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One World with Zain Asher
Global Tech Outages Hit Airlines And Businesses Worldwide; Biden Aide: There's A Growing Sense That "It's Game Over"; ICJ: Israel Occupation Of West Bank And East Jerusalem Is Illegal; Russian Court Finds United States Journalist Guilty Of Spying; Several Major Airlines Around The World Impacted By Tech Outage; New Details On Gunman's Actions Before Trump Rally Shooting. Aired 12-1p ET
Aired July 19, 2024 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[12:00:25]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Hi, everyone. Live from New York, I'm Bianna Golodryga. Zain is off today.
You are watching ONE WORLD.
Well, one by one computer systems around the world are set to be coming back online. This after what one expert calls the largest IT outage in
history.
The glitch took down computer systems everywhere from airports to hospitals to banks to grocery stores. Many of those affected are air travelers who
found themselves stuck at airports around the globe.
And as you might imagine, they are very frustrated.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm still upset right now. There are eight people in my party. Eight people.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's $13.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: $456 a ticket and they're giving me $100 back. That is it. And we're screwed.
This man is getting married. We have reservations. We have cars that we paid for. I paid $380 in a shuttle to shuttle everyone here this morning.
They have been here since before me when it made this. I've been here since three o'clock in the morning. $100 is unacceptable.
I am a good -- I am a good customer for Allegiant. And I feel like I'm being completely screwed over. This is bull crap.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: That frustration is indeed understandable.
Here's what happened. The cybersecurity firm, CrowdStrike, says that it sent out a software update to its clients that turned out to be faulty.
The update caused outages on systems running Microsoft Windows software. The company says a fix has been sent out and businesses are slowly coming
back up, but it could take some time.
CrowdStrike CEO has apologized and reiterated there was no cyber-attack or security breach.
The U.S. government is working with CrowdStrike and Microsoft to assess the damage and help get the systems back up.
Our Isabel Rosales is at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport. Anna Stewart is at Heathrow in London.
Let's start with Isabel. I mean, Isabel, we heard from that one frustrated passenger.
Clearly she's speaking for so many who find themselves stuck and at a loss for when they will finally get on a plane to make their destination.
ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bianna, they are understandably frustrated with the situation. I mean, look at these lines. This is their
experience today. They are just waiting here for hours, barely inching forward.
Essentially, even if flights have been resumed, the problem is with the booking and check-in process.
With this outage, the kiosks are out. So they're at the mercy of listening to airline staff coming out, shouting, prioritizing the flights by their
take-off time, shouting, Tampa, Las Vegas, and then that is how they are moved from the line and then begin the process of checking in.
So it's the processing of human bodies to get them onto the flights. That's the issue.
Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport right here. This is the world's busiest airport. It is also the airport with the most cancellations currently in
the U.S. Over 400 flights canceled or delayed. So, yes, a little bit frustrating.
Let me introduce you now to Lauren, a mom who is traveling, trying to make it back home with two toddlers. You're dealing with a lot.
LAUREN CAMPER, TRAVELING WITH TWO TODDLERS: Yes, definitely dealing with a lot. We got here extra early because this is a crazy airport in general.
But to get here and see the line wrapped around and around and around just to get back to Baltimore is crazy.
I mean, was this like a human mistake or what?
ROSALES: So is it -- is it more frustration? Is it anger? You looked pretty much exhausted. I'll be honest.
CAMPER: Exhausted. Definitely exhausted. I would say a little bit of both. A little bit of both frustration just because it's already hard dealing
with a crybaby. And it's a lot to deal with. But then to just get here and be uncertain if I'm even going to make my flight home.
ROSALES: You're here hours before. Your flight is scheduled for 3:00 P.M. To know that this was because of a computer outage, what do you think about
that?
CAMPER: Mistakes happen, but mistakes like this of this magnitude is unacceptable.
ROSALES: Yes. And we just heard from CrowdStrike CEO putting out a statement. The company that's behind this outage, a mistake was made. He
has apologized, said that the situation is grave. They understand that.
What do you make of that apology?
CAMPER: Nothing. Absolutely nothing because an apology is not going to change this. It's not -- it takes more than that.
ROSALES: So right now all you can do is wait, right?
CAMPER: That's it.
ROSALES: And real -- and real quick, Lauren. Your friend was flying Southwest. What does she tell you?
CAMPER: She didn't have any issues. She went straight up to the counter, got her boarding pass and checked her bag. There was no delay, no line for
her whatsoever.
[12:05:00]
ROSALES: Lauren, thank you.
CAMPER: You're welcome.
ROSALES: And, Bianna, that is the experience. I'm coming to note here that your story is really determined by which airline you chose to flight.
Delta, earlier, had paused all flights. They have resumed some of them saying that, you know, expect cancellations and delays.
She is flying Spirit. But as we heard Southwest, JetBlue, zero interruptions, no issues, whatsoever.
This airport, by the way, Bianna, expecting 300,000 passengers to come through these doors today alone.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. One of the busiest airports in the world. Lauren's friend who managed to catch her flight, no problem, I think owes her a nice dinner
and perhaps some babysitting soon to come, given what Lauren's going to be experiencing there with those two toddlers as well.
And she's right. She says mistakes happen, but not of this magnitude. You really get a sense of the vulnerability to the global system here.
Isabel Rosales, thank you.
Anna Stewart is joining us now from London.
And I would imagine similar sentiments being felt by passengers there.
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wherever you woke up this morning, whether in Asia, Europe, the U.S., the same outage was there.
And for people who are trying to get away, and this is one of the busiest days of the year, particularly in the U.K. It's the start of the summer
holidays. It's been bedlam, really, in some airports for passengers trying to get away.
And right now, we have the total number of flights cancelled globally, standing at more than 3,000, 3,343. That's actually three percent of all
flights that were scheduled to take off today.
So in terms of a global IT outage, not a hack, not a cybersecurity breach, this is the biggest in terms of flight disruption we've ever seen.
The good news is some of the airports who were really badly affected, like Amsterdam's Schiphol, have managed to restart some of their systems.
The same goes for a Spanish network from airports, AENA. And you can hear it, the flights taking off. I hope you can still hear me.
But for many of these airports, they are beginning to reboot some of their systems. The question, of course, is what happens to all those passengers
who flights were actually cancelled, all delayed all day long.
How long will it take to get them back on a flight so they can be where they want to be, given it is the height of summer and capacity will be
limited?
Bianna?
GOLODRYGA: Capacity limited and so as patience, understandably as well.
Anna Stewart, thank you so much for joining us.
Well, to politics now, where Democratic Party organizers are finalizing the plan to nominate Joe Biden, a kind of virtual vote at some point in August,
as early as August 1st, before the party convenes in person.
But it increasingly looks like Biden won't be the candidate they vote for. Sources close to the president tells CNN that there's growing acceptance
that he cannot stay in the race.
As one Biden aide put it, it's game over. And more and more democratic lawmakers say it is time to move on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MIKE QUIGLEY (D-IL): Loyalty is working against the future of our democracy. I mean, it is horribly sad. I'd rather do anything else than
work against the second Biden administration, but it can't happen. It won't happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Biden is currently at his Delaware home, where he is recovering from COVID.
And that is where CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is right now.
And, Priscilla, just continue to get conflicting statements from those in the president's inner circle that say that he is open to considering
perhaps leaving and stepping aside for somebody else. And then you have someone like Jen O'Malley Dillon to come on morning shows just a few hours
ago, saying that he is going nowhere, that they are determined to see this through.
So, how much longer can this go on?
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, in many ways, this has been the reality for the Biden campaign. They have been getting a lot of incoming
from democratic lawmakers, allies, donors, who have been sharing their concerns about the viability of President Biden as the democratic candidate
and nominee, while also trying to calm those nerves and maintain that the president isn't going anywhere.
And that was still the message that we were hearing from the Biden campaign chair today. And what was a rare T.V. appearance, and perhaps speaks to the
moment that we're in for her to go on air on MSNBC and make the point that the president is staying in the race.
But while this is happening, and even despite it happening, there are still growing calls from democratic lawmakers for the president to step aside.
One of them actually was at a rally of his not long ago, over the last hour, four more House Democratic lawmakers said in a joint letter that they
would like the president to step aside. One of those being Representative Mark Pocan. He had been at the president's Madison rally two weeks ago
after the presidential debate.
And I point that out because it just speaks to how quickly all of this is developing. Even some of those who were standing by him, not long ago, are
now joining the chorus of calls for him to -- for him to withdraw from the race.
[12:10:04]
Now, behind the scenes, officials are hearing this. The president himself is hearing this. His top aides, though, and his most loyal aides are still
quite dismissive. They still think that there is a path here.
The president himself has cast doubt over some polling that shows that he cannot defeat former president Donald Trump. But it is starting to become
untenable, that, according to sources, who are involved in some of these discussions.
Now, of course, everyone recognizes that it is ultimately the president's decision in terms of what he does next. He is with his inner circle, a
circle that has grown tighter by the day, and he's also deliberating.
Now, the president, of course, is here in Rehoboth, where he is self- isolating at his residence. And that is, you know -- this is what we anticipate for the next couple of days, is him having that opportunity to
talk with family and to talk with some of his allies.
Doesn't necessarily mean anything, as of yet, in terms of what the trajectory of his campaign will be. In fact, the campaign is saying that
he's going to be back on the campaign trail next week.
But certainly, lots of calls continuing to come in with from within his own party that it is time for him to withdraw.
Now, where that goes next on clear, in the interim, though, the Democratic National Committee is moving on the rules committee to set out that process
for a virtual roll call next month.
So all of the party structure is moving forward, even as some of these big questions loom over the president and the candidate himself.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. A very disjointed party right now with a lot of questions and frustration really surfacing as more and more members of Congress are
publicly calling for the president to drop out of the race.
Priscilla Alvarez, thank you.
Well, the drama and uncertainty about Biden's future comes as Donald Trump and his VP pick are hitting the campaign trail.
Trump and J.D. Vance will travel to Michigan on Saturday for their first rally together. It will also be Trump's first rally since the attempt on
his life last weekend. It's hard to believe that was just a few days ago.
Well, Trump spent some time reflecting on those terrifying moments in his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention Thursday night.
It came early in his speech as Trump kept a pledge to stick to a theme of unity, at least for part of his speech.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I am running to be president for all of America, not half of America, because there is no
victory in winning for half of America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: But shortly after that call for unity, Trump veered into many of the themes that dominate his campaign rallies, attacking Democrats, making
false claims about the 2020 election and blasting the legal cases against him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The Democrat Party should immediately stop weaponizing the justice system.
The fake documents case.
Drop these partisan witch hunts.
Crazy Nancy Pelosi.
They're destroying our country.
Cheating on elections.
We're never going to let that happen again. They used COVID to cheat.
The late great Hannibal Lecter. He'd love to have you for dinner.
(MUSIC)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Well, the final night at the Republican Convention felt more like a theatrical show than a political statement.
There were musical acts and speakers who were different from the folks you usually see at a convention.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HULLK HOGAN, PROFESSIONAL WRESTLER AND ENTERTAINER: When they took a shot at my hero, and they tried to kill the next president of the United States,
enough was enough.
And I said, let Trumpamania run wild, brother. Let Trumpamania rule again. Let Trumpamania make America great again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Very animated. Hulk Hogan there. Let's talk further with my panel about this. Not Hulk Hogan, but the week itself, CNN political
commentator, Shermichael Singleton and Paul Begala both join me now.
Shermichael, let's specifically talk about Donald Trump's speech, because I think objectively it was a very strong week for the Republicans in that
convention. It was a very disciplined convention. There was a lot of enthusiasm and a wide array of speakers that we saw.
And then we hear from the president, the one person everyone had been hoping and waiting to hear from this entire time.
And I have to say that was a very, very long speech. I think the longest acceptance speech on record are close to that.
And again, he stuck to the script and the message initially. And then something else happened and the real Donald Trump showed back up again.
I'm just wondering how much of a setback or missed opportunity do you think that was for Donald Trump to showcase to the world and to Republicans and
perhaps most importantly, undecided voters that this is a different candidate now?
[12:15:04]
SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I mean, mathematically, I'm not certain it's going to set the former president back
at all.
I mean, the 2020 election was lost by him across four states by 81,000 votes. The COVID pandemic, the heightened number of Americans who voted by
mail as a result of the pandemic certainly worked against him, worked in President Biden's favor. Those dynamics will not exist in November.
I think the Trump campaign, appears to me, to be focusing on low propensity voters to try to make up that 81,000 vote gap that made the difference in
2020. And that's a very different and unique mathematical strategy.
We'll have to see obviously in November, if that actually pans out for them. The speech was long. It was way, way too long.
I thought he started off very strong in the first 25 minutes. And I even tweeted, I said, oh, wow, this is the best speech he's ever given. And then
towards the half of it, I said, oh, crap. Well, here we go.
So Trump is Trump. He can't help himself. I would have shortened the speech 30 minutes max. And I said, thanks, everybody. Have a good night.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. I agree with you, the longer term that speech alone probably didn't cause him much harm.
But, Paul, I know you said that was a missed opportunity. First of all, it was interesting to hear David Axelrod say following that speech. That was
the one bit of good news Democrats finally had, was listening to that -- to that speech.
But having said that, I know that you said he missed an opportunity to address Biden's age in particular. And I'm wondering if that was
intentional because if their point is to make sure that he will be running against Joe Biden, that is not a guarantee at this point.
Wouldn't he want to avoid talking about some of his weaknesses right now?
PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Maybe. I really don't know.
Trump has all -- Mr. Trump to be respectful of him. Mr. Trump has always been reticent to criticize Biden's age because he's the same age.
Now, he does generally project more vigor. I have to say last night, he didn't.
GOLODRYGA: Yes.
BEGALA: The opening was riveting. And I literally thank God that he survived that attack. I literally do, Bianna.
But after that, it was not just that it was negative. I like negative. I'm for negative. OK? But it was meandering, it was wondering, it was weak. It
was weird.
And for the first time in three weeks, Democrats said, oh, we can beat this guy. And that's not what you want at your convention, right? You want to
leave, you know, looking 10 feet tall and strong. And it was a huge missed opportunity.
Beyond that, he -- first off, just -- let's just say, there's the -- one most senior Democrats in the Senate, Robert Menendez, was convicted of a
felony this week. All the Democrats are saying, let's expel him.
Mr. Trump convicted of 34 felonies. All the Republicans say, let's elect him. So there is a difference between the two parties.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. And, Shermichael, it's no coincidence that you have the president, the former president in J.D. Vance headed to Michigan, a key
battleground state.
I'm curious, your thoughts on what impact, if any, Joe Biden leaving the race and perhaps someone like Kamala coming forward will have on the
message and the targeting that we're going to see from Republicans, if that's the case, if they're -- if they're not running against a Biden-
Harris ticket, but perhaps Harris fill in the blank.
SINGLETON: Yes. I mean, look, the vice president's approvals are actually worse than President Biden's, which is why I think President Biden is
saying to the many Democrats and donors who are attempting to force him out. If you can present a case to me that there's someone else, Kamala
Harris -- Vice President Harris, any governor who could perform mathematically better, then I'll consider it.
I've only seen, I think, one or two national polls that showcase Vice President Harris potentially performs a point or two better than the
president. And that's mathematically within the margin of error.
So by all intents and purposes, it's like she doesn't really perform better than the president at all.
And so I think from a Republican perspective, whomever the candidate is, you know, that Apple (ph) research and negative campaigning will focus
exclusively on that person.
But I got to tell you something, there are a lot of democratic voters who voted for President Biden.
Now, I personally think the president should get out, but I'm not a Democrat. Those voters want the president to stand this race. And I think
it's a bit rich for these wealthy donors, the democratic leadership to attempt to usurp the will of their voters for somebody else.
I mean, that is just not the way, you know, democracy works.
I mean, Republicans, I'll just quickly say, are excited and energetic about Donald Trump this November. Democrats are divided and demoralized. That is
not how you want to head into an election with three and a half months remaining.
GOLODRYGA: And, Paul, that's showcased in, we should say, democratic based research, right? One poll from Blue Rose Research shows that Biden -- this
is a democratic firm, shows Biden losing, not only in all of the swing states, but also behind in New Hampshire, Minnesota, New Mexico, Virginia,
and Maine, and the president leading by only 2.9 percentage points in New Jersey.
[12:20:19]
What does the Democratic Party need to do at this point?
BEGALA: Well, the Democrat Party needs to understand, it's actually Sarah Longwell who said this. She's a Republican pollster who does not support
Trump.
She said, at the beginning of the year, and I've locked in on it, there is not a pro-Biden majority. I wish there were. I think he's been a great
president, but they're not.
But there is an anti-Trump majority in this country. Poor Donald Trump, even surviving an assassination attempt, hasn't gained him a point in the
polls.
What's happened is Biden has dropped because concerns about his age after the debate. So Trump is completely beatable.
But look what's happening. In the last election, Joe Biden led in the national polls, 100 percent of the time from wire to wire, every single
poll of the -- of the country in 2020 had Biden winning. And usually by about 10, he wound up winning by about 4.5.
Every single poll, this time, has Biden losing. It's the same Trump.
So I think Democrats are saying, look, we can beat this guy. And they believe I do too, that he's a terrible threat to our democracy. And so they
have to defeat him at the polls.
But, you know, there's just -- right now, there's all this evidence that the country just won't turn to Biden to defeat him.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. And then you have this continued --
SINGLETON: I mean, but there's evidence that --
GOLODRYGA: Go ahead, Shermichael, quickly.
SINGLETON: I was just going to quickly say, there is an evidence that there is anyone else who can actually beat Trump this November either.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. Well, it's not like --
BEGALA: Well, the surest evidence is the way the -- yes, the way the Republicans are panicking. When anytime you mentioned any other Democrat,
because they've locked in on President Biden. Again, I think has been a terrific president.
But the truth is they know, and Trump knows in his bones.
GOLODRYGA: Yes.
BEGALA: I don't know what this must feel like to always be rejected. He's never had a day, not a day ever where he's had the majority of Americans
behind him. That's pathetic.
So my party better be able to beat him because the country does not want Donald Trump. I know that.
GOLODRYGA: I can tell you one place he wasn't rejected. And that was that at that arena this week in Milwaukee. That was the Trump show for sure.
(LAUGHTER)
Paul Begala, Shermichael Singleton, thank you both. We appreciate it.
BEGALA: Thanks, Bianna.
GOLODRYGA: Well, coming up on ONE WORLD, investigators are learning fresh details about the gunman and the attack on Trump's rally by combing through
his online activity.
Also ahead, a Russian court sentences an American reporter. We'll have a live report on the fate of Evan Gershkovich and the U.S. reaction to the
verdict in his espionage trial.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:25:26]
GOLODRYGA: The U.N.'s top court is calling the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, illegal. In a non-binding landmark opinion,
the International Court of Justice found that Israeli settlements there are in violation of international law. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has
rejected that opinion.
Meantime, U.S. President Biden says his administration is pushing hard for the release of an American journalist convicted in Russia.
"Wall Street Journal" reporter Evan Gershkovich was found guilty of espionage and sentenced to 16 years in prison.
Here you see him in a glass cage in court earlier today. Moscow accuses Gershkovich of spying for the CIA. He is the first American journalist
arrested on spying charges in Russia since the Cold War.
"The Wall Street Journal" and the U.S. government strongly denied those charges and Gershkovich has pleaded not guilty.
We have CNN reporter standing by on this story. CNN's Matthew Chance is in London. But let's begin with Kylie Atwood who joins us now from the U.S.
State Department in Washington D.C.
Listen, Kylie, sadly this conviction was not that big of a surprise. Russia has a very near 100 percent conviction rate. There were -- there was
absolutely no evidence presented by the prosecution. This was all done behind closed doors.
That having been said, the U.S. has been monitoring this very closely.
What is the response now in terms of perhaps once this trial is now over, the real negotiations about any sort of exchange, prisoner exchange can
really begin.
KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN UNITED STATE SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well listen, the initial response from the Biden administration is as you would expect with
the President of the United States reiterating that Evan Gershkovich did not commit a crime, saying journalism is not a crime, saying that the U.S.
will continue working tirelessly to free Evan Gershkovich, saying that there is no higher priority.
The Secretary of State also spoke today, reiterating some of those remarks saying that the State Department's office here, the special envoy for
hostage affairs who works on these efforts will continue to do so, does so tirelessly on a daily basis.
And there are questions, however, even though this verdict was perhaps expected, this guilty verdict. There are questions about how speedy this
trial went along. It was just a number of court appearances for Evan. That is in stark contrast to what we have seen with other cases where it has
taken, you know, months even up to a year for there to actually be a verdict.
And U.S. officials aren't commenting on background around the record about what a speedy trial could mean for negotiations.
But previously, when you talk to U.S. officials they've always said that there really needs to be a verdict in the judicial system of Russia before
they can get the wheels actively turning on those political efforts, those negotiations, those conversations to secure the release of an American
who's wrongfully detained in Russia.
We saw that with Brittney Griner. We've seen that with other cases. So it could be hopeful that this went along quite quickly.
The other question mark here, as many folks will recognize, is the fact that there is the presidential election here in November. And their
questions as to if Russia would want to hold off on any negotiations to see what happens in those elections.
The Secretary of State was actually asked about that today and he downplayed the effect that the elections could actually have on
negotiations. He said that the negotiations go on both sides, you know, know what they want to be the final game. They reach their conclusions.
And he went on to say that he doesn't think that that conclusion is dependent on U.S. elections.
I think some others would have questions about that, you know, hanging over this process here. It's been ongoing, of course, for Evan Gershkovich for
more than a year now.
And, of course, there's Paul Whelan who's another American, who's been wrongfully detained for more than five years in Russia who the U.S. is also
trying to release. So those efforts are ongoing, but it's really hard to know just what stage they are at right now.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. And we have heard, Matthew Chance, from Donald Trump himself who said that Evan Gershkovich would be home almost immediately if
he is reelected. And, of course, that sparked some concerns about whether or not that's something that the Russians also are anticipating.
What is the reaction to this guilty verdict, again not necessarily a surprise but now as Kylie noted perhaps the speed of the trial could be
viewed in a positive light, perhaps given the circumstances? Walk us through what happens next.
[12:30:06]
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, I mean it's not clear that the fact that this trial sort of ended in a guilty
verdict just three weeks after it formally began necessarily means that there's a fast track towards a hostage exchange or a deal that would see
Evan Gershkovich released.
I mean, what critics that I've spoken to have said is that, actually, it says a lot more about the sort of politicization of the Russian judicial
system. The fact that they didn't have to really weigh the evidence in what would have been a very complex, presumably, and, you know, obviously, a
very serious case.
They kind of knew what the sentence was going to be, what the verdict was going to be, and how many years they -- you know, they were going to put
him away for. And they just sort of cut straight to that as soon as possible.
And it does lift an important bureaucratic obstacle that the Russians themselves put in place, which I think is Kylie was saying. You know, they
made it quite clear they didn't want to see, or they wouldn't allow a deal, a swap to take place, until a verdict had been reached. That's now sort of
beyond that point. So that's a -- that's a good thing.
But I do think we have to bear in mind that that deal could take months, if we're talking about a Trump administration deal, if he wins the election,
of course, or it could take even years if it happens at all.
Remember, Paul Whelan, who is another U.S. citizen, a former U.S. Marine, has been held since 2018, sentenced to 16 years for spying as well.
There have been efforts underway for the past six years to try and, you know, organize a prisoner swap with him, and that hasn't happened yet.
So, yes, there is a possible route through this with a prisoner swap deal, but that could be a long, long way away yet.
GOLODRYGA: One thing is definite, and that is, regardless of the speed of this trial, not one shred of evidence was produced publicly by Russian
prosecutors. We need to make that clear and reiterate that over and over again.
Matthew Chance, Kylie Atwood, thank you so much.
Coming up for us, airlines, banks, businesses, and broadcasters around the world all impacted by a massive tech outage. The very latest on where
things stand just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:35:49]
GOLODRYGA: Hi. Welcome back to ONE WORLD. I'm Bianna Golodryga. More now on our top story.
So far, 2,000 flights have been canceled in the United States because of a massive tech outage that has caused chaos at airports, hospitals, banks,
and businesses worldwide.
According to FlightAware, nearly 6,000 flights have been delayed in the U.S. alone. One cybersecurity expert says the outage is set to be the
largest in history.
The outage is crippling airports across the globe, grounding flights and leaving passengers in limbo. It's also creating disruptions for financial
and emergency services.
Cybersecurity firm, CrowdStrike, has apologized and says that a software update, not a cyber-attack, is to blame.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE KURTZ, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, CROWDSTRIKE: The system was sent an update, and that update had a software bug in it and caused an issue with
the Microsoft operating system. And we identified this very quickly and remediated the issue.
And as systems come back online, as they're rebooted, they're coming up and they're working. And now we are working with each and every customer to
make sure that we can bring them back online.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Well, a White House officials as President Biden is engaged with agencies to get sector by sector updates throughout the day.
CNN's Tom Foreman joins us now live in Washington, D.C.
Talk about a massive headache, Tom, and a traveler that one of our correspondents spoke with in Atlanta Hartsfield Airport said, listen,
mistakes happen, but not of this magnitude. And I guess that's the question so many people have right now.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. If the president is going to get updates, he's going to get a lot of updates.
GOLODRYGA: Yes.
WINTER: Because this is touching a lot of places. Just think about every place in your life that is potentially touched by Microsoft. This wasn't
Microsoft's problem, but it was the CrowdStrike update that got Microsoft, in some cases, off on the wrong foot.
And it doesn't have to be a direct connection either. For example, in some places, the planes were ready to fly, but the systems inside the airport to
get people there were not ready to work.
So it has really touched so many different fields. The government has been talking about how Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice
affected, Social Security affected, package deliveries affected, hospitals affected, banks, retail sales, all sorts of issues out there.
So the fact that CrowdStrike now says they fixed the core problem doesn't account for the fact that this is like a leak in your house. You can get
the water cut off. But once the water is everywhere, you've got a huge cleanup.
And honestly, Bianna, there's a lot of signs that getting through this is going to take several days here because now you have all these people who
missed flights, planes aren't where they need to be, crews aren't where they need to be. That's a lot to fix, especially when it's a global
problem.
GOLODRYGA: Yes, indeed. You just feel for all these passengers at airports. And listen, as you said, there's hardly a sector that hasn't been affected
by this.
Tom Foreman, thank you so much.
FOREMAN: You're welcome.
GOLODRYGA: Time now for The Exchange. Today's outage highlights the risks of a digitally connected world.
Let's take a closer look at that with Victoria Baines. She's a professor of IT at Gresham College in London.
Victoria, thank you so much for joining us. So it does appear that the CEO of CrowdStrike is taking solace in the fact that this was not a cyber-
attack, but rather a software update. And maybe we should read it that way, too, after the fact. But that doesn't take away from the damage that this
update has caused.
And all of us want to know, how is something like that even possible?
VICTORIA BAINES, PROFESSOR OF IT, GRESHAM COLLEGE IN LONDON. Absolutely. And, you know, first disclosure, I woke up this morning, U.K. time. And, of
course, like everybody else who works in cybersecurity, I thought, hey, this is going to be a really serious cyber-attack on a grand scale.
We have seen very, very large cyber-attacks from the likes of Russia and North Korea that have affected critical infrastructure like healthcare
systems, like telecommunications infrastructure.
We are, I think, all relieved that it is not a cyber-attack, that we're not all being held to ransom for many, many millions and billions of dollars.
However, I think it is a real wake-up call. It's a salutary reminder that bugs do happen. Glitches do happen. Human error can happen. This is only
just one item of code that was wrong.
[12:40:13]
And actually in technical terms, it's a file that was just saved in the wrong format. And it's certainly a reminder of how dependent we all are on
that digital security to keep the trains running, to keep the planes flying in the air, and to keep our bank payments being transferred as well.
GOLODRYGA: So what vulnerabilities has this exposed?
BAINES: In this case, I'm relieved to say, it's not so much of vulnerability, not in the -- not in the kind of pure security sense that
someone could exploit that vulnerability and do as harm.
It's simply that pushing an update meant that it just shuts everybody's computers down. We'll all be familiar, certainly, those of us who are old
enough and I've been in this area for a good 20 years now. You'll remember the blue screen of death, you know, when your computer --
GOLODRYGA: Yes.
BAINES: -- crashes and you get the blue screen. That's what this update has been doing. Simply because it's been saved in the wrong format, it's been
crashing people's machines and people have been getting the blue screen of death.
Now, the patch, the fix, has already been issued, but for those computers that are already affected, every single one of those computers has to be
restarted manually.
So the old joke about, well, have you turned it off and on again? Actually, in this case, if you have a Microsoft computer that's all affected by this
update, it really is the best thing to do.
You know, there are estimates that this is going to take some days, perhaps even weeks to fully recover from the impact. And not just as Tom was saying
there in terms of the backlog, but even just for the machines themselves.
And that's because you can't issue that update, you can't roll it back automatically and remotely. Everybody, at the end point of each laptop,
like the one I'm on right now, is having to do that manually and manually reboot. And that's a bit that's going to take the time.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. And that is such a pain in the you-know-what. And that is the focus right now.
But again, as we look back on this, when this is all resolved, I think another concern, perhaps for cybersecurity experts like yourself, is you
don't want this to send a bad message for people who will then question whether or not they should update their software anytime a new update is
issued, because I, for example, anytime on my iPhone, anytime Apple issues a new update, I do it right away because that's what we're told it helps
prevent any sort of cyber-attacks or any other mischievous behavior.
How worried are you that this may be viewed by some as an excuse perhaps not to heed these new -- these new updates?
BAINES: Personally, I'm pretty worried about that, because that's what I do for my living, is I get those basic messages out to the public. And we even
produce short movies just to talk to people about the importance of having their software up to date, the importance of having strong different
passwords as much of a pain they are in the you-know-what as well.
You know, the importance of checking out suspect links before you click on them, even if you think you've won a massive prize, you know. There are --
the very basic things that we ask people to do to protect themselves, their communities, their businesses, they definitely still apply.
I think it does ask another question really, which is that CrowdStrike is a market leader, they're so dominant in the third-party cybersecurity market.
And it's a bit like the questions we have around big tech dominance in general, the Microsofts, the Metas, the Googles of this world.
The bigger they get, the more we trust them to, you know, know what they're doing with their software, to know what they're doing with their
engineering.
And the more we trust them, the bigger they get. But, of course, that means that if all the power is in the hands of one or two big companies and then
they fall down just because there's a tiny glitch with a massive impact, then that means we're all less resilient.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. And we rely so much.
BAINES: So it does raise some questions about more keep dominance. Yes, absolutely.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. And I guess my question, you're the expert here. So maybe this isn't an option, but now I mentioned the vulnerabilities. I'm just
wondering if there's a scenario where when you do these types of updates, and perhaps this is a lesson learned from what happened today, that there
is sort of a default as opposed to everything just switching off, perhaps systems, you know, like a backup generator kicks in, as we know in some
hospitals when they lose power, if there's even a way to keep things running, perhaps even slower, but at least not permanently or not shut off
completely.
BAINES: Absolutely. So we always say that backups are really, really important, being able to switch to an alternative system, you know. But not
everybody is a huge healthcare provider or a huge bank, you know. And they have, you know, about 50 laptops and they have one IT manager. That's quite
often the default these days.
[12:45:02]
But also, I think it raises a question about, you know, how did this happen in the first place? Yes, bugs happen. Yes, glitches happen, but there will
be somebody at CrowdStrike right now who is in a lot of trouble for not checking their work.
There will be information security managers all over the world having a very sleepless weekend, trying to work out what they can do to roll their
systems back so that they're secure again, but also so that people can access these devices.
And one of the things that we are looking at is, well, could artificial intelligence reduce human error in these situations? There is a lot of
concern about AI out there. And, you know, the mistakes that it too can make, particularly around, you know, creating fake news that didn't exist
before and making stuff up, right?
That is a legitimate concern. But when you have a machine checking code, arguably, we're going to have less human error.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. You can't overlook the irony, though, when you talk about high-tech and computer technology and AI versus some of the advice you
mentioned earlier just turning your computer on and off again.
It's just the basics, perhaps can help in this case.
Victoria Baines, IT security expert, thank you so much for breaking it down for us. Appreciate it.
And we'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GOLODRYGA: Well, new details are emerging about the gunman who opened fire at the Trump rally last Saturday in Pennsylvania.
Investigators are combing through his internet activity in the days and weeks leading up to the shooting.
Officials say he researched the arrest of a Michigan school shooter and the prosecution of his parents in 2021. He also looked up how to build
explosives.
A U.S. official says one emerging theory by investigators is that he was looking to carry out a mass shooting and the Trump event offered him a
ready opportunity.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Secret Service is slamming claims that female agents were incapable of protecting Trump. After Saturday's shooting, some right-
wing media personalities and lawmakers are blaming them for security failures at the rally. The agency calls the criticism baseless and
disgusting.
Let's bring in CNN's Hadas Gold. And, Hadas, it's Friday, but I have to say, the hours after the shooting on Saturday, you started seeing some of
the sentiment being shared online and on social media as well, I guess it's only grown in the days after.
[12:50:04]
HADAS GOLD, CNN MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Listen, diversity initiatives have become almost like a slur in right-wing circles, especially in right-
wing media.
They've blamed diversity initiatives for everything from the Baltimore bridge collapse to safety issues and airliners. And their latest target is
this assassination attempt of the former president. They've blamed both the female Secret Service agents who were on stage with him and also the female
director of the Secret Service, Kimberly Cheatle, who's the second woman to hold the job.
For the women on stage, they say that they couldn't possibly protect somebody like the former president because they're physically smaller than
him. They've claimed that some of them acted unprofessionally in the chaotic aftermath of that.
I do have to say I spoke to a former deputy director of the Secret Service and other law enforcement professionals who have all pushed back on that
saying that all those agents acted very professionally and courageously.
And even Eric Trump, the former president's son, said in an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper that these women, specifically the female agents on stage
with him, would lay down their lives for him and call them as courageous as they come.
Others have, of course, gone after the Secret Service director, Kimberly Cheatle.
Now, of course, there are major questions for the Secret Service about how this could have possibly happened. But some in the right-wing media sphere
are saying that it's Kimberly Cheatle's fault that she was only hired for the job because she is a woman. They've specifically gone after her
initiative to try to get more women into the Secret Service by 2030.
But I should note, Cheatle has decades of experience in the Secret Service. She was on Biden's own detail. And then she also led global security for
Pepsi, one of the biggest companies in the world.
Now, in a statement, the Secret Service has pushed back on these attacks saying, "It is an insult to the women of our agency to imply that they are
unqualified based on gender. Such baseless assertions undermine the professionalism, dedication, and expertise of our workforce."
I want to note, I spoke to the former deputy director of the Secret Service, Barbara Riggs. And she pushed back on these saying that they are
absolutely baseless and outrageous. She said somebody like Kimberly Cheatle does not just get this job as a token.
And one thing that was really important that she noted about the importance of diversity in the Secret Service. First of all, women have been in the
force since the 1970s. And Barbara Riggs, she pointed out that having a diverse agency is so important because when you're somebody from a
different background or a different gender, you see things differently.
You can take in, you know, possible threats differently than another agent. And that is exactly what you need when you're trying to protect somebody.
Bianna.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. And it's worth noting that while members of the Trump family perhaps have been criticizing leadership at the Secret Service,
you've had people like Eric Trump the past few days vigorously really defending some of those female agents that had defended him throughout the
years as well.
Hadas Gold, thank you so much. And we'll be right back with more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:55:24]
GOLODRYGA: All right. Before we go, one more update to our top story. Airports around the world are backed up after a massive tech outage.
According to FlightAware, 2,000 flights have been canceled in the United States alone so far. The chaos has hit airports, hospitals, banks, and
businesses worldwide.
According to FlightAware, nearly 6,000 flights have been delayed in the U.S. Cybersecurity firm, CrowdStrike, has apologized and says a software
update, not a cyber-attack, is to blame.
Well, that does it for this busy hour of ONE WORLD. I'm Bianna Golodryga. Thanks so much for watching. I'll be right back with "AMANPOUR."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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