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The Brief with Jim Sciutto

CNN International: New Storm Approaches Philippines; Judge Orders Trump Admin. To Fully Fund Food Aid Program; Pelosi Announces Retirement; Tesla Shareholders In Favor Of Musk's Massive Pay Package; Claudia Sheinbaum Speaks Out On Being Harassed; CNN's "Guard Your Green Space" Initiative Underway; Arrests Outside Villa Park. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired November 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]

NICK WATT, CNN HOST: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Nick Watt in Los Angeles. Jim Sciutto is off. You're

watching "The Brief."

Just ahead this hour, Typhoon Kalmaegi hits Vietnam after leaving more than 100 dead in the Philippines. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she

won't seek re-election. I'll speak to a Democrat interested in running for her seat. And police in Birmingham, England, make six arrests ahead of a

match between Aston Villa and Israel's Maccabi Tel Aviv.

We begin with the deadliest typhoon to strike Asia so far this year. The storm known as Kalmaegi has slammed into central Vietnam after killing more

than 100 people in the Philippines. Right now, it's moving west, hammering the border area between Laos, Cambodia and Thailand. Kalmaegi comes hard on

the heels of heavy rain last week, raising fears of flash floods and damaging winds.

In the Philippines, receding floodwaters are exposing widespread devastation. Survivors have begun the heartbreaking task of salvaging

belongings buried under thick mud and debris. Most of those who died were in Cebu province, a tourist hotspot. Kalmaegi is expected to weaken to a

tropical storm as it tracks inland. And the Philippines isn't out of the woods yet. Another tropical storm, Fong-Wong, is on its way.

Joining me now with the latest from the Philippines is Provash Budden. He's deputy senior vice president of American -- emergency program, sorry, at

Americares. So, first of all, can you tell us as those floodwaters recede, what are we seeing in the Philippines?

PROVASH BUDDEN, DEPUTY SENIOR VP OF EMERGENCY PROGRAMS AMERICARES: Thanks for having me on, Nick. It's been an absolutely devastating year for the

Philippines. They're just getting hit back-to-back with typhoons. And this is just the latest one that's hit through central Philippines and the Cebu

province.

What we're seeing is immense amounts of flooding. There were 26-foot storm surges on the coast, immense amounts of rains that have fallen in the

central area of the Philippines, causing widespread flooding, landslides, and people caught without any protection to make sure that they have the

right type of services available for healthcare.

And what we're seeing is people cut off from access to clinics, to hospitals, to food, to water. And right now, search and rescue teams are

doing their best to make sure that they can reach survivors of this devastating typhoon that has just hit the central area.

WATT: I mean, you mentioned that the Philippines just keeps on getting hit. I believe there was also an earthquake. I mean, as well as sort of the

material needs of people, there's got to be a kind of mental health impact as well?

BUDDEN: Absolutely. We've been working in the Philippines as Americares for over a decade. And because the Philippines is one of the most disaster-

prone countries in the world due to its position on the ring of fire that causes volcanoes, earthquakes, its position on the western side of the

Pacific where it gets slammed by typhoons, the Filipinos suffer from an immense amount of disasters. And every time they go through that, there is

severe trauma that hits them. There is stress that hits their families.

And what we do as Americares is not only provide healthcare through medicines, medical supplies, water and sanitation services, but also a lot

of mental health and psychosocial support services that wrap around the other efforts that we provide.

Just recently with the earthquake in Cebu, our teams there have been working on mental health support alongside healthcare. And now, they're

pivoting towards responding to this latest typhoon. So, it's a very important part of the work that we do. And we don't want to ignore those

mental health needs for people.

WATT: And you say the latest typhoon, so there's this other tropical storm approaching now. I mean, do we know what to fear, expect from that?

[18:05:00]

BUDDEN: It looks like it'll come in with heavy winds nearly at 100 miles an hour. And in the northern area of the Philippines, that was hit just six

weeks ago by Typhoon Rasaga. People are still recovering from that typhoon. And now, they have to prepare for this next typhoon that is about to hit.

And so, we're doing everything that we can to make sure that we've got our messaging out to the communities that we serve, through our local

healthcare partners, to have people prepare for another series of disasters that may hit the northern side of the country.

WATT: Wow. Listen, thank you for your time and keep up the good work. Thanks, Provash.

BUDDEN: Thank you very much.

WATT: The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is cutting air traffic by 10 percent at 40 major airports starting tomorrow. This, as the ongoing

government shutdown has just exacerbated air traffic controller staffing issues. Many big international airports are on the list, including JFK in

New York, LAX in Los Angeles and O'Hare in Chicago. Air traffic controllers have been working largely without pay since the shutdown began.

Meanwhile, a federal judge just ordered the Trump administration to fully fund the food aid program known as SNAP, and to do that by Friday. A few

days ago, the White House said it was going to only partially fund those food benefits for tens of millions of Americans this month after the same

judge ordered the government to use a contingency fund to cover the program. More than 40 million people receive SNAP benefits, which average

at about $350 per household per month.

Joining me now, Gina Plata-Nino, SNAP director at the Food Research and Action Center. 40 plus million people. I mean, that is a stunning figure to

begin with. It's more than 10 percent of the population of this country that relies on this program. This is a huge lifeline for a lot of people.

GINA PLATA-NINO, SNAP DIRECTOR, FOOD AND RESEARCH AND ACTION CENTER: It is. It is what makes the difference as to their well-being, them not having to

choose between paying rent, paying medicine, paying childcare, because they have this food budget that allows them to meet their basic needs.

WATT: And so, I imagine there's been a lot of anxiety and probably continuing anxiety, right, or are people heartened by this latest judge's

ruling?

PLATA-NINO: You know, we're dealing with an administration that has to be taken to court to do its job. We didn't need to get here, right? Our

organizations and many others have been calling for the secretary of agriculture to utilize their authority power. The fact that they have to

bring him into court three different times by different parties in order to get to the result that we're in today really shows how the administration

is not prioritizing Americans who are struggling.

So, according to plan, yes, we are thrilled at the decision. If, you know, it's still early, we don't know if the administration will decide to appeal

the decision. So, we are on pins and needles to see what happens in the next few hours.

WATT: And if the administration doesn't obey the judge and fully funds SNAP, are there any contingency plans in place put forward by you or others

to fill this gap?

PLATA-NINO: There isn't. You know, for -- you know, this is the job of the federal government. It not only supports, you know, working -- hardworking

Americans, but it supports local economies. States across the country, municipalities have tried to step in, but just for every meal that a food

bank provides, SNAP provides nine. It brings billions of dollars into local economies.

And as we have seen, no state, no city has the reserves necessary to do the job of the government, particularly as the judge said, USDA, the

administration has the funding available and should just make sure that people receive these benefits as soon as possible.

WATT: And that -- this figure, I mean, I believe it's, what, 42 million people who rely on this. Has that figure been moving over the past couple

of decades, going up, going down, staying the same?

PLATA-NINO: SNAP responds to the economy and to the circumstances that are going with the labor market. When we have a strong economy, SNAP enrollment

decreases because the main reason that people are in SNAP is because they have been terminated from their jobs. They have lost their jobs. Their

wages have been decreased or they have a family member to take care of. It's a temporary program. So, when the economy is strong, when inflation is

low, there are less people on SNAP.

WATT: And right now, what's the figure? What are we talking about? How much money is needed to fully fund this program?

[18:10:00]

PLATA-NINO: It's about $8 plus billion. The contingency funds only had about $4.6 billion, which is why FRAC, along with other organizations and

the lawsuits asked the USDA to utilize its Section 32 funding because they have that authority to tap into those resources where there are more funds

available so that full benefits could go out on time.

WATT: Gina Plata-Nino of the Food Research and Action Center, thank you very much for your time.

PLATA-NINO: Thank you for having me.

WATT: Now, former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announcing she will not seek re-election, opening the door for a new generation of Democratic

leaders in a broader transition. She's been representing San Francisco for nearly 40 years. She became the first female speaker in 2007, serving two

non-consecutive terms. She's had a history of clashes with President Trump, and you might remember this moment. She tore up a copy of the president's

State of the Union speech that was in 2020. The 85-year-old Democrat was also instrumental in California's recent redistricting efforts, helping her

party ahead of next year's midterm elections.

Now, the race for her seat is expected to heat up in the coming months. And Saikat Chakrabarti, who is Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's former

chief of staff, was set to challenge Pelosi before she announced her retirement. Chakravarti joins us now. So, you think it wasn't really her

age that meant she should have stepped aside? It was more her ideas are outdated and we need to make room for your generation?

SAIKAT CHAKRABARTI, U.S. DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: Yes. You know, I've said from the start that I think this is not just about Nancy Pelosi,

I think we do actually need wholesale change in the Democratic Party. I think we need new leaders in there who actually have the courage and the

strength to stand up to Trump right now, because I do believe we're in the middle of an authoritarian coup, and I think we need legislators who are

going to use every tool at their disposal to stop that.

But beyond that, I think we have to realize that for most people in this country, wages have been stagnant for decades while the cost of essentials

have been skyrocketing. The American dream has been shattered. And that's why we're getting people like Donald Trump elected. It's also why we had

Barack Obama elected. People are voting for bold, sweeping change every chance they get. And I would like to see a Democratic Party that is clear

about who they fight for, that's clear about what they fight for and what the plan is to actually reverse that. And that is a change that I've been

trying to bring about since I started this campaign.

WATT: Now, a lot of Democrat whisperers, you know, will talk about whether the party needs to, you know, move to the center, move a little bit to the

right or move to the left. I assume you're one of the people who thinks a move to the left is what's called for here.

CHAKRABARTI: No, I actually think those labels really turn actual ideas and plans into simple one-dimensional words. And they mean a million things to

a million different people. I'd like to talk about the actual ideas on what we need to do. So, when I'm running, I'm saying we actually should be

providing healthcare to everybody like every major developed nation does. America is the only country in the world, the only developed nation in the

world that doesn't do this. And we're the richest nation in the world, right?

I think we need to actually be taxing the richest in our society. And I'm calling for a wealth tax on billionaires and centimillionaires to fund a

lot of this stuff. This is overwhelmingly popular. I'm calling about anti- corruption measures. I think members of Congress should be banned from trading stocks. I think we should get rid of big money in our politics. And

I'm calling for setting the country on a mission to actually rebuild our manufacturing, rebuild industry, create high-wage, middle-class jobs all

across the nation, the way FDR did during the New Deal and during the mobilization for World War II.

Now, the funny thing is all this stuff, you might say it sounds like progressive ideas, but it polls at 60 percent, 70 percent, 80 percent. So,

definitionally, that's in the center of the country. I think the real divide right now in our party is amongst Democrats who actually want to

have a vision to build an economy that works for everybody, who won't take corporate and lobbyist money, who actually will fight for people, and

Democrats who frankly don't want to do a whole lot. They're very comfortable sitting in there. And I'd say they are comfortable protecting a

broken status quo.

WATT: Were you heartened by the sort of drift of the results on Tuesday?

CHAKRABARTI: I think it's very exciting because when I talk about what actually needs to happen in this country to make it a place where people

can afford to live again, to make it a place where we restore that American dream where children will do better than their parents, I think it needs a

kind of politics where you find the source of your power, not from corporate donors, not from big money donors, but from people. And that's

really what I'd say Zohran's campaign in New York showed us, is that he was able to, despite being outspent by I think like 100 to one, he was able to

create a real movement because of the strength of his ideas, because he was actually touching a chord amongst New Yorkers where they are really feeling

what he was talking about.

[18:15:00]

And I would like to see a movement like that all across the country where we get Democrats elected on the strength of people-driven movements because

I think that's the only way we'll get a party that actually has the courage to present big ideas like this, to create an economy that works for working

people.

WATT: I mean, if there is going to be a movement as you just described, I mean, you would need Mamdani to succeed in New York City. I mean, this is

going to be really interesting to see how he actually governs, right?

CHAKRABARTI: Absolutely. And this is a big part of what I've been working on at my think tank for the last five years because it's not enough just to

have campaign messaging. And this is one of the critiques I have of a lot of establishment Democrats is the messaging often they'll get it right.

They'll talk about affordability. They'll talk about working for working people. We actually have to govern and deliver that, right?

When I look at the history of our own nation, there was a far-right movement in the 1930s that was filling Madison Square Garden with these

Nazi rallies. And the way we defeated that movement was FDR came in with the New Deal Movement and then through the New Deal and the mobilization

for World War II, he built a whole new economy that actually improved people's lives dramatically. He built the industrial base. He built the

middle class. And that proved that democracy can work to improve your lives, that you don't need a strong man and authoritarian to just tear it

all up and do it for you.

So, I really wish Zohran Mamdani the best of success and the best of luck. I think he's taking that job very seriously because a lot is riding on it.

I think we actually have to prove that you can deliver. And I'd say same with the Democrats at a national level. I've been working on a plan for the

last five years at my think tank with a whole group of people. That's our version of a Project 2025.

What do we do on day one to actually build an economy where everybody can make a decent living off of eight hours of work, five days a week? That's

what it boils down to. And we need a real plan. And I often -- you know, I'll be frank, whenever I've talked to establishment Democrats, they don't

seem all that interested in what's the actual plan to do this stuff. All I ever hear is what's the messaging? What's the positioning? How do we

message this?

I think it's not just about messaging. We got to actually have a vision for what to do and then execute that vision.

WATT: Right. And you personally -- so your plan is to hopefully take Nancy Pelosi's place in the House, right?

CHAKRABARTI: Yes, that's the plan.

WATT: And how are you going to go about that plan? What's the plan for the next 12 months?

CHAKRABARTI: Look, when we -- we've been campaigning for the last 10 months and this is the thing that I've found, going door to door and the polling

that we've done is that when citizens and residents of San Francisco hear about this campaign, when they hear about my background, having actual

experience in Congress, turning big ideas into legislation, when they hear about what I'm running on, things that are all overwhelmingly popular in

San Francisco, they go our way. We see that in polling. We see that from door knocking. We see that from phone banking.

So, what I have to do is actually get my message and my campaign in front of every single voter in San Francisco. And we're well on our way to doing

that. We just held a campaign rally about a month ago. 800 people showed up. It's completely unheard of. I've never seen that in a congressional

campaign about a year out from the election. We've been doing canvases every weekend. We're getting dozens and hundreds of people showing up to

those. We've had over 2,000 volunteers already knock on over 40,000 doors. We're on our way to actually getting this message in front of everybody.

And we know that if we do that, we're going to win this race.

WATT: Saikat Chakrabarti, thank you so much for your time.

CHAKRABARTI: Thanks for having me on.

WATT: Still ahead, Elon Musk's Tesla triumph. Shareholders have just approved the largest compensation package in corporate history. He could

become the first ever trillionaire. All that and more ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:20:00]

WATT: Welcome back. In today's Business Breakout, a rough day on Wall Street, all the major averages finished in the red, with tech falling

almost 2 percent. Artificial intelligence-related stocks were hit particularly hard over ongoing concerns about sky-high valuations. Fears

that the U.S. economy is weakening as the government shutdown drags on, that's also weighing on investors.

Now, checking some of today's other business headlines, new warning signs for the U.S. jobs market. The outplacement firm Challenger Gray & Christmas

says U.S. companies announced 150,000 job cuts last month, the most in 20 years. Tech companies and retailers shed the most workers. Now, the report

says advances in artificial intelligence are allowing more companies to cut their workforces.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday announced a deal with leading pharmaceutical firms to lower the cost of weight-loss drugs for many

Americans. Under the deal, certain blockbuster drugs like Ozempic will cost as little as $149 a month in some cases, well below the list price of about

$1,000 or more. Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly have agreed to slash their prices in exchange for tariff relief. The new pricing plans are expected to

take effect early next year.

President Trump says his administration will come up with a Game 2 plan if the Supreme Court rules against his global tariffs. The court heard

arguments for and against the Trump tariff policy on Wednesday. Some conservative justices seemed skeptical of the administration's arguments.

Trump says he'll consider alternatives if the tariffs are voted down.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is already the world's richest person. His new pay package, just approved by Tesla shareholders, could place him in a new

category entirely, the world's first trillionaire. Shareholders voted in favor of the pay package by an overwhelming 75 percent margin.

Now, under the plan, Musk will receive more than 400 million additional shares of Tesla stock over the next decade if and when he hits certain

targets. He won't get the full amount of shares and the full $1 trillion payout until the company's stock hits a market cap of $8.5 trillion. That

will not be an easy task. Its market cap is less than $1.5 trillion right now.

The vote was controversial. One of Tesla's top shareholders, Norway's sovereign wealth fund, voted no. Tesla's board of directors warned that

Musk could leave the company if the plan was voted down. Now, Lance Ulanoff joins me. He is the editor-at-large at TechRadar. Lance, as we said, it's a

tall order for him to get that trillion. Can he? Will he?

LANCE ULANOFF, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, TECHRADAR: There's so many different things in there. You know, he's got, you know, 20 million vehicles. 1 million of

those robots delivered. A million of the robotaxis. You know, some of these products are wildly unproven. And even on their -- you know, the electric

car market, you know, obviously, they've taken a hit because they've lost the subsidies. They've taken a hit because of some things that, you know,

the polarizing nature of Musk's existence on X and working with the Trump White House, which obviously he's no longer doing.

So, you know, there's this tension between him being this singular person with the company that they consider a high risk if he leaves, but also the

high risk of having him stay on and the things -- the unpredictability of what Elon Musk does.

[18:25:00]

WATT: I mean, Lance, I've just been talking about 42 million Americans who can't afford to eat. And now, we're talking stay on and the things, the

unpredictability of what Elon Musk does. I mean, Lance, I've just been talking about 42 million Americans who can't afford to eat. And now, we're

talking about the richest man in the world getting even richer. Is this getting a bit silly? I mean, really?

ULANOFF: Yes. I mean, look, this is the thing about, you know, corporate America, that you can't put a price on leadership, right? This is how they

act. And he has really been identified as a singular person across all of the businesses, right? You know, he's got a lot of different businesses

that he's a part of. But, you know, I wish I knew, like, what was the top end? How much is too much? And, you know, why it needed to be this size? I

really don't know.

You know, on the other side of this, it is really important that the EV business continues and gets stronger. It is, you know, an important part of

fighting climate change, having fewer cars that create these emissions. But, you know, Tesla's not the only game in town. There are other companies

that are trying to build these businesses as well. And they're equally hurt by the lack of subsidies.

So, you know, this is -- it's -- I don't know what the balance is here. I don't know what the right amount is here. But I was not at all surprised

that he did prevail.

WATT: And, I mean, is he really that good or is he just good at, like, projecting himself as being that good?

ULANOFF: You know, look, I've actually known Elon Musk on and off for a long time. I interviewed him probably 12, 13 years ago. And he was a very

different person. And I did recognize him as a very high bandwidth person. He is able to manage a lot of different things. And he's able to understand

things that maybe average people can't. You know, he'll understand rocket science. But then there's the other side to him that is, you know, childish

and narcissistic that has -- you know, that has become the forefront.

So, I don't know what he's worth. I don't know where his head is at. But I do know that there's a deep intelligence buried inside there.

WATT: OK. I'll take your word for it, Lance. Lance Ulanoff, the editor-at- large at TechRadar, thank you very much for your time.

ULANOFF: It's a pleasure.

WATT: Straight ahead, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum speaks out about being sexually harassed in Mexico City. I'll speak to one activist about

the movement to protect all Mexican women.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:30:00]

WATT: Welcome back to "The Brief." I'm Nick Watt. Here are the international headlines we're watching today.

One of the most powerful tropical cyclones of the year has hit Vietnam. Typhoon Kalmaegi made landfall in central Vietnam with a strength similar

to a Cat 3 hurricane. The typhoon left at least 114 people dead in the Philippines with more than 100 still missing.

A 13th person has died after a UPS cargo plane crashed in Louisville, Kentucky on Tuesday. Investigators say the left engine of the plane

detached during takeoff. The MD-11 was equipped with three engines, one on each wing and one on the tail. Investigators will study the plane's black

boxes, the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder in a lab in Washington.

Israel says it's carried out strikes across southern Lebanon against what it calls Hezbollah weapons storage facilities. The IDF accuses the group of

working to re-establish a terrorist infrastructure. Lebanon's president says the strikes violated international law and targeted civilians.

Mexico's first female president now taking legal action after she was allegedly groped in broad daylight in the nation's capital. Claudia

Sheinbaum is pressing charges against the man who allegedly assaulted her after pushing his way through a crowd and winding up right at her side. The

president calling the episode a, quote, "assault on all women."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLAUDIA SHEINBAUM, MEXICAN PRESIDENT (through translator): And my reflection is, if I don't file a complaint, even though this is a crime,

then what position does that leave all Mexican women in? If they do this to the president, then what will happen to all the young women in our country?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATT: Now, one data monitor lists Mexico as the worst country in the world for violence against female politicians. Over the past five years, Mexico's

National Electoral Institute has recorded more than 500 cases of violence. Now, the president asked us and other broadcasters not to broadcast the

video, as that would re-victimize her. So, we are not showing you that video.

But joining me now is Lulu Barrera, who is co-director of feminist organization Fondo Semillas. So, Lulu, tell me just what is the reaction to

this? I mean, as somebody in the US, I see, number one, a president, a leader of a country with a hostile actor right up next to her. And I see

this male-on-female assault. What's the reaction been to this in Mexico?

LULU BARRERA, CO-DIRECTOR, FONDO SEMILLAS: Hola, Nick. Thanks for having us at CNN. We are happy to join you from Fondo Semillas. And we are outraged

as well. We are a feminist fund that accompanies more than 200 feminist groups throughout the country. And of course, this has been in the news.

And the trajectory that we have accompanying these groups at the grassroots that are really mobilizing to influence public policy, to give training to

women, even self-defense trainings, really speak about the extent that this is an issue for all women in Mexico.

It is very important that Claudia Sheinbaum is recognizing this publicly. There is, as well, calling people to denounce when these situations happen.

There is a lot to do yet for bringing perpetrators of these type of crimes into justice. But this is a very important moment to raise awareness

throughout the country around this.

WATT: But are there laws in Mexico to bring someone like this guy to justice?

BARRERA: Yes, there are. There are laws in 26 of our 32 states and other forms of recognition in the rest of the states. But the real challenge that

remains is in the prosecution phase or after the crimes were denounced.

In Mexico, in general, not only for cases of violence against women, there is a huge amount of unrecorded cases of crimes that remain non-reported.

And why? Because the general population do not trust the processes, do not trust the authorities that commonly have hostile attitudes.

[18:35:00]

And that means that around 93 percent of the crimes committed in Mexico remain unrecorded. This is how we call the Cifra Negra, like a black

statistic of crimes that remain underreported. So, the challenge is beyond the legislation, the access to justice that people can have, including

women that face sexual violence.

WATT: Lulu Barrera, thank you so much for your time. I appreciate it. Human rights advocates are concerned that the Venezuelan government could be

using an app to spy on its citizens. They say the government appears to be encouraging citizens to inform on each other, reporting suspicious people

or seditious or disloyal activities. CNN's Stefano Pozzobon reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR (voice-over): Imagine living in a country where the government appears to ask your neighbor to spy on you. The

Venezuelan government revamped an application this month to invite citizens to report on irregular activities.

NICOLAS MADURO, VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT (through translator): A new application so that the people can safely report everything they hear,

everything they read.

POZZEBON (voice-over): CNN had a rare look at the app. It was originally launched in 2022 to report issues with utility services, like water counts

or blackouts. But now it allows citizens to denounce attacks against the state or other disloyal activities, drone sightings or the presence of

suspicious people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We haven't seen in our community any threat or anything similar. But if that were the case, I wouldn't

hesitate a second to use the app.

POZZEBON (voice-over): Venezuela lives under tight control from security forces and hundreds of dissidents have been jailed or forced to flee. But

this has worsened as the United States has deployed warships and aircraft, putting pressure on Maduro and his government. The government claims this

is done to defend the fatherland and denies there are political prisoners in Venezuela. Civil society groups denounced the app, saying it promotes a

system of social vigilance and militarization.

ANDRES AZPURUA, DIRECTOR, VENEZUELA SIN FILTROS: I would say that in 2024 we definitely saw a psychological campaign to intimidate and make people so

afraid that they wouldn't speak out. It's not clear if this is what's going to happen, although the way Nicolas Maduro announced this re-edition of

this form on the app is definitely Orwellian.

POZZEBON (voice-over): Apple and Google both removed the application from their app stores, but it still works for those who downloaded it and on a

browser. Not everyone sees it as a problem. CNN spoke with a user of the app. We're hiding his identity for fears of retaliation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): For the utility reports, I can tell you it works really well.

POZZEBON (voice-over): I asked him if he found it weird to put the two things in the same space, the defense of the nation and utility outages.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We are prepared to defend our fatherland, our country, as the good revolutionary we are.

POZZEBON (voice-over): Stefano Pozzebon, CNN, Caracas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATT: Coming up, Call to Earth Day. CNN's annual campaign to highlight the work of those protecting our planet. We are live at a school teaching

children a spot of gardening.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:40:00]

WATT: For the past 24 hours, we've been shining a light on those dedicated to protecting our planet in CNN's Call to Earth. This year's theme is Guard

Your Green Space. Encouraging all of us to take action towards a more sustainable future by nurturing our parks, forests, and gardens. And in our

final report for this year's event, students at a school here in Los Angeles County are working on their garden program. Our Stephanie Elam

joins me from Carmonita Middle School in the Los Angeles area. Elam, take it away.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is so cool to see what they're doing right here in the middle of Los Angeles County, Nick. I want to introduce

you first to Clark. Clark, tell me about this very tall plant that we have here in front of us.

CLARK WAINWRIGHT, STUDENT, 7TH GRADE: This is a sunflower. It grew from just this tall when I got it.

ELAM: And what's going on up there? You got like -- when did that start happening?

WAINWRIGHT: It actually started this morning when I came to school.

ELAM: It started opening up?

WAINWRIGHT: Yes.

ELAM: So, what do you love about gardening? What is the cool thing for you?

WAINWRIGHT: You can kind of garden anywhere as long as you have like materials. Like you can -- if -- in your apartment, if you have just a

little room like this much, you can plant a little tomato plant and it just grows.

ELAM: Grow.

WAINWRIGHT: Yes. That's amazing. No, that's so cool. All right. We're going to go meet some other students here. But you can see there's all these

boxes. And, Nick, there's like 74 kids who are involved in this program that come out during snack time to come make sure that their plants are

growing and doing well. I want to introduce you now to Jayden. Jayden, what has gardening given you?

JAYDEN LEE, STUDENT, 8TH GRADE: Gardening has given me a way to connect with my family because we have a family garden at home. And everyone is

contributing and it just really brings our family together.

ELAM: I love that. Everyone's taking a part in it with everything that you're doing. And to that point, your boxmate here, Sophia, tell me about

what your family thinks about you growing food.

SOPHIA YOUNG, STUDENT, 8TH GRADE: Well, surprisingly, not many people know where our food actually comes from. And one time I brought some potatoes

home to my brother and when I told him that I grew them, he was so surprised. I feel like being part of a garden gives us a better

appreciation for the food that goes on our plates every day.

ELAM: Yes, and you're growing food here and literally taking it home and eating it. That's so cool. All right. I'm going to go over and talk to

Hayden now. Hayden, what has gardening given you?

HAYDEN KANG, STUDENT, 8TH GRADE: Well, gardening has given me a lot of techniques. For example, I learned determination and dedication because

you're able to water your boxes every day, prune them, make sure they're healthy. And overall, it's teaching me a lot of lessons about gardening.

For example, always watering your plants at the roots and not at the leaves so that it doesn't grow dangerous diseases which aren't good for your

plants.

ELAM: Yes, and you've got to be on it, right? You can't just miss a week of watering. You've got to stay out here.

KANG: Yes.

ELAM: So, this is all the lessons that they're learning. And it's really popular. These kids want to do it. They're not being forced to do it. This

is what they want to do. Even down to what's going on over here with the composting to make sure that they're adding nutrients back. And Adam is

here to explain that to me. What you doing over here, Adam?

ADAM SMITH, STUDENT, 7TH GRADE: Yes. So, we have composting. We get food from wasted people that are just throwing it away at lunch.

ELAM: At school, class?

SMITH: Yes.

ELAM: You have lunchtime. OK.

SMITH: So, we take all those stuff and sprinkle on -- we use a method called Bokashi composting. So, we sprinkle a bit of the Bokashi serum on it

and we like mush it down to squeeze all the air out. And we leave it in here to ferment, so it's just like -- it's more soil -- like nutrition for

the plants.

[18:45:00]

ELAM: Right. And so, you take that and I think it's over five weeks, right?

SMITH: Yes.

ELAM: Over five weeks and then work it out and then it starts to look like this. Oh, you did some more. I see you shook out some more of the soil

after it takes that five-week period to break it down. In fact, Logan, you know, you guys are using up the food waste here at school. Why is it so

important to do that?

LOGAN RUIZ, STUDENT, 8TH GRADE: So, we get these big blocks of food waste that kids throw away at lunch. Now, it's important that we compost this

since this is a lot of food being wasted and food is what energizes our human civilization. So, the thing is that we're using that to make more

food so it's not going to waste.

ELAM: Yes, it's amazing. And it's important to also take a look at who's responsible for making this happen and I want to introduce you to Nick

Watt, my solo Watt. I need to introduce you to Tyler Watts. Tyler, this is your brainchild. You're really behind a lot of this program here. What have

you seen the kids, you know, how they've blossomed, I didn't even try to do that on purpose, because of this gardening program?

TYLER WATTS, COMMUNITY GARDEN ADVISER, CARMENITA MIDDLE SCHOOL: Yes. Well, to stick with the puns there, we've seen not only the kids grow their own

food but grow as individuals too. So --

ELAM: In what way? Like how are they growing?

WATTS: So, just seeing them connect with a green space that is just on blacktop. So, we can start with a parking lot, a vacant lot, and make it

somewhere that the kids can grow food, can connect with the environment. We use it in our classes, just a ready-made field trip out to an ecosystem

where the kids can learn about all of the, you know, food webs and how ecosystems cycle nutrients.

ELAM: Yes, it's amazing. And it's also worth noting, Nick, that these guys are the board. Mine is Joel, who was here earlier but had to leave. But

these are the board members of the garden to make sure that it all comes together. They're making the decisions on what they're growing, how they're

doing it. And you guys had something you guys wanted to say. What did you guys want to say?

CROWD: We wanted to say, thank you, Mr. Watts.

ELAM: Because they absolutely love gardening and what it gives to them as just something extracurricular that they can be a part of here at their

school. And this is 11 years that they've been doing this. So, think about it, Nick. They're like college children who, they're not children anymore,

who came through this program that are out there in the world and learned about this and they'll take it into the lives just as these kids will here

too.

WATT: Stephanie, highlights from me, Sophia's brother, perplexed by potatoes, and Clark's gigantic sunflower. Thank you very much, Steph.

ELAM: They are great takeaways. Yes, of course, Nick.

WATT: So, Carmenita wasn't the only school to take part in this year's Call to Earth. As you're about to see, students across the world have stepped up

to the plate. Take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're helping the earth grow, and we just know that one day our plants will help this very school grow and grow and grow and grow.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel like I can help our nature of earth to be healthier.

CROWD: Happy Call to Earth Day.

CROWD: Call to Earth.

CROWD: Call to Earth Day. Lagos.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The future of earth is in our hands and we're ready.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I protect the planet because I love it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm Arianna Goodman reporting from Gillette Stadium with a shout out to CNN's Call to Earth Day.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. Let's go paddle out some plastic.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Getting this trash off the water, but also using it to influence change.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It reaffirms my connection with the earth. I'm just a small part of it and that I belong to the earth and I have responsibility

to take care of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATT: We're going to take a short break back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:50:00]

WATT: Now, to Birmingham, England where police arrested six people ahead of a football match between Aston Villa and the Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Police said the match was high risk in the run up even banning Tel Aviv fans from attending. The British government and Jewish groups strongly

criticized that decision but police defended the move citing how Maccabi fans were involved in clashes last year around a game in the Netherlands.

Nic Robertson was in Birmingham.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, the match is over and the Aston Villa fans leaving the ground now. Excuse me, sir, can I ask

you about the match? How was it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A bit flat. It's always better isn't it?

ROBERTSON: But you had a win? 2-nil

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, right. It's a good win.

ROBERTSON: How did the Maccabi Tel Aviv team play?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought they were really well organized first half. You know they brought it to themselves, but just ran out of legs. And well

(INAUDIBLE) --

ROBERTSON: Would you like to have seen their fans here? What was your feeling?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, European nights are always better with fans. It's the away fans that make the European nights.

ROBERTSON: And you came to stay with your family?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

ROBERTSON: Everyone had a good time?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it was good.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good game.

ROBERTSON: Good. Good night. Thank you very much. Take it easy. So, people having a good night out. There was some trouble here early on before the

match. Six people arrested, perhaps a few more after that. A lot of police here, more than 700 out to police this match. Special policing powers put

in place to search people before the game.

And right now, what the police are doing is letting the crowds disperse go home. But if we walk down this way a little bit, you'll see perhaps behind

these police fans, they were there before in numbers. A large pro- Palestinian demonstration telling the Aston Villa team that they shouldn't be hosting Maccabi Tel Aviv, that Maccabi Tel Aviv shouldn't be allowed to

play here, that Israel should be shown the red card.

But at the end of the evening, 2-nil to Aston Villa. It was a result -- and I spoke to Maccabi Tel Aviv fans earlier in the day, it was a kind of

result they were expecting. They were expecting to get beaten. The fans very disappointed that they couldn't come here. That was the decision taken

by the police and the local council fearing, they said, the potential for violence.

And if you look through the gap here, you can see the tail end of that pro- Palestinian protest. And I talked to somebody else who was in the ground earlier that he said that of all their chanting, none of it could be heard

inside the match. Music was playing loud. The Maccabi Tel Aviv players wouldn't have heard the anti-Israeli chants that were going on.

Nic Robertson, CNN, outside the Aston Villa stadium, Birmingham.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[18:55:00]

WATT: From Birmingham to beyond our earth, Chinese astronauts have just had the first ever barbecue in space. It happened on China's space station.

They didn't use a wood or charcoal grill, but the astronauts were able to use an oven to cook chicken and steak in orbit. The space barbecue master's

ability to cook the grub was described as a significant upgrade to the space kitchen.

And in today's Good Brief, the 2025 Collins dictionary's word of the year is actually two words. Vibe coding. Kind of niche. It's a form of software

development that turns natural language into computer code using artificial intelligence. As the Collins website explained, it's basically telling a

machine what you want rather than coding it all yourself. Vibe coding wasn't the only term to make the shortlist, clanker was on there, too. In

British English, that's a derogatory term for a robot computer or type of A.I., originating from the series "Star Wars: The Clone Wars."

Thank you for your company. I'm Nick Watt in Los Angeles. You've been watching "The Brief." Stay with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:00:00]

END