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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

France To Recognize Palestine Amid Hunger Crisis; Trump Team Questions Epstein's Accomplice; Political Standoff At The Federal Reserve; Russia Pummels Ukraine After Faltering Peace Talks; Thailand: Second Day Of Fighting Along Border With Cambodia. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired July 25, 2025 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:25]

MIN JUNG LEE, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome to our viewers, joining us from the United States and all around the world. Rahel Solomon is off. I'm MJ Lee.

It's Friday, July 25th, 5:00 a.m. here in Washington, D.C.

And straight ahead on EARLY START.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: International pressure continues to grow on Israel to end the war in Gaza.

MOHAMMAD MUSTAFA, PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY PRIME MINISTER: Our people deserve dignity. They deserve to live normally.

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: The Trump Justice Department's high-profile discussions with Ghislaine Maxwell will continue.

DAVID MARKUS, GHISLAINE MAXWELL'S ATTORNEY: Ms. Maxwell answered every single question truthfully, honestly, and to the best of her ability.

JEROME POWELL, FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: You just added in a third building is what that is. That's a third building --

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: But it's a building that's being built.

POWELL: No, it's been -- it was built five years ago.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A political battle between President Trump and Fed Chair Jerome Powell seemed to heat up on Thursday with a publicly viewed tour of this building.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC) LEE: In about three hours, Donald Trump will head to Scotland to visit his golf courses and try to escape what has been a contentious, controversial week here in Washington. During a rare tour of the Federal Reserve on Thursday, the president clashed with Chairman Jerome Powell about the cost of the Central Bank's renovations. Their relationship has long been fraught as Powell has rejected the White House's demands to lower interest rates.

Trump has also been trying to shake persistent questions about his relationship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Earlier this week, the White House tried to punish "The Wall Street Journal" by removing it from the Scotland press pool after the paper published a story describing a note bearing Trump's name and an outline of a naked woman that was allegedly gifted to Epstein for his 50th birthday in 2003.

Trump filed a lawsuit the next day, claiming libel, but his administration is facing demands for more transparency in the matter.

In the coming hours, Epstein's coconspirator Ghislaine Maxwell will meet with deputy attorney general, with the second day of questioning.

Here's what her attorney had to say about the first day of questions on Thursday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID MARKUS, GHISLAINE MAXWELL'S ATTORNEY: He took a full day and asked a lot of questions, and Ms. Maxwell answered every single question. She never stopped -- she never invoked a privilege. She never declined to answer. She answered all the questions truthfully, honestly, and to the best of her ability.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEE: Maxwell is serving 20 years for trafficking and grooming underage girls for Epstein.

Here's CNN's Paula Reid.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: The Trump Justice Department's high profile discussions with Ghislaine Maxwell will continue into a second day Friday. Attorney for Maxwell said that his client answered all the questions that she was asked truthfully and to the best of her ability and did not invoke any privileges when she was talking to Justice Department lawyers on Thursday.

But he did not get into the substance of what was discussed, nor did deputy attorney General Todd Blanche when he tweeted following their meeting. But the fact that this is headed into a second day is pretty surprising here, and there's still a lot of outstanding questions.

The first is, what is the administration willing to offer her a pardon, a commutation, all things that President Trump has the power to do for Maxwell. But there are a lot of questions about what exactly she would have to offer, because this is someone who has long had an incentive to cooperate with the government. She's currently serving a 20-year prison sentence, and the time to reveal valuable information would be before you are facing a sentence like that.

But we know the Trump administration is under enormous pressure to make it look like they are moving the ball on this Epstein matter after they've been facing a firestorm following the attorney general's declaration that she would not be releasing any additional material.

So, what we're looking for is any sign that this is more than just political theater and that there is potentially something of substance happening between the Justice Department and Maxwell. But even if she has some sort of material, some sort of information that she wants to share with the government, she does come with credibility issues. She has been charged in the past related to her truthfulness, and she is a convicted sex trafficker.

And any effort to strike a deal with her or give her some leniency will result in backlash from victims and victim advocates.

Paula Reid, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[05:05:02]

LEE: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer plans to hold an emergency call with France and Germany today, as he says the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has reached new depths. That follows French President Emmanuel Macron announcing a plan to support a Palestinian state at the U.N. in September.

In a post on X, Mr. Macron said the urgent priority today is to end the war in Gaza and bring relief to the civilian population. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the decision, saying on X that it rewards terror. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio calls the move a slap in the face to the victims of October 7th.

And meanwhile, ceasefire talks in Qatar have ended, with the U.S. and Israel withdrawing their teams. U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff says Hamas clearly shows a lack of desire to reach a truce. Hamas calls Witkoff's remarks malicious, biased and dishonest.

And UNICEF is the latest aid group demanding action to feed the starving people of Gaza. The group reports malnutrition related deaths among children in Gaza are up 54 percent since April. UNICEF says more than 100 people have died from malnutrition, 80 percent of them children.

The Palestinian Authority prime minister spoke exclusively with CNN's Christiane Amanpour about the impact of the humanitarian crisis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMMAD MUSTAFA, PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY PRIME MINISTER: We are very outraged about what's going on. Our people deserve dignity. They deserve to live normally, they deserve to get food, to get water, to live normally. We believe that wars will not bring peace to this region, and these actions will only bring hatred and anger to this region. Displacement, starvation annexation and occupation are recipe for disaster.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEE: Live now to London and CNN's Salma Abdelaziz.

Salma, tell us more about the increasingly dire humanitarian situation in Gaza and the reaction that that is drawing from world leaders.

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, MJ, this week, you have more than 100 international organizations that now say mass starvation is taking place across Gaza. It is difficult to wrap your mind around just the unimaginable suffering on the ground. The U.N. says one in five children in Gaza City are now suffering from malnutrition, with that number going up every day.

The World Food Program says that a third of people in the Gaza strip go multiple days without food. Hospitals are running out of medical supplies and running out of clean water. Children are going to bed crying of hunger and terrified of bombs.

And all of this terrible suffering can be prevented. That's what rights groups are saying. They say that this is a manmade crisis, that if borders could open up, if aid could be allowed in and a ceasefire could end, the bombs and bullets, some relief can begin to take place on the ground. For those 2 million, half of them children trapped in the enclave.

That is why French President Emmanuel Macron clearly thinks now is the time to act. We are at a precipice. The French government has recognized Palestinian statehood.

This was not originally the plan for France. It was intended to be a joint announcement. They had been working on this for months. But then the conflict between Iran and Israel upended that plan and forced Emmanuel Macron's hand. Essentially, he's decided to take this unilateral and bold step to recognize Palestinian statehood in an attempt to put pressure on his allies and European partners to do the same, and to put pressure on Israel to allow that much needed aid on the ground.

There's going to be a big announcement around this at the U.N. General Assembly in September. But today, the U.K., France and Germany will be holding an emergency call. And you can imagine that French President Emmanuel Macron is going to push his partners to do the same, to recognize Palestinian statehood and to push for that aid to enter the country.

And of course, time is of the essence here, MJ. Aid workers on the ground are warning of a point of no return when it comes to malnutrition with children. Time is what they need. And this help needed to arrive yesterday -- MJ. LEE: Salma Abdelaziz in London, thank you so much for that update.

And Dr. Mohammed Abu Mughaisib is a deputy medical coordinator for Doctors Without Borders. He joins me now from southern Gaza.

Doctor, we are so grateful for your time this morning because it's so important for us to understand what is happening inside of Gaza, from people who are seeing everything with their own eyes. Describe the situation inside Gaza right now.

DR. MOHAMMED ABU MUGHAISIB, DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS (via telephone): Thank you for having me. I mean, as you mentioned in several reports, I mean, the situation has actually reached the limit of deterioration in Gaza in terms of all aspects of life now. I mean, mainly the main topic. I mean, it's the limit of deterioration in Gaza in terms of all aspects of the limit of deterioration in Gaza in terms of all aspects of life now.

[05:10:04]

I mean, mainly the main topic -- I mean, it's the starvation that is imposed by the Israeli authority on Gaza since March. I mean, there is no food entering, there is nothing entering. And of course, I mean, the acute hunger is spreading all over Gaza, mainly on children, elderly, pregnant women, lactating women. I mean, all the population are suffering of the lack of food and lack of supplements. And that's unacceptable because today it can end.

If Israel will stop today and will allow goods to enter, things will end. I mean, all of this starvation will end, because if it will not end, I think will soon will declare famine in Gaza.

In addition, of course, to the destroyed health structure that non- existing health structure anymore, the partially remaining hospital functioning, which are overloaded with patients who are injured or normal patients. I mean, the bed occupancy reached 250 percent over the bed capacity of the remaining hospitals.

Even Doctors Without Borders field hospitals, we are now on our capacity 100 percent full of patients. I mean, we don't have any more space to admit patients.

LEE: Uh-huh, and, Doctor, when a patient who comes in suffering from acute malnutrition explain what the treatment plan is for them and how long, typically a full recovery would take. And importantly, do you currently have enough resources to help malnourished Gazans recover?

ABU MUGHAISIB: Unfortunately, now, I mean now in Gaza, all the health structures, I mean, the doctors, paramedics, I mean, we just do the consultation and diagnose the malnutrition, but we don't have nothing to give or treat them. I mean, because they need supplements, they need milk formula. It's not available at all. I mean, in our stock or in the market even.

So, I mean, to treat malnutrition, you need to provide them with supplements, which is not present at all. I mean, there is nothing in Gaza to supplement, give money to child or a pregnant woman or lactating woman or a normal person. I mean, the normal people, they are looking for formula milk to feed their children who are -- who doesn't know it, doesn't need formula milk. Imagine, I mean, this kind of situation that they reach.

So, I mean that will end. And we are calling to stop reading the ceasefire, stop the war, and open the borders and let things enter that will end everything.

LEE: You just mentioned clinics being at full capacity. I mean, given that resources and staffing are so precious, how often are you having to turn patients away?

ABU MUGHAISIB: I mean, we try as much as we can to coordinate among ourselves with other international actors who have field hospitals as Doctors Without Borders. But, I mean, we have to say no because there is no capacity at all. I mean, there is -- there is no place, no beds, enough to admit patients. It's not MSF.

I mean, it's also other actors who are working in Gaza with providing field hospitals and health care. They are not able to receive patients anymore. They reach their capacity.

So, we are referring to the ministry of health hospitals, which are they are putting patients in the corridors. Patients are lying literally on the corridors, on the floor because there is no beds for them.

LEE: Yeah. And the hunger and the lack of food is obviously not sparing anyone. We've heard stories of doctors going to work hungry, humanitarian aid workers having trouble finding food. Have you doctor personally experienced hunger and trouble finding food in recent days?

ABU MUGHAISIB: I mean, me, I mean, me personally, I struggle to find a meal every day. I mean, that's my objective. And you know, all my challenges is to find a meal because I need the meal. I need to have energy. I need calories to be able to move and to speak.

I mean, most -- I mean, all of us, not most of us. I mean all of the health workers in Gaza now are suffering of hunger or acute hunger. I mean, there is nothing to buy in the market. I mean, the markets are completely empty. And that's -- I mean, all of them are exhausted, are, you know, burned out.

I mean, they are working since more than 658 days of this war continuously. I mean, now with addition to this starvation imposed -- I mean, it's really -- it has to stop.

LEE: And, you know, there have been multiple reports of Gazans getting killed or hurt while they are trying to get food from an aid distribution site. How often are you seeing patients coming in who were injured while they were trying to get food, Doctor?

ABU MUGHAISIB: I mean, we have -- we have these patients actually admitted in our hospital. I mean, we have a lot of these patients who were injured, shot in the food distribution points recently. And these shots, I mean, it's a critical injuries. I mean, amputation of lower limbs, severe injuries.

And these -- I mean, testimonies coming from these patients, they were shot by the, you know, the Israeli army during their way or while they are taking their food parcels or trying to get food.

[05:15:07]

And they are -- it's this has as well to be, I don't know, organized, stopped or go back to the old system. The United Nations, where we're having 400 distribution points. Now you have only four distribution points by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which is I mean, actually, it's a death trap because, I mean, there is an average of 50 to 100 patients injured or killed every day. That's -- that's not acceptable.

LEE: All right. Dr. Mohammed Abu Mughaisib in southern Gaza, thank you so much for helping us understand what is happening there on the ground. And please take good care.

ABU MUGHAISIB: Thank you. Thank you.

LEE: Massive evacuations in Thailand and Cambodia. Clashes erupt for a second day along the disputed border between the two countries. Details in a live report still ahead.

Plus, Ukrainian cities under fire from Russia, fresh on the heels of the latest peace talks.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:20:27]

LEE: Russian drones and missiles rained down on Ukraine a day after peace talks failed to get much traction. The targets included Kharkiv and Odesa, where reports say three people were killed and more than three dozen wounded on Thursday. Russia and Ukraine wrapped up their third round of talks in Istanbul on Wednesday after speaking for less than an hour. They agreed on a future prisoner swap, but they didn't appear to make any headway on a possible ceasefire. For more, Nick Paton Walsh joins us from Kyiv.

Nick, are we right that it doesn't appear that there are too many promising signs right now of this conflict winding down?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: I suppose the only positive note you can take from what happened in Istanbul, barely 40 minutes in terms of the duration of those talks, is that it provides assistance for Ukraine in its narrative that Russia has never been serious about peace in the first place, and they've been able now to switch back, I think, to the more pressing concerns of what's happening on the front lines.

Now, you mentioned Kharkiv, Ukraine's second city, where nearly 40 people were injured yesterday when two massive Russian airstrikes hit inside the city during daylight hours. Well, overnight, another person has been killed after another massive glided guided aerial bomb. It was indeed dropped in the city as well. So, clearly, that part of the front line receiving a lot of aerial

attention, but also to concerns along the front line that we are seeing Russia moving forward at the usual incremental pace, slowly in multiple areas. But those gains are beginning to be more potent, are beginning to mean something potentially about Ukraine's control over key hubs in that particular area.

President Zelenskyy, talking to recently about how he says that they managed to strike a deal for Ukraine to produce drones for the United States, the details of which are being worked out. After he made that agreement with President Trump, but also to hear, I should tell you overnight a slight sense of concern amongst observers and indeed some soldiers, too, when the Starlink global Internet space based internet service went out for a matter of hours now, not of consequence for most of the world, just have to potentially choose a different way to connect to the Internet or wait.

But on the front lines for Ukraine, they ultimately help them control vast parts of their infrastructure and without that, it could be potentially catastrophic for Ukrainian units on the front line. For a number of hours, though their commanders say they persevered and continued and looked for alternative means. But I think it's a shock here, potentially for many as to how dependent they were on that particular service, and also to another reminder of the frailty of their front lines, where they're lacking times in manpower. Ukraine reliant upon drones and are facing a times heavily determined much more resourced in terms of foot soldiers on the ground, opponent -- MJ.

LEE: Nick Paton Walsh, thank you so much.

For the second day in a row, deadly clashes erupted at the disputed border between Thailand and Cambodia. Tens of thousands of people have fled to emergency shelters. We'll have the latest developments in a live report next.

And later, the battle between the U.S. president and the chair of the Federal Reserve. The two men getting into an argument while touring the Central Bank's headquarters, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:28:24]

LEE: A second day of border clashes between Thailand and Cambodia is prompting evacuations and raising tensions in Southeast Asia. The Thai military says fighting resumed early Friday morning with an exchange of small arms fire, heavy weaponry and artillery. The Thai army warned that clashes were happening in several areas along the disputed border.

Live now to Hong Kong, and CNN's Kristie Lu Stout.

Kristie, what's the latest?

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: MJ, the fighting has continued along the Thai Cambodian border with over 100,000 people displaced in Thailand and some 4,000 more displaced in Cambodia. Tension is certainly rising after a series of deadly clashes taking place between these two Southeast Asian neighbors on Thursday, the Thai military launched airstrikes against Cambodian military targets. That in response to those deadly clashes that played out taking the lives of and this is the latest death toll. At least 16 people in Thailand. At least one fatality in Cambodia.

Now, we have been monitoring and looking after the civilian reaction and response. And I want to show you some video that's been going viral on social media in Southeast Asia and around the world, showing civilians looking for a safe haven, looking for an area to evacuate. You could hear that gunfire overhead with scores of people in line seeking an area to evacuate from the violence, and Thai border police are also present on site.

We've also been monitoring video of the type of weaponry that's been used in these clashes. Thai military, they've been using F-16 fighter jets against Cambodia as well as drones. And in this next video, you're going to see the use of a Thai drone being dropped on top of a munitions storage, a weapons facility.