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What We Know with Max Foster

Fragile Ceasefire Under New Strain As U.S. & Iran Trade Fire; Russia & Ukraine Agree To Ceasefire From Saturday To Monday; Health Authorities In Global Race To Track Hantavirus Spread; Virginia Supreme Court Blocks New Congressional Map; Pope Leo Marks His First Year Leading The Catholic Church. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired May 08, 2026 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:49]

ZAIN ASHER, CNN HOST: The U.S. awaits a response from Iran on a peace proposal.

I'm Zain Asher, in for Max Foster. This is WHAT WE KNOW.

The very fragile ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran remains in place at this hour. That's despite the two countries trading fire once again today.

The Pentagon says U.S. forces fired on two Iranian flagged tankers trying to bypass the American blockade in the Gulf of Oman.

Iran's foreign minister called earlier U.S. strikes a reckless military adventure. Iranian media report gunfire and explosions were heard around

the Strait of Hormuz in what they describe as a limited exchange of fire for the second straight day. U.S. officials are watching and waiting for an

Iranian response to the latest American peace proposal.

Earlier, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters he believes the U.S. will hear from Iran's leadership very soon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE: We're expecting a response from them today at some point. We have not received that yet, as -- you know, the last --

in the last hour. But perhaps that will come. Their system is still highly fractured and a bit dysfunctional as well. So that may be serving as an

impediment. I hope it's a serious offer. I really do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: All right. Nic Robertson is in Pakistan for us.

So, Nic, just in terms of the exchange of gunfire, how much does that really put diplomacy in jeopardy, Nic?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: It does, because the diplomacy isn't working very fast. And when it doesn't work very fast, it's

easy for little tensions. You know, you had the tensions on Monday at the beginning of the week and Iran firing at the UAE, and then fired at them

again on Tuesday. And then the tensions again overnight last night. And Iran again, fires at the UAE and three people were injured. Several

missiles were impacted there.

So, you have that possibility there of an escalation. It also probably impacts the sort of both sides as they sit there and wait and see, is this

escalation going to be the big one? Although both sides do seem to want to keep it limited, but they're always waiting to judge the other side and

potentially misjudge the other side. But they wait and see, you know, each time there's a spike in violence, where does that lead to? Because there's

no point in putting something on the table if that's about to happen.

But it does seem, where we stand now that Iran is going quite slow on its response. And Secretary Rubio hinted at that because he said it's a

dysfunctional leadership. And President Trump has said the same thing. But I do think, because Iran got this on Sunday and for the first time

publicly, we've heard that the president of Iran met with the supreme leader.

And that was always the big concern. It was so hard to reach the supreme leader. No one was really sure whether he was able to communicate his

views. You know, should it be the hardliners, should it be the moderates, et cetera.

But all of that has happened. So, the narrative that it's hard for them to communicate doesn't really seem to wash. And so you're left with this, the

takeaway at the end of the week, which is Iran is going slow because it wants to go slow.

ASHER: All right. Nic Robertson, live for us. Thank you so much.

It appears Russia and Ukraine are ready to stop fighting, at least for a few days. President Trump has announced a three-day ceasefire in their

ongoing conflict.

They will stop fighting starting tomorrow, May 9th, lasting through the weekend until May 11th. The ceasefire coincides with Russia's annual

celebration of victory day. The two sides have also agreed to a large prisoner exchange of more than 1,000 prisoners.

CNN's Kristen Holmes joins us live now from Washington.

So, Kristen, President Trump was behind this. I mean, obviously, prior to this moment, they were unilateral cease fires on either side that were both

being violated. This is coinciding with victory day, which starts tomorrow in Russia and lasts through the weekend. Just explain to us how the

president was able to get this done.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it seems as though President Trump was having behind the scenes conversations. We do

know that earlier this week, actually just yesterday, Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner met with the head of Ukrainians negotiations team, and they had had

a conversation about restarting -- restarting the negotiations to try and end the war in Ukraine.

[15:05:12]

Now, as you mentioned, Russia had already declared a 72-hour unilateral ceasefire. We had heard from the Ukrainians saying that they were violating

their own ceasefire. This was all around victory day. But President Trump seems to think this might be an opening to more negotiations to end the

war.

This is what he posted. He said the ceasefire will include a suspension of all kinetic activity and also a prisoner swap of 1,000 prisoners from each

country. This request was made directly by me, and I very much appreciate its agreement.

He also goes on to say that hopefully it's the beginning of the end of a very long and deadly and hard fought war. This could be the beginning of

some kind of end to the war. But of course, as we know, we have seen this kind of thing before. And we've also seen both sides, specifically Russia,

violate previous ceasefires.

So, we'll be keeping an eye on to see if they actually follow through with this ceasefire. And where this goes in terms of the negotiations behind

closed doors. We've had Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who have been very much focused on the negotiations with Iran, talking to the Pakistanis. Now,

we do know that they have restarted some kind of conversation, at least with the Ukrainian side.

And again, we'll see where this goes moving forward. We've heard these things before.

ASHER: Yeah. And just in terms of likely violations of the ceasefire, did President Trump talk about any possible consequences of either side

violates, namely -- namely, Russia, at this point?

HOLMES: He did not, and he almost never does. You know, we've seen this time and time again in which he talks about a cease fire or talks about how

he has been told by Russian president Vladimir Putin that they're not going to go after Ukrainians, only then to hear from Ukrainians, see the images

of Russia attacking Ukraine.

There is no actual mention here of anyone violating the ceasefire, what that would mean. He says very specifically that he appreciates the

agreement from both leaders. And then he talks about how big the conflict is, saying it's the biggest conflict since World War Two.

But it does seem as though President Trump has learned the lesson when it comes to trying to give punishment to Russia, or put some kind of

stipulation on them, he's likely going to be disappointed. And whether or not he's going to actually dole out that punishment, that ends up being the

big question. So right now, there's no kind of anything on the line. He is just saying that this is happening and that he is watching it closely.

ASHER: All right. Kristen Holmes, live for us, thank you so much.

All right. In less than 48 hours, the cruise ship hit with a deadly hantavirus outbreak is expected to dock in Spain's Canary Islands. There

are 147 people ready to get off the boat, as health officials rush to contain any more spread. Three people have died and there are several

suspected cases, including one in the U.K. and one in Spain. The test results are expected soon.

Authorities are trying to alleviate fears. Today, the U.S. CDC called the outbreak a deadly, rather a level three emergency, the lowest level they

have. Despite efforts to calm nerve, residents in the Canary Islands are protesting the ship's arrival. They say it's not safe for passengers to

disembark.

Melissa Bell joins us live now from the Canary Islands.

So, Melissa, first of all, I cannot imagine what this moment must be like for the people who have been trapped on this ship for quite some time, just

knowing that there is a deadly outbreak on board and not knowing necessarily when and where they'll be able to disembark. Obviously, there

is, of course, some relief the fact that they will be able to disembark here.

But walk us through what local residents in and around the Canary Islands, especially obviously in Tenerife, have been saying about this.

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think that's quite right to think for a moment about those nearly 150 people for whom this

trip of a lifetime has really turned into the cruise from hell. For them, the end might be in sight, since we're expecting the ship to arrive here at

this port in Tenerife, Zain, on about midday on Sunday.

But, of course, as you point out, that has itself ignited these fears specifically in those protesters. You mentioned dockworkers here in

Tenerife concerned that Spanish authorities had not given them enough information. You've seen these wrangling these last few days between the

local leaders here, the president of the Canary Islands and authorities in Madrid, about the protocols and the safety and the procedures and what was

going to happen once the ship docked.

So, we've been getting a lot more clarity about that. The cruise ship itself will be kept away from the shore. It will not actually dock. Little

speedboats will then take the nationals of any particular country to the plane, which is at the airport not very far away, to then be flown back to

their home countries. Twenty-three nationalities in all.

What we understand from Spanish authorities, Zain, is that the Americans will be taken off for -- 17 American citizens on that ship. The CDC is here

and in Nebraska dealing with the logistics of getting them from Tenerife to a special quarantine unit in Nebraska.

As for the others, similar. Spanish authorities really at pains to reassure people here in Tenerife that these passengers will not be staying. There

won't be any contact with local populations. They'll be taken straight onto the planes. Once those planes are ready to fly onto their home destinations

from the ship. Still, it is a huge logistical operation that is to get underway at Sunday midday, with this added complication saying that the

weather is turning and authorities say that it's going to get a lot worse by Tuesday, and that essentially the window for disembarkation from this

ship will be between noon on Sunday when they arrive and the end of play on Monday.

So, it's quite a tight schedule for a very complicated logistical operation ahead, Zain.

ASHER: All right. Melissa Bell, thank you for that.

Democratic hopes of retaking control of Congress in this fall's midterms have taken a real hit in the past 24 hours. Just a short time ago, the

Virginia Supreme Court blocked a new congressional map that voters had approved in an April referendum.

The map would have likely flipped four Republican seats to Democrats in the November elections, and they were angry screams from Democratic supporters

on Thursday after state Republicans approved a new map in Tennessee, a majority black congressional district was dismantled, the only one in the

state currently occupied by a Democrat.

Tennessee became the first state to pass new congressional districts since last week's Supreme Court ruling that severely weakened minority

protections in the Voting Rights Act.

Let's bring in CNN's Arlette Saenz with more on this.

So, Arlette, just sort of talking about Virginia. You know, this was a move by Democrats to sort of counteract redistricting efforts in Republican

states and the fact that they lost out to this has been a massive blow to Democrats. They're saying that they will sort of stick with it, but --

stick by it. But again, a huge blow to Democrats.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. The Virginia state Supreme Court really delivered a major setback to Democrats in their fight to reclaim the

majority in the U.S. House in November. The Supreme Court in Virginia knocked down these Democratic drawn maps that could have potentially netted

the party an additional four seats in the U.S. House from Virginia, the Supreme Court in Virginia ruled that the creation of the referendum, that

those voters had cast ballots on in late April did not follow the state constitution.

The arguments here were that the state general assembly needed to vote two times on a proposed constitutional amendment, with an intervening general

election in between. Republicans argued that the first vote that the general assembly took on this referendum was in mid-October, while a

general election was already underway and the state Supreme Court sided with those arguments. The state's governor has criticized this move from

the Supreme Court, saying that she is disappointed in it. But her focus will simply, simply be on trying to energize and make sure voters are aware

of what they are addressing in the November elections.

The House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, who had thrown his own personal support behind this Virginia effort, took it a step further and said that

they are still examining and exploring all options to potentially overturn this ruling from the state Supreme Court. What's unclear here is whether

there are any actual legal avenues available to them, since this is pertaining to a state matter, not a federal matter. But big picture here.

This is a major blow to Democrats who have been engaged in this back and forth with Republicans in this redistricting war.

The way that things are shaking out right now. Republicans have about an eight-seat advantage when it comes to gerrymandering. And that could

potentially grow even further. We have seen a string of southern Republican led states say that they want to pursue redistricting after that state or

the national Supreme Court ruling last week, which invalidated parts of the Voting Rights Act. We know that states like Louisiana, Alabama and South

Carolina could potentially be moving forward with maps of their own.

Democrats believe that this midterm election cycle is on their side, when you look at the politics, the frustration with President Donald Trump and

with the way that the economy is fairing right now in this country, but really in this race for the majority in the U.S. house, every single

congressional seat will matter. And in this redistricting fight, which was started by Republicans, it appears that the GOP right now does have the

upper hand.

ASHER: All right. Arlette Saenz. Thank you for that.

A website is taken offline in the wake of a CNN investigation.

[15:15:01]

We'll have the latest on the porn website Motherless, which has faced international condemnation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ASHER: A pornography website at the center of a CNN investigation has been taken offline. Dutch authorities have now shut down Motherless, the

platform linked to gender-based violence and sexual assault. Prosecutors have opened a preliminary investigation into CNNs findings, which had

sparked international condemnation. An analysis by a Dutch broadcaster found that some of the site's most viewed videos were those tagged with the

worst incest.

CNN's Saskya Vandoorne has more on this and shares the reaction from survivors of sexual assault and abuse.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SASKYA VANDOORNE, CNN PARIS BUREAU CHIEF: We've just learned that the porn site Motherless has been taken offline by Dutch authorities. Now that is

the site that CNN investigated for hosting videos that appear to show drugged women being sexually assaulted or raped, also known as sleep

content.

VANDOORNE (voice-over): Huge numbers of videos are being posted by users who claim its non-consensual. One website profiting from this is

motherless.com. Last year, we began investigating a porn site that gets over 60 million visits a month, focusing on the thousands of videos

featuring women who appear unconscious during sex acts.

One popular hashtag is ICheck, a way of proving a woman is asleep.

VANDOORNE: Our months long investigation into motherless.com and telegram groups linked to the site quickly spread across the world and went viral on

social media.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A recent CNN investigation found --

VANDOORNE: And now the news comes that Motherless is being de-platformed. Dutch authorities say they've taken action as Motherless servers have been

physically located in the Netherlands for years. The public broadcaster NOS also reported on the Netherland's connection to the platform, following

CNN's investigation, adding momentum to calls for action.

DAVID VAN WEEL, DUTCH MINISTER OF JUSTICE AND SECURITY (through translator): We do have a police force in the Netherlands, as well as the

public prosecution service. They have now seen a reason to take the site offline, and I think it's a good development.

VANDOORNE: For survivors, the takedown feels like a big moment of recognition.

AMANDA STANHOPE, SURVIVOR: It's under investigation and I can't -- what that means for survivors is finally, finally, we have been validated. This

crime is being validated. These people are being held accountable.

ZOE WATTS, SURVIVOR: To see what the power of us standing united and good reporting has done is absolutely incredible.

VANDOORNE (voice-over): Motherless was hosted on servers in the Netherlands by NForce, a company based in Steenbergen. In a statement on Thursday,

enforce said it had launched an urgent compliance and abuse handling review, giving Motherless 12 hours to respond. NForce later told CNN that

it does not operate, manage, moderate or control customer platforms or their content.

VANDOORNE: While survivors and advocacy groups welcomed the news, they warned that the site or similar networks could reappear elsewhere on other

servers.

Saskya Vandoorne, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ASHER: What we don't know is how widespread this online sexual abuse of women actually is.

Joining me live now is Reem Alsalem. She is United Nations special rapporteur on violence against women and girls.

Thank you so much, Reem, for being with us on this very bleak story.

I think one of the things that really shocked and surprised me was the number of visitors that this website got, 60 million views a month. That is

terrifying how popular these sorts of sites are. And one of the things that I think is important as the world takes notice and begins to sort of combat

this, is that it's one thing to take down the site, but you also have to somehow manage to dismantle the culture of misogyny that allows a site like

this to become popular.

Where on earth do you begin with that?

REEM ALSALEM, U.N. SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR, VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN & GIRLS: Yeah, absolutely. Well, first of all, thank you for having me.

You asked the question of we don't know how widespread it is, but actually we do know how widespread it is. Sexual and gender-based violence against

women and girls is very widespread. And these kind of sites that are found and reported on by CNN is just the tip of the iceberg.

It's reminiscent of what Gisele Pelicot went through when, uh, her husband facilitated also, uh, her rape by 70 persons, also through the use of

drugs. And, it's clear that this is not an exception. It's extremely widespread.

And before we even dismantle misogyny, I think we have to come back to the issue of how to hold digital technology and digital platforms accountable.

And the truth is that governments have to impose mandatory regulations. It can't depend anymore on the voluntary, uh, engagement and cooperation of

these platforms.

If they host sexual abuse material, if they host non-consensual sexual images, they have to either take it down or they risk prosecution. They

risk being deplatformed closed down legal action. We know from experience that only through these mandatory laws and regulations, we will -- we will

get somewhere.

ASHER: There's -- I only have time for one more question, but I'm going to make it two pronged so I can, so hopefully you can answer them both. One is

the psychological impact on survivors. And I'm sure it's long lasting. I'm sure this is something that honestly, you can never get over, you know.

Even with therapy, I'm sure it is very, very difficult to overcome this kind of particular trauma.

But also, how can men be better allies? I mean, obviously beyond just visiting these sites, what can men do to be better allies to women in the

fight against misogyny?

ALSALEM: Yeah, the consequences are devastating. Many of these women have been betrayed by partners or former partners for years, not to mention that

many of them are gaslit into believing that, if they felt something was wrong, that it's not the case. Many men make also money by sharing this

material.

And I saw in the wake of the news or the story that CNN broke that there was, you know, a discussion.

[15:25:00]

Was it really 62 million that visited -- that shared the videos or visited the site? And there were -- people saying, well, not all men.

But the truth is this is just one site that has come to our attention. There are many hundreds, if not thousands, of other sites and chat rooms

where this is happening. Which means also that many of the men in our everyday life, may be also complicit in this. And, and the issue is really,

uh, also to have a discussion about porn and the violent nature of porn and how porn platforms also entice violence in real life.

And this is a conversation that I'm afraid we're still not having. Countries so far have imposed, you know, age verification on children to

access porn site. It's as if, you know, the violence magically disappears once somebody becomes an adult. And I think these kind of platforms show

that, as adults, you also dehumanize and objectifying and commodify and commit violent behavior against women and girls. Very, very misogynistic

behavior.

ASHER: I mean, you've said so many things there that I think are worth reiterating. But one thing that you said that really stands out to me is

this, is that if this is just one site that gets 60 million views per month, and there are many, many sites, and that does mean logically that

there could be men in our lives, men in our everyday lives that are complicit in this, that we have no idea about --

ALSALEM: There are men in our lives.

ASHER: -- I find absolutely terrifying, Reem.

But, we are out of time, so we have to leave it there.

ALSALEM: Yes.

ASHER: Thank you so much for being with us on this.

ALSALEM: Thank you.

ASHER: All right. Still to come, Spanish authorities identify a suspected hantavirus case connected to a cruise ship outbreak. The latest on that

next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:30:19]

ASHER: More suspected cases of hantavirus have been reported as health officials race to track and contain the outbreak. Three people have died

and five other cases have been confirmed in connection with the cruise ship Mv Hondius. Expected case has now been reported in Alicante, Spain. The

individual had traveled on the same flight as one of the cruise ship passengers who later died. Health officials are tracking dozens of

passengers from around the world who already disembarked from the ship in late April.

The World Health Organization says the risk to the public remains generally low. The cruise ship is now headed for Tenerife.

CNN spoke to an American doctor who boarded the MV Hondius for a vacation, but ended up treating hantavirus patients for the past few weeks. He

explained how the situation evolved on the ship.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. STEPHEN KORNFELD, OREGON DOCTOR ABOARD MV HONDIUS: Well, there are three patients that seem to be getting ill around the same time. One of

them just very nonspecific symptoms, a lot of confusion and a lot of weakness. And she ultimately passed away relatively quickly.

The two other gentlemen, quite a bit younger, including the doc, just had a lot of standard viral symptoms, a lot of fever, fatigue, flushing, some

G.I. issues, some shortness of breath. At the time, neither one of them looked critically ill, but the fear with hantavirus is you can go from

seriously ill to critically ill very, very quickly.

Early on, we didn't know that it was hantavirus until maybe May 3rd -- May 2nd, May 3rd. But I started treating for people first, just kind of have a

feeling that this could be infectious. So, from the beginning, I was trying to be very careful with masks and gowns.

And once we found out it was hantavirus. And a second case happened, making it seem likely there was an infectious form, I was able to find some aprons

and some goggles. I did a lot of hand-washing and clothes washing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: All right. What we want to know is what is the best way to tackle this hantavirus outbreak?

Joining me live now is Dr. Deb Houry. She was chief medical officer at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

Doctor, thank you so much for being with us.

I think the first question I have is the fact that after a passenger died on MV Hondius, several passengers were allowed to disembark and travel to

their home countries. Is that normal? I mean, what do you make of that? I would imagine that there should have been a period of quarantine before

allowing those passengers to travel home.

What should have happened?

DR. DEB HOURY, FORMER CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, CDC: Well, you know, at that time, they didn't know that the deceased individual had hantavirus, I

believe. And so, you know, unfortunately, on cruise ships, you know, you can have people that have different illnesses or pass away. You wouldn't

restrict people from, you know, going about their normal business. The people that disembarked, it was because they were getting off the ship

because their time on the cruise had ended.

Certainly, if there was known to be an infectious disease that was highly, you know, fatal and that they had been exposed, things would have been

different. But in this case, you know, at that point in time, I believe the captain even said that he thought it was from natural causes.

ASHER: And just in terms of contact tracing for the rest of these passengers, explain how that system works because you have to look at the

people that they have been in contact with and then possibly the people that those people have been in contact with. And so, it can be an

exhausting list.

HOURY: It can be a very exhausting list, particularly when you look at things like even, you know, what plane did they get on, what movement did

they have after the fact? And so that's why you really need a lot of these disease infection specialists to track people and ask those questions and

really do that detective work. And that's why when there is an exposure, you want to quickly identify, um, these potential cases.

The good news is we know from data to date that people who are asymptomatic have not been known to spread the hantavirus. The Andes strain in

particular. There was a study a few years ago that looked at about 30 patients that had this type of virus, and the patients that spread it were

the ones that were symptomatic, that had fever.

ASHER: How does a nation make the decision as to whether or not to allow this particular ship to dock? Because initially, Cape Verde, the tiny

island off the coast of West Africa said, no, sorry, were not letting you, you know, we want to protect our local population, which is of course, I

mean, there's two sides to this.

[15:35:05]

Obviously, countries want to protect their local population, which is understandable. But at the same time, the poor passengers who have been

stranded on this ship, who, you know, are in the middle of this outbreak. Yes, they're isolated, of course, but they don't know what the -- what the

risks are, and they don't know, you know, how likely it is that after some time they could contract the virus themselves? They have no idea.

Obviously, they want to disembark. And we saw a very sort of tearful emotional plea from one of the passengers that was stuck on this boat.

And so, how does a country make the decision yes or no? We're going to allow this ship to disembark. Cape Verde said no. You have the Canary

Islands, Tenerife specifically, saying, you know, yes, we will.

HOURY: So ideally they would be working, you know, with the local health authorities as well as the world health organization and looking at the

science and the data behind this. Fortunately, with hantavirus, there's 30 years of experience around this. And even with Andes virus, they looked at

a few years ago and the doctors who were taking care of the patients didn't get sick because they had appropriate personal protective equipment when

taking care of the patients.

So, to me, that gives me a lot of confidence that, you know, when they are disembarking these patients off the ship, you know, if they are, you know,

properly, using protective equipment, there shouldn't be any exposures, you know, to the rest of the island. We also want to make sure that these

individuals are able to get off the ship, because if any of them do get sick, they really need intensive care. And it would really be tragic if

they were not able to have, you know, adequate medical care.

ASHER: Yeah, absolutely.

Dr. Deb Houry, thank you. Thank you so much for your perspective. We appreciate it.

It is the final moments of trade on Wall Street. And stocks are ending the week on a high. The Dow jones is flat. But the S&P 500 and Nasdaq have both

hit record highs as tech stocks rallied.

This is our Business Breakout.

Consumer sentiment in the United States has declined to another record low, as the war with Iran drags on, keeping energy prices high. The University

of Michigan's latest survey puts consumer sentiment as the lowest on record, going back to 1952.

The federal court says that Donald Trump's plans to impose across the board tariffs of 10 percent are illegal. The U.S. Court of International Trade

found the Trump administration does not have the justification to use the section 122 law in such a fashion. That was President Trump's backup plan

after the Supreme Court ruled that his liberation day tariffs were also illegal.

ABC is accusing the Trump administrations media regulator of threatening its First Amendment rights to free speech, after it opened an inquiry into

its talk show, "The View". The Federal Communications Commission is investigating the show over whether it gives equal time to rival

politicians. Now, ABC has written to the FCC accusing it of trying to chill any criticism.

The job numbers are in, and the U.S. added more jobs than expected. Last month, the U.S. economy added 115,000 jobs, and the employment rate remains

steady, indicating resilience at a time when the war with Iran is pushing up gas prices.

One chief economist says the companies are getting good at passing on higher costs to their consumers. Paul Donovan from UBS Global Wealth

Management said that that can have a knock-on effect on the wider economy

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL DONOVAN, CHIEF ECONOMIST, UBS GLOBAL WEALTH MANAGEMENT: Well, what we've got to remember is that companies are pretty effectively passing

costs on to the end consumer. So, the damage that's being done here is being passed through to the end consumer. And of course, we've already seen

that in the states with the tariffs last year, where the cost of the tariffs was passed very, very quickly through to the end consumer. So if

you're a company costs up, but sales prices up as well. Now normally you would get worries about earnings growth because you say, well if the price

is going up people are going to buy less. The volume of purchases will go down.

But that hasn't happened so far. And that's because consumers in developed markets have been digging into their savings rate, cutting back how much

money they save every month in order to afford the higher prices. And again, that's exactly what we saw Americans do with the tariffs last year.

And we're seeing it being repeated again across developed economies. People cutting back on savings for now to be able to afford the higher prices that

companies are passing through to them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: Still to come, punished for speaking out. Inmates who served with Ghislaine Maxwell at a minimum security prison described what happened when

they talked about her unusual privileges.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:42:54]

ASHER: CNN has new exclusive reporting involving Ghislaine Maxwell, the accomplice of Jeffrey Epstein, who was found guilty of taking part in his

child trafficking and sex crimes. Inmates who served in the same prison camp as Maxwell say they were punished for speaking out about her transfer

there and her unusual privileges.

Maxwell was sent to the minimum security facility in Texas, days after she was interviewed by the Justice Department.

This CNN exclusive comes from our MJ Lee.

Here's more of her reporting.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL ENTEPRISE CORRESPONDENT: We are hearing for the first time from inmates who served time with Ghislaine Maxwell, and they

say that they were punished after speaking out about her.

The context here, of course, is that last summer, Maxwell was suddenly transferred to a minimum security prison camp in Bryan, Texas, which was

puzzling since a convicted child sex offender is not typically allowed to serve time at a minimum security facility like that.

Plus, adding to the intrigue was that this came right after Maxwell had this unusual two-day interview with the Deputy Attorney General Todd

Blanche.

Now, Julie Howell was one inmate at Bryan who was really upset about this. She says she consulted the inmates handbook, which said that she could talk

to media, and she decided to respond to a reporter at "The Telegraph" who had reached out.

This is a part of what Julie told me in her first interview since her prison sentence recently ended.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JULIE HOWELL, FORMER BRYAN PRISON CAMP INMATE: And so I was a little, I guess I don't use the word lightly. It was like a trigger because of, you

know, my experience with my daughter being trafficked and just knowing all of the research I had done, that the camps are supposed to be for

nonviolent offenders.

I was very upset about her being moved. I said, you know, I had spoken with other inmates. Nobody was happy about her being there. You know, one -- we

had, we all felt like we were being punished for her being there. And then given her crime, she shouldn't be there, per BOP policies and procedures.

And so, it just -- it was very unfair.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEE: And several days after Julie sent that message to the reporter through her husband, she says she got called into the lieutenant's office.

[15:45:03]

And initially, she didn't know what was going on. But then she quickly realized that she was in trouble.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: He says, you know, did you speak to a reporter? He said, well, it's all over the World Wide Web. I waited in a cell for, I don't know, I think

it was less than an hour.

The warden came in, asked, like what I was thinking, said that her phone was blowing up all weekend. I ruined her weekend. You know, I shouldn't

have talked to them.

And I did apologize. I mean, at this point, I'm a little teary eyed. I said, you know, I didn't mean to cause issues. I answered a question.

And when I told her that my daughter had, you know, a trafficking experience, she rolled her eyes and flipped her hair back. And she was

like, it's too late for apologies, and walked out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEE: Julie was written up and sent to a higher security facility in Houston. She is now on supervised release, and the warden of the Bryan

prison declined to comment for our story.

We also spoke with a second inmate who was also at Bryan. She's anonymous and not on camera because she's still serving time and is afraid of being

punished even more. She described a very similar experience, where she spoke with a reporter over the phone about Maxwell, and immediately she was

kicked out of Bryan as well.

This inmate overlapped with maxwell for a number of weeks and says she saw Maxwell getting special treatment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED INMATE: Within a day of her arrival. We had armed guards, marshals patrolling if she had a visitation, she would get to -- they

closed the chapel and, the indoor rec and allowed her to use that building for her personal visits. When we had visitation that happened in the

visitation building, which is good. We didn't, you know, no one wanted her around or anything. She could get bottled waters and clam shell meals

delivered to her room

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEE: A BOP spokesperson told CNN that the bureau does not discuss details related to specific inmates. They did say that the BOP is committed to

maintaining the highest standards of integrity, impartiality and professionalism in the operations of its facilities.

They said that inmates also can communicate with members of the media with prior approval. The one prison expert I spoke with said that it is

absolutely not typical for an inmate to be punished for speaking to a reporter.

I'll also note that the DOJ and lawyers for maxwell did not respond to requests for comment.

MJ Lee, CNN, Washington, D.C.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ASHER: All right. It's been one year since Pope Leo became the head of the Catholic Church. Still to come tonight, a look back at his first 12 months

on the job, what we may expect from him, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:50:25]

ASHER: All right. The first U.S.-born pope is marking one year as the leader of the Catholic Church. Pope Leo's first year has already included

trips to Africa and Lebanon, and earlier today, he visited Naples and nearby Pompeii, praying and meeting with young Catholics.

Christopher Lamb looks back at Pope Leo's first year.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One year ago, the cardinals of the catholic church made history, electing the first American

pope, Leo XIV.

Born in Chicago, now on the chair of Saint Peter.

During these first 12 months, Leo has emerged as a gentle but steady leader at a time of turbulence and a thorn in the side of the White House.

POPE LEO XIV, CATHOLIC CHURCH: War is back in vogue, and a zeal for war is spreading.

LAMB (voice-over): Speaking out forcefully against the war in Iran and riling President Donald Trump, telling CNN how he wanted the conflict to

end.

POPE LEO XIV: I'm told that President Trump recently stated that he would like to end the war. Hopefully, he's looking for an off ramp.

LAMB (voice-over): The president responding with an extraordinary broadside. But, Leo, seemingly unfazed.

POPE LEO XIV: I have no fear of neither the Trump administration --

LAMB (voice-over): Continuing to speak out forcefully during his visit to Africa, cementing himself as a global leader and a counterweight to the

U.S. president, an American pope formed in Peru, spending years among the poor and marginalized in Latin America, a bridge builder and unifier, and

not someone looking for a fight.

Those who know him best say he hasn't changed.

LAMB: I'm just curious, you know, a year on since Leo's election, is the pope still the same to you?

FATHER JOSEPH FARRELL, HEAD OF THE AUGUSTINIAN ORDER AND FRIEND OF POPE LEO: He is, yes. He still has a wonderful sense of humor. He is an -- he

has untiring energy. It still is a bit unbelievable to see him. And yet it makes so much sense for us. One of our friars says to me, it looks like he

went to pope school.

LAMB (voice-over): But global conflicts are weighing heavily on the pontiff.

FARRELL: His response has been very clear. I have felt very clear that the way towards resolution of finding solutions is not with arms, it's not with

weapons. It's to be disarmed and disarming.

LAMB (voice-over): And the Trump administration appears keen to mend some diplomatic fences, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio sitting down with

the pope on Thursday. Leo has adopted his own style as pope, more formal than his predecessor and now living in the apostolic palace, but pushing

ahead on Pope Francis's priorities on immigration and against capital punishment.

POPE LEO XIV: I likewise offer my support to those who advocate for the abolition of the death penalty in the United States of America and around

the world.

LAMB (voice-over): He's brought an American flavor to the papacy. Whether it's joking about baseball results, being handed deep dish pizza or his

favorite candy peeps, the early months have seen him adjust to his extraordinary new role. And Leo, at 70, can afford to play the long game.

But on his one-year anniversary, he's a pope who has established himself with a quiet presence and a strong message.

Christopher Lamb, CNN, Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ASHER: A British wildlife broadcaster Sir David Attenborough has turned 100 years old today. For more than 70 years, he's traveled far and wide,

documenting the beauty and diversity of this natural world.

Take this example of him bonding with mountain gorillas in Rwanda, which helped raise global awareness for their declining population numbers. And

Sir Attenborough has shared an audio message on his birthday. He says he has been overwhelmed by the amount of love that he has received.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID ATTENBOROUGH, WILDLIFE BROADCASTER: I had rather thought that I would celebrate my 100th birthday quietly, but it seems that many of you have had

other ideas. I've been completely overwhelmed by birthday greetings from preschool groups to care home residents, and countless individuals and

families of all ages. I simply can't reply to each of you all separately, but I would like to thank you all most sincerely for your kind messages and

wish those of you who have planned your own local events tomorrow, have a very happy day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:55:04]

ASHER: Oh, wonderful.

Well, finally, tonight, the legend of the hairy American giant known as Bigfoot is again gaining traction. There have been a flurry of reported

sightings in the U.S. state of Ohio, and large footprints found in the woods. So-called Bigfoot hunters have pursued the mythical beast for

decades. Many based in the Pacific Northwest, even the FBI has investigated what some call sasquatch.

But to this day, it's never been captured. Though there are have been lots of fake pictures and mocked up footprints. It is a legend that, of course,

continues to intrigue.

All right. I'm Zain Asher. That is WHAT WE KNOW. Stay with CNN. We'll have much more after this short break.

END

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