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Ceasefire Talks Become Urgent as Threat of Iran Strike Looms; Ukraine Leads Strong Offensive Into Russia; Wildfires in Greece Cause Devastation; Japan Prime Minister to Step Down Next Month; Iran Hasn't Decided On Action Against Israel; Father In Gaza Loses Wife, Newborn Twins In Israeli Strike; UAW Files Federal Labor Charges Against Trump, Musk; Biden Announces $150M In New Funding As Part Of "Cancer Moonshot" Program. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired August 14, 2024 - 00:00   ET

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

[00:00:00]

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm John Vause live from Studio H in Atlanta. Ahead here on CNN Newsroom.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We'll see what Iran does and we'll see what happens if there's any attack. But I'm not giving up.

VAUSE: Gaza ceasefire talks set to resume, as the Middle East fears an imminent direct Iranian strike on Israel could trigger a regional war.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The armed forces of Ukraine continue the operation and territory of the Turkursk region.

VAUSE: Ukraine's incursion into Russia: audacious, brazen and possibly more successful than most thought possible. But now what?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At some point, the fire was faster than the cars and the trucks.

VAUSE: And fleeing the flames, wildfires reach the suburbs of the Greek capital, leaving behind a trail of devastation and despair. Live from Atlanta, this is CNN Newsroom with John Vause.

Right now, it seems there is reason for both hope and fear across the Middle East. On Thursday, negotiations for a ceasefire and the release of hostages in Gaza are expected to resume in Qatar's capital, Doha. But according to U.S. intelligence, those talks are not expected to prevent Iran from moving forward with a direct strike on Israel, retaliation for the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. Mediators are expected to meet separately with Israeli and Hamas officials, briefing each side with a possible deal based on previous negotiations.

Among the possible deal breakers, last minute demands by Israel's Prime Minister. But Benjamin Netanyahu insists his terms for a ceasefire have not changed. He accuses Hamas of adding unrealistic demands. And still unanswered is what U.S. President Joe Biden is doing to pressure Israel to make a deal. The president has spoken about his concerns over those talks continuing in the wake of an Iranian strike on Israel.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think you can still get to a ceasefire deal, or is it starting to be a distant possibility?

BIDEN: It's getting hard. We'll see what Iran does, and we'll see what happens if there's any attack. But I'm not giving up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are those two things tied together? And do you have the understanding that Iran could cease or stop doing an action if a ceasefire deal was possible?

BIDEN: That's my expectation. We'll see.

VAUSE: The U.S. State Department has approved the sale of $20 billion of weapons to Israel while Congress is yet to vote on the deal. It will be several years before the weapons, including up to 50 F-15 fighter jets, will actually be delivered to Israel, yet there are some concerns about how this deal might impact ceasefire talks. More now from CNN's international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: A lot of pressure on all sides. And this weapons approval -- proposal for approval of this $20 billion worth of weapons for Israel certainly can potentially be seen in that context because of the timing, because this has been -- this approval process has been in the running for a long period of time.

And when it times, just before these talks, and just when other diplomats and leaders in the region are expecting and hoping the United States to put a lot of pressure on Prime Minister Netanyahu to take a more moderate course at these talks on Thursday, so that there is a chance of success, that they can produce some progress on peace in Gaza. Then certainly it looks like a way of encouraging Israel in that direction.

And certainly the Defense Minister here Yoav Gallant tweeted that this was a positive signal of U.S. support for Israel, a message perhaps not just for politicians in Israel but also for the Iranians. The Iranians are believed to be watching the talks, or the potential for the talks hugely closely, because therein lies whether or not or how hard they will retaliate for the killing of Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran two weeks ago, how hard, how much they would strike back at Israel.

The idea is if the talks are a success, then that will mitigate a larger Iranian strike. But as President Biden says, it is anyone's guess, if you will, at the moment, if this is going to be successful, a huge amount of pressure being put on Hamas as well at the moment, who are insisting that any participation that they may have in this process on Thursday would be conditional, that it is President Biden's framework proposal for peace in Gaza that emerged in July that it implemented, not negotiated. They're very afraid that Prime Minister Netanyahu will come and make

add ons. His office has said that they haven't made add ons, but that's the big perception in the region here.

[00:05:00]

So, the idea even that the talks could happen, given that the principal negotiator for Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed, would be seen as some sort of success.

But even these two days left, it is still a long way to go. And it's not clear if Iran would choose to strike before then. It's possible everyone in the region hoping that they don't. Nic Robertson, CNN, Tel Aviv, Israel.

VAUSE: With us now from Tel Aviv is Efraim Halevy, a former Director of Israel's Main Intelligence Agency, Mossad. He also served as the Head of Israel's National Security Council. Thank you for being with us, sir. We appreciate your time.

EFRAIM HALEVY, FORMER MOSSAD CHIEF: Good morning.

VAUSE: So, with ceasefire negotiations set to resume Thursday, CNN is reporting the resumption of those talks will not prevent Iran from striking Israel. But could those talks come to a sudden end because of an Iranian strike on Israel, whenever that may happen?

HALEVY: I think, as we speak at the moment, the position of all parties is unclear. I believe that the Iranians do not have an interest to attack Israel. I think they would rather this not happening. And I think that they have other considerations relating to this subject. And therefore, the Iranian position is at present not clear. But that is the same that goes for the Hamas.

And the fact that the Hamas up to this moment have not finally confirmed that they will appear on tomorrow morning in Doha to meet the Israeli team, that is also a question which has not been resolved. So, as we talked this morning, none of the components to a meeting tomorrow are already in line.

VAUSE: What you're saying there about the Iranian position not being clear, that is also supported by one U.S. official who told CNN, Iran still has not decided on a course of action against Israel. That's for the assassination of Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh while he was actually visiting Tehran two weeks ago.

If we look back in recent history, in April, Iran responded within twelve days to that Israeli attack on the Embassy in Syria, and then back in 2020, a response came in just five days after a U.S. drone killed Qasem Soleimani, an Iranian military commander. So, is there a possible explanation here, as to why the response this time at least appears to be taking so much longer?

HALEVY: Well, this is linked to the fact that, in the meantime, they've had elections in Iran and there is a new president who is now in power and in office. And I believe that there is reason to believe that this president would prefer not having to take the decision to attack Israel at this particular point in time.

And therefore, one key player is not the same player that has been in place in the past. And therefore, I believe that we have reason to believe that, as far as we can see, whatever happens in Doha on Thursday, if the Hamas do not turn up, this does not mean to say that automatically the Iranians would attack Israel. I believe that is not the case.

VAUSE: That's something to watch for, obviously, which is in the very short term. The April strike by Iran on Israel was widely considered to be a colossal fail -- failure. The Iranians telegraphed their punches days in advance. Not so this time. They're being very secretive about whatever they're doing. We don't even really know what it is. If there is a response, what are you expecting? Will it be something similar to what we saw in April, or will it be something totally different?

HALEVY: Any reply to your question is purely speculation, because I believe that the Iranians have to take into account what will be the trajectory of any attack they launch. They would have to. If they wanted to have a shortcut, they would have to pass into the airspace of Jordan. And I believe that Jordan is in no way keen to allow this to happen in its airspace.

So, there are many aspects here which have not been agreed upon between anybody in Iran and anybody in the region. And that is one more reason why I think that the fact that Iran up to now has not retaliated in any way is indicative of the fact that they have differences of opinion into Iran that they have not yet resolved.

VAUSE: Ismail Haniyeh was initially thought to have been killed in an Israeli airstrike. Within a few days, though, came another explanation, which blames an explosive device that had been covertly hidden in the guest house where he was staying.

[00:10:00]

The bomb was concealed about two months ago, detonated remotely once he was inside his room.

This isn't just any guest house. This was a government guest house in Iran's capital. And Haniyeh was visiting for the inauguration of a newly elected president. So, what are you able to say about how Israel gathered the intelligence and carried out that attack or that killing? And how concerned should Iranian leaders be about their own safety while they're in Tehran?

HALEVY: Up to this point in time, Israel has not acknowledged responsibility for the attack into Iran. And I don't expect Israel to do so in the future. And therefore, the premise that this was an Israeli operation has not been proven, and I doubt if it's true. And therefore, one of the elements you have just stated is not an element that I accept.

I think that the Iranians, from a variety of reasons, have their own problems to settle inside the area of the government of Iran. There are differences of opinion now in Tehran between various factions in the government. There is a new president.

The president has a relationship with a leader, the National Leader, which is a very, very keen one, and a very, very viable one. And therefore, I believe that it would be wrong to speculate that Iran is really interested or keen to carry out an attack against Israel especially as the success of such attack is very, very much in doubt.

VAUSE: Efraim Halevy. Sir, thank you very much for being with us, especially this early hour there in Tel Aviv. Thank you, sir.

HALEVY: Thank you.

VAUSE: Ukraine forces continue to advance into Russia's Kursk region, and they're preparing their next steps. According to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The Reuters News Agency now reporting that Belgorod, the region just south of Kursk, has declared a state of emergency. It has been more than a week now since the incursion that has shocked and humiliated Moscow and has put Russian President Vladimir Putin on the defensive.

Ukraine claims it has already taken control of more than 1,000 square kilometers, 40 (ph) -- and 40 (ph) square kilometers in just the past day alone. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry says the country does not intend to annex Russian territory. The goal of this military offensive is to protect our people, according to a Foreign Ministry Spokesperson. President Zelenskyy saying the incursion is a boon for Ukraine.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (TRANSLATED): All of us in Ukraine need to act as unitedly and effectively as we did in the first weeks and months of this war, when Ukraine seized the initiative and began turning the situation in favor of our state. We have done the same now. We have once again proven that in any situation, we Ukrainians are capable of achieving our objectives, of defending our interests and our independence.

VAUSE: Zelenskyy also says Russian servicemen are surrendering en masse, and he thanks them for replenishing what he calls the exchange fund for future prisoner swaps. CNN cannot independently verify those claims. CNN's Fred Pleitgen brings us the very latest now on Ukraine's offensive. A warning: Some of the images in his report are graphic.

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FRED PLEITGEN, CNN BERLIN JOURNALIST: A Russian attack gunship firing at Ukrainian forces from the air in the Kursk region inside Russia. While on the ground, a Russian soldier's body cam records what appear to be several killed Ukrainians near their destroyed armored vehicle. The Kremlin trying to show its forces are halting Ukraine's advances. But the reality is this: more Russian civilians having to evacuate their towns and villages as Kyiv's troops press ahead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (TRANSLATED): We left the chickens at home, this woman says. We gave them two bags of grain, some water and left. Maybe there will be nothing to return to.

PLEITGEN: What seemed to be Russian prisoners of war transported in a Ukrainian pickup, as a Ukrainian soldier spray paints the Ukrainian spelling of a town's name inside Russia. Kyiv's lightning offensive caught not just its allies off guard, but Moscow as well. Russian President Vladimir Putin trying to publicly brush off Ukraine's incursion, meeting with the Head of the Palestinian Authority in Moscow after earlier berating his generals to oust Kyiv's troops from Russian soil.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (TRANSLATED): The main task for the Ministry of Defense is, of course, to drive and squeeze the enemy out of our territories.

PLEITGEN: Russia has vowed a massive retaliation, and Kyiv fears Moscow could launch even larger missile strikes at Ukrainian cities. But Ukraine's president vowing not to back down.

ZELENSKYY (TRANSLATED): Russia needs to be forced into peace, especially if Putin is so set on fighting.

[00:15:00]

PLEITGEN: And Vladimir Putin's grip on power may not be as strong as some believe. Russian opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was recently released from a Russian jail in the prisoner swap, said on CNN's OutFront.

VLADIMIR KARA-MURZA, RUSSIAN OPPOSITION POLITICIAN (TRANSLATED): I don't only think, I don't only believe, I know that Russia will change and I will be back in my homeland. And as I told him, it's going to be much quicker than you ever think.

PLEITGEN: But for now, Moscow says it will bring more reinforcements to its southwestern regions to try and oust Ukraine's invasion force before it can dig in. Fred Pleitgen, CNN Berlin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Well, for more on Ukraine's military offensive, we're joined by Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, senior military analyst and former commanding general of U.S. Army Europe and 7th Army. General Hertling, welcome back. It's good to see you.

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING; CNN MILITARY ANALYST: It is great to see you, John. Thanks for having me.

VAUSE: Always a pleasure. Now, as far as Ukraine's advance is concerned, I want you to listen to the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces briefing the Ukrainian president. Listen to this.

LEKSANDR SYRSKYI, COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF UKRAINE'S ARMED FORCES (TRANSLATED): Today, our troops advanced in separate directions from 1 to 3 kilometers. Control over 40 square kilometers of territory was taken. As of today, 74 settlements are under our control. Battles are being fought along the entire front line.

VAUSE: Take it for what it is. There's been no independent confirmation, but when you look at this war over the last couple of years, the front line has moved in increments of inches and feet. This advance by the Ukrainians seems to be moving at light speed.

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING; CNN MILITARY ANALYST: It has been, John. And what's interesting is you see the commanding general, General Syrskyi, giving a verbal report over a video teleconference to his president, that would not normally happen if they weren't having success. And I'd put it in the category of catastrophic success. He is advancing with his forces along four different axis.

It is something that I called initially a demonstration, which has a doctrinal definition. That is a force that is going into an area where a decision is not sought but it's perceived by the enemy to be a threat. They have exceeded what I think are many people's suggestions of what they could succeed in this area. Now, the question is, how long can they hold that ground, and what kind of risk are they taking on an extended front inside of a salient?

It's very good that they did what they did. It had a strategic effect I think on the Russian president and the Russian Minister of Defense. But now you have to always ask your question, as a Commander, what next? What are you going to do next as you've achieved this end state of demonstrating what you're capable of demonstrating?

VAUSE: Well, as for the sort of more immediate objectives of this offensive, here's a spokesperson for Ukraine's Foreign Ministry. Listen to this.

HEORHII TYKHYI, UKRAINIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN (TRANSLATED): Unlike Russia, Ukraine does not need other people's property. Ukraine is not interested in taking the territory of the Kursk region, but we want to protect the lives of our people.

VAUSE: That's one way of putting it. The reality, though, seems to be the Ukrainians are not holding territory because they can't.

HERTLING: Yes, that's part of it, certainly. But I think what Ukraine has also done is extended their front lines to the area where they can affect the capability of the Russian forces to continue to do damage. They've now become in range of some of the artillery pieces that Russia has, some of the multiple launch rocket systems. In fact, some of the airfields, they've been able to pull air defense forward in a very good combined arms operation.

So, they are threatening the Russian forces and they are causing Russian forces to be pulled off. I'd agree with the Foreign Minister when he says we're not there to seize territory. They're not. They're going to eventually go back to their front lines into the territory of Ukraine. But what they have proven is they can go there, not that they want to, but that they can.

And they can threaten the Russian forces and cause Russia to look at the disposition of their forces. Are they in the right places? Have they defended in the correct locations? Are they going to prevent these kind of incursions by the Ukrainians in the future? Those are all questions I'm sure the Russian Ministry and the Russian Armed Forces are asking themselves right now. VAUSE: Well, from the Russian Deputy Ambassador at the UN, there was -- there has been outrage. He complained about a lack of condemnation from the west, and then he added this.

DMITRY POLYANSKIY, RUSSIAN DEPUTY AMBASSADOR TO U.N. (TRANSLATED): I would be grateful for the explanation how intentionally targeting civilians serves the goals of disrupting attacks on Ukrainian territory, given the fact that there were no military objects or infrastructure in the area.

VAUSE: Yes, great question. You know, if the Russian war crimes and targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure wasn't, you know, wasn't so dire and so severe and grave, that would have been a laugh out loud moment. And the Ukrainians have actually made a pretty good credible case for this offensive and what they're actually doing. And they're not targeting civilians. They're clearing out an area, essentially.

HERTLING: Yes.

[00:20:00]

And it's the only thing we can say, John, is it's hypocritical on the part of the Russians to say something like that. They've invaded Ukraine twice in 2014 and again in 2022. They have taken ground that is not part of their property. And you see the Ukrainians doing the kinds of things that we're trying to determine from the West, what were their objectives?

Is there the possibility that one of the objectives of the Ukrainian forces was to take and secure the natural gas feeder line that connects the Trans-Siberian pipeline with the Brotherhood pipeline just into Belarus? Could that be an objective? As we head into the fall and then into winter, are they looking to affect the economic conditions of Russia as well as striking some of the forces within Russia and defending against Russian forces that are carrying out just catastrophic and illegal criminal attacks, I would say, against the Ukrainian people on the Ukrainian territory.

VAUSE: General Hertling, good to have you with us, sir. Thank you.

HERTLING: Pleasure, John. Thank you.

VAUSE: When we come back here on CNN, we'll be live in Tokyo with the very latest on the southern resignation of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Also, the immediate threat to the Greek capital has now passed, leaving residents to deal with the devastation caused by an extremely fast moving wildfire.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: The immediate threat to the Greek capital may have passed, but firefighters in Greece are still working to put out the worst wildfire there in a year. More than 400 square kilometers, or 156 square miles of forest in the Attica region and up to the suburbs of Athens have burned in the fast moving blaze. At least one person was killed. Thousands of residents were evacuated as the fire came very close to Athens, where more than 3 million people live. More now from CNN's Eleni Giokos.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As morning breaks in Greece, a moment of reckoning. Residents return to their homes not knowing what they'd find. 70 year old Sakis Morfis ran away, taking only his beloved dogs. Everything else is now gone.

SAKIS MORFIS, LOST HOME IN FIRE: My house, it was utterly destroyed. Even the walls fell down.

GIOKOS: But Morfis lost more than his home. He also lost a colleague, a 65 year old woman who went missing after the evacuation orders. Her friends and colleagues say that they were looking for her. She went missing and eventually her body was found here at a place of work. She spent over 20 years of her life at this business.

And her coworkers were saying how she was talking about going back to her home country, back to her daughters at the end of this year. And sadly, they say she just didn't make it. And today, we find a rose left here by someone that says we'll remember her dearly.

[00:25:00]

More than 700 firefighters, almost 200 vehicles and 35 water bombing aircraft have now managed to control the blaze. But 100,000 acres of land were lost. The extent of the damage so great it can be seen from space. A scenario of destruction just a few miles from Athens.

Experts say the last few years of fires are drastically changing the city's climate. The loss of trees making winds and temperatures rise along with the risk of fire. A tough challenge ahead local officials are well aware of.

VASILIS XYPOLITAS, MAYOR OF KIFISIA: At some point, the fire was faster than the cars, than the trucks, and we are trying to catch the fire. We must find solutions in the way of evacuating and in being first at the time of the start of the fire.

GIOKOS: Miles of beautiful green, virgin forests reduced to charred barren hills. For residents like Sofia, the feeling of loss is beyond words.

SOFIA, LOCAL RESIDENT IMPACTED BY WILDFIRE: I feel terrible. I can't explain how I feel this morning. We had such a green horses here. Now I don't know after how many years it's going to be again. And if it be like before.

GIOKOS: Many like her now point the finger at the government, blaming the lack of prevention and care as part of the fuel feeding the fire that spared nothing in its path. Eleni Giokos, CNN, Penteli, Greece.

(END VIDEOTAPE) VAUSE: Tropical Storm Ernesto is expected to soon strengthen to a hurricane as it barrels through the Caribbean. Right now, about 60 miles east of Puerto Rico's capital. Sustained winds 65 miles an hour, which will reach hurricane strength as it passes northeast of Puerto Rico overnight, bringing with it dangerous flash flooding in the coming day.

We'll take a short break. When we come back, the human toll of war in Gaza. A father that loses his wife, newborn twins in Israeli air strike. That story, in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Hello, everyone. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN Newsroom. Japan's Prime Minister will step down next month, ending a three year term marked by political scandals. Fumio Kishida made the announcement during a news conference telling reporters he will not seek reelection as president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

CNN's Hanako Montgomery is covering this live for us from Tokyo. Came as a bit of a surprise to us. Was it a bit of a surprise to everybody else?

[00:30:00]

HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT:: Hi, John. It's good to see you.

To be honest with you, within Japan, it wasn't all that surprising because as we know, Kishida has been battling very poor approval ratings for the past year or so now. And it looks as though Kishida is finally acknowledging that it's taking a toll on his leadership.

Now, as you mentioned there, John, he held a press conference a couple of hours ago where he said that by stepping down, he wants to restore people's faith in politics. This is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FUMIO KISHIDA, JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER (through translation): In this presidential election, it is necessary to show the people that the Liberal Democratic Party is changing, and the party is new LDP. For this, transparent and open elections and free and vigorous debate are important. The most obvious first step to show that LDP will change is for me to step aside.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MONTGOMERY: Now, during this press conference, he also described how political scandals have led him to step down. Specifically, there was a slush fund scandal last year that came to light. Essentially, leaders within the ruling party and several factions were found to have not properly reported funds raised through different fundraising events.

Now, this issue only came to light due to domestic media reporting, and several leaders within the ruling party criticized Kishida for not taking full responsibility for this, including the former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, even though Kishida, of course, his faction was involved in this scandal as well.

Now, the second scandal that Kishida mentioned during this presser was the Unification Church scandal. The Unification Church is a religious organization also known as the Moonies in the United States. And as you probably remember, John, a couple of years ago, the former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated by the son of a member of this church.

Now, after this assassination, the Japanese government launched an investigation and found that several key political leaders within the ruling party actually had ties to this religious organization and were receiving funds.

Now, this very much angered the Japanese people. And afterwards, Kishida said that the party The religious organization would be dissolved, and it would effectively be shut down. But as we're seeing, that hasn't happened yet. It's still operating as a religious organization, even though it's been stripped of its name.

So, these two political scandals has really led to, just dissatisfaction, and really low approval ratings for Kishida. He's also, of course, battling with a very poor economic outlook for the country as the GDP slips to fourth place. We're also seeing the yen at historic lows against the greenback. And even though the Japanese central bank raised interest rates for the second time in 14 years just last week, it led to a market crash.

So, for all these reasons, Kishida said that it's time for him to step down and give his party a better chance of winning the general elections come October 2025. John.

VAUSE: Hanako, thank you. Hanako Montgomery there in Tokyo with the very latest.

Regards, the ceasefire and hostage release talks are set to resume on Thursday in Doha, Qatar. Mediators are making a last-ditch effort to revive the stalled negotiations made a potential Iranian attack on Israel.

Two sources telling CNN, the renewed diplomatic efforts are not expected to stop Iran from retaliating for the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh. Last week, the U.S., Egypt, and Qatar, the key mediators in these talks said they will use the meeting to present a quote, final bridging proposal. Israel is sending a delegation to the talks. Hamas has indicated it's still interested in making a deal.

U.S. President Joe Biden, though, says he's concerned about the prospects of the Gaza ceasefire talks amid the escalating tensions between Iran and Israel.

More now from CNN's MJ Lee.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: A ceasefire deal in the Israel-Hamas war that has been elusive for so many months has clearly become more complicated after the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. President Biden, who until quite recently, had expressed real optimism about those talks, told reporters Tuesday afternoon that those talks had, in fact, become more difficult.

Take a listen.

LEE (voice-over): Do you think you can still get to a ceasefire deal, or is that starting to be a distant -- a distant possibility?

JOE BIDEN (D) PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES: It's getting hard. We'll see what (INAUDIBLE), we'll see what Iran does, and we'll see what happens if there are any attacks. But I'm not giving up.

LEE (voice-over): Are those two things tied together? Do you have the understanding that Iran could cease or stop doing an action if a ceasefire deal was possible?

BIDEN: That's my expectation, but we'll see.

LEE: I am told by administration officials that at least as of Tuesday, the U.S. still does not believe that Iran has decided on a course of action against Israel, and there are furious diplomatic efforts by the Biden administration to try to deter a wide spread attack, entity escalate what is a very volatile situation, one official telling CNN that they do believe that the U.S.'s public warnings against Iran do seem to have had some kind of effect, but it is clearly a waiting game right now for Israel and the U.S. and other Western countries that are bracing for whatever actions Iran might take against Israel, potentially in the coming days.

[00:35:17]

And what is undeniable is that for White House officials close to the President, they will all acknowledge that getting a ceasefire deal is one of the biggest outstanding pieces of a part of his foreign policy legacy that is really top of mind for President Biden, as he has just a number of months left of his first and last term at the White House. But as the President himself made clear on Tuesday, those talks, those ceasefire talks that he has been so closely engaged in for a number of months, they do appear to be back in limbo at this moment in time.

MJ Lee, CNN at the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Well, talking about a ceasefire is obviously a long way from a ceasefire, and Israeli strikes continue across Gaza. The Ministry of Health estimates nearly 40, 000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began. And in the past 24 hours alone, the ministry says more than 30 people were killed in Israeli strikes, including three-day old twins and their mother.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond has this report. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): How do you console a man whose whole world has been shattered. A man who hours earlier was locked in the warm embrace of his wife and newborn babies? But now cries out in agony, begging to see them one last time. His new horrific reality is too much to bear. His wife and twin babies are dead, killed in an Israeli strike on their apartment in central Gaza, according to hospital officials. Aysal and her brother Aser were just three days old.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health says they are among 115 infants born and killed during the war in Gaza. Hours earlier, their mother, Jumana, a pharmacist, was blissfully responding to congratulations and well wishes on Facebook. I feel like it was a miracle. Alhamdulillah, sister, everything is going well.

Jumana, Aysal, and Aser now lie here, in a room consumed with Mohammed's inconsolable grief.

These are the birth certificates, he says. While I was getting them, I received a phone call telling me our apartment was targeted and that my wife and children were at Al Aqsa Hospital.

Neighbors are still sifting through the aftermath of that strike. Hospital officials say an Israeli shell hit the building. The Israeli military did not respond to CNN's request for comment.

The victims of several other strikes in central Gaza also pour into Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. Or more parents grieve the deaths of their children. How can I live after you, my son? This mother cries. Amid the grief, there is also anger and exasperation, including from the dead man's father.

The entire unjust world does not care about this. That's all I can say, Hassan says. Just numbers. We are just numbers. But for God, we are martyrs.

One by one, their bodies are brought out of the morgue so the living can pray for the dead, including nine-month-old Jamal and his father Uday (ph). Mohammad is performing the same rituals for his wife and twin babies.

But prayers offer little comfort for a man who has lost everything, for a new father with no children to raise.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Haifa, Israel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:40:58] VAUSE: The glitch filled two hour long rambling conversation between a Republican nominee Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk on X has now resulted in complaints being filed against both men by the United Auto Workers Union. In the complaint to the National Labor Relations Board, the union accuses Trump and Musk of threatening to intimidate workers who go on strike.

Here's part of the conversation.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: You're the greatest cutter. I mean, I look at what you do. You walk in and you just say, you want to quit?

ELON MUSK, CEO, TESLA MOTORS: Yes.

TRUMP: They go on strike. I won't mention the name of the company, but they go on strike and you say, that's OK, you're all gone. You're all gone. So, every one of you is gone.

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VAUSE: Kind of like you're fired. The UAW has repeatedly singled out Tesla, the largest non-union American automaker, as a target for organizing efforts. The Union also recently endorsed Trump's rival, Vice President Kamala Harris for president.

The Trump campaign called the charges a political orchestration by Democrat special interest bosses.

U.S. President Joe Biden has announced more than $150 million in new research awards as part of a program aimed at helping reduce cancer deaths in the United States. The Cancer Moonshot program was funded while Biden was vice president and has been bolstered with billions in new funding since 2022.

The initiative aims to provide cutting edge research to halve the number of cancer deaths in the coming decades.

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BIDEN: We're mobilizing the whole country effort to cut American cancer deaths in half by 2020 and within 25 years and boost support for patients and their families. I'm confident in our capacity to do that.

I know we can. But it's not just personal. It's about what's possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: This is extremely personal for the President and First Lady, their eldest son, Beau Biden, died at age 46 in 2015 after battling brain cancer.

John Vause back at the top of the hour with more "CNN Newsroom." But first, please stay with us.

"WORLD SPORTS" starts after shortly.

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