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CPI Fell by 3 Percent for the First Time in Three Years; WHO Declares MPOX a Global Health Emergency; Taliban Commemorates Three Years Since Their Takeover of Afghanistan; Israeli Photojournalist Accounts the War in Israel Through His Lens. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired August 15, 2024 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world and to everyone streaming us on CNN Max, I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead, Donald Trump pitches his economic policies in battleground North Carolina, but his proposals also come with the usual attacks and false claims.

Dozens are killed in another round of Israeli strikes on Gaza as the ceasefire and hostage release talks are set to resume.

And NASA has an update on its plans for the stranded Starliner crew. Details on their return ticket home.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Thanks for joining us. A key issue in this year's U.S. presidential race has taken center stage with Donald Trump looking to turn the focus to the economy. But the Republican presidential nominee struggled to stay on message at an event in North Carolina and did what he's being urged not to do, lob personal attacks at Kamala Harris.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're not going to let this incompetent socialist lunatic keep breaking our economy for four more years. It'll destroy our country. Kamala, you're fired. Get out of here. Go. Get out of here. You know why she hasn't done an interview? Because she's not smart. She's not intelligent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: While Trump continues to lash out, enthusiasm in the Democratic Party continues to climb. A new Monmouth University poll finds 85 percent of Democratic registered voters say they are enthusiastic about the race, up from just 46 percent in June. Enthusiasm among Republicans remains unchanged at 71 percent. And a separate poll shows 63 percent of Democrats say they'd be excited if Harris were elected president, compared to 57 percent of Republicans who say the same about Trump. The Republican nominee had a different take when speaking to supporters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We have some very good polls coming out today, I just heard, despite all of the fake publicity about this radical left person from San Francisco. Now we have some very good polls coming out. So that's good, you know, considering the fact that they what they do, I mean, what they do, what the fake news is able to do. And yet we're leading.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Meantime, U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Harris are set to travel to Maryland in the coming hours, where they will deliver remarks on lowering drug costs. This comes one day before Harris is set to deliver her first major economic policy speech as the Democratic nominee at an event in North Carolina.

She's expected to call for a federal ban on price gouging to lower grocery prices and everyday costs. A member of Harris's campaign spoke about her plans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL TYLER, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, HARRIS-WALZ CAMPAIGN: You can expect her to talk about the ways in which she wants to move this economy forward and lower costs for middle class families. She understands that for too many families, prices remain too high and so wants to make sure that the American people understand the ways in which we can grow our economy and make sure that everybody has the opportunity not just to get by, but to get ahead as we move forward here. And I think that will be in stark contrast from what we see out of Donald Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CNN's Kristen Holmes was in Asheville, North Carolina, for Trump's rally on Wednesday and has more on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Former President Donald Trump set out to give a policy speech on the economy. And for all intents and purposes, he did. It was certainly more off message than what we had seen in the excerpts from the remarks, but he did talk a lot about the economy. And just before we get into what exactly he said, the note here is the reason that his team has been pushing this idea to Donald Trump that he needs to focus on the economy. He needs to focus on immigration.

He needs to focus on crime, is that if you look at the polling between Donald Trump and President Joe Biden, he out-polled Joe Biden on those three topics. Voters believed he did a better job on those three things. And the plan is for Donald Trump to link Kamala Harris to those same policies of President Joe Biden, to say that they are the same administration.

[03:05:04]

She's obviously the vice president. So any unpopular policies that Joe Biden had should also be that of Kamala Harris. Now, obviously, as we have seen, Donald Trump has had a rather hard time staying on message or even defining his attacks against Kamala Harris. But he did seem to have some new lines this time around, essentially doing just that, linking Kamala Harris to Joe Biden and those same policies, particularly on the economy. Take a listen.

TRUMP: Kamala has declared that tackling inflation will be a day one priority. Think of it for her. But day one for Kamala was three and a half years ago. Why hasn't she done it? Kamala Harris won't end the economic crisis. She will only make it worse. And why hasn't she done it? She talks about it. She's doing a plan. You know, she's going to announce it this week, maybe. She's waiting for me to announce it so she can copy it.

HOLMES: Overall, the speech was fairly light on policy he would actually put in place other than lowering inflation, lowering costs. But he did commit to one thing.

He said that if he was elected, the U.S. would commit to cutting U.S. energy and electricity prices by 50 percent within a year to 18 months.

Not a lot of detail on how exactly he would do it, but the crowd did go wild. The one thing to remember here is as we talk about the economy, we talk about the economy getting better, which it certainly is by all statistics and measures.

I do continue to talk to voters on the ground who specifically point to costs, not necessarily the economy as a whole, but what things that are important to them that they need every day, what those things cost, like groceries, like fuel. And they still say that those costs are impacting them, impacting their wallet. And that's why they believe Donald Trump would be better in office. It's just something to keep note here as when we talk about why his advisers are pushing this messaging so hard and hoping Donald Trump will stay on with that same messaging.

Kristen Holmes, CNN, Asheville, North Carolina.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And while Trump continues to attack Harris on inflation, some new data shows price hikes actually slowed more than expected last month. The Consumer Price Index fell below 3 percent for the 12 months ending in July, a milestone not seen since March of 2021. Wednesday's report builds on another positive report from June, which has helped reassure the markets and the Federal Reserve that inflation is moderating. This all could pave the way for the Fed to cut interest rates next month. The data was also welcome news on Wall Street with the markets closing higher on Wednesday.

Catherine Rampell is a CNN economics and political commentator and a "Washington Post" opinion columnist. And she joins me now from New York. Thanks so much for being with us.

CATHERINE RAMPELL, CNN ECONOMICS AND POLITICAL COMMENTATOR AND OPINION COLUMNIST, "WASHINGTON POST": Great to join you.

CHURCH: So with the economy, the top issue for most Americans, Wednesday's CPI figures showing inflation slowing to below 3 percent for the first time in three years was, of course, very welcome news and comes as Kamala Harris is set to reveal her economic plan on Friday, while Donald Trump was out on the campaign trail, falsely claiming the economy is in freefall. So what is the real story on where things stand right now economically here in the United States?

RAMPELL: Well, on paper, the U.S. economy looks quite good. In fact, we've had very strong job growth, a record amount of job growth over the past few years.

We have relatively strong GDP growth. In fact, both the level of employment and the size of the economy are besting forecasts made for the U.S. from before the pandemic. In the rest of the world, that is generally not the case. Most countries are still bearing some of the scars from the pandemic, as well as other global events, of course.

So on paper, things look pretty good. If you ask consumers how they feel about the economy, however, they are still quite grumpy.

CHURCH: With the little that we know so far about the economic plans of both Harris and Trump, how do they compare? What do they need to be doing to keep the economy on track? And who do Americans trust more on the economy?

RAMPELL: You know, it's funny. It's not that hard to figure out what consumers are unhappy about, whether it pertains to the economy or anything else. The difficult part of governing is figuring out how to solve those problems. And neither candidate has really put forward at this point a viable plan for doing what consumers want.

But they are proposing things that would make them worse, or at least Donald Trump is. Donald Trump, even though he has said, he said in his speech today, that he planned to get prices down by 30 percent and energy prices down by 50 percent. I don't know where he gets these numbers.

[03:10:03]

Many of the policies that he's proposed would actually worsen inflation. I'm thinking about things like devaluing, excuse me, devaluing the U.S. dollar or imposing a global tariff of 10 percent on all goods that come into the United States, or deporting tens of millions of immigrants, which would likely worsen labor shortages and particularly lead to higher prices in industries that immigrants are more likely to be employed in. I'm thinking things like agriculture, food services, construction, et cetera. So a number of the policies that Donald Trump has put on the table not only won't get the thing done that consumers say they want, which is very challenging, but will probably make things worse. Kamala Harris is a little bit more of a black box at this point. We don't know what she stands for.

Obviously, she has some ownership of the economic record under Joe Biden and presumably the policies under Joe Biden. She is part of this administration. She's the number two.

But beyond that, she has not been totally clear about what her priorities or principles are. And she doesn't seem to have a large group of economic advisors who are advising her on that right now. You know, we hear bits and pieces about certain former officials who may be whispering in her ear, but her policies to date don't reflect that. And I think there'll be a lot of interest in whatever it is she has to say on Friday about what her priorities are.

CHURCH: So let's go back to the latest CPI numbers, which show the Federal Reserve may be winning the battle against inflation and could be set to lower interest rates next month. What are your thoughts on that and how big might that cup be when you consider both lower inflation and the most recent unemployment numbers that had the markets panicked for a day or so, but it's recovered since?

RAMPELL: The CPI print, the inflation numbers today were actually quite encouraging. Even before that report came out, the Federal Reserve was widely expected to start cutting interest rates at its next meeting in September. I think the question now is how big of a cut will that be? Not if they will cut, but how much?

CHURCH: And of course, as you pointed out, falling inflation doesn't mean falling prices, not yet at least. But when will Americans start seeing lower prices at the grocery store and of course in their mortgage payments?

RAMPELL: So at the grocery store, again, some individual items fluctuate in price, but the overall trend in prices generally is upward. It can be more slowly growing upward or more quickly growing upward.

Right now, actually, grocery prices are growing relatively slowly. If you look at today's Consumer Price Index data, grocery prices only rose about 1 percent year over year. That's generally below the trend of the last several decades. So that's quite low.

You know, for particular products that have had major supply chain issues, I'm thinking things like bird flu potentially affecting supplies of eggs or certain kinds of poultry. You know, some of those may see some reversals and in fact already have.

But the general trajectory is going to be upward. It's just, you know, things are going to plateau, which is kind of what we want. You know, we don't expect them to go back down.

So when the Fed cuts rates, that filters through to basically every other credit product in the economy, whether we're talking about mortgages, auto loans, credit cards, etc.

So it's not instantaneous necessarily. But yes, we should see that filter through to those other products, including many that consumers rely on.

CHURCH: They're all very encouraging. Catherine Rampell, thank you so much for joining us. I Appreciate it.

RAMPELL: Thank you.

CHURCH: And Japan is marking an economic achievement of its own. The country's GDP grew by more than 3 percent in the second quarter, according to government officials. It is the first time in two quarters that Japan has seen positive growth. Reuters initially cited a forecast of a little more than 2 percent for the same period.

Hurricane Ernesto is gaining strength as it turns north and heads into the open Atlantic, and it's expected to get even stronger as it nears Bermuda. The Category 1 storm leaves destruction and flooding in its wake after lashing Puerto Rico and knocking out power to half of the island.

All right. We were going to actually hear from Chad Myers but we're not going to hear on that for now. Just getting word on that.

All right. So the latest round of Gaza ceasefire and hostage release negotiations are set to get underway today in Doha, Qatar. A diplomatic source tells CNN Hamas will not be participating but is willing to meet with mediators afterwards if there's a serious response from Israel.

[03:15:08]

Negotiators are hoping to close any remaining gaps on a proposal to end the fighting and return all the hostages held in Gaza.

Meanwhile, officials in Gaza report at least 36 people have been killed in the latest Israeli airstrikes, including three children. The Israeli military says its operations in central Gaza are dismantling Hamas terror infrastructure. The death toll in Gaza since October 7th is now closing in on 40,000.

So let's bring in CNN's Nada Bashir, who's following developments for us live from London. Good Morning to you, Nada. So, what are the expectations going into this latest round of Gaza ceasefire and hostage release talks in Doha?

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well look Rosemary, the stakes for these talks are incredibly high, not only because of the deteriorating situation that we are seeing in Gaza but of course because of the concerns that we're seeing across the region over the potential spill out of this conflict more broadly in the region and in particular potential Iranian attack on Israel.

Now, we know that there will be key mediators again involved in these talks taking place today, the CIA director Bill Burns, Qatar's prime minister as well as Egypt's intelligence chief and of course Israel has confirmed that it will be sending a delegation to these talks led by the Mossad chief David Barnier.

However, as you mentioned, Hamas has said they will not be participating in these talks being held today in Qatar. However, they have said they are prepared to meet with negotiators, with mediators rather if there are significant developments or a sufficient response from the Israeli delegation.

Now, of course, these talks are focused and centered on that peace plan put forward and presented by U.S. president Joe Biden in May, however while there had been hopes that this deal presented by Biden could lead to some sort of breakthrough and there certainly were those hopes in July, the assassination of Hamas' political chief Ismail Haniyeh in late July in Tehran has really put a spanner in the works when it comes to the progression of these talks.

Of course, Hamas and other regional leaders including of course the Iranian regime have pointed the finger of blame squarely at Israel for that assassination. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility but Ismail Haniyeh was a key figure in these negotiations. He was considered in the broader context of Hamas to be a more moderate figure. Hamas now of course is being led by Yahya Sinwar, a more hardline figure and a man who is one of the most wanted men by the Israeli government. So serious concerns over how these talks will progress.

We know of course that there continue to be key sticking points. Hamas wants the proposal presented by Biden to be pushed forward and there have been criticisms from within Israel even of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, allegations that he has intentionally undermined these deals, so fears that more hardline right-wing figures within his own coalition could pull out, lead to a collapse of the Israeli government if a ceasefire deal is agreed.

Now of course we have heard from a U.S. official saying that they do not believe or foresee that any sort of deal will be struck during these talks. This isn't seen as being sort of the last step. There are significant sticking points still ahead including the number of Palestinians to be released, Israel's request for a veto on which Palestinian prisoners under the terms of that agreement would be released, the return of Palestinians from southern to northern Gaza and of course a crucial point, a crucial sticking point is the presence of Israeli forces on that Philadelphia corridor separating the Rafah border between Egypt and Gaza.

So, of course, there are high stakes but still major sticking points ahead and of course while the broader framework of the agreement has been agreed upon, those final details are key here. Rosemary.

CHURCH: Indeed we'll be watching very closely to see what comes out of these talks. Nada Bashir, joining us live from London. Many thanks.

The Israeli government has approved a new West Bank settlement after several countries recognized a Palestinian state. The country's far- right Finance Minister hailed the decision as historic. Israel has expanded settlements in the West Bank over the decades despite signing the 1993 Oslo Accords which called for a road map to a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza. Israeli settlements in occupied territories are considered illegal under international law.

Columbia University's president has resigned months after pro- Palestinian protests gripped her campus. Egyptian-born economist Minouche Shafik said it had become difficult to overcome divergent views saying she's been distressed by threats and abuse. In April when talks between the university and protesters broke down, some of them stormed a campus building.

[03:20:02]

Shafik called in police who carried out arrests and made sure the encampments were not re-established.

Health officials are concerned the ongoing MPOX outbreak in Africa is just the tip of the iceberg. Still ahead, new steps to contain the virus as its more dangerous strain spreads to new countries.

Plus Ukraine says its incursion into Russia will help make Ukrainians safer. We'll tell you why after the break. Stay with us.

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CHURCH: Europe's largest and most active volcano will keep an airport in Sicily closed for most of today at least. A short time ago officials announced there'll be no flights in or out of Catania until at least 6 p.m., local time. Mount Etna has been spewing lava and ash which has covered the runway and made it unusable. Mount Etna's current eruptive phase began last month.

The ongoing MPOX outbreak in Africa is now officially a global health emergency. The World Health Organization made the declaration on Wednesday after a more deadly strain of virus called clade 1b spread to four new countries until recently it's been contained to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

[03:25:07]

MPOX has infected more than 17,000 people in Africa this year killing more than 500 of them. The WHO is now moving to ramp up vaccinations and other health measures. One expert who recently came back from the affected region spoke to me about the situation on the ground.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNE RIMOIN, PROF., UCLA FIELDING SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: There's a lot of concern about the rapid increase in these cases and the need to really be able to employ tools that are going to be able to help this country and all of the surrounding countries get in front of this virus and that means more diagnostics in place to be able to detect cases help with -- with public health messaging vaccines and therapeutics. All of which will be definitely all of access to all of these things will certainly be improved with this public health emergency of international concern declaration. CHURCH: So what do we need to know about how monkeypox potentially

affects everyone?

RIMOIN: Well I think that the key here as we've said with so many different outbreaks over time while we've been talking is that truly an infection anywhere is potentially an infection everywhere and so people might think well you know this is something that's happening in Central Africa and mostly rural remote places but you know now we're starting to see a change in how MPOX is spreading.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Ukraine is targeting the source of Russia's air power with what a security source is calling the biggest attack on Russian airfields since the war began.

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This video posted on social media shows what looks like a drone crashing down on an air base in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast east of Moscow. A Ukrainian security source tells CNN they struck four key Russian airfields in several regions including Kursk where Ukrainian forces are gaining more ground. Ukraine says that one of their main goals with the incursion is to create a buffer zone along the border to protect northern Ukraine from attack.

And Clare Sebastian joins me now live from London. Good morning to you Clare. So what more are you learning about Ukraine's incursion into Russia and President Putin's military response to this?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah Rosemary, I think just to take a step back the very fact of Ukraine now working it says to create a security zone inside Russia shows just how much this incursion has really flipped the narrative on this war.

Just three months ago it was Russia promising to create a buffer zone inside Ukraine as it launched that new offensive into the Kharkiv region so if that was part of the goal here really sort of flipping the perception of this war I think you can say it has to some degree succeeded but look we have Russia on the back foot we're getting satellite images in of them digging trenches some 60 kilometers away from the border some 40 kilometers away from where we've seen really the furthest advance of Ukrainian troops.

Those satellite images you can see them there they are we think close to a key highway, a key rail link and also just west of the Kursk nuclear plant so Russia is employing some of the same tactics that we've seen them use in Ukraine on their own soil now.

In terms of the other stated goal of this from Ukraine which is to sort of pull Russian forces away from other areas of the front line distract them and therefore help Ukraine defend and push them back off their own soil. Well look, we've been hearing from commanders on this, some in the east saying that attacks continue with the same frequency but CNN has a team in the border region of Sumy and they caught up with the commander of a unit that is actually involved in the Kursk operations. Take a listen to him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DMYTRO KHOLOD, "NIGHTINGALE BATTALION" (through translator): The Russians are now trying to stop our advance. They have pulled in reserves which has benefited our defense forces in other areas because it's become easier to work there. We have information that reserves were pulled from the Zaporizhzhya, Crimea, and Kharkiv regions to stop our advance. Of course it will be harder for us to advance further but we will still advance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN: So revealing that the plan is still to advance inside Russia. Although of course Ukraine has also made it clear that they have no plans to actually annex Russian territory that this really is about sort of damaging Russia's own ability to attack. And in that vein, we see President Zelenskyy calling for more long-range capabilities from his allies in his nightly address.

This, of course, fits with the stress that we see with hitting airfields trying to prevent Russia from attacking with its own weapons and perhaps this is another part of the sort of P.R. effort that we see here if Ukraine can actually invade Russia and we still haven't seen real Russian escalation off the back of this.

[03:30:00]

Perhaps this is also a message to Ukraine's western allies that they shouldn't be so reticent in providing new capabilities and lifting limitations on Ukraine's use of western weapons. Rosemary.

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Our thanks to Clare Sebastian joining us live from London.

A new exhibit in Israel shows the aftermath of the October 7th Hamas attack from the harrowing scenes of violence to the survivors recovering in the months since. The photojournalist who captured the images speaks with CNN. That's just ahead.

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CHURCH: Welcome back to "CNN Newsroom." I'm Rosemary Church. Let's check today's top stories for you.

U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump lashed out at Vice President Kamala Harris during a speech in North Carolina that was meant to focus on the economy. He lobbed insults about her intelligence and even her laugh. Those attacks coming before Harris is set to roll out her own economic proposal on Friday.

The ongoing MPOX outbreak in Africa has been declared a global health emergency. The World Health Organization made the announcement yesterday after a more dangerous strain of the virus has spread to four more countries. The strain called clade 1b has previously been present only in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Security will be extremely tight as Taylor Swift resumes her Eras

concert tour at London's Wembley Stadium in the coming hours. This will be her first time on stage since three girls were stabbed to death at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport, England last month and the foiled terror plot that forced Swift to cancel shows in Vienna last week.

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Authorities say the terror threat that caused those Vienna shows to be called off was cultivated online. Extremist preachers are using TikTok to radicalize teenagers and lure them into jihadi violence.

CNN's Salma Abdelaziz has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Is playing Fortnite allowed? Is Botox a sin? Can you watch the World Cup?

This is Abul Baraa, the German-speaking TikTok preacher who is targeting and radicalizing young minds by answering seemingly innocent questions from his followers.

In light of a foiled terror plot on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna, there is renewed concern about online extremism among youth. The 19- year-old alleged mastermind of the attack was radicalized online, Austrian authorities say, though we don't yet know how.

Abul Baraa has repeatedly denied any connection to ISIS and never openly calls for violence, but he is always testing boundaries online.

If someone is, quote, "bad," he says in this clip, then regardless if that person is Muslim or non-Muslim, this means death is better for them.

With his, at times, lighthearted and relatable style, he draws teenagers in and then attempts to isolate them from society, says Kaan Orhon, who runs a program to de-radicalize youth.

KAAN ORHON, DERADICALIZATION CASE WORKER, GREEN BIRD ASSOCIATION: He tries to get them to sever family bonds, distance themselves from parents, from siblings, from friends.

ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): Viewers may then be presented with more and more extremist content by a social media algorithm built to fuel and feed their interests.

ABDELAZIZ: What makes him so dangerous?

ORHON: What makes him dangerous is that he is like a gateway drug. He lays the groundwork where other actors are picking his target audience up and leading them further into radicalization.

ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): Germany's security services have had Abul Baraa on their radar for years. A Berlin mosque, where he was chief imam, was shut down by authorities in 2020 and another affiliated group banned for extremist activity earlier this year.

But on TikTok, where he has more than 82,000 followers, he is undeterred and prolific, even responding to recent media reports linking him to the Taylor Swift concert terror plot.

There is a massive campaign against us, he says, every time they try to find something new so they can silence us.

But those who follow Abul Baraa may become ripe for the picking by radical groups like ISIS-K, which is actively seeking to recruit teenagers because it presents a challenge to authorities.

NICOLAS STOCKHAMMER, COUNTERTERRORISM EXPERT, UNIVERSITY OF VIENNA: The calculation of ISIS-K and those people who are behind this dynamic is that they are not, it's not so easy to prosecute them by law because they are too young.

ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): Leaving vulnerable young minds susceptible to recruitment in corners of the internet beyond the reach of authorities and away from the eyes of family and friends.

Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: CNN has made multiple attempts to reach out to Abul Baraa for comment. At the time of publication, we had not received a response.

The U.S. Justice Department wants the court to accept a plea deal it has reached with Boeing tied to two fatal 737 MAX crashes. Last month, Boeing agreed to plead guilty to a criminal fraud conspiracy charge and pay at least $243 million. Some relatives of the hundreds of people killed in the two Boeing plane crashes in Indonesia in 2018 and Ethiopia in 2019 opposed the deal. But the DOJ rejected the victim's family's contention that Boeing should pay much higher fines.

Boeing has not responded to a request for comment. The Justice Department says the plea deal does not give Boeing immunity for other misconduct. That includes a separate ongoing criminal investigation into the emergency situation when a door plug on a 737 MAX 9 fell off the plane.

Still to come, as the Taliban mark three years of their takeover of Afghanistan, there's growing concern over what rights groups call the worst humanitarian crisis for women.

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[03:40:00]

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CHURCH: The Taliban are celebrating the third anniversary of their return to power in Afghanistan, holding a military parade at the former U.S. airbase in Bagram, which was once the center of coalition operations. But international groups warn under Taliban rule, the country has been plunged into a humanitarian crisis and it's especially impacting women and girls.

CNN's Anna Coren joins me now live from Hong Kong. So Anna, how are the Taliban marking this anniversary and what impact has their rule had on the lives particularly of women and girls, and others?

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, as you said, Bagram air base, to think this was once the nerve center of the U.S. war on terror in Afghanistan. And this, of course, is where the Taliban marked its third anniversary of its return to power.

This was called Victory Day. High-ranking Taliban officials were in attendance, along with thousands of men. Surprisingly, no women were allowed. And on display in this parade, U.S. and NATO weaponry seized and left behind when U.S.-led international forces withdrew back in August of 2021 after 20 years of war. We saw their American Humvees, MRAPs, armored personnel carriers. I mean, this is the Taliban really thumbing its nose up at the U.S. and in the West.

Senior Taliban officials, they gave speeches praising achievements such as strengthening Sharia law and providing what they call peace and security in the country. What wasn't addressed, however, is the economic and humanitarian crises that are facing the country. You know, the U.N. reports that more than half the population, that's almost 24 million Afghans, need humanitarian aid to survive. And this year we are learning that donor countries have only provided a fraction of the funds required. And as for the Taliban's war on women, it continues unabated.

Human Rights Watch describes Afghanistan as the most serious women's rights crisis in the world.

[03:45:02]

You know, under Taliban rule, Rosemary, girls are banned from school beyond the sixth grade. No other country in the world bans female education. Women can't travel alone. They're not allowed to work. Laws and institutions to protect women against violence have been dismantled. And these women, they are basically prisoners in their own homes.

The U.N. describes it as gender apartheid. And just to illustrate this and the impact that it has, more than two thirds of Afghan women experience severe mental health issues. That's according to the U.N. And we here at CNN have reported extensively on the rising cases of attempted suicide. But let's have a listen now to a representative of U.N. women in Kabul.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALISON DAVIDIAN, SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE, U.N. WOMEN AFGHANISTAN: Three years ago, the world was watching a takeover that was live streaming horror after horror.

And three years later, while the world's attention may have turned elsewhere, the horrors have not stopped for Afghan women and girls, but nor has their conviction to stand against oppression. We cannot leave Afghan women to fight alone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: No, we certainly cannot abandon them. And before we go, Rosemary, I just want to read a statement from a 21-year-old university student who I have been in touch with since the fall of Kabul. Her name is Zahra. Let me read this to you.

She said, today, my heart is heavy with sadness. Three years ago was a day when our dreams were crushed. We lost our freedom and safety. I remember the fear in our streets. Families were torn apart. Women and girls lost their right to education and work. We feel hopelessness at darkness as it took over our land, but we will not stay silent. We want education for women, peace, justice and a future where everyone can live freely. Our voices matter. Silence is betrayal and we will not give up. Together, we will fight for a better tomorrow.

Incredible strength, Rosemary, despite all the odds and despite what they face every single day.

CHURCH: Yeah, absolutely. It is unbelievable, isn't it? Anna Coren, many thanks for that live report. I Appreciate it.

A new art exhibit in Israel is calling attention to the hostages still being held in Gaza. It features powerful and harrowing photographs from the morning of October 7th taken by Israeli photojournalist Ziv Koren. He spoke with CNN's Wolf Blitzer about his work and what he saw. A warning though, the images you're about to see are very disturbing, but are a documentation of what happened during the Hamas attack.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WOLF BLITZER, "THE SITUATION ROOM" ANCHOR (voice-over): This is award- winning Israeli photojournalist Ziv Koren, pinned down by Hamas gunfire on October 7th in southern Israel.

ZIV KOREN, ISRAELI PHOTOJOURNALIST: We got out of the road, trying to get to the Gaza envelope, and this is where we were confronted with Hamas terrorists that started shooting at us. It was madness.

BLITZER: So all you could hear is these bullets flying over your head.

KOREN: And it was a very long 20 minutes that bullets were flying all over until the soldiers arrived.

BLITZER (voice-over): On that Saturday morning, Koren grabbed his camera, his protective gear, and headed south from Tel Aviv with little information. What he captured shows the horrific aftermath of the October 7th terror attack.

KOREN: I didn't really shoot a lot of people that were alive. Most of the scenes I photographed were from dead Israelis, exactly. 13 people standing here on the way to travel to the Dead Sea, and one of the pickup trucks of Hamas went through and just killed them all. And I think it's part of my responsibility to tell the story, even though it's something that most people just want to look away from.

BLITZER (voice-over): He's taken over 350,000 photos since the attack.

KOREN: I never stopped since.

BLITZER (voice-over): Today, Koren's images hang in the Shimon Peres Center for Peace and Innovation in Jaffa as part of an exhibit meant to be a reminder and a reckoning for the world.

KOREN: Nir Oz is a huge tragedy.

BLITZER: I mean, it's a kibbutz.

KOREN: Yeah, it's a kibbutz Nir Oz, 25 percent of the members of the kibbutz are either dead or kidnapped. But not only that, I think the worst thing about what happened in Nir Oz is that nobody came to save them. Just imagine that in every single car here, there was Israelis that died, most of them from the Nova Party, all the youngsters that came to dance and found themselves running away from bullets.

[03:50:07]

BLITZER (voice-over): This exhibit is also about speaking for the hostages who still may be alive in Gaza.

KOREN: The hostages should be everything we think about.

BLITZER: So important to bring them home.

KOREN: Exactly.

BLITZER (voice-over): Koren has stayed in touch with the people whose lives were permanently altered on October 7th, documenting it all.

KOREN: A couple that I've been covering for seven or eight months now, even a bit more, they were both in the Nova Festival. They ran to one of these shelters on the main road. Like the other shelters, there were the Hamas threw grenades inside this shelter. They were both severely wounded. 20 people died in this shelter. And they were both, they got their leg cut off. And since then, I've been covering their rehabilitation. And they just got married last week.

BLITZER (voice-over): Wolf Blitzer, CNN, Jaffa, Israel.

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CHURCH: And we'll be right back.

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CHURCH: NASA is running out of time to make a decision on how two U.S. astronauts will get back to Earth. CNN's Kristin Fischer reports.

[03:55:00] (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE AND DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT: Still no return date for NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunny Williams, who've been waiting up at the International Space Station since June.

As they wait to learn whether or not they will be able to return to Earth on the spacecraft that got them to the space station, Boeing's Starliner spacecraft on this first crewed test flight.

But at a news conference Wednesday with top NASA leadership, they say that they need to make a decision by the end of August at the latest. So we're really getting close to that final window of decision making for NASA. And right now, we know that there is debate within the space agency about whether or not that Starliner spacecraft will indeed be deemed safe to fly Butch and Sunny back to Earth due to helium leaks and thruster failures.

The big concern is whether or not those thrusters are going to be reliable during the next key maneuver, that deorbit burn, in which it's essential that the spacecraft is pointing in the right direction to protect the astronauts with that heat shield as it reenters the Earth's atmosphere. That's what's at stake here.

And so NASA leadership saying that they're really getting up to this hard deadline because of consumables. So things like food supply, water, perhaps even oxygen. Not at a critical point there by any means, but they're getting to this final window of decision making.

So what this means is that they are going to be reviewing the data over the next several days, and then there's going to be an agency- wide flight readiness review, likely at the end of next week or the beginning of the following week. That is when the determination will likely be made.

If Starliner is safe or the backup plan, Butch and Sunny have to stay up at the International Space Station until February of 2025 and fly back on a SpaceX vehicle, the SpaceX Crew Dragon. That would make what was supposed to be an eight-day mission an eight-month mission.

Kristin Fisher, CNN, Washington.

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CHURCH: I want to thank you for your company this hour. I'm Rosemary Church. "CNN Newsroom" with Christina McFarlane is next.

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