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Connect the World
Gaza Hospital Director: Not Enough Aid is Allowed to Enter; U.S. Attorney General to Meet with Ghislaine Maxwell; Trump Administration Moves Rapidly to Deport Migrant Children; Trump Pushes Action Plan for U.S. to Lead World in AI; Macron Sues Candace Owens Over Claims His Wife is a Man. Aired 9-10a ET
Aired July 24, 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, this is the scene in Khan Yunis in Southern Gaza, where the U.N. says malnutrition cases are on
the rise. It's 04:00 p.m. there, it is 05:00 p.m. here in Abu Dhabi. I'm Becky Anderson. This is "Connect the World".
So, coming up, Thailand began launching air strikes against Cambodian military targets along their long-disputed border, escalating tensions
between the Southeast Asian neighbors. Jeffrey Epstein's scandal surrounding President Donald Trump deepening amid growing defiance by some
Republicans seeking to get more information out of the files.
The stock market in New York opens about 30 minutes from now, and the picture, well, it's a mixed one. Wait for half an hour. This is the future,
indicating a rather mixed open. We'll get back to it in 30 minutes time.
Two people have reportedly starved to death in Gaza today, bringing the number of people who've died from malnutrition to 113 according to the
Palestinian Health Ministry. The Israeli agency that oversees aid operations says around 150 trucks were collected by the U.N. and other
international organizations on the Gazan side of the border.
On Wednesday, local officials say that is nowhere near enough to alleviate the suffering caused by Israel's blockade. What the Head of the World
Health Organization is calling man-made starvation. The Director of the Al- Ahli Hospital posted that Gaza needs at least 1500 aid trucks every single day for a month just to begin healing the wounds left by the weapon of
starvation he said.
The reports out of Gaza are growing more harrowing by the day, a surgeon at Gaza's Al-Ahli hospital now saying that this week he collapsed while
operating due to hunger extortion and low blood sugar. Well, CNN's Nic Robertson is near the Kerem Shalom border crossing in Israel.
And the U.N. Refugee Agency Nic, posting that his colleague in Gaza told him people in Gaza are neither dead nor alive. They are walking corpses.
Any sign of these aid trucks going in behind you?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah, the accounts are as harrowing as the images that we're seeing of those malnourished
children. 900,000 children, according to Gaza Health Ministry, go to bed hungry every day. 70,000 of them are at risk of malnutrition, and your
answer about the -- or my answer your question on the aid trucks here Becky.
I asked John just to step over here a little bit with me. Right, we're at the Kerem Shalom border crossing. That's Gaza down there beyond that big
sort of concrete barrier and the -- and the yellow tunnel type object, that's the border cross point itself, that's the story Becky. That is an
empty car lot. There's almost no activity here whatsoever. Normally there would be dozens upon dozens --
ANDERSON: All right, we do seem to have lost Nic there for a moment. I'm just going to see whether we can re-establish with him. As we've just been
reporting, dozens of aid trucks have managed to make it into Northern Gaza on Wednesday from Jordan, according to Jordanian officials.
And you can see people running for the chance to claim a bag of flour. Some of them said they hadn't tasted bread in months. One Palestinian man
described the flour as being metaphorically drenched in blood according to the Hashemite Charity Organization, over 60 trucks entered Gaza.
That is, of course, a drop in the ocean, but officials say more is ready to be distributed, while over 100 trucks originating in Jordan are held at the
Gaza border, waiting for a guarantee of safe passage, as we've been discussing for days now, international organizations say they have loaded
trucks with humanitarian supplies still sitting at the border right now.
We are spending some time now just establishing what we can see on the ground and reporting what we understand to be the situation. And Nic you
were explaining what is behind you and where these aid trucks would normally be, any evidence of those trucks, I guess, is the question that
Israel say are now in Gaza.
[09:05:00]
ROBERTSON: Three parts for that, three ways, three parts to answer that question, Becky. One, this is the area you'd expect to see those trucks
passing through behind the concrete barriers in the distance. That's it getting into Gaza. That's roughly the area where those aid trucks are being
held at the moment.
And a U.N. Security -- the U.N. Secretary General Spokesman, described this crossing not like a McDonald's drive through, where you just dial something
up, you call an order in, and it's just sitting over there waiting for you. The contention here is those trucks that are held where you can't see them.
The U.N. can't get them to distribute them, and the aid inside of them to the Gazans because they say the paperwork, the security checks, the whole
system is too onerous. A spokesperson saying that, in essence, they don't have faith that Israel actually wants to alleviate the humanitarian
suffering in Gaza and let these trucks go in.
The U.N. Secretary General himself called it a horror show what is -- what is happening here, and called for the aid to be allowed in. The contention,
of course, the U.N. says that the paperwork, the systems, the timings, the permissions that they need from Israeli authorities do not work. It's too
onerous.
The system is not there now. Israeli officials say the President of Israel was down here yesterday. A spokesman for the Israeli government said
yesterday, as well as the president said that Israel is doing everything under international law to make sure that Gazans are getting their food.
The images the world sees are the images that are coming out of the situation. But Israel says that it is Hamas that is contriving to make this
aid situation unworkable. It's them that's causing the danger along these routes that the convoy should go in. It is hugely contentious at the
moment.
What we have seen while we were standing here earlier today was a tiny convoy, about 15 trucks of the contentious U.S. Israeli backed Gaza
Humanitarian Foundation aid that's going in on trucks gets distributed at one of four very hard to reach, very dangerous locations for Gazans to get
to where it goes into Gaza health officials.
More than 1000 people have been killed trying to get there to get the aid at those sites themselves, that's where the contention lies. But if aid was
flowing as the humanitarian organizations would like, as the Gazans would like to see, as the international community increasingly wants to see, this
would be busy, and that's why I say this emptiness, this quiet, that's the story right here now Becky.
ANDERSON: It's good to have you Nic. Thank you very much indeed. Well, U.S. Israeli and Qatari officials are set to meet in Italy Thursday to discuss a
potential ceasefire in Gaza that could include a possible new mechanism to deliver aid to the territory. A diplomat briefed on the matter told me
earlier.
And one of the outstanding issues is how aid should be delivered. Tensions, of course, have dramatically escalated recently on the ground, as we have
seen so many killed around these aid distribution sites.
Well, moving on, and tensions rising between Thailand and Cambodia, with deadly clashes breaking out along the country's disputed border, and a
warning some of you may find these images that we are about to show you disturbing. Fighting erupted early in the morning near an ancient temple.
Both sides have accused the other of firing first. Hours later, Thailand's military said it deployed fighter jets to target Cambodian military
targets. Thai officials accuse Phnom Penh of retaliating by launching rockets into civilian areas, including a petrol station. They say 12
civilians have been killed in attacks, while Cambodia is yet to report any fatalities. Will Ripley has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A rocket slams into a 7/11 near a gas station in Thailand's Sisaket Province. The
Thai military says it was fired from Cambodia, just miles away. Local officials say the number of dead is expected to rise.
In Thailand nearby Surin Province gunfire, families, children scrambled. An eight-year-old boy killed the Thai military says. This is the deadliest day
of fighting between Thailand and Cambodia in more than a decade.
A border skirmish now spiraling into a larger regional crisis, fighting up and down the border between the two countries. Thailand's military accuses
Cambodia of deploying heavy weapons into civilian areas, rocket launchers, artillery hitting villages, homes and public buildings.
[09:10:00]
In response, Thailand sealed off all 508 miles of its border with Cambodia, raising fears of prolonged conflict. Diplomatic ties are unraveling.
Ambassadors recalled. Cambodia calling for an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting accusing Thailand's far larger and better equipped army of
brutal, barbaric aggression.
Thai F-16 bombed Cambodian military outposts. Cambodia responding by attacking a Thai Army base. Thailand insists it's acting in self-defense.
They say a Thai soldier was wounded in a land mine explosion. Cambodia claims it's only responding to Thai provocations.
Thailand's military is more than triple the size of Cambodia's its Air Force among the most advanced in Southeast Asia. Cambodia has no fighter
jets at all. Complicating matters political turmoil in Thailand, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra suspended last month for a leaked phone
call with Cambodia's ex-leader Hun Sen a longtime ally of her father, the former prime minister.
In the call she called the Cambodian strongman uncle, and even appeared to criticize her own country's powerful military that triggered anti-
government protests and accusations of undermining national sovereignty. On the streets of Bangkok many don't want war. They also say Thailand needs to
show strength.
I want it to end, but if we don't retaliate, they'll think we're weak he says. Hospitals are evacuating, civilians are dying. Thailand accuses
Cambodia of planting fresh mines at the border in a place were stepping off the trail can cost you a limb or your life. Cambodia denies adding to the
millions of mines that already blight the region.
This latest clash began near a sacred temple, one of many sites along a colonial era border drawn by France, which both countries have laid claim
to for more than a century, and with no ceasefire in sight, you have two nations armed and angry on a collision course that's getting harder to
reverse. Will Ripley, CNN Taipei.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, turning now to what is the deepening Jeffrey Epstein scandal and the continued Republican revolt over the case. Sources tell CNN
that Attorney General Pam Bondi informed President Donald Trump back in May that his name appeared in Justice Department documents about Epstein, who
was a convicted sex offender.
The exact context of how Mr. Trump's name appears in the file is unclear. Meantime, in Congress, the Republican led House Oversight Committee is
stepping in. It issued a subpoena to depose Epstein's Former Associate, Ghislaine Maxwell for questioning, and a separate subpoena goes one step
further to the Justice Department asking for the release of the Epstein files in full.
Let's do more on this. I want to bring in my colleagues, CNN's Kevin Liptak and Evan Perez. Kevin, let's start with you. So, Deputy Attorney General
Todd Blanche is now expected to meet with Ghislaine Maxwell sometime today. What can we expect at this point?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah, and I think there are a few questions probably to raise about this meeting. One is what Maxwell
actually knows. Obviously, she was a very close associate of Jeffrey Epstein. She could potentially have some of these names on a so-called
client list that the president's supporters have been agitating for so long.
But I think there's also a question of what she's willing to say and what she needs to happen in order to say it. You know, Ghislaine Maxwell is
serving at the very start of a 20-year sentence in prison, she's not necessarily going to come out and do this without sort of receiving
something in return, some sort of leniency, potentially, in order to get her to talk.
And it's not precisely clear what Todd Blanche is willing to offer in order to make that happen. And so that's something I think to watch very closely
as this unfolds today, you know, Todd Blanche is an interesting person, and this meeting is, we should note, highly unusual. He's the nation's number
two law enforcement officer.
He's also Donald Trump's former criminal defense attorney, and this meeting sort of came together quite quickly as the White House and as the
administration looks to tamp down on some of this fear related to the Epstein matter. There are plenty of people who question whether Ghislaine
Maxwell is actually a reliable narrator in all of this.
You know, she's a convicted sex trafficker. She has her own objectives in going to meet Todd Blanche. And there's some question, I think, even among
the president's supporters, about what exactly this could potentially yield?
And you mentioned this uproar in Congress, these subpoenas that have been sent in a lot of ways, this is Democrats actually trying to use their
leverage to sort of exploit the moment and expose these rifts in the GOP.
[09:15:00]
The motion to subpoena the Justice Department was led mostly by Democrats, but you did have three Republicans join them in trying to get more
documents from the Justice Department. And I think that just goes to show some of the political pressure that these Republicans are under.
As they leave Washington and head back to their home districts for the August recess, they're almost certain to face some very angry constituents
over this matter, and I think it's clear that they want to show themselves doing everything that they possibly can to try and get more information
that some of Trump's supporters thought that they were going to get when they elected him president in November.
ANDERSON: And Evan, let me bring you in these new reports that the AG Pam Bondi told Trump in May that his name appeared in documents related to the
Epstein case. Does that new reporting offer a plausible explanation for the president's increasing let's call it frustration, if not anger, over this
whole drama.
EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR U.S. JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it certainly offers a contradiction for the administration, for the president and for
the Justice Department, who have pledged transparency. You remember back in February, Bondi orchestrated this entire event at the White House where
they brought a bunch of the president's supporters, MAGA influencers, as you might call them, to review files.
It turns out, most of the files that they got in this binder that they were -- they were given had already been made public for years. And so that's
what kicked off this anger that you see still burning among the president's supporters. And so, the idea that in this briefing in Monday, in sorry --
in May, that the Attorney General and the Deputy Attorney General, gave to the president, telling him that his name appeared numerous times in those
files.
It's not a surprise, obviously, because Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein were friends that has been known. There's been photographs of them over the
years. And so, the question of why it is then that, after that briefing, they decided they weren't going to release any more documents. What is in
those files that Bondi is still sitting on?
By the way, she can release those at any time. Obviously, they would have to redact the names of some of the victims and some of the witnesses, but
there is plenty millions of documents that were amassed over the years of this investigation that the attorney general still has the power to release
at any moment.
And the question is, you know, certainly, with this meeting going down this morning in Tallahassee, where Ghislaine Maxwell is serving her 20-year
sentence. What more can the administration release, or information can they provide that could quell this scandal that really is of their own making,
Becky.
ANDERSON: To both of you, thank you. You're watching "Connect the World". More on this of course, as we get it. Also coming up, elite universities in
the Trump crosshairs, why the president is celebrating a win in his face off with Columbia. And the Trump Administration moving too quickly deport
migrant children, we'll bring you the details of how that is being done up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:20:00]
ANDERSON: Columbia University in the States, says that it has reached a deal to settle a number of anti-discrimination investigations launched by
the Trump Administration. It agreed to pay $221 million while not admitting to any wrongdoing. In exchange, it says billions of dollars of federal
grants that the government had terminated or suspended will be restored.
Celebrated on "Truth Social" President Trump said Colombia had promised to end its DEI policies, calling it an historic agreement. Well, joining us
now is Betsy Klein from Washington, D.C. And Betsy just help us out here, if you will. How does reaching a deal on an investigation for a significant
amount of money come together?
BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, I want to take a step back here, because it was earlier this year that the Trump Administration
essentially froze about $400 million in federal funding to Columbia University. This was part of a broader push to target the nation's most
elite universities, including Harvard and a couple of others.
Over what they said was their handling of anti-Semitism on campus in the wake of the October 7th Hamas attacks on Israel. But that really extended
well beyond $400 million to billions of dollars in future federal funding for research, and was starting to pose what officials cast as really an
existential threat to Colombia's research mission.
This all came together over painstaking months of negotiations led at the White House by May Mailman. She's not a household name, but she's a Deputy
to Stephen Miller. It was really one of the people spearheading this, along with top officials from Columbia University.
Acting President Claire Shipman, said that there was deep deliberation and almost word by word negotiation to get to the settlement that was reached
just yesterday. She said it took much longer than they had anticipated. She was also pressed by our colleague Kate Baldwin just moments ago in an
interview on why Colombia decided not to go the route that Harvard went by, really putting through a lawsuit against the Trump Administration.
And she essentially explained that they looked carefully at that, and they saw that it could be a short-term win, but it would have long term damage.
She said they could have faced the future loss of any relationship with the federal government in the coming years, and she said that would have
effectively meant an end to the research mission we conduct as we know it.
So, she said that getting to this settlement was something that was really a responsible path for Colombia to take. Now, under this deal, Colombia did
not admit any wrongdoing, but they did agree to pay the government a $200 million settlement as well as a $21 million settlement with the U.S. Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission to resolve some investigations with Jewish Columbia employees.
Shipman says the deal safeguards her school's independence, but a senior White House official tells me that they will provide relevant data about
compliance on hiring and admissions a comprehensive review on Columbia's regional programs, like their Middle Eastern Studies Program.
Columbia has also agreed to review oversight of admissions for international students. They say they will share any relevant information
with the federal government. So certainly, a lot of oversight promised there, Becky.
ANDERSON: Betsy, good to have you. Thank you. Let's get you on to U.S. immigration now. And the Trump Administration moving rapidly to deport
migrant children. U.S. border personnel have now been directed to ask unaccompanied teens whether they want to voluntarily leave the country.
Two Sources tell CNN, this is aimed to apply to kids aged 14 to 17, and it comes with the news that ICE has deported around 150,000 people in the
first six months of Trump's Presidency.
Well, for more on this, I want to bring in CNN's Priscilla Alvarez. So, this isn't -- this it seems, is a new policy with kids. Can you just sort
of fill us in on the detail here?
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, and it is part of an ongoing effort by the Trump Administration to deport migrant children. So, the
reason we call these children unaccompanied is because of the way they entered the United States. They did not come with a parent or a guardian
when they crossed the U.S. southern border.
And while they are put with sponsors like family members in the United States -- they go through their legal proceedings, they are still deemed
unaccompanied.
[09:25:00]
So, here is where the policy changes. So, before U.S. Customs and Border Protection could ask migrant children who crossed the U.S. Mexico border
that were from Mexico or Canada to go back. They did not spend really any time in the country. That is just part of the law. The key difference here
is that this would apply to all other countries.
The other key difference here is that these aren't kids that are just on the border. They could be kids that have been living in the United States
for years while they go through their proceedings living with a parent or a guardian, and then get swept up in immigration enforcement operations and
are asked by U.S. Customs and Border Protection if they want to go to their home country.
And it is that part of this that is causing concern among advocates, because it depends how the question is asked, it might not be understood at
the time, and there may be children that are opting to voluntarily deport without realizing it, as there may be children who decide that they do want
to go back to their origin country.
Now, as you mentioned there at the top, this applies to kids ages 14 to 17 years old. The idea here is that CBP would ask them this question.
Remember, CBP is carrying out immigration enforcement across the United States, and if they say yes, send them over to Immigration and Customs
Enforcement for deportation.
So, this is part again of this concerted effort by the Trump Administration to not only target those living in the United States illegally, but also to
these children who have crossed the U.S. Mexico border over recent years.
Now I do want to quickly read you a statement from the Department of Homeland Security in which they say that this is a long-standing practice
that was used by previous administrations to prioritize getting children back to the safety of a parent or legal guardian in their home country.
Goes on to say the only change pursuant to the big, beautiful bill is expanding this option to return home to UACs unaccompanied alien children
from additional countries beyond Mexico and Canada. But it's that part Becky that is making a massive change in this, because the majority of kids
who cross into the U.S., into the U.S., are from other countries, and they are spending time in the U.S., and now they will be asked if they want to
leave.
ANDERSON: Priscilla, thank you. Still to come, Donald Trump's push to make U.S. the world leader in artificial intelligence technology, AI technology,
well his action plan, work more on that is after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:30:00]
ANDERSON: Well, you just had the bell on Wall Street. It's the beginning of the trading day this Thursday. Investors digesting the latest data on the
U.S. jobs market released just about an hour ago. New claims for jobless benefits fell to their lowest level in three months. More former federal
workers, though, are claiming benefits as the Trump Administration, of course, slashes the government workforce.
And you can see the DOW is slightly weaker today, and this was the indication from the futures market, which was mixed. The DOW closing
Wednesday a whisker below its all-time highs profit taking, perhaps. And here's how the rest of the indices are looking at this point, again, a
pretty mixed picture out there. Chip stocks in focus, of course, is the president's full steam ahead approach to artificial intelligence, driving
things. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We're going to make this industry absolutely the top because right now, it's a beautiful
baby that's born. We have to grow that baby and let that baby thrive. We can't stop it. We can't stop it with politics. We can't stop it with
foolish rules and even stupid rules.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, joining us now is Bob O'Donnell. He's the Founder and Chief Analyst at TECHnalysis. His company does AI consulting for the tech and
financial industry. So, you just heard part of what Donald Trump spoke to yesterday. What do you -- what do you make of Trump's AI plan, both from a
policy and productivity perspective.
The idea, of course, is to position the U.S. as the world leader in AI. And I wonder whether you think this plan does that.
BOB O'DONNELL, PRESIDENT AND CHIEF ANALYST, TECHNALYSIS RESEARCH: Well, you know, Becky, it's a complicated story, as it often is with these types of
things. I mean, look, the bottom line is, a lot of people are saying, these are the modern railroad companies, and they need the freedom to build
these, this infrastructure out in order to drive the economy.
And look, there's a certain degree of truth to that. And in that, there have been a few challenges in making this happen. At the same time, there
are some very legitimate concerns, because the amount of power required to run these data centers, for example, if you look at the predictions on
where things are going, it's -- you know, it's a big question.
Can the power grid here in the U.S. handle all of that, especially as these larger and larger data centers get built, the demands of each of the
individual chips get even more. And that's why you hear talk these days about things like small modular reactors and other types of new power
technology to drive these capabilities.
So, on one hand, look, it is very interesting and important to see that the attention is being focused on what clearly, I think is going to be an
incredibly important industry, and I think it's going to be important internationally for the U.S., from the U.S. perspective, obviously, to
drive this and continue to be the leader.
Thankfully, most of the companies involved with the major developments in this are, of course, based in the U.S. The big chip companies -- you know,
Nvidia's, AMDs, as well as all the big companies doing the models as well.
ANDERSON: And there are, of course, international partners like the UAE, who are celebrating Trump's AI plan. People, though, that I speak to in the
region and elsewhere. And many of these parents, for example, are really focused on ensuring that AI development and deployment is gotten right in
terms of safety and the sort of guardrails that we know are important.
What if anything? Did you make of what Donald Trump said that made you believe that he is wedded to those same concerns?
O'DONNELL: Well, he's clearly not. And of course, that's is going to be the other -- the other side of the equation that I had started to bring up is
the fact that, look, one of the big challenges, not only are there, there's some potentially environmental concerns there, but there are these
guardrail concerns.
There's also political concerns. I mean, discussions about, oh, well, we're only going to work with companies that have models that are fair? Well, we
all know that that doesn't really mean fair. That means fair according to - - you know the Trump Administration view of the world.
So, there's absolutely legitimate concerns here on where do these guardrails go? How do we make sure things don't really explode out of
control? Because the thing with a lot of these AI capabilities is their ability to move and impact things is so rapid.
[09:35:00]
It's at a pace we haven't seen with other technologies and other capabilities before, and so that's where the legitimate concerns come from.
ANDERSON: Yeah, absolutely. Let's focus on one issue that does seem to be on the president's mind foremost, it seems woke AI. What does that mean? Is
it a real problem? What will come of Donald Trump's battle against it?
O'DONNELL: Cool. Well, it's -- I mean, look again, this is one of the other big concerns. You know, here in the U.S., we'd like to say that -- you know
we're going to be different than China. We're not going to censor things and be clear that -- you know only allow things that are approved by the
state.
Yet you could argue that some of these kinds of discussions are doing the similar type of things, just from a slightly different perspective. So
again, there's that's where these guardrail questions, these concerns, are being raised, and I think, very legitimately, in terms of how this evolves
over time.
Now, truth of the matter is, look, the government can say a lot of different things, but the market's going to move the way that market's
going to move in the U.S. And the tools that get used by people, I think, are going to have to meet the expectations that a lot of people have.
And it's another thing to remember that a lot of this development was going to happen anyway. It's great to see some governmental support, perhaps the
removal of some things that may slow down that development. But a lot of this was going to happen anyway. A lot of it's going to be driven by the
market, certainly here in the U.S.
So, I think we'll see how that evolves over time. And by the way, this is a multi-year process, and this is going to extend way beyond the current
Trump Administration into whatever comes next. So that's the other thing to bear in mind here. These AI developments are -- you know decades long types
of things, and that will move beyond multiple administrations.
ANDERSON: It's fascinating. It's good to have you, sir. Thank you very much indeed. Let's have a look at what this deregulation message is doing for
some of the tech stocks. Let's bring up Nvidia for example, it's higher today. Look, markets generally like a sort of deregulation story.
Look, it's up about one and a half percent today. But I was just checking on what it is compared to last year, and I can tell you that that stock,
compared to last year, is up 51.7 percent. There's a lot been driving that stock higher. It did have a bit of a dip around Liberation Day, beginning
of April.
But that's the story today, and certainly an organization like Nvidia will benefit from these sort of regulations or deregulations as they are. All
right, we're going to take a very quick break back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:40:00]
ANDERSON: Welcome back. French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte are suing American right wing podcaster Candace Owens over her
claims that Brigitte is a man. The defamation lawsuit alleges Owens has engaged in a quote, relentless, year-long campaign against the Macrons.
CNN's Jake Tapper spoke to the family's attorney.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM CLARE, ATTORNEY REPRESENTING MACRONS: We allege that there's evidence that she knew it was false when she started this campaign over a year ago,
she started relying on things she knew was discredited. But then, over the past year, when we have put this information directly in front of her, even
if you want to give her a pass for the early, crazy stuff that she said after we put facts and information in front of her, black and white
multiple times.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: What like her -- like the First Lady's birth certificate? Like what kind of facts?
CLARE: We have laid out extensive evidence in our complaint demonstrating that she was born a woman. She's always been a woman, and the allegations
of CIA control conspiracy and the incest and all the other things are demonstrably false.
TAPPER: You're asking for punitive damages. How much money do you want? And do you want her to apologize?
CLARE: Well, we'd love an apology of course. A court can't order her to apologize, and based on her conduct, especially today, we don't expect her
to do anything other than double down. We'll put forward our damage claim at trial, but if she continues to double down between now and the time of
trial, it will be a substantial award.
TAPPER: Well, can you give me an idea? Are we talking of -- I mean, the last time you were involved in something, the settlement was $787.5 billion
that was Fox News for their many, many lies about Dominion Software. Fox News -- but are you looking for that kind of settlement? She doesn't have
$787.5 million?
CLARE: Well, you look at what happened with Alex Jones. And there are -- juries understand. Juries understand that there is an inherently large
value to somebody's reputation, and if you're going to say these vile things, and if you're going to repeat them to a significant audience, as
she has, she has over 5 million followers, and her lies have metastasized into actual publications.
TAPPER: But they're asserting it as if it's true, based on what Candace Owens is saying?
CLARE: They repeat what Candace has said. They cite her as a source, and so when they fall back on her, but she --
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: That is our Jake Tapper with the Macron's Attorney. Well, Spain celebrating today after winning a critical match against Germany at the
Women's Euro 2025, semi-finals in Switzerland. More on that in "World Sport" after this.
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