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The Brief with Jim Sciutto

Iran Suspends Peace Talks Over Fighting In Lebanon; Iran Halts Talks Over Strikes On Lebanon; Lebanon: Hezbollah Agrees To U.S. Truce Proposal With Israel; Sweden's Deputy PM Weighs In On Russia; CNN Visits Hospital Grappling With Deadly Ebola Outbreak; Race Against Time To Locate Two Missing Men In Laos. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired June 01, 2026 - 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, "THE BRIEF": 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, Iran says it has suspended talks with the U.S. in protest over continued Israeli attacks on Lebanon. President Trump says

talks are continuing at, quote, "a rapid pace." CNN's Clarissa Ward visits a hospital on the front lines of Africa's ongoing battle with Ebola. And

Serena Williams says she is returning to professional tennis after nearly four years off the court.

Peace talks between the U.S. and Iran might now hinge on Lebanon. Israel is making its biggest push into Lebanon in decades, but will reportedly hold

off on a ground attack on Beirut. All this as Iran is refusing to negotiate with the U.S. unless Israeli attacks on Lebanon stop.

President Donald Trump says he has spoken to both Israel and Hezbollah through representatives. He claims they've agreed to stop all shooting. The

Lebanese government says Hezbollah has agreed to the truce, but it is unclear if that is enough to bring Iran back to the negotiating table. And

the Israeli prime minister says that Israel will keep up its operations in southern Lebanon as planned.

With all that's happened in Lebanon, Trump has given mixed signals today about whether Iran is negotiating again or not.

Kristen Holmes joins me now from the White House. Kristen, it doesn't even take a careful observer of all this to see that what the U.S. president is

saying, what the Israeli prime minister is saying, what Iran is saying, and what's happening on the ground in Lebanon and Iran are all very different.

Does the president --

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, it couldn't be more different.

SCIUTTO: It couldn't be, I mean, like, contradictory, even in some circumstances. I mean, does the president, do White House officials believe

they actually have a ceasefire here?

HOLMES: Well, it's unclear, because here's what President Trump just put out moments ago. So, just to back up a few moments, we saw President Trump

put out this thing saying he had a great call with Netanyahu, that he also talked to these representatives, he talked to Hezbollah through

representatives, and that Netanyahu had agreed to essentially back off, he wouldn't put ground troops into Beirut, and that, you know, they were

working on the ceasefire, the ceasefire was going to take place.

Then you have Netanyahu's statement saying we're still striking Lebanon, nothing's changed. Then you have another statement from President Trump

just a few moments ago, where it looks as though he's trying to kind of clean up his first statement, where he says, I asked him not to go into a

major raid of Beirut, he turned his troops around, thank you.

So, clearly, they're trying to hone in on this idea that it was all about this one single raid, not these airstrikes that were ongoing. And then it

says, likewise, Israel has agreed to stop shooting at them, and that was just nine minutes ago. We also just had that statement just a few moments

before that from Benjamin Netanyahu, saying they were going to continue those strikes. It is unclear right now what is happening.

Now, we also have President Trump who said they hadn't heard from Israel, even though -- I mean, sorry, from Iran, that even though Iranian media was

saying that Iran was halting the talks because of what was happening in Lebanon, Trump in an interview said he hadn't heard from them, and if they

did halt it, it wouldn't be that bad. Then he posted just moments later that the talks are continuing at a rapid pace with Iran. Thank you for your

attention to this matter.

So, it's really been all over the place. The one thing that we know is what happened on Friday. That's still the one thing we know about where the

negotiations kind of left off with Iran, which is this tangible memorandum that President Trump got in the Situation Room on Friday, returned back to

Iran. There are sources telling us he wanted stricter language, tougher language on nuclear, on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, that these weren't

big changes, but they wanted assurances. The United States wanted assurances. That's the last we actually know of the negotiations happening.

Everything else kind of seems to be now playing out in the media.

Now, President Trump, this is something he does. He often kind of wills things into existence by announcing them, even if they're not fully baked,

and then other people get on board.

[18:05:00]

But as we saw here, this announcement that there was essentially a ceasefire, that was not something that the prime minister of Israel, who

has been really operating in lockstep with President Trump, agreed to or said that he wasn't going to stop doing. So, there's just -- a lot of this

-- the way that we're seeing it play out, it doesn't even make sense for these leaders, for what they're saying.

SCIUTTO: No question. Yes. I mean, sometimes he'll claim things exist that don't exist, like that statement, all shooting will stop, when it's clearly

not stopping. I do want to ask you about a domestic issue, if I can, before I let you go, and that is the Trump administration following this court

ruling seems to have given up on this, quote/unquote, "anti-weaponization fund." Is this the last that we've seen of that?

HOLMES: I wouldn't say this is the last we've seen of that. I think that the administration, which we know, we were reporting out just seconds ago,

we put this out, has communicating to congressional leadership, Republicans on the Hill, that they are done, that they're dropping this weaponization

fund, that they understand that this is a heavy political risk, lift, and they don't want to continue pushing it.

But I'm also being told by others that this is just a pause, that this is just a moment in time where they could still bring this up, and President

Trump himself would like to still bring this up at a later date. So, it's unclear how long that this pause or this idea of dropping the weaponization

fund is going to last.

Obviously, they do know they were getting an enormous amount of pushback from Republicans, both on the Hill -- I mean, both in the House and on the

Senate. We saw Speaker Johnson was here talking about this with President Trump privately today. We know that the Senate Majority Leader, John Thune,

said he spoke to President Trump over the weekend and encouraged him to drop this weaponization fund. Clearly, they don't have the support they

need from allies and Republicans and lawmakers right now.

So, they have put this out. They're kind of communicating this idea that it is a drop, that they're retreating. But some sources are still really just

referring to this as a pause, letting the courts play out, but not saying that this is over for now.

SCIUTTO: Well, you would have to convince some Republicans in the Senate, right, to get on board. Kristen Holmes, good to have you.

Returning now to our top story in the Middle East. Jennifer Gavito joins us now, senior advisor for the Cohen Group, former senior State Department

official, including the Iran portfolio. Thanks so much for joining.

What is going on? I mean, our White House reporter is there. She covers the administration quite closely. She can't figure out what has actually been

agreed to. Can you?

JENNIFER GAVITO, SENIOR ADVISOR, THE COHEN GROUP AND FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR Iran AND IRAQ, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT: No,

absolutely not. And I think part of that is because the president is really struggling through competing instincts. One is to end this conflict as

quickly as possible, get the economy moving again.

And on the other hand, listening to the detractors who are saying, you know, essentially what has been reported as a deal amounts to a strategic

loss for the United States. You add to that, of course, today Lebanon and the difficulty of separating those two issues, and it creates a very murky

situation.

SCIUTTO: So, beyond what the president wants or is willing to agree to, you have other parties to this deal. What Israel wants it is willing to agree

to, what it's willing to stop in terms of military operations, what Hezbollah is willing to stop, what Iran is willing to stop.

I mean, are they -- he certainly has less control over those parties than he claims. Who wants a peace at this point?

GAVITO: President Trump would like a peace.

SCIUTTO: Right. Who else?

GAVITO: Not even some of his own party, for what it's worth. Certainly, Prime Minister Netanyahu does not want this deal that is on the table. That

is, particularly with an election looming, that is an unmitigated disaster for him. And I think that's why we see -- I mean, it's important to

remember that this incursion into Lebanon is the most extreme in over 20 years. This is not a small thing.

For Hezbollah, as well, you know, that is Iran's greatest strategic asset, and not something that Iran is going to be willing to give up without some

pretty airtight assurances that they're going to get something in return, probably in the form of some sort of economic relief.

And so, as things stand right now -- and I think Iran is calculating the same thing, President Trump is really the one person that most wants to see

a deal be made, regardless of what he may be saying publicly.

SCIUTTO: Is it possible, as well, that the parties here don't believe Trump can deliver, right? I mean, that they see him as backed into a corner here,

and therefore might say, I don't have to make a deal, right?

GAVITO: If you're talking about Iran in that context, I think that what Iran wants out of this, they are probably pretty confident that the

president can, in fact, deliver. That's not a grand bargain.

SCIUTTO: Sanctions relief?

GAVITO: Exactly. The president can do that. Now, they may be doubting his political willingness to do that, and I think with good reason. But what

they really need is that economic relief.

[18:10:00]

For Israel, it is much more a case of what can the president deliver that he's willing to go to the mat for. We do have leverage over Israel. That is

what has made U.S., if not a trusted interlocutor in the region for many years, the one that the region keeps coming back to. Whether this president

is willing, though, to really, you know, put the screws to Benjamin Netanyahu and force them to stop is a different question.

And then finally, I think there's a lot of question of whether the United States has the capability to deliver the Lebanese government, not the

intent necessarily to disarm Hezbollah. I think that that is there, but that requires a sustained international effort.

SCIUTTO: And confidence in U.S. backing, I imagine, confidence that there will be a lasting plan. I mean, that seems to be what's lacking from all

parties here.

GAVITO: Absolutely. Best case scenario here is you have what amounts to an extended ceasefire. The deal that we understand to be on the table would

put the nuclear issue off, which we haven't even talked about. Nuclear issue off.

SCIUTTO: The core issue, as described by President Trump and Israel going into this war.

GAVITO: In fairness, we've had a lot of core issues. Just a couple of them remain on the table, nuclear being one of them, along with the Strait of

Hormuz, which, of course, was open 13 weeks ago.

But for the for the nuclear issue, essentially all this deal would do is push off further discussion of that for another 60 days. This is a key

Iranian tactic. Certainly, JCPOA took over two years to negotiate during the Biden administration. Months and months. Iran has every incentive to

draw this out.

SCIUTTO: Yes. Well, they could take a page from Donald Trump's legal handbook on that. I wonder, just looking forward, if you're living in that

region right now, if you're well, southern Lebanon, the war is going to continue. You know, Iran -- Israel is not pulling back from there. There's

still going to be strikes, it appears, in Beirut, if not some sort of operation.

But if you're in northern Israel or you're in Iran or you're around the Strait of Hormuz or you're in a hotel in Dubai, right, are you confident

that you're safe, or should you be concerned that the fire can start again?

GAVITO: So, I think we are in a very shaky situation as far as the ceasefire goes. That could be disrupted at any moment, for sure. For

northern Israel, I mean, that is a great question. I think, you know, you can look at what Israel is doing and question the timing. But the reality

is there are communities in northern Israel that have not been able to inhabit their towns for a long period of time now. So, for them, they can

be almost certain that this will continue.

And for the resilience of the Gulf economies who, you know, stick to their reputation on this, this is a real long-term problem, because regardless of

what happens in the weeks or months ahead, Iran has the Strait of Hormuz tool at its disposal and can deploy it anytime in the future.

SCIUTTO: And it's proven itself able to penetrate even U.S. air defenses there. Not all the time, not even most of the time, but enough.

GAVITO: Enough to disrupt.

SCIUTTO: Yes. Jen Gavito, thanks so much for joining. Coming up on "The Brief," a key European leader sounding the alarm on Russia, saying Europe

must now get stronger and fast. My conversation with Sweden's deputy prime minister, Ebba Busch, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:15:00]

SCIUTTO: France has seized a sanctioned oil tanker sailing from Russia. The French military released this video showing service members boarding the

tanker in the North Atlantic. This is the third known seizure in recent months. The Kremlin called it, quote, "illegal boarding on international --

illegal bordering on international piracy." The U.S. has eased sanctions on Russian seaborne oil. The E.U., however, has kept theirs in place.

Earlier today, I spoke with Sweden's Deputy Prime Minister Ebba Busch. We began with Russia's Friday drone strike in Romania, which is, of course, a

member of NATO, like Sweden. I asked her whether she believed it was an accident or deliberate.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EBBA BUSCH, SWEDISH DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER: Well, let's just say this. No one can know for sure. But one thing that we do know for sure is the type

of aggressions that we've seen from Russia, trying to poke small holes and also test the strength and determination of the NATO allies, that is not a

mistake. We've seen this throughout so many of the years.

I mean, Sweden has, for obvious reasons, gotten very, very good at tracking Russian activity ever since we had a submarine many decades ago go aground

on Swedish archipelago. And this is a reason why we take this very seriously. And we know that -- I mean, this is not -- on an average level,

this is not an accident.

SCIUTTO: Does the U.S. reduction in forces in Europe, as well as derogatory comments from the U.S. president about NATO and NATO allies, does that, in

your view, embolden Russia to poke Europe more, to test Europe more?

BUSCH: We're small in words, but we're strong and large in action. And just look at the leadership that the Nordic countries are showing now, both

within the European Union, but especially within the defense alliance NATO. We are truly stepping up. We now have a defense spending that is close to 3

percent in Sweden. Finland is on the same trajectory. Denmark and Norway already have a defense spending well beyond 3 percent.

And this is the type of leadership that the Nordic countries are forging together. And this is, I would say, our common collected answer to the high

rhetoric that we've seen with our dear American friends. And just to point back to the NATO ministerial summit that we had in Sweden just the other

week ago, just like Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated, Sweden, a model ally, rightly so, also bringing new capabilities and strengths to the table

and to the alliance. I think that is our way of navigating the turmoil that we've seen both from Russia and also the high tone on the U.S. side.

SCIUTTO: I'm curious how concerned you are about a more serious, deliberate Russian attack on NATO, including Sweden. As you know, there's been

increased activity around Gotland, which is, of course, a Swedish territory. The Swedish defense chief said a Russian attack could happen any

time. Do you share that concern?

BUSCH: Well, I join in with my colleague -- my British colleague, that a few months ago stated our eyes are on Eurasia. And that goes definitely for

Sweden as well. We know that our commitment to Ukraine is both out of moral, it's morally driven because it is the right thing to do. It is

standing on the right side of history for peace, for freedom, for democracy. But it is also a matter of our own security and our own

sovereignty.

Because make no mistake, Russia will not stop at Ukraine. And the next one that would be on Russia's list is a NATO ally.

[18:20:00]

And that would for sure really test the strength of the alliance. And in this term, we really need to signal strength together. And that is why the

NATO summit here in Sweden was so important. It sets us up better for the NATO summit in Ankara, in Turkey later on. And this is also a time that

President Trump should make use of, because Russia are suffering major casualties, both on the battlefield in Ukraine, major setbacks, but also

with the long-range rockets that have now been launched into Moscow.

And this is a weakness on the Russian side, where I would like to speak to the strength of President Trump and see where he could step in and start

pushing for that peace agreement.

SCIUTTO: You have said, though, that the U.S. under President Trump has become increasingly unpredictable. And I've heard that from other European

leaders. I've heard that from Asian officials as well. Is the U.S. also, in your view, less reliable?

BUSCH: No. I trust the U.S. I see the U.S. as my friend. And I think, I mean, I'm Norwegian. I grew up with the war stories of the Second World War

with my grandmother, Ebba, whom I'm named after being shot at. I grew up with the stories of my entrepreneurial grandpa who signed a deal with Walt

Disney himself once back in the time to sell children's shoes that were quite innovating, growing as the children were growing.

So, this type of, you know, stories have formed my view on both security but also my view on the relations to the U.S. And we are stronger together.

SCIUTTO: Do you have confidence that the U.S. can end the war in Iran, or are you making alternate plans based on, well, just a lack of reliability

of safety, for instance, around the Strait of Hormuz?

BUSCH: Let's say we're doing both. One, this has to end because just look at what is happening. The insecurity that this has caused around the

kitchen tables, families throughout Europe, families throughout the U.S., seeing the volatility in energy prices and seeing the very shaky prognosis

long term also for markets and investment climate.

But this is also the reason why Sweden is taking on the leadership in the area of energy within the European Union. We need a new Messmer plan. If

you look at the two oil crises in the '70s, then the French president Messmer launched a plan that ultimately ended up in 56 nuclear reactors

being built and France moving away from its import dependence and making sure they had 80 percent electricity accumulated from those reactors.

We need the new type of commitment to building our own energy sovereignty within Europe. And Sweden is taking on that leadership, and we'd like to do

that together with the U.S. If you look at one of the first sites that will be building new nuclear power in Sweden, we are either going with Rolls

Royce or we are going with GE Vernova, where a possible even deeper collaboration between the U.S. and Sweden would be in play, especially also

since we now have Pax Silica. We also now have the deal on technology, a new partnership.

And I mean, I had a good deal with President Biden on -- when the Biden administration on nuclear power. I'm expecting president -- that the

administration of President Trump to out trump that in the best possible way.

SCIUTTO: The last time we spoke was amid Trump's repeated threats to take Greenland, even potentially by force. And you said that that was very

damaging to Sweden's relationship with the U.S., the E.U.'s relationship with the U.S. When I speak to officials from Greenland and Denmark, of

course, Greenland is a Danish territory. They say this issue has not gone away.

Do you believe that Greenland will again become a point of contention between the U.S. and its European allies?

BUSCH: I'm planning for it, but I'm requesting and assuming it will not. It should not. And I was in Denmark last week, and I mean, there is a compact

commitment to the people of Greenland. And there is a full support from Sweden and the Nordic countries really backing both the people of Denmark

and the people of Greenland and their right to sovereignty.

But I mean, ultimately, this shows also that in some ways it is true that all wars are energy wars. And the navigation that we have seen with

Venezuela, with Iran, with Greenland, there is one thing coming back once and again, and it is natural resourced. It is energy.

[18:25:00]

But we need to find a way in this turbulent time to show joint strength across the Atlantic. And -- but our firm commitment to the people of

Denmark and Greenland stays unshaken.

SCIUTTO: Before we go, I understand that hope. But when I speak to European officials, both in public and in private, I don't hear a lot of hope about

the health of the transatlantic relationship. I don't feel a lot of confidence in America's continuing commitment to its allies in Europe. But

do you have greater hope? I mean, do you find that hope realistic, that the damage can be repaired?

BUSCH: We need to speak from a place of strength. And this is the reason why we are increasing our defense spending. That is why we're bringing

defense capabilities that NATO did not have before we joined the alliance. This is the reason why we're cutting red tape and permitting, cutting 328

of our agencies down to one to show that we're not slow and bureaucratic, we can be fast and predictable and not fast and furious.

So, we're showing in action, not only in words, a different way to navigate this, but we're doing it from a place of strength and we're doing it from a

place where we've actually done our homework, both in terms of defense competitiveness when it comes to cutting red tape. And when it comes to

energy as a matter of security, we're not going to be reliant off of, you know, unpredictable fossil fuels anymore. We're choosing a different path

for Sweden. And ultimately, that could also be the path -- a path of strength and hope for Europe.

SCIUTTO: Deputy Prime Minister Ebba Bush, we appreciate you joining the program.

BUSCH: Thank you. Have a good night.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: In today's Business Breakout, U.S. stocks rose to fresh records on the first trading day of June. Tech optimism helped offset higher energy

prices. Both Brent and U.S. crude rose sharply amid new confusion over whether Iran war negotiations currently exist.

Another landmark day for artificial intelligence investors, A.I. giant Anthropic confidentially filed for its long-awaited IPO with the SEC. The

company could debut on public markets later this year. With today's move, Anthropic looks set to beat out rival OpenAI in the race to sell shares on

Wall Street. Just last week, Anthropic became the most valuable private A.I. startup after a funding round valued the firm at almost $1 trillion.

A remarkable growth spurt for a firm founded just five years ago. It also comes as markets braze for another massive IPO in a different sector.

SpaceX is set to lift off on the NASDAQ as soon as next week.

Checking some of today's other business headlines, Florida is suing OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, over allegations the ChatGPT is not safe for

children. The state's attorney general says the platform lacks proper parental controls. He also says Altman has chosen, quote, "profit over

public safety." In response to the lawsuit, OpenAI says it believes minors need significant protection and says it has put in place industry-leading

protections and policies.

NVIDIA unveiled new chips Monday that put the company in direct competition with firms such as Intel, Apple and Advanced Micro Devices, AMD. CEO Jensen

Huang says the new chips are part of the company's efforts to, quote, "reinvent the personal computer for the age of A.I." He says the chips will

put A.I. capabilities directly into laptops and desktop computers. They'll begin showing up in those devices this fall.

Jerome Powell has delivered his first public comment since his term as chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve ended last month. Powell said in a speech

that the U.S. Central Bank, along with other U.S. institutions, are currently undergoing a stress test. He warned once again about the dangers

of a politicized Fed. He says democratic institutions take time and effort to build, but he warns they could be torn down, quote, "all too quickly."

Words for our times.

Coming up after the break, we take you inside an Ebola ward's red zone near the epicenter of the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. We'll

have a live report coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:30:00]

SCIUTTO: Welcome back to "The Brief." I'm Jim Sciutto, and here are the international headlines we're watching today.

s U.S. President Donald Trump says Israel and Hezbollah both, quote, "agreed that all shooting will stop in Lebanon." The president says the Israeli

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told him over the phone the IDF will not now go into Beirut. He claims, quote, "talks are continuing at a rapid pace

with Iran."

The Trump administration is putting its $1.8 billion, "quote/unquote, "anti-weaponization fund on hold now." The Department of Justice says it

will abide by a federal judge's order. That fund was intended to compensate those who claim they were targeted by the Biden administration. But it has

faced pushback even from Republicans. Critics say it's simply a slush fund for Trump allies.

There's been a huge explosion at a fireworks factory in Malta. The blast sent up a massive plume of smoke. Police say the explosion was so strong

that two men in nearby fields were taken to the hospital with minor injuries. No one, thankfully, was at the factory at the time.

Plans for a center to quarantine Ebola victims in Kenya have triggered a series of protests there. That quarantine center being built by the U.S.

for U.S. citizens who may have been exposed to the virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is worth noting the DRC is more than 1,500 miles,

2,400 kilometers away from Kenya and that facility. And there have been no reported cases in Kenya.

Inside the DRC, the World Health Organization says four nurses treated for have now been discharged from the hospital and are recovering. It's a

hopeful sign. However, the number of cases continues to grow. More than 280 now confirmed, 42 people have died.

Joining me now, our chief international correspondent, Clarissa Ward. She has met with Ebola patients at Bunya General Hospital. And, Clarissa, I

wonder what you're seeing there just in terms of the suffering, certainly, but also efforts to control this. Do you see the resources there in place

to do so?

[18:35:00]

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's no question that there's a huge effort underway, Jim, to really scale up and

catch up with this outbreak. But certainly, they have a battle ahead of them.

We spent the day at the Bunya General Hospital where a large amount of the cases are. There were about 20 when we were there. And that was yesterday.

That number almost certainly will have gone up by now. And they are really just struggling to build up the facilities to ensure that patients are

isolated, that they can be treated humanely, that they have the lab capacity to ensure that the testing is done. And there are a huge number of

aid organizations and local health workers and doctors who are really working around the clock doing everything they can to stop this vicious

outbreak. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WARD (voice-over): It is a surreal but now all too familiar ritual. Health care workers painstakingly disinfect the coffin of the latest suspected

victim of the Ebola virus at Bunya's General Hospital.

His family members look on in anguish, unable to get close to their loved one, torn apart by grief and consumed by fear.

Oh, my father, why, God, this woman cries. Oh, God, this is my only father.

As the dead are carried out, new potential cases are arriving. At the entrance to the hospital, everyone's temperature must be taken.

WARD: So, this is the room where they take people who are found to have a fever. There is a woman in there now. Obviously, they don't know if she has

Ebola or not, but they're going to keep her here until they do more tests and get a better sense of what's going on.

WARD (voice-over): At a makeshift coordination center inside the hospital, Dr. Richard Kojan and his team are working around the clock to keep up with

an outbreak they say is out of control. They agree to show me and photojournalist Alex Platt what they're up against.

WARD: We are now getting ready to go into the so-called red zone of this hospital. That is the area where all suspected Ebola patients are put. And

there is a lot of protective gear, unsurprisingly, that one needs to wear to go inside.

WARD (voice-over): Bundibugyo is a strain of the virus that few were expecting. There is no vaccine and no cure.

The doctors write our names on our backs so they can recognize us. And then it's time to go in. At the moment, patients are treated in hastily

constructed tents. 30-year-old Gloria is a lab technician, one of dozens of health care workers believed to be infected.

WARD: She says it's difficult to breathe.

WARD (voice-over): Earlier, we met her sister waiting outside for news.

WARD (through translator): I saw your sister. She's waiting for the moment she can hug you again. Do you want us to toll your sister something from

you? A message?

WARD (voice-over): Do not be afraid, she says. But it's impossible not to be scared. Some of the patients here are in very bad shape.

WARD: How do you stay strong when you're seeing this?

DR. RICHARD KOJAN, EMERGENCY ICU DOCTOR, ALIMA: For me, it's our humanity.

WARD: Your humanity?

DR. KOJAN: Yes, yes. It's our humanity. When people are suffering like this, I feel it. I feel it.

He was in a coma. It's Ebola confirmed.

WARD (voice-over): Ten-year-old Meshack (ph) is still very weak. His mouth ravaged with blisters from the virus. He asked the doctors for a banana, an

encouraging sign.

Slowly, slowly, Dr. Kojan warns him. His condition is improving, but he has a long way to go.

WARD: He wants to lay down? Let's help him lay down then.

WARD (voice-over): They lay him down in the corridor while his room is disinfected. Nothing about this situation is OK. But these doctors are

doing everything they possibly can.

[18:40:00]

As we walk to another ward, a familiar sound in the distance.

WARD: You can hear the cries of a family who are claiming the body of their loved one. This is a scene that's playing out here multiple times every

single day.

WARD (voice-over): This is a temporary ward for suspected cases. Patients lie waiting for test results that are taking up to a week to process.

WARD: So, this is the situation that health care workers really want to avoid and are racing to put a stop to. You have five patients in the same

room, all of them suspected of having Ebola. But doctors can't be sure. They can't rule out the possibility that one person in here may not have

Ebola. And then, of course, there's a strong chance they could contract it.

WARD (voice-over): Every exit from the red zone is as careful as the entry. Protective equipment must be sprayed down with chlorine and methodically

removed.

WARD: We were in there for maybe half an hour, and I could barely stand up by the end. It's incredibly tiring, really hot. You're sweating so much.

You're thirsty. I just like help us understand the kind of stamina that you need as a doctor to be going in and out of that red zone multiple times

every single day.

DR. KOJAN: It's really hard. We have to stand strong for those patients. And otherwise, you know, the situation will be really very, very bad.

WARD: That 10-year-old boy. That's hard to see.

DR. KOJAN: The first day, you know, he was really bleeding. A lot of diarrhea and shock, you know. So, you have to get a way to give IV fluid.

It's not really easy. So, for me, you know, like an ICU doctor, when you have a situation like this, it's very hard to just say, I have to stop

because I'm tired.

WARD (voice-over): On the outskirts of the city, the family we met earlier is burying their father, 72-year-old farmer Papa Babona Bodwan (ph). The

burial team forms a cordon around his grave. The mourners forced to grieve at a distance. The final cruelty of this vicious virus.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WARD (on camera): And, Jim, these doctors really are heroes, as you just saw Dr. Richard Kojan, who featured in our story. This is the sixth Ebola

outbreak that he has been a responder to in the DRC here in Congo alone. And he said what's different about this one, what's challenging about this

one, is that effectively they're very limited in their ability now to catch up properly because it took so long for them to identify this.

The tests, Jim, that they're using are primarily for the Zaire strain of Ebola. They weren't expecting this strain. That meant that they lost at

least a couple of weeks. Now, they're playing catch up and they really do have, Jim, an uphill battle ahead of them.

SCIUTTO: And that battle's impossible without folks like that doctor willing to risk their lives to take care of these people. Clarissa Ward,

good to have you there. Please stay safe.

Coming up on "The Brief," rescue workers race against time in Laos as they try to find those last two remaining men still trapped in a flooded cave

there.

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[18:45:00]

SCIUTTO: In Laos, a desperate race against time to find two men still trapped and missing in a flooded cave network. The focus is now shifting to

a newly discovered cave shaft and possible signs of life. A rescuer tells CNN there were knocking sounds in response to signals from rescuers.

However, another member of the team says the sounds could have been made by bats or even the wind. Five villagers are recovering after making it out of

the caves last week. Mike Valerio has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the day on Monday began with a healthy, cautious dose of optimism after rescuers started knocking on the

cave walls, hoping to hear a response in return, potentially from the two people who are still missing. They heard something during some of those

moments when they were knocking on the cave walls. But by nightfall on Monday, one member of the team told CNN it was unclear what the sounds were

and it was absolutely not the case that they heard knocking. Let's listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSH RICHARDS, CAVE DIVER: There has been a lot of reporting suggesting that we heard knocking back. That is absolutely not true. I had my ear to

that hole as best I could listening, and it was definitely something unusual that I couldn't identify. Now, that could have been bats. That

could have been the wind coming in. A lot of these caves have fissures through them as well. There were very unusual sounds coming down from

below.

They didn't necessarily sound rhythmic. They didn't sound like there were echoes or anything like that. But there has been a lot of reporting saying,

oh, we heard knocking. That is absolutely not the case.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALERIO: So, what does the team now? Well, new reporting from our colleague Will Ripley, who is on the scene, is conveying that they will potentially

look at new tunnels that they have discovered, not one but four, where they could hopefully, potentially get to the two men who still remain missing.

It is a very difficult enterprise to figure out where the two men are because they didn't enter at the same time as the other people who made it

out of the cave so far. They took a different route, and they went into the cave system earlier before the men who have managed to make it out of that

cave system.

Also, an air pocket where the two men could be, according to members of the rescue team. It is tighter and more unpleasant than the crevasses, than the

spaces that rescuers have had to move through so far. So, certainly the operation is not over, but challenges certainly still remain.

Mike Valerio, CNN, Beijing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: Let's hope they find their way to safety. Still ahead, Serena Williams returning to the tennis court after nearly four years away from

pro tennis. Why she's coming out of her unofficial retirement now.

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[18:50:00]

SCIUTTO: Tennis legend Serena Williams is set to make her return to the court. Queens Club confirms that Williams will play at the HSBC

Championships in London next week. The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion has not played since her loss at the U.S. Open back in 2022.

Don Riddell joins me with details. Wow. I mean, one of the greatest, if not the greatest. Four years out, but coming back. I mean, why now? What

happened?

DON RIDDELL, CNN SPORT ANCHOR: You know, there's a lot we don't know. But yes, I mean, she's not one of the greatest. She is the GOAT. And, you know,

there was a hint or a whiff of this towards the end of last year where her name appeared on the basically the list of names for athletes who wanted to

be drug tested. And you kind of have to be on that list if you're going to want to compete.

At the time, she denied it. I think the phrase she used was the wildfire is crazy. But clearly now this was the plan all along. The reveal today was

cool. This Nike commercial was great. It was just a short clip of her back on the practice court. And you could hear her phone blowing up, you know,

sounds of buzzing, dinging, phone ringing off the hook, everybody wanting to know the news.

There is still a lot we don't know, though. So, we know she's going to play doubles at Queen's next week. She's never played that tournament because

during her career, the women didn't play at Queen's. We know she's coming back as a doubles player. Serena hasn't revealed who her partner will be,

although the tournament director, Laura Robson, on our partner station TNT Sports Today said she'll be playing with the 19-year-old Canadian Victoria

Mboko. So, that will be really exciting.

But what's the plan after that? In Serena's press conference -- sorry, her press release, she said that Queen's would be the perfect place to begin

this next chapter. So, that doesn't sound like this is a one off. So, does that mean she's going to play Wimbledon, where, of course, she won seven

singles titles and six doubles? Wimbledon would be coming up shortly after Queen's.

Does it mean she's actually intending on playing singles as well? We just don't know. But what we do know for sure is there is an awful lot of

excitement, a lot of hype, a lot of curiosity, a lot of questions we want to be answered. But it is going to be amazing to see Serena Williams back

on court after all these years.

And can we call it a comeback? I don't know. Because remember, she never retired. She just said she was evolving away from tennis. And now, here we

are. The story continues.

SCIUTTO: Wow. I mean, you can only imagine how many more Grand Slams you might win. Don Riddell, thanks so much.

Well, fans of comics and anime gathered in Hong Kong this past weekend. They celebrated the city's first ever Comic-Con. Senior international

correspondent and self-proclaimed nerd Ivan Watson was there to show us around.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, my goodness. It's Colonel Sanders with big muscles and fried chicken. Just an example of the

random stuff that I'm seeing at Hong Kong's first Comic-Con. And the crowd here is muscles and fried chicken.

Just an example of the random stuff that I'm seeing at Hong Kong's first Comic-Con. And the crowd here is in form and it's fun.

[18:55:00]

Where else do you get to see Rick with his portal and I don't even know what that machine is. And over here you've got Brut wandering around waving

at people, and statues of Spiderman showing his hind quarters.

This is a venue where people get to nerd out and celebrate nerd culture, and I love it. I confess that I'm a bit of a kid in a candy store right now

because I grew up reading Marvel Comics, superhero comics, and I wouldn't let anybody at middle school see my issues of uncanny X-Men because I was a

little bit ashamed of it.

But here, this kind of culture is being celebrated. It has gone fully mainstream. The whole point at these things is to be a fan. To dress up, to

have people take photos of you, and to take photos.

Hey, Freddy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey.

WATSON: How's it going, man?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just wonderful.

WATSON: How's your first Comic-Con in Hong Kong?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes.

WATSON: Digging it. All right.

And that is my report as I geek out at Hong Kong first Comic-Con.

Ivan Watson, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: You might have noticed the Superman shirt under Ivan's shirt there.

Thanks so much for your company today. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington. You've been watching "The Brief." Please do stay with CNN.

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