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Growing Optimism for Ceasefire Deal between Israel and Hamas; "Haaretz" Reports Israeli Soldiers Ordered to Fire on Crowds; Border Clashes Intensify between Cambodia and Thailand; Trump Was Briefed His Name Appears in Epstein Files; Fears Grow that Trump is Weaponizing Federal Communications Commission; Call to Earth: Blind Conservationist Catalogs Bird Sounds; Qatar Confirms Talks over Hosting 2036 Olympic Games. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired July 24, 2025 - 10:00   ET

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

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST (voice-over): And we begin with breaking developments in the ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas. A

diplomatic source tells me that there is growing optimism that the gaps are narrowing and that Hamas' response was received positively by negotiators.

And now CNN is just getting word in from Israel's prime minister's office that it is recalling its negotiators from Italy for further consultations

after Hamas' latest ceasefire counterproposal.

Now the source that I was speaking to earlier also told me that those talks in Italy, scheduled to include U.S., Israeli and Qatari officials, could

include discussions on a new mechanism for getting aid into Gaza. And it is one of the big outstanding issues in these negotiations.

Among the options being discussed is the resumption of aid under U.N. oversight, using new delivery corridors and a new monitoring mechanism.

Anything that results in increased aid deliveries cannot come soon enough, of course. Health officials in Gaza say two more Palestinians reportedly

starved to death today.

CNN's Nic Robertson is near the Kerem Shalom border crossing in Israel.

You've just heard the breaking developments that I have just reported.

How do you interpret what we are hearing, Nic, about these talks?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, I'm just looking at the lines we're getting from the from the prime minister's press office here,

the prime minister's office in Israel.

In light of the response delivered by Hamas this morning, it has been decided to return the negotiating team to Israel for further consultations.

That tends to indicate either that it's fallen through or there's been something so substantive that it needs to be done face-to-face with the

prime minister or at least he needs time to consider what's been said to warrant them coming back, warrant taking this beat to see what the next

move is for the Israeli government.

And I think in the light of what you've been hearing from the negotiators, what I've been hearing from sources over the past couple of days, that

there was a sense that, you know, overnight last night, Hamas was told what you came up with wasn't enough. Go back, come up with more.

This was over the contentious or one of the contentious issues that of, you know, what the border barrier should look like, basically, beyond the Gaza

fence there.

How much of a border should there be, 1,200 meters?

1.2 kilometers is what Israel wanted; 800 meters is what Hamas had wanted. So you know -- and then Hamas came back with an update that people seem to

think was positive. So we've moved, it seems, into this new territory, where the prime minister seems to want to regroup and consider his options.

He wants to do it face-to-face. Of course, he could have secure communications but nothing more secure than doing it in a bunker in Israel.

No one eavesdropping, no one listening to his innermost considerations and thoughts.

But it also, in essence, buys him a little time to consider it and the political implications for him. So much of all these discussions about a

ceasefire are freighted around the political outcomes for prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, much to the consternation of many of the international

observers and partners in all of this.

But that's what it seems to tell me at the moment, Becky. Of course, here at the border, that aid, if it were part of a ceasefire deal, improvements,

U.N. bringing aid in by other routes, you would see a marked change here. You would see a lot more trucks here at the border if that were happening.

What I can just say, also on the aid mechanism front, the physical mechanism, what we witnessed earlier today, the Gaza Humanitarian

Foundation, this much-criticized U.S.-Israeli group that delivers very small quantities of aid into Gaza, they have their own separate routes into

Gaza.

It appears separate to those used by the other humanitarian convoys. So that may offer options for part of the mechanism for this improved aid

delivery in the future. Not clear.

But it does seem that, unless we hear otherwise Becky, unless our sources start to tell us to calm down, take a step back, take a breath, because

it's not going to happen soon, unless we hear that, my sense is that we might be into a possibility of momentum.

[10:05:03]

I'm cautious.

How many times have we said that before?

But the pressure, the international pressure, the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, it's adding to the pressure on prime minister Netanyahu.

There's so much focus on the Gaza and the malnutrition right now. He knows he's in a corner and needs to move.

ANDERSON: Nic Robertson is there at the Kerem Shalom crossing.

Nic, thank you.

CNN's reporting then indicating that aid is part of the latest discussion, including that new aid delivery mechanism, an aid or the lack thereof, as

Nic is suggesting, has been at the center of this crisis, bringing massive international condemnation onto Israel.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond has more on the realities on the ground, including the risks that Palestinians are taking to try and get aid right now. And I must

warn you, the images throughout his report are disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Cradling the body of his 13-year-old son, Muhammad Massoud cries out in agony. Ibrahim

has just been struck down by Israeli gunfire, which is still crackling overhead.

Moments earlier, Muhammad and his son had arrived here in the hopes of getting flour for their family from a World Food Programme convoy. But as

soon as the crowd surged toward the trucks, the World Food Programme says Israeli tanks and snipers opened fire on the crowd.

Ibrahim is one of more than a thousand Palestinians who have been killed by Israeli fire near aid sites and convoys in the last eight weeks, according

to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

Nearly every day since late May, hungry Palestinians have been killed while trying to get food for themselves and their families from one person killed

on June 5 to 87 on June 17.

But Israeli gunfire has been the through line in this nightmarish game of survival. In almost every single incident, local health officials and

eyewitnesses say Israeli military troops, often firing from tank mounted machine guns, open fire on the crowds.

Have mercy on us. Enough. Enough.

This man's brother was among dozens killed near a Gaza Humanitarian foundation site on June 24th. We have no food or drink and they shelled

them with tanks, they sprayed them with bullets.

This month, 461 people have been killed while trying to get aid. 99 were killed on Sunday alone, the deadliest single day of aid related violence.

That day, most were killed while crowding around U.N. convoys, as they did here on Tuesday. In these eight weeks of carnage, 1,062 people have been

killed trying to get aid, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. That's one out of every five people killed in Gaza during that time.

In a world where the quest for survival can turn deadly, none has been deadlier than trying to collect aid through the Gaza Humanitarian

Foundation, a private American organization backed by Israel.

Sixty percent of all aid related killings since late May have taken place near GHF sites, according to a CNN analysis of Palestinian Health Ministry

data. GHF rejected what it called false and exaggerated statistics and said there is violence around all aid efforts in Gaza.

The bullets crackling over this hunched crowd are among countless fired at Palestinians trying to make it to this GHF site in southern Gaza. Satellite

imagery captured the next day. Three military vehicles can be seen parked between a crowd of people and the GHF site.

Tanks and troops have been posted near all four GHF sites that have been operational at different times since late May. It is a militarized aid

distribution system that the U.N. warned would turn dead.

A CNN investigation into one of the first GHF link shootings in early June pointed to the Israeli military opening fire on crowds of Palestinians. The

Israeli military denied it then. The military now regularly acknowledges that troops have opened fire on Palestinians heading to aid sites, often

describing the shootings as warning shots.

[10:10:00]

But Israeli soldiers described a killing field near the GHF sites to the Israeli newspaper "Haaretz" last month, saying they were ordered to fire at

unarmed crowds.

Where I was stationed, between one and five people were killed every day, one soldier told the paper. They're treated like a hostile force. No crowd

control measures, no tear gas. Just live fire with everything imaginable. Heavy machine guns, grenade launchers, mortars.

In the wake of that firepower, Muhammad Massoud is left to mourn his son Ibrahim, remembering a boy who was always eager to help, joining his father

on a hunt for flour so that he could help feed his grandmother and neighbors.

But as soon as they started moving toward the trucks, Ibrahim suddenly fell to the ground.

I didn't see any blood on his body but then he started bleeding from his mouth. I started calling his name. Ibrahim. Ibrahim. He said, take me to my

mom. Take me to my mom. Please, Dad, pull me out.

A son's last words before the final breath that shattered his father's world -- Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Well, Israel has approved hundreds of millions of dollars of government funds for infrastructure projects in the occupied West Bank.

Israel's far-right minister, Bezalel Smotrich, says this is part of a strategic plan to connect the occupied region physically and politically,

to the state of Israel.

Saying, quote, "This is how you implement de facto sovereignty."

A reminder: Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territory is illegal under international law.

Smotrich has been clear about his aspiration to prevent the West Bank from becoming a part of an independent Palestinian state.

In other news, Thailand has launched airstrikes against Cambodia, while deadly clashes have broken out along their disputed border in a dramatic

escalation of tensions between the two countries. It has led people in villages on both sides to flee their homes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON (voice-over): This video shows people running for safety in Thailand's Surin province amid the sound of gunfire. Thai officials say at

least 11 civilians have so far been killed in the fighting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: For more on this, I'm joined by Ben Bland, who's director of the Asia-Pacific programme at Chatham House.

And just walk us through this conflict.

What's the what's the history behind it?

BEN BLAND, DIRECTOR, ASIA-PACIFIC PROGRAMME, CHATHAM HOUSE: Well, Becky, like so many conflicts across Asia and across the world, the roots are in

the colonial history, actually.

So more than 100 years ago, the kingdom of Siam, which predated modern Thailand, and the French, who were in colonial control over what's today

Cambodia, agreed a demarcation of the border. And that's been disputed by Thailand ever since.

And that that map and the dispute over it is really what caused the flareups that we've seen at various points in history since then.

ANDERSON: Is there a fear at this point that this is likely to escalate and quickly?

BLAND: It's concerning. I think the escalation we've seen in the last day, so more violence is being used, more high-tech and damaging weapons

platforms on both sides. And it's the intermixing of what we see on the ground with the politics.

So we have two family dynasties in control at the moment in Thailand and Cambodia and there's quite a potentially toxic mix of the domestic

politics, the nationalism in each country and the escalation of violence. So that's really worrying.

I guess the hope is that there is a pattern in the past of this happening and both countries, which do share a lot of economic and cultural and

political similarities, having had a track record of being able to climb down. But right now we're not seeing how that's going to happen.

But the hope is that there are patterns from the past that would allow these two to step back.

ANDERSON: And these are two economies, of course, that have had some success of late reputationally, this will not be or certainly is not a good

look.

Will other Asian-Pacific countries play into this?

BLAND: Yes, I think lots of countries around the region are concerned. Obviously China, which has made really big investments in Cambodia, has

deep economic and political ties with Thailand, is worried. They put out a statement of concern.

ASEAN, the regional body for Southeast Asia, which is currently chaired by Malaysia, has also raised concerns about this and called on both sides to

de-escalate.

We haven't seen anything more than that for now because ASEAN and the Chinese government both adhere to this principle of noninterference. So I

think they're now just hoping that calling for restraint will be enough.

But we just don't know. And obviously with the escalation, there's a risk that things do get out of hand, at which point I think it would be helpful

for pressure to come.

[10:15:00]

Either from Beijing or from ASEAN, preferably. But as I said, given their preferences for not interfering, I'm not sure that's going to happen.

ANDERSON: Thank you. It's good to have you.

Still to come, talks between Russia and Ukraine, how much progress is really being made?

We'll get you the very latest on that.

And we will examine the deepening Jeffrey Epstein scandal surrounding president Trump and the continued Republican Party revolt over the case.

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ANDERSON: U.S. President Donald Trump's Jeffrey Epstein nightmare is not going away anytime soon, thanks to growing defiance by members of his own

party.

On Tuesday, the powerful House Oversight Committee, which is Republican- led, issued a subpoena to depose convicted sex offender and former Epstein associate, Ghislaine Maxwell.

And a separate subpoena to the Justice Department asks for the release of the Epstein files in full. And it happened despite Republican speaker Mike

Johnson's efforts to send lawmakers home early for the summer recess to deflect attention away from the Epstein saga. CNN Politics senior reporter

Stephen Collinson joins me now.

You and I have been discussing this Jeffrey Epstein saga all week. And we have new lines of inquiry, it seems, every day. Deputy attorney general

Todd Blanche meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell.

What's the Trump administration hoping to achieve with this, is it clear?

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: You know, I think what they're trying to do here is to show the Trump base and those members of it

that are angry about the handling of this issue, that they are trying to do something to get more clarity.

So I think a big part of this is a PR matter. I think there was a couple of questions here.

The first is whether Ghislaine Maxwell has anything to add here. After all, there was a very comprehensive prosecution of her as an accomplice of

Jeffrey Epstein, which ended up with her going to jail for 20 years. So a lot of people wonder whether there's anything else she can say.

Another problem here, of course, is that Trump has the power of the pardon. He's already shown that he's willing to use it to advance his own political

goals. Ghislaine Maxwell, therefore, has an incentive to give the administration what they want, if they want some information that could

perhaps turn the heat away from Trump.

So that's questionable. And another layer of this, of course, is that Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, also happens to be Trump's former

personal lawyer.

[10:20:03]

So as is often the case with the Trump administration, there seem to be very many questions about the ethics and the motivations of the

administration here.

ANDERSON: Look, there's definitely an awful lot going on behind the scenes with Republican lawmakers. There is some pressure building, it seems. This

is what representative Eric Burlison from Missouri said, Stephen. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: How much are your constituents clamoring for more information about Epstein right now?

REP. ERIC BURLISON (R-MO): It's the number one phone call that we get by far. It's probably 500:1.

RAJU: 500:1?

BURLISON: Yes, it's the number one phone calls that we get.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: What do you make of that?

And does the GOP see their voters moving away from Donald Trump over this?

COLLINSON: I mean, it's really interesting. And I think in many ways it's a little surprising that the volume of the pressure on the lawmakers in

Trump's Republican Party is ratcheting up so quickly.

But if you think about it, a lot of these voters live in the conservative media ecosphere. They've had years of buildup of people calling for the

release of the Epstein files. President Trump himself several times on the campaign trail said, yes, we're going to release all this stuff when we get

there.

And then for the Justice Department and the FBI to turn around and say, well, there's nothing to see here, you're really playing a game with the

trust of those voters. I think there's also a sense here that, if you govern by conspiracies, sooner or later you're going to get trapped.

And that is what's happening to the Trump administration. Pam Bondi, the attorney general; Kash Patel of the FBI, they were among the most prominent

people calling for the release of Epstein files. And now they are the people that are saying, well, we can't release any of them.

So you can see, I think, there's been a great deal of political mismanagement of this issue. And the -- as to whether people are moving

away from Trump, I think it's unlikely that they're going to go anywhere else.

The problem, I think, for Republicans is that they're already facing a tough midterm elections in 2026. If there is a lack of enthusiasm, even

among a small sector of the Republican base, to go out and vote, that could make a big difference in quite a few of these close races.

And we're probably talking about 20 races that could decide whether the Republicans or the Democrats end up with the House of Representatives next

year. And that really does have serious implications for Trump's presidency.

ANDERSON: Reports that the attorney general, who goes by the name of Pam Bondi, briefed Donald Trump that his name appeared in the Epstein files.

And it does appear, at least on the surface, that that is adding to the pressure as you mentioned.

It is worth noting that Todd Blanche, who is -- has been dispatched to see Ghislaine Maxwell, and Pam Bondi, who is the attorney general, were both

personal attorneys for Donald Trump in the past.

What's the DOJ's role here, Stephen?

COLLINSON: Well, to start with, it's not that surprising that Trump's name is in some of these files. We've already seen some flight logs released

from Jeffrey Epstein's plane in the 1990s, on which Trump's name appears, as do those of many other famous people who used to be in Epstein's orbit.

So just because Trump is in those files and is mentioned there doesn't necessarily mean that he's done anything wrong. Indeed, this is one of the

reasons why files of this type generally aren't released, because people who aren't charged or even investigated can see their characters impugned

by association with somebody who's charged.

That's why the Justice Department never does this. And that's another problem with saying, OK, we're going to release all this stuff.

But the problem is that Trump has already said in public that he wasn't briefed by Bondi that his name was in these files. And therefore the Trump

critics who want to say that there's a coverup have much more information.

And the coverup, as they always say in Washington, is sometimes worse than the initial transgression in a political sense. So that story is going to

be running.

And now there's going to be all sorts of people, who are asking, well, what do we know about the mentions of Trump in these files?

Does this add anything that we don't know to the fact that he had a friendship with Epstein in the 1990s?

[10:25:00]

Long before his crimes, Epstein's crimes were prosecuted.

And is the Justice Department there, therefore covering something up for Trump?

So again, I think a lot of this is down, at least as far as we know, to political mismanagement. They've created this crisis for themselves.

Everything they try to do to get out of it makes it worse.

And it's really difficult to see how the president is going to extricate himself from this, especially as those lawmakers that are voting on Capitol

Hill on this issue, now they're going back to their districts. And you could see rising pressure on them in the recess over August to do something

about this before they come back in September.

ANDERSON: Yes. Good to have you, sir. Thank you.

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ANDERSON (voice-over): Let's get you up to speed on some of the other stories that are on our radar right now.

And Iran says it will allow a technical team from the United Nations' nuclear watchdog to visit Tehran in the coming weeks. Following U.S.

attacks on its nuclear sites, Iran had halted cooperation with the IAEA. It is unclear whether the team that visits will be allowed access to the

nuclear sites that were attacked.

A delegation of investors from Saudi Arabia is in Damascus in Syria right now. The two countries signing deals valued at approximately $4 billion,

Saudi state media reports. The move is a significant step as the Gulf kingdom tries to help rebuild Syria's crippled economy.

Well, following meetings in Beijing with Chinese leaders, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has asked for more reciprocity

from China. She's suggesting that, if changes aren't made, the E.U. may not remain as open to Chinese imports.

She says Chinese leaders have expressed a willingness to support more consumption and have begun looking into the issue.

ANDERSON: Well, Russia and Ukraine have agreed to a prisoner swap but have seemingly made very little progress. Other than that, during their third

set of direct talks in Istanbul, their meeting on Wednesday ended after less than an hour.

The talks come days after U.S. president Donald Trump gave Moscow a 50-day deadline to make peace or face what he described as "very severe tariffs."

Meantime, Russia continues to pummel Ukrainian cities with drones and missiles. Joining me now is CNN's Nick Paton Walsh, our global security

affairs editor, who's on the ground in Kyiv.

Nick, how are these talks playing out there in Ukraine?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, very much as expected. You could perhaps call the decision to have

this third round of talks in Istanbul as performative of a choice by the Kremlin.

But ultimately they lasted barely over half an hour and resulted in yet another prisoner swap, something that's been happening on regular occasions

over the past 3.5 years of this war. There was an intention expressed to potentially talk about the idea of president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and

president Vladimir Putin meeting in person.

But that high-level diplomacy has been something we've seen Moscow eschew over the past few months or so. So ultimately, I think here, this is a

third round that led to very little.

And does that reinforce, in the Trump administration's minds, the idea that a ceasefire in under 50 days now is impossible?

Well, they appear to be edging toward that conclusion themselves.

The ultimate question is, do they impose the secondary sanctions or tariffs essentially on China or India for purchasing Russian energy that they've

threatened?

But still, here in Kyiv, Becky, concerns are high that, after we see diplomacy end, sometimes Russia increases or ups its aerial assaults; 100

drones fired last night. But that is a relatively -- it would have been horrific a year ago -- but a relatively small number in terms of the

nightly barrages.

And indeed news, two -- of two enormous airstrikes in the second city of Kharkiv that have left 37 people injured, hitting residential areas. A 28-

year old -- a 28-day-old child, a 10-year old child, two amongst those injured as well. So horrific scenes in ordinary daylight in Ukraine.

And as I say, cities hit repeatedly again and again. So this diplomacy, perhaps a bid by Kyiv to show that it was willing to meet Moscow again but

no actual results. Becky.

ANDERSON: Good to have you, Nick. Thank you.

Nick is on the ground in Ukraine.

Still to come, big money settlements with TV networks and a canceled late- night TV show. Why fears are growing that president Trump is turning a federal agency, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, into his own

political hammer. More on that after this.

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ANDERSON (voice-over): Welcome back. You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD with me. Becky Anderson. Here are your headlines.

We are getting fast moving developments in ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas. A diplomatic source tells me there is growing optimism

that the gaps between the two sides are narrowing as that -- and that Hamas' latest counterproposal was received positively by negotiators.

Meantime, Israel has recalled its team from Qatar for further consultations about that response.

Clashes between Cambodian and Thai forces at their disputed border have left at least 12 people dead, according to Thai officials. They say

Cambodia launched rockets that hit civilian areas in Thailand. That attack came after Bangkok carried out an airstrike on Cambodian territory.

President Trump's attempts to quell the calls for more transparency over Jeffrey Epstein are being derailed largely by fellow Republicans. On

Wednesday, the Republican-led House Oversight Committee issued a subpoena, requiring Epstein's former associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, to give a

deposition.

And it issued a separate subpoena to the U.S. Justice Department demanding that it release its Epstein files.

ANDERSON: Well, now to concerns that the Trump administration is turning the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, or FCC, into a political

weapon.

President Trump has reveled in the cancellation of Stephen Colbert's late show on CBS and told two other late-night talk show hosts who are also

critical of the U.S. president, that they are "next," in inverted commas, a line from Donald Trump.

Well, the parent company of CBS is trying to get approval from the Trump administration for a merger with Skydance Media. And critics say Colbert

was basically sacrificed to appease the president, although CBS says it was purely a business decision.

Well, Trump's FCC chairman responding with this post, quote, "The partisan Left's ritualistic wailing and gnashing of teeth over Colbert is quite

revealing. They are acting like they are losing a loyal DNC spokesperson, who was entitled to an exemption from the laws of economics."

Well, the former chairman of the FCC also sounding the alarm and saying the Trump administration's actions clearly show that he is weaponizing the

agency.

Tom Wheeler, writing, quote, "What was once an independent, policy-based agency has been transformed into a performance-based agency, using any

leverage it can discover or invent to further the Trump MAGA message."

[10:35:10]

And Tom Wheeler joins us live now.

Tom, good to have you. First, let's help our viewers understand what is a complicated media story.

The concern is not about canceling one show, correct?

It's about CBS' independence, as I understand it.

Can you just explain here?

TOM WHEELER, FORMER CHAIRMAN, FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION: Yes, Becky.

I think you've got to go back and look at the picture going all the way back into the Biden administration, when, during the campaign, the Trump

campaign criticized the way the CBS program "60 Minutes" edited a tape, an interview with candidate Kamala Harris and announced that he was going to

sue CBS for that.

The lawyers from CBS and others said it was a frivolous lawsuit. There was a right-wing group that filed a petition at the FCC, saying, you need to

have an investigation of this. That petition was rejected.

And then the Trump administration came in with its new FCC chairman, who immediately reinstated that investigation and said, well, of course, this

will have an impact on the decision that we make about whether to approve the acquisition of CBS. And that became the leverage --

ANDERSON: Right.

WHEELER: -- for use in the lawsuit settlement itself.

ANDERSON: OK. In a letter filed on Tuesday with the FCC, Skydance, who wants to complete a merger with Paramount, who owns CBS, committed to a

post-merger, quote, "comprehensive review" of CBS and is promising to root out bias at CBS. Just last week, "CBS Evening News" had 3.7 million total

viewers.

How much will this impact them?

WHEELER: Well, the head of Skydance actually met with the FCC chairman before that letter and actually ended up sending two letters, one, the one

that you referenced, where they said, we're going to take a look at all of our programming.

And the second one, saying, we'll overhaul our HR activities to make sure that we don't have any DEI.

The point here, Becky, is that there is the regulatory power of an agency that is supposed to be independent and supposed to be making its decisions

in the public interest, exorcising (ph) that regulatory power in what appears to be designed to benefit Donald Trump and the MAGA political

agenda.

ANDERSON: And to that end, you would therefore describe the FCC as being weaponized by the Trump administration?

WHEELER: Well, I think it's clear to look at all the things that they are doing.

You know, they have they have launched investigations into radio stations and their coverage of immigration crackdowns. They have decided they're

going to investigate PBS and NPR, the public broadcasters, on their advertising policies.

They have threatened broadcasters that that content is something that will be reviewed. They have told the major social media platforms that they've

been engaged in a censorship cabal, that something has to be done about and that the FCC can act.

And they're acting in all of these ways to use the coercion of regulatory power to achieve ends outside of regulatory vehicles.

ANDERSON: In your experience in running the FCC, a federal organization, how much support or approval did you seek from the sitting or current

President of the United States for the decisions that were being made by the FCC?

These are decisions that need to be approved. This merger between Skydance and Paramount needs to be approved by the FCC.

[10:40:05]

It doesn't need to be approved by Donald Trump. It needs to be approved by the FCC.

What's -- you know, what's your experience in dealing with any pressure or not from a sitting administration or president?

WHEELER: I think there's two parts to that answer, Becky. It's a great question.

The first is that, of course, the FCC lives in a political environment. It has to -- it has to determine, make policy judgments in a political

environment.

What's happened in the Trump administration, though, is they're making political decisions using policy leverage.

And the second point is that the FCC -- the FCC, by statute, is supposed to be an independent agency. Except Donald Trump has issued an executive order

in which he says that it is no longer independent and that everything that the FCC does has to be approved by the White House before it does it.

And so what's happened is we've -- they have castrated the independence of the agency. And there is no qualms about using the agency to achieve

political goals.

ANDERSON: Your perspective is fascinating, sir, and helps us get our arms around what is a very, very complicated and clearly political story. Good

to have you, Tom. Thank you.

Well, we could soon get verdicts in the trial of five former members of Canada's world junior hockey team. All of them pled not guilty. A woman,

who cannot be named for legal reasons, alleges she was sexually assaulted by members of the team in 2018. CNN's Paula Newton across this. She joins

us now from Ottawa -- Paula.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Becky, this has posed serious questions in Canada from a cultural point of view but also from a point of

view of what does consent mean when it comes to sexual activity.

In terms of the details here, again, junior hockey players but they were all adults, June 2018. They are accused, as you say, by a woman who has not

been named by the court. In June 2018 that there was first consensual sex. That is not in dispute. But afterwards there was non-consensual sex. And

that is at dispute right now.

And those are the allegations. What is important here, Becky, though, is how the court, how this judge -- and she is sitting in chamber right now,

reviewing the evidence in the case and will render her verdict likely in the next hour.

She needs to decide if consent was given. And it is important here to really go back to the definition of consent for the Canadian criminal code.

A definition of consent to sexual activity defines consent as the voluntary agreement of the complainant to engage in the sexual activity in question.

This is what's key here, Becky. Conduct short of a voluntary agreement to engage in sexual activity does not constitute consent as a matter of law.

In terms of how this has rippled through Canada, Becky, look, all eyes on the courtroom this morning.

Because there are people who do determine, in their belief, the advocates for the hockey players said that consent was determined. The crown, the

prosecutors themselves say no. This is a strong case and consent was not given.

But again, it goes to the very heart of hockey culture in Canada. Hockey Canada was at the center of this as well. They settled a dispute, a lawsuit

with this woman in 2022 and that led to another investigation of Hockey Canada.

Keeping in mind, Becky, that those fees for young kids to play hockey in Canada, those fees actually went to settle this lawsuit along with others

that involved conduct involving hockey players that were associated with Hockey Canada. Again, all eyes on the courtroom, Becky, and we'll continue

to watch that verdict come in the next hour.

ANDERSON: Yes. Thank you for that.

Well, next on CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Becky Anderson, how one conservationist is working to preserve nature's sounds.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:45:00]

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ANDERSON: Well, the alarm sounding on a quiet crisis. Nature is falling silent. Today on "Call to Earth," we head to Colombia, where one

conservationist is working to preserve wildlife's soundtrack whilst also making nature more accessible to all. Have a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking foreign language).

JUAN PABLO CULASSO, NATURE SOUND RECORDIST: When I enter to the forest, I try to walk slowly, breathe calmly, try to really connect what -- with that

sound.

My name is Juan Paulo Culasso and I would like to invite you to observe the nature through your ears.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Juan Pablo has never seen a bird in his life but the Uruguayan birder doesn't need sight to identify more than 700

bird species. His perfect pitch hearing does all the work instead.

CULASSO: Most people believe that only sighted persons can really enjoy nature. But from a blind perspective, I have other four senses to really

enjoy what's around me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Blind since birth, Juan Pablo discovered his passion for nature at 16, when he was gifted his first audio recorder.

CULASSO: I pressed the rec button and listened. That sound through headphones was so amazing for me, changed my life.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): He's since memorized 3,000 bird calls and has traveled the world from Africa to Antarctica, capturing the diverse

soundscapes of our ecosystems.

CULASSO: I use my material for many purposes, including science and conservation. Soundscapes are used in science to tell you how healthy is an

ecosystem. For example, the most amazing indicator for that are birds. If you can record two or three species that really needs that ecosystem to

survive, you can say that that ecosystem is really healthy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Over his 20 year career, he's noticed certain sounds are disappearing because of human activity and climate

change.

Which is why he's on a mission to preserve nature's auditory heritage through repositories like Cornell University's Macaulay Library, where his

work can be used for educational research purposes like tracking ecosystem conditions.

For Juan Pablo, these recordings are also a bridge to inclusion.

CULASSO: It's a privilege to be there in a forest like this and touch the plants and touch the flowers and touch the trees. Here in La Ilusion

Natural Reserve, we are doing a lot of beautiful jobs regarding adapting trails, making 3D models of the birds, working with sounds. We are working

with braille.

[10:50:00]

Here in the visitor center, there are some animals here. Our eyes are in our fingers. We need touch. We need really more of that experience around

the world. So there are a lot of work to do. I'm so proud to be here, record soundscapes and show to the world the importance of conservation

through sounds.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: And let us know what you are doing to answer the call with the #calltoearth. Back after this.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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ANDERSON: Well, finally tonight, Qatar is seeking a major new notch in its belt of global sports tournaments, bidding to host the 2036 Olympics and

Paralympics. Now it would make the tiny Gulf nation the first Middle Eastern country to host the games again, punching well above its weight on

the global stage.

You'll remember its norm-shattering 2022 FIFA World Cup. I was there for the jubilation and camaraderie between crowds cheering on the streets and a

little freestyling on the side.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: You are here with us at the World Cup. What you've never seen is my touch.

Ha!

OK, not great but I know a man who can teach me.

ANDERSON (voice-over): I was still rubbish.

The tournament remembered most vividly, of course, for Leo Messi, leading Argentina to World Cup glory, although those of us in the region were just

as riveted by Saudi Arabia's shock win over the Argentines in the very first round.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: But that World Cup wasn't without its years-long controversies, issues likely to be considered by the Olympic committee as they assess the

suitability of competing bids.

Chief among them human rights and labor standards for migrant workers, who built the stadiums, hotels and other infrastructure, to host the global

event.

Well, I regularly travel to Doha to report on progress in the runup to the 2022 World Cup and I pressed the top category organizer, Hassan al-Thawadi,

on that point repeatedly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HASSAN AL-THAWADI, TOP CATEGORY ORGANIZER, 2022 WORLD CUP: (INAUDIBLE) has been dismantled.

ANDERSON: That's the sponsorship --

(CROSSTALK)

AL-THAWADI: Absolutely.

ANDERSON: That's being dismantled?

AL-THAWADI: Yes.

ANDERSON: Surely you will concede that it is absolutely critical that perpetrators of abuse and exploitation be held to account.

What's being done to ensure that that's the case?

AL-THAWADI: As far as I am aware and following closely what the state has done, people who have abused the law are punished.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, groups like the International Labor Organization have given Qatar credit for making strides in labor reform and setting the

standard for the rest of the region, while saying that there is still more work to be done.

Well, Qatar says its experience hosting the World Cup and countless other tournaments, including the 2006 and upcoming 2030 Asian Games, means it has

virtually everything needed to don the five Olympic rings.

[10:55:00]

Telling local media, quote, "We currently have 95 percent of the required sports infrastructure in place to host the games. And we have a

comprehensive national plan to ensure 100 percent readiness of all facilities.

"This plan is rooted in a long-term vision aimed at building a socially, economically and environmentally sustainable legacy."

Well, still, Qatar will face some competition. India, Indonesia, Turkiye and Chile also confirmed to be in the running. We'll keep a close eye on

Doha as it moves through the discussions with the International Olympic Committee and we'll see whether those Summer Olympics might not even be in

the summer at all.

The desert heat forced a change to the World Cup schedule three years ago and it's a move the new IOC president, Kirsty Coventry, addressed recently

in an interview with "The Athletic," saying, quote, "We have an incredible amount of interest in the games for 2036 and 2040 from new regions, which

is exciting," she said.

Quote, "It opens up the question of timing of the games and I think we need to be proactive with that, both summer and winter."

Well, that's it for CONNECT THE WORLD. Stay with CNN. "ONE WORLD" is up next.

END