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What We Know with Max Foster

Reports: Netanyahu Favors "Full Conquest" Of Gaza; House Committee Subpoenas Clintons, Others In Epstein Case; Texas House Lacks Quorum For Second Straight Day; U.S. Condemns Brazilian Court For Bolsonaro House Arrest; Trump: Scott Bessent No Longer In The Running For Fed Chair; Trump Threatens To Raise Tariffs On India Over Next 24 Hours. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired August 05, 2025 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[15:00:31]

MAX FOSTER, CNN HOST: Israel's prime minister meets with his security cabinet as he weighs up a full Gaza takeover.

This is WHAT WE KNOW.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu laying out the groundwork for what could be a dramatic escalation of the war in Gaza. Today, he met with top

security officials ahead of a full security cabinet meeting, which is on Thursday now.

His office says the IDF is prepared to implement any decision made by the cabinet. Earlier, Israeli media said Mr. Netanyahu had already decided on

the, quote, "full conquest" of Gaza.

The prime minister spoke earlier at an Israeli military base, vowing to defeat Hamas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: But it is still necessary to complete the defeat of the enemy in Gaza to release all the hostages, to

ensure that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel. We are not giving up on any of these tasks. We will do it together through the great

sacrifice of our male and female fighters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Well, if the war does intensify, its frankly hard to imagine how the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza could get any worse. People who

survived the bombings and shootings are facing the threat of a silent death by starvation. Gaza's health ministry says more than 61,000 people have now

been killed. UNICEF says an average of 28 children die every day. U.N. officials are appealing for a surge in aid.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENS LAERKE, SPOKESPERSON, U.N. HUMANITARIAN OFFICE: I hope you understand that the magnitude, that the difference between this very small amount of

aid that is now coming in and everybody expects me to clap and say "thank you", and the massive needs that are there where people are literally dying

on a daily basis. It's really -- it's out of proportion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Our Matthew Chance has more now on Israel's plans for the next phase of the war.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: That intention of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, to expand the military

operation is -- is just that at the moment. It's not government policy. It still has to go through a number of steps. In fact, there's been a security

meeting tonight with close security advisers of the Israeli prime minister. And that was a three-hour session. It's broken up, and there's been a short

statement released by the prime minister's office, basically saying that options were discussed for continuing the conflict in Gaza.

There's going to be a full meeting of the Israeli security cabinet, which is the decision making body. I think, when it comes to issues like this on

Thursday. And so, we may not have a sort of a definitive statement on what the Israeli government will or won't do when it comes to Gaza until after

that security cabinet meeting on Thursday. So the situation has been kicked down the road a little bit, but the questions inside Israel and the

division about what to do in Gaza is getting wider by the day, particularly after the release at the weekend of those absolutely horrifying videos of a

couple of Israeli hostages still surviving. But looking incredibly emaciated inside the Gaza Strip being held by Hamas and other militant

group, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

The fact that they look so frail, you know, so thin on the sort of sort of, you know, not -- not, you know, on the brink of, you know, sort of

catastrophic health problems, you know, really has put pressure on the Israeli government to work out what it's going to do next. The families, of

course, of the hostages are calling for a deal with Hamas as soon as possible to get their hostages out. There are 50 Israeli hostages still

inside the Gaza Strip, 20 of them, approximately, are believed to be still alive. And so time is of the essence.

But there are hardliners in the Israeli cabinet who do not want to see a deal with Hamas under any circumstances, even for the release of the

Israeli hostages. They want to see the military double down on the conflict, to destroy Hamas and to try and release the hostages that way.

And from what we're hearing, that's the direction Benjamin Netanyahu is leaning in. But as I say, a final decision is likely not going to be made

until the security cabinet meeting on Thursday.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: New developments in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. The Republican- led House Oversight Committee issuing several subpoenas. Some big names on the list, including former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of

State Hillary Clinton, six former attorneys general and two former FBI directors.

[15:05:00]

The committee has also subpoenaed all Justice Department records on Epstein.

Meanwhile, sources tell CNN that the Trump administration is considering releasing audio files and transcripts from the deputy attorney general's

recent interview with Epstein's associate Ghislaine Maxwell.

Lauren Fox joins us now from Washington.

I mean, there's a lot of legalities going on here, but when are we actually going to get more information on what might be in these alleged files,

Lauren.

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, it's important to go back. You know, the House Oversight Subcommittee actually voted almost two

weeks ago now to submit these subpoenas and get them out. And yet it did take time for the chairman of this committee, James Comer, to finally

unveil these subpoenas and send them today.

Now, it does include a series of requests for depositions with some of those high profile figures you included, including some big names,

including Bill and Hillary Clinton. But it also requests the release of the full Epstein files that the Justice Department has in its grasp. Now,

there's a huge question about whether or not the Justice Department is going to cooperate willingly, whether or not these individuals who have

been subpoenaed for depositions are going to be showing up willingly, or whether this might cause a protracted series of court fights.

And one thing to be certain of is that Republicans had hoped to turn the page on this issue, especially because they're away from Washington for a

month-long August recess. But the reality is that the issuing of these subpoenas, and it's important to note that Republicans joined with

Democrats in this subcommittee to vote to move forward with these subpoenas, that that is going to keep this focus on not just for a matter

of days or weeks, when lawmakers return, but potentially years, depending on how dug in the Justice Department is or some of these individuals who

have now been subpoenaed for depositions, what they decide to do.

So, this is a huge question mark right now. How quickly can anyone get these files? And will the Justice Department cooperate? We just don't know

right now.

FOSTER: Okay, Lauren. Thank you. We'll be watching.

The U.S. attorney general ordering a federal investigation into the Obama administration. That's according to a CNN source, which adds the probe will

look into claims that officials were involved in the Russiagate scandal during the 2016 presidential election. Last week, the director of national

intelligence declassified documents which allegedly show the Obama administration manufactured intelligence about Russian interference.

Now, the Texas House will try again on Friday to vote on a plan that would redraw the state's congressional map in favor of Republicans. Last hour,

lawmakers reconvened but failed to reach a quorum needed to conduct legislative business after dozens of Democrats fled the state to block the

vote. Governor Greg Abbott is threatening to arrest Democrats who left Texas. The state attorney general says he'll seek a court ruling to declare

Democrat seats vacant if they're -- if they're not back by Friday.

A former Republican member of the U.S. House believes Texas Democrats are making the right move.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADAM KINZINGER, FORMER U.S. HOUSE REPUBLICAN: What's happening in this mid-cycle redistricting or mid-decade redistricting is a pure power grab.

It's one thing to do this at the ten years after you have the census done. This is a pure power grab. And what this is doing is basically opening fire

so that the rest of the states around the country start doing the same thing.

And where do we go from here? Do we now have redistricting every seven months whenever they want to get somebody new in? Or maybe they don't have

enough votes for, you know, a thing to pass. So they're going to do another redistricting.

I mean, it's out of control. It's insane. And from the Democrats perspective, I do think this is the right move. You're making a stand.

We're talking about it right now. And we're letting the American people know that this is egregious and, you know, quite honestly, this is I think

Republicans will rue the day if they get this through.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: CNN politics senior reporter Stephen Collinson joins us from Washington.

I mean, it really is a fascinating story, isn't it? But, you know, got that point of view that the Democrats are making a legitimate stand. But at the

same time, they are preventing democracy take place as it's being set up in Texas, right?

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: Yeah. I guess that's an interesting way of looking at it. And that would be one of the arguments

that the Republicans are advancing. I think what the congressman said there is very interesting because normally what happens is and let's just think

about what's happening here. This is about states drawing the districts for their members of the House of Representatives in Washington, their

constituencies, if you like. That happens every ten years based on census data, which tells you about the size of populations and everything else.

What effectively happens is both parties do it in the states they control. They cook up these districts and put as many of their supporters in

favorable districts so they can get the most possible representation as possible.

[15:10:01]

What's happened in Texas is it's not even on the ten-year cycle. They just decided, because the president asked them to, to open it up, to try and

find five new seats in the House of Representatives, because it's going to be a very close election in the midterms next year. Democrats need a net

gain of three seats to win the House of Representatives. That would give them great power to constrain Trump's presidency.

If this Texas plan goes through, they'll need eight. And it becomes much more difficult. So, I think you can see the corrupt manner in which the

Republicans are handling this based on Trump once again using his power to intervene in a democratic election in a state. And that's something that's

quite familiar. That's what he did, of course, after the 2020 election, when he tried to stay in power and block President Joe Biden's win.

FOSTER: Pretty unprecedented in many ways. But is there any precedent for dealing with politicians that leave the state? I mean, what does happen if

they stay out of state? Can they resolve it some other way?

COLLINSON: Well, this is what actually happened before in Texas about a decade ago. Some politicians, some House members left to try and prevent a

quorum. The issue, though, is that they're being fined $500 every day. A lot of these lawmakers in Texas, this is not their full time job. The

legislature only sits for a certain amount of months every couple of years in Texas. So, they have homes and livelihoods and mortgages to pay.

So effectively, there's only about -- there's only a limited time that they can stay out of the state. They can't be arrested by the Texas authorities

when they're in a different state. They could be arrested if they went home and didn't show up to the legislature. So, this is a limited time thing.

They have to stay out of the state. I think probably until mid to late August. And then the special session that Greg Abbott, the governor, called

to talk about these new districts, will expire. But later on in the year, he can just choose to convene another special session.

So, eventually, it looks like these Democrats can't beat the Texas Republicans at this game. What they're trying to do is nationalize this to

get Americans involved, to gin up their own supporters, to show that finally, Democrats are fighting back against Donald Trump. There's a real

feeling in the base of the party that Trump has on this autocratic march, and Democrats are doing nothing to stop him.

So, I think this is one of those political situations where a party can actually lose the argument, but win the broader political war here.

FOSTER: Okay, Stephen, thank you.

COLLINSON: Thank you.

FOSTER: U.S. State Department is slamming Brazil's Supreme Court after it ordered the house arrest of former President Jair Bolsonaro, a far right

ally of U.S. President Donald Trump. Bolsonaro, seen here wearing an ankle monitor, is on trial for allegedly masterminding a plot to overturn

election results in 2022 after he was voted out of office. He denied any wrongdoing.

Mr. Trump calls the charges against Bolsonaro politically motivated, a claim the current government in Brazil rejects.

Americo Martins is a senior correspondent, international affairs analyst for CNN Brazil.

Thank you so much for joining us.

I mean, tensions are at real low, aren't they? Or tensions are at a high, let's say, between Brazil and the U.S. right now.

AMERICO MARTINS, CNN BRASIL SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's very high. Brazil is fighting the tariffs that President Trump imposed on Brazilian

exports is 50 percent, the highest of all countries is going to start tomorrow. Brazil was hoping to reach some kind of negotiation with Trump

and administration. And this decision by the Supreme Court may derail those conversations, which means that the tariffs will definitely start tomorrow.

FOSTER: Is the current government trying to reach out to the White House, or are they being very clear that this is -- this is up to the courts to

deal with?

MARTINS: The Brazilian government, President Lula, is trying to reach out to the White House to discuss commercial issues, because Brazil sees this

as a political motivated tariffs, and Brazil is not willing to discuss the political side of it because Brazil is a democracy. The courts have

independence. They should act as they need to act, and the Brazilian government does not feel it should interfere in that in any way, shape or

form.

And it's not what they are trying to do, but they want to negotiate the commercial side of it. They want to reach an agreement with the U.S.

because Brazil has a deficit in the trade balance with the U.S.

So, Brazil is trying to disconnect the political and the economic side. The White House, however, is not doing that.

FOSTER: And how is this going down in Brazil? Because there will be a massive economic impact from these tariffs.

MARTINS: Obviously, it is a major blow for a lot of sectors in Brazil, a lot of economic sectors. Beef, for example, coffee. But the U.S. removed

some of the economic sectors from those tariffs of 50 percent because the Brazilian government act on that as well, together with the private sector.

[15:15:04]

So, they managed to remove a good part of those tariffs. What Brazil wanted is to continue on those negotiations, remove more sectors out of that, to

reduce the impact -- the economic impact. Politically, however, there is a growing support for President Lula because this is seen as an undue

interference from the U.S. and the White House and Donald Trump in Brazilian politics and democracy.

FOSTER: And where does Bolsonaro stand, then, with this current situation?

MARTINS: Bolsonaro is quite keen for Mr. Trump to impose even more tariffs. He's calling for amnesty for him and the other people that are

accused of plotting a coup d'etat. Obviously, he's in house arrest now. It's unlikely that this amnesty will be voted anytime soon in congress and

the Supreme Court, despite all the threats from the American government, will probably continue the trial. And we're going to have a decision in

September or October.

FOSTER: Okay. Thank you very much for joining us tonight. Great to have you here.

Coming up, the future of the U.S. economy, who Donald Trump is considering and who he's ruled out for key positions at the Bureau of Labor Statistics

and at the Federal Reserve as well crucially.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: As soon as this week, President Trump expected to announce his picks for two key leadership positions at the Bureau of Labor Statistics

and the Federal Reserve. Last Friday, one Federal Reserve governor resigned and Trump fired the head of the BLS.

Speaking of the Fed, the president says the treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, is no longer being considered to replace Jerome Powell as federal

reserve chair. Trump is now considering several others for the position, including two Kevins former Fed governor, Kevin Warsh and top White House

economist Kevin Hassett.

[15:20:03]

In case that's not enough Kevins for you. We have another one. Our senior White House reporter, Kevin Liptak. He's at the White House.

I mean, there's so much pressure on whoever Trump names, right, because they're all going to see whoever he names is biased.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah. And, you know, I'm here for a battle of the Kevins. There's nothing better than that.

And it is true. This is a position that is going to be under an enormous amount of scrutiny, whoever the president picks. He had been considering

Scott Bessent. But according to the president, Bessent pulled his name from consideration last night. He says he's happy what he's doing atop the

Department of Treasury.

That leaves these two other officials. Kevin Warsh, who is working at Stanford right now but served on the board of -- Fed board of governors

back in the 2010s, and Kevin Hassett, who's right now the president's top economist at the White House, who I'm told is very much interested in this

position. It's something that he's been angling for behind the scenes.

You know, ordinarily, a president doesn't put forward their Fed nomination until a little later in the fall. Jay Powell's term is not up until May.

The president's usually wait, you know, October around that time before the nomination goes forward, the process gets underway in the senate to get

them confirmed.

But the president now has an immediate opening in the governor's seat, that person resigned last week, and now the president's sort of timeline is sped

up somewhat. Thats someone that he can nominate right now. And he actually raised the possibility in that interview today that he would name his

ultimate choice to head the Fed, to take that governor's seat, and then eventually elevate them to that top position, essentially allowing someone

of his own ilk onto the board right away, that could influence potentially their decision on interest rates.

And so, the president clearly moving ahead with that very quickly. On this issue of the person to head up the statistical agency, the Bureau of Labor

Statistics, the president has said that that will be coming this week sometime. That person almost certainly will not be a household name. It's

often sort of an obscure economist plucked either from another agency within the bureaucracy, or from a think tank, or from a university.

It's not exactly clear who the White House is considering for that post, but again, that person will be subject to an enormous amount of scrutiny

after the president chose to fire the head of that department because he says that they were rigging the jobs numbers based on their own political

biases. And so, whoever the person the president selects for that job will obviously be scrutinized by the Senate to ensure that they themselves are

not taking political influence into their considerations for those very essential job figures.

So, you know, some very important critical economic roles for the president to decide upon here in the coming days at a moment when the economy is

showing signs of weakness in the labor market, is certainly in growth as the president's tariffs take effect, they will be very critical jobs. And

that's obviously something the president will take into consideration as well as he's deciding on these very critical figures.

FOSTER: Kevin, thank you. Back with you. As we get more on those key appointments.

Now, we are tracking a critical week for the biggest conflict in Europe since World War II. U.S. President Donald Trump on the phone earlier with

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Mr. Trump has given Russian president Vladimir Putin until the end of the week to reach a peace deal with Ukraine for, or else face more sanctions.

President Zelenskyy says today's call focused on those sanctions as well as defense cooperation. We're also learning that Denmark, Norway and Sweden

are giving $500 million to NATO, both NATO and Ukrainian authorities say the money will be used to purchase U.S. weapons for Ukraine. All of this

comes just a day before U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to touch down in Moscow. President Trump says he'll increase tariffs on India, quote,

very substantially over the next 24 hours. A firmer timeline than he's previously threatened.

The Kremlin is slamming the U.S. president for pressuring India to cut oil imports from Russia.

Earlier on CNBC, Mr. Trump voiced his displeasure with India doing business with Russia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We settled on 25 percent, but I think I'm going to raise that very substantially over the next 24

hours because they're buying Russian oil, they're fueling the war machine. And if they're going to do that, then I'm not going to be happy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Anna Cooban is here with more.

I mean, this is, you know, it's an interesting development, isn't it, because it could potentially put real pressure on Russia, which is the

ultimate aim.

ANNA COOBAN, CNN BUSINESS & ECONOMICS REPORTER: Exactly. One of -- Russia's biggest export is really its energy, its vast amounts of oil and

natural gas. And so, the logic behind Trump's secondary sanctions is to essentially make it really prohibitively expensive for India and China to

be importing this oil.

[15:25:02]

And so, if you then reduce the demand for Russia's oil, you reduce the price and therefore the money that Russia can collect to continue

prosecuting its war in Ukraine. So really, what Trump is trying to do is, by economic necessity, push Putin towards the negotiating table.

FOSTER: Yeah. And in terms of trade for the U.S., there will, you know, whenever there's a tariff imposed effectively on U.S. companies, it's going

to have a backlash. Isn't it an impact on the U.S. economy?

COOBAN: Well, yes. And that's the irony of this, is that it will be the U.S. businesses, importers paying the import costs. These extra tariffs.

And so, Trump has made it a real point to bring down and try to bring down inflation to pressure the Fed to cut interest rates. And now potentially

raising consumer prices for U.S. citizens.

And also, the U.S. oil price because let's remember that the U.S., it's a major oil exporter, a major oil producer, but it still imports oil. So, if

you raise the global price of oil by creating a supply issue, that's not going to be good for the U.S. consumer.

FOSTER: Okay, Anna, thank you so much.

Political tensions have been high across the U.S., of course, including at a packed town hall in Nebraska on Monday with Republican Representative

Mike Flood. Things became testy when voters voiced frustration over files relating to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why are you covering up the Epstein files?

REP. MIKE FLOOD (R-NE): At the next pro forma session of the Congress, you'll find my name as a sponsor on a resolution from the House Rules

Committee to release the Epstein files to protect the victims and not revictimize them again. I am for the release of those records.

(CHEERS)

(BOOS)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: It's not there either. The Nebraska representative faced a barrage of criticism over a range of issues, including his support for President

Donald Trump's Big, Beautiful Bill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to ask, why does it seem like when you make your voting decisions, they're based on capital rather than the working class?

Billionaires and corporations got their tax issues enshrined in the law forever, but the working class gets a no tax on tips or overtime. That only

applies to some of us. And now we wind up in a situation where we are.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And this is not about partisan. This is about issues because we're about to lose our democracy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Well, still to come, will Israel expand the war against Hamas and take over Gaza? We'll talk about an expert or talk to an expert about that

and what it could mean for the Palestinians and the Israeli hostages, too.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:30:59]

FOSTER: The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, met with his top security advisers on Tuesday as he considers a serious escalation of the

war in Gaza. Discussions are happening ahead of a full security cabinet meeting scheduled for Thursday. Earlier, Israeli media reporting Mr.

Netanyahu had already decided on a, quote, full conquest.

That's despite growing pressure to end the war, including from the families of hostages who have warned against expanding a military campaign in Gaza.

What we don't know is, will the Israeli cabinet order a full conquest of Gaza or not?

Joining us now is Mairav Zonszein, a senior Israel analyst at the International Crisis Group.

Thank you for joining us obviously, you followed how Benjamin Netanyahu operates and the cabinet operates over recent years.

I mean, what are the signs to you about what's going to come out of this meeting tomorrow?

MAIRAV ZONSZEIN, SENIOR ISRAEL ANALYST, INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP: Well, Netanyahu likes to talk a lot of talk. He's promised a victory. He's

promised the release of hostages over two years. He's promised that military force will achieve the goals of the war. None of this has

happened.

We heard that maybe Israel was going to annex parts of the Gaza Strip a few days ago, and now we're hearing about a full occupation. So, I would take

some of what he's saying with a grain of salt. I also don't know if Israel normally announces its plans about what it's going to do just before it

does them.

So there might be a bluff here. There might be more to it than this. But the bottom line is that Israel has been occupying Gaza to various degrees

and in various ways for decades. And it's destroyed Gaza. And now, it's talking about fully occupying Gaza, a move that we all know will not

release the hostages. It will likely kill the hostages, and it will make the life of Gazans, which is already absolutely horrific even worse.

And the majority of the world and the majority of Israel is against it. But this is where we are.

FOSTER: What does occupation mean? Obviously, it means that Israel controls it. But does Israel own it? I mean, what does it mean?

ZONSZEIN: I think in the case of what Netanyahu is talking about, it means that Israel is there to stay. It means that soldiers and the IDF will be

responsible for the daily civilian life in Gaza.

There is no Palestinian Authority in Gaza. There isn't a similar situation as in the West Bank, which Israel does occupy, but it would pretty much

mean that in addition to having security control and doing pretty much whatever it wants, its also responsible for the welfare of the people

there. And as we know already, Israel has kind of tried to re-engineer the way in which aid is distributed there, which has led Gaza to the brink of

famine.

So, again, you know, it gives Israel even more responsibility. But I think it's mostly a message saying, we're here to stay. We don't plan to withdraw

or end the war anytime soon.

FOSTER: There is a lot of resistance within Israel to a full occupation, this sort of forever war, they're calling it. We're looking at images

coming into us live from Tel Aviv. I mean, so many protests like this taking place.

Also, a question -- you know, I'm in Europe. There are European countries who are talking about recognizing a Palestinian state. Canada are doing a

similar thing as well.

How does that tally with Israel occupying Gaza?

ZONSZEIN: I mean, it's a message by some countries that they no longer believe that Israel can continue in the way that it is, but it's obviously

not enough. And I mean, recognizing a state that doesn't exist with no clear borders. And during what many, many more people are now calling a

genocide in Gaza, is not, you know, is not effective.

But what it means is that Israel is further isolating itself. The world is further awakening up to the fact that there's a complete disaster

happening, and that something needs to be done.

But again, it's not -- it's not enough. It's not quick enough. It's not fast enough. And it's unclear, you know, what a September recognition can

do for people right now on the ground?

[15:35:03]

FOSTER: I'm just wondering what pressure there is likely to be on Netanyahu there not to do this full conquest, as it's expected. Presumably,

only Donald Trump can put that pressure on him, right?

ZONSZEIN: That's right. That's been the case. It's pretty much -- the Trump administration has to make that decision. It has talked a lot of talk

about a hostage deal ending the war, but it hasn't made the final push to do that. That would really be the only thing.

And again, I think we should take with a grain of salt, Netanyahu's threat to occupy Gaza fully, because this would mean almost surely that the

hostages would be killed and the hostages that are there is the hope and the promise and the reason that the Israeli public is still somehow holding

out hope that Israel will go for a deal, even when they understand and they don't believe Netanyahu anymore.

But if he kills off the hostages, he'll have much less legitimacy to continue this war. Which is why I'm not sure that that's the exact

direction what we're going in.

FOSTER: Okay. Mairav Zonszein, thank you so much for joining us with your analysis of, you know, this big meeting that we're expecting to make that

announcement tomorrow.

And now an international effort is keeping its focus on the deepening hunger crisis in Gaza. Five planes dropped packages, including baby formula

and food, to areas that are said to be inaccessible by land. And as we've seen, Palestinians risk their lives to get what they need, whether the

packages arrive via truck or airplane.

Twelve-year-old Jana is amongst those struggling daily for food, trying to keep her family alive.

Abeer Salman has her story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ABEER SALMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the summer heat, the walk to the soup kitchen gets longer and more tiring, especially with the lack

of food. Parents here say they are keeping their children indoors, no play or any movement that could sap the little energy they have.

Everyone is exhausted. The choices for children like Jana are to wait at the back or get squashed at the front.

JANA AL-SKEIFI, GAZA RESIDENT: If we have lentil, we can at least move. We have five children in the family, and I'm the sixth.

SALMAN: She says they haven't eaten since yesterday. Most people here are clamoring for their only meal of the day.

The soup kitchen might not be open tomorrow or the day after. It's already serving much less food than months before. And there is no guarantee

everyone here would get a serving of soup and carry it back.

The blisters and scars tell of how many times boiling soup has burned these hands, stoking disappointment and frustration among the weakest in the

crowd. Returning home with a bowl of lentil soup is an achievement, no matter how small.

AL-SKEIFI: I went so the young children would eat, and me too. It was difficult. People got burnt. People were throwing rocks and attacking the

place. It took all my strength to fill the pot.

SALMAN: We first met Jana in May, when she stepped up to take care of her ailing parents and siblings after an Israeli soldier shot her brother dead.

Back then, Israel had just ended a total blockade of Gaza that lasted 2.5 months. Under international pressure, Israel has allowed a trickle of aid,

that remains out of reach for families like Jana's, who cannot fight over aid trucks or afford to buy the looted food.

They've grown weaker over the past two months, like those around them in Gaza City, where the U.N. says the famine threshold for acute malnutrition

has been reached. And like thousands of children across Gaza, these kids, too, have visited clinics due to malnutrition several times. Jana's mother

fears for her daughter's life.

UM AHED, JANA'S MOTHER: She has lost a lot of weight. She gets dizzy if she walks a little bit.

SALMAN: Jana feels the weight of this responsibility to keep her family alive.

AL-SKEIFI: It's been difficult. We wake up hungry, and go to sleep hungry. My mom sends me to get water. If I try to carry two buckets, I fall. If I

stay in, no one will bring them water. It has to be me.

SALMAN: Abeer Salman, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Well, coming up, the tragic accident that captivated the world's attention. A brand new report explains what caused the deadly implosion of

a submarine visiting the Titanic.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:42:57]

FOSTER: The tragic incident that took the lives of five people in a submersible traveling to the Titanic was preventable. That is the

conclusion of a U.S. Coast Guard report released just hours ago. It said the subs carbon fiber hull was poorly designed and not properly maintained.

The report also blames OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, saying he may have been criminally negligent. Rush was amongst the five people who died when the

Titan submersible imploded two years ago.

So, what we want to know is what went wrong behind the scenes at OceanGate.

William Kohnen is the CEO of Hydrospace, an engineering firm that specializes in harsh environmental conditions.

Thank you for joining us.

And we gave the headlines as we understand them from that report. But you understand what it was saying much better than us. So where do you see the

problem here?

WILLIAM KOHNEN, CEO, HYDROSPACE GROUP: Well, there are several problems. I mean, we have all been waiting a long time, and we certainly commend the

Coast Guard to officialize and confirm what., as industry experts we've known for a while. I mean, this is -- was a tragedy. It was preventable and

it's on multiple fronts, both on avoiding the design protocols we have around the world and also the operational protocols.

I mean, there are two separate elements. One is how you build it and one how you operate. And they're pretty well failed in both sides.

FOSTER: I mean, it's a question of oversight on that basis then, isn't it? If the company was able to carry on with these dives with a with a vessel

that wasn't suitable for those dives, then isn't the problem with the oversight as much as with the company?

KOHNEN: It is. I mean, it is -- it is a -- look, these vehicles, I mean, they're complex machines. And they travel across international borders,

across the oceans, and it's quite a unique and complex industry.

So, the devil is in the details. There are a lot of aspects for it, like the Coast Guard had put in the report. We do need to build a bit more of a

robust protocol.

[15:45:05]

And from an industry perspective, that's really our next step. We've been working since the incident and before on just a better harmonization of a

international regulatory framework to oversee the operations of those submersibles, which, of course, includes verification of the designs.

FOSTER: We know that the passengers, the paid passengers, were pressured to sign these liability waivers to protect the company in case something

went wrong. Does that protect the company, do you think in this situation, I know you're not a lawyer, but you know, what do you think?

KOHNEN: No, I don't -- I don't think so. Yeah, we're not a lawyer. But look, we do know that the issue, it is a very modern issue. The legal

aspect of informed consent.

You cannot have someone, whether it's for medical, medical purpose or anything else, sign something that they do not understand. And I think the

U.S. Coast Guard, as someone in the industry is pretty clear when they say civilian people, passengers do not have the ability to make a risk

assessment based on informed consent regarding submersibles.

And I think I tend to agree with that. There's you cannot expect a citizen to be able to make an appropriate judgment.

FOSTER: Do you think the whole industry should be closed down until they've actually figured out a system for catching out rogue operators like

this?

KOHNEN: No, I don't think so. That's -- that's a bit of an overreaction. There are a lot, a lot of people that are working on this in the

background. Of course, this is -- there are a lot of details that are worked out.

We are convening the international submarine symposium that we've been running for 22 years. It'll be in Europe this year in October, and it's

gathering all international maritime authorities around the table to kind of work up on this next step. It has been self-regulating for 50, 60 years.

We've had no fatalities for a long time.

So, yeah, we do have an exception over here, but it just proves the difficulty.

FOSTER: Okay. William Kohnen, CEO and founder of Hydrospace Group, we really appreciate your thoughts on that today. I know your industry's

digesting that entire report.

Now, hundreds of wildfires burning across Canada and the U.S. In Canada alone, more than 700 wildfires are raging. Thousands of residents have had

to evacuate, and hazardous air quality alerts are in effect for millions in both the U.S. and in Canada. In California, the Gifford Fire has exploded

in size northwest of Los Angeles, it's already the states largest fire this year, and it's barely contained.

Are there too many tourists in Paris? We'll hear the complaints of some residents, whilst French officials hope tourism will rise even further.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:50:35]

FOSTER: Paris, the top spot for many tourists during the summer season. This year, the crowd seemed noticeably larger. Not everyone's particularly

happy about it.

CNN's Melissa Bell takes a look at how some neighborhoods are dealing with extra visitors.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Gay Paree in all of its cliched glory, concentrated in the world famous

district of Montmartre. Each year, millions of tourists flock through its narrow streets.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, the energy, the art --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The architecture.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah, there's people from all over. I mean, it's like, obviously, this is a big tourist draw.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So many shops and the scenery is very nice.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The view of the space, the architecture, the individuals like the gravel streets.

BELL: But for some, Montmartre is home and many here are not happy with what some locals are calling the Disneyfication of their neighborhood,

something they say that's only gotten worse as international tourism to the Paris region has grown nearly 18 percent between 2014 and 2024, one third

of all apartments here are now Airbnbs, with 428 tourists per inhabitant, according to this residents association president.

ANNE RENAUDIE, PRESIDENT, VIVRE A MONTMARTRE RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION: It's an invasion, in fact, but really an invasion. They come by metro. Our

metros are saturated in coaches all around Montmartre. There are coaches everywhere unloading tourists who come for three hours, who throw garbage.

Montmartre has become an amusement park. It's become a Disneyland.

BELL: At the very top of Montmartre, the Sacre Coeur, the most visited monument in Paris in 2024.

But of course, there are so many others. What's changed is that people used to come to the French capital to get pictures of the monuments themselves.

Now they come to get photographs of themselves in front of the monument. In fact, there are entire websites devoted to telling you where to go and get

your iconic Paris selfie. And there are currently more than 148 million hashtag Paris posts on Instagram alone.

But French authorities want more. For them, the 71 billion euros in revenue made each year, thanks to 100 million tourists, is not enough.

FRANCOIS BAYROU, FRENCH PRIME MINISTER: In the coming years, we think that we can grow the sectors performance by 30 percent. The ideal objective is

in five years isn't 71 billion, but 100 billion.

CHARLENE LITE, "PARIS BY EMILY" TOUR GUIDE: So they utilize this entire area. It is a real place, a real residence, which I love.

BELL: And that will mean not just more tourists in Montmartre, but in places like this. Once quiet square with tourism now driven by popular

culture. Like this Emily in Paris tour of the French capital.

LITE: When I first arrived here, I had to see where they filmed the show before I was giving tours and there was some graffiti right at the front

door of where they shoot her apartment that said Emily not welcome, but they've taken it off, obviously.

BELL: Back in Montmartre. Two Emily in Paris has driven crowds to the pink house, in front of which she once ate, a new attraction in a part of Paris

where many residents had been hoping for less attention rather than more.

Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: A zoo in Denmark asking for unwanted guinea pigs, rabbits, chickens, even small horses. Not for a new petting zoo, but to feed its

hungry predators. The Aalborg Zoo says it's trying to imitate the natural food chain of the animals. Zoo officials say they're looking for small pets

that are healthy, but need to be put down for a variety of reasons. They promised to euthanize the pets before feeding time.

Crowds of visitors showing up at a botanical garden in Warsaw for a particular smell. The corpse flower, as it's commonly known, is blooming

right now. The bloom emits a distinct odor reminiscent of rotting meat or general decomposition. The plant only blooms every few years. The last time

this particular corpse flower bloomed was four years ago in fact. In that time, it's grown quite a bit. Now weighing 40 kilograms or 88 pounds, and

particularly smelly.

Finally, to know her is to love her.

(MUSIC)

[15:55:07]

FOSTER: A truly special honor for music legend Dolly Parton. The U.S. country superstar has been named a Guinness Book of World Records' icon.

The honors only assigned to a select few record holders who've influenced culture on a global scale.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOLLY PARTON, MUSIC LEGEND: Well, to say I'm humbled by that would be an understatement. I take a lot of pride in it, and I'm very humbled by it.

I'm very proud to say that I've been around long enough to have done enough things to maybe deserve these things. I never can believe it when I get all

this to make one say, I have this many. I just keep thinking, well, I must have done something right. Praise the lord! And thanks to the fans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Dolly Parton currently holding 11 Guinness records. Would you believe what a legend she truly is?

I am Max Foster. That is what we know.

"QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" up next with Jim Sciutto.

END

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