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The Brief with Jim Sciutto
CNN International: Trump Says He Intends to Meet with Putin; Witkoff Meets with Putin in Moscow; Netanyahu Considering "Full Conquest" of Gaza; IDF Chief Warns Against Gaza Takeover; Unprecedented Humanitarian Crisis Unfolding in Gaza; Apple to Invest Additional $100 Billion; Texas Democrats Remain Out of State. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired August 06, 2025 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[18:00:00]
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington. And you're watching
"The Brief."
Just ahead this hour, President Trump says there is a good chance he will meet with Vladimir Putin face to face after he sent his special envoy to
Moscow. Apple says it will invest an additional $100 billion in its U.S. manufacturing program. And soccer superstar Heung-Min Son is moving here to
the U.S. He's joined LAFC after a decade at Tottenham Hotspur.
But first, President Trump says it's likely that he's going to meet Vladimir Putin soon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: There's a very good prospect that they will, and we haven't determined where, but we had some very good talks with
President Putin today and there's a very good chance that we could be ending the round, ending the end of that road. That road was long and
continues to be long, but there's a good chance that there will be a meeting very soon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: White House officials say the Russian leader suggested a summit with the U.S. president during his meeting with Trump's special envoy,
Steve Witkoff, earlier today. There they are shaking hands in Moscow. It came ahead of President Trump's Friday deadline for the Kremlin to reach a
peace deal or face additional economic penalties. Following today's meeting, a White House official said that those secondary sanctions on
countries importing Russian oil are still expected to go onto effect on Friday.
In Ukraine, President Zelenskyy says that the pressure on the Kremlin seems to be working.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): It seems that Russia is now more inclined towards ceasefire. The pressure on them is
working, but the main thing is that they do not deceive us in the details, either us nor the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: So, what's the view from Russia? Our Fred Pleitgen is in Moscow with more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): As Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed U.S. Presidential Envoy Steve
Witkoff to the Kremlin, Russian state media with special wall to wall coverage.
We begin with urgent news, the host says, just at this moment, President Putin is meeting with U.S. Special Envoy Witkoff. One expert warning not to
make the U.S. president into an adversary. We need to avoid getting Donald Trump in the ranks of sincere enemies, he says. He himself does not want to
be our sincere enemy. Trump is saying, dear Russia, let's do something so that I don't look like a loser. Russia can give him this and not force him
to introduce these sanctions. He himself does not need them.
President Trump is demanding serious movement towards a ceasefire in Ukraine.
TRUMP: I'm here to get us out of it.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): And threatening major sanctions against Russia by the end of this week if there's no progress. But while the Russians were
laying on the hospitality, the head of Russia's direct investment fund taking Steve Witkoff for a walk in a Moscow Park after earlier picking
Witkoff up from the airport and then posting this photo on social media. After an almost three-hour meeting with Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin framing
the talks as little more than an exchange of positions.
On our part in particular, some signals were transmitted on the Ukrainian issue and corresponding signals were also received from President Trump,
this Kremlin aid says. The situation now is that our president has full information that is our signals, signals from President Trump.
PLEITGEN: Both the Kremlin and the White House say they understand just how important today's meeting is. The Russians, of course, want to prevent
any massive sanctions against their economy by President Trump. At the same time, they are still eyeing generally improved relations between Moscow and
Washington.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): But the trajectory seems to be heading in the opposite direction. The Trump administration announcing new tariffs against
India, one of the main clients for Russian oil shortly after Steve Witkoff's motorcade left the Kremlin for the journey back to the U.S.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN Moscow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[18:05:00]
SCIUTTO: For more, joining me now is Jeffrey Edmonds, former director for Russia at the U.S. National Security Council, also a former CIA military
analyst. Good to have you, Jeffrey.
JEFFREY EDMONDS, FORMER DIRECTOR FOR RUSSIA, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL AND FORMER CIA MILITARY ANALYST: Thanks for having me.
SCIUTTO: So, do you read this as serious diplomatic outreach from the Russian president?
EDMONDS: I don't. I think that Putin will always take a meeting with the president. I think he is fully aware of the tumultuous relationship we've
had with Ukraine since the new administration came in. And I think he wants to really push the can down the road when it comes to sanctions. And I
think he believes that a personal meeting with Trump could actually do that.
SCIUTTO: Now, could Trump be accepting or thinking about such a meeting prematurely? I mean, in the past, for instance, he's -- he met multiple
times with Kim Jong Un and got nowhere on nuclear negotiations. Is it possible that Putin could play him with such a meeting?
EDMONDS: I do think that that's a real possibility. I think the important thing to remember is that in the end, Putin believes he can survive the
sanctions and he believes that he can achieve his strategic goals in Ukraine by prosecuting the war. And that's something that I think the
administration needs to keep forefront in their mind.
Putin will do everything he can to try to drag this out and to say that he's a friend of Trump, Ukraine is really the bloc, you know, the thing
that's stopping the negotiation. So, I think he would use an opportunity meeting with Trump to make that statement.
SCIUTTO: You heard President Zelenskyy there say that pressure on Russia seems to be working, but you said that Putin frankly doesn't take U.S.
president's power seriously. Why?
EDMONDS: So, I think President Zelenskyy has to play a careful role here. I think he wants to show that he's aligned with the administration, doesn't
want to go through what he went through before when we really had a falling out. But at the same time, the real part of his message, I think is
important, is that the pressure is working. Meaning he knows that this negotiation's not going to go anywhere. But the message is keep the
pressure up, follow through with the sanctions, because that's the only real way to get to any kind of meaningful negotiations.
SCIUTTO: So, the president says that he is going to impose these additional sanctions on Friday, despite what he says was a constructive
meeting between Witkoff and Putin. Can you explain how exactly these additional sanctions will bite?
EDMONDS: I mean, I think they can. When you look at, for example, the amount of oil and other like natural gas that India, for example, has --
SCIUTTO: Yes. It's huge.
EDMONDS: If you look at the change between before and after the invasion, it is really big. And so, there are a number of steps they could take. You
know, there are legal measures against ships. There's other things they can do to make it very difficult for Russia to move this ghost fleet around and
make it very costly for countries that are participating in this, that I do think could have a very significant impact on the Russian economy.
SCIUTTO: Is a byproduct of that though that there would be more expensive oil and therefore, potential economic impact on the U.S.?
EDMONDS: Possibly. But I think that we could -- that will not be as big. I mean, I think that the ghost fleet doesn't make up a large enough
percentage of the oil, of the international energy market to really have that big of an impact.
SCIUTTO: So, let's say that the president -- President Trump and Putin do sit down. Do you see any ability of Trump through a combination of economic
pressure to -- and diplomatic friendliness to move the ball forward in any way? Are you saying that Putin has basically calculated, I'm going to
outlast this guy?
EDMONDS: I think that's the case. It was really interesting. I think a couple weeks ago, Putin actually said, I don't believe American presidents
have power. I think it's important to remember that his time horizon lasts beyond presidents. And so, he think -- he will get what he can from
President Trump. But in the end, like I'd said, I think he thinks he can achieve his goals even without that. But he'll definitely try to get as
much as he can from President Trump.
SCIUTTO: One advantage of president for life. Jeffrey Edmonds, thanks so much for joining.
EDMONDS: Thanks for having me.
SCIUTTO: Well, Israel's military is warning that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should not take over Gaza. The chief of staff says it would trap
Israel in a military quagmire and put Israeli hostages still held there at risk, that according to three Israeli sources. This as footage shows just
the sheer devastation in Gaza. The territory's health ministry reported 138 people killed in just the last 24 hours.
Steve Dorsey is the head of communications for the International Committee of the Red Cross in the U.S. and Canada, and he joins us now. Thanks so
much for joining, Steve.
STEVE DORSEY, SPOKESPERSON, INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS: Jim, it's great to be here. Thank you.
SCIUTTO: So, in the simplest terms, what are the principal contributors right now to food shortages in Gaza? As I've spoken to aid agencies, they
often draw attention to a reduced number of aid distribution sites, as well as additional Israeli restrictions on outside groups, including the U.N.
and others sending aid in.
[18:10:00]
DORSEY: Yes. What we need, first and foremost, is we need more aid to enter. That's the first priority. We need unimpeded surge in aid, not only
in the South, but across the Gaza Strip up into the north where civilian infrastructure, roads have been heavily destroyed. But also remember that
food production has been catastrophically affected. Farming, agriculture systems, water irrigation, all of that has been essentially wiped out. So,
self-sufficiency is also a problem here.
But also, it's dangerous too. To get around Gaza, not only for civilians that are trying to walk hours and hours to the closest aid or food
distribution site, but for humanitarian workers who sometimes, in recent weeks, have of course been killed. But the logistical access of evacuation
zones, of destroyed roads, of rubble make this a near impossible challenge as well.
SCIUTTO: Israeli officials will say two things. Those who acknowledge a humanitarian crisis there, they'll say, one, it is Hamas' fault, and/or,
this is really Israel, the victim of a disinformation campaign here. What's your response to those arguments?
DORSEY: It's not my -- it's not our, the Red Cross' role to take any side here. We believe in neutral independent humanitarian action. Our focus is
to get help where it's needed most. And first, that's the hostages that have been in captivity there for coming up on two years now. We've seen, of
course, that distressing a terrible video of hostages, but we've also seen the terrible video of children that can't get a meal, of parents choosing
between risking their own lives for food at an age, right, or site or watching their children die of hunger. That's the reality of the situation
right now. Who's to blame? That doesn't matter to us. It's how to get help is what's the most important for us.
SCIUTTO: The Red Cross does not assess famine, but you have reported signs of malnutrition. Tell us your best assessment of the humanitarian situation
on the ground there right now and the severity of it.
DORSEY: Yes, that's right. We -- I know from talking to my colleagues today in Israel and in Gaza that the humanitarian situation remains
terrible. People are desperate. They still need help. The airdrops, the limited amount of trucks that are coming in are still not enough. We've
been seeing, of course, at our Red Cross Field Hospital in Rafah continued cases of malnutrition.
And just from our own perspective, we still have trouble feeding our own staff. We're giving patients rice, that's all that we can scrounge off.
This is a healthcare facility, one of the last remaining healthcare facilities for more than 2 million people, and that's all we have to give.
And even that is in short supply. So, the hunger situation, the malnourishment cases remain a serious concern for not only our aid group,
but for the ones -- the few ones that have remained and are operating across Gaza.
SCIUTTO: We've heard that even the aid workers themselves are having trouble finding enough to eat. I spoke to the CEO of Mercy Corps recently,
said her own staff faces that problem. What are you hearing from your own teams on the ground?
DORSEY: Yes, absolutely. I mean, getting any kind of food, not just for our employees in Gaza, but for their families that we're unable to support
right now continues to be a huge challenge. But it's not just about food, Jim, it's also about fuel, right? I mean, we're seeing cases of families
burning trash, plastics, breathing that in and then coming to our hospital in a Rafah with respiratory infections. That's how desperate the situation
is there to just try to find food and the fuel that they can to cook it.
Of course, we've also been getting reports from our own folks on the ground in Gaza about children sorting through trash piles and finding any kind of
scraps they can eat. That's how dire it's, yes.
SCIUTTO: Yes. That's an additional criticism I have heard about the current aid distribution program, questions about the food itself, these
meals that the Gazi Humanitarian Foundation has been distributing. Some of them requiring cooking, which is of course problem, to your point, if
there's not enough fuel to cook. I mean, is there an essential issue with the bulk of the food supplies going in right now?
DORSEY: Well, I think it's an issue of a larger problem of we can't just be focusing on food, right. Not only do we also need food and fuel, we also
need water, clean water. We need more medicine for our hospitals. We're rationing not only food at our hospital, but we're rationing medicine too.
[18:15:00]
We need key components for the reconstruction of public health and sewage systems with a concern, of course, of diseases spreading. I can't talk
about the aid sites in that mechanism. We're not part of that. Other humanitarian groups are also not part of that. I can only talk about what
we're doing and what we're seeing in our own operations, but all of that is pointing to a larger need, a larger problem of the landscape of the
tremendous amount of humanitarian problems that are facing more than 2 million people in Gaza right now, Jim.
SCIUTTO: Steve Dorsey of the Red Cross, thanks so much for joining.
DORSEY: Thank you, Jim.
SCIUTTO: Still ahead. Apple's CEO Tim Cook joins President Trump for a major announcement on the company's new investment plans for the U.S. It is
Apple's latest effort to try to avoid steep tariffs.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCIUTTO: President Trump and Apple CEO Tim Cook just announced new plans by the company to invest here in the U.S. The two say Apple will spend an
additional $100 billion to try to bring more production back to the U.S. That is on top of the $500 billion announced by Apple earlier this year.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIM COOK, CEO, APPLE: As a part of this, we're launching Apple's American manufacturing program. It will spur even more production right here in
America for critical components used in Apple products all around the world. And we're thrilled to announce that we've already signed new
agreements with 10 companies across America to do just that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: However, this does not mean Apple will begin assembling iPhones in the U.S. anytime soon. However, it could help ease the threat of tariffs
on some Apple products. Trump also announced at the event that he will place 100 percent tariff on imported computer chips. A new effort to bring
more tech production to the U.S. It does take years though to build those supply chains.
Shares of Apple rallied more than 5 percent on news of the investment. U.S. stocks overall finished Wednesday's session higher across the board, led by
gains in tech.
Joining me now, Lance Ulanoff, editor at large at TechRadar. Good to have you.
LANCE ULANOFF, EDITOR AT LARGE, TECHRADAR: Good to be here.
SCIUTTO: So, a very practical question, a hundred billion dollars sounds like a lot of money, does that mean they're going to be making much stuff
here soon?
[18:20:00]
ULANOFF: Well, it won't be long. You know, there's a process to getting this all up and running. You know, some of these partnerships, like the
partnership with Corning, that's existed for a long time. We've known that Apple uses Gorilla Glass on its phone for the ceramic shield. But they
also, obviously were sourcing some outside the U.S. So, this brings it all in here. But to do that can take a little time. And the end-to-end sort of
silicon process, that's also going to take some time.
It is quite a significant change for all of the sourcing of so many different components. But you know, they did not really talk -- I know
briefly, I think maybe Trump mentioned the idea of manufacturing, assembling the phones here in the U.S. but that doesn't seem to be
happening anytime soon.
SCIUTTO: I mean, will it ever happen here? Because the fact is that hourly wages here are much higher than in China or India. So, unless folks are
willing to pay many hundreds of dollars more for their iPhone, that's not going to happen.
ULANOFF: Right. And you know, I guess the question is what does this do? Even just what's happening here, bringing all the manufacturing of some of
these components, the sourcing of these components into the U.S. where maybe the workforce is more expensive, does that change anything on the
makeup or the pricing of the iPhone? We don't really know. But I will say that Tim Cook is such a great supply chain guy. He knows how to balance all
of this stuff.
But manufacturing at scale, the hundreds of millions of phones that they need, putting that in the U.S, that's a whole different story, and that may
be a scale that he maybe can't manage his way out of.
SCIUTTO: So, how about these commitments? Because Apple's not alone as a company that's promising quite large bottom-line figures, tens of billions,
hundreds of billions of dollars to be invested here. Are those commitments, including this Apple commitment, actually enforceable? That is what's to
keep Apple from deciding in a year or two or three or five years some of that money might be better invested somewhere else?
ULANOFF: Well, it's a fair question. You know, in 2018 Apple committed to spending hundreds of billions of dollars in the U.S. on some of these
programs, and we're not entirely sure of the timeline of how those things are enacted. Now, we're kind of back here and we're doing it again. But the
commitment sounded strong. I think that it was smart to focus in, especially on the glass, which is something that is one of the last things
you might put on the product and maybe feels more controllable and less precise even than a silicon chip. But I think that, you know, they're just
-- we're just going to have to see what the future holds here. And you know, how these programs play out, how the hiring goes.
One question that was asked that is really worth focusing on, do we have the workforce necessary to do these highly technical jobs right now? And if
not, how quickly can we scale up so people are ready to go?
SCIUTTO: Lance Ulanoff, thanks so much for joining.
ULANOFF: It was a pleasure.
SCIUTTO: Straight ahead, Texas House Democrats are facing arrest warrants now as well as possible FBI intervention, even a bomb threat. We're going
to have more on the battle over redistricting the State of Texas right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:25:00]
SCIUTTO: Welcome back to "The Brief." I'm Jim Sciutto. And here are more international headlines we're watching today.
President Trump says there's a good chance of meeting Vladimir Putin very soon. White House officials say the Russian leader suggested such a summit
with the U.S. president during his meeting with U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff earlier today. The meeting came ahead of President Trump's Friday
deadline for the Kremlin to reach a peace deal with Ukraine or face new economic penalties.
A U.S. military commander says the five soldiers wounded in today's mass shooting at the Fort Stewart Army Base in Georgia are now in stable
condition. Law enforcement says the shooting suspect. It has now been identified as 28-year-old Sergeant Quornelius Radford, who allegedly used
his personal firearm. He's now in pretrial confinement. Officials say it is unclear what his motive was.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and others paid their respects alongside a dwindling number of survivors at a memorial ceremony today,
marking 80 years since the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima, more than 110,000 people were killed instantly on August 6,
1945, hundreds of thousands perished over the following months, years, and decades from their wounds and radiation.
High ranking Trump administration officials were expected to meet tonight for a strategy session over the politically explosive Epstein files
scandal. Sources said the meeting was supposed to be hosted by the vice president, J. D. Vance, attended by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, the
FBI director, Kash Patel and others. Now, that dinner is in flux after intense coverage with Vance's dismissing CNN's reporting saying that the
Epstein situation will not be on the agenda.
This comes as White House officials are weighing whether to release audio recordings of Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche's recent meetings with
Epstein's accomplice, the convicted sex trafficker, Ghislaine Maxwell. Officials tell CNN the interview could be made public as early as this
week, that there are more than 10 hours of audio.
Kristen Holmes joins me now. So, Kristen, has the meeting gone away or they just don't want to talk about what this meeting is about?
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's still unclear. Look, we were told this was a dinner and look at who was going to
be at this dinner. Kash Patel, the FBI director, the attorney general, Pam Bondi, the deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, as well as chief of
staff, Susie Wiles, and J. D. Vance. We were also told that part of the topics of what was going to come up was the administration's response to
the Epstein scandal.
The other part of this being that all of these people are key players, which was stressed to us by a number of sources in the Epstein response.
And I do want to note one thing here. There is a lot of tension within this administration over the way that the Epstein case, the investigation, has
been handled, particularly between two of the people who will be there tonight, FBI Director Kash Patel as well as Attorney General Pam Bondi.
There were a lot of administration officials as well as outside sources who viewed this as an opportunity to realign, to get on the same page,
particularly as the White House is trying to take control of the narrative. Having these conversations about whether or not to release a transcript,
whether or not to release audio, those were conversations that they wanted everyone to be on the same page with, not only just between Bondi and
Patel, for example, but also with Susie Wiles, with J. D. Vance, bringing in the White House to make sure that anything went out, everybody signed
off on, everybody was aware of.
[18:30:00]
So, this idea that they're not going to have any conversation about Epstein when the last time, of course, we were talking about Pam Bondi and Kash
Patel and Susie Wiles having a meeting, we were talking about their explosive blowup, Bondi and Patel, over the Epstein files and the fact that
the deputy FBI director stormed out, that seems a little bit suspect. And again, that's not what sources were telling us until we saw this intense
amount of coverage, that's when we started seeing the White House as well as sources back away from this idea that this was about Epstein.
SCIUTTO: That's a twisted tale. Kristen Holmes, but I imagine not the first time you've heard one like that from the White House. Thanks so much
for joining.
Now, to the battle over congressional maps in the State of Texas. Democratic members of the state legislature have fled Texas in order to
stop a vote on a Republican plan to redraw districts in Republican's favor. Many of the lawmakers heading all the way to Chicago. On Wednesday,
Illinois police said they had to evacuate a hotel where some of those legislators were staying because of a potential bomb threat. The
legislators now face arrest warrants. President Trump even threatening to involve the FBI. Not clear how he would do so legally, though.
Joining me now is Kat Abughazaleh running -- a Democrat running for Congress in Illinois, and she joins me now. Kat, thanks so much for coming
on.
KAT ABUGHAZALEH, DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR U.S. HOUSE: Thanks for having me.
SCIUTTO: So, big picture, given you're running in the State of Illinois, I wonder what your view is of redistricting. Because here you have the State
of Texas that basically wants to gerrymander, you know, Democrats out of their seats there. But when you look at the map of Illinois it is certainly
a map that favors Democrats. And I just wonder, do you think that Democrats have the political moral high ground at all on this issue?
ABUGHAZALEH: Look, when you have Republicans trying to disenfranchise millions and millions of people, the high ground is making sure that voters
are being represented. We see this in states over and over again, and Texas is particularly famous for its gerrymandering. What the Texas Democrats are
doing coming to Illinois right now to ensure that this redistricting won't happen is brave, plain and simple. And I am so proud of Governor Pritzker
for welcoming them here.
And the bomb threats that were at their hotel today that we've heard about, this is a typical right-wing terror tactic. It's threatening just like
Lurie Children's Hospital, had bomb threats just a couple of years ago (INAUDIBLE) of TikTok attacked them for providing gender affirming care.
This is bullying, plain and simple, and Texas Democrats are being strong.
SCIUTTO: Let me ask you this, because there's something of a debate in the Democratic Party about fighting fire with fire, right? I mean -- and as you
know, Democrats in the past have, although, many blue states gerrymander, perhaps not to the degree that Texas is talking about here, but they've
talked about fighting fire with fire now saying, listen, we got to go as hard as Republicans are in the State of Texas.
Do you think -- as someone who is now running and saying Democrats need more fight in them, do you think that is the fight that Democrats should be
putting up now in a state such as Illinois, New York, perhaps California as well, that they should redistrict in a similar vein?
ABUGHAZALEH: Yes. If Republicans go through with this, then absolutely. I would like in a perfect world and to work towards this when I am in
Congress to have regulations so that way no one can gerrymander. But right now, you're having Republicans disenfranchising millions of people often
based on their race and their income, and that's not OK.
And at this point, you're just asking if you don't want, you know, to fight fire, as with fire, as you said, people are going to get hurt. We need to
ensure that voters are being represented and you can't just throw up your hands and say, well, I feel really good about myself morally right here. If
you're just leaving millions of people behind. Intellectually, maybe that makes sense to people. But practically, it doesn't for me.
SCIUTTO: OK. Let's look at the situation for Democrats as we get closer to midterm elections, which of course you're going to be running in yourself.
The latest Wall Street Journal poll finds that 63 percent of voters hold an unfavorable view of Democrats compared with 50 percent of voters who view
the GOP unfavorably.
And while President Trump's approval rating is declining, including on a number of issues, he traditionally polls strongly on, including the
economy, why? Why do you believe Democrats today are less popular than Republicans? And are they going to pay for that in the midterms?
[18:35:00]
ABUGHAZALEH: I think what we really see here is that Democratic voters are consistently let down. Many people that still support Trump are happy with
how the GOP is working and many people who supported Trump in the last election or elections before aren't as well. And you see those numbers
declining. But Democratic voters overall are seeing their leaders leave them behind. Leave them behind for corporate donors, for big money and for
policies that don't really help American people.
And meanwhile, like we saw in Zohran Mamdani's race, attacking progressives for wanting to provide practical solutions that can improve the lives of
working people. And so, it makes sense that their supporters would not be happy with the party. We have gotten so many promises over the years and
none of them ever seem to come to fruition to a point that seems almost purposeful, if not extremely damaging if it's an accident.
What we need are leaders that are willing to make change right now, and that means using our resources that we have, whether it's in campaigns,
whether it's its organizations. Going around these gaps that Trump has created and using our resources to materially improve people's lives right
now. We do not need to wait till election day to help people. We need to be doing this every second of every day now and after election day.
SCIUTTO: So, to be clear, you're saying the current Democratic Party leadership is not taking the steps necessary to -- well, to win?
ABUGHAZALEH: I would say not. I mean, what we've seen time and time again is that the current tactics of Democratic leadership has been great for
their own job security. But as for the rest of the American people we don't really know what we're voting for at this point. It feels like every
election views shift for whatever the wind says is happening in whatever culture war is being pushed by Fox News.
And people want leaders who stand for something, and that's why it's really important to stand up for people.
SCIUTTO: You're, of course, a young candidate running for Congress. Young voters, there's a lot of data that shows that young women are trending more
left and young men trending right. I wonder when you interact with voters, do you see that same phenomenon?
ABUGHAZALEH: Actually, no. And we actually talked a lot about this the campaign office today. When we talk about young men moving right, I think
it's because the right has capitalized on the isolation we have in society. We have punished vulnerability with men. We have not given people places
to, gather community spaces. And after COVID, that's gotten even worse.
We have a lot of young men volunteers who are extremely dedicated to the campaign, and I think that's because we give them a place, we want to hear
what they have to say. We take their concerns seriously. And it's not like there's some secret button for this demographic. Young men want what
everyone wants, and that's a safe, happy life where they and their loved ones can thrive. And if people want to know more about my platform, they
can go to katforillinois.com. That's Kat with a K.
SCIUTTO: Kat Abughazaleh, Thanks so much for joining, as always.
ABUGHAZALEH: Thanks for having me.
SCIUTTO: Still to come, this is how NASA is racing to beat Russia and China. How? Well, to build a nuclear reactor on the moon. What the agency
is proposing and why just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:40:00]
SCIUTTO: NASA's next big space project, it says it wants to fast-track building a nuclear reactor on the moon. Acting NASA administrator Sean
Duffy says that Russia and China have similar plans and he wants to get ahead of them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEAN DUFFY, ACTING ADMINISTRATOR, NASA: We're in a race to the moon, in a race with China to the moon. And to have a base on the moon, we need
energy. There's a certain part of the moon that everyone knows is the best. We have ice there. We have sunlight there. We want to get there first and
claim that for America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: The agency says the reactor would help power the goal of getting humans back on the moon, which is part of the Artemis III mission set, for
now, for 2027. Former NASA astronaut Garreth Reisman joins me now to discuss. Thanks so much, Garreth, for joining.
GARRETH REISMAN, FORMER NASA ASTRONAUT AND FORMER DIRECTOR OF SPACE OPERATIONS, SPACEX: Great to be back with you, Jim. How are you?
SCIUTTO: So, Neil deGrasse Tyson and others have made the point that the reason they're talking about this, right, is you need an energy source on
the moon if you're going to have people there for any length of time. I guess the question is, in your view, is a nuclear reactor the right energy
source for that?
REISMAN: Well, this might be surprising, but actually I think it's a good idea. And the reason is not so much that you need it on the moon because
solar power is still available on the moon, at least in southern polar regions where there's continuous sunlight. But it's really necessary for
areas of the moon where there's long lunar nights. And also, more importantly, it's necessary for Mars.
If we're talking about extending astronauts traveling to Mars, then they're going to need a large source of power. And solar panels don't work great on
Mars because there's lots of dust. And so, that's obvious why that's not great for solar panels. But also, because of the solar flux and it follows
the inverse square law. What that means is the further away you go from the sun, the weaker the solar energy gets. So, when you're all the way out at
Mars, your solar panels are going to be much less efficient than in around Earth orbit. So, eventually, if we're talking about having a colony on
Mars, nuclear power is really the way to go.
SCIUTTO: Are there any dangers with it? That would be, I think, natural question for a lot of folks watching right now, putting a nuke, in effect,
on the moon.
REISMAN: There are dangers, but there's ways of mitigating those dangers. In addition to making our launch vehicles more reliable, you also can
launch the reactor completely inactive so that the result of a catastrophic failure during launch would be -- wouldn't be that bad.
But, you know, you also have to look -- the other reason why I think this is a good idea is where we really need nuclear reactors is here on Earth.
It's a way to get us off our dependency from fossil fuels quickly, and it can scale. And it's -- we needed to address climate change. So, any -- if
we invest in this technology at NASA, I think that the benefits, the spinoff benefits will be even more important for being able to provide
clean green energy on Earth.
SCIUTTO: And you make a smart point about just the safety of getting this thing up at the air, right? You know, the concern that if it were to -- the
rocket were to fail, where does that nuclear fuel go? Question about timing here, right? Because I know 2027 remains the target for the Artemis
program, but it's had some delays. Is it getting ahead of itself here at NASA a bit, talking about this power source before they've proven with
reliability that they can get people back on the moon?
REISMAN: Yes, I think. My main concern actually with this whole -- there's a lot of technical reasons why I think it's a good idea. But my main
concern about it, on the flip side, is that it needs to fit into a coherent strategy as to why you need this power source on the moon. And you heard,
you know, Sean Duffy talking about how we're going to have a base on the moon. Well, the president's budget request killed the Artemis program. It
gutted it, basically, and talked about ending it after the very first humans land on the moon.
[18:45:00]
So, if you're only going to go there, plant the flag and come back, why do you need a nuclear power? What's our strategy? Where are we going? That's
very unclear. This would be a necessary technological piece of a much more ambitious strategy, but I'm not sure that that's being funded.
SCIUTTO: Yes, that's such a good point. I mean, you got to -- well, you got to put the money into it if you're going to stay. Garreth Reisman,
thanks so much for joining.
REISMAN: My pleasure, Jim.
SCIUTTO: Well, 13 years ago this week, the Mars rover Curiosity landed on the red planet.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Touchdown confirmed. We're safe on Mars.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: It was such a cool moment. The mission's goal had been to find out what, if any, life forms might have existed on Mars. The rover also
trying to collect information to figure out how the Martian climate changed from a planet that once had lakes and rivers into the chilly desert that it
is today. And as Curiosity becomes a teenager, NASA scientists are helping it to learn new capabilities, including multitasking and the ability to
take an energy saving nap. Good lessons for all of us.
Coming up on "The Brief." after Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, another superstar is joining Major League Soccer here in the U.S. We'll have
details on Son Heung-Min's record-breaking transfer.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCIUTTO: For four years, Britney Taryn and her son have been visiting an octopus in a Texas aquarium. She's now sounding the alarm, however, after
the octopus latched onto the arm of her six-year-old and wouldn't let go. CNN's Jeremy Roth has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRITNEY TARYN, MOTHER OF CHILD GRABBED BY OCTOPUS: We really wanted to tell the world that we don't blame this octopus. We want to see it in a
better environment.
JEREMY ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A mom in Texas is calling for more attention to animal and visitor safety after an octopus at the San
Antonio Aquarium latched onto her child's arm in July.
TARYN: He never set out with the intention of the octopus grabbing on to his entire arm. It was always supposed to be a two-finger touch. But the
octopus is the one that came to him.
ROTH (voice-over): Britney Taryn said she and her six-year-old son Leo have been visiting the octopus in the aquarium and its touch tank for more
than three years.
TARYN: When we first went there and realized there was an octopus, he was obsessed.
ROTH (voice-over): But she noticed something different about the octopus' behavior the day of the incident.
TARYN: Instead of being in any sort of like wall or like down in the water, it was out -- like completely out right there for everybody. It was
just we'd never seen behavior like that from this octopus.
ROTH (voice-over): The San Antonio Aquarium sent a statement to CNN affiliate KSAT, reading in part, quote, "The octopus displayed typical
curious behavior by touching and holding the child's arm."
CNN has asked the aquarium for further comment, but we have not gotten a response.
[18:50:00]
DR. KIRT ONTHANK, OCTOPUS RESEARCHER: Yes, if this kid was not as calm as he was, this could have ended badly both for the kid and for the octopus.
If that attendant didn't stop this interaction before it got to this point, that's also just as bad as not having someone there.
ROTH (voice-over): Taryn said it took about five minutes to get the octopus off Leo's arm, and that the animals suckers left harmless, bruise-
like marks that went away within a week.
TARYN: This has never been about my child being harmed. He thinks this is the coolest experience of his entire life.
ROTH (voice-over): After her post about the incident got almost 4 million views on TikTok.
TARYN: I'm pretty sure when I tell you all what this is on my son's arm, you're not going to believe me.
ROTH (voice-over): She found out the zoo does not have an AZA accreditation for animal welfare. The AZA or Association of Zoos and
Aquariums provides certifications to about 250 facilities in the country to ensure quality animal care and welfare.
AZA is a voluntary association that comes with regular inspection and is considered a symbol of quality, but is not mandatory.
TARYN: I also think that they shouldn't be allowing interactions from the public at all. There's dangers to the octopus and there's dangers to the
public.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCIUTTO: Well, football fans here in the U.S. are getting excited as South Korean superstar Son Heung-Min signs a contract with Los Angeles Football
Club, LAFC. Has moved from Tottenham, reportedly set a record transfer fee for Major League Soccer.
Don Riddell has been covering. I mean, we've seen big soccer stars come to the U.S., the MLS before. I mean, going back to David Beckham and others in
the meantime. You know, Messi, not to forget him, but this is a pretty big one as well.
DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Absolutely, especially when you think about the money involved. After a decade of Spurs, the South Korean megastar, Son
Heung-Min, is now getting acclimatized to a new challenge with LAFC in Major League Soccer. Within the last hour or so actually LAFC introduced on
to the media. And his arrivals smashes the league's record transfer fee at around $26 million.
Having played his last game for Spurs on their preseason tour of South Korea just last week on Sunday, he could now be available for his new team
as soon as this weekend when L.A. play away in Chicago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SON HEUNG-MIN, FORMER TOTTENHAM CAPTAIN: I just want to say thank you to everyone who make this big, big effort to join me here. So, I'm here to
win. I'm not here just -- I'm here to win. And I will perform and I will definitely show you something exciting. Are we calling football or soccer?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIDDELL: Well, I can tell you he'll be really sorely missed in North London. Son arrived there in 2015 as a young man who couldn't speak
English. He then established himself as one of the most exciting players in the world. But even though he signs off by helping to win a European trophy
with Spurs last year, leading them back into the Champions League, he knew that his role in London would be changing under a new manager.
His decision to move to L.A. is hugely exciting for the community there, which boasts one of the biggest South Korean diasporas in the world and
also the league in general, which is starting to show that it has the financial clout to attract some of the best players in the world. Sonny, as
he is affectionately known, I think, can now claim to be the second-best player in the league behind only the Lionel Messi.
SCIUTTO: Yes. I mean, I'd be OK being number two behind Messi, you know, if I were to get close to that, which I'm not. So, he wasn't the other big
superstar to join MLS. Who else? Who else joining?
RIDDELL: Yes. The Son news grabbed most of the headlines today, which is kind of a shame because the arrival of Thomas Muller at the Vancouver White
Caps is a pretty big deal too. The 35-year-old German forward left Bayern Munich at the end of last season when his contract expired. He'll now play
for the rest of the MLS season with Vancouver. If things go well, the White Caps have an option to sign him as a designated player next season.
And it's all going to feel very new for Muller. He was associated, would you believe, with Bayern for 25 years, winning 13 Bundesliga titles. He's
also made over 130 appearances for Germany, winning the World Cup in 2014. So, another big star coming to MLS.
SCIUTTO: Yes, I've seen him shine in the World Cup for Germany a number of times. So, Don Riddell, thanks so much.
RIDDELL: All right.
SCIUTTO: Call it an unbearable few moments for U.S. hockey star and his team's mascot during a fishing expedition in Alaska. Seattle Kraken
forward, John Hayden, and a person dressed up as the Krakens blue-haired sea troll mascot, were chased by a real bear during a video shoot.
Officials say bears are used to seeing people in the river, but may have been alarmed by that mascot costume, or maybe he wasn't a Kraken fan. Lucky
escape for them too.
[18:55:00]
Well, the hit musical Hamilton celebrates its 10th anniversary on Broadway today with two special performances. Lin-Manuel Miranda's Pulitzer Prize
winning musical celebrates the story of one of America's founding fathers, Alexander Hamilton, an immigrant from the Caribbean who rose to become U.S.
treasury secretary. All through a blend of hip hop, R&B and traditional music, it is a rousing performance, trust me.
And in today's Good Brief, an American journalist has been found after being missing for number of days. Alec Luhn is a climate journalist, an
experienced solo hiker. He went missing visiting one of Norway's national parks. Rescues hindered by bad weather and heavy rain. However, Norwegian
Red Cross team said they found Luhn injured, but alive and very much relieved. Happy end of that story there.
Thanks so much for your company. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington. You've been watching "The Brief." Please do stay with CNN.
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