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What We Know with Max Foster

U.K. Sanctions Israeli Settlements In Occupied West Bank; Kremlin: Putin & Trump Speak After U.S. Envoys Visit Moscow; Iran-Backed Houthis Attack Saudi Arabia In Major Escalation; Sources: U.S. Officials Talk Smaller Middle East Footprint; Trump Responds To New Canadian Tariffs With Threat To Plane Manufacturer Bombardier. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired September 08, 2026 - 15:00   ET

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


[15:00:30]

MAX FOSTER, CNN HOST: The U.K. takes action against illegal Israeli settlements.

This is WHAT WE KNOW.

The U.K. announcing new sanctions on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, saying settlers are carrying out, quote, "ethnic cleansing"

against Palestinians.

Britain released a statement co-signed by 11 other Western governments announcing plans to restrict trade in goods from Israeli settlements,

noting they are illegal under international law. The countries also condemn the unprecedented surge in settler violence and settlement expansion.

U.K. Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband says all too often members of the Israeli government turn a blind eye or even worse, actively support the

forced displacement of Palestinians.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ED MILIBAND, BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY: Today I announce that the official view of the British government is that the occupation is unlawful, because

of Israel's entrenchment of its control, its intention to extend permanent sovereignty and its expansionist agenda via illegal settlements. I do not

believe the British people want us supporting the occupation by accepting products from settlements in our shops and supermarkets. So I can announce

today that we will introduce an import ban on goods from illegal settlements in the occupied territory.

So, to those who finance or facilitate illegal settlements, let me say this, you will face the full force of U.K. sanctions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Israel's foreign minister says Britain's accusations are outrageous lies and hostile actions. Gideon Sa'ar announced retaliatory

measures, including the closure of Britain's consulate in East Jerusalem.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GIDEON SA'AR, ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER: The message to every government that harms us is clear. Whoever acts against Israel, Israel will act

against them, and they will lose their influence and relevance in this region. Measures against Israel will not go unanswered.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: We're joined now by CNN's Jerusalem bureau chief Oren Liebermann.

And not unexpected response there from the Israeli government, but what's been the wider response to this U.K. move?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Well, we have seen politicians across Israel's spectrum condemning the move and the decision

by the U.K. to sanction products from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, even though, frankly, the U.K. has signposted that this was

coming and made clear that we're going to take steps against Israeli settlements and the expansion of Israeli settlements, the surge in settler

violence we have seen.

The proverbial straw that broke the camel's back, it seems, was Israel pushing forward with what's known as E1, a settlement that critics say cuts

the West Bank in half, north and south, and cuts off the possibility of connecting East Jerusalem to a future Palestinian state as envisioned in a

two-state solution. And that's really it there. The U.K. saw the statements coming from this Israeli government, far-right ministers saying that part

of the goal of the expansion of settlements was to destroy the possibility of a two-state solution.

And the U.K. said, effectively, enough is enough. Not only declaring that settlements themselves are illegal, but that the entire occupation is

illegal, pointing at everything we've seen happening on the ground. The seizure of Palestinian land, the displacement of Palestinians, again, the

surge in settler violence, as well as the expansion of settlements here.

Now, the other 11 countries that joined in the statement with the U.K., they said they will take similar measures or push support for measures at a

broader level, that is, at the European level. So, we'll see how long that takes for the follow-up measures to come here. And that's a key point here.

The effect on economics and trade isn't that great. There's about $8 billion of trade between the U.K. and Israel, and only a tiny fraction of

that relates to Israeli settlements in the West Bank. But it's the symbolic move here, a statement from the U.K., which has been for decades one of

Israel's strongest allies, essentially, again, saying enough is enough when it comes to settlements here.

In terms of the Israeli response, we will see the immediate closure of the U.K.'s embassy in Jerusalem, which largely serves Palestinians. The U.K.

will be kicked out of the center, the international center that's supposed to run and help govern Gaza. That's in Kiryat Gat in Israel, and then the

end of the U.K.'s training of Palestinian Authority forces in the West Bank.

The other step here, the U.K. will ban 12 Israeli -- I'm sorry, the U.K. -- Israel will ban 12 U.K. politicians from visiting Israel.

[15:05:03]

And, Max, the other key point here is that U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has suggested the U.S. might take measures against the U.K. That

will be a key element to watch as well.

FOSTER: Yeah, and the other thing the government's dealing with is this report suggesting that Netanyahu was warned of the Hamas attack before

October 7th. What can you tell us about that?

LIEBERMANN: This is a bombshell report coming from Haaretz which says that about 10 days or so before the October 7th Hamas-led attack, Prime Minister

Benjamin Netanyahu got a call from the UAE's ruler who warned him Hamas was planning something described as an earthquake. He had heard it from

intermediaries who had double-checked with Yahya Senwar, who was Hamas's leader.

He warned Netanyahu, and at least according to the report, Netanyahu did nothing, feeling that he had Hamas and Gaza under control and that the

bigger area of destabilization potentially was in the West Bank or essentially on another front, and therefore Netanyahu chose not to act.

Netanyahu has called the report a, quote, "absolute lie" and denied the contents of the report. Crucially, though, this has become a major

political issue with just a couple of months to go until the elections. In a rare joint statement from the main heads of the opposition, they have

called for, quote, "an immediate and thorough investigation" into what they describe as Netanyahu's failures and malfunctioning.

Max, I'll make one last point here. What would definitively answer whether there was or was not a call 10 days before October 7th is whether a state

commission of inquiry here that would launch an independent investigation. Netanyahu has refused to launch that.

FOSTER: Yeah, OK. Oren, appreciate it. Thank you.

The Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner's trip to Moscow with the U.S. President Donald Trump meanwhile.

The Kremlin says the two leaders spoke by phone for about an hour about the visit by the American envoys. Witkoff and Kushner met separately with both

the Russian president and his Ukrainian counterpart in their country's respective capitals last weekend.

Just a day after their meeting in Kyiv, Ukrainian officials say at least five people were killed there in a Russian attack. A civilian market and

department building were amongst the structures hit, according to local authorities. Moscow says Russian forces launched a massive strike on a

military-industrial complex.

Our Kristen Holmes is at the White House.

So, is there progress here, Kristen?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: We haven't heard anything from the White House on this. And perhaps it's because of the way

that when you look at how the Kremlin actually parsed this conversation, this is what they said. They said they spoke for an hour in a mutually

respectful and businesslike manner. But then they go on to say that the conversation was constructive and frank.

And I point that out specifically because in the past, when you had the Kremlin describe various conversations as frank or honest, that it has been

conversations that President Trump did not necessarily like, meaning that Putin pushed back or would not agree to anything. Now, President Trump

himself continues to say that Putin and Zelenskyy want an end to this war. But as you know, the second that they left, there was still more fighting

here, particularly more Russian attacks.

This is also coming at the same time that there had been both U.S. and U.K. intelligence or former European allies as a whole saying that Putin was

looking at a potential strike, a limited strike in NATO territory to test the alliance. Remember, that was why we know the head of the CIA went down

and had this conversation with Vladimir Putin. That was at least part of their conversation was because of this intel assessment.

President Trump said that he had talked to Putin, that Putin had made it clear that he was not going to. attack NATO territory. But it doesn't seem

clear right now what came out of the phone call and what came out of the meeting. The Kremlin also said this. Trump is interested in achieving a

breakthrough during his presidency. An interesting way of phrasing that if Putin is, in fact, looking for an end to the war.

FOSTER: Okay. Kristen, thank you.

Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen launched a major attack in -- on southern cities in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. The Houthi rebels were

targeting oil facilities. In an escalation that risks widening the region's conflict, Saudi-led forces vowed to respond, according to a source, with

Saudi officials saying dozens of civilians had been injured.

Nic Robertson reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Look, it does appear to be the ceasefire, as you say, that held for four years, it's in a very

fragile and precarious place. And it looks for all intents and purposes as if it's realistically falling apart. The Houthis would blame it on the

Saudis for enforcing air traffic restrictions over that their sort of northern part of Yemen, blocking the return from the funeral of the supreme

leader in Iran of a Houthi delegation to the capital, Sana'a, which the Houthis control.

[15:10:14]

The Saudis bombed the runway. They believe that there was senior Iranian officials, complex communications equipment that the Houthis would use in

the war on board that aircraft. that the Houthis would point to was the trigger point or seem to be the trigger point where they return to threats

and hostilities. But where we are in terms of what actually happened over the past 24 hours here, the Houthis are saying this is a retaliation

strike. They're retaliating for something.

We don't know what they're retaliating for. They don't say specifically what they're retaliating for. We're not aware that Saudi has been involved

in airstrikes against Houthi positions. However, I think we can be very carefully and significantly informed by what's happened in Yemen over the

weekend in very simple terms.

The Houthis went on the offensive at the beginning of the weekend. They were then beaten back quite significantly in most cases by the Yemeni

government forces. That seems to have been backed by airstrikes, which were attributed to the Yemeni Air Force. But I think we know what the Houthis

are clearly signaling here is that they don't believe that this was the Yemenis striking back at them. They believe that the Saudis were involved

in striking them, and this is their retaliation.

So I think, yes, a retaliatory cycle, realistically, potentially, yes. If both sides don't stop, then that four-year pause is -- it's dead.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: OK. Nic Robertson reporting for us there.

Multiple sources telling CNN the United States is quietly considering shrinking its presence in the Middle East, meanwhile. The military and

intelligence communities in Washington reportedly discussing the possibility of cutting the number of personnel and facilities typically

stationed in the region. That would mark a seismic shift in U.S. Middle East policy.

More details from CNN's senior US national security correspondent Haley Britzky.

What have you heard, Haley?

HALEY BRITZKY, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yeah, Max. So, sources are telling my colleagues here that while there hasn't been an

official order to review the U.S. footprint, this has long been a conversation. The U.S. government, the U.S. military has long looked at

ways of reducing the U.S. footprint in the region, which ballooned, obviously, after the attacks on 9/11, the 25th anniversary of which is, of

course, this week.

So, sources are saying that officials are sort of looking at a post-Iran war era if the administration is able to end this conflict of what that

would look like. And part of this is, of course, due to the damage that has come about on these facilities, on U.S. facilities by Iranian drones,

missiles. And the U.S. government has been unclear about what that would look like of rebuilding, Pentagon officials have said since the war began

that the cost of the war has kind of been unclear in its totality because of the -- it's hasn't been clear on what they would pay to rebuild in these

facilities, that it would depend on if they do so.

The Pentagon Comptroller Jay Hurst said in April told reporters when asked about the cost that it would depend on what that looked like and if the

U.S. military decided to rebuild those facilities. So, part of it is if some of them will even be rebuilt or if they'll just be left in the mission

that they're in. But officials also saying that they're looking at, particularly in the special operations community, the CIA community, if

those sorts of missions can be conducted just kind of going in and out, if they can leave their equipment in the U.S., go to the region when

necessary, and then leave instead of having it permanently stationed forward, Max.

So, obviously, not something that will be happening imminently. There are roughly 50,000 U.S. forces still in the region, two aircraft carriers,

obviously the conflict with Iran not near an end that we can see. And so, something that officials are looking forward ahead to, which is difficult

for them, to say the least, as officials have sort of outlined that the president has not really made clear a post-war strategy. Obviously, we're

still unclear at times what the strategy is right now for the war as it continues. as we're seeing right now.

So, officials are kind of trying to look ahead and see what this could look like, what that footprint may be reduced as and what would be needed, Max,

but certainly something that's not coming right around the corner.

FOSTER: Haley Britzky, appreciate it. Thank you so much.

Donald Trump threatening to block a major Canadian company from doing business in the United States meanwhile. The U.S. president says he'll bar

American companies from purchasing Bombardier jets unless those jets are made in the United States. As part of Mr. Trump's response to Canada

slapping new tariffs on $20 billion worth of American products, Canada has targeted aluminum, steel, paper and other products in its new task.

[15:15:12]

Paula Newton has been following this for us. You know, there was talk about this being resolved pretty quickly, but it's becoming very real.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Very real. And in fact, most of us expect more retaliation in the weeks and months to come. You'll remember here that

Canada and the United States thought they had a deal on the table and then there was finger-pointing on both sides. Each blamed the other for why the

talks fell through.

But I think at the very heart of this, Max, is the fact that this Trump administration is very much committed to tariffs. The Commerce Secretary,

Howard Lutnick, admitted as much, saying that even though the Supreme Court had struck down a number of tariffs, that they were committed to it as a

revenue-gaining gesture. And so, you match that with the fact that Trump, President Trump has always held that, in his words, the U.S. is being

ripped off by Canada, and here we are.

Canada, for its part, has been warning that this will hurt the Canadian economy, but that the Canadian government had no choice.

I want you to listen now to Mark Carney, who made a point of releasing another video to Canadians, something he calls forward guidance, which is

what we call frank talk. And he's trying to set up Canadians to understand that, look, this trade war will cost consumers and Canadian businesses.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK CARNEY, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: I don't believe in escalating the conflict. That's not constructive. But our tariffs are necessary to protect

our workers, protect our companies and our communities. We can't let American goods into Canada tariff-free while they charge our companies to

export them. Second, we're supporting Canadians because up here we take care of each other. The harsh reality is that the American tariffs will

hurt some Canadians more than others and that was by design.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: You're talking about by design. This is very much a war, and Republican politicians here in this country, in the United States, have

been making a point of saying that even when you go to places like Bombardier, Bombardier itself has told CNN and underscored to CNN that they

employ tens of thousands of people in the United States, two states in particular that they mentioned, certainly are Kansas and Texas.

And so, it is hard to see exactly where this conflict is going to go from here, except the U.S. trade representative, Jamieson Greer, says that they

are very carefully looking at escalating further and putting more tariffs on Canada.

There are no formal negotiations scheduled as of now, Max.

FOSTER: Paula Newton, thank you.

The air traffic control issue which disrupted flights at British airports has been fixed, but the headaches continue. Many delays continue to disrupt

travel as a result of the earlier problem, but officials say the flight system is starting to recover. Nearly every flight at London's Heathrow,

Gatwick and Stansted airports was either cancelled or delayed. In addition, many incoming flights weren't able to land for several hours.

Coming up, news of King Charles's letter about Prince Harry's royal status took some of the media by surprise on Monday. Now it turns out the Duke and

Duchess of Sussex were also pretty caught off guard by that note. Other details coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:21:38]

FOSTER: It didn't take long for things to get pretty awkward between King Charles and his son Prince Harry. On Monday we told you about the King's

letter to the Duke of Sussex's team reminding everyone that Harry and his wife Meghan are still to be classed as private citizens now that they've

returned to the U.K.

Today, a spokesperson for the couple say they were surprised at the move.

Anna Stewart, is with me now.

You've read. All the details of the letter and response from the Sussex team. Take us through it because you know there's some optics here, right?

ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As we understand it, the Sussex team wanted to clarify some points from the letter, but by the time they were

sort of able to communicate that, the letter had already been released to the press. Now, whether or not that is why the Sussexes were surprised, and

that's the term being used, we don't entirely know. Perhaps there's surprise that guidance needed to be given. given most of the rules, as we

discussed yesterday in the letter, were already very much written in there by the late Queen many years ago.

Or perhaps, Max, it's to do with the timing, because we now understand that RAVEC, the committee that decides on taxpayer funding, is meeting this week

as soon as today. discuss the return of the Sussexes and whether that merits any change in terms of their security because we know currently,

they don't get taxpayer-funded security. So perhaps they were surprised that this was released on the eve or on the same week as that meeting, but

we don't really know at this point.

But it's not ideal that the Sussex have expressed their surprise to the press because, of course, it just brews concern that there is still a rift

between the palace and Team Sussex and they're not all singing from the same hymn sheet.

FOSTER: And an example, I guess, of Harry and Meghan's stories sort of overtaking the news agenda, because today was an important day. It was the

King's accession day, but also a key day for George.

STEWART: Today was a really big day for George. I think we've got some great pictures of Prince George on his first day at Eton, following in the

footsteps of Prince Harry, as well, of course, as his father. And it's quite sweet actually to compare pictures of them all at the same stage.

This will be the first time full-time boarding for Prince George at Eton. He will be settling in, let's hope, to his very first night. You can see

him there in his tailcoat, a very traditional outfit. at Eton this is school dress it also comes with some pinstripe trousers which are out of

shot.

His father and Harry very much started the royal tradition here at Eton it's actually more familiar I guess for British prime ministers of which

there have been around 20 I think in the past and you can see them walking through the school there. But big day for Prince George.

As you say, we are back though to talking about Harry and Meghan and I think this is what the palace is concerned about not so much for today but

in the future When there are big sort of royal engagements that they want attention on, charitable events, for instance, it will be troublesome if

there are also attention being split with the Team Sussex.

I guess that's all to come. We'll have to see how it all plays out.

FOSTER: We will. Anna, as ever, thank you.

Turning to France now, where thieves have once again stolen priceless items from an art museum. It happened today at the Renoir Museum in the south of

France. The thieves stole four paintings but abandoned two of them as they fled.

Officials say they'll work tirelessly to recover the two missing paintings and find those responsible. The latest art heist followed some recent high-

profile thefts. Last October, a sophisticated operation targeted jewels at the Louvre Museum whilst it was open to the public. Those thieves escaped

out a window and down this construction lift.

And in March, thieves stole several paintings from an Italian art museum.

What we don't know is why do French art museums -- European art museums keep getting raided?

Joining us now Anthony Amore. He writes for "Big Security" on Substack and is an art theft expert.

Thank you so much for joining us, Andrew.

I mean, first of all, is this demand driven or is there the problem with security?

ANTHONY AMORE, "BIG SECURITY" WRITER ON SUBSTACK: Well, I think there's a confluence of events. I think what happened in October at the Louvre might

have set some wheels in motion in terms of motivating thieves, putting ideas in their minds about, you know, hey, I know this museum out in Parma

that perhaps we could go to and steal some paintings.

I don't believe there are orders in the sense that some billionaire somewhere is asking Thieves to go steal art for them for their private

collection. It's more like maybe a gang leader says, "hey, I have an idea," and sends some of his henchmen out to steal art from a museum out in

Europe, yeah.

FOSTER: But they're going for these very high profile pieces, which is, as you've implied, are very hard to sell on. You can't sell them on the

regular market, can you?

AMORE: No, you can't. And the big names are the ones that get stolen most often, Rembrandt and Picasso are the two most often stolen artists. It's

not a surprise. Everyone knows those names, whether they know art at all. Same would probably be true for Renoir, especially in France.

So, I'm not surprised to see those targeted, big numbers. The methodology of that heist was pretty common. The problem is we keep seeing these in

increasing fashion over the last 11 or 12 months.

FOSTER: But what do they typically do with the paintings if they can't sell them?

AMORE: That's the hard part. So, when they find that they can't sell them, take these Renoir paintings, for instance, they're splashed all over the

internet, all over the news. They're on CNN International.

Everyone knows that they're hot. Nobody's going to buy them, especially for a percentage of 10 or so million dollars. So, the worst case scenario is

things like these are hidden and held. They're very easy to hide and that makes them very, very difficult to recover because you not only have to

identify the thieves, you have to identify the exact location where they're hidden.

I pointed to the Louvre heist where the four actual thieves have been arrested for many months now, but none of the objects have been recovered.

FOSTER: And take us through the security issue then. I mean, what is the talk in the industry about these museums and whether or not they're really

capable to house these precious objects?

AMORE: Well, museums are a difficult thing to protect when you think about them across the world. It's not like a bank, say, that was built with the

primary goal of security. When you think about a museum, it could have been a house museum. It could have been a museum that was built long before

technology that we have today was even envisioned. It might be a museum that doesn't have the resources to install state-of-the-art cameras and

alarms and artificial intelligence software and that sort of thing.

So, every museum does security its own way. And that means some museums may be a lot more vulnerable than others.

FOSTER: OK. Anthony Amore, thank you for joining us on that very difficult day for the art sector.

Now, coming up, the U.K. has announced new sanctions against Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, calling the fate of the Palestinian

people a moral emergency. Much more on our top story just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:32:45]

FOSTER: In the final moments of trade on Wall Street, stocks are down currently. The Dow dropping more than 1 percent after new attacks in the

Middle East pushed oil prices higher.

This is our Business Breakout.

Lululemon's new boss, Heidi O'Neill, is officially the company's new CEO, and she faces a huge challenge to revive the struggling athleisure wear

brand. Lululemon shared another dismal earnings report last week. Sales dropped 12 percent in North America.

Brazil is emerging as an alternative source for oil amid the war with Iran. Brazilian oil production and exports have hit record highs this year,

fueled by growing demand from China. Crude export reached a record 4.5 million barrels a day in June, while the value of oil exports to China more

than doubled in the first half of the year to $15.1 billion.

Joe Biden's son appears to be launching a meme coin named after the infamous laptop seized by FBI agents investigating him. "The Wall Street

Journal" first reported the news on Monday. Hunter Biden then posted on Twitter suggesting the name of the meme coin would be $LAPTOP.

President Trump's plans to overhaul the U.S. trade relationship with Canada could cost hundreds of billions of dollars. That's the message from one

former Canadian official. With Canada's tariffs on some U.S. goods coming into effect today, President Trump has threatened to ban Bombardier planes

from being sold in the United States.

CNN's Pamela Brown spoke to the former premier of Quebec, where Bombardier is headquartered. He said that both the US and Canada needed to make tough

decisions about where things go from here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEAN CHAREST, FORMER QUEBEC PREMIER: I think we have to have a very hard look with fresh eyes of what the economic relationship is between both

countries. Take the automotive industry as an example of that. President Trump has said he would like to see cars built only in the United States.

Well, there is no complex product made in the world today, Pamela, that is made in a single country. It does not exist. That world is gone, and

whether it's a bicycle or a car.

And in the case of Canada and the United States, imposing tariffs on, as the President is doing, is going to hurt the American industry. And it is -

- and even if, let's say, he wanted to do that, it would take years and cost hundreds of billions of dollars to redo that, when in fact we are very

competitive together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:35:12]

FOSTER: Back to our top story then, and a coordinated move by 12 Western governments that underscores Israel's growing isolation on the

international stage. Britain, France, Canada, and others co-signed a statement announcing plans to restrict trade in goods from Israeli

settlements, noting they're illegal under international law. The U.K. went even further, calling the entire Israeli occupation of Palestinian land

unlawful.

Israel's foreign minister says Britain's accusations are outrageous lies. Gideon Sa'ar announced retaliatory measures, including the closure of

Britain's consulate in East Jerusalem. Israel will also bar some British officials from entering the country.

We're joined by Daniel Levy, president of the U.S. Middle East Project. He's a former senior Israeli government advisor.

Thank you for joining us.

I guess it wasn't a shock to you, this move, because they've been teasing towards it for some time. But what do you make of it landing and the way it

landed?

DANIEL LEVY, PRESIDENT, U.S./MIDDLE EAST PROJECT: Well, I think it was very powerful moment in the British Parliament in the House of Commons,

Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband speaking to his own personal history, coming here as a refugee, Holocaust survivor family, family in Israel, and

speaking to the necessity of taking these measures when everything has failed, when Israel has gone so far in rendering near impossible a two-

state outcome and -- this was crucial in making very clear that the U.K. was drawing a distinction, one not drawn in Israel itself, between the

illegal settlements, the illegal occupation and maintaining relations with Israel itself and endorsing, as you just referenced, not a U.K. position,

but the U.K. endorsing international law, the ruling of the International Court of Justice of two years ago, that the entirety of the occupation is

illegal.

It got a lot of support in Parliament. There's everything to suggest that the British public back this. And the opposition really didn't seem to land

too many punches.

FOSTER: What about the accusation that they're bowing to pressure from leftist politicians and pressure groups?

LEVY: They're adhering to international law. I mean, one doesn't normally come back and say, well, why are you taking those measures against Russia

when the International Court of Justice has rendered this the position in international law? What you heard from the opposition benches primarily

was, we agree with you on two states, but we wouldn't do this. And the easy retort was, well, are you suggesting you would continue to do nothing?

Because doing nothing is what has led us to such extremism over there, to the kinds of comments and the kinds of actions which we've seen from this

Israeli coalition.

So, yes, this is going to play well with those who voted for Labour. One of the problems that a Labour government had in the last two years was how it

had alienated its own voters and we're not talking here about the hard left. The hard left has come out and said, good start, now you need to do

more, which is also a reasonable position.

But this is actually the center of gravity, and it's not just of Labour voters, of British public opinion today, overwhelmingly horrified by what

they see Israel do, overwhelmingly against Britain being complicit in those illegal settlements, and supportive of this kind of action. There's an

awful lot of noise behind those who disagree doesn't change the fact that they're in a very distinct minority in Britain and globally.

FOSTER: We haven't heard anything from the Trump administration yet, have we? Which is interesting because I think the reaction from Israel was

expected here in the UK, but of more concern might be that there might be a backlash from the United States. What do you expect to hear from the Trump

administration? Obviously, we've heard some -- from some politicians over there who are pretty upset about this.

LEVY: So I would want to double check it, Max. I think National Security Advisor/Secretary of State Marco Rubio was asked on the hoof and it was a

pretty mild response. It was we hope this doesn't make things more difficult with what we're trying to do in Gaza. We've seen the British

respond.

He didn't go to that place where, as you say, other U.S. politicians, their ambassador in Israel, who occasionally will say, hey, you're going too far,

but has basically aligned himself with the Greater Israel Settlement Project.

[15:40:03]

He didn't go there. He seems to take a very moderate response.

And as you note, this is the U.K. leading because the U.K. came out ahead of the curve and the U.K. has taken measures that go beyond what the others

have done. But this is NATO members, Commonwealth members, much of the EU, that have come out and endorsed a set of measures. And I just think it

speaks to, as you suggested, how far from a politics that others can embrace Israel has gone.

Let's remember, this is decades of Israel's illegal settlement policy. That isn't new. It's the extremity that is new. But if there is an effort by

Israel and there's none on the horizon, to dial that back, then people are going to say, we actually want to see real things happen.

And the tragic thing in many respects is that any kind of reconsideration of a wholesale destruction of Palestinian lives and property that we've

seen, any kind of withdrawal, any kind of two-state solution or lean towards peace is not on the ballot in Israel's election because you have

the entirety of the Zionist political spectrum rejecting that and perhaps, these kinds of measures which try and reset the incentive structure, which

try and demonstrate to Israelis and the U.K. government has lent into the idea that this is not going to go well for Israel either, that if you want

to preserve Israel, you have to get beyond this.

So perhaps if they see that there are actual costs and consequences, not just words, but actual actions that maybe you kickstart a different

conversation inside Israel eventually.

FOSTER: Daniel Levy, really appreciate your time tonight. Thank you for joining us.

Still to come tonight, Lindsay Clancy's attorney gives his first interview since the mistrial was declared. We'll hear Kevin Bradington's thoughts on

the lone holdout juror and about being open to a potential plea deal.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:45:26]

FOSTER: The attorney for Lindsay Clancy says he's willing to consider a plea deal for his client. Kevin Reddington gave an interview for the first

time since Clancy's trial ended in a hung jury last week. Prosecutors have argued Clancy needs to be held responsible for killing her three children.

In addition to a potential plea, Reddington discussed his frustration over the lone juror, who held out on a unanimous verdict.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN REDDINGTON, LINDSAY CLANCY'S DEFENSE ATTORNEY: At the end of the case, I made statements to the effect that I was upset. And the reason I

was upset, I would defend that individual's right to be a holdout for forever. That's part of our judicial system, and I respect that. And I

would certainly defend his right to do that.

What I was upset about was after that lengthy trial and the work that everyone put into this case, including these jurors that spent literally

almost two months away from their home, their job, their family, where a gentleman had an opinion, not that he was sticking like the movie "12 Angry

Men". But in fact, he had agreed, according to the note from the forelady, that he had doubt, but he would not apply the law of reasonable doubt as

presented by the judge. That's not right, and that's why I was upset.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Jean Casarez joins us now, and he did talk today about a potential plea deal, but we're all wondering where this goes from here.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's a good question. I just want to note on what Kevin Reddington just said. The jury foreperson sent the

note saying this one juror understands reasonable doubt but will not apply the law, will not follow the instructions. We haven't heard from that

juror. So that was second hand right there.

I think we don't know what the situation was in that room because the prosecution said this is a deliberating juror. He is deliberating. He has a

right to not agree with the others.

So, moving forward, we will see. This is fascinating because the defense has been not only not guilty, but not guilty based on a lack of criminal

responsibility that she could not understand and appreciate the criminality of her acts because a voice was commanding her to kill her children and

kill herself. They said it was postpartum psychosis and their experts testified to that.

Now, if there's a plea deal, prosecutors are not going to at all allow her to plead guilty and that's it. It would be a compromise. So that would mean

a former fashion, potentially, possibly of a conviction. And that means she is accepting criminal responsibility. So that would turn this all around.

And I think we have to wait to see what's going to happen until the 29th of September. That's a status hearing. All parties and the judge, they'll meet

in court. That is the perfect time to give an update on all of this. And we'll see what happens.

You know, he also asked for Donald Trump to give a pardon to Lindsay Clancy, which is interesting because there's no conviction. Lindsay Clancy

has not been convicted at all. And it's a state case, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

And when you're talking about a pardon from a president, any president, it has to do with federal issues on a federal level.

FOSTER: OK. Jean, appreciate it. Thank you. We'll keep watching.

CASAREZ: Thank you.

FOSTER: Still to come, a storm comes to paradise. We'll take you to Hawaii, where you'll see the damage after one of its most pristine islands

was battered by a hurricane.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:51:48]

FOSTER: Hurricane Lowell battered Hawaii today, the strongest storm to impact the main island since 1992. About 90 percent of the people and

businesses on two Hawaiian Islands have lost power and local officials say it could take a long time to restore it.

We'll get more now from CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: The first few hours of daylight revealing the destruction leftover by the departing Hurricane Lowell. And I

think there's going to be a lot of pictures just like this. This is coming out of Maui County. A lot of debris, sand and rock being pushed onto some

of these coastal highways and coastal roads. Authorities working to clear those actively.

But the other thing that we've noticed is of course a lot of power lines down because of the strong winds. This is coming out of Kauai County and

unfortunately, there's about 90 percent of that island or that county rather that is without electricity. So, the wind gusts from this storm was

impressive. Many of these are high altitude wind gusts, but nonetheless, there were certainly hurricane force gusts, especially at the -- further up

the mountain sides you went, but look at that into one man 85 miles per hour.

Even the airport here on Kauai County clocking 79 mile per hour gusts as this storm made its closest approach to Kauai County overnight. Here it is,

the departing storm system. There is not much left. It's really becoming less organized, but there are still some feeder bands that are helping

produce showers and thunderstorms across. the central and eastern islands of Hawaii, including the Big Island. So, the flash flood threat still

exists across these areas, but you could see how the storm will weaken, depart the area and really start to become a non-threat to the Hawaiian

Islands in the days to come.

But we need to get past this initial 12 hours or so because we are left without power for many of us across Kauai and into Oahu. But it, of course,

is the potential here for mudslides and flash flooding because of those feeder bands I showed you just a moment ago. The moisture is going to stay

heightened through the next several days. Kind of a byproduct of the departing hurricane.

That means we could pick up in some of these feeder bands that move over the same locations. Easy three to six inches of rainfall and with the

compromised soils here, especially across the Big Island, this could lead to some localized flash flooding and also the mudslide risk and you can see

how that extends towards the north and west as well, with additional showers and a few rumbles of thunder possible going forward.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Derek Van Dam for us there.

New York City's mayor, with a stunning announcement just days before the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Mayor Zohran Mamdani says there's

evidence city officials knew the air around ground zero was unsafe to breathe, yet insisted publicly that it was. The city today released 170,000

pages of previously undisclosed records.

The mayor says more people have died from 9/11-related illnesses than those who perished in the actual attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D), NEW YORK CITY: People got sick because the leaders they trusted lied and told them they were safe to breathe in toxic

air.

[15:55:05]

And then when they began to contend with the symptoms of the illnesses that followed, the government that had not hesitated to send them into harm's

way was nowhere to be found.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: And finally, tonight, the Eiffel Tower in Paris has now reopened. Employees went on strike on Monday over claims that female colleagues were

told to stay out of sight during a visit by a Hindu religious group. About 100 members of the global Hindu organization known as BAPS visited the site

on Saturday.

A union representative for the Eiffel Tower staff says women were asked to leave their places of work in order to place men there. BAPS Paris tells

CNN it was never intended as a request rooted in gender.

The mayor of Paris writes on X such conditions can't be tolerated and he's launched an investigation.

I'm Max Foster. That's WHAT WE KNOW. Do stay with CNN.

END

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