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Isa Soares Tonight

Rescuers In Nepal Race To Reach Hundreds Of Potentially-Trapped People In A Hydropower Set Of Tunnels After Last Week's Catastrophic Flash- Flooding; U.S. And Iran Trade Strikes Near The Strait Of Hormuz; Iceland Votes Against Restarting EU Membership Talks; Closing Arguments Underway In Tupac Shakur Murder Trial; Trump Calls For FCC Action Against NBC Host; Trump Cuts Deal With Venezuela; New Settler Attacks In West Bank. Aired 2- 3p ET

Aired August 31, 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]

MAX FOSTER, HOST, ISA SOARES TONIGHT: A very warm welcome to the show, everyone, I'm Max Foster in for Isa Soares. Tonight, rescuers in Nepal race

to reach hundreds of potentially-trapped people in a hydropower set of tunnels after last week's catastrophic flash-flooding.

We're live in Kathmandu this hour. Then, the U.S. and Iran trade strikes near the Strait of Hormuz, marking the first major military escalation in a

month. Plus, I'll be joined by the President of Iceland as the country votes against restarting EU membership talks. That, and much more just

ahead.

Beginning, though, with an increasingly desperate race to find those survivors of the flash-flooding at the Nepal-China border, efforts are

focusing on a stretch of hydropower plant station where workers are believed to be trapped in tunnels.

More than 900 workers are missing, but there is some hope. Nepal's military says emergency crews rescued more than 100 people by air today. Nepali and

Chinese authorities say a total of more than 950 people have been killed after Wednesday's floods.

More than 4,000 people are still unaccounted for, though. And now, fears a further disaster. China says more rain is expected at the border with

Nepal. There's also a risk that a glacier could collapse. Anderson Cooper is in Nepal with more on where the rescue efforts stand right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, ANDERSON COOPER 360: There were some 14 hydropower plants all along the river that have been wiped out, that have

been swamped by the raging waters six days ago here in Nepal.

They estimate there may be more than 40 to 50 people trapped still in that tunnel. We talked to a colonel from the Nepal Army, who is just one of

several forces from Nepal who are trying to rescue these workers at this particular tunnel.

But there are tunnels all along this river where there are rescue operations going on. Here's what the Colonel told me today.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The military forces here from APF, Nepal Police, Nepali Army and Special Force, and even the sniffer dogs here. So, you can see

here, this is a cable tunnel. So, 170 meters inside, there's a powerhouse. So, I think there are about 45 to 50 people inside the powerhouse.

COOPER: That many, 45 --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes --

COOPER: To 50?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, because they are the working team inside the powerhouse.

COOPER: Yes, and they were here when the flood came --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, and the flood hit this area, they were inside, right? So, we are trying now to excavate all this along the way. And you

can see the guys there. They are drilling there.

COOPER: So, you're going to -- you're going to carve a trench here for any water that's inside to get back out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, and even a bigger trench to get those floods outside.

COOPER: Do you have any sign that they're alive?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, earlier we -- earlier we tried the -- we tried the vertical drilling there --

COOPER: Yes --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So that there might be some presence of oxygen so that we can send some --

COOPER: Yes --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oxygen there. I hope -- I hope there are --

COOPER: But you haven't had signs of life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have nothing yet.

COOPER: Yes --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, we are trying our best to getting through.

COOPER: So, this was completely submerged. This tunnel was completely --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: See, you can see this. It's about 10 meters to 15 meters. All the debris there just being on top of the tunnel. So, you can

see the load was there and it's all so, we have to -- it was all this massive -- you know, it came down rolling through the downstream, you know.

So, it just buried all the whole damn thing.

COOPER: It's remarkable, though, what they are doing. I mean, they have not had any signs of life from that group, but they are still trying to hold on

to hope and trying to hold on to optimism that there are air pockets in there, and that if they have access to water, they could still be alive.

There's no telling what this sludge that has buried so many towns and so many towns along the river, what it holds and that will be revealed in the

coming days and weeks.

[14:05:00]

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Anderson Cooper in Kathmandu. Let's get more on the emergency response. David Fisher is the Head of Delegation for the International

Federation of Red Cross in Nepal. He's just come back from the disaster zone. Joins us now from the Nepali capital, Kathmandu also. Thank you so

much for joining us. What did you see when you were there?

DAVID FISHER, HEAD OF DELEGATION, INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF RED CROSS, NEPAL: Well, I saw a zone of utter devastation like you see in your

pictures along the riverside. And then not very far away, parts of the city that seem completely unaffected in Bidur and Nuwakot.

But it's -- even in those areas, there are so many people who have been displaced who have lost their homes. The Red Cross in the area has worked

with local authorities to set up temporary shelters using buildings from religious organizations, from community organizations, from municipalities.

And they're filled with children who have lost their parents, sisters who have lost their brothers, older people who were trapped in the mud. Just

devastated by the disaster that hit them, having many of them escaped with nothing but the clothes on their back.

FOSTER: Yes, so this is just -- this is not a temporary response you're having to think about, right? These people have to be completely set up

from losing everything, including family members. What's going to be in place for them at this point?

FISHER: For the moment, we're providing just the basics of life, you know, shelter, water, you know, safety, basic items. But they need so much more

than that. They need psychosocial support and they need hope for their recovery going forward.

Some good news that happened yesterday. A road has now -- a narrow road has been opened between Nuwakot District that was badly damaged, and Rasuwa,

that was even worse-damaged and has been accessible up to now only by helicopter.

The armed forces have been prioritizing rescue -- are still ongoing there and providing some relief items either from the government or from other

agencies. But most agencies have not had the chance to come in and see what help they can give.

Our teams have only just yesterday been able to get a few cars in. So, we start making our assessments.

FOSTER: When we say more than 4,000 people are still unaccounted for, are you fearing the worst for them, or is your feeling that they're stuck in

areas that the rescuers just haven't been able to reach yet?

FISHER: It is true that there are people who are stuck in the tunnels. It's also true that there're still not complete access to communications in

Rasuwa. Much of the district still lacks electricity. And so, there's a possibility of just being out of contact.

We don't know for sure. And we won't until we have a significant number of people on the ground that would be able to help.

FOSTER: And what are you hearing from the China side of the border, because we're getting very little information from there?

FISHER: Well, the authorities and the Chinese across have both mobilized to support the communities that were affected there. The Chinese Red Cross

have reached over 5,000 people since Wednesday's event.

So, it -- they have also had an important impact, but it's not in the same magnitude as what has happened here in Nepal. So, they will have both a

relief and a recovery job ahead of them. They had to pause their efforts several times recently because of the fear of renewed floods.

And there were at least four alerts on the Nepal side of that, sending people scrambling up into the hills, pausing the operations, causing you

know, additional distress and trauma for the people who were affected.

But it -- so, we also now have rain coming down, which is going to make, you know, providing the help more difficult and accessing the communities

through this road more difficult. But help is starting to come in, which is very important.

FOSTER: Yes, absolutely. David Fisher, thank you so much for bringing us that update. I know how busy you are. And good luck with the work that will

be going on --

FISHER: You bet --

FOSTER: For some time. Now, a month of relative military calm between the U.S. and Iran, clearly over just days after Donald Trump declared economic

warfare on Iran.

[14:10:00]

The two countries exchanged fresh strikes with the U.S. President on Monday vowing to hit Iran hard once again. Tehran says it fired on two American

military sites in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates in response to a U.S. attack.

U.S. Central Command says it targeted two Iranian rocket launchers as Iran prepared to deploy mines into the Strait of Hormuz.

Our Kristen Holmes is at the White House for us. What do you make of this new military launch when the focus was on the economic effort last week?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the administration and U.S. officials were talking to is really trying to send

a message that this is a limited strike. It's limited in scope, and it was a direct retaliation for what they saw on Larak Island, which were these

Iranian rocket launchers, two of them that they say were preparing to launch mines into the Strait.

This is coming just days after President Trump has definitively declared that the Strait of Hormuz is open, that there are no mines, and had really

made it clear that they were moving away. They being the administration, the United States, from any kind of military operation and into this

economic operation.

This kind of strangulation of Iran's economic D-Day that we heard the Secretary of Treasury talking about lifting -- implementing those various

sanctions, trying to cut off Iran financially, economically, any way it can. The talks, as far as we are told by U.S. officials and by what we're

hearing, are completely stalled.

There is no communication happening between both sides now. Now, we do know behind the scenes, negotiators, mediators are trying to get both sides back

to the table. But this in itself, you know, it is a step away from where this administration wants to be going.

Part of the focus on turning it to economic one, they do believe that is their greatest advantage right now to try and cut off Iran economically,

particularly after days and days of strikes, yielded little to no results in terms of getting Iran to the negotiating table.

But also, part of this is to keep the Iran war at an arm's length away, particularly going into the Midterms. They've been trying to get away from

this. There had obviously been hope for months that they would be out of this war by now.

It doesn't seem as though there's going to be any real ending any time soon. But now it seems as though the U.S. is engaged. So, of course, we're

keeping a close eye on what President Trump means exactly, and as you noted, he said, we're going to hit them hard. There will be a response.

He has been blasting Iran on social media. Again, this administration has been looking for an off-ramp here. It did seem as though they were trying

to force this war away from them by just focusing on the economics, taking up the military. Now, it's unclear if this means that we're back into kind

of tit-for-tat that we had seen just months ago.

FOSTER: OK, thank you so much, Kristen, for that. Well, the struggle for control of the Strait of Hormuz goes on. Houthi rebels and Iranian proxy

are threatening to shut down another key shipping chokepoint. There are signs the group may target the Bab al-Mandab Strait. Our international

diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson, is in Yemen with this exclusive report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (on camera): Right now, we're standing on Perim Island, also known locally as Mayun Island. And

what you're looking at behind me there is the Bab al-Mandab Strait.

And what I can see looking out, looking over that shoulder, is Eritrea. And what I can see looking out over that shoulder is Djibouti. I see the

mountains rising up out of the sea. It's the African continent. And that tells you just how narrow the Bab al-Mandab Strait is.

It's about 10 miles or so across to Africa, 15 kilometers, something like that. What's happening here? There's been a little-known war that's been

simmering here in Yemen for over a decade, between the Yemeni government and the Houthis.

And I think a lot of people don't know much about this conflict. They kind of think that the Houthis are a ragtag force, but they're not. They're

Iran's strongest proxy at the moment. They've got hypersonic missiles. They've been hitting Israel.

They've got ship seeking sophisticated missiles that can target them from a long distance. And they've been hitting international shipping, Saudi oil

tankers in the Red Sea here. Bab al-Mandab, Red Sea up there. So, you've got the Houthis with their Iranian sponsors that have been ramping up the

war here in recent weeks.

And they're turning what was a local war into a geopolitical one, if you will, that has global consequences. A few years ago, 10 percent of the

global oil trade came through here, vital for commercial shipping too.

Now it's down to about half of that. And if Iran continues to push its proxies here, and they continue in their operations to try to take the rest

of the Red Sea coast, then they would take this place here, Perim Island, Mayun Island, they would take it.

[14:15:00]

That would make shutting off this Strait, the Bab al-Mandab Strait much easier for them, the Bab al-Mandab Strait, that potentially has political

consequences for President Trump, because of course, if you shut off this route for oil getting to global markets, particularly Asia, then that's

going to drive up the price of oil.

And that makes -- that gives President Trump political vulnerability, particularly going into the upcoming U.S. Midterms. And this really appears

to be what Iran is doing at the moment.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Nic Robertson there reporting from Yemen. Iran's President is attending a major summit this week with several nations that have

traditionally helped Tehran skirt Western economic sanctions. The summit in Kyrgyzstan includes Russian President Vladimir Putin, China's Xi Jinping

and India's leader Narendra Modi.

The ten-nation gathering is supposed to discuss security issues, but Russia and Iran likely see it as a chance to cement key relationships as they

continue to resist economic pressures from the U.S. and Europe. Still to come tonight on the show, Iceland says no thanks to reopening EU membership

talks. Why the vote matters and what the island's President has to say about it. Just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Iceland has voted against reopening talks to join the European Union. Voters rejected the idea in a referendum over the weekend. The

Icelandic Prime Minister says the country will instead focus on strengthening its existing ties with the EU.

The issue has divided the island of 400,000 people for more than a decade now. Joining me now from Reykjavik is Iceland's President, Halla

Tomasdottir. Thank you so much for joining us, President. Was it surprised to you, this vote?

HALLA TOMASDOTTIR, PRESIDENT, ICELAND: I wouldn't say it was a surprise to me. What was maybe a bigger surprise to me was the voter turnout. I knew

the nation was split on this big question, and it was a pretty close referendum.

But what may surprise me is that 80 -- over 82 percent of the nation voted. So, feels like we live in a healthy and vibrant democracy here in Iceland.

FOSTER: Yes, absolutely. And how would you explain this vote? Obviously, it was quite close.

[14:20:00]

We didn't know what the result was going to be going into it, because the polls didn't indicate exactly which way it would go. Why do you think

Iceland -- Icelandic people tipped the way that they did in the end?

TOMASDOTTIR: Well, I think it's important to note that no to resuming the accession talks is not a no to Europe. Icelanders feel European and they

feel Nordic and are a founding partner in NATO. So, we feel a strong Trans- Atlantic relationship as well.

I think maybe you could say that some of the Icelanders on the "no" side probably thought the European economic agreement was a good partnership,

and I think some of the people who voted on the "yes" side thought maybe we could have better interest rates to strengthen our economy.

And so, I think there are many valid points, both for the no and the yes camp. We're living in complex times, but some would say that Iceland

decided to trust its own strong trajectory to continue on its own strong partnerships with the Nordics, with the Baltics, with Europe and the Trans-

Atlantic relationship and the NATO relationship to take us from strength to strength.

FOSTER: In terms of the economics, it may work for Iceland. There's obviously a concern that after America threatened to take over Greenland,

they might try to do the same with Iceland. So, on the security issue that actually mobilized a lot of votes for this, right?

Feeling that if they were part of the European Union, they may be protected in terms of security, away from the economics.

TOMASDOTTIR: I think, well, Icelanders thought deeply about many aspects of whether to resume access talks or not. And many people thought about

security issues, economic issues, issues that have to do with values and where we belong in the world.

But I want to be very clear that Iceland has a clear position that Greenland belongs, and the future of Greenland belongs to Greenlanders to

decide, with the support of Denmark, and in Iceland, we feel the same way, sovereignty and the international based order of fundamental importance to

us in Iceland.

But we have a very longstanding security relationship with the United States. We were a founding member of NATO, and we have a bilateral defense

agreement with the U.S. I have just finished a weekend with quite many guests from the United States, nearly 200.

And I would say overwhelmingly, people, wherever they come from, politics, private sector, public service or academics or the arts, there's a very

friendly relationship in Iceland with Europe, with the Nordics, with the U.S., and we're an open and democratic society that wants to continue to

work well with everyone.

But I would say that the conclusion seems to be, now that the European economic agreement and other international partnerships we have is

sufficient for us to continue to be a strong country, and we will move forward from a position of strength.

Iceland is a country that has a lot of solutions that others look to. And sometimes, we overlook them ourselves. But every time I welcome

international guests, I am reminded of the fact that, we have sustainable, clean, green energy and more abundance than most.

We're an equal and a peaceful country, and we've been able to build up to ranking near the top in most of the metrics that others look to. So, maybe

people can look to Iceland as a small country, but I think our voice is strong, and I think we have many strengths where we can work with our

partners in the Nordics and Europe and in the U.S. to continue to go from strength to strength.

FOSTER: And you'll be aware that in the U.K., there seems to be a bit of regret about leaving the European Union, and the current government is

doing all that it can to rebuild those ties. Even the Prime Minister suggesting that U.K. will rejoin the European Union. Do you think there may

be some regret after this vote, when the emotion is taken out of it that --

TOMASDOTTIR: It's --

FOSTER: Iceland will remain weaker outside the EU?

TOMASDOTTIR: It's hard for me to tell right now. You are right that there are emotions on both sides, and there are strong and sensible arguments on

both sides. So, right now, I think we need to listen to all of those arguments.

I think one on the yes side, I heard a lot from young people, great concerns about their ability to get out of their mothers and fathers house

and buy their own place and be able to afford it.

[14:25:00]

When it comes to interest rates and inflation, these are very challenging economic issues. And our government must attend to them for people to be

happy here. And on the "no" side, people believe that we can go further by working well with all the partners we have around, but not fully joining

the EU, but fully strengthening our European Economic Area relationship, which together with Norway and Liechtenstein, we have.

Maybe there's a thought where the U.K. and maybe Greenland and Faroe Islands could join that relationship. So, I think there are many ways to

have partnerships and support each other when we are smaller countries in a world where the geopolitical space is tightening.

FOSTER: I mean, are you suggesting there some sort of collaboration between the non-EU European countries, as you say, U.K. being one of them where you

could form some sort of partnership where you can strengthen each other without having the full EU membership?

TOMASDOTTIR: Well, I think the -- Europe itself is starting to talk about sort of different levels of collaborating with others. And we've had a very

successful over three decades operating within the European Economic Area, together with Norway and Liechtenstein.

We also have successful access to free trade agreements through the EFTA relationship. So, I think there are many ways to work together today. And

in this world, I think Iceland has been a good partner and an ally all around, and enjoys good partnerships with quite many.

So, why not explore opportunities where we can strengthen the European Economic Area Agreement, to strengthen the EFTA relationship. So, I think

there are ways to work together without full membership. And Iceland remains a steadfast partner of Europe.

We think about ourselves as European, nobody in Iceland is saying no to Europe, even if they're saying this is not the time to resume full access

talks.

FOSTER: President Tomasdottir of Iceland, thank you so much for joining us after that momentous vote. It is decided now. Thank you so much.

TOMASDOTTIR: Thank you.

FOSTER: Now, this hour, something new. A second person has been confirmed dead after flash flooding ripped through the Grand Canyon over the weekend.

Officials are frantically searching for more than a dozen others who are still missing.

There's even more rain in the forecast for tonight, which could bring landslides and debris. Here's Ed Lavandera with the very latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Well, this is some of the more rugged terrain you'll find anywhere in the United

States, especially down there at the depths of the Grand Canyon where there are places where you just simply -- there are no level of phone

communication or anything like that.

So, those kinds of issues can really obviously complicate things here as the search and rescue efforts are now underway now that the sun has come up

over the -- over the Grand Canyon. But this is really the worst of it happened throughout one Creek Canyon that led into the main Colorado River

area.

This was an area that is very -- is very popular with hikers, either day hikers or people who are going down there to camp at the lowest levels of

the Grand Canyon, and it is through those places where the witnesses described after over the last couple of days after several rounds of very

intense rainfall, a wall of dark debris with trees and lumber and boulders.

Just this dark mass moving down river, people describing how they were able to evacuate, get to higher ground, and the bridges that they were walking

over these rivers, simply just being wiped away moments after they were crossing. So, some very intense moments.

Officials here have confirmed the death of one man, a 46-year-old man, we don't know any other details beyond that. And they do say that there is at

least 15 people still that they're unaccounted for, that they do not know where they're at.

That could mean that perhaps they're just somewhere and without communication and don't have any access because bridges have been knocked

out, or it could mean the worst. So, those rescue efforts will continue today.

Many people who have been evacuated were taken out of the area by helicopters. So, that kind of speaks to the really difficult situations

that a lot of these people are going to be in here as these search and rescue operations continue here in the Grand Canyon today.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Ed Lavandera. Still to come tonight on the show, closing arguments underway in the Tupac Shakur murder trial. We'll hear why the prosecution

says the jury should convict.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:32:56]

FOSTER: Jurors hearing closing arguments in the Tupac Shakur murder trial. Shakur was murdered nearly 30 years ago in Las Vegas. Duane Davis is being

charged with organizing the ambush that killed the hip hop legend. One of the biggest challenges facing the prosecution is tying Davis to the crime.

The prosecutor explained to the jury that they've had enough evidence to convict him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BINU PALAL, CHIEF DEPUTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: And so, you have direct evidence, I saw it, I was there. And circumstantial evidence, those facts

that exist that show something happened. And I will submit to you that this case is drenched with circumstantial evidence, even beyond Mr. Davis' case.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Josh Campbell joins us now. It is this issue of evidence, right? The defense saying there is no evidence that he carried out this murder,

but the prosecution saying there is enough circumstantial evidence.

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And the defendant's own words. That's been what the prosecutors have basically hinged their

case on. It's past comments, not only to law enforcement during a series of interviews, but also, he wrote a book in which he described his role in

this incident, saying that he essentially handed a firearm to his nephew who was in the backseat, who then ultimately pulled the trigger. And his

own comments during various media interviews.

And that's really been the competing theories here, where you have prosecutors saying, look, this is a case where all you have to do is listen

to what the defendant has said about his role in that killing nearly 30 years ago. On the flip side, what the defense is saying is that, look,

don't believe our own client, which is a really strange place to be in for a defense attorney.

What the Davis' own attorney said is, look, my client essentially made up all of that information in order to try to profit off of this case. Don't

believe him. Of course, this will ultimately come down to what the jury finally decides.

It's also been interesting when you see the amount of time that the prosecution spent on their case and the defense.

[14:35:00]

The prosecution over the course of eight days called 25 separate witnesses. On the flip side, the defense, they spent 90 minutes on their case, calling

only three people. And so, a lot of legal analysts have been reading into that, wondering, does that mean they're so confident about where this is

headed? They don't need to spend a lot of time.

Again, we're waiting to see. But this is one of those really strange cases where you have the defendant on recordings in his own words admitting to

being part of a crime, and now his own lawyer saying, look, don't forget about what he said then. What we're telling you now is the truth. We'll

have to see, again, what the jury decides next.

FOSTER: Is the judge giving any direction on how they should treat, you know, the interviews that we've seen and the evidence that we've got?

CAMPBELL: Yes. And this is very important because what the determination has been here in this case is that if the jury believes what Davis said

himself, prosecutors don't have to provide any other evidence to essentially corroborate that he was involved in this alleged murder. And

that's why so much has been focused on the words themselves, because that question that you raised is a key point here, that basically the

prosecutor's work is done for them if the jury believes what Davis had said during these series of interviews.

And again, this is just so unusual, where it's usually the flip side, where you have prosecutors saying that, look, the defendant's a liar. You have

the defense saying, no, my client is telling the truth. Here, the roles are essentially switched.

There is a question about other type of corroborating evidence, which you brought up earlier. Again, this was 30 years ago. There isn't the type of

advanced forensics that juries are typically used to in this day and age. A lot of it comes down to word of mouth, but from the defendant and witnesses

who claim to have been there that day, Max.

FOSTER: Josh, very interesting. We'll get the result, I guess, some point this week. Thank you for joining us.

CAMPBELL: Yes.

FOSTER: We're also on verdict watch in another high-profile trial for the third day. The jurors are deliberating in the fate of Lindsay Clancy. They

are trying to determine whether she's criminally responsible for killing her three young children. Clancy's attorneys have argued she was

experiencing postpartum psychosis when she killed the children in 2023. Prosecutors believe the methods she used in the killings are evidence of

what they say was deliberate premeditation. If convicted of first-degree murder, she could face life in prison without parole.

U.S. President Donald Trump is once again turning to the FCC to go after media organizations. Trump is calling for NBC host, Kristen Welker, to face

rebuke or punishment. He claims Welker mischaracterized his endorsement record on the primaries, in the primaries, and Brian Stelter walks us

through the president's latest attack on the free press.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Hey, there. Yes, it seems like President Trump is treating the FCC like his own personal enforcement

squad. The FCC is the main media regulator in the U.S. Historically, it has been independently administered. But Trump has taken action at the FCC in

the same way he has across the executive branch, trying to take control and install people who will carry out his wishes.

With the FCC, the agency that licenses the public airwaves for local TV and radio stations, we have seen several aggressive actions against media

companies. So, that's the backdrop for Trump's posts on Sunday. He wrote on Truth Social that NBC's moderator of "Meet the Press," Kristen Welker,

would be, quote, "reported to the FCC for rebuke or punishment." He also, separately, complained in all caps about fake polls and said something must

be done about it, adding FCC to the rescue. I reached out to Trump's FCC chairman Brendan Carr about those posts, and I didn't hear back.

But I did hear from Anna Gomez, the sole Democrat left of the commission. She said this about Trump's posts about Welker. She said, the FCC has no

authority to punish journalists this administration doesn't like. These threats to press freedom are dangerous. They undermine the foundation of

our democracy and they have no place in it. Historically, the notion of punishment for Welker would be a total nonstarter. The FCC has limited

power. It has no power over what a journalist reports on the air. And its own website says the agency cannot prevent the broadcast of any particular

point of view.

But in the past 18 months or so, Carr has been quick to respond to some of Trump's other requests or his other posts about news organizations. This

also includes the broader entertainment companies that are owners of these news organizations. For example, in April, one day after Trump complained

about ABC comic Jimmy Kimmel and demanded that ABC fire Kimmel, Carr took an unusual action against ABC, calling up all of its local stations for

early license renewals.

Earlier this month, ABC's parent company, Disney, filed a First Amendment lawsuit against the FCC, charging the government with violating its free

speech rights.

[14:40:00]

So, because Carr has taken aggressive action in the past, there's curiosity now about whether he will follow up on Trump's demand to punish Welker in

some way.

So, what made Trump mad on Sunday? Well, he said he was watching, or apparently, he was watching, NBC's local station when Welker made a comment

about his endorsement record. Welker said that Trump has had mixed results with his endorsements. Trump says his record is at 100 percent for the U.S.

Senate and 98 percent for the U.S. House. But that overlooks the fact that several of his chosen candidates, especially for governor, recently lost

their primaries.

As CNN's Inside Politics recently said, Trump has had a mixed endorsement record this primary season. So, Welker was right, but much more

importantly, there is no history, no precedent for the idea of an American president saying he's going to report a journalist to the FCC over a TV

segment he didn't like. There's just nothing like that in the past.

And if you go on the FCC website, fcc.gov, you can see there's not even a way to lodge a complaint like that. You can complain about indecency, you

can complain about the ads, but not about the journalism that's being broadcast.

So, there is no action the FCC could take against an individual, never mind what an ethical and legal travesty that would be. But the FCC does have

some power against the parent companies. In ABC's case, that's Disney. In NBC's case, it's Comcast. And Carr does have an open investigation into

Comcast over its diversity practices. So, that's what to watch out for next. Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Brian Stelter for us there. Donald Trump saying the massive oil deal he struck with Venezuela will bring down gas prices, but industry

analysts are pretty skeptical about that. The president says the agreement gives the U.S. access to 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan oil reserves, but

it's unclear how quickly that oil can be brought out of the ground or even who will be paying to develop the oil fields involved there. Venezuela's

president was quick to point out that her country will still have control over its natural resources.

Meanwhile, Venezuela's ousted president, Nicolas Maduro, has released new photos from the New York jail he's been held in since U.S. forces captured

him in January. Maduro posted a message to his family and supporters saying he's, quote, "standing firm" and vowing that Venezuela will rise again. The

images are from June the 25th, a day after earthquakes in Venezuela killed more than 6,000 people. Maduro is facing narcoterrorism, drug trafficking

and weapons charges and will go to trial next June.

Still to come tonight on the show, yet more settler attacks on Palestinians and their homes in the occupied West Bank with zero arrests by soldiers on

the scene.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:45:00]

FOSTER: You can't leave your house and go into town, especially after sunset. You can't leave your home unattended because settlers may come and

burn it. That's what one Palestinian man told Doctors Without Borders, summing up what's become the terror of daily life in the West Bank.

This weekend saw more attacks targeting Palestinians, including the storming of the village of Qusra. Settlers seized a home with people

trapped inside. The homeowner says soldiers, quote, "Watched and did nothing before firing tear gas." The IDF hasn't said why the settlers were

allowed to leave without any arrests.

In a separate incident, settlers attacked a TV news crew interviewing a Palestinian woman. She was beaten unconscious. Jeremy Diamond has more from

Tel Aviv.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, it was only a couple of weeks ago that we brought you the story of a home in the village of Qusra

that was besieged by Israeli settlers trying to take it over. We reached that home and found the situation that is underway. But now, in that same

village of Qusra, dozens of Israeli settlers mounted yet another attack on a Palestinian home, pelting the owner and several other people who were

inside that home with rocks, storming the house itself and attempting to seize it.

The owner of the home told us that it was -- this attack went on for about an hour until the Israeli military showed up. But when the military showed

up, this man and several others say that it was the Palestinians who were ultimately detained, blindfolded and even beaten by Israeli security forces

before ultimately being released.

The Israeli military in a statement spoke about the dozens of Israeli rioters who they said had attacked this home. And yet, neither the Israeli

military nor the Israeli police at this point have arrested any of those rioters, even though some of them are identifiable on camera while they

were inside that house. And this wasn't the only incident of settler violence this weekend. Israeli settlers in the neighboring town of Jalud

also attacked an NBC News crew and a Palestinian woman they were interviewing, beating them with sticks and rocks. The Palestinian woman was

even rendered unconscious by that attack.

Now, we have heard from a number of senior Israeli officials with varying degrees of severity in terms of the statements they're putting out. The

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has repeatedly downplayed the phenomenon of settler violence, said in a statement this weekend that

he condemned the violence, but once again attributed it to a, quote, "handful of rioters who he said are violating the law." He said that he

expects Israeli authorities to arrest the rioters and bring them to justice.

The Israeli military, meanwhile, said last week that it was preparing to potentially send additional battalions of troops to the area to reinforce

the security there. A notable statement, given that the Israeli military quietly is recognizing more and more the danger that these Israeli settlers

are posing not only to Palestinians, but to security in the area.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Israel's national security minister who oversees Israeli police is boasting about the harsh treatment of Palestinian prisoners in a new A.I.

campaign video posted on social media. It's the latest example of Itamar Ben-Gvir's getting more extreme as elections approach. The video shows

numbered Palestinian prisoners in brown uniforms moving along a conveyor belt into a fence compound with watchtowers. The inmates appear well fed at

the start, but thinner and distressed after passing through the industrial style processing line. Now, the post says, we promised, we delivered. It

has now been taken down after amassing more than 4 million views.

That video again is A.I., but the reality is also disturbing. Dozens of actual prisoners have emerged from Israeli prisons emaciated, some

describing beatings and other abuse. According to an Israeli human rights group, at least 98 Palestinians died in Israeli custody from October 2023

to November 2025. Israel Prison Service told CNN it operates in accordance with the law. We'll be back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:50:00]

FOSTER: Perhaps the greatest football player of all time says he's done with international competition. Lionel Messi announced just hours ago that

he is retiring from playing with Argentina's national team. The 39-year-old will continue to play for his MLS Inter Miami club. Messi led Argentina to

three World Cup finals and won it all the way in 2022. The Messi post was a handwritten note online announcing his retirement. In it, he wrote, thank

you, God, for making me Argentine.

Don Riddell of CNN World Sport is here with more. He said it before, though, hasn't he, Don?

DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Yes, he did retire back in 2016, at which point things were not going well for Lionel Messi and the international

team. But everything changed, Max, when he came back. And it wasn't, though, until his mid-30s when they did start to win everything.

And if you look at his resume with the national team in the end, it is absolutely spectacular. I mean, first of all, a 21-year international

career. That's incredible. More than to get two decades, 207 games, 125 goals. You referenced the World Cup, three finals. He won it all in 2022.

He also won two continental titles, the Copa America. He was the best player in each of those two competitions twice. So, an absolutely

glittering career. And the fans of Argentina, I think, will really, really miss him now.

FOSTER: He says he's still going to be playing football, just not for Argentina. It's always been quite a complex relationship, hasn't it, with

this country?

RIDDELL: Yes. I mean, I referenced when he stepped down briefly in 2016, because at that point he was just under so much pressure to deliver and

perform for the national team. And a lot of Argentine fans had started to see him as more of a Spanish guy because he moved to Barcelona when he was

really, really young. And of course, at that point, he was winning everything with Barcelona. And yet he wasn't able to do it with Argentina.

So, he had a lot of critics at that point. And I think that pressure really, really got to him.

And when he was kind of writing his kind of farewell note today, he did sort of reference those times. You know, he said it was a beautiful

journey, yet so difficult. And he also said that he always gave it his best, always, not just towards the end when they started winning

everything. So, yes, he definitely acknowledged that chapter. It wasn't always easy.

[14:55:00]

And you do point out, Max, that he is still continuing to play in Major League Soccer with Inter Miami. Literally just at the weekend, he scored

four goals in one game against Montreal. So, he's still got it. But I think when it comes to the international game, he's 39. He'd be 43 by the time

the next World Cup comes around. He's obviously decided that will be a bridge too far. But amazing, amazing career.

FOSTER: OK. Don Riddell, thank you. A momentous day. Thanks for joining us tonight. Do stay with CNN, though. I'll be back after a short break with

"What We Know."

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[15:00:00]

END