's Senior International Correspondent Ben Wedeman joining us now. Ben, what are we learning?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we're knowing it what we know at this point, Becky, is that it does appear that

this ceasefire that ended more about 10 days of fighting in Southern Syria does appear to be holding, but it's come at quite a cost.

Hundreds of people have been killed on not just fighters, but also civilians. According to the U.N., at least 93,000 people have had to flee

their homes. Some parts of Suwayda province in Southern Syria are lacking proper amounts of food, medicine, electricity, communications.

Now regarding the reports of an American citizen killed, what we're seeing is that video, phone video that has emerged on social media, dated the 17th

of July, shows eight men being marched through the streets of Suwayda by unidentified gunmen. Now we see them walking through the streets and then

the next clip, clearly shot on a different phone, shows the men on their knees in one of the main squares of the city.

Then you hear 15 seconds of intense machine gun fire being shot at these men on the ground, and we understand that all eight of them were killed.

Now, these eight men were all members of the same family, members of the Druze minority, and one of them Hosam Saraya is a U.S. citizen, 35 years

old.

He studied in Oklahoma and then returned now, according to a friend of his, and also a school that he founded that put out a statement, those who

killed these eight men are a militia affiliated with the government. Now, the fact that this video seems to be shot in the morning on the 17th of

July coincides with the time and the date when government forces did enter Suwayda.

Now, the U.S. State Department has put out a statement saying that they are aware of the death of a U.S. citizen in Suwayda, but they didn't give any

particular details. CNN has reached out to the Syrian government for comment, but we have yet to hear any reaction quite yet, Becky.

ANDERSON: And we will continue to press, of course. Ben, thank you. President Trump caught off guard last week by Israel's actions in Gaza and

indeed in Syria.

[09:10:00]

That is what president, sorry, Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt told reporters at the White House on Monday, those actions include a strike on a

Catholic Church in Gaza and air strikes targeting government buildings in Damascus. The White House says both instances saw Trump phoning Israeli

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to quote, rectify the matters.

Well, let's bring in Kevin Liptak to unpack the dynamic between these two leaders. And Kevin, this is your reporting. What have you learned from your

sources?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah, and I think it's fair to say that there is growing skepticism inside the White House towards

Netanyahu and some of these actions that he's taken really over the last week that would seem to counter some of the President's objectives for the

region.

And look, these two men are not personally close. Certainly, they have worked together for about a decade now, but their relationship has always

been colored by a degree of mistrust on both sides of the coin here. And I think for President Trump, there had been a hope after he joined Israel's

airstrikes in Iran, that perhaps the relationship was improving.

And perhaps he had Netanyahu more on board with some of what he's trying to accomplish in the Middle East. And you saw when Netanyahu was here two

weeks ago, he made this dramatic presentation of a letter nominating President Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize.

And at that dinner up in the White House Blue Room, there was discussion of how to bring the war in Gaza to an end. And so, I think part of the reason

that the president was caught off guard by these actions that Israel took last week was that he thought Netanyahu was more sort of on the same page

and trying to bring some more stability to the region.

And so, for example, when the president learned that Israel had struck that Catholic Church in Gaza, his initial reaction was really anger. He got on

the phone almost immediately with Netanyahu to demand an explanation, but also to ensure that Netanyahu would come out publicly and described that

bombing as a mistake.

Similarly, after Israel bombed government buildings in Damascus last week, the president got on the phone with Netanyahu to try and sort out what

exactly was happening, and then you saw this effort by the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio to try and bring some more stability to that sort of

ongoing unstable situation in Syria, which is a place that the president has really been trying to bring peace to.

He's eased sanctions on the country. He's thrown his backing behind that country's interim president. And so, seeing inside the White House, Israel

bombing the country, I think, really caused some consternation about what exactly was going on. And so, I think President Trump, at this point,

really is regarding his counterpart in Israel with a degree of skepticism that we thought had perhaps faded a few weeks ago.

You know, President Trump is not the first American leader who tried to leverage his relationship with Netanyahu to exert some sort of power over

how he's conducting the wars there. I think President Biden really spent the last year and a half of his term in office trying to use his

relationship with Netanyahu to get him to ease up in Gaza without much success at all.

President Trump thought he would have a different level of success there, just given he is more on the political same page as Netanyahu, given that

Netanyahu sort of openly advocated for Trump as he was running for election. Now it seems, though, that the relationship seems to have soured

somewhat as the president tries to bring more stability to the region, and certainly as he tries to end the war in Gaza.

ANDERSON: It's good to have you, Kevin, thank you. Right, still to come. Republican pressure on Capitol Hill pushing for a vote to release more

Jeffrey Epstein files. Yep, this story is not going away. And Stephen Colbert's blunt message for President Trump in his first episode of "The

Late Show" since the shock news of its cancelation, that coming up.

[09:15:00]

ANDERSON: The focus on Jeffrey Epstein does not seem to be going away anytime soon, despite White House efforts to change the subject. CNN has

just learned that the U.S. Justice Department now plans to reach out to Ghislaine Maxwell for a meeting amid recent calls for the Associate of

Epstein to testify about him. She, of course, is in prison.

Well, at the same time, Republicans continue to push for more transparency and the release of more files on the case. U.S. House Republican Thomas

Massie has been leading the charge on a bipartisan effort to force a vote. But as CNN's Lauren Fox reports, the powerful U.S. House Rules Committee is

at a standstill as Republicans argue over how to handle this very politically controversial case. Have a listen.

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There are so many moving parts to this story on Capitol Hill, because last night in the House Rules

Committee, they essentially decided to just adjourn, rather than have yet another vote on this Epstein issue in that committee.

Now it might sound kind of arcane. It might sound like it's in the weeds, but the House Rules Committee is so important, because if you can't get a

bill through the Rules Committee, you can't bring it to the floor and pass it with just Republican votes. Everything after that would have to be

passed with Republican and Democratic votes under suspension, with a much higher threshold.

So last night, House Democrats signaled that they were going to put forth the Massie proposal once again in committee, force Republicans on the Rules

Committee to vote for it. And Republicans, rather than take that vote once again, decided essentially just to adjourn the committee so that they

didn't actually have to take that vote once again.

And there's a reason for that. These Republicans are getting so much pressure back home. So, many of them are being signaled out because of

these votes that have been happening in this committee, and they didn't want to do it again. So, they essentially decided to just adjourn.

Then they decided that perhaps they will have another vote later today on these suspensions in the House of Representatives, but it's very possible

that the House could leave earlier than expected this week if they cannot unstick the Rules Committee because of this issue. So that is one piece of

this dynamic that's playing out on Capitol Hill.

Then you have some of these senators who are saying, we want more information. We think that there should be testimony. We think there should

be congressional hearings. That is obviously the opposite of a message that the president is signaling to his allies on Capitol Hill that he wants to

move on.

But I think this is putting so many conservatives in a really tough place between a president that they're loyal to, constituents who are still

clamoring for more information, and this just doesn't seem to be going away. Now, Republicans are signaling that when they get back in September,

that is when they can deal with this issue on the floor.

That is when this Massie proposal will be at a place where it's ripened and it can come to the House floor. But again, it's a huge question mark,

because you have a long August recess, is this still going to be something that people are talking about? The sponsor of this bill says it certainly

will be, and that this is not going away.

That's what Thomas Massie, the top conservative who is putting forward this resolution is saying.

ANDERSON: Comedian and Trump critic Stephen Colbert was back on the air on Monday for the first time since he revealed that his show will end in May.

Here's how he addressed the program's axiom.

[09:20:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST OF "THE LATE SHOW": But they made one mistake. They left me alive. I can finally speak unvarnished truth to power and say what

I really think about Donald Trump, starting right now. I don't care for him. Doesn't seem to have like the skill set, doesn't have the skill set to

be president, you know, just not a good fit. That's all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well outside the show's studio, there were demonstrations in support of Stephen Colbert. CBS says the cancelation was for purely

financial reasons. His fans, though, are skeptical. CBS's parent company Paramount needs approval from the Trump Administration for its pending

merger with Skydance media. Other late-night hosts are also speaking out, including Colbert's longtime friend Jon Stewart.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON STEWART, HOST OF "THE DAILY SHOW": I understand the fear that you and your advertisers have with $8 billion at stake, but understand this truly,

the shows that you now seek to cancel, sensor in control, a not insignificant portion of that $8 billion value came from those -- shows.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Let's bring in CNN's Chief Media Analyst, Brian Stelter. There's an awful lot to unpick here. Let's start with CBS's decision to cancel the

show, quote, a purely financial decision according to the network. What do you make of that official reasoning?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: It is both true. It is both true, but it's also not the entire story. Yes, "The Late Show" was unprofitable

in recent years. The entire late-night business has been cratering. But as Jon Stewart pointed out, overnight, why would you just give up entirely?

Why wouldn't you try to cut costs, change the format, figure out a way to make it profitable? Why would you just give up? Now, that was Stewart's

question. And Stewart is not just Stephen Colbert's friend. He's also an Executive Producer of "The Late Show". So, he knows about this very

directly.

And that's why I think Stewart's comments overnight are the most newsworthy and the most significant. It was as if Jon Stewart was speaking for the

entire late night TV sector. He was speaking for comedians all across America in denouncing what he called the fear and pre compliance of

American companies and entertainment networks and institutions.

Fear and pre compliance of President Trump. You know, so even though, Becky, yes, there is a financial story here. It's impossible to untangle

this from the political story, from Paramount's attempt to get its merger approved by the Trump Administration, from Paramount willingness to settle

a lawsuit -- against CBS News.

ANDERSON: And Skydance, yeah.

STELTER: Yes.

ANDERSON: Go on, yeah. And that's what I was going to come to. Let's talk about this merger and how you factor that in. Just explain.

STELTER: Certainly, there is this ongoing effort to get this merger through the Trump Administration, and it has taken longer than usual. So, every

time there's a merger underway, companies do try to cut costs, and CBS has a legitimate argument. In this case, "The Late Show" was unprofitable.

But we also know that the owners of these companies, Paramount and Skydance, have been working hard behind the scenes to win the Trump

Administration's approval. Normally, this approval process takes place separately from a president and the president's point of view. But in this

particular case, Trump has been very transactional with American companies in recent months.

So, you know, the picture does start to add up to something rather troubling, and there's something broader here, I think, beyond the

arguments. But whether Colbert was funny, whether the show was losing too much money, the question is whether American TV networks are going to keep

supporting political satire and free speech at a time when Trump's campaign of retribution is rattling corporate America.

Those fears are very clear. You could see them on the signs held up by the protesters yesterday. One of the signs said silencing comedians is no joke,

whether you think the comedians are funny or not, whether you think they're too profane or not. Ultimately, this is about whether there is room and

space for dissent in America in 2025.

ANDERSON: And this is the Democratic lawmakers position who are calling for an investigation in this.

STELTER: Right.

ANDERSON: One of the charges is politicizing freedom of speech. And there is also, to your point, the charge that the FCC as a federal agency, is

being weaponized. I mean, this merger needs its approval. And as you rightly point out, under this administration, it clearly needs Donald

Trump's support.

It's not the approval of Donald Trump. It is the support for the approval by the FCC, right? Brendan Carr, the new chief -- by Donald Trump.

[09:25:00]

STELTER: -- and even if the Trump Administration denies that the Trump is going around saying yes or no to deals, giving thumbs up or thumbs down,

even if the FCC says it is pursuing this completely independently, clearly Paramount and Skydance believe Trump is involved.

Clearly, they believe that they have to appease Trump in some ways, that's why they settled the CBS News lawsuit a couple of weeks ago. This is the

same story we've covered at Harvard and with big law firms and with ABC. This is happening all across American institutions.

Do you fight or do you fold? You have late night comics saying, don't fold. You should stand up and fight. In fact, Jon Stewart last night said, I'm

not giving up. I'm not giving in. He said, I'm not going anywhere, I think. And that alludes to the fact that Jon Stewart's contract is coming up at

the end of this year.

So, we don't know about his future on "The Daily Show", Comedy Central, but here's the thing, Becky, we live in a digital media age where someone like

Stephen Colbert can lose his show on CBS, but can walk across digital street and launch a new show on YouTube.

And that is the silver lining here. That's the more optimistic take on this present moment in American politics. Yes, some voices might be silenced on

some networks. Yes, some companies might give in. But every time we see one place fold, we see another one stand up and fight.

We see media startups launched. We see all this energy that is actually existing online to try to provide dissent and criticism. So, you know,

we'll end up seeing what Stephen Colbert does in 10 months from now, when he signs off TV, maybe he'll end up somewhere new.

ANDERSON: Yeah, and to your point, I mean, on the ratings. I mean, if you get a YouTube channel up and running, there are some 2 billion out there

watching YouTube at the moment, the ratings could be significantly higher. Worried to go that way. It's good to have you. Thank you.

The opening bell on Wall Street, just moments away, futures markets mix as investors watch and wait, tech earnings out Wednesday, and of course, for

Trump's tariffs and their impact, as always, investors keeping a keen eye on the fed's next move. We'll discuss all of this up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:30:00]

ANDERSON: And by Walmart, today, investors will be keenly focused on the fed. In the past hour, the Chairman Jerome Powell has been giving some

brief opening remarks. The conference is a high-level huddle to discuss how to regulate large banks. No policy decisions are being made, but it does

put the fed back in the spotlight, just over a week ahead of its next big meeting with Chairman Jerome Powell under increasing pressure from

President Trump to lower interest rates.

Well joining me now is Justin Wolfers, he is a Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the University of Michigan. A regular guest on this show,

always good value. Thank you for joining us today. These treasury yields, let's start there. They keep creeping higher. Breakdown what we're seeing

here.

JUSTIN WOLFERS, PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS AND PUBLIC POLICY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: I'm not sure what you're seeing on your screen, but you know,

look the normally, of course, treasury yields are rising and falling, what the fed is doing. But there's also something else that's going on, which is

the U.S. federal government now is in markets borrowing literally trillions of dollars, because the so called big, beautiful bill.

That's the sort of thing that's going to push yields up over time. That's not an academic matter that matters for folks around the kitchen table,

because those are the yields that determine things like the interest rate on your next car loan, the interest rate on your mortgage and so on.

ANDERSON: Yeah. All right. This latest in this Trump-Powell saga, we've had some comments from Scott Bessent over the last couple of days. His

suggestion is that the fed as an institution needs to be reviewed. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT BESSENT, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: What we need to do is examine the entire Federal Reserve institution and whether they have been successful,

we should think, has the organization succeeded in its mission? If this were the FAA, and we were having this many mistakes, we would go back and

look at why has this happened?

Thus far, we have seen very little, if any, inflation. We've had great inflation numbers. So, you know, I think this idea of them not being able

to break out of a certain mindset, you know, all these PhDs over there, I don't know what they do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Is he right? Is he right that he is seeing an increasing sort of list of mistakes in inverted comments made by the fed at this point?

WOLFERS: Look, Becky, there's something he's profoundly right about and something he's profoundly wrong about. What he's right about is that all

institutions should always be holding themselves up to the light asking, are we doing a good job figuring out if there's ways of doing things

better?

And in fact, the fed does that. It's audited. It's closely scrutinized by people on Wall Street. You and I are talking about it right now. They bring

in academics, nerds like me, to come and talk to them about what they're doing better and on and on. What he's wrong about. The interesting thing

was the analogy.

He said, well, you know, what would you do with the FAA if planes keep crashing? Jay Powell just pulled off the first soft landing in a

generation. You never call the FAA when you land the plane beautifully. Now, I think a review is a great idea. I think a politicized review that's

all about one man's ideology makes no sense.

There's another sense, which we know that they're roughly getting things right, which is, there's an army of economists on Wall Street. Some of the

think that the fed should have interest rates 25 basis points lower, a quarter of a percentage point something a quarter of a percentage point

higher.

But none of them think what the president is arguing, which is that interest rates should be three full percentage points lower. So, there is

simply no mainstream economist on the planet who agrees with the president, and if what he's really trying to do is get rid of a functional institution

so that we can go more with his whims instead, that is a very dangerous path.

Yeah, Donald Trump's argument is that for every 1 percent decrease in rates that would save the treasury some $300 million in rate repayments. That's a

number that he keeps quoting, and that is Donald Trump's argument, and he is sticking to it. At the same time his big, beautiful bill, of course,

will add 3 trillion to the deficit.

And you're right to point out, and I think this is, you know, we can agree on this, that this has becoming increasingly politicized this Trump-Powell

argument.

[09:35:00]

He can't fire Powell without cause, but he has been building a case that the fed building is undergoing a 2.5-billion-dollar renovation. That is too

expensive, he says, and amounts to fraud. Watch some of our Brian Todd's reporting on this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The fed says the buildings had to be upgraded because their electrical grids, plumbing, HVAC and fire

detection systems were antiquated. The buildings were constructed almost 100 years ago. There have been claims that the renovation would include

expenditures for lavish items like rooftop gardens, water features and VIP elevators.

SEN. TIM SCOTT (R-SC): It sends the wrong message to spend public money on luxury upgrades that feel more like they belong in the Palace of Versailles

than a public institution.

TODD (voice-over): But Powell and the fed say those features were either not in the plans or were scaled back.

JEROME POWELL, U.S. FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: Some of those are just flatly misleading. The idea of elevators, you know, it's the same elevator. It's

been there since the building was built. So, that's a mischaracterization, and some of those are no longer in the plans.

TODD (voice-over): The fed says the cost overruns are really due to things like the cost of removing more asbestos than anticipated, soil

contamination and inflation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: What's your take on all of this?

WOLFERS: It is some deep level in which we shouldn't take any of this seriously, because this is not a -- this is simply a pretext to try and get

rid of Powell for political or differences in economic ideas. He's not allowed to do it. And so, the idea is, let's build a case on something

altogether different.

Now, actually, the story is hilarious. One of the things that they're angry at Powell about is because there's going to be a lot of marble on the

facade. In fact, the fed asked the facade to have glass because they wanted to send a signal of transparency. Glass is a modern building material,

quite cheap, but it turned out the local planning commission.

There were three Trump appointees who wanted grandiose marble instead, and so they rolled over and did what the Trump appointees wanted. So, look, the

whole thing's fast from start to finish. The real thing that folks at home should be worried about is, it's the important institution here is not the

building.

It's having a Federal Reserve that works in yours and my interests, rather than the political interests of the president.

ANDERSON: Yeah, it's fascinating, isn't it? It's good to have you. Thank you very much indeed. And folks, it is important to remember that Donald

Trump appointed Jerome Powell himself, and he used to sing his praises. Watch this, what we call side by side in TV programming.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: He's a terrible. He's a terrible, Fed Chair. I was surprised he was appointed. I was

surprised, frankly, that Biden put him in and extended him, but they did --

Accordingly, it is my pleasure and my honor to announce my nomination of Jerome Powell to be the next Chairman of the Federal Reserve. I am

confident that with Jay as a wise steward of the Federal Reserve, it will have the leadership it needs in the years to come.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: In the years to come. The semifinals of the women's euros kick off tonight. Will it be England or Italy, etching their place in the final?

We'll get you to that, up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:40:00]

ANDERSON: If you are traveling to the U.S. anytime soon, you might need to add an extra 250 bucks to your travel budget. It's called the visa

integrity fee, and it is for anyone visiting the U.S. that needs a non- immigration visa. And it's not part of the Visa Waiver Program.

Most Europeans won't need it, but a large number of international students and tourists would. Think of it like a security deposit that you get back

after your state if you don't break any rules and you leave on time. Well, China is cracking down on fake Labubu toys.

The viral plush dolls made by Pop Mart are one of the hottest items on the market. That's led to a rising counterfeit doll dubbed Lafufus. In an

effort to crack down on fakes, Pop Mart is working to copyright the name Lafufu. Since June, Chinese authorities have seized tens of thousands of

counterfeit Labubus, but fakes can still be found throughout China and online.

Here -- first. We are hours away from the first semifinal of the women's euros, both Italy and England are right into this match with different

fortunes. Italy is on what many call a Cinderella run or England consider themselves just lucky to still be in the tournament.

Andy Scholes joins me now. What do you make of this tie up, and indeed, the second semifinal this week?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Becky, it's such an interesting dynamic. Because, you know, as you mentioned, Italy is kind of

on this fairy tale run. They haven't been this far in a tournament like this since 97. They've got, you know, their mantra theme song is the best

is still unwritten.

So, their fans are certainly hoping, you know, they can make the final. England, on their other hand, you know, there were the favorites, but

they're lucky to even be here. You know, they won that crazy shootout against Sweden, but you know now they're in this game. They are a favorite

over Italy.

We'll see what happens. We'll preview that match up, though, coming up here on "World Sport", plus much more in the sporting world to come on the show.

ANDERSON: Excellent -- Germany tomorrow. Good to have you, Andy.

SCHOLES: All right.

ANDERSON: Andy is got "World Sport" after this short break. We are back after that.

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