Return to Transcripts main page
Isa Soares Tonight
Netanyahu Speaks on Capitol Hill; Humanitarian Crisis Worsens in Gaza; Doctor in Gaza Warn Patients Could Die; Israel and Hamas "Very Close" to Ceasefire Deal Says Trump. Sources Say Hegseth Did Not Inform the White House Before He Authorized Pause on Weapons Shipment to Ukraine; Massive Search and Rescue Operation Underway in Texas After Deadly Floods; Trump Threatens More Countries with High Tariffs. Aired 2-3p ET
Aired July 09, 2025 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:00:00]
ISA SOARES, HOST, ISA SOARES TONIGHT: A very warm welcome to the show, everyone, I'm Isa Soares. Tonight, confusion at the White House as Donald
Trump and his Defense Secretary seem to miscommunicate over vital Ukraine aid. Then search and rescue workers are combing through massive piles of
debris in Texas as they search for survivors of the deadly floods there.
Plus, Donald Trump threatens more countries with hefty 30 percent trade tariffs. We'll have all the latest for you. But first tonight, after what
appears to be some confusion in the White House, America's adversaries and allies alike maybe asking who exactly is in charge of U.S. defense policy.
President Trump says he wasn't aware of a move by the Pentagon last week to pause critical weapons deliveries to Ukraine. Sources tell CNN, Defense
Secretary Pete Hegseth did not inform the White House before authorizing the freeze. During cabinet meeting on Tuesday with Hegseth by the way
seated -- sitting as you can see right next to him.
Trump said he didn't know who was responsible for the decision, but pledged to resume weapons shipments to Ukraine. And when asked about it just a
short time ago, here is how the President answered.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What does it say that such a big decision could be made inside your government without you knowing?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I would know if a decision was made. I will know. I'll be the first to know. In fact, most likely, I'd
give the order. But I haven't done that yet. Yes, please.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Well, the comments one day after Trump shifted his tone and slammed Russian President Vladimir Putin for not engaging in serious
ceasefire negotiations. Hours later, Russia launched its largest drone attack on Ukraine since its full-scale invasion more than three years ago.
Kyiv says the massive assault involved 741 drones and more than a dozen missiles. The barrage, which mainly targeted the city of Lutsk in
northwestern Ukraine was so intense, in fact, it caused Poland's military to scramble their aircraft in its airspace. In recent weeks as we have been
bringing you the story here, Moscow has been intensifying its aerial and ground assaults on its democratic neighbor.
Our Natasha Bertrand is standing by in Washington with much more. Natasha, let me start with that miscommunication or lack of communication there
between Trump, President Trump and Pete Hegseth. You and Zach Cohen, our colleague broke this story. I know you spoke to five sources kind of
familiar with the matter. Just talk us through the thinking and why the halt was implemented without the President knowing here.
NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so essentially, what happened, Isa, is that late last month, President Trump
was traveling with Secretary Hegseth to NATO, and at the same time, Iran and Israel were essentially at war and they were attacking each other. And
U.S. troops in the Middle East were essentially caught in that crossfire.
And so, President Trump, he wanted to know from Secretary Hegseth what the current state of U.S. stockpiles of weapons were globally, and that was
because, of course, U.S. troops in the region needed their own air defense systems, their own munitions, in order to fend off a potential attack from
Iran, if need be.
And as we saw, Iran did end up attacking a U.S. military base. And so, the President asked Hegseth to come up with this assessment, Hegseth then
delegated that downward essentially to his deputies, his Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, Elbridge Colby. Upon doing that review, Colby, who was
very much kind of an Indo-Pacific Asia first-type thinker, saw this as an opportunity to say, look, let's hit pause here on this particular shipment
of weapons to Ukraine so that we can assess just where they need to be.
And he again, has argued many times in the past that all of these munitions need to be for American use only. They need to be stored for potential
conflict in the Indo-Pacific, not necessarily for Europe or Ukraine. And so, Secretary Hegseth ultimately signed off on that decision to halt this
weapons shipment, which did include very key air defense munitions for Ukraine.
But then at that point, there appears to have been a serious breakdown in communication, because we are told that Hegseth did not immediately inform
the White House about this decision that he had made to halt this shipment. He did not tell President Trump, the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, who
is also the national security adviser or the U.S. special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg.
[14:05:00]
It's unclear why, but you know, our sources told us that essentially Hegseth thought that he was pursuing an America-first-type policy, which
President Trump would ultimately agree with to -- during this review, essentially hit pause on all of the munitions going out the door so that
all of these stockpiles could be reviewed effectively.
But we've gotten this kind of interesting response from both the White House and the Pentagon, in which we asked them multiple times, did the
secretary tell the White House that he was going to cancel this shipment to the Ukrainians, and neither the White House or the Pentagon would speak to
that at all.
All they said was that, you know, the Pentagon conducted a review, the President has confidence still in the Secretary of Defense, but obviously,
it raises some serious questions here about the kind of haphazard policy- making within the U.S. government, and particularly under Secretary Hegseth at the Pentagon.
SOARES: Indeed. And you know, that is a very important context that you've just laid out for our viewers. I wonder then, you know, what you made of
what you've heard in the last 20 minutes or so from President Trump. Because this decision on the weapons caught so many, including us here at
CNN, by surprise, because it doesn't match, really, this growing rhetoric, this growing frustration that we have been hearing from President Trump.
So, what did you make of what you heard from President Trump? Because in the last what? The last 20 minutes or so, as he's speaking to some African
leaders, he doesn't seem at least, not showing that he's bothered at all by this.
BERTRAND: Yes, and it's been really interesting to watch because he has at multiple points throughout the last couple days, had the opportunity to say
Secretary Hegseth signed off on this, I approved of it, but I changed my mind, or I knew that this was happening. I knew that these weapons
shipments were going to be paused while we conducted this review.
And now, we've decided that actually, we want to move forward with sending Ukraine some defensive weapons. But he hasn't done that. Instead, at every
turn, he's very much demurred when asked about this issue. And that is -- we don't know why? I mean, essentially, you know, this is something that's
happened repeatedly with Secretary Hegseth.
In fact, back in February, Hegseth paused another shipment of weapons, catching senior national security officials off guard. And of course, when
Elon Musk was set to go to the Pentagon for a briefing that was highly classified, Trump didn't know about that at the time, either. And so, this
seems to be a pattern that perhaps Trump does not want to publicize much, perhaps, he doesn't want to make it seem like there's any daylight between
him and the Secretary of Defense.
But you know, it remains to be seen just how much more leeway the secretary has to do policy-making in this way. Isa.
SOARES: Very briefly, on the Ukrainian weapons then, just for clarity here, are they going to get these weapons that they've been green-lit?
Because I know they were in Poland, weren't they?
BERTRAND: They're in Poland, they could be sent very quickly because they were en route. But --
SOARES: Yes --
BERTRAND: What we're told is that Trump did tell Hegseth to restart the shipment of some of those munitions, but it's unclear if they're going to.
The Department of Defense said that they plan to, but unclear if it's happened yet, Isa.
SOARES: Natasha, thank you very much for breaking it all down for us, appreciate it. Let's get more on this. I want to bring in former U.S.
Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor. I want to focus in particular on what is going on in Ukraine. Ambassador, good to have you back on the show.
As we've heard there, the President, you know, has been very clear, at least, in the last 24 hours, ambassador, not mincing his words, feeling
visibly very frustrated about President Putin. Is this -- you think, ambassador, shift, more importantly, will this translate to any sort of
pressure on Russia?
WILLIAM TAYLOR, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE: That's the right question, Isa. Will it -- will it result and pressure on Russia? Which is
the only way that this is -- this war is going to end, that these negotiations can start, that the ceasefire can be obtained. That is put
pressure on Putin. So, the comments from President Trump suggest that he understands now fully whereas he may not have understood fully before that
President Putin is not a friend.
President Putin is not a partner. President Putin is the obstacle to any movement on one of the top priorities that President Trump has been talking
about since the campaign -- that is ending this war. So, I think President Trump understands that. And then, your question is exactly right. Does
President Trump take steps, action to put pressure on Putin to end this?
And the action will, of course, would be the flow of the weapons and the sanctions that Senator Graham has been talking about as well.
SOARES: Yes, let's talk about that because I did see Senator Lindsey Graham, as you -- our viewers will know, has a Russian sanctions bill in
the Senate. Has got quite significant number of senators supporting that. According to "Politico" today, ambassador, Graham says that President Trump
now backs these tough Russian sanctions -- this bill.
How effective if it does get green-lit, how effective do you think this will be, given how heavily-sanctioned Russia already is?
[14:10:00]
TAYLOR: So, these sanctions go much farther. These will be -- these will be serious sanctions on the export of Russian crude oil and gas and other
natural resources. And with the reduction in revenues to Russia, based on these sanctions, it will be very difficult for the Russians to pursue this
war. So, this is the time to put that pressure on. And you're right, Senator Graham apparently has 84 co-sponsors --
SOARES: Yes --
TAYLOR: In the Senate, Republicans and Democrats. So, and if President Trump is now OK, he's going to give the green light on this, that's a very
good sign. It's a message to Putin --
SOARES: Yes --
TAYLOR: That he has big trouble, and the sanctions could well be coming.
SOARES: Well, actually, one Russian newspaper on this said today, "the U.S. President blows hot and cold. He changed his mind on key issues as
easily as he changed his shoes." How do you think, then, ambassador, that Putin will see this shift, because not long ago, he said that Putin held
all the cards. I mean, just trying to understand this President and how he thinks. He's very mercurial.
TAYLOR: Very mercurial. No, you're absolutely right. But the indications are that he now understands that President Putin has been playing him, has
been tapping him along as the President said earlier. That President Putin is not serious about trying to find an end to this war that President Trump
is trying to find. President Putin, as you reported, unleashed 750 drones and missiles --
SOARES: Yes --
TAYLOR: Ballistic missiles, cruise missiles on Ukraine just last night. This is the record. So, Putin has no intent. And I think President Trump
understands that.
SOARES: Yes, can I just get your reaction to this miscommunication, gap in communication between Secretary Hegseth and President Trump? What did you
make of what has happened here -- without President Trump, it seems he didn't know about it.
TAYLOR: So, normally, the National Security Council would play a coordinating role in an information flowing role, that would be sure that
the State Department, that the White House, that President Trump understands everything that's going on in the Pentagon, for example, and
vice versa. You know, that the Pentagon understands what's going on, on the diplomatic side.
That's what the National Security Council would do. And as we know, there's no -- the Secretary Rubio is the acting National Security Council head. And
so, there -- and has reduced the size of the National Security Council. That is, there are many fewer people who are doing that coordinating that
is necessary. So, what you see is a lack of coordination.
You see the Pentagon taking advantage of this and moving forward on things that they don't have the authority to do, that they don't have the approval
to do. So, the Pentagon got out over its skis, as they say, way ahead of the President. And they got slapped down for doing that.
SOARES: Ambassador William Taylor, always wonderful to get your insight. Thank you, ambassador, good to see you.
TAYLOR: Thank you, Isa.
SOARES: Thank you. I want to turn now to the tragedy unfolding in Texas. The death toll has now risen to at least, 119 lives lost from those
catastrophic floods. An urgent search effort is underway to find more than 160 people. Earlier, officials in hard-hit Kerr County gave us a new
insight into some of the dramatic rescues from last Friday. Have a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JONATHAN LAMB, KERRVILLE POLICE: They evacuated over a 100 homes and evacuated and rescued over 200 people. And to say that doesn't even come
close to explaining the actions that took place. Door-to-door, waking people up, convincing them that yes, the floodwaters are coming and you
need to leave now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: We are also learning more about Camp Mystic, where at least, 27 people died. Records obtained by CNN showed that two days before the
flooding, a state inspector visited the youth camp and certified that it had an emergency plan in place. This hour, five campers and one counselor
are still missing.
Gustavo Valdes is on the ground tracking the situation in Kerrville, Texas. And Gustavo, from what I understand very much, situation ongoing, search
and rescue. Just bring us up-to-date with the very latest on the ground where you are.
GUSTAVO VALDES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Isa, this was a piece of heaven on earth. That's how the owner, Lorena Guilien, describes this area in front
of the Guadalupe River, where she has her house, a restaurant, and run an area where people came camping in RVs, caravans. She says all these areas
as far as you can go and beyond, there were many people camping, enjoying the holiday weekend in their caravans when the morning of July 4th, the
river began to crest.
[14:15:00]
She says around 1:30 in the morning, they heard the screams. They came rushing to help a man who was camping in the middle of the river. She said,
that section right there was a lot larger. There were campers in there, and this man was coming across, water waist high, carrying two babies. Her
husband on this side on dry land, trying to tell the man to bring the children to them, to help them.
That's when a big wave came and took him away. The whole family perished in that incident. The husband survived because he was able to hold on to a
branch not far from where we are. But she says that unfortunately, that's not the only tragedy she witnessed that night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LORENA GUILIEN, KERRVILLE RESIDENT: And the screams, the screams is what haunts me. Every time I close my eyes, I hear people screaming. The -- on
the river, you can see the lights of dozens of vehicles just getting washed away, RVs, campers, everything, and you can hear people honking. And when
the lighting, you know, when you get -- you see some light, you can see the windows of the campers with people banging against the windows.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VALDES: She says that every time she closes her eyes, she still sees those images. And unfortunately, it's not the only tragedy. She at the personal
level, she said one of her employees that had just left that night went to her to her -- to his house, and the waters were getting up to the
residency. He had to break into a window to pull the family out.
He was successful on that account, but he had to break the window, and he got a cut and hit an artery, so he didn't even notice. He bled out rescuing
his family. So, that is one of the many stories we've been hearing. And as you can see, she said, people came and tried to clear this area as fast as
they could because this is now one of the main points from where rescue people come.
They have found many bodies in this area, so, they are hoping that they can find people here so they can give their relatives some peace. And the
number of the people still missing is still more than 170. So, that means that there's a lot of work to do. And she also points out that while the
efforts on the river are important, there are also residences.
People, low income, retired people who have no ways of helping themselves that also need help. So, she's asking that if people want to come and
volunteer, they also try to focus on other families. Isa.
SOARES: Yes, both stories equally chilling. Gustavo, thank you very much indeed, appreciate it. And still to come tonight, U.S. President Donald
Trump has announced a new round of tariffs for several countries. We'll look at which nations are impacted, and how much they'll be charged. Anna
Stewart has those letters next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:20:00]
SOARES: The list of trading partners the U.S. is threatening is now growing. President Donald Trump sent tariff letters to seven more countries
today, calling for levies as high as 30 percent. The latest recipients are the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Moldova, Brunei, Algeria, Libya and Iraq. The
new tariffs go into effect on August the 1st, pending negotiations.
Anna Stewart has been keeping an eye on all those letters that have been arriving over the past couple of days. Talk us through then those letters,
because President Trump seems to think this is a deal. This is some sort of negotiation, and I am pretty sure those countries won't see it as a deal.
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, last night, the President rebranded the letters as a deal, which means the U.S. is striking many deals all of a
sudden because they are sending out these letters. But it is a very one- sided deal because it is -- I am going to impose X percent tariff on imports from your country.
There isn't a lot of give and take here. So, we have seven more countries so far. We may get more letters before the day is done. And these are very
much the same as the ones we were speaking about earlier in the week, it's the same format. It's different percentages, but it's almost very similar
to what was imposed on them all, April 2nd, before the 90-day pause kicked in. They're slightly rounder numbers.
Now, why is this interesting? Well, it means that they have more time. They got to August the 1st before these are imposed. So, this is a delay,
frankly, to what was an escalating war. The original deadline was today --
SOARES: Today, right, yes --
STEWART: So, they have more time. The markets haven't moved whatsoever on this news --
SOARES: Why do you think that is?
STEWART: I think there is a sense that maybe these tariffs will never actually be implemented. There's still room for negotiation, which means
the deadline isn't here. Markets perhaps will only react when we're actually at that deadline. We have seen some movement though in copper
prices.
Last night, one of the biggest announcements was actually around copper. So, this is a sectoral tariff which is very different to the tariffs we see
against countries. There's already a 25 percent tariff against cars, for instance. It was 25 percent against steel and aluminum. That got doubled to
50.
And we're coming in hot with copper because it says President Trump says it will be 50 percent likely from the end of this month. But again, don't have
a firm deadline on that yet. He's also --
SOARES: Go ahead --
STEWART: He's also threatened to 100 percent tariffs on pharmaceuticals. But while that might be decided by the end of this month, it probably won't
be implemented for a year, year and a half. Again, markets will be like, well, wake us up when it happens.
SOARES: And we're waiting for Europe, potentially, we'll get that tomorrow on negotiations --
STEWART: We're expecting a letter or a deal, or perhaps they're the same thing tomorrow or some news.
SOARES: Anna, we'll talk tomorrow. Thank you very much indeed. Now, Donald Trump sat down for a very important lunch meeting just about an hour or so
ago. He was joined by the Presidents of five African nations, Liberia, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania and Senegal. If you think that is an
unlikeliest list, well, you're not alone.
None of the invitees to the summit would be considered major players on the African stage. But the thing they have in common is that they are not seen
as allies of China or Russia. Those two U.S. rivals have been expanding their influence in Africa through the multinational economic consortium
known as BRICS.
Our Larry Madowo is in Lagos, Nigeria, Nigeria is not part, of course, of this conversation and wasn't invited. And he joins me now. What did you
take away from that conversation, from the meeting that President Trump hosted? He did take some questions. There was some very awkward moments,
Larry.
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There were lots of awkward moments. First of all, the first thing that came out of President Trump's mouth is these
are wonderful, vibrant places with a lot of minerals, a lot of minerals that the United States wants. So, that's the first thing that President
Trump said.
And these Presidents also did not hide the true intentions of these meetings. They did talk about we have a lot of minerals, we're looking for
exploration. We are willing to get into partnerships with you, the President of Gabon, for instance, said, we want you to help us explore
these minerals, we want to develop them here in the country.
The President of Senegal, Bassirou Diomaye Faye even dangled a golf course opportunity in Senegal. He said, we can make you this investment
opportunity to be maybe six hours from Miami or from New York, you can come and show off your golf skills. But also, Isa, a really awkward moment came
up when President Trump heard from President Joseph Boakai of Liberia.
And afterwards he said, such beautiful English. Where did you learn to speak English like that? Where were you educated?
[14:25:00]
And President Boakai smiled politely, obviously very awkward because Liberia is -- English is official language of Liberia, so having this kind
of confusing, awkward moment in the White House is not the nicest thing. But this is his host. He's trying to make a deal there. He doesn't want to
call him out, essentially what kids would call a clap-back. So, when he makes this faux pas, you smile and nod.
SOARES: Yes, look. And there was certainly on that moment, a research clearly was needed from the President's side. It also strike me, you know,
they were -- he was asked a question by -- he asked, I think from journalists from Africa, of course, important to point out, Africa is not a
country, it's a continent.
And she asked a question and then put these leaders all in a position where they all would have to give their opinion on whether President Trump
deserved a Nobel Peace Prize. That made me cringe. Can you speak to how this is being received across the continent, particularly Nigeria, which is
one of the biggest, if not the biggest, one of the biggest economies in -- the continent?
MADOWO: Nigeria was not invited to this, neither was --
SOARES: Yes --
MADOWO: South Africa or Ethiopia or Egypt. But this Nobel Peace Prize thing is something that President Trump has a recent obsession with. And he
spoke to this specific reporter because this reporter is one of those that is allied to what he wants. And he -- she asked these African leaders,
would you nominate President Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize?
Is not something that was on their diaries or their agenda, but this is something that she knows President Trump likes. She fawned over President
Trump, you're doing a great job setting all these peace deals. You did great with the DRC, and so, you see why President Trump asked, where is my
reporter from Africa?
Of course, Africa is not a place, it's not one monolith. But President Trump, again, this trend of picking only favorable reporting and reporters
who advance his agenda and not necessarily ask difficult questions.
SOARES: Larry, appreciate it, thank you very much indeed. We're going to leave that there because we're going to take you to Capitol Hill,
Netanyahu, Prime Minister Netanyahu, I've been told, has been speaking. Let's listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Prime Minister will give a statement first in English and then in Hebrew. Please, Prime Minister.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER, ISRAEL: I completed a second meeting with President Trump. And we -- I want to inform you something that will
shock the various reports that come out. President Trump and I have a common goal. We want to achieve the release of our hostages.
We want to end Hamas rule in Gaza. We want to make sure that Gaza does not pose a threat to Israel anymore. In pursuing this common goal, we have a
common strategy. Not only do we have a common strategy, we have common tactics. This doesn't involve pressure, it doesn't involve coercion. It
involves full coordination.
President Trump wants a deal, but not at any price. I want a deal, but not in any price. Israel has security requirements and other requirements, and
we're working together to try to achieve it. Everything else that you hear and are being briefed on is folly. It's about as accurate as the reports
that you had before.
Before the Iran war, about the great tension between us, about the great disagreements between us. And I say, when will they ever learn? I don't
know. It's not important. We're continuing, we're pursuing this and I hope with impending success.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Prime Minister, is pushing out Palestinians --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Prime Minister Netanyahu, are we close?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is pushing out Palestinians to countries where they have no connection to going to make Israel safer in the long run?
NETANYAHU: We're not pushing out anyone. And I don't think that's President Trump's suggestion. His suggestion was giving them a choice. You
have a choice. Where do you live, Madam? Where do you live? Are you an American citizen?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes --
NETANYAHU: Do you think you have a right to go to another country if you seek to do so?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But sir --
NETANYAHU: But the Palestinians should have that right. It's called the freedom of choice, but nothing more than that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, Prime minister Netanyahu --
NETANYAHU: No coercion, no forcible dislocation. If people want to leave Gaza, they should have the right to do so and not be held at a point of a
gun of Hamas to keep them inside if they want to leave.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE) a statement in Hebrew, please.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is the U.S'. involvement --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And statement in Hebrew, please.
NETANYAHU: Yes, (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE) --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: We're going to leave Prime Minister Netanyahu here as he's speaking now in Hebrew. But you heard there, the Israeli Prime Minister,
who has been in the U.S., in Washington all this week and had second meeting with President Trump, of course, just addressing some of the media
there.
He said he had a second meeting with President Trump, him and President Trump have a common goal. Of course, we also heard today from President
Trump saying that the deal between Israel and Hamas are very close, his words, in the last, what, two, three hours. He said very close to a
ceasefire deal. 60 days. Six -- five -- 60-day ceasefire deal.
Netanyahu saying they have a come goal. That's the release of the hostages, as you heard there from the prime minister, but also the end of Hamas rule.
They have a common strategy, he said, and tactics. President Trump wants a deal but not at any price. And that is the same from his point of view.
We'll keep an ear out, of course, for what else the Israeli prime minister says. But clearly, we are seeing movement on this as President Trump has
said, reiterated time and time again, he wants a deal, he wants a ceasefire deal. There have been signals that perhaps we'll get it by the end of this
week. President Trump says they're very close to that. So, let's see what comes out.
But clearly, Prime Minister Netanyahu still meeting, still in Washington. Earlier today he met with Secretary Hegseth. Any more developments, of
course, we'll bring that to you. We're going to take a short break and actually, we're going to regroup and have a longer discussion on what kind
of deal we are likely to see. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: Welcome back, everyone. No amount of warnings, pleadings, paper statements and press conferences have been able to stop the mass bloodshed
in Gaza. But aid groups are trying, once again, sounding the alarm amid devastating Israeli strikes.
[14:35:00]
This footage captured the moment. You can see there a blast hit a market in Gaza City today causing a fire in a nearby building. Other strikes tense in
Khan Younis. 10 members of the same family were killed in this blast. A witness who lost his brother was overcome by emotion as he asked why the
world hasn't stepped in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Every day there's a martyr. Every day there's a massacre. Women are on the streets. No one is listening. No
one is watching. This world is blinded. We're all in this torture with no reason. We're all in this torture with no reason. What is the fault of
women to be on the streets? What is the fault of people to be on the streets? What is our fault as youth not to live our lives? What is our
fault as Gaza and youth? Why is no one able to solve this? Why?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Well, Doctors Without Borders, which has teams on the ground in Gaza, has issued a stark statement saying it's clear that, quote, "We are
witnessing Israel commit genocide." Israel has strongly denied similar allegations saying it has the right to defend itself against Hamas.
The U.N. is also escalating warnings saying the already catastrophic conditions in Gaza are deteriorating fast, and it says deaths could soon
rise sharply unless Israel allows more fuel in to power those water systems and hospital critical care units.
Some doctors are being forced to put multiple newborn babies in a single incubator. Have a look at this photo. An UNRWA says its health workers
tried to save a seven-month-old baby girl from starvation, but on Tuesday she died.
One doctor in Gaza says, Israel's siege has turned routine care into a life-or-death struggle. Our Paula Hancocks has more on the fuel shortage
facing hospitals. And we warn you, her report does contain disturbing images.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Four babies crammed into one ICU cot. The stark reality of trying to keep preterm
babies alive in a war zone where formula, medicine, and fuel have virtually run out.
DR. NASSER BULBUL, HEAD OF ICU, AL-HELOU HOSPITAL: But we have no incubators to keep this baby inside the incubator. So, put the baby for
more than one week in the (INAUDIBLE). Also, this acute baby in risk of complication because of the temperature control and the risk of getting
infection.
HANCOCKS (voice-over): 12 incubators In this ICU with 22 cases of extreme preterm babies. Dr. Bulbul says they have lost babies when the generators
break down.
Baby Asil (ph) was born three months early, weighing half a kilo. She needed two months in an incubator.
We all want our children to be safe, her mother says. If the power is cut off, these children will be in a dire situation. We need electricity to
power the incubators.
Hospitals across Gaza and the United Nations warn fuel shortages are at a critical point. Nasser Medical Complex warns it is 24 hours away from
disaster. If the power goes out, it says, dozens of patients face certain deaths.
This kidney dialysis center has been closed at Al-Shifa Hospital. It can only reopen once more fuel is delivered. We have asked COGAT, the Israeli
agency in charge of coordinating aid deliveries into Gaza, about the acute shortage of fuel for hospitals. And the daily fight for food becomes ever
more desperate.
JAMAL ABU HASIRA, GAZA CITY RESIDENT: Daily, I'm fighting this kind of starvation. And I barely get one meal for two days.
HANCOCKS (voice-over): Chaos and desperation is clear to see at this Gaza city soup kitchen fear another day may pass with no food for themselves and
their families.
In the struggle, one girl spills boiling soup on her hands. Screams of shock and pain as she nurses the burns. Beyond her injury, she has lost her
food.
As ceasefire talks continue in Doha, dozens continue to be killed daily across Gaza. This the aftermath of a strike on a tent city in Gaza City.
Talk of progress in Qatar has no impact on life in Gaza.
ABU HASIRA: More than miserable, more than starvation, more than genocide. We are really living in hell. Really.
HANCOCKS (voice-over): Paula Hancocks, CNN, Abu Dhabi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: Such a difficult watch, but so important that you see it. I'm joined now by Daniel Levy, the president of the U.S./Middle East Project.
Daniel, thank you very much for coming in.
[14:40:00]
Just before you came on set, we were hearing from Prime Minister Netanyahu, as you all know, is in Washington this week. He's had two meetings with
President Trump, and he was addressing Capitol Hill. He basically said that him and President Trump have a common goal, the release of the hostages,
that end of Hamas rule. They have a common strategy and tactics. They both want to make a deal but are not at any cost.
President Trump meanwhile said, they're very close, I think he said about two hours ago or so, they're very close to a ceasefire deal. How optimistic
are you that we'll see one?
DANIEL LEVY, PRESIDENT, U.S./MIDDLE EAST PROJECT: I'm struggling to move on from those haunting images that we see every day from Gaza, Isa. This
feels really like such a collective failure, and especially on the part of the U.S. and those Western states who are continuing to enable the daily
slaughterhouse, that is Gaza. And I hope that it ends, but I also think this will haunt us for an awfully long time.
Prime Minister Netanyahu, I think, is in Washington, D.C. testing the water on how much wiggle room does he have at this stage in Gaza. Because he has
three choices. One where we've been for so long, play the blame game, just make sure the other side are the ones who get blamed by the Americans. So,
you keep getting the arms, the regular trade, everything that allows this to continue.
Secondly, do a deal temporary and make sure that you've got room for maneuver to collapse the deal, to go back to these scenes, which they did
last time. Or third, actually agree to closure. And I think that's the option that he doesn't want to be trapped in.
SOARES: How then do you equate what we've been seeing, you know, reconciling Hamas' desire for the war to end once and for all, and then
trying to understand what Prime Minister Netanyahu wants is then have the hostages return and then restart the war? How do you reconcile that?
Because right now, it seems they're completely incompatible.
LEVY: Well, indeed, and what that relies on is the Hamas side feeling there's enough credibility, there's enough plausibility that the U.S. might
lean in. They're not going to fully guarantee, but is there enough of a guarantee that other factors might prevent Israel from resuming this.
That's what they did in January. Israel broke the ceasefire. We've seen the worst starvation siege in the four months subsequent to that.
And on the Israeli side, Netanyahu will want to know that he has that freedom of maneuver. There's nothing yet to suggest that Netanyahu is
crossing the Rubicon, even though he now has more political freedom than he did crossing the --
SOARES: Because of Iran?
LEVY: Because of Iran.
SOARES: Why do you think that is?
LEVY: Because he has a different kind of victory narrative, because there are parties who will offer him more of a safety net. He doesn't want to
rely on that. So, he wants this freedom of operation. And what he has managed to achieve, in inverted commas as far as I would be concerned, with
his coalition allies, to squeeze Palestinians out of 75 percent of Gaza to push them into these areas near the Egyptian border.
The leading Holocaust historian at the Hebrew University, Amos Goldberg, saying they are creating concentration camps.
SOARES: Let me ask you about this, because Prime Minister Netanyahu who was asked by a journalist just there at Capitol Hill, he was asked about,
you know, pushing out Palestinians. And this comes off the back of comments and plans we heard from Israel's defense minister where according to
reports in Israel's media, he plans to hold the population of Gaza in what he called a humanitarian city built on the ruins or Rafah in Southern Gaza.
Today, he was asked about this, Prime Minister Netanyahu, who said, it's the freedom of choice. If people want to leave Gaza, they can. Is this
seriously being considered? Do you think this is serious being considered by President Trump?
LEVY: Absolutely it is. Well, look, President Trump put forward this Gaza Riviera plan and it essentially entailed, they're not being Palestinians.
Netanyahu jumped on it. Netanyahu talks about it.
SOARES: And the far-right within his party jumped on that.
LEVY: Absolutely. He talks about it more than Trump does. This is hardly new in Zionist history. It begins the establishment of the state.
SOARES: So, how can any -- how can Hamas or any of the other allies back this?
LEVY: Well, I don't think they do.
SOARES: Right.
LEVY: And so, I think at the moment what you have is the attempt to mobilize at least a rhetoric, but then to try and transition it into a
reality of ethnic cleansing. And I think the way they're going about this is by saying, if we can concentrate the population next to the Egyptian
border, in a tiny area, Gaza is already one of the most crowded places on earth, they have set up an authority inside the defense ministry for what
they call voluntary immigration. There's nothing voluntary when you are destroying everything. There's no housing, there's no homes, there's no
schools, there's no food.
I think their hope is, given time, even if there's a ceasefire and Palestinians see no hope, and you've stopped stuff getting in, people may
eventually go across the border.
[14:45:00]
You've seen that this Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, so-called, is part of the plan. Boston Consultancy Group has put a price tag on getting
Palestinians out of there. This is the attempt to finish the job of the Nakba.
SOARES: And on this, Michael Sfard, who was an Israeli human rights lawyer, told CNN the Katz's plans amounts, like you were saying to the
forceful transfer of population and preparation for deportation, both of these, he tell CNN, are war crimes. We shall see what comes out of that,
what kind of deal, what kind of ceasefire, goodness knows, that we do all want to see an end to this, to all these horrific -- the atrocities we are
seeing and also, to the hostages being returned. Thank you very much. Really appreciate it. Thank you. We are going to take a short break. Be
back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: Pollution from artificial light is increasing every year with negative consequences for wildlife as well as human health. Today, on Call
to Earth, we join a British astrophotographer as he highlights the importance of a truly dark sky. Have a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AARON CHERRI, ASTROPHOTOGRAPHER: As an astrophotographer, I come to places like this all the time and seek out dark skies, but that's becoming a rarer
and harder thing to find nowadays. The saddest thing is that people don't get to witness things like this. This shouldn't have to be so hard to get
to.
My name is Aaron Cherri. I'm a bar owner in Redruth, and I'm a part-time astrophotographer.
This is St. Michael's Mount. It's, say, one of the most beautiful locations, I think, in Cornwall. Right now at this location, we couldn't
shoot much astrophotography here because the light pollution is too much in the background from the villages, from the town, from the street lighting.
Places like this really affects the natural world. Insects, moths, bugs, it all has a knock-on effect.
KEVIN GASTON, PROFESSOR OF BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION, UNIVERSITY OF EXETER: Light has been used throughout much of evolutionary time as a
measure of timing. And so, lots and lots of organisms have used that. And now, what we're doing is changing those natural cycles of light through the
introduction of artificial light.
Organisms are using it to determine when they might flower, when are they going to reproduce, when are they going to migrate, when are they going to
feed? So, we're fundamentally eroding, distorting those light cycles on an enormous scale.
[14:50:00]
Dark Sky International is the leading organization internationally protecting dark skies, restoring dark skies where we're already lost
because of the introduction of artificial light.
CHERRI: Let's bring up light pollution map. This is the West Penwith Dark Sky location, which is a national dark sky site. And this is where I'll be
going tonight to take our pictures of the Milky Way. This is probably the darkest skies we've got in the U.K.
We've all got to appreciate the night sky, even if it just means turn off your security light and going outside and standing out there for 10
minutes, you'd be surprised what you might see.
And now, we're ready to start shooting. So, this be a 15-second exposure at F2.8 ISO 6,400. Now, that shows you how much light pollution is now coming
from pens at a local town here.
GASTON: Lighting is one of those things that we can do something quite quickly about, both individually and corporately. Many of us have control
over at least some forms of nighttime lighting. So, reducing the spill of lighting outdoors, I think everybody can do their part in this.
CHERRI: You see the star link trains. We have the Aurora is going off at a minute with the solar cycle being at its peak, but these things are missed
by light pollution. By doing what we do here with astrophotography and stuff, is trying to recapture that and then spread that with the world and
seeing what nature really has to offer.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: And do let us know what you are doing to answer the call with the hashtag Call to Earth.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: A new arrival in the Barbie Dream House is going viral, and not just because of her cute matching outfit. Jacqueline Howard has all the
details for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER (voice-over): Barbie's newest doll is the brand's first with type 1 diabetes. You see, it comes with all the
items anyone living with the autoimmune disease would need on a daily basis.
[14:55:00]
EMILY MAZREKU, MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, BREAKTHROUGH T1D: So, a continuous glucose monitor monitors blood sugar levels throughout the
day, and all of that is sent to her phone which is right here attached to her purse with all of her type 1 diabetes supplies on the go.
HOWARD (voice-over): Emily Mazreku is the director of marketing and communications at Breakthrough T1D, formally known as the Juvenile Diabetes
Research Foundation, and she lives with type 1 diabetes.
She worked with Mattel to design the doll to represent the roughly 304,000 kids and teens in the U.S. living with.
MAZREKU: Type 1 diabetes can sometimes feel invisible. To share what that means, to wear those devices confidently and proudly, just like Barbie
does, it's an incredible step forward in awareness for type 1 diabetes.
HOWARD (voice-over): Emily's three-year-old daughter, Ellie, who does not have type 1 diabetes, was so excited to see the doll.
MAZREKU: That moment was so unforgettable for me. So, for her to see that in a doll that she can play with, interact with, and understand, but also
relate that to her mom who's wearing her, you know, type 1 diabetes devices loud and proud is an extremely special moment.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: That's lovely, ending the show with some good news. Thanks for your company tonight. Do stay right here. "What We Know" with Lynda Kinkade
is up next. I shall see you tomorrow. Bye-bye.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:00:00]
END
