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Isa Soares Tonight
Firefighters Battle One of Spain's Deadliest Wildfires on Record; Police in the U.K. Say They have Now Arrested a 26-Year-Old Man on Suspicion of Murder of Ann Widdecombe; Spain and Belgium Meet Today at the Quarterfinals of 2026 FIFA World Cup. Source: Man Killed By ICE Not Target Of Operation; CNN Obtains Video Of Senator Mitch McConnell Being Taken To Hospital; Trump Fires U.S. Election Assistance Commission Leaders; The Woman Reinventing Swarovski; All-Woman Group Of Rangers Fights Poaching In South Africa; Backlash Over Part Of Meta's A.I. Muse Spark Technology. Aired 2-3p ET
Aired July 10, 2026 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:00:00]
ERICA HILL, HOST, ISA SOARES TONIGHT: A warm welcome to the show, thanks for joining us, I'm Erica Hill in for Isa Soares. Tonight, firefighters
battling one of Spain's deadliest wildfires on record. At least, a dozen people killed. We have the very latest for you.
Also, police in the U.K. say they have now arrested a 26-year-old man on suspicion of murder of a former government minister, who was found dead
earlier today. Plus, with just an hour to go now until the next match of the men's FIFA World Cup quarterfinals, we'll get you up to speed. That and
much more ahead.
We do begin this hour with the extreme heat and the deadly wildfires striking Europe. Strong winds fueling the flames in Spain where authorities
believe a blaze near Almeria may have originated from a fallen power line.
We know at this hour, at least, 12 people have been killed, dozens remain missing. These images, terrifying, as you can see there, the blaze here
surrounding the town on Spain's southern coast. The area itself is a popular tourist destination, and a number of the victims are said to be
foreign nationals, but their identities have yet to be confirmed.
Pau Mosquera joining us now live from Madrid. So, bring us up-to-speed in terms of not only what we're seeing with the fire, but just whether there's
also a chance at containment.
PAU MOSQUERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erica, we have to take into account that this is one of the worst wildfires to ever affect Spain. More
specifically, the authorities say that this is the deadliest to ever impact the autonomous community of Andalusia.
So far, as you were saying, 12 people are reported dead. But when it comes to the figures of the missing ones from the regional government, they say
that there are 23 people missing. But from the Interior Ministry, they say that so far, they have three formal reports with missing people.
Right now, the firefighters, what they are trying to do is to contain and control the flames, something that is getting really difficult. Actually,
the President of Andalusia, Juanma Moreno, said that the task of controlling the fire could take a few days.
And amongst the reasons are the weather conditions, because you have the heat there, the thermometer is already marking around 35 degrees Celsius.
Also, the situation of the humidity, it's very low. Now, from Spain's National Weather Agency, they say that the situation may change a little
bit from tomorrow on.
So, maybe this could get a window of opportunity for the firefighters finally extinguish it. Erica?
HILL: Yes, there is some hope there that they'll be able to do that. Pau, appreciate it. Thank you. The U.S. also is staring down another brutal heat
wave, this time in the west. A major weather pattern change is expected to send temperatures 10 to 15 degrees higher than normal.
That pushes the Fahrenheit temps you see there into the triple digits for a number of states. The Rockies region will have some of the most intense
heat. It could actually tie or even break some records there for high temperatures.
Eastern Oregon, parts of California, Utah, Wyoming and Montana are also all at risk under this heat dome, and that is understandably also raising
wildfire concerns there. Meantime, parts of Asia are now preparing for Typhoon Bavi, which is roughly the width of France, and now heading across
the Pacific Ocean toward Taiwan.
CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam has more now on how people are preparing for this massive storm.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST (voice-over): Parts of Asia are bracing for one of the strongest typhoons on earth this weekend. Typhoon Bavi is
expected to bear down on Taiwan early Saturday morning before making landfall in Japan's southern island of Ishigaki and southeastern China.
Across the region, people are taking precautions ahead of the looming storm. In Taiwan, residents are stocking up on supplies, sometimes emptying
out store shelves. And along the coast, major fishing ports have shut down and farmers are rushing to protect their crops from damage.
TU HUA-CHIN, FARMER (through translator): Typhoons usually cause fairly serious damage. Last year was particularly bad for us.
VAN DAM: In Japan, some public parks and beaches appeared closed as authorities stepped up storm preps. The region's All Nippon Airways says
they'll cancel dozens of flights this weekend, serving Okinawa's airports.
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Local business owners are preparing for the worst.
HIROSHI NOMURA, SHOP OWNERR (through translator): According to the typhoon forecast, I've heard that this one will be pretty big. I'm a little
concerned about whether our typhoon preparations are enough.
VAN DAM: Authorities in China have also intensified preparations, deploying personnel to patrol beaches and monitor water levels. Multiple
provinces have upgraded their flood control response to the highest level.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Due to continuous heavy rainfall, the earthen embankments have been soaked, making them highly prone to risks
such as seepage, piping, landslides and cracks in the dike body.
VAN DAM: Bavi comes right on the heels of last week's tropical storm, Maysak, that triggered deadly flooding, rare tornadoes and a reservoir
collapse in parts of coastal and inland China. Authorities say dozens of people have been killed.
And if the floods weren't dangerous enough, video posted on social media shows snakes swimming in the streets after a local news outlet reported
more than 800 escaped from a breeding farm in southern China.
China's National Climate Center says the back-to-back storms are just the start of a turbulent month, and it expects up to six typhoons to form in
the northwest Pacific and South China Sea by the end of July, almost doubling the expected average. Derek Van Dam, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL: U.S. President Donald Trump says the U.S. has agreed to continue talks with Iran, but he insists the ceasefire is over. The U.S. repeatedly
striking Iran this week after it targeted ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Now, there were no new strikes reported overnight, and a U.S. official
tells CNN, the Trump administration's strategy was to strike, then pause military operations in an effort to give diplomacy a chance.
Israel, however, is threatening to attack on Iran alone if necessary. Defense Minister Israel Katz says the IDF is now on high alert and prepared
to resume the war. Two Israeli sources say President Trump does not want Israel involved in the fighting for fear of losing control of the conflict.
Jeremy Diamond following all these developments from Tel Aviv. So, Jeremy, where do things stand? I mean, essentially, in terms of potentially going
it alone?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, listen, what we've been witnessing in the region over the course of the last week has been a
significant escalation with back-and-forth strikes between the United States and Iran around the Strait of Hormuz.
Some of those strikes coming as close as Jordan as it relates to Israel, very -- you know, a neighboring country, ten missiles that were fired
there. But so far, this conflict has not engulfed Israel and Iran, which would mark a dramatic escalation of things.
The Israeli military is indeed on high alert for the potential resumption of this conflict, whether defensive or offensive. But what we are being
told by one source familiar with the matter is that, while the Israeli Prime Minister would like to go back to war against Iran, the United States
is trying to keep Israel on the sidelines because of the understanding of how much that could dramatically spin things out of control.
And also, it seems to reflect the fact that ultimately, President Trump, despite some of his rhetoric this week, is trying to increase his leverage
vis-a-vis Iran at the negotiating table, but seems relatively loath to see this conflict spiral back into an all-out war.
Even as he is saying today on Truth Social that the ceasefire with Iran is over, we are witnessing that these negotiations are continuing with a
flurry of shuttle and telephone diplomacy taking place in the Middle East today, Qatari mediators, for example, are in Iran.
Pakistani mediators have been on the phone with various parties involved. And so, there are -- the focus today at least, seems to be on the diplomacy
rather than on additional strikes. But again, the situation still remains very volatile and very uncertain.
HILL: Yes, absolutely. Jeremy, I also wanted to ask you about this reporting that Israel had shared Intelligence with the U.S. about an
Iranian plot to assassinate President Trump. I know there was some -- there were some questions in terms of on the American side, in terms of that
Intelligence.
And whether it was perhaps being used to also bring President Trump, perhaps over to the Israeli side for something that may be coming up. Where
does it stand in terms of trusting that Intel right now? How much confidence is there in that Israeli Intelligence?
DIAMOND: Well, what we've been told is that the U.S. Intelligence community hasn't yet vetted that Israeli Intelligence about a specific plot
-- specific new plot to try and assassinate President Trump. But that being said, the notion of the Iranians plotting to assassinate the President
isn't something that's necessarily, you know, doesn't conform with reality.
Because the U.S. Intelligence community had already in recent weeks, according to one of these sources, been tracking potential threats against
President Trump's life, stemming from the Iranian regime.
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So, this is clearly something that the U.S. Intelligence community is monitoring, as are Israeli Intelligence officials, and President Trump
today commenting on this once again. So, it seems like he certainly seems to believe that at least, some of these plots are real, that there is a
real effort by Iran to try and assassinate him, so much so that he told the "New York Post" today that he has left instructions to severely bomb Iran
in the event that he were to be killed.
HILL: Jeremy, appreciate it as always, thank you. A short time ago, British police announced they have now arrested a suspect in the murder of
a former parliament member. Ann Widdecombe was found dead at her home on Thursday. Investigators say they do not believe the crime was politically
motivated.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATT LONGMAN, ASSISTANT CHIEF CONSTABLE, DEVON AND CORNWALL POLICE: We can confirm that a 26-year-old man was arrested at an address in Newton Abbot
this afternoon on suspicion of the murder of Ann Widdecombe. The suspect, who is a white British national, remains in police custody whilst the
inquiries then continue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: Our CNN's Anna Stewart covering these developments for us now from London. What more do we know about this person?
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, this murder inquiry is happening very quickly. Police were first called late this morning in the U.K. by the
ambulance team, and Widdecombe's body had signs of serious injury, we're told.
And as you heard there already, a 26-year-old white man, we're told, is under arrest on suspicion of murder. Now, it was interesting, Erica, that
in that press conference, police were really keen to say at this time, this has not been treated as a terror-related incident.
When asked, they also said they don't believe it to be politically motivated. And there was a call, really, an appeal to the public to not
speculate about the motive behind this murder on social media. And I think that is for a few reasons.
So, the security of lawmakers in the U.K. has been a really big issue in the last ten years. There have been two murders of active MPs, both from
the Labor Party and the Conservative Party. One was attacked by someone inspired by ISIS; another was attacked by a far-right extremist.
This time, people want to make sure -- the police want to make sure that no one sort of jumps to that sort of speculation. In recent years, following
an incident in Southport, the murder of some school girls, you may remember at a Taylor Swift party.
Speculation actually led to huge nationwide riots. So, that's what we know in terms of the murder investigation, in terms of Ann Widdecombe, she is a
household name. She wasn't a sitting MP. Currently, she has retired. She was 78 years old.
She has one of the most incredible careers, decades in parliament. She started in the Conservative Party in 1987 under John Major, and had a
pretty turbulent career. She was very well-known for always speaking her views, not always being all that popular.
She moved about, she was expelled from the Conservative Party, joined the Brexit party, fought hard for Brexit, often had controversial views, often
criticized her colleagues and actually later in life became something of a reality TV star, starring in "Strictly Come Dancing", not loved by the
judges, very much loved by the public, and also "Celebrity Big Brother".
So, this news is really shocking today. People up and down the nation pouring out tributes right across the political spectrum. We've had, you
know, tributes both from the Labor Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, also from the Conservative Party leader, and everyone in between. Erica --
HILL: Yes, and you mentioned, and I know we heard from officials that they don't believe it's politically-motivated. They don't want anybody
speculating about a motive. But as you laid out, right, what we've seen in the last number of years, has there been any mention of increased security
measures for sitting members or any concerns about that?
STEWART: There have been so many calls for increased security. In the U.K., your conservative -- sorry, your local MP represents you, the person
who lives there, and you are able often to go to surgeries, they're called where you have a face-to-face with your MP, and you can make whatever
complaint about -- I know the road potholes in my case, and you can have that discussion with an MP, often without any kind of security detail at
all.
So, this has been a big issue that has been raised in the last ten years, particularly following those two very prominent murders, both of Joanne Cox
ten years ago and five years ago, Sir David Amess, because security wasn't tight enough.
So, you know, MP surgeries don't maybe happen always in quite the same way in constituencies since then up and down the country. But there are still
calls for more added security there. That said, Ann Widdecombe was not a sitting MP, and as we understand it, they're not treating this as terror-
related, and they don't believe it was politically motivated.
But obviously, that is where people's minds go. And that's why the police were so keen to say, don't speculate about this.
HILL: Yes, important notes, all of them. Anna, good to see you, thank you. Still ahead here tonight, win or go home. Spain and Belgium preparing to
face off now in the World Cup quarterfinals. A preview of all the upcoming tournament action from a former footballer who is no stranger to the
international spotlight.
[14:15:00]
And later, the new questions being raised over the deadly shooting of a Mexican national by U.S. immigration agents.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HILL: Less than an hour from now, the World Cup quarterfinal matchup between Spain and Belgium is set to kick off. The winner will certainly
have his hands full facing France, the squad many believe is a favorite to win the tournament, propelled, of course, by Kylian Mbappe, the French
punching their ticket to the semis with a dominant 2-0 win over Morocco on Saturday in what promises to be an electric matchup.
England will try to stop Norway and Erling Haaland, it is the first-ever quarterfinals appearance for the Vikings, and it is a treat tonight to have
with us John Arne Riise, who holds the all-time record with 110 appearances for the Norwegian national team.
He's also a former defender for Liverpool in the English Premier League. It's great to have you with us. I mean at this moment, I have to say, let's
just first talk Norway-England if we could. How are you feeling right now about the match?
JOHN ARNE RIISE, FORMER NORWEGIAN & LIVERPOOL SOCCER PLAYER: Well, to be honest, I'm a big fan at the moment, I'm looking forward to the game
because, you know, English football has been the most viewed football for innovation for such a long time.
And I mean, to have us as Norwegian in the quarterfinal meeting England, it's the biggest game of the -- in the history of Norwegian football. So,
I'm excited. I'm so happy that I'm going to be at the stadium.
HILL: I'm happy for you that you're going to be there. A lot of people jealous that you get to be there, but happy that you will be. You know, a
number of the Norwegian players play club football in England. How much does that help them going into this match?
RIISE: Obviously, we all know about the players you're going to face in England. We know how much pressure the English team have on them -- their
shoulders because every time there's a championship, the English fans always sing, it's coming home.
But it's been a while since it came home, and now, as a Norwegian team, we have a chance to stop them again from taking it home. So, no, it's an
unbelievable game. And so, we're looking forward to. But all the pressure is on England, and I think we can be happy with that.
HILL: OK, so, are you -- are you feeling good about Norway's chances? You think it's going to happen
RIISE: I think it's going to happen, for many reasons, I think we are. The confidence in the team is high.
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The sense of humor, the energy in the team is good. And I also noticed that English, some English players had some difficulties before the game. There
were some injuries, maybe some illness, maybe so. And again, the pressure, I mean, it's a massive pressure on England.
So, I have strong belief they're going to do it. And I'm going to be in the stand, and I'm going to be rowing the whole game, so don't worry about
that.
HILL: I was about to ask you if you'd be rowing. I will say here in the U.S., I know it's not just in the U.S., but the way the rowing has frankly
taken the world by storm, it's really something. Are you at all surprised by how much this has grown?
RIISE: Yes, because to be honest, I haven't done it yet. Because in the beginning I thought it was a little bit -- I don't know, I feel awkward
when I looked at the TV, but now, it's just -- been such a huge thing in the whole world.
And the way the Norwegian fans are doing it now and all over the world, I have to. Maybe I'll do it even tonight when I go meet some Norwegian fans
in Miami beach, because we have to enjoy this moment. And for sure, tomorrow in the stand, I'll be doing the rowing before the game.
HILL: I love this, I think you should do it tonight because listen, John, it's also important to practice as we know, because practice makes perfect.
So --
RIISE: Yes --
HILL: We'll be watching for you on TV to find -- to find your rowing. When it comes to, of course, the other big match up, we have Belgium and Spain.
Is this Spain's to lose? Where do you think it stands?
RIISE: Yes, to be honest, I think obviously Belgium had a great game against the Americans in USA in the last game and Spain beat Portugal, but
I can't see Spain losing this game. I think they're too strong, they keep possession so well.
I think they can punish Belgium quite big. So, this is Spain's to lose and I can't see them losing this. So, for me, it's quite a comfy win for Spain.
HILL: How would you assess this World Cup so far?
RIISE: Unbelievable. I mean, I've never been part of World Cup before when I played, sadly. But this, I think it's been the best World Cup for so long
because of the fans and the stadiums and the atmosphere.
Obviously, the heat has been an issue for some games, but so well organized. And even when I came to -- arrived last night, the people have
been so friendly. And you can see the football or soccer, as you call it in America, it's been -- has been such a great sport here and I'm enjoying it,
and I can't wait for the next few days.
And hopefully when Norway wins on Saturday, I can stay for longer for the semifinal.
HILL: Yes, I hope so. Well, listen, they can't win without your rowing, so I'm expecting big things from you.
RIISE: Yes, I'm going to be -- I'm going to be practicing tonight, I'm going to be the best one on Saturday, tomorrow for rowing.
HILL: Great, we look forward to it, thanks for taking the time to join us.
RIISE: Thank you.
HILL: Well, Egypt's time on the World Cup pitch, of course has come to an end. But what a welcome home for this squad. Take a look at this. Egypt of
course, qualified for the round of 16 for the first-time in history. Argentina overtook them in that dramatic 3-2 win in a nail-biting final 11
minutes of the match.
But upon arriving home, thousands of fans gathering at the airport to greet the players and coaches waving flags, singing patriotic songs, a
celebration that continued as the team then boarded, as you see here, an open top bus for a little parade through the streets.
Still ahead here tonight, there are new questions about the deadly shooting of a Mexican national by U.S. Immigration agents. What the man's son is now
saying. Plus, nearly a month after Senator Mitch McConnell was last seen being loaded into an ambulance, there is still no real information on his
condition. No word on what's wrong or really how he's doing.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:25:00]
HILL: The family of a Mexican man killed by U.S. Immigration agents in Texas is disputing the official account from the Feds about what led to his
death. Now, according to ICE, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo refused to follow verbal commands in a traffic stop.
And that's when they say the 52-year-old tried to ram his van into a law enforcement vehicle. Witnesses, however, say that is not what happened.
Federal officials say the agents involved were not issued body cameras, so that footage doesn't exist. Here's what Salgado Araujo's son told CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RONALDO SALGADO, SON OF LORENZO SALGADO ARAUJO: We have spoken as a family time and time again, what my dad should do in the case that he did get
detained by ICE. He did not know that those vehicles following him were ICE agents.
Again, these vehicles were unmarked. They had no emblems, no logos, no flashing lights. I know my dad would have stopped, had ICE agents formally
and clearly identified themselves, at least, through their vehicle markings. My dad would have stopped and complied because he knew that there
was a process.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: CNN's Carolina Peguero is joining me now live from Houston. Carolina, bring us up to speed here. We're getting a little bit more
information, but frankly, there are a lot of questions still that have yet to be answered, especially by federal officials.
CAROLINA PEGUERO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's correct, Erica, lots of information coming out of Houston this afternoon and lots of questions
unanswered. State officials, including Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia, earlier today, she said, and is exceeding as well as the district attorney's office
and a full investigation on what happened here just days ago on Tuesday, killing the Mexican national Lorenzo Salgado Araujo under ICE agents'
supervision.
And while there's lots of information over exactly what happened moments before, videos that have been circling all over social media and media
outlets. Now, we do see here a lot of community members that have -- came here to the site honoring Lorenzo Salgado Araujo's memory, and also him
being a 35-year resident here in this east-end community.
Now, earlier today, the family also was here with Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia in a private, intimate moment, while they have also had difficulty
claiming his body. The lawyer of the men that were with Lorenzo Salgado, including his brother in the van that morning, have given written
statements of what they witnessed before being detained by ICE agents. And I want you to hear what the lawyer said earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HUGO BALDERAS-IBARRA, ATTORNEY: After speaking with these three men that were in the vehicle with Lorenzo, I have no doubt that what these ICE
agents are saying is completely false. At no point did they ever use the van to ram into the ICE agents, and at no point were these ICE agents'
lives ever in any danger.
These men deserve respect. They deserve answers. They deserve justice. And we are demanding an independent investigation so that we can get them the
justice and the answers that they deserve.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PEGUERO: And while the lawyer is looking for their clients to be released and receive a fair due process as soon as possible, he fears of them being
pressured to sign voluntary departure documents back to their home country. While the Department of Homeland Security on the other hand has released
statements on accepting that Salgado Araujo was not the intended target and that the ICE agents did not have body cameras on them.
Now, an information that just came out today as well by Congresswoman Sylvia Salgado was that she informed us that these ICE agents that were
involved are no longer in Houston, but we are unsure or they are unsure if they are still doing their duties and doing ICE detentions in the state.
We'll have more information coming from Houston, but as of now, that's what we have, Erica.
HILL: Carolina, what -- you noted that they were not wearing body cameras. You know, CNN has asked about whether there was any dash cam video. Has DHS
actually responded to that inquiry yet?
PEGUERO: According to the state officials in the district's attorney's office, they have not. They are willing to have continuing conversations
between state, local, and federal agencies. However, they are asking for more information, including the identities of these ICE agents that have
yet been made public.
HILL: Yes. And as you point out, we don't know where they are now, even if they're no longer in Houston. Real quickly, too, Carolina, I just want to
ask you, we see the vigil behind you. How is the community doing at this point? What is the feeling within the community in the wake of this? T
PEGUERO: There's a lot of frustration from what we have been able to witness just in the few hours -- just in this press conference as well as
here in the community. There are a lot of members that come here and send, you know, their condolences to the families, bring flowers, balloons,
Mexican flags to show and honor the heritage of Lorenzo Salgado. But there's a lot of frustration because they also say they do not feel safe
and that these ICE agents or any ICE agents in Texas should have body cameras and identify themselves before conducting a detention.
HILL: Carolina Peguero, really good to have you on the ground there. Thank you.
There are new questions today about the health of one of the most powerful members of the U.S. Senate. CNN has now obtained video that witnesses say
shows Senator Mitch McConnell being loaded into an ambulance and taken to the hospital. Keep in mind, this video is from mid-June. That's when
emergency responders were called to the address that matches that of the Washington home of Mitch McConnell. And according to records of that call
to the address, while a name wasn't used, there were reports of an unconscious person.
Now, McConnell's office, for its part, has refused to say why the senator was taken to the hospital. His office, though, does insist that he's
recovering. Meantime, the former Republican leader in the Senate has not actually been seen or heard from for weeks.
CNN's Annie Grayer has been leading our coverage of this story. So, there are a lot of questions in the last couple of days. We had a few people
saying, oh, sure. I spoke with him. I spoke with him for 20 minutes. But there hasn't really been any proof of that, right? Or anything additional
that would give us any insight into his condition, Annie.
ANNIE GRAYER, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: That's right, Erica. There -- we have gotten no concrete evidence to understand what Senator McConnell's
condition currently is, why he was in the hospital in the first place. But what I learned from talking to one of McConnell's neighbors is on the
morning of June 14th, this neighbor went out onto the street to see a commotion happening. They saw two ambulances and a fire truck and Capitol
Police had blocked down the entire block. And so, this person asked one of the police officers what was the situation on the street and this person
said that there was a medical emergency but wouldn't confirm who was being tended to.
And so then about minutes later, this eyewitness saw some -- saw paramedics bring somebody from McConnell's home in a stretcher into an ambulance. And
the eyewitness that I spoke to did not see who was on the stretcher, but other neighbors who were standing there remarked that it was Senator
McConnell who was in fact on that stretcher. And the eyewitness who I spoke to said that McConnell was wrapped in a blanket and that his feet were
exposed. And that once paramedics put the senator in the ambulance that there were no sirens that went off as they cleared the street.
And so, the reason this -- these little details are so important here is we've gotten such little information from McConnell's office about why the
senator was admitted to the hospital and why he continues to recover there. There separately has been reporting of EMS audio where first responders
were sent to McConnell's home on the 14th apparently to respond to somebody who was under cardiac arrest, unconscious, and needed CPR. But in -- should
note that in that recording they don't specify who at McConnell's home they are treating but is understood to be the senator.
So, this entire debate has really -- this entire situation has really sparked a debate about what level of transparency lawmakers need to provide
about their health especially -- when it's such a sensitive and personal and private issue. But certainly, the comments that other leaders have made
saying that they've spoken to McConnell in recent days hasn't been enough for those who want to know the status of the senator's health and how he's
doing.
[14:35:37]
HILL: Yes, it certainly hasn't. And it does -- it is an interesting question, right, when it comes to that balance of privacy versus what is a
very public job and one in which constituents, many of them, would say you have a right to tell me where you are because I need to know if you're
doing the job or not. I mean, is there any sense in your conversations, Annie, or with your sources that there will be any sort of an update soon,
or do you think they're just trying to ride this out?
GRAYER: Well, the senator's team maintains that they will keep the -- keep reporters and the public updated, but they are only giving us this very
limited information. They maintain that's all they need to provide. And again, Erica, there's no requirement here of how these situations are
handled or what level of information needs to be shared. So, it's really on a case-by-case basis. This is how the senator and his team have chosen to
handle it and it's why as reporters we're asking so many questions.
HILL: Yes, absolutely. Annie, I really appreciate the reporting. Thank you.
Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is now accusing President Trump of a brazen attempt to take control of upcoming elections, in his
words, before a single vote is even cast. So, in an extraordinary move just months before the Midterm, Mr. Trump fired the leadership of an independent
bipartisan federal agency that provides election assistance to states nationwide. This is just the latest move by the White House to intervene in
the electoral process in the United States. So, you may remember back in February, Mr. Trump called on Republicans to take over the voting, alleging
fraud without any evidence.
Ukraine is getting a glimmer of hope that it may actually have a fighting chance against Russia's ballistic missiles. So, it's been promised as a
U.S. -- it's been promised a U.S. license to produce Patriot interceptors. That, keep in mind, is the only weapon that can actually shoot down some of
Russia's most advanced missiles. But, as CNN's Nick Paton Walsh reports, that promise also comes with questions.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Trump just suggested Ukraine could make its own Patriot Missiles. If that actually
happens, it could change the fate of the war and Ukraine. The first question is whether Trump really has the power he claims to force U.S.
manufacturers Lockheed Martin and Raytheon to give up their greatest commercial secrets quickly. He may do.
But then it comes down to how quickly Ukraine can replicate the sophisticated missiles probably quite fast, to be honest, given this is a
matter of life and death for them and they've been studying the life-saving machines for months hoping to make something similar themselves. Expect the
timelines of years suggested by some experts to be compressed to months.
Remember, Ukraine is building attack and interceptor drones that are world- leading, improving them daily through frontline use. Wartime countries are faster at things, period.
Then there's the question of what happens in the gap. Does this mean the United States doesn't expect to give Ukraine any more missiles? Canada just
announced a new air defense package. Will Ukraine be vulnerable until it makes its own? But the largest question here is wider in scope. What
happened to make Trump change his mind?
Next to Zelenskyy, he was willing to give the man he once said had no cards the U.S.'s near best technology and said he approved of Ukraine's
escalation hitting Russian refineries and that might bring peace closer. Trump vacillates a lot. But this latest flip to Ukraine will delight Kyiv
and leave many wondering what the Kremlin can do to change the narrative and precedent back in their favor.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL: And our thanks to Nick for that. We're going to fit in a short break here. Stay with us. CNN continues on the other side.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:41:42]
HILL: From Madonna's latest album cover to the Met Gala, Giovanna Engelbert has helped reimagine Swarovski for a new generation. Her bold maximalist
vision is reshaping one of the world's most iconic crystal brands. Seasons' host Laura Jackson travels to Stockholm to meet the creative director
behind the sparkle.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GIOVANNA BATTAGLIA ENGELBERT, CREATIVE DIRECTOR OF SWAROVSKI AG: One day the light comes in hit one of these crystal that was on my desk and then
the rainbow come out and then I'm like there you go. It's joy.
LAURA JACKSON, CNN HOST (voice-over): This crystal-encrusted universe is the creative home of Giovanna Engelbert. For the past six years, she's been
bringing a new vision to heritage brand Swarovski.
ENGELBERT: I wanted to create a world in a universe from the crystal.
JACKSON: It's like a kaleidoscope.
ENGELBERT: Kaleidoscope which have very multiple facets. What was very, very interesting for me was the freedom to experience beauty and joy and
self-expression in a way that was accessible.
JACKSON (voice-over): That philosophy has found a new generation of fans from Sabrina Carpenter to Beyonce and Dua Lipa who opened her London
concert in a bespoke Swarovski bodysuit.
JACKSON: How do you choose the women then that you want to work with? What do they have to embody?
ENGELBERT: They all women that are -- achieve something great in them life in perfection in their craft.
JACKSON (voice-over): This year, Giovanna dressed two of the most talked about women at the Met Gala. Korean pop star Ejae and the events co-chair
tennis legend Venus Williams. The gown featured a necklace inspired by the Wimbledon plate, capturing Venus's life and sporting achievements in silver
and crystal.
ENGELBERT: It's full of meaning and I wanted to pay the most precise and respectful homage to her. It was like to really make her feel like
sculptural.
JACKSON: Yes.
ENGELBERT: Regal and important.
JACKSON: Yes.
JACKSON (voice-over): Craft has always been central to Swarovski. And it started with this, a handwritten page by company founder Daniel Swarovski,
mapping out the perfect crystal cut, then ground by machine. The great couture houses followed. Dior, YSL, Lanvin embedding Swarovski crystal into
the clothes coming off the most celebrated runways in the world onto Hollywood. And that famous naked dress worn by Marilyn Monroe in 1962 with
2,500 crystals sewn directly into the silk. 60 years later, it was back in the spotlight with Kim Kardashian.
JACKSON: I feel like I need some accessories because I, next to my three pals, look very bory.
ENGELBERT: She's like the party queen. She's the fun colorful girl. Which one do you think?
JACKSON: This one. This one.
ENGELBERT: OK, great. I think this one feels right for you.
JACKSON: Is there like a tiara or something for my inner princess? It's so beautiful. Oh, there we go.
ENGELBERT: Perfect.
JACKSON: Just need somewhere to go now. Should we have lunch?
ENGELBERT: Yes, let's go have lunch. It's perfect.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL: Still ahead here tonight, Meta announcing the launch of its new A.I. toll -- tool rather -- with one function that has a lot of people concerned
about privacy. What you need to know.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:47:28]
HILL: They are the all-woman force tackling one of Africa's toughest battles, protecting rhinos from poachers. They call themselves the Black
Mambas. They're fighting to keep -- back to keep these prime targets of poachers alive. Our Bijan Hosseini rode along to see just how they do it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BIJAN HOSSEINI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is Greater Krueger National Park in South Africa. Nearly five million acres of
wilderness and home to some of the most extraordinary wildlife on the planet. Including some of the last black rhinos on Earth. There are just
over of them left in this park.
Protecting them is a group unlike any other. The Black Mambas, 36 strong, battle-hardened, relentless, and unapologetically entirely female.
HOSSEINI: This is what you get to see every day.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Every single -- and every day.
HOSSEINI: How many sunrise and sunsets have you seen?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Countless. Countless. I've lost count.
HOSSEINI (voice-over): Rhino poaching across South Africa fell 16 percent last year according to government data. But inside Krueger, it nearly
doubled. Here, a black or white rhino is poached on average every hours.
Rhinos here are targeted for one reason, their horn. The black market is mostly driven by demand in Vietnam and China, where it's used in
traditional medicine and as a status symbol, despite the fact that it has no proven medicinal value at all.
To stop this trade, the Mambas patrol nearly 40,000 acres every single day, and they do it completely unarmed. It's an unconventional approach in a
world where most anti-poaching units carry weapons. It's not an oversight. It's a philosophy.
HOSSEINI: Poachers are dangerous. And you all operate unarmed. That seems like a bad idea to me.
LEITAH MKHABELA, BLACK MAMBA RANGER: Actually, it is a good idea to us because it's been years doing this. None of us has been killed by porches
and that's because we constantly get trained, but also we're not threats to the porches. So --
HOSSEINI: Then how do you prevent them if they know you don't have guns if you can't hurt them?
MKHABELA: So, they know that we're not going to hurt them, then there's no need for them to use their bullets on us as we're not going to respond.
HOSSEINI: But your presence will still scare them away.
MKHABELA: Our presence scare them away because they don't want to be seen. They don't want to be arrested. So, they just want to come inside the
reserve, kill the rhino, get the horn and out. And that's why they're always running.
[14:50:16]
HOSSEINI: This is the whole idea behind the Black Mambas. Instead of guns, they're armed with spotlights like this and walkie-talkies. And their
presence alone is enough to ward off potential poachers. So, right now we're driving through signaling our presence in the bush. And it looks like
right now we're actually coming up on a group of lions. Oh my gosh, here they are.
HOSSEINI (voice-over): Encounters like this are part of the job. It's a reminder that poachers aren't the only threat in the landscape. Before the
Black Mambas, women were largely shut out of frontline ranger roles in this region. These women didn't just change how this reserve is protected. They
opened a door that didn't exist.
MKHABELA: So many people didn't believe in us, but we have proved a lot of them wrong. The land owners in the reserve when, we do road block sometimes
in those first years, some of them they wouldn't even allow us to search them or to touch their car. When now they have elephants are breaking into
their house, into their lodges, and like things are missing, now they call the Black Mambas.
HOSSEINI (voice-over): Last year, poaching in Krueger nearly doubled, but not on this patch of ground. On the land that the Black Mambas walk every
single day, there hasn't been a single rhino poached in more than a decade. Their work paves the way for moments like this.
HOSSEINI: We've been looking for a black rhino for days, filming here in the greater Krueger area, and just as we're about to leave, we came across
not one, but two black rhinos. And this is so special because there are just a little more than 200 black rhinos in Krueger National Park. And this
is why the work that the Black Mambas are doing is so important to help and protect these critically endangered animals.
HOSSEINI (voice-over): 36 women, no guns, just presence. And for now, it's working.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL: A new A.I. image generating tool for Meta is getting a whole lot of backlash from privacy and safety advocates and users. It's called Muse
Image, and you may have seen a note about it on your social media. It's already integrated Instagram stories. So, what it can do here is not just
generate A.I. images, but edit images already posted to Instagram. And that is where the issue lies because this Muse Image function can generate
pictures using people's profile pictures or other images without telling them.
Wall Street is however reacting positively to news of the Muse Spark launch. Shares closing up six percent higher on Wednesday following that
announcement. Users though as I noted and privacy advocates, they do not share that enthusiasm.
CNN's Hadas Gold joins us now. So, Hadas, walk us through what this new feature actually does in terms of making a user's information, their images
available.
HADAS GOLD, CNN A.I. CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So, this is part of a new A.I. model that Meta unrolled in the last week or so, Spark, is the new model
and Muse is the image generation. I think you're seeing Wall Street react more probably to Spark, which is coding. But on this image portion, it is a
new A.I. image generation and A.I. editing tool, but it is integrated right now into Instagram stories for the United States.
And one of the new features is that you can just type in somebody's username, somebody's handle, and say, hey, edit an image of them doing this
or edit this recent photo of them doing this. And that's why you have a lot of privacy and safety advocates worried because they're worried that people
will be taking people's images without consent, without notification because Instagram doesn't notify you that somebody has done this with your
image or with your handle. You don't have a pre-consent. Everybody is actually already opted in unless they are under the age of 18 or they
already have their profile set to private.
Now, to be clear, any image that you ever post online publicly on the internet of yourself, of anybody else, anybody could download it, edit it
with A.I., and create a deep fake out of it. But what we've seen is when these platforms integrate these features into their platforms, it makes it
much easier for anybody to do it. And sometimes that leads to disturbing results. We saw this happen with X when they integrated their A.I. Grok
into X where you could just tag Grok on X and say, hey, edit this photo, make them do something. And that's when you saw that really disturbing sort
of undressing trend we saw earlier this year.
And so, that's why you have these safety advocates worried, especially because also again there's no notification or consent that needs to be
given. Anybody can just do it. But there is a way that you can turn this off. One of the ways is just to turn your profile private, so only your
followers, you know, can see what you're doing and then nobody can use your images in this A.I. image generation tool. But another way to do this is to
go through your settings.
[14:55:11]
Now, I'll walk you through how to do this step by step. First, go to your profile. Tap the three lines at the top right corner. Those are your
settings. And scroll down and tap on sharing and reuse. And then scroll down a little further. And under allow people to use your content on
Instagram and with A.I. features on Meta, toggle off the option for posts and for reals.
But despite the fact that you can change your settings and keep this from happening, this is a very good reminder that anything that you post online,
whether it be Facebook or Instagram or Reddit, it doesn't matter, somebody could still just take that image and create a deep fake image of that. And
that is something everybody needs to be very aware of. And I think a lot of people are more aware of this now, especially when it comes to posting
images of their children, for example. But just be aware that it is possible and it is very easy especially these days for anybody to create a
deep fake image of you.
HILL: Absolutely. Hadas, I appreciate it. Thank you.
Finally tonight, this is just coming into us at CNN. King Charles and Queen Camila have hosted Prince Harry and Meghan and their children, we're
learning, at the king's private country residence in England. So, this meeting marks the first time that King Charles has seen the whole family
there in four years after that high-profile falling out. We'll have much more on that coming up in our next hour.
Thanks so much for joining us this hour. Be sure to stay with CNN. I'll see you after a few minutes right back here for "WHAT WE KNOW." That's next.
END
